SPOILERS [Rant] Can't get myself to continue this game (*Open Spoilers*)

[SocraticMethod]

I feel like in taking crazy pills with how many FF7 fans love this game.

I'm on chapter 13 and haven't played in over a week, with no desire to go back to it.

The pacing: this game has been so overly bloated and padded to such an extreme that story has become so dull. Even with newer twists and takes I'm uninterested in what was the best video game story of all time.

The dialogue: trite anime tropes take away most nuance from characters that have become one-dimensional. They also rely heavily on single instances in the original. Best example: Cloud demands money from Barret in the original, so for over a dozen hours and chapters all he does is demand money from people.

Performances: Extremely over exaggerated (thumbs up!) hand gestures and movements that don't match their tone or demeanor.

Level/environment design: Welcome to 2005. Corridors with gated branching paths that only open later, empty arenas where a future battle will clearly take place, constant warning signs deterring from exploring, etc.

Sidequests: Still in 2005. Meaningless fetch quests or kill-this-monster quests that add no charm, lore, or fun in talking or NPCs.

NPCs: I didn't know "slums" are packed with attractive hipsters with their own personal hair stylists. Nearly everyone in the slums is young and cute and the game romanticizes being poor. Now it's arguable that Aeris is like this in the original (for sure) but everyone else is living in a dump and doesn't seem too happy about it. There's also lots to be left to your imagination.

Sephiroth: Wow we're really gonna introduce and lean on him that early huh? The opening intro of the game even has a One-Winged Angel sting in it. So much for that story element being built up.

Cloud: A huge prick. Never nice to anyone, always demanding money, but gorgeous women still love him and he suddenly does an emphatic and elaborate dance at a sex club. "But in the original he was a prick. Just wait." No, he wasn't. He was definitely standoffish, had a chip on his shoulder, but never just blatantly rude all the time.

Minigames: How hard was it to improve on these? They're somehow less fun than original. A random "hit the boxes" game is fun in 2020? Squats are more frustrating than fun, and they made a simple "hit the button at the same time" mechanic a monotonous game. How is this laudable in 2020?

Controls/Camera: The camera reminds of the first Kingdom Hearts. It constantly gets in the way, it's far too close even at the furthest option, and moves in jarring ways when objects are in the way. You have to be so precise with lining up button prompts as well. And he runs blazingly fast at one moment, but when the game wants you to slow down you're moving at a crawl (sometimes this happens in scenes where you really should be rushing!)

Music: A grab bag of the great and awful arrangements. Under the Rotting Pizza is an example of a flawless arrangement. New, fresh, keeps the tone of the original and even improves on it. Lots of others are horrible though. Oppressed People removes the reggae feel and turns the song into something entirely unlikable. The theme at Wall Market is atrocious, especially since it's such a short melody that constantly loops in an area you spend a long time at.

Graphics: Gorgeous except for the obvious texture issues. Some I'm sure will be fixed, others seem to be by design for some reason. This is maybe the most common gripe but the one I care about least probably.

Combat: easily the BEST thing about the game imo. It's more intricate and fun than I expected and balances the ATB with ARPG elements.

Difficulty: That said, the difficulty is so unbalanced. Normal is downright hard in many boss battles and makes combat a slog. Easy is too easy though and turns the combat into near button-mashing. People complained about the Kotaku article that talks about this but he was exactly right!

The ending: I haven't even gotten there! I have no idea how bad it gets like everyone keeps telling me.

The future: Is this game ever going to be finished? They still have nothing planned out which is a HUGE red flag. How can they continue this, especially if the next entry isn't until like 2022 or later? I seriously just don't think this game ever gets finished.

So after this long rant, I just don't know if I can finish this game. I'm completely bored and annoyed by it. The critical response is so baffling to me as well. FF7 has long been my all-time favorite game and it sucks to have a remake that's so poor imo.

 

[looneymoon]

I agree with some of this but imo the negativity is so overblown lol.

I'll have my own rant about this game, no doubt. But like, I think maybe youve built the OG too much in your mind to find virtually nothing worthwhile about the remake

 

[Master Bates]

If you do decide to abandon the game, please don't throw out your copy. I'm willing to sacrifice myself as recipient of your garbage so you can just send them to me for free so I can sell it at a profit to anyone interested.

