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FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH |OT| 145.25GB OF Cloud Data

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Sephimoth

Member
After my session yesterday, I decided to download the OG FF7. Never played it before, and this game is just giving me such a fondness for the characters. I really have the urge to go back and see the origins of everything.
I realized it's been 5 years since I played through the original FF7, so I installed it on Steam with a bunch of mods (upscaled backgrounds, new ninostyle chibi models etc). Feelsgoodman
 

BbMajor7th

Gold Member
This game is borderline miraculous. It is a fully realized Final Fantasy open/overworld from previous eras, plus some Ubisoft structural elements, but with the same intrinsically motivating exploration elements of BOTW and Elden Ring.
It's really not. Take a look at the distance between Kalm and the Chocobo Farm on the original world map and compare it to the size of Midgar. If you were to scale The Grasslands to the size of Midgar in Remake, the grasslands would need to be ten times that size to give it the proper scale. Rebirth makes the world map feel like an island chain and it's not helped by having the same few assets (Chocobo Stops and store interiors) reused everywhere.

I really don't get that complain, that "stupendous 35 hour game" is available for you to play if you choose not to engage in any side activities.
Because it's distracting and immersion-breaking and makes the game feel more like an FFVII theme park than an actual game. Why does every zone have a Moogle House with the same mini-game? The exact same Chocobo Stops, Comms Towers and exactly three caves containing Deity Crystals? Because this isn't attempting to be a cohesive world, it's designed to be artificial - a theme park full of FFVII-brand side activities that don't really interact or expand upon the original source material, so much as rebrand all of its popular content for a general audience. It's cynical and shallow - they could have filled the world with unique stories and locations that engage more directly with the original themes, but they chose to fill it with trivial distractions that add so little to the world that ignoring them might actually make for a better game.

Imagine a version of the game where instead of Mog Houses being stamped all over the map as vendors, they'd created an entire Moogle Village hidden deep in some forest off the beaten track (a place you have to discover) - a place with loads of optional side quests, cool stories, new characters and weapons to collect? What if Avalanche or Wutai's spy network had been expanded into an actual faction, with other competing factions and quests that could influence the outcome, or provide equipment, armor or additional skill trees? The kind of crazy side content that actually adds to the story. No, we're offered instead the golden opportunity to scan the same rock with the same simplistic mini-game about thirty times.
 
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Doomtrain

Member
Imagine a version of the game where instead of Mog Houses being stamped all over the map as vendors, they'd created an entire Moogle Village hidden deep in some forest off the beaten track (a place you have to discover) - a place with loads of optional side quests, cool stories, new characters and weapons to collect? What if Avalanche or Wutai's spy network had been expanded into an actual faction, with other competing factions and quests that could influence the outcome, or provide equipment, armor or additional skill trees? The kind of crazy side content that actually adds to the story. No, we're offered instead the golden opportunity to scan the same rock with the same simplistic mini-game about thirty times.
I agree with this, and to expand on it, this is part of why "just ignore the stuff you don't like" doesn't sit right with me. The optional/side content in an RPG is a huge part of the fun. If you run around in a game like FFXII, you'll find entire optional dungeons, hunts, bosses, and even complete regions. Some of that content will be higher level than you currently are, which gives you a goal to work towards, and most of it will have new gear, treasures, etc. to find. All of this ties back to the core gameplay systems. Rebirth substitutes meaningful side content for disconnected minigames and Ubisoft checklist hunting. Optional content is an important part of the RPG gameplay loop, and "just ignore it" is only a solution insofar as it lets you play an RPG missing that crucial ingredient.
 

TheInfamousKira

Reseterror Resettler
Just reached the Junon region for the first time, at Gabe's Ranch. Already appreciating the different vibe from the Grasslands. 40 hours in, quite enjoying my time so far. Was happy with chapter 3, as well.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Ok I am replaying the damn ending.
Even more apparent how they changed that beautiful meaningful moment into a crazy noise screen full of effects galore crazy scene. Subtlety be gone
 
It's really not. Take a look at the distance between Kalm and the Chocobo Farm on the original world map and compare it to the size of Midgar. If you were to scale The Grasslands to the size of Midgar in Remake, the grasslands would need to be ten times that size to give it the proper scale. Rebirth makes the world map feel like an island chain and it's not helped by having the same few assets (Chocobo Stops and store interiors) reused everywhere.


