SPOILERS One month later. What are your thoughts? (*Open Spoilers*)

[cold_spirit]

FF7R has been out for one month. What were your thoughts when you reached the credits? What were your thoughts after reading discussion online?

I might be the worst person to start this thread. The Whispers are my favorite new addition to the story, which I've gathered isn't exactly a neutral opinion.

Here's my take: it makes sense in my head that the concept of fate is intrinsically woven into the fabric of Remake's narrative universe because it's a retelling of the original game. The Whispers exist to give form and play with this phenomenon. I find their inclusion to be creative, exciting, and meaningful. But that's just me!

I'll quickly cover my biggest issues with FF7R:

1. Avalanche trio surviving

We know Biggs survives, Wedge and Jessie are maybes, but it's irrelevant to me at this point. I would've preferred their deaths to be definitive. It would've been the perfect narrative sacrifice to add weight to the last 1/3 of the game. The plot is robbed of this aspect because Remake is so wishy-washy about who survived. Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie better be utilized in a really cool way moving forward to make up for this.

2. Incorrect skyboxes

What the hell happened here? Off the top of my head I can think of five examples of incorrect skyboxes throughout the game. I feel like they've really dropped the ball on this, especially because it was often stated that Midgar was made into its own game to fully immerse the player into the city's sights and sounds. Hopefully this issue is addressed in FF7R's next-gen release.

Had these two issues not existed, FF7R would've been a slam dunk in overtime for me. As it is right now, I give it two big thumbs up.

There's some much heart to be found. The battle system is chaotic, calculated, and considerate. The soundtrack is dynamic and varied. And the story, wow. If all future parts of this remake are as equally thoughtful then we could have in our hands the greatest epic in gaming. Taken as a whole, I find FF7R to be an immensely fulfilling experience. It is the best outing with FF7 since the original. FF7R delivers more in some departments than the entire Compilation did combined. I particularly find the characterization, criticisms of capitalism, and meta-commentary to be spot on. Even if some event outside of SE's control prevents them from finishing this series, I'll be perfectly content with what they've offered already. I'm most thankful for the opportunity to be utterly entrenched in FF7 again. I've never left, but somehow Remake manages to make the place feel new again.

 

[Mayo Master]

I like your idea about gauging people's reactions after giving it more time - especially with respect to the ending.
When people are confronted to something they did not expect, the first reaction is often one of shock and confusion, and I too am curious about how things sit with folks. I'm also under the impression that the Whispers and the ending were elements that didn't bother newcomers to FF7 anywhere near as much as old-time fans - based on the few newcomers I know ; I don't know if anyone got some perspective about this.

Honestly, my impressions about the game now aren't that different from the first reactions I had after watching the ending, which I had described here. If nothing else I'm even more appeased now than I was back then.

I wholeheartedly agree with you when you say "there's so much heart to be found". That's really what struck me while going through the game, and I loved it. In my view, the game isn't without flaws (skyboxes like you mentioned, some pacing issues, some moments where the execution is a bit awkward), but there's so much goodness put into this. IMO, for one flaw, I could find 10 elements where they went above and beyond. The level of care given to the characters (both visually and their interactions), the level of details given to the recreation of the environments were simply outstanding. They crafted a combat system which is highly entertaining, dynamic, and still relying on the foundations of the OG. So... I really cannot agree with fans who feel "disrespected" by what SE has done with the remake - I'd really question my own sense of entitlement before expressing this kind of sentiment.

It's funny, when I compare my experience between this game and Witcher 3, I would say that Witcher 3 is technically a better game. But I am much more attached to FF7 remake than to Witcher 3 - not just because I was an OG old-time fan, but mostly because FF7 remake gets you engaged with endearing characters. In comparison, Witcher 3 shows a lot of "realistic characters", which is fine, but I didn't get attached to most of them. The bottom line for me is that I think I mostly play RPGs to follow a journey with great characters, and it's often the characters who make the experience memorable, more than the plot itself. If I'm to spend 40-50 hours on something, I'd rather do it in good company, right? As I said in my other post, I truly appreciated how FF7R did allow me to reconnect with well-loved characters. Some pieces of dialogue are just memorable!

You know, when given the premise of having the remake taking place only in Midgar, I had many wishes such as those of a "fully explorable Midgar with functional transportation services", "day/night cycles", that kind of stuff. Believe me, I've had a long time to think about "how a FF7 remake should be made". But here's the thing: they were wishes, they were not expectations. Even though I didn't get what I had wished for, I'm plenty happy with what we got. Further to that, I also realized that the game offered me many instances where the execution was better than anything I'd personally have thought about. A particular example is how they've managed to adapt and implements the enemies from the OG with the silliest designs in a manner that is so well integrated in the story. If I had been in charge of the remake, I would probably have scrapped Hell House altogether - and now I see how much of a waste that would have been!

Overall I think I'm simply grateful for what we got, and I'll be looking forward to continuing the journey. It will take a lot of patience! I'm hoping for the game to do well in sales so that the development of the further installments doesn't get half-baked.

