- AKA
- Alex T
Now that we have official word that VIIR Part 1 will consist entirely of Midgar, I thought I'd share a thought or two as to how they'll accomplish this narratively.
So far I've mostly read comments on how the Remake can expand the story BETWEEN the beats we already know. What I want to suggest is that the vast majority of expansion will happen AFTER the Midgar scenario of the original. As in, we won't be leaving Midgar when we rescue Aerith. Instead, entirely new scenarios will play out. What we know of Midgar from the original will only comprise of the first parts of the Remake.
I'd like to point out that the furthest we've gone chronologically in the footage we've seen is exploring the Shinra Building. If the Remake replicates the original's events, that would mean we're looking at footage of the final dungeon. I find it hard to believe that they're already showing the last hours of the game in this expanded narrative. However, we've seen endgame content in trailers before, so this isn't a very strong point admittedly.
Secondly, HP values. During the Bombing Mission, the start of the game, Cloud has HP in the early-1000s. By Aps he has HP in the mid-2000s. While not as far as the Shinra Building, that's still a decent chunk into the original's Midgar scenario. It seems suspicious to me that HP would only grow 1 to 2 thousand over the course of the whole game. Kitase recently stated that VIIR is the "size of an entire numbered Final Fantasy game" and I expect that to also be reflected in the character progression. However, numbers can be fudged for presentations and testing, so once again not the best point.
Finally, and in my opinion the most damning, we have Red XIII. Recruiting Red XIII is at the tail end of the original's time in Midgar. In an action RPG with three party members, there's no way they'd have you play 90% of the game with only four characters to choose from, then add the last one right before the final boss. So much work goes into building a playable character between animation, game balance, and voice acting. To not allow the player to have sufficient time with that character would be a crime.
So as I consider what will be expanded in the Remake, I think big and I think late. Maybe after rescuing Aerith the party escapes through an alternative method? And must covertly fight against Shinra while Midgar is under martial law? In the newest key art, Sephiroth is standing amongst a sea of flames and industrial debris along with his new wraith buddies. Something has to lead up to this. I think we're in for more than a few surprises.
So far I've mostly read comments on how the Remake can expand the story BETWEEN the beats we already know. What I want to suggest is that the vast majority of expansion will happen AFTER the Midgar scenario of the original. As in, we won't be leaving Midgar when we rescue Aerith. Instead, entirely new scenarios will play out. What we know of Midgar from the original will only comprise of the first parts of the Remake.
I'd like to point out that the furthest we've gone chronologically in the footage we've seen is exploring the Shinra Building. If the Remake replicates the original's events, that would mean we're looking at footage of the final dungeon. I find it hard to believe that they're already showing the last hours of the game in this expanded narrative. However, we've seen endgame content in trailers before, so this isn't a very strong point admittedly.
Secondly, HP values. During the Bombing Mission, the start of the game, Cloud has HP in the early-1000s. By Aps he has HP in the mid-2000s. While not as far as the Shinra Building, that's still a decent chunk into the original's Midgar scenario. It seems suspicious to me that HP would only grow 1 to 2 thousand over the course of the whole game. Kitase recently stated that VIIR is the "size of an entire numbered Final Fantasy game" and I expect that to also be reflected in the character progression. However, numbers can be fudged for presentations and testing, so once again not the best point.
Finally, and in my opinion the most damning, we have Red XIII. Recruiting Red XIII is at the tail end of the original's time in Midgar. In an action RPG with three party members, there's no way they'd have you play 90% of the game with only four characters to choose from, then add the last one right before the final boss. So much work goes into building a playable character between animation, game balance, and voice acting. To not allow the player to have sufficient time with that character would be a crime.
So as I consider what will be expanded in the Remake, I think big and I think late. Maybe after rescuing Aerith the party escapes through an alternative method? And must covertly fight against Shinra while Midgar is under martial law? In the newest key art, Sephiroth is standing amongst a sea of flames and industrial debris along with his new wraith buddies. Something has to lead up to this. I think we're in for more than a few surprises.
Considering all of them have slightly different battle styles, it would be very interesting.
Travel between sectors and see differences on the living standards in the city would be neat too, even for the purpose of some courier jobs.