 

[Pizzachu]

If you feel like it's that bad, then I would recommend that you don't play it anymore. People have uploaded the ending on YouTube if you want to see it. ^^

 

[LNK]

That's too bad you feel that way. I personally think the remake was better than the Midgar section of the OG (by a long shot)
Well, at least you can still play the OG

 

[SocraticMethod]

If you do decide to abandon the game, please don't throw out your copy. I'm willing to sacrifice myself as recipient of your garbage so you can just send them to me for free so I can sell it at a profit to anyone interested.

I bought it digitally. :/

 

[Rydeen]

While I disagree with the majority of this, I agree on the sidequests and camera control, and feel that some chapters were too padded (with uninteresting added content). I feel that the character interactions, battle system, and setting made up for these issues, but I’m sorry you didn’t like it. My older brother is a long time fan and he doesn’t seem to like it much either.

 

[Fangu]

The first paragraph (about pacing) I'm with you, as pacing is a big deal to me and to me there was indeed too much padding and slow down; the rest a little bit but mostly not. I empathise with your rage though.

 

[Wol]

Imagine if you actually experienced the ending lol

 

[SocraticMethod]

While I disagree with the majority of this, I agree on the sidequests and camera control, and feel that some chapters were too padded (with uninteresting added content). I feel that the character interactions, battle system, and setting made up for these issues, but I’m sorry you didn’t like it. My older brother is a long time fan and he doesn’t seem to like it much either.

I mentioned it briefly but the battle system is fantastic. It does redeem a lot of the game. If I didn't like that I wouldn't have even bought it. I was planning on skipping it (trailers turned me off from the get-go) but the demo was really good.

 

[Roger]

I'm with you on the padding, by Chapter 14 I was having nightmares of other ways there were gonna prevent me from starting my climb to the plate.

I gotta defend Cloud here though, Barret cusses him out throughout the mission, physically pushes him around without need, then at the end leaves paying him to Tifa who is unable to pay him in full without needing him to do further work, Cloud has a right to be angry and insist on his pay. And Aerith pretty much hires him for free without ever waiting for Cloud's agreement. pretty valid reason to be clear that you prefer to be paid with if you ask me.

 

[SocraticMethod]

I'm with you on the padding, by Chapter 14 I was having nightmares of other ways there were gonna prevent me from starting my climb to the plate.

I gotta defend Cloud here though, Barret cusses him out throughout the mission, physically pushes him around without need, then at the end leaves paying him to Tifa who is unable to pay him in full without needing him to do further work, Cloud has a right to be angry and insist on his pay. And Aerith pretty much hires him for free without ever waiting for Cloud's agreement. pretty valid reason to be clear that you prefer to be paid with if you ask me.

Definitely agreed with his anger/defensiveness in the very early chapters, especially towards Barrett. It just rubs me the wrong way that he does this to everyone else since they all treat him way too kindly. He's straight up rude a lot of the time lol.

My favorite moment of dialogue in the game is literally when an NPC says to Cloud, "You're such a dick!"

 

[Lestat]

This should maybe be moved into the spoiler section to ensure it doesn't ruin anything for anyone else.

 

[Lex]

Thread moved to spoiler section and tagged

 

[Knights of the Round]

The first time through the game you’re going to be comparing every little thing to the original. This will cause you to dislike it and even be outright disgusted at times, because it’s a much different game than the original. They’re 23 years apart. This can be labeled the ‘Denial Stage’ for many. You’re actively rejecting any changes between what you remember and what you’re now playing.

As difficult as it is you have, to an extent, to separate the two games in your mind. Once you learn to accept that, then you can appreciate it for what it is, which is a re-imagining or an elaboration on the game you most love. It will never replace the original, but it can build upon it and offer new and rewarding experiences.

FFVII is by far my favorite game of all time, and Remake is definitely in my top 10 of games I’ve ever played. Maybe even top 5, as I’m already on my 4th play through. It took a 2nd play through to appreciate it for what it is, though, instead of my brain constantly measuring it to the original, which was, as Andrea would so eloquently put it, ‘perfection’ for its time and can never really be measured up to.

Is it dated feeling in some places? Sure. Are there places where they butchered the soundtrack and screwed up the visuals with the lousy textures? Certainly. Aerith’s garden is a prime example and one I hope will be fixed with a patch or PS5 release. However - Are the characters true to their original and near perfect representations, visually and vocally, to what many of us imagined 23 years ago? You’re damn right they are. I disagree strongly on that point. They’re perfect. The evolution of Cloud’s persona throughout the game, the playfulness and quirkiness of Aerith, the deep and reflective nature of Tifa. And the new music they added in some areas, like Chapter 13 around the wreckage, is heart-wrenching, brilliant stuff. That’s a strange chapter to quit on as that one gripped me the most, emotionally. You didn’t feel Tifa and Barret’s pain in that chapter? The storytelling is great.

