The reunion at hand may bring joy. It may bring fear. But let us embrace whatever it brings, for they are coming back.
- Thread starter Sullyhogs
- Start date
LNK
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Nate
My guess is part 2 will be on ps5. Especially since the ps5 is coming out this year
Kain424
Old Man in the Room
That seems to be a somewhat unpopular opinion, but I kind of hope that is that case. I'd like to see them make full use of the next technological leap to make for an expansive "open" world. Not gonna be mad if they don't on this entry, but I'd definitely like to see that by the end.
Theozilla
Kaiju Member
Even with the PS5 fidelity/power, it’s still going to be impossible for the Remake to be 100% open-world, as attempting to make an entire planet to scale is just unfeasible (unless we’re talking about Le Petit Prince sizes planets). Even with larger open areas, there still has to some zoning if the overworld is going to be done to scale, and not scaled down like Dragon Quest XI or the Ni no Kuni gamers.
Kain424
Old Man in the Room
Honestly, without a full understanding of the PS5's capabilities it is hard to say. I've no real concept of the limitations of ray tracing and all of that. On the other side of that, I won't get my hopes up either.
That being said, I could see them using several large maps in the same manner as zones. Once the crew obtains the Highwind, it would merely be a less detailed world to travel about. Every time they land, it would be into one of those zones. That could totally happen. On the other hand, you've also got gold chocobos to consider. If chocobos work in a similar fashion to the ones in Final Fantasy XV, then it will make such a task that much harder. There are ways to do this, but it becomes difficult to mask loading. And that is where next generation technology comes in. But really is an unknown quantity.
That being said, I could see them using several large maps in the same manner as zones. Once the crew obtains the Highwind, it would merely be a less detailed world to travel about. Every time they land, it would be into one of those zones. That could totally happen. On the other hand, you've also got gold chocobos to consider. If chocobos work in a similar fashion to the ones in Final Fantasy XV, then it will make such a task that much harder. There are ways to do this, but it becomes difficult to mask loading. And that is where next generation technology comes in. But really is an unknown quantity.
Zones are really the only thing that make sense to me. Even if the PS5 could make a full scale planet...that would make for prohibitively long and boring travel times.
I have been a fan of the idea of the airship using it's own lower-res map and when you land it drops you into one of the zones, though.
I have been a fan of the idea of the airship using it's own lower-res map and when you land it drops you into one of the zones, though.
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- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
"I can't wait to walk 35 whole minutes to Junon from the Mithril Mines! The endless barren plains AND relentless Zemzellets are so beautiful this time of year! I even found 3 potions under a rock! Open world is the BEST!"
oty
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- ex-soldier boy
It's not about open world really. It's how you do it. BotW and The Witcher 3 are both open world and are widely regarded as part of the best games ever made. Thing is, FFVIIR doesnt need open world. It's an insane amount of workload, with a high risk not so high reward deal. Open world isnt as sought as it used to be, because of being overused and cheapened. The old school fanbase also doesnt really desire it, and FFXV left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths.
Much better idea to focus on another type of exploration using PS5's hardware.
Much better idea to focus on another type of exploration using PS5's hardware.
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
Open World only works for games or stories that lend themselves to the concept.
Cloud wandering the vast empty wilderness, playing in the dirt, and doing a billion random unrelated tasks while a Meteor hangs in the sky would not fit VII at all. Not all games or stories are made better with the open world sandbox style of playing. VII has a much tighter and focused narrative. Cloud fucking off from the plot anytime he wants to just wander the world out of sequence for fun kills the pacing and dramatized sequence of events.
Cloud and the others shouldn't just be able to hop a ship and find the Temple of the Ancients, just because. Cid and the others shouldn't just happen to fly by and randomly see the Forgotten City of the Ancients and decide to check it out. VII works on a specified sequence and order of events and visits to locations.
I want VII to have a lot of side quests and things to do. But I don't want VII to just have you randomly fucking off across the whole map doing quest after quest after quest 'til you forget where you're supposed to go or do for the plot. The plot ends up holding almost zero relevancy when that happens.
Cloud wandering the vast empty wilderness, playing in the dirt, and doing a billion random unrelated tasks while a Meteor hangs in the sky would not fit VII at all. Not all games or stories are made better with the open world sandbox style of playing. VII has a much tighter and focused narrative. Cloud fucking off from the plot anytime he wants to just wander the world out of sequence for fun kills the pacing and dramatized sequence of events.
Cloud and the others shouldn't just be able to hop a ship and find the Temple of the Ancients, just because. Cid and the others shouldn't just happen to fly by and randomly see the Forgotten City of the Ancients and decide to check it out. VII works on a specified sequence and order of events and visits to locations.
I want VII to have a lot of side quests and things to do. But I don't want VII to just have you randomly fucking off across the whole map doing quest after quest after quest 'til you forget where you're supposed to go or do for the plot. The plot ends up holding almost zero relevancy when that happens.
BUT LINEAR GAMES BAD, DIDN'T YOU HEAR?!
ALSO THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND BETWEEN CALL OF DUTY LINEARITY AND ELDER SCROLLS OPEN WORLDS
ALSO THERE IS NO MIDDLE GROUND BETWEEN CALL OF DUTY LINEARITY AND ELDER SCROLLS OPEN WORLDS
Jairus
Author of FFVII: Lifestream & FFVII: Reflections
Chocobo breeding & racing in the original say hi. Who has time for that when a Meteor's falling, right? But you're able to do it anyway. Not to mention doing a sometimes considerable amount of backtracking to participate in Fort Condor battles. And then there's Wutai, which was completely optional. Going back to Nibelheim to see the flashbacks of Zack was also optional. And let's not forget playing at the Gold Saucer, all those games and stuff. But no, we can't have anything like that when there's a quest going on, can we?