Because it's distracting and immersion-breaking and makes the game feel more like an FFVII theme park than an actual game. Why does every zone have a Moogle House with the same mini-game? The exact same Chocobo Stops, Comms Towers and exactly three caves containing Deity Crystals? Because this isn't attempting to be a cohesive world, it's designed to be artificial - a theme park full of FFVII-brand side activities that don't really interact or expand upon the original source material, so much as rebrand all of its popular content for a general audience. It's cynical and shallow - they could have filled the world with unique stories and locations that engage more directly with the original themes, but they chose to fill it with trivial distractions that add so little to the world that ignoring them might actually make for a better game.

Imagine a version of the game where instead of Mog Houses being stamped all over the map as vendors, they'd created an entire Moogle Village hidden deep in some forest off the beaten track (a place you have to discover) - a place with loads of optional side quests, cool stories, new characters and weapons to collect? What if Avalanche or Wutai's spy network had been expanded into an actual faction, with other competing factions and quests that could influence the outcome, or provide equipment, armor or additional skill trees? The kind of crazy side content that actually adds to the story. No, we're offered instead the golden opportunity to scan the same rock with the same simplistic mini-game about thirty times.
I mean, I think this is true but still enjoyable even with that in mind. For me anyway. But I absolutely get where you're coming from and definitely improvements could have been made.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Yeah, I think it's all awful and lost it all.
I mean music is beautiful and so on but it’s way too bombastic what should be an emotional moment… is just movie trailer now.

Also, it’s kinda more fun on easy… and it’s very easy now. Kinda feel like the badass you are. It was really annoying last few chapters.
Like the difference between easy and normal is huge. Normal should be hard and there should be something inbetween

Ff16 difficulty I found way more tuned. Once you got a grasp of powers and parry in 16, you felt like a badass by the end without lowering the difficulty.
 
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I mean music is beautiful and so on but it’s way too bombastic what should be an emotional moment… is just movie trailer now.

Also, it’s kinda more fun on easy… and it’s very easy now. Kinda feel like the badass you are. It was really annoying last few chapters.
Like the difference between easy and normal is huge. Normal should be hard and there should be something inbetween

Ff16 difficulty I found way more tuned. Once you got a grasp of powers and parry in 16, you felt like a badass by the end without lowering the difficulty.
Are you effectively using guard/parry in this one? It's also pretty powerful!
 

Luipadre

Member
Surely this is the patch week

raf,360x360,075,t,fafafa:ca443f4786.jpg
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Are you effectively using guard/parry in this one? It's also pretty powerful!
Parry is very difficult. I did ff16 all parry manually and I finished sekiro and so on.
By I can’t parry here. Only few bosses. The attacks come out of nowhere and I always seem to cannot break up animation to parry in time.
If it’s that important, they do not teach you properly.
I do feel I am playing the game right and correct. Normal is just too damn difficult. Another streamers tuned difficulty
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Finished... the story makes no sense as usual.
they overdone in and all subtlety is lost.
Ending chapter is better on easy.

Good game, good graphics, great music. Everything good but I liked remake more.
This should be either half the length or at least the story should be simpler and more straight forward retelling
 

TheAssist

Member
Finished... the story makes no sense as usual.
they overdone in and all subtlety is lost.
Ending chapter is better on easy.

Good game, good graphics, great music. Everything good but I liked remake more.
This should be either half the length or at least the story should be simpler and more straight forward retelling

I have a problem with people saying the story does not making any sense. It does. Sorry, but it does.

No one reads Goethes "Faust" and goes like "well this didn't make any bloody sense!"
And yes I am using Goethe here, because they use some of the very same techniques as him and I had to analyze it back in school, so I could make that connection.

People who looked at all the bread crumps that the devs left in Remake saw this ending a mile away, month after Remakes release. You can trace it back in older YouTube videos. They use a lot of symbolism and references (as many Japanese storytellers do) to tell their story. It is coherent if you meet the story on its level. It might not be instantly understandable, but dumbing down everything so even a 5 year old can understand it, is not the only way to tell a story.

I dont get where this desire for simple story comes from. Is it a Disneyfication of society? Again, the story might not be straight forward, but it is coherent to its own rules and it is possible to analyze it. Which makes it much more mature than any plain old simple story, specially one that has already been told anyway. Why retell it. There is nothing to gain.