 

[Shademp]

The ending removed any desire I might have had to pick up the controller and continue playing. Tried to play some, but it was like exercising on a treadmill when you are hungover. The idea of actually playing the game now makes me groan, as though somebody is asking me to replace the water filters. Like I've said multiple times before: The ending ruins the journey (for me).

No secret though that I've been enthusiastically participating on the forum, speculating about what's to come and picking some elements apart. I enjoy the rewards of social media, seeing reaction videos, being a part of the zeitgeist and feeling a strong sense of community despite the game's disappointing ending.

I suppose the emotional equivalent would be that I first fell in love with FFVIIR, then fell out of love and now I'm good friends with it. But that's not what I wanted. I desired transcendent escapism. Despite all the posts I've written since the shock of the game's ending, FFVIIR remains the biggest video game disappointment of my life. The main lesson it seems to teach me is "don't get invested". Perhaps it is because of that lesson that I am still able to be friends with FFVIIR.

 

[Wol]

Ending sucked one month ago, and keeps sucking. The feeling is like having a nonsense dream with a game you like except it's real and you need to digest something that tastes like fan-fiction. Not nice.

 

[Master Bates]

I still generally like the game and my experience with it. But as I've already said multiple times in the scattered threads and topics in this forum, the ending (the last 2 chapters to be precise) legitimately killed my vibe. It was one big WTF-moment for me and, after reading discussions about it, it still continues to confuse me. Although admittedly this may be because I'm still in denial with the desired changes made by the devs. I've grown more 'accepting' of it as the days go by, or rather and to be more precise, I've come to accept that my feelings on the ending won't affect what the developers had put in the game and are planning in future installments. I guess you could say, my feelings have become lukewarm, detached, and ambivalent. In effect, I feel like I'm more tolerant of what I was given and more open to upcoming changes because I feel like I now care less, albeit with some reservations with regards to things which I deem non-negotiable (to me, at least). Generally, I just feel like my immersion has been broken and my desire to replay the game has waned, which explains why in the entire month I've only made one full playthrough. I never even tried hard mode and didn't bother unlocking the other secrets of the game. Maybe in time, when my enthusiasm for it comes back (hopefully).

I'm still looking forward to future installments, mind.

 

[Cannon_Fodder]

My problem going into Remake is that I haven't been particularly invested in any story since 2016. All the books I've read, all the movies I've watched, and all the games I've played haven't occupied my mind for too long after I've finished them. When I was younger I used to relive story moments for weeks after finishing, sometimes even going far enough to write fanfiction or spend hours browsing other stories. Stories used to change my way of looking at the world, but again, that hasn't happened since 2016.

So, was Remake able to bring me back in time? Was it able to cure this lack of investment in fiction? In short, no. But I don't think that's a failure of the game itself; it's just a natural consequence of my changing mindset. I'm not going to spend a lot of time writing fanfics like I did after watching AC or playing the OG, but I don't think something like that was ever in the cards.

So if the remake isn't a revelation, what is it? Really fucking fun is my answer. The characters are fun, the combat is fun, and just experiencing the devs' obvious love for what they're making is fun. It has flaws (skyboxes, technical limitations, etc) but none of them have taken away from the experience itself. It's in my top 5 games of the generation, and I think a success as a remake (it just feels like FFVII to me). I'm excited about part 2, even if I think the ending sort of neutralized a lot of meaningful discussion about it--the possibilities for part 2 are so open that the conclusion of every discussion basically seems to end with, "well, I guess we'll have to see." That said, the experience itself was so fun that I'm basically down for whatever. Taking this type of experience and adding Red XIII as a playable character? Where do I sign?

 

[looneymoon]

Yea, my opinion hasn't changed on the writing. As an OG fan and someone who also thinks Square-Enix hasn't been on at the top of the storytelling game in a decade or more, I feel pretty alienated from caring as to what happens next. I have accepted what's happened and am having fun with it in my own way... but do I really care about the story events in the next installment? Nah. That buzz is dead.

Playing again on hard - a lot of the stuff I was giving the benefit of the doubt for is now sticking out more. I came into my first play through with a lot of good will, and was able to put a critical dissection of the narrative choices to the side. I feel less inclined to do that now, knowing where it leads. I understand the desire to want to carve out something completely new with FF7, but I can't help but wince at the irony that in doing so, they are telling to me that maybe they shouldn't. The best parts for me were spending time with characters and/or scenes crafted 20 years ago, and coming at them in refreshing angles and with modern embellishments, but still grounded to the initial outline. I can still revel in the parts I do enjoy, but there is a whole lot more sighing and face palming.

I don't need to think highly of the writing elements to enjoy the game. I certainly do still have fun with it, and I do still love these characters dearly so I am not saying it's completely not worth the time. That being said, other gameplay elements don't hold up as well on a second play through, which sucks. The odd pacing, not-fun sidequests, and basic level design make things more of a chore to get through again. This doesn't make the game bad, just flawed in its replayability, and that's fine. It is still loads of fun, I just do not have the same "I can't put this down because I can't wait to get to the next boss battle" feeling.

I would still recommend this to anyone, but with the asterisk that they should probably play the original first. I am happy that it is a fun time to be a FF7 fan again! I am not unhappy that the remake happened by any means. As time goes by, and my honeymoon phase ends with it, the flaws are just more apparent than they initially were.