Voice acting’s superb, the chatter back and forth between the cast is superb, the dialogue for the NPCs is vast and changes based on gameplay and actions taken.

So, in some ways, what it loses from the original it adds to it with its own touch of genius, love and care.

 

[SocraticMethod]

The first time through the game you’re going to be comparing every little thing to the original. This will cause you to dislike it and even be outright disgusted at times, because it’s a much different game than the original. They’re 23 years apart. This can be labeled the ‘Denial Stage’ for many. You’re actively rejecting any changes between what you remember and what you’re now playing.

As difficult as it is you have, to an extent, to separate the two games in your mind. Once you learn to accept that, then you can appreciate it for what it is, which is a re-imagining or an elaboration on the game you most love. It will never replace the original, but it can build upon it and offer new and rewarding experiences.

FFVII is by far my favorite game of all time, and Remake is definitely in my top 10 of games I’ve ever played. Maybe even top 5, as I’m already on my 4th play through. It took a 2nd play through to appreciate it for what it is, though, instead of my brain constantly measuring it to the original, which was, as Andrea would so eloquently put it, ‘perfection’ for its time and can never really be measured up to.

Is it dated feeling in some places? Sure. Are there places where they butchered the soundtrack and screwed up the visuals with the lousy textures? Certainly. Aerith’s garden is a prime example and one I hope will be fixed with a patch or PS5 release. However - Are the characters true to their original and near perfect representations, visually and vocally, to what many of us imagined 23 years ago? You’re damn right they are. I disagree strongly on that point. They’re perfect. The evolution of Cloud’s persona throughout the game, the playfulness and quirkiness of Aerith, the deep and reflective nature of Tifa. And the new music they added in some areas, like Chapter 13 around the wreckage, is heart-wrenching, brilliant stuff. That’s a strange chapter to quit on as that one gripped me the most, emotionally. You didn’t feel Tifa and Barret’s pain in that chapter? The storytelling is great.

Voice acting’s superb, the chatter back and forth between the cast is superb, the dialogue for the NPCs is vast and changes based on gameplay and actions taken.

So, in some ways, what it loses from the original it adds to it with its own touch of genius, love and care.

You literally just said I'm in denial lol. Wow. Thanks for the quack analysis.

Gotta love the people inserting "you're just comparing it to the original too much" despite nearly everything I said not being compared to the original at all.

 

[Makoeyes987]

....Four lines into your post, you make a comparison of Cloud's behavior in the Remake, to the original game. You compare the Remake to the original no less than 4 different times in your initial post. It's not a large leap for a reader to make the inference, that you clearly are going into this with a heavy bias towards the OG. You even compare the Remake's take on mini-games to how the OG did them. Even if "nearly everything" you've stated in your post is not in direct reference or comparison to the OG, that's clearly the line of thinking you've demonstrated by your examples. It's a shame you brush off that fairly innocuous, positive affirmation of your perspective and advice towards your difficulties in playing what you've spent money on to play. It might have helped you find some enjoyment out of the game you spent close to 70 bucks on, or more.

If what you're feeling towards the game isn't out of comparison towards the OG whatsoever, then maybe J-RPGs aren't the game genre for you. Clearly if you have an issue with anime being a stylistic base that inspires some of the direction of a Japanese developed game, along with sidequests, level design, character design, storyline, themes present and just the story existing honestly within itself, then I'm sure you can just find something that suits your tastes. Sorry that you've grown apart from the direction Square is growing and developing its games. Sometimes break ups happen. At least the original still exists for you to replay again and again.

 

[Knights of the Round]

You literally just said I'm in denial lol. Wow. Thanks for the quack analysis.

Gotta love the people inserting "you're just comparing it to the original too much" despite nearly everything I said not being compared to the original at all.

Looks like you're not done ranting...

Stop being so defensive. The context of that entire paragraph was 'for many', of which I included myself if you'd bother to read down to the 3rd paragraph instead of immediately throwing your gloves up.

And I went back and re-read about half of your post just now and counted you using the word 'original' on 5 separate occasions. You have a unique definition of 'nearly everything not being compared to the original'.