And I applaud the devs for sticking to their guns. Because even though people on the internet found out what the reunion is, how the different universes work, what Aerith is probably going to do, what Sephiroth is up to, they didn't change the story just to surprise people again, you know like some other TV shows might do (and then things don't make any sense anymore). They also don't build up a mystery without knowing the conclusion to it. Like....some TV shows have done.

This is a story worthy of exploration and analysis. Not getting it, does not mean its bad, it just means you don't get it, because you have put in no effort to understand it. And I dont blame you, I'm too stupid for it as well. I have to watch people explain that shit to me. But then it clicks and I can play the game again and be amazed by how many clues there were all along and I just didn't see them (the use of colors, the use of flowers, the use of verbal references, the use of music, the decoration of rooms, there is so much stuff if you really get into it).


This is more about people not wanting to engage in a more complex type of story and story telling. Which is fine, but please don't tell me it doesn't make sense when you haven't even tried.

Here is a YouTube Channel that dives real deep into the lore of Remake

And I do understand if you don't have the time or energy to engage the game on that level, but still, this does not make the story bad or non sensical. Its just a different kind of story that requires a bit more user input to be appreciated.
 

TheAssist

Member
It's really not. Take a look at the distance between Kalm and the Chocobo Farm on the original world map and compare it to the size of Midgar. If you were to scale The Grasslands to the size of Midgar in Remake, the grasslands would need to be ten times that size to give it the proper scale. Rebirth makes the world map feel like an island chain and it's not helped by having the same few assets (Chocobo Stops and store interiors) reused everywhere.

We would be sitting here complaining about this vast empty way too big open world. You cant fill a world this size with meaningful content.
Imagine the size of the game. You probably arent even allowed to publish a game with 300 GB or more space requirement on the PS5, unless you are CoD and make Sony literal billions in revenue. This would also be another reason for the bad textures.

Reusing assets is the most videogame thing in existence. You have to somehow make a game on time, money, and person budget. And Square knows how much Remake sold, they have a good estimate how much money this game will make at a maximum and hence your money and timeframe are set. Cant just make everything needlessly big and create millions of unique assets.
 
I agree with this, and to expand on it, this is part of why "just ignore the stuff you don't like" doesn't sit right with me. The optional/side content in an RPG is a huge part of the fun. If you run around in a game like FFXII, you'll find entire optional dungeons, hunts, bosses, and even complete regions. Some of that content will be higher level than you currently are, which gives you a goal to work towards, and most of it will have new gear, treasures, etc. to find. All of this ties back to the core gameplay systems. Rebirth substitutes meaningful side content for disconnected minigames and Ubisoft checklist hunting. Optional content is an important part of the RPG gameplay loop, and "just ignore it" is only a solution insofar as it lets you play an RPG missing that crucial ingredient.


Well I think the problem here is that FF7 was never meant to be an open world. Which is why it doesn't feel cohesive or "real".
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I have a problem with people saying the story does not making any sense. It does. Sorry, but it does.

No one reads Goethes "Faust" and goes like "well this didn't make any bloody sense!"
And yes I am using Goethe here, because they use some of the very same techniques as him and I had to analyze it back in school, so I could make that connection.

People who looked at all the bread crumps that the devs left in Remake saw this ending a mile away, month after Remakes release. You can trace it back in older YouTube videos. They use a lot of symbolism and references (as many Japanese storytellers do) to tell their story. It is coherent if you meet the story on its level. It might not be instantly understandable, but dumbing down everything so even a 5 year old can understand it, is not the only way to tell a story.

I dont get where this desire for simple story comes from. Is it a Disneyfication of society? Again, the story might not be straight forward, but it is coherent to its own rules and it is possible to analyze it. Which makes it much more mature than any plain old simple story, specially one that has already been told anyway. Why retell it. There is nothing to gain.

And I applaud the devs for sticking to their guns. Because even though people on the internet found out what the reunion is, how the different universes work, what Aerith is probably going to do, what Sephiroth is up to, they didn't change the story just to surprise people again, you know like some other TV shows might do (and then things don't make any sense anymore). They also don't build up a mystery without knowing the conclusion to it. Like....some TV shows have done.

This is a story worthy of exploration and analysis. Not getting it, does not mean its bad, it just means you don't get it, because you have put in no effort to understand it. And I dont blame you, I'm too stupid for it as well. I have to watch people explain that shit to me. But then it clicks and I can play the game again and be amazed by how many clues there were all along and I just didn't see them (the use of colors, the use of flowers, the use of verbal references, the use of music, the decoration of rooms, there is so much stuff if you really get into it).