I think I also did a bit of a disservice to myself by finishing The Last of Us for the first time, and then restarting a campaign in RE2make back-to-back before playing FF7R. FF7R is good yeah, but I think those two games accomplish what they set out to do a lot better.

 

[Odysseus]

I'll admit that from the scene of Wedge dying through the Sephiroth fight, I actually felt pretty dead inside. Like any enthusiasm I had had dried up and left my body. The final few battles were very much just going through the motions (didn't help that motorball was a pain and Sephiroth glitched out on me) and I was very ready to walk away from the game dissapointed. Then I saw Jessie's glove on the table and Biggs alive, and my mood instantly 180'd to hyper positive. I was giddy like a small child, I'm not even going to pretend I wasn't. Shallow as it is, I was happy by the time the credits were over.

One month onward, I still have very positive opinions of the Remake; I still like playing it, and while I've been taking hard mode pretty slow, it's been a blast. Reading theories from people like Makoeyes and Shademp have helped me reconcile my negative thoughts regarding some of the more questionable plot elements, and I am eager to see what happens next. There's some due trepidation, mind you, but for once in my life I actually trust that Square knows what they're doing, unpopular opinion atm though it may be. Maybe due to not being such a long time fan of FF7, about 7 years now, I don't mind square fucking with the story as much. The potential for exciting new developments far outweighs any sense of "betrayal" I might have felt.

I don't want to disparage anybody who doesn't like the game, though. Its pretty understandable why some people are so upset. I have a hard time recommending people play it on its own, though I also think people are over-blowing how difficult this game is to approach for a new player a bit. The game isn't quite what anyone was expecting, despite coming so, so close.

 

[oty]

I think I reached the biggest level of support for what they did with FFVIIR after I played another remake a couple weeks ago: the Trials of Mana one.

ToMR is a very good game, don't get me wrong. I'd say it is much more consistent than FFVIIR even. Post-game wise it completely destroys VIIR. But there is no doubt which one you simply like more. And I'm not talking gameplay wise, or visual wise. I'm saying which one you get more involved with.

I find it silly. I questioned myself after Trials of Mana: why I am criticising the FFVIIR team so much more than the ToMR team, even though the former is much better than the latter? What could have they possibly done that, even though VIIR is more succesful to me than ToMR, I criticise the first more than the second? And the answer that I found is that....they didnt do anything like that. Yeah, the ending is a structural mess. But, let's be real. That's not why I'm so mad. That's not why so many of us are mad. It's the prospect of this new story that gets me mad. It's the notion that: I will never get the Remake that I wanted, that I thought they would give. Not with this team.

And so it stopped adding up. How could I praise them, for taking creative liberties and applying that in regard to the characterization and the scene to scene that frankly, I believe ToMR would benefit greatly from, and at the same time criticise them from exercising such creative liberties elsewhere? I can't possibly know where this story is going to already deem it bad. In fact, the potential is very much there to work out something great. But it wont be FFVII.

And that's when it clicked. The hard fall of the cold truth. Things werent adding up because I wasnt adding up. Then I finally saw FFVIIR for what it really was.

It is a very good game. And it's specially likable. It's biggest problems are technical ones. Clunky air combat. Not so great sidequests. Restrictive gameplay. And a more or less inconsistent narrative that the ending is just another example. It's highs are extremely high. It reminds of a Secret of Mana or a Wind Waker, in that sense that, given the right proportion, even though they technically fail at a lot of points, they are so damn likable that you have so many good memories of it. And that's why Part 2 excites me. They can fix all these incoveniencies of the first part. And still put out a great story.

So that's what I think of FFVIIR. I'd recommend to everyone that has a PS4, because it is very fun. And it definitely has flaws SE needs to improve.

Yea, my opinion hasn't changed on the writing. As an OG fan and someone who also thinks Square-Enix hasn't been on at the top of the storytelling game in a decade or more, I feel pretty alienated from caring as to what happens next. I have accepted what's happened and am having fun with it in my own way... but do I really care about the story events in the next installment? Nah. That buzz is dead.

Playing again on hard - a lot of the stuff I was giving the benefit of the doubt for is now sticking out more. I came into my first play through with a lot of good will, and was able to put a critical dissection of the narrative choices to the side. I feel less inclined to do that now, knowing where it leads. I understand the desire to want to carve out something completely new with FF7, but I can't help but wince at the irony that in doing so, they are telling to me that maybe they shouldn't. The best parts for me was spending time with characters and/or scenes crafted 20 years ago, and coming at them in refreshing angles and modern embellishments, but still grounded to the initial outline. I can still revel in the parts I do enjoy, but there is a whole lot more sighing and face palming.

I don't need to think highly of the writing elements to enjoy the game. I certainly do still have fun with it, and I do still love these characters dearly so I am not saying it's completely not worth the time. That being said, other gameplay elements don't hold up as well on a second play through, which sucks. The odd pacing, not-fun sidequests, and basic level design make things more of a chore to get through again. This doesn't make the game bad, just flawed in its replayability, and that's fine. It is still loads of fun, I just do not have the same "I can't put this down because I can't wait to get to the next boss battle" feeling.