- AKA
- Smooth Criminal
You only can do Chocobo Breeding at a specific interval in the plot, and the game doesn't allow you access to the higher quality Chcocobos until even later in the middle of Disc 2. Otherwise you're wasting time randomly catching low level Chocobos that you can't even race. You can't breed a Black or Golden Chocobo just anytime in the game because the game does not allow you to sequence break and explore further than the plot would allow you to.
That's 100% intentional. You aren't allowed to break the boundaries of exploration until the game has led you through the thick of the plot. As for racing, Chocobo Racing only opens once Cloud is free of his Mako poisoning. From then on you're free to breed Chocobos and get a gold one... You just need to have already gotten the Highwind and essentially gone through all the main locations of the plot. That's not open world at all.
Zack's hidden scene, the Wutai sidequest, and protecting Fort Condor (the system for the repeated quests are poorly done in the first place) all tangibly effect or expand the plot. And doing them isn't the same as completing the plot progression in a non-sequential, unfocused pace.
That's 100% intentional. You aren't allowed to break the boundaries of exploration until the game has led you through the thick of the plot. As for racing, Chocobo Racing only opens once Cloud is free of his Mako poisoning. From then on you're free to breed Chocobos and get a gold one... You just need to have already gotten the Highwind and essentially gone through all the main locations of the plot. That's not open world at all.
Zack's hidden scene, the Wutai sidequest, and protecting Fort Condor (the system for the repeated quests are poorly done in the first place) all tangibly effect or expand the plot. And doing them isn't the same as completing the plot progression in a non-sequential, unfocused pace.
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- AKA
- TresDias
Not that I disagree, but this was also the case with FFXV, yet open the world (mostly) was.
Of course, substituting "Noctis" for "Cloud," this was a common complaint of a lot of people about XV:
Mako said:
Well, player doesn't have to let Cloud fuck off to roam the world at random....
Cannon_Fodder
Pro Adventurer
The main reason I don't particularly want the Remake to go open world is that something always has to give in game development, and for me the idea of a proper open world adds the least to the game. I love BOTW, but while the world and exploration are great, the story and enemy variety aren't. The Witcher III is impressive, but some key gameplay mechanics like battles and leveling aren't interesting.
I think the freedom that you could get from an open world can be mostly recreated through zones a la FFXII; you could still have cool secrets off the beaten path without having the path be super wide.
I think the freedom that you could get from an open world can be mostly recreated through zones a la FFXII; you could still have cool secrets off the beaten path without having the path be super wide.
Theozilla
Kaiju Member
As large as games like BOTW, Witcher III, and Skyrim, etc. are the geographical range they take place in only get as large as small continent at best. If a game’s narrative requires the circumnavigation of an entire planets, there has to be zone breakups/boundaries to compensate for maintaining a believable illusion of scale (if the overworld is not a DQXI/Ni no Kuni style scaled down world map).
- AKA
- TresDias
You know, what they could do is map realistically-to-scale procedurally generated topography to boundaries the size they would really need to be -- and use that to keep us busy while they work on finishing the remake series. 
Kain424
Old Man in the Room
Well, it kind of does fit FFVII because that is literally something you can do in the third disc.
The fact that many open world games feel so empty is the result of limitations and a lack of creativity in those game's developments. Games are getting better at having interactive moments in the spaces in between. Events, enemies, party combination-specific dialog. Hell, Final Fantasy XV had a radio you could listen to. I wouldn't rule out something along those lines for the buggy or the Tiny Bronco.
The fact they have expanded Midgar means they would likely not pass on the opportunity to put more stuff out in the world between Kalm and the Mythril Mines for the next entry. And from there to Junon. They would be big-ass zones, but certainly not impossibly big. And likely even easier to implement on next generation hardware. From there, who knows?
That still doesn't take account of the fact that, like Theozilla said, most open world games are at the largest, a small continent. This is a whole planet.
Kain424
Old Man in the Room
You can't really explore all of Final Fantasy VII's world until you get the Highwind. So they would create huge zones that mimic an open world style. Once the Highwind is obtained (in a later, almost certain next-gen entry), it would be easy enough to create a facsimile open world you could fly around in. In the original game, you could only land on certain grassy areas. The same sort of thing would apply here. And when you land, you come out into one of those aforementioned zones. Only a transition scene of your characters getting out of the airship would be needed to mask the loading.
Mirage
Rookie Adventurer
They just need to stick to what they once excelled at and make a regular world map. Ni No Ku Ni is doing it and it's still amazing! Maybe with improving the transitions between world map and cities so it would feel a bit more next gen idk. I really don't want them to go for something like FF15, or FF10.
Just imagine you have a very detailed zoomed out world map, and then you arrive to a city, it zooms in and you're in the city, no black screen no nothing, that would be AMAZING
Just imagine you have a very detailed zoomed out world map, and then you arrive to a city, it zooms in and you're in the city, no black screen no nothing, that would be AMAZING
Cannon_Fodder
Pro Adventurer
I'm almost positive they'd never put a classic-style world map into any stage of the remake, but that's more appealing to me personally than a proper open world. I have no idea how they'd do it, but a world map that somehow evokes the look of the old lego-style models without clashing too hard with the rest of the graphics would be interesting. Probably bad in execution, but still interesting.