This is more about people not wanting to engage in a more complex type of story and story telling. Which is fine, but please don't tell me it doesn't make sense when you haven't even tried.

Here is a YouTube Channel that dives real deep into the lore of Remake

And I do understand if you don't have the time or energy to engage the game on that level, but still, this does not make the story bad or non sensical. Its just a different kind of story that requires a bit more user input to be appreciated.
but it does make no sense. I played the game and who knows wtf are they doing in the cinematic at the end. I doubt people just understand that.
I do understand most of the story. I get the gist of it. Of course I do.
But it's overcomplicated with a detriment to story quality. It is reaching kingdom hearts levels of bullshittery. They really do think that making tons of multiverses, characters being dead and alive at the same time and all that stuff will make the game more interesting?! no, it won't.
Good story is simple and emotional. Like the original.

edit: Of course you can explain everything and speculate but it's no excuse for good story
 
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FoxMcChief

Gold Member
I’m in Chapter 5 and the stupidity of Kingdom Hearts is starting to show its ugly head in this game. Such a shame. The ending of Remake was already a travesty and failed (imo) to justify itself as a new story using the FF7 as a setting to change shit up.

People always got to fuck up a good thing.

I’m still enjoying Rebirth, but the direction I see it going is not great.
 
I dont get where this desire for simple story comes from. Is it a Disneyfication of society? Again, the story might not be straight forward, but it is coherent to its own rules and it is possible to analyze it. Which makes it much more mature than any plain old simple story, specially one that has already been told anyway. Why retell it. There is nothing to gain.

And I applaud the devs for sticking to their guns. Because even though people on the internet found out what the reunion is, how the different universes work, what Aerith is probably going to do, what Sephiroth is up to, they didn't change the story just to surprise people again, you know like some other TV shows might do (and then things don't make any sense anymore). They also don't build up a mystery without knowing the conclusion to it. Like....some TV shows have done.

This is a story worthy of exploration and analysis. Not getting it, does not mean its bad, it just means you don't get it, because you have put in no effort to understand it. And I dont blame you, I'm too stupid for it as well. I have to watch people explain that shit to me. But then it clicks and I can play the game again and be amazed by how many clues there were all along and I just didn't see them (the use of colors, the use of flowers, the use of verbal references, the use of music, the decoration of rooms, there is so much stuff if you really get into it).


This is more about people not wanting to engage in a more complex type of story and story telling. Which is fine, but please don't tell me it doesn't make sense when you haven't even tried.

Here is a YouTube Channel that dives real deep into the lore of Remake

And I do understand if you don't have the time or energy to engage the game on that level, but still, this does not make the story bad or non sensical. Its just a different kind of story that requires a bit more user input to be appreciated.
I think it's honestly detrimental. FF VII's story wasn't necessarily "simple", but it was much cleaner. The sequence in which
Aerith "dies"
is a perfect example of this. In the original it is powerful and clear, in Rebirth it's just a mess that's devoid of any emotional impact at all. At least for me.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Reusing assets is the most videogame thing in existence.
Yes, even the original game reused a TON of assets. Enemies got reskinned or recolored through the whole game. The reactors in every region looked identical inside and were reused from the Midgar reactors. There were only like 10-12 battle arenas in the entire game (forest, city, desert, etc.). Character movements were copy/pasted constantly.

Just having reused assets doesn't make a game bad.
 

TheAssist

Member
but it does make no sense. I played the game and who knows wtf are they doing in the cinematic at the end. I doubt people just understand that.
I do understand most of the story. I get the gist of it. Of course I do.
But it's overcomplicated with a detriment to story quality. It is reaching kingdom hearts levels of bullshittery. They really do think that making tons of multiverses, characters being dead and alive at the same time and all that stuff will make the game more interesting?! no, it won't.
Good story is simple and emotional. Like the original.

edit: Of course you can explain everything and speculate but it's no excuse for good story

I think it's honestly detrimental. FF VII's story wasn't necessarily "simple", but it was much cleaner. The sequence in which
Aerith "dies"
is a perfect example of this. In the original it is powerful and clear, in Rebirth it's just a mess that's devoid of any emotional impact at all. At least for me.

At the end of the day we can only agree to disagree here. I do understand your points.