I would still recommend this to anyone, but with the asterisk that they should probably play the original first. I am happy that it is a fun time to be a FF7 fan again! I am not unhappy that the remake happened by any means. As time goes by, and my honeymoon phase ends with it, the flaws are just more apparent than they initially were.

I think I also did a bit of a disservice to myself by finishing The Last of Us for the first time, and then restarting a campaign in RE2make back-to-back before playing FF7R. FF7R is good yeah, but I think those two games accomplish what they set out to do a lot better.

I also had a similar thingy with RE2, that actually received a lot of criticism that's comparable to VIIR. I remember that, after RE2 came out, a lot of people argued that it lost the charm of the original, specially in regard to the soundtrack and the atmosphere, and the A and B scenarios, and that it replaced it with a new, more modernized setting that wasnt as good.

 

[argent_angel]

I don't think its fair to judge the game based on the ending just yet when there is so much we don't know. We don't even know what "Remake" in the title really means yet. Its clear to me SE wants to do something very special with this game going forward and I can't help but be super excited for this. We're all trying to get the right perspective of what FF7R really is but we just don't know yet. I don't believe the ending, nor the new elements with some characters introduced throughout the game were a last minute thing. I think it all has a much greater meaning and are meant to be hints for us to speculate on what FF7R actually is and where it may go from here. Is it a retelling, re-imagining, sequel or prequel? We don't know. Because we don't know there is confusion but I can only hope that everyone will give this time to unfold before jumping to any harsh conclusions on the game and please be open minded.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

You know, FFVII was a wacky flawed masterpiece that didn't even try to justify Hell House. There were a lot of incredibly fucking wierd things in it, its worldbuilding wasn't consistent, it didn't answer many of the questions it raised, and Cloud constantly burgled people's houses. (I'm sad he's given up the burgling in the Remake). But it was magical. Like it says in the quote below, it spoke to people's souls. I wasn't a kid when I played it for the first time. I was a grown woman and working mother with three degrees and I didn't even like video games.

I hated the Remake in my first playthrough because it wasn't a faithful step by step recreation of a game that has been transformational for me. All I could see were the things that were missing. I was like a child having my favourite story being read aloud to me, and complaining, "No, Daddy, you're doing the voice wrong."

Second time around, I enjoyed it for what it was. Is the pacing clunky in places? Yes. So was the OG. Are some of the sidequests a bit boring? Look, nothing is ever going to be more boring than the grind of breeding that prize winning chocobo so that I can get a summons I only ever used once. And the Fort Condor Mini Game is just plain dull. I always skip it. (I know there are people here who love it, so, sorry. Not my cup of tea).

For me, the magic is there in the Remake. It flickers on and off, but it's there, and often it glows with luminous intensity. The first bombing mission. Loved it. That moment when Cloud wanted to kill Johnny. Barret's eyes. The boss fight in the church with Reno. Aerith emerging from her hiding place, and the tear trickling down his face that took Cloud by surprise. The whole of Wall Market. The battle arena. I loved the sewers (I always love sewers, they are my favourite dungeons). The friendship between Aerith and Tifa. The train graveyard. The fight on the top of the pillar. The midnight conversations outside Aerith's house... OK let's hurry on to the really important one: Rufus Shinra!!

I don't even care any more about the last chapter. Motorball was a beast but I've defeated it now. Everything is superweird but whatever, I guess it will all be revealed eventually. In the meantime, we had Tseng and Rufus in the same frame!! Twice!

I am not at all surprised that new players aren't that bothered by the ending. As everyone knows, I came into the fandom via Advent Children, which was the most bizarre, incomprehensible film I'd ever seen - but it had that FFVII magic. I know it did because it cast its spell on me. And yet a lot of old-timer fans hated it. That's just how it goes, I guess.

 

[Pizzachu]

My opinion on the Remake is pretty much the same as it was a month ago. I’m looking forward to the second part of the Remake more than ever. The ending of the first part was not what I had originally anticipated, but I’m happy that it went in a completely different direction. It was unexpected, and I like not knowing what will happen next.

This is something I was never able to experience in the Final Fantasy VII fanbase before. I was too young to play the original when it came out, so I never experienced the original game like so many other fans. By the time I was able to play it, I already knew about Aerith’s death and other spoilers. Therefore, the original game never really gave me any strong feelings regarding plot twists. I had fun, but I never had that great experience I would see other people talk about online.

My introduction to the Final Fantasy franchise was Advent Children. I was introduced to Final Fantasy VII through its Compilation first (minus Dirge of Cerberus and Before Crisis). AC and CC was my first intro to JRPGs and to teen rated games (except for Super Smash Bros. Melee). And even then, I had already missed the initial hype surrounding AC and CC because I was late to the series (2009 to 2010 I believe).

So, by having the Remake take an unexpected turn at the end combined with the Whispers interfering with the “timeline,” I was finally able to experience some sort of unexpectedness that FFVII had never given me before. I can take part in discussions and wonder what the developers are going to do next as opposed to having everything laid out before me. It makes me incredibly happy to finally be apart of something I care about so much.

