The reunion at hand may bring joy. It may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings, for they are coming back.

[Sullyhogs]

So the Remake is less than three months out. It’s making me excited as each day passes. I played the original game when I was in elementary school around 2003-2004 on the original PlayStation. I’m playing it again all these years later, and I gotta say that the game that has been so dear to me has held up. On the other hand, after all this time, I can’t believe they’re actually going through with the remake. It feels like the first trailer just came out and now here we are within just a few months of release. I’m excited as absolute fuck, but I’m also optimistically hoping that the spirit of the old game will remain intact. Is anyone else feeling the same way?

 

[oty]

I just want this to be a good game. Like good good, y'know? Polished, complete, fun. It can have it's screw-ups, mistakes and whatever. But just wanna have a fun time when I'm playing it. Like the hours go by and you don't realise. No overflowing cringe dialogue, monotone moments and boring sidequests. I feel this is of ultmost importance if you wanna respect the original. To simple be good is more than any kind of homage they can put in. It is a direct act of consideration, that means a lot, specially for the next parts.

 

[Sullyhogs]

Definitely agree. From what I’ve seen of the trailers, everything look fucking great. Character models, story, gameplay, voice acting... they all seem to hit the nail on the head. I can even recognize some of the voice actors and have seen them in other stuff (if Mark Hamill turns out to be Don Corneo than I definitely have). But yeah, I hope they make it simple, open, fun, emotional, and exciting.

 

[Odysseus]

Man, I nearly cried during the E3 trailer last year when they revealed Tifa. I've played the original to death, its hard to even have fun with it anymore unless I put huge amounts of time between playthroughs, but seeing Midgar and all the characters glammed up in HD made me feel like a kid again, the magic was back.

 

[Volvatta]

, its hard to even have fun with it anymore unless I put huge amounts of time between playthroughs.

Absolutely - and I've stayed away from mods to make it better. I just stayed with the orginal release version. I played Legend of Dragoon ad FF7 so many times i feel drained but i keep wanting to go back...nut you always had to wait a long time..

But like you said, seeing Midgar and all the characters... Contorting from nostalgia and heart just exploding with saddness and happiness. No more waiting long periods of time for the story/game that changed my life

 

[Sullyhogs]

That’s me with Metal Gear Solid 3

Absolutely - and I've stayed away from mods to make it better. I just stayed with the orginal release version. I played Legend of Dragoon ad FF7 so many times i feel drained but i keep wanting to go back...nut you always had to wait a long time..

But like you said, seeing Midgar and all the characters... Contorting from nostalgia and heart just exploding with saddness and happiness. No more waiting long periods of time for the story/game that changed my life

 

[Volvatta]

@Sullyhogs Welcome to the forum

 

[Odysseus]

So Maximilian Dude highlighted this video in a video he just released, and it made me pretty emotional:

I can hardly believe its already been five years since the reveal. Square must have known what they were doing with that PS4 port, the mad lads. Only one two months and some change left!

 

[Makoeyes987]

The only trepidation I have for the Remake, has nothing to do with its story, or its gameplay.

It's its time. The one thing I feel that could truly undercut this entire project is the development dragging on too long between parts or the story being spread too far over too many installments.

Three games, to match the original three discs of FFVII would be perfect. Four would be okay. Anymore, and it looks excessive and ridiculous. Like splitting The final Harry Potter, Hobbit or Hunger Games movies into two separate films because reasons.

Kitase said they already started developing Part 2, so that's encouraging. If we could get the next game within a year of the first, that would be perfect. In the end, FFVII's Remake should not overstay its welcome and become a boondoggle. That allows it to stay fresh, relevant and not a parody of itself or worst suffer the fate of Versus XIII.

 

[LNK]

So Maximilian Dude highlighted this video in a video he just released, and it made me pretty emotional:

I can hardly believe its already been five years since the reveal. Square must have known what they were doing with that PS4 port, the mad lads. Only one two months and some change left!

a youtuber named Jahbu had my favorite reaction

 

[oty]

Honestly, if they give the next game within a year of Remake's release, then I start worrying about too many parts. Even with reused assets, and assuming the best possible scenario that PS5 isnt that unfamiliar of a hardware to programm, and that lets say beggining of production started 6 months ago, 1 and a half year isnt much for tripleA games nowadays. And I dont even blame Square, games really take a lot of time to make with these qualities. Even with awful, and wrong, crunching. Specially since a lot of Midgar assets wont be reused, since we only return at pretty much endgame, which even if it's in the next part, then yea definitely not a year and a half.

