The size of the first game

[AerithLives]

With the first part of the remake being the size of Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, doesn't this imply that the "filler" that they use to pad out Midgar to fit their massive game is essentially going to water down the brilliance of FF7?

Let's face it. FF games aren't what they were. But it's goingo be 10-15% of the original brilliant game and the rest will be the Square Enix quality of, say, FF13/FF15...with a FF7 skin on top.

Just a little concerned.

 

[FFShinra]

The filler of FF15 was better than the actual plot so......

 

[AerithLives]

The filler of FF15 was better than the actual plot so......

Yeah but FF15 filler isn't anywhere near the standard of FF7 original story.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

With the first part of the remake being the size of Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, doesn't this imply that the "filler" that they use to pad out Midgar to fit their massive game is essentially going to water down the brilliance of FF7?

I think that it's presumptive to imply that the content being added is filler. While they're moments not explored in the original, spending extra time in Midgar, and having more things available to do doesn't mean that they're watering down the original.

Case in point is how they're showing the confrontation with a member of SOLDIER, and making it a significant event. Cloud mentioned how powerful they are in the original game, but you never have anything even remotely resembling a miniboss-like encounter with them, but now the story is being fleshed out to present a better picture of the scenario that you'd be facing up against them.

Remember: Not all extra content is filler, and not all original content had great substance.



X

 

[OdaDaimyO]

I'm the only one who still can't grasp the scope of this game? After all the trailers, you would think they give us a glimpse of WHY that game needs so much space that justifies the statement of "two Blue-Ray discs worth of gameplay content". A good example (already mentioned in this thread), and the only one we can compare in that aspect is RDR2. The devs of this game did a great job to emphasize how grand and detailed the world would be in the trailers they showed us. Nobody was really surprised when they announced the game would come out on two discs.

I can't say the same about the FF7 Remake.

There's already an interesting discussion on this thread, where the basis for possible future installments is grounded on the dimensions the first part alludes us to be. In reality, we've no proof for any of that. They still have the responsibility to give us a better understanding in what way they want to present the story, the world and how this two aspects are colluding together. Is Midgar really this massive "overworld" city everyone wants to believe? The last trailer gave off an impression they've only expanded (in the sense of 3D environmental space) existing parts of Midgar we already knew from the OG. I know they said something about new locations, but it still concerns me... instead, I would like to hear something in essence of: "Midgar will be full explorable!"... my dream would come true... 60% of my reasoning for getting on the "Hype Train" for this Remake in the first place. But now, I think I'll need the next 6 months to digest the possibility it'll stay a dream forever...

 

[X-SOLDIER]

I'm actually pretty glad that they haven't showed off too much of the the expanded content. What the old fans want to see most from the trailers is the realization of the scenes from the original, and they've been teasing that all out at a really good pace. One of the best parts about PLAYING the Remake is gonna be getting to see all of those things that we've never seen before, and so as many of those things being left unrevealed as possible will leave more for us to discover. I don't think that they have any responsibility to market it to us, but only to make the game that delivers it.



X

 

[Tetsujin]

Yeah I honestly wouldn't bet on the game necessarily being massive open world and having Midgar be explorable to the extent people might want. I think this will still be far more linear than people expect (which I prefer).
Disc count does not equal a massive game, the original FFVII very comfortably fit on a single CD-ROM and only required 3 of them for all the video files which eat up ton of space. Could very well be the case here, plus don't forget there are four audio tracks. It'll still be a big game but y'know. Don't necessarily expect it to be stupidly mahusive and open just because there are two BDs now.

 

[FFShinra]

Yeah something I've had to keep telling myself to keep my own hype in check is that the very fact that its now voiced is going to increase the length of the Midgar plot from the....4 to 10 (completely guessing here) hours to about double that I wager.

Of course, I would LIKE to have a pseudo-open (think Uncharted Lost Legacy) world Midgar, but I don't dare believe it for then the game would actually have to be far larger than 40-50 hours, which I believe is the standard length of an FF game. It would have to be closer to Persona 5 in length, which is what...100 hours?