I have seen the OG's story dozens of times now. Through my own playthroughs, watching others play through it, watching videos about it, talking about it, even made my own podcast about it for a friend who wanted me to do it (non gamer).
I am very open for something new and fresh and not just the same story again.
So yeah I get you guys, but also, I disagree :D
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
At the end of the day we can only agree to disagree here. I do understand your points.

I have seen the OG's story dozens of times now. Through my own playthroughs, watching others play through it, watching videos about it, talking about it, even made my own podcast about it for a friend who wanted me to do it (non gamer).
I am very open for something new and fresh and not just the same story again.
So yeah I get you guys, but also, I disagree :D
I was happy they are not doing same game again and it is in fact not a remake.
But In the end, They went too far.
ok, we can agree to have different opinions :p I am not FF authority here at all
 

TheAssist

Member
I was happy they are not doing same game again and it is in fact not a remake.
But In the end, They went too far.
ok, we can agree to have different opinions :p I am not FF authority here at all
Ah I forgot.

I do agree with you on one point

I do agree that Aerith's death seen loses impact. I was shocked seeing Sephiroth take out the bloody sword, but I was so hard trying to figure out what was happening and what universe we are currently in, that it lost the sadness aspect of it. However, for me this was simply shifted to another scene. The very ending shot of the game. Seeing Aerith being ... not alive but conscience, saying goodbye and now being all alone and on her own was honestly even more sad to me. Combine that with this damn song in which she urges Cloud to find her again, the same way she tried to find him the entire game....maaaaan that got me good.
 

Dynasty8

Member
I have a problem with people saying the story does not making any sense. It does. Sorry, but it does.

No one reads Goethes "Faust" and goes like "well this didn't make any bloody sense!"
And yes I am using Goethe here, because they use some of the very same techniques as him and I had to analyze it back in school, so I could make that connection.

People who looked at all the bread crumps that the devs left in Remake saw this ending a mile away, month after Remakes release. You can trace it back in older YouTube videos. They use a lot of symbolism and references (as many Japanese storytellers do) to tell their story. It is coherent if you meet the story on its level. It might not be instantly understandable, but dumbing down everything so even a 5 year old can understand it, is not the only way to tell a story.

I dont get where this desire for simple story comes from. Is it a Disneyfication of society? Again, the story might not be straight forward, but it is coherent to its own rules and it is possible to analyze it. Which makes it much more mature than any plain old simple story, specially one that has already been told anyway. Why retell it. There is nothing to gain.

And I applaud the devs for sticking to their guns. Because even though people on the internet found out what the reunion is, how the different universes work, what Aerith is probably going to do, what Sephiroth is up to, they didn't change the story just to surprise people again, you know like some other TV shows might do (and then things don't make any sense anymore). They also don't build up a mystery without knowing the conclusion to it. Like....some TV shows have done.

This is a story worthy of exploration and analysis. Not getting it, does not mean its bad, it just means you don't get it, because you have put in no effort to understand it. And I dont blame you, I'm too stupid for it as well. I have to watch people explain that shit to me. But then it clicks and I can play the game again and be amazed by how many clues there were all along and I just didn't see them (the use of colors, the use of flowers, the use of verbal references, the use of music, the decoration of rooms, there is so much stuff if you really get into it).


This is more about people not wanting to engage in a more complex type of story and story telling. Which is fine, but please don't tell me it doesn't make sense when you haven't even tried.

Here is a YouTube Channel that dives real deep into the lore of Remake

And I do understand if you don't have the time or energy to engage the game on that level, but still, this does not make the story bad or non sensical. Its just a different kind of story that requires a bit more user input to be appreciated.

The story doesn't make sense...and it's not well done.
 

Boneless

Member
Chapter 8 now and a new layer added to queensblood, so good.

Though it's been great, like the first remake I would have preferred if they used more of what made the original so great, it does not use the originals tunes often enough imo, but when it does its great.

Tunes like this one are so great, it completely changes the atmosphere and they have not been able to recreate that everywhere as effectively:


Also, while I am a big fan of hp numbers in the turn based game and feel this gives a power sensation, it's pretty much lost here with an action RPG and they might as well go for a GoW type health bar. Leve
 
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Though it's been great, like the first remake I would have preferred if they used more of what made the original so great, it does not use the originals tunes often enough imo, but when it does its great.

I feel this way as well. I feel like maybe there's too much music and it drowns out the themes and songs of the original. I want to say honestly Remake did a better job overall of musical presentation in terms of when/what was played.
 