I do feel sympathetic for those who had experienced the original and wanted the Remake to recapture that feeling for them. But, at the same time, I can’t help but feel thrilled that the Remake is incorporating parts of the Compilation and will be the next installment of the Compilation. It feels like the Remake was made for people like me who enjoyed the Compilation and have not been able to be in the Final Fantasy VII fan-base for as long as older fans have.

I’ll be blunt: I don’t have an incredible emotional attachment to the 1997 game. By the time I played it, it was graphically outdated and the rest of the Compilation (combined with the internet) had already spoiled any surprises it could have given me. I do, however, have an emotional attachment to AC and CC. I don’t think they are the pinnacle of writing, but I enjoyed them a lot.

 

[Wol]

I don't think its fair to judge the game based on the ending just yet when there is so much we don't know. We don't even know what "Remake" in the title really means yet. Its clear to me SE wants to do something very special with this game going forward and I can't help but be super excited for this. We're all trying to get the right perspective of what FF7R really is but we just don't know yet. I don't believe the ending, nor the new elements with some characters introduced throughout the game were a last minute thing. I think it all has a much greater meaning and are meant to be hints for us to speculate on what FF7R actually is and where it may go from here. Is it a retelling, re-imagining, sequel or prequel? We don't know. Because we don't know there is confusion but I can only hope that everyone will give this time to unfold before jumping to any harsh conclusions on the game and please be open minded.

It's not so much about what we don't know, but how the final events developed.

- No sense of building up the ending, no, let's just throw random stuff at the last hour.
- Adding drastic and questionable elements that alters the rules of the entire universe without putting effort in connecting it to previous Lore.
- Rule of Cool fiesta
- Bad dialogue
- Long and repetitive fights

 

[looneymoon]

I also had a similar thingy with RE2, that actually received a lot of criticism that's comparable to VIIR. I remember that, after RE2 came out, a lot of people argued that it lost the charm of the original, specially in regard to the soundtrack and the atmosphere, and the A and B scenarios, and that it replaced it with a new, more modernized setting that wasnt as good.

Oh yeah, I don't think RE2make is without criticism (I love OG RE2 as well). That and TLOU just happened to be the games I played before FF7r. Without drawing out the comparison, because they are completely different genres, I think FF7r's core game design is more comparable those 2 games than it is to its source material. Which is why I said I may have done a disservice to myself in the follow up to my write up about the FF7 pacing/level design, because imo it doesn't come close to those two.

edit: to add to that, I also played FF15 during that same period, and working on that comparison (which is probably more relevant) the glow up cannot be overstated

 

[Makoeyes987]

Memories and emotions are ephemeral things, subject to the fluxes of time, people, and places, which are unsurprisingly the very same factors that shape the human condition. The original FFVII and it's meaning is so heavily enshrined within the perceptions of numerous groups and generations of people, all of which are a sort of competing bloc striving to find their ascribed meaning within the Remake.

I've always held a strong yet flexible relationship with the original FFVII. It was my first Final Fantasy and an undeniable influence of my teenage years during a very rough emotional time for me. I loved it to pieces and it easily would rank as #1 in my personal list of most significant games of the 90s. However, I always make it a point to never place things on a pedestal so high, that they remain out of the reach of change and instead require a toppling from that pedestal to reconcile subsequent change.

My recollection and emotional connection to the original never produced the high levels of anxiety that I've seen in others because I've always known and accepted that something like VII is not easily replicable. Not in something that still lives and grows alongside us. With the way VII exists in the memories of others, it's inevitable that things will change and grow, in ways others may not enjoy. Like a parent witnessing their cute, loveable child grow up into an angst ridden asshole of a teenager.

The unique and varied interpretations of FFVII is a perfect case study of how one projects their personal feelings, desires and experiences within an outside frame work, and wish to see those feelings reflected back onto them. Ever since Kingdom Hearts in 2002, I've amusedly and enthusiastically witnessed the continued growth and modernization that these characters and stories experienced alongside myself, and realized that in a weird sorta way, they were alive and growing with the time period they continued to exist in. This is why I've reconciled long ago that while my own subjective experience of VII may be unique, it ultimately comes from myself. The story that the writers wish to convey is what ultimately exists in continuation, and that's also highly intriguing and worth enjoying and analyzing in its own right.

With the Remake, I came prepared for changes and always knew something was gonna be a curve ball. The Arbiters of Fate carried a name far too heavy to just be something simple. However I was not expecting such an ending. I loved it but even I felt trepidation given the uncharted territory they were walking into. But I can't help but feel excited and able to hold trust in their work. I enjoyed the hell out of Part 1 and if they can meet that same kind of energy a second time, they're already doing an amazing job. Uncertainty breeds fear, but that's what life is about. And I respect the balls it takes to be willing to challenge your own laurels and be willing to subvert what could have easily been a simple cash-in Remake that could have been a by-the-book cinematic retelling of the same story. Instead they wanted to create. And I respect creation.