 

[AerithLives]

I think that it's presumptive to imply that the content being added is filler. While they're moments not explored in the original, spending extra time in Midgar, and having more things available to do doesn't mean that they're watering down the original.

Case in point is how they're showing the confrontation with a member of SOLDIER, and making it a significant event. Cloud mentioned how powerful they are in the original game, but you never have anything even remotely resembling a miniboss-like encounter with them, but now the story is being fleshed out to present a better picture of the scenario that you'd be facing up against them.

Remember: Not all extra content is filler, and not all original content had great substance.



X

Even if it isn't intended to be "filler" the best they can do now days simply doesn't cut it. Especially when it's tied to FF7.

I'm just worried. It would break my heart to see FF7R ruined like 13 or 15.

 

[NibelFire]

Even if it isn't intended to be "filler" the best they can do now days simply doesn't cut it. Especially when it's tied to FF7.

I'm just worried. It would break my heart to see FF7R ruined like 13 or 15.

You definitely aren't the only one with those concerns, and yes, we can't deny the fact that Square haven't done themselves any favor with their recent track records relative to their peaks. However, I would argue that since the game is already being built on a proven foundation, it would be pretty hard to ruin the game with the expanded elements barring any significant changes to the main plot itself.

Granted, we've not seen enough of those new elements to form any concrete opinion about them, but I would wager that there will be a lot more of old plotline being retold more extensively compared to those that are completely brand new (Guardian of Fate, unknown SOLDIER etc.). The familiar scenes are the one that have taken up most of the trailers length, and so far I've yet to see anything that I would consider as a red flag.

As to whether the new things can match the quality or surpass the old ones, there is only one way to know. I've chosen to not uphold them to any standards, that way I can look forward to whatever they bring with curiosity rather than with dread.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

I can't be the only one who wanted the pace of the story in Midgar to be slower so I had more changes to interact with the world of Midgar and go more places in it. In the OG, we only get to go to three sectors below the plate and the Shin-Ra tower. That's it. There's four other sectors below the plate and six up on top that we never got to see.

There is so much world-building and stories that could be told in Midgar about Shin-Ra and people's relationship to it. And one of the themes even in the OG was that there were plenty of normal people working for Shin-Ra and living in Midgar and how everything AVALANCHE does makes their lives crazier in the short-term. Getting to actually see how that effects people through quests and stuff like that would be great.

Honestly, having the first game sell what Shin-Ra is correctly isn't a bad idea. We should leave Midgar with the feeling that while there's no doubt Shin-Ra has to go, doing so will bring major upheaval to society. It needs to sell that inner conflict to the player. And showing that through gameplay is a lot more effective then just telling it in a conversation.

 

[OdaDaimyO]

I'm actually pretty glad that they haven't showed off too much of the the expanded content. What the old fans want to see most from the trailers is the realization of the scenes from the original, and they've been teasing that all out at a really good pace. One of the best parts about PLAYING the Remake is gonna be getting to see all of those things that we've never seen before, and so as many of those things being left unrevealed as possible will leave more for us to discover. I don't think that they have any responsibility to market it to us, but only to make the game that delivers it.

After reading through it again, my post really sounds a little bit too melodramatic. That wasn't my intention at all, and you're right about the "responsibility-part", I still struggle sometimes to find the right words...

The problem I've seen is, that people are getting the wrong idea in terms of Midgar's prominence in the game, as this big, bustling metropolis, and I see SE's marketing at fault here. Think about it, they announced to dedicate a whole game around one city, with content soo big that it can't be contained in one Blue-Ray disc. And teeeaassiinnnng us with that amazing intro, which gave us a look at Midgar that never was this detailed before. What do you think is the first logical conclusion people are coming to? And I don't think that only includes casuals, but Final Fantasy fans too. Normally we have a game that's setting around a whole world to explore. It's the first time in the franchise's history, to have a 'main title' focusing on one location only. The expectations of density are accordingly high in that regard. I think it's in their best interest to clarify that aspect asap, and keep these expectations in check! And the same goes for me too. I only want to have confirmation, you know?