TheAssist

Member
Brother, if you’re invoking Goethe and calling gamers stupid to defend the awful plot, you already lost.
I am not invoking Goethe. I said the authors of this story use stylistic devices that were also used by him to tell a story. I am also not calling gamers stupid. If anything I admitted that I am stupid myself.
If you willfully misunderstand the game's story like you misunderstand my comment, while also bringing nothing to the table yourself than I am not really surprised that you don't like it.
 

Nankatsu

Gold Member
I gotta question: if you focus on a target and then change character, isn't there any way to have the new character focusing on the target you previously choose?

More than once I'm focusing on a target, change the character and he focus on another one, kind of breaking my combo flow.

I thought maybe I had to configure something on the combat settings menu, but it seems there isn't an option dedicated to that there.

I don't remember having this issue on Remake.
 
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rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I launched Remake on ps5 just to compare and I realize how wrong I was playing the remake the first time I was playing it few years ago! I only played and finished it once.
Firs of all - I was not using new weapons because I liked the look of buster sword lol. In Rebirth, it was clear that I have to use EVERY new weapon at least until I master its ability to unlock it for use with any weapons. It flew right past me in remake lol. I loaded my late save from remake and clear as day - I only have braver and thrust abilities lol. Not touched any sword. Also, I didn’t do Charley stuff too much so only basic summons.

But one other thing stood up revisiting remake regarding that I thought UI and gameplay was cleaner and less chaotic in remake and that’s true.
First, the combat effects are cleaner to see and better particle effects.
Then, there are much less abilities (even if you unlock from all weapons, that’s like 5 more abilities) and for all your elemental, you go to magic afaik. So the lists are much shorter and easier to parse.
Idk, I will replay it after Dragons dogma 2 maybe but it seems simpler and cleaner…. Or I really do fucked up y first playthrough besides not upgrading new weapons. But there are no elemental magic skill you unlock to use as abilities afaik.
Edit: I also launched back ff16 and man does that game looks insane and controls great. I still think it’s excellent. Anyway I was ff noob when I played remake. Now I finished some of og7, whole xv, 16 and rebirth. Time to go back
 
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I gotta question: if you focus on a target and then change character, isn't there any way to have the new character focusing on the target you previously choose?

More than once I'm focusing on a target, change the character and he focus on another one, kind of breaking my combo flow.

I thought maybe I had to configure something on the combat settings menu, but it seems there isn't an option dedicated to that there.

I don't remember having this issue on Remake.
Are you locking on? It doesn't sound like it.
 

Dynasty8

Member
Good talk.

Solid arguments as well.

Fine, I'll bite. For the record:

  1. I did actually read your post
  2. FFVII (OG) is not ONLY one of my favorite games of all time, it's THE game that made me love this hobby.
  3. I've played and watched all the compilation stuff too
  4. I enjoyed REMAKE, loved REBIRTH as a whole

Still, the story doesn't make sense and is not done very well.

I saw the "bread crumbs" from a mile away in REMAKE, it doesn't mean it's good or coherent. I also completely disagree with you saying the following:

"I dont get where this desire for simple story comes from. Is it a Disneyfication of society? Again, the story might not be straight forward, but it is coherent to its own rules and it is possible to analyze it. Which makes it much more mature than any plain old simple story, specially one that has already been told anyway. Why retell it. There is nothing to gain."

Rebirth is NOT coherent, it lacks a lot of the basic logic and consistency. Even the original did at times, but by 1997 standards, it was better than 99% of the game stories that came out during that period and is A LOT more coherent than Remake/Rebirth as a whole. Expectations have changed a lot since then and even though Rebirth does handle some of these new story moments pretty well, it also crashes the landing in other crucial moments.

And "more mature"... Really? I know this isn't what you meant 100%, but many of us view "maturity" quite differently. The original felt MUCH more mature, dark, grim and had more tragic moments. That alone makes the story more interesting and engaging.

-Zack's final scene where the world is ending and he goes through a portal and says "Seeeya!" is silly and childish, removes any maturity.

-They fumbled the ball with the ending / Aerith's fate. It had nowhere the same impact as the end of disc 1 of the original. Multiple reasons for that...but they turned her "death" from tragic to "make up your mind"....

-Yuffie being a prominent character in Rebirth makes it a lot more "childish" as well. Her dialogue alone makes her sound like a 12 year old when she should be 16.