So a month later I'm still as excited and able to enjoy the Remake for what it brought to the table. I've platinum'd the game so I don't play it quite as often yet it's a new experience and realization of the FFVII series that I'm enjoying as an adult. The younger version of myself that experienced the OG in 99 can never exist again and I can not replicate that feeling or experience. But that's okay because that's just how life is. Instead I'll happily enjoy this reunion with the world in a new and modern context that reflects the present rather than what came before. Whatever happens, it'll at least will be interesting and that's really all we can really guarantee in the end.

 

[RhinoKart]

Initial reaction was that I had a few nitpicks up to the second half of Chapter 17 but then everything just went to hell and I was very unhappy.

A month later, I feel a bit better. The more I thought about changes to future parts, the more I felt like I was okay with it (depending on what the changes end up being), and I'm willing to sit on the "everyone is alive" problem until we actually know more about it. I know many people with disagree but I always figured a bunch of stuff outside of Midgar was going to need to be rewritten to give a more captivating and cohesive story (espcially for each episode to have its own story arch). So I am generally open to changes as long as the general story stays intact (which seems to be what they have promised us).

My biggest gripe is with the whispers, not necessarily their existence but how they were implemented. They were too in your face and the ending seemed too rushed with us suddenly fighting them. A slower buildup and a more subtle implementation would have been my preference.

Also as others have said, the skybox issues are very annoying. Would be nice if that could get fixed somehow.

Overall my impression is pretty positive, and certainly more positive then it was a month ago.

 

[Odysseus]

I think maybe the ending didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth, aside from pandering to my niche character interests, was because I was never in the camp that wanted a remake to begin with. The original game can't be replicated, even if they did it perfectly. FF7 found me at the perfect time in my life, showed me what video game storytelling could be. It molded the way I think about stories and characters, and was generally just a very foundational experience for me in my teen years. I'm 23 now, and I can't have those experiences again, I'm just not the same person I was.

I would probably have preferred an FFVII-2 or something, showing the characters in a new period of their lives, having new experiences. That's more interesting to me than retreading old ground. The prospect of a new story, or a least a very different take on the old one, excites me more than something 1 to 1 would, so I'm happy they're doing something different. That just me 1 month later though, ask me again in a few years and we'll see where I'm at.

 

[KetaKitty]

The build up to this game was immense for me, in no way could I hide my excitement.

A month, and a platinum/master, later I sill can't quell my excitement. I've never uploaded a single video to any platform, of any kind of content, until my hard mode play through of FFVIIR, not for any other reason other than I wanted to share too! As someone who has been a fan since the original games release I can honestly say I love FFVIIR. Unlike some others I was over prepared for the changes that have been presented within this game. My favorite way to sum my feelings up is with the quote "I, along with Nomura-san and Nojima-san, who are involved in the remake, were involved in the original Final Fantasy VII. We were the people who created it, so in that sense, we don't think anything is untouchable. That isn't to say we are changing everything!" I've been ready for whatever those names could bring to this new project, as long as they don't confuse us. Ultimately I'm just so happy we got more FFVII, and as a novelist I fully support the 'never stop expanding your work where you want it expanded' method.

On that note I greatly appreciate y'all's much more constructive opinions and fantastic viewpoints, because I'm still awestruck personally. 10/10 for me!

 

[Kain424]

My feelings on this game are incredibly complex and personal. I haven't felt such soaring highs and soul-scraping lows since... the original game. But this time it was really for different reasons.

I'd actually spent the entire previous year writing, recording, and editing together a gigantic Final Fantasy VII video... only to drop it and start over several times. I just couldn't do it. Part of it was the fear of getting my actual feelings on the original game put in one place. Part of it was also that I was so hyped to play this damn game, I couldn't focus on a game I haven't played through all the way since 2016.

And the closer the Remake came to being released, the more my hype turned to uncertainty. And fear. I am mostly an optimist when it comes to such things, but this was different. This game meant something to me. And so whenever I saw an image of something that strayed the least bit from what my preconceived notions of what it should look like, I internally panicked. And even though the wait for this game had always seemed eternal, that final few days blew by ridiculously fast for me. Too fast. And then I got the game a day early, to boot.

And I played the hell out of it. So much about Remake is so right. But also, so much is wrong.

No matter what justification is given for the use of the Whispers, they truly do fundamentally ruin the experience. Either with their physical impediments to the gameplay, or with their ultimate narrative use. The thing is, the original game used a certain amount of charming subtlety. Like with the first meet-up with Aerith. Now the scene is haunted not only with a vision of Sephiroth (which itself is a bit jarring, but I can dig it), but now include these inconsistent narrative disasters.

By the time I was fighting my way through the Drum (which I, even now, alternate between thinking it's a brilliant way to keep in all of Shinra HQ's many strange beasties or a narrative slog), I was absolutely livid. The Barret fake-out literally had me just throwing my hands in the air and saying fuck this shit."

And yet here's the thing: I love this game, too. I never really like Midgar. I have a save file waiting for me on my PS4, specifically for whenever I might want to pick up the original Final Fantasy VII again to play. And that save is immediately after Midgar. But Remake's Midgar was actually fun for me. From the annoying cat collecting bullshit sidequests to the jukebox jams to the fucking dance scene. I legitimately laughed and teared up multiple times. I've played so man damn games in my life that I sometimes wonder if a game can effect me, but now and then I get those wonderful little moments of pure joy from one. Final Fantasy VII Remake had dozens. I loved little things like the "monkey bar" sequence with Tifa in the Shinra building, listening to NPC dialog, and making pigeons scatter as I ran through them. Shit, I even loved traversing the game's sewers. Now that's an accomplishment for ANY video game.