 

[Russell]

More than anything else I'm worried.

It's part one of they-said-they-don't know-how-many-parts-it'll-be, it only covers Midgar. People are going to buy it not knowing that, then I worry that the game will be 10 to 12 hours long (or less), it'll get review bombed to sh!t. It'll make money so that won't matter but still, I worry part two won't sell well or get stuck in development hell for years.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I really don't think it'll be only 12 hours long. My guess is somewhere around 30, but you can pad that out even more if you do lots of grinding.

 

[Makoeyes987]

There's no way this game is only 12 hours long. That's just not even realistic in light of the leaks we've seen.

The most conservative estimate of this game's length would be close to 30 hours, which would be the length of base Kingdom Hearts 3, skipping all optional content. That's not a bad length at all.

But given the game's scope, content and number of chapters in this game, I find it highly unlikely it's only 30 hours. Maybe it'd be 30 hours if you skipped doing all extra side content and simply played it start to finish on easy. But including all the other side quest content? The game should clock up to 40 hours. More if you decide to play on hard mode and try to obtain all summons, materia, master weapon abilities, and then tackle optional bosses.

The game being 12 hours long start to finish just doesn't even stack up to it's level of in-game content. A game that short would have to be akin to a walking simulator visual novel, which this isn't.

If the concern regarding FFVII Remake is meat or content, put your mind at ease. It's got things to do. Whether people will like said things to do, is the question. Without getting too spoilery, it's doesn't appear heavy on the open-world fetch-quest type quests ala FFXV. However it has quests, in terms of doing things for people in the slums and it's used to actually get to know people who live there and help. It's world building and in-depth knowledge of the people of the slums. And there are hunting/fighting monsters.

So yeah. I don't think length or content is a problem for this game.

 

[oty]

I really hope that making the first part just Midgar was a collective choice that was based on the facts that 1) Midgar is a extremely important locale of the original, but heavily underused so it's the perfect place to expand and expand a lot; and most importantly 2) Midgar takes an important role in the original by being the first act of the 3-acter story, so ending a part there gives sufficient ground to build a game with enough sense of beggining-middle-end to be it's own thing.

I also wouldn't mind a reason 3) ending the game in Midgar so that the next part can use the extra hardware of the PS5 and build out an amazing world.

Square hasn't given us any indication of this not being the case, but to be honest, it's because they haven't given us anything at all. I assume that, specially with the original creators being involved, they are at least aware of these reasons (specially 2)) because they seem kind of obvious, but anything can happen really. That's why news of subsequent parts are so important, and are actually being considerably requested.

 

[youffie]

2) Midgar takes an important role in the original by being the first act of the 3-acter story, so ending a part there gives sufficient ground to build a game with enough sense of beggining-middle-end to be it's own thing

Yeah, the only reason I've warmed up to the idea of it ending so "soon" is because even in the original Midgar had its own mini character arcs, a very strong theme, and a clear beginning, a climax, and an ending. But if they fracture the rest too much, I'm seriously afraid that characters and themes might end up being diluted and suffer to the point of ruining it for me. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Without getting too spoilery, it's doesn't appear heavy on the open-world fetch-quest type quests ala FFXV.

You have no idea how relieved I am to read that.

 

[Odysseus]

I'm still hedging my bets on part 2 making it all the way to North Crater, given how much more they'll be able to do on PS5. I've got no issues with Stopping at Midgar for part one; the more I think about it, the less sense it would have made to cut it off anywhere else. After leaving midgar there isn't another logical "end" point until the city of the Ancients, so if we did get out of Midgar the game would have to just abruptly stop somewhere along the way, and that doesn't really work. Assuming what @Makoeyes987 says is accurate, it sounds like Midgar will be nothing to sneeze at anyway.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

There's been a lot of talk these past few years about Midgar's place as the first act in a three-act structure, but I remain unconvinced FFVII ever had such a structure. Particularly as the end of Disc 1 of the original or the summoning of Meteor are typically pegged as the end of the second act.

If the fact that there isn't quite general agreement about where the break should be weren't enough indication, there's also the observation of just what an enormously imbalanced set of acts that makes for -- especially in light of the expanded narrative timeframe implicit in scaling up the rest of the world to match what is being done with Midgar.

We're talking about the Kalm->Junon leg of the journey; the cargo ship encounter; Costa del Sol to Rocket Town; possibly Wutai; a second trip to the Gold Saucer; the Temple of the Ancients; the journey across the northern continent to the City of the Ancients; and then even more than that if we go right up to Meteor's casting.