-Don't even get me started with Red XIII after Chapter 10...yes I know, the Japanese translation explains his "transformation", but turning him from this amazing wise character with a great voice to a whiny Kingdom Hearts character with a squeaky voice was a bad decision...and I know I am not alone in saying that.

-There's also Cid...or the lack of Cid. He feels like a Disney version of his old self.

There is A LOT more and this is mostly subjective, but the game's overly lighthearted nature just didn't do it for me and many others. I really do wish they went for an M rating here, one of the VERY few things I preferred about XVI. The fact still remains, the story is all over the place and doesn't make any sense.

Lastly on this note, "why retell it, there is nothing to gain"... that's not true at all. Tell that to newcomers who never played the original and wanted to experience it in a modern way. The solution for those people isn't to "just play the original". The game is especially a confusing mess to people who've never experienced the OG.

For us veterans - The BEST moments in REMAKE and REBIRTH are the iconic moments that occur - seeing these moments, these characters, these boss encounters and these cities/towns is hands down the best parts of these 2 games. Square was given a golden opportunity here to retell one of the most iconic stories ever, but they decided to throw a twist in there with most godforsaken element - "the multi-verse". I am not even against some of the new stuff...I actually liked some of the new characters, small subtle changes, and Queen's Blood is one of the best mini games ever created...but they made an absolute mess of the FFVII narrative and executed so poorly by adding separate timelines, different universes and over the top nonsense (especially during the final battle).


This is more about people not wanting to engage in a more complex type of story and story telling. Which is fine, but please don't tell me it doesn't make sense when you haven't even tried.

Disagree again. More complex does not equal better story telling. I am guessing you also like the Kingdom Heart's stories as well? Not a dig, more power to you... I mean that, but please don't tell us we don't know what we are talking about because we don't want to "engage" or aren't putting enough effort or input into understanding the storyline. A lot of us get what Square has gone for here, but it just doesn't work and it's a convoluted and poorly written mess, especially the end.
 
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For us veterans - The BEST moments in REMAKE and REBIRTH are the iconic moments that occur - seeing these moments, these characters, these boss encounters and these cities/towns is hands down the best parts of these 2 games. Square was given a golden opportunity here to retell one of the most iconic stories ever, but they decided to throw a twist in there with most godforsaken element - "the multi-verse". I am not even against some of the new stuff...I actually liked some of the new characters, small subtle changes, and Queen's Blood is one of the best mini games ever created...but they made an absolute mess of the FFVII narrative and executed so poorly by adding separate timelines, different universes and over the top nonsense (especially during the final battle).
Sooo much this. It's truly a shame !



Man, just when you think you've seen everything this game has to offer there's just one more cutscene related to one more quest or side gig.

Almost at the platinum.
 
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Chocobos have contextual "powers" depending on the region but with very limited use (except maybe the nibelheim chocobo) and they can't do what you could do in FFXV (jump and glide, and don't tell me about the cosmo canyon chocobo gliding it's extremely contextual and shitty).
You can jump and glide in FFXVI because there's nowhere to jump or glide to so no one's going to accidentally jump or glide somewhere important early. The areas that aren't linear are slightly open areas with monsters patrolling and trash loot that make exploration pointless, with the exception I guess of locating marks which are the only thing that actually need to be found. You're not gonna glide your chocobo to some secret island where Jill is doing situps in a bikini or something

edit: u said XV not XVI sorry. I don't know what happens in XV
 
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Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Only just realized you can travel back to the 1st continent using the Ferry LOL

I thought it wasn't possible until the endgame.


Thankfully I'm smart enough to not play Ubisoft games, so the "Ubisoft Tower" doesn't feel played out to me at all.

Haha same. To me everything feels fresh as I've never purchased a single Ubisoft game. 😎
 
Thankfully I'm smart enough to not play Ubisoft games, so the "Ubisoft Tower" doesn't feel played out to me at all.

Only just realized you can travel back to the 1st continent using the Ferry LOL

I thought it wasn't possible until the endgame.




Haha same. To me everything feels fresh as I've never purchased a single Ubisoft game. 😎

That's pretty cool. Never purchased an ubisoft game is a legit brag honestly.

I have a friend who looks like the lead singer from coldplay, and when someone pointed that out to him, my friend didn't even know what coldplay was.

He never seemed cooler to me than in that moment, that was his "never played ubisoft lol" moment.