But those damn Whispers. They truly are a sour note in this game. I was never one of those people who wanted a 1:1 remake of the original game. But I also never wanted to get sucked out of an interesting plot digression, or to have some of the Midgar section's best moments sullied by an unwelcome and completely unnecessary plot device.

Am I excited about the possibilities present in the next installment? Sure. Maybe. I guess. How do I feel about Final Fantasy VII Remake a month out? I love it. I hate it.

 

[oty]

I was digging the Whispers right until Chapter 12-13. We finally got the idea that A) they werent evil, which made them an interesting mystery and B)they seemingly brought an extremely interesting metanarrative to the Remake, that is so damn ballsy I could not be not impressed by it.

Aftet that though, they just lost everything that made them interesting. It felt forced that they would appear, and almost predictable. It's almost like the game was trying to push the same card over and over. And then came the ending, which just did not feel right, for a lot of reasons.

 

[Kain424]

I was digging the Whispers right until Chapter 12-13. We finally got the idea that A) they werent evil, which made them an interesting mystery and B)they seemingly brought an extremely interesting metanarrative to the Remake, that is so damn ballsy I could not be not impressed by it.

Aftet that though, they just lost everything that made them interesting. It felt forced that they would appear, and almost predictable. It's almost like the game was trying to push the same card over and over. And then came the ending, which just did not feel right, for a lot of reasons.

I figured they were helpful the first time they kept Aerith from falling over. I also thought they were some sort of metanarrative thing, until after I beat the game and really thought about it. They don't really work in that meta sense because they are far too inconsistent about how they "interfere" and how deeply convoluted you have to twist any sort of rationale to make them work.

Do they exist to keep the plot beats the same? Then why don't they stop you from heading to the top plate with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie?
Are they there to maintain the main story of the original? Then why do they not go nuclear when it's revealed there's an entire militarized force fighting the Shinra within city limits?
Why do they save Aerith from falling sometimes and not others?
Why do they rescue Wedge?
Why do they kill Wedge?
Do they kill Wedge?
Why do they care about what Aerith is saying? Why do they leave her alone when Tifa holds her hand?

Instead of coming away from the game going, "what a story!" or something akin to that, you end up leaving just wondering what the fuck just happened. And that's kind of a problem.

 

[oty]

No, yeah. They are extremely inconsistent. But that's because, they act as devices for the metanarrative "outside of the game", but also for the narrative "inside of the game". So, pretty much, they are subjected to "dumb" rules of the universe, while at the same time, kind of breaking the 4th wall.

I digged the meta part. The in-game stuff was too much of a rollercoaster.

 

[looneymoon]

I figured they were helpful the first time they kept Aerith from falling over. I also thought they were some sort of metanarrative thing, until after I beat the game and really thought about it. They don't really work in that meta sense because they are far too inconsistent about how they "interfere" and how deeply convoluted you have to twist any sort of rationale to make them work.

Do they exist to keep the plot beats the same? Then why don't they stop you from heading to the top plate with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie?
Are they there to maintain the main story of the original? Then why do they not go nuclear when it's revealed there's an entire militarized force fighting the Shinra within city limits?
Why do they save Aerith from falling sometimes and not others?
Why do they rescue Wedge?
Why do they kill Wedge?
Do they kill Wedge?
Why do they care about what Aerith is saying? Why do they leave her alone when Tifa holds her hand?

Instead of coming away from the game going, "what a story!" or something akin to that, you end up leaving just wondering what the fuck just happened. And that's kind of a problem.

the other idea not mentioned is that they're "the fans" and they're a metaphor for the creators breaking free from the expectations set.

which is such... such a fake-deep and malicious reading, and only really seems to function as a justification to avoid criticism (or create a central locus of the criticism - one that is self-justifying by design). If you are going to do a metanarrative like that, it still needs to be properly woven into the narrative, and not be justified by virtue of it existing in the real world. It also really goes against the ethos from the creators and what they've had to say about OG - that the takeaway from the story belongs to anyone who engages with it. Maybe they're trying to recreate that idea, but the "fan metanarrative" runs so contradictory to that.

 

[Kain424]

That was my first reading. That the Whispers were something like a commentary on people like me, who love the original and don't want any serious changes. And that they wanted to make us complicit in "changing fate" by fighting the Whispers.

Thing is, that's a tricky line that is basically impossible to cross. The game's already different by virtue of its existence on this new and improved platform. Furthermore, they don't appear with every change. How could they possibly know which changes every fan would or would not enjoy? The Whispers sure as shit didn't pop up to interfere when I engaged in an impromptu dance off. If this is the metaphor, it's sloppy. But also, it's the mere presence of the Whispers themselves that have caused the most dissatisfaction with the fans.

Then again, maybe they're just saying fans don't like other fans.

Whatever the excuse, they are in the game to its detriment.

