Theres just something about it that seems overblown. I dont really want them referencing the old animations too much. The gestures in the OG are a result of the limitations of the models, so charicatured animations were the way to get things across. Like Barret acting like a gorilla waving his arms around.
This isn't necessarily true though, and I'd make the case that it certainly isn't for FFVII. Watch anime, or play Japanese games even with current gen graphics, and overly dramatic and silly body-language found in FFVII is all over the place (Metal Gear, Bayonetta, Devil May Cry just off the top of my head) - and FFVII is, stylistically speaking, as Japanese and "anime" as it gets.
It's a cultural thing.
Silly arm-flailing is a comic relief thing that occurs frequently in Japanese animated media and was kept around even in FFVIII (along with several other overly dramatic mannerisms that we see even today in Japanese media) where such motions wouldn't have been necessary to convey anything meaningful other than comic relief.
In general at the mannerism thing (not directly directed at you Pixel, so don't take it the wrong way)
Lots of these mannerisms seem cringeworthy to western audiences, but really though - at the risk of sounding rude to those who don't like them - that's a kind of ethnocentric knee-jerk emotionalism I can do without.
The cringe is a result of what standards people in the west grow up with as the norm, especially as it pertains to as what is appropriate
levels of expressiveness in "mature media".
This distinction isn't as clear in Japanese pop-culture, because "mature" media in Japan isn't defined by the same metrics as in the west, where "juvenile" jokes or cartoonish scenes and expression somehow detracts from the "high-brow" nature of the media in question.
Thankfully, with the rise of gaming/geek/internet culture, western media/art pretentiousness seems to be slightly on the decline, so I'm not saying this is always a black/white/west/east thing.
Body-language isn't universal, even by a long shot - which is made especially apparent in Japan - and it makes little sense to me to superimpose ideas of what sort of mannerism "make sense" from a western perspective unto something being made by Japanese people, especially when you add to the mix that this game isn't even set in the real world.
Regardless, FFVII was campy as hell. The camp, to my mind, is what makes it great, and the character expressions are a part of that. Clearly the remake is going to deviate from the camp-factor of the original, and so I do agree that many of the mannerisms might feel out of place.
To my mind though, that isn't a demonstration of the problem with campy mannerisms, it's a demonstration of the problem with the new art direction, and the fact that they insist on using it despite how incongruent it is with the style, feel and character of the original game.
Simply put - "silly" mannerisms aren't the issue here - the issue is that they're forced on a game that, at least on its surface at the current moment (and yeah I'm specifically thinking of that horrible close-up of Cloud looking like a weeabo wearing a cheap wig) looks more like it's being designed by a western company than by a Japanese company which I think naturally sets expectations more towards a western standard of story-telling than that of a Japanese.