The only way I can see a three-act thing feasibly working out is if the Temple of the Ancients serves as the end point for Act 2. As far as it goes, that wouldn't be a terrible choice anyway:

---
- The party has some detours on the Corel continent to tackle a few personal conflicts, then they get to Nibelheim, where Sephiroth appears to put you back on track and remind you of the real objectives

- Shin-Ra is encountered in Rocket Town shortly thereafter to, again, emphasize the bigger conflicts

- There's a brief reprieve in the Gold Saucer date, which will serve to compound the frustration soon to come

- The temple can easily be expanded to become a final dungeon, and could be a rather appropriate choice for that from a world-building and lore perspective

- We find out Seph can control Cloud as he forces Cloud to hand over the key to worldwide destruction, then severely beat Aerith; she leaves; we find out that Seph is stalking her as she seeks to diffuse the extinction-level event situation, creating the impetus for the next act and leaving us on something of a "The Empire Strikes Back" note; it also allows the final battle of the second act to still include Aerith, which is important since she won't be playable again hereafter
---

This is still a pretty big chunk, but it leaves a pretty sizable chunk for the third segment. I think it just barely works.

 

[oty]

I could see maybe a "4 act" story in FFVII, but Midgar would still be a Act 1 with certainty. It just really serves every main purpose of a Act 1 and has such a clear break point. Even when playing the original, a small number people even believed the game ended Midgar, because the difference between the rest is astounding.

While the 3 act story is the most accepted structure, the general discussion is exactly where Act 2 end, and I would say the two most accepted theories are Meteor summon and City of the Ancients, but Temple of the Ancients isnt an uncommon one, and it does have some backbone arguments to back it up.

 

[youffie]

Ending Part 1 in the Northern Crater was my ideal choice, but that wasn't very realistic. It’s still where I would end Part 2, with the game beginning and closing in Nibelheim (sorta), with lots of twists and turns, big character moments, and strong thematic integrity overall, setting seemingly impossible odds for the final arc with two main characters short. That's a game with a strong identity that can easily match up to the iconicity of Midgar, which is something the developers should consider: if a middle entry is weaker, that's just not good for whatever is to follow. But it is true that there’s a lot of ground to cover and the main reason why I didn't really want it ending in Midgar before… I'm not even considering possible expansions.

I’d be slightly disappointed with ending Part 2 at the Temple because I liked the fact that you lost Aeris even from a gameplay point of view, and you can’t really have that if she just goes away or even dies at the end. Plus, having her die right at the beginning of the final Part might be a tad anti-climatic if not done right, maybe? Not sure. But I can see where you’re coming from. Plus it’s true, the Temple would make for an amazing final dungeon. It's certainly a likely possibility.

 

[Saven]

I really hope that making the first part just Midgar was a collective choice that was based on the facts that 1) Midgar is a extremely important locale of the original, but heavily underused so it's the perfect place to expand and expand a lot; and most importantly 2) Midgar takes an important role in the original by being the first act of the 3-acter story, so ending a part there gives sufficient ground to build a game with enough sense of beggining-middle-end to be it's own thing.

I also wouldn't mind a reason 3) ending the game in Midgar so that the next part can use the extra hardware of the PS5 and build out an amazing world.

Square hasn't given us any indication of this not being the case, but to be honest, it's because they haven't given us anything at all. I assume that, specially with the original creators being involved, they are at least aware of these reasons (specially 2)) because they seem kind of obvious, but anything can happen really. That's why news of subsequent parts are so important, and are actually being considerably requested.

I think to add on to this, Midgar was probably used as a testing ground for how the world will be structured for future sequels when work on the entire thing begins right after kinda like how Ground Zeroes was a testing ground for how the maps/gameplay were developed in The Phantom Pain.

 

[LNK]

As others have said, they're really expanding on the game. There is no way it'll only be 12 hours for the main story. My guess is 25-30 hours.

I like the idea of Aerith's death happening at the beginning of the 3rd part. It would be like a massive gut punch to have it happen at the beginning. The players would be on emotional journey for a whole game, instead of a small part. They makers of the game could do so much with the dynamic of all the characters after that happens. I picture ff15 after Luna's death, on steroids

 

[oty]

25-30 hours of just story? Or with extras?

