The Remake After The OG Story: Living Games

[ChipNoir]

This is another big reason why I feel like there's a chance that the first game would make sense to end at Midgar OR in Junon before sneaking onboard the boat. They feel like natural cut-off points where the party can wander around on their own time that doesn't feel as though it's breaking the experience of the game. Both of them also lend themselves to placing content between releases in ways that're enjoyable as well.

I figure that weapon / item / materia sidequests as well as misc enemies are a good way to tackle it. One of the bigger questions I have is how they'll handle character levels between each part. Will players who do everything feel OP at the start of the next part? On the same note, that'll also feel interesting based on whether or not we get Yuffie/Vincent in Part 1 since if not, they might feel odd diving in and having them already have, or lacking abilities compared to other characters. That also ties back in to whether or not they'll be reworked to join you earlier if the game only goes so far in Part 1, so that you'll get enough time to really pal around with the whole party in whichever configuration you want.





X

Square needs to embrace the fact that players like to set their own difficulty. The ONLY time I've ever seen them acknowledge it in an in-house game is that KHII FM has a 0 EXP option, to cater to low-level runs. They did of course have Bravely Default, but that was mostly third-party work using SE's assets.



The smartest, most pragmatic thing to do is put a level scale-back mechanic, so that you bring yourself down to any previous level, including a recommended default for whatever area you're in. Everything else is a matter of player choice, as to whether or not to use the more powerful materia or weapons.



They made a huge mistake with XIII, and need to learn from it. Level caps DO NOT WORK.

 

[Claymore]

Isn't level-scaling worse in a lot of ways? I've not played many MMOs, but there is a distinct lack of achievement from being suddenly thrown back to a previous level state, or worse, the enemies scale with you to your level - a la FF VIII - pretty much negating that sense of achievement at having grinded for hours, becoming stronger, and finally overcoming an enemy. And that's if they scale things properly.

At least with a level cap, the challenge will feel more consistent, the sensation of actually having achieved something is also still there, as you (if you want) you can still hit the maximum level possible for the first portion of the game, and lord it to others if they do the global leaderboards aspect and such for hunts. And the level cap can be easily raised and adjusted with the additional content between games.

I don't know, I've heard a lot of bad things about level-scaling in MMOs. If it's between scaling players, scaling enemies, or level capping, I'd personally go with capping. Remember, this isn't a straight game and we have to take into consideration that there are more parts incoming that will need to be thought about and adjusted.

 

[Kain424]

I've been thinking for a long while that the novellas and AC could be reimagined as a DLC episode series.

I have been thinking this exact thing. It does, of course, depend on how much the narrative adheres to the original's canon. But I like all that stuff, and Cloud going about making a business, getting Fenrir, meeting up with Denzel, etc. could be neat to play through.

 

[ChipNoir]

Isn't level-scaling worse in a lot of ways? I've not played many MMOs, but there is a distinct lack of achievement from being suddenly thrown back to a previous level state, or worse, the enemies scale with you to your level - a la FF VIII - pretty much negating that sense of achievement at having grinded for hours, becoming stronger, and finally overcoming an enemy. And that's if they scale things properly.

At least with a level cap, the challenge will feel more consistent, the sensation of actually having achieved something is also still there, as you (if you want) you can still hit the maximum level possible for the first portion of the game, and lord it to others if they do the global leaderboards aspect and such for hunts. And the level cap can be easily raised and adjusted with the additional content between games.

I don't know, I've heard a lot of bad things about level-scaling in MMOs. If it's between scaling players, scaling enemies, or level capping, I'd personally go with capping. Remember, this isn't a straight game and we have to take into consideration that there are more parts incoming that will need to be thought about and adjusted.

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm saying there should be an option to allow the player to scale themselves back a level. And I'll correct myself: Dissidia also does this.



By giving the player the option to scale back, they can grind to their hearts content, break the game as they choose, or go back to a level point where they feel suitably challenged.



Combine that with a level-stasis mode, and any concerns about this issue are nullified.

 

[Claymore]

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm saying there should be an option to allow the player to scale themselves back a level. And I'll correct myself: Dissidia also does this.



By giving the player the option to scale back, they can grind to their hearts content, break the game as they choose, or go back to a level point where they feel suitably challenged.



Combine that with a level-stasis mode, and any concerns about this issue are nullified.

Ah, I understand what you mean now. Yeah an option like that would be fine to give players who wanted to use it a sense of a challenge, but you would still need that general cap in place to avoid everyone just sailing through the entire add-ons, second or third parts.

 

[hleV]

Start at lv1 for each Remake part xD. There's probably gonna be a while betwen parts, so might as well re-grind.

 

[ChipNoir]

You're misunderstanding what I'm saying. I'm saying there should be an option to allow the player to scale themselves back a level. And I'll correct myself: Dissidia also does this.



By giving the player the option to scale back, they can grind to their hearts content, break the game as they choose, or go back to a level point where they feel suitably challenged.



Combine that with a level-stasis mode, and any concerns about this issue are nullified.

Ah, I understand what you mean now. Yeah an option like that would be fine to give players who wanted to use it a sense of a challenge, but you would still need that general cap in place to avoid everyone just sailing through the entire add-ons, second or third parts.

Considering nobody really trades in games as much as they used to, and game rental is all but dead, the fear of "Early Completion" is kind of pointless. If someone wants to fly through the game, they will one way or the other. There's no reason to stop them. Square and retailers will get their money. The only reason people actually return games in large numbers is if it's actually not good quality.

 

[Claymore]

Considering nobody really trades in games as much as they used to, and game rental is all but dead, the fear of "Early Completion" is kind of pointless. If someone wants to fly through the game, they will one way or the other. There's no reason to stop them. Square and retailers will get their money. The only reason people actually return games in large numbers is if it's actually not good quality.

I think that we can all agree that the original game was incredibly easy. Far too easy in fact. It's one of the major down points and criticisms of it. Games, in general, need to present a moderate challenge to the player and keep them engaged. Starting part 2 at Level 100 and just one-hitting enemies is just completely unbalanced and doesn't engage players on a gameplay level. Even if you are adamantly against level capping, something seriously needs to be done to address that.

 

[InterfaceLeader]

When I first played the OG I had never played an RPG and had no concept of levelling. I ran away from random encounters. I did not find the game so easy hahaha.

I agree it needs to be made more sophisticated now, it would be nice to see a balance between grinding and tactics.