 

[Ite]

The thing about a new experience, is that it's only new once. With this game, I didn't want something new for myself, I wanted something definitive that I could show to others. To say, "This is the story I've been going on about for two decades, they've updated it and made it more palettable for you." It's clear now that wasn't their intent. They have, after release, said that this is meant to be enjoyed alongside, not in lieu of, the OG. And yet, before release, they marketed it as a suitable entry point for new fans. That was an expectation that they explicitly set up. Subverting that expectation isn't clever, it's gaslighting. My pissed-offedness is valid, and you'll probably hear about it for a long time.

Trying to retroactively think of it as a companion piece to the OG is now the task.

Spoiler: My Opinions Are Mostly Negative Anyway

The graphics and style are inconsistent, which I guess means that they are sometimes great. The combat is excellent, I still love the materia system, the soundtrack is (mostly) exquisite, and some of the writing is good. Barret's been given his much overdue respect, and I like how they turned the bouffon carnival-of-freaks element of the Wall Market chapter into tasteful lgbt rep - both of those things were the much needed replacement that I was looking for with this game.

Most of the new dialogue, however, I found really juvenile, or vague, or sappy, or up its own ass. Often I feel like they wrote loops around themselves trying to softball some of the hardass shit the original game pulled off (removing the objective guilt from AVALANCHE's massacres, the sheer number of Sector 7 survivors, etc.) and the pacing is pretty bad, lacking urgency and leaving the original sequence of events feeling rather disconnected. I think the romances feel forced, I don't like how Jessie stole Tifa's resolve and Aeris's groundedness only to lose both of those traits during a really cringey death scene. Tifa gains her resolve after that point, but Aeris leans into the manic pixie dream girl thing even harder, and her overall writing didn't reach me. I don't like how much this game made me think about waifu shit. I don't like the phrase "best girl" and it takes a lot to get me to "ship." I felt like for all the focus the romance options get, I had to do a lot of the heavy lifting myself. The friendship between Tifa and Aeris also felt really heavy-handed, as if they punched it up to counterweigh the waifu shit. idk

There's multiple parts of the game where a hot girl tells Cloud to be nice to quest givers. Cloud complains about doing the sidequests that I'm making him do, which is a weird, 4th-wall-warbling Catch-22 that makes me feel like a bad friend for coming over to play. Both Johnny and Wedge have a "I'm gonna call you 'bro' even though it bugs you" shtick. I didn't find myself enjoying the scene-by-scene writing, I found it flip-flopped from being phoned-in to precious and overwritten. I enjoy the fanart more than the actual content.

I'm still pissed about Cait Sith showing up during platefall -- even as someone who knows what I'm looking at (this is supposed to be for new players?) it deflates the drama and sends me far away from being connected to the present story (why is Reeve running around as Cait Sith? Does he just... do that? Why is he making the puppet bang his fist on the ground? Like, I get that he's sad, but he's got to be in a control room somewhere, making the puppet do that. Why?) I think I missed the rest of the cutscene thinking about it. The game does this cutaway thing surprisingly often, never to good effect, starting with Chapter 1 where a scene is undercut by a useless detour to Nibelheim (Wh-whose eyes are we looking through? Cloud? Where's he going? Why is he ignoring Tifa? Oh, none of that matters, you literally threw me through space and time for no reason? Okay. Back to... Where were we?). That scene is particularly egregious because it interrupted my favorite scene in the demo, and in doing so, killed what made it awesome. In terms of cutaways, though, the worst is when they introduce a new character during the last hour of the story (of course, it's not a new character, is it? They had a big Marvelesque reveal of his face, you must know and love this character, it's Zack! Aren't you happy to see him?). Since this is a sequel, I can't begrudge Zack fans happy to see their man, but idgaf about that guy, so even without the complete narrative derailment, I was underwhelmed. Of course, the story had already lost me completely by that point. The Barret death fake-out was the throw-the-controller moment for me, although I hadn't been having fun for hours at that point. Shinra HQ was just stunningly boring, like, if the original dungeon was a 10-piece puzzle, this new one is like three of the pieces floating in a bowl of melted ice cream.

There are other places where this is exhaustively talked about, but one month later, my summation of the Whispers is that whole concept of Fate devalues the human struggle, raises some truly baffling questions about the Planet as a character, and it comes with a bonus meta-commentary that, as of now, is getting in the way of narrative analysis and dividing the fandom even further. The fact that it interrupted the scenes I was looking forward to most really stung.

But.

Thinking about the FF7 Remake as a companion piece, a sequel to Crisis Core, what-have-you, turns all that bad into bland mashed potatoes instead of a forkful of shit. As it is for those who know the story already, then it is for me, and as such, I can't reject it outright, because there was this one time that I was fighting Arsenal and I went into Tactical Mode during Barret's limit break and him, Aeris, and Red XIII were all lunging forward in slow-motion at the same time with their materia glinting and it. was. awesome. As long as I'm trying not to look at it from the perspective of a new audience (which goes against all my training as an actor/writer/storyteller but w/e) it's not so bad.

tl;dr - In no universe would I recommend this game to anyone. A real shame, because the OG is a hard sell, only getting harder, and I really wanted an actual remake.