I think Aerith dying at the beggining could work well, but it would be harder to make. The division as Midgar - Meteor - End is very interesting because Part 1 and 2 ( and somewhat 3) would act similarly in way. The beggining of each part would be hardcore introduction ( Shinra and Avalanche and then Sephiroth and Lifestream), then they would have their more lightweight moments (Aerith and Market and then Costa Del Sol or some say Gold Saucer but it has Barret stuff which is pretty somber so idk) and then there would be the crushing moment (Platefall and Aerith's death) and then the final portion, that provides a certain sense of finale (storming Shinra HQ and then the run up to the Crater). It's obviously not a perfect one to one, specially because of the sheer size of the second Part, which would have many many more moments that inevitably conflict with the way Midgar was played, but it is an interesting perspective.

I personally think that both ways are really good, and I like how ending at Temple is significantly smaller content than ending at Meteor, which not only would give us the game faster but also making it easier to make a good story with good pacing, like Midgar. The third part would also have more comparable content, so Part 2 wouldnt become this gigantic story load.

The only way I would be dissapointed is if Part 2 ends at City of the Ancients, with Aerith's death. Ending a game, or even any creation similar, with that is often very disconcerting and very cheap/poor.

 

[Jairus]

Pandemonium, I wish you would have put that bit about Luna in a spoiler tag. Some, like me, haven't finished FFXV yet, and I would have liked to have not had that spoiled. It wasn't you originally, though. Some wit commenting on an FF Youtube video did the same thing and that's how I found out. Still, though, I wish people would remember to use spoiler tags for that stuff.

Anyway, I'm not sure where Part 2 will end. Given how big Midgar is, the rest of the world has to be scaled up to match. And just how far is it feasible to travel in a single game on a world map with that huge a scale? Look at the size of Midgar compared to the rest of the continent it's on. It's about 7 or 8 trips across the diameter of the whole city just to get to the Chocobo Farm, and that's if they don't expand the geographical distances to be more realistic.

Also, why are there such low estimates for game time? This is two full blurays worth of content. Even for just the story, with that much space being used, 30 hours seems a bit low. I'd say 50 hours for the main story might be more realistic, with 70-80 to account for all the side quests and optional content. That matches up more closely with the original, which could easily be an 80-hour game if you set out to do everything that could possibly be done in the game.

 

[Cannon_Fodder]

There's been a lot of talk these past few years about Midgar's place as the first act in a three-act structure, but I remain unconvinced FFVII ever had such a structure. Particularly as the end of Disc 1 of the original or the summoning of Meteor are typically pegged as the end of the second act.

If the fact that there isn't quite general agreement about where the break should be weren't enough indication, there's also the observation of just what an enormously imbalanced set of acts that makes for -- especially in light of the expanded narrative timeframe implicit in scaling up the rest of the world to match what is being done with Midgar.

We're talking about the Kalm->Junon leg of the journey; the cargo ship encounter; Costa del Sol to Rocket Town; possibly Wutai; a second trip to the Gold Saucer; the Temple of the Ancients; the journey across the northern continent to the City of the Ancients; and then even more than that if we go right up to Meteor's casting.

The only way I can see a three-act thing feasibly working out is if the Temple of the Ancients serves as the end point for Act 2. As far as it goes, that wouldn't be a terrible choice anyway:

---
- The party has some detours on the Corel continent to tackle a few personal conflicts, then they get to Nibelheim, where Sephiroth appears to put you back on track and remind you of the real objectives

- Shin-Ra is encountered in Rocket Town shortly thereafter to, again, emphasize the bigger conflicts

- There's a brief reprieve in the Gold Saucer date, which will serve to compound the frustration soon to come

- The temple can easily be expanded to become a final dungeon, and could be a rather appropriate choice for that from a world-building and lore perspective

- We find out Seph can control Cloud as he forces Cloud to hand over the key to worldwide destruction, then severely beat Aerith; she leaves; we find out that Seph is stalking her as she seeks to diffuse the extinction-level event situation, creating the impetus for the next act and leaving us on something of a "The Empire Strikes Back" note; it also allows the final battle of the second act to still include Aerith, which is important since she won't be playable again hereafter
---

This is still a pretty big chunk, but it leaves a pretty sizable chunk for the third segment. I think it just barely works.

Well said. I remember when I played through FFVII last summer, I was struck by how good a potential ending the Temple of the Ancients could be. It could be a great final dungeon, the story has some pay-off while leaving a lot unanswered, and there's obviously a sequel hook. Calling it a "The Empire Strikes Back" note is a perfect description.