I thought about it for a while afterwards, and the only way he could possibly be cooler is if he actually was the lead singer of coldplay and yet somehow still didn't know what coldplay was
 
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Toots

Gold Member
You can jump and glide in FFXVI because there's nowhere to jump or glide to so no one's going to accidentally jump or glide somewhere important early. The areas that aren't linear are slightly open areas with monsters patrolling and trash loot that make exploration pointless, with the exception I guess of locating marks which are the only thing that actually need to be found. You're not gonna glide your chocobo to some secret island where Jill is doing situps in a bikini or something

edit: u said XV not XVI sorry. I don't know what happens in XV
Areas are more open in XV than XVI but i understand your point.
It's sad though they couldn't find a way to make the chocobos jump and glide even slightly...
 

BbMajor7th

Gold Member
We would be sitting here complaining about this vast empty way too big open world. You cant fill a world this size with meaningful content.
Imagine the size of the game. You probably arent even allowed to publish a game with 300 GB or more space requirement on the PS5, unless you are CoD and make Sony literal billions in revenue. This would also be another reason for the bad textures.

Reusing assets is the most videogame thing in existence. You have to somehow make a game on time, money, and person budget. And Square knows how much Remake sold, they have a good estimate how much money this game will make at a maximum and hence your money and timeframe are set. Cant just make everything needlessly big and create millions of unique assets.
Well, that's the magic of video games, it's not about actually capturing the size of a thing, it's about creating that sense of scale with the technology you have. The OG FFVII had a grand sense of scale - far grander than the sum of its parts. Rebirth is 50 times the size, for only a portion of that original story, and somehow it manages to feel smaller. That's not a lack of technical capability - it's a lack of imagination and creative direction. Stamping identical assets all over the world (vending machines and Choco Stops, for instance) is one part of this issue. Bus stops, benches and vending machines look different from one town to the next in most places in the world; in Rebirth they're identical from continent to continent.

It all adds to this sense of something completely artificial, created not as a similacrum of a believable world (it doesn't even have dynamic weather or time-of-day), but more as an amusement arcade filled with vague abstractions of real world things. Take the vertical mountain chocobo walls outside Junon - they completely defy logic in the context of the world. I'd always assumed mountain chocobos could traverse steep, uneven terrain, like a mountain goat. Rebirth tells me that they're only able to climb perfectly vertical road surfaces, expressly created for that purpose. Who created them? We don't know. To access what? It's unclear. Why haven't they fallen into disrepair like all of the flat roads? A mystery. Why can't these birds climb other vertical concrete surfaces, like buildings or pillars? Reasons.

There are probably a dozen other questions you could ask and the only sensible answer is 'because it's a video game, duh' - and that's the problem, the game never transports you from your sofa into its world because it never aspires to be more than a mediocre video game attached to a very prestigious IP. It's lame.

I dont get where this desire for simple story comes from. Is it a Disneyfication of society? Again, the story might not be straight forward, but it is coherent to its own rules and it is possible to analyze it. Which makes it much more mature than any plain old simple story, specially one that has already been told anyway. Why retell it. There is nothing to gain.

Come on, this is the most Disney-ass shit going - grand plot twists and multiverse claptrap do not make a story 'mature'; adding in extra layers of noise does not make it deep or intelligent. If SE had wanted to elevate the story, they could developed the characters beyond angsty one-dimensional tropes or straight-up pantomime villains. They could have added some moral complexity to world that doesn't reduce everything to good and evil. The biggest problem for coherence is not the plot, but the individual characters and their motivations. There are no internal struggles to overcome, no conflicts of interest, in-fighting or power plays - they all just follow the objective set without question, good guys and bad alike.

All of the character writing is laughably over-the-top, reinforcing that sense of artificiality: people don't behave like this in real life. And that's by intention, because these aren't characters, they're theme-park mascots that will even hum the victory tune after a battle and remind you of all the fuzzy FFVII feels. Meanwhile, not a single character they've added is fleshed-out or likable, they're all complete one-note irritants like Kyrie, Chadley and Mai. Nothing about this is 'mature', it's dumber than a stack of bricks.
 
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Darchaos

Member
114 hours in and i just dont want this to end, what a game! Some of the minigame wants me to break the controller, but that dosent botter me at all, just som get gud moments! 100/10 game, a celebration to videogames.
 

SCB3

Member
I launched Remake on ps5 just to compare and I realize how wrong I was playing the remake the first time I was playing it few years ago! I only played and finished it once.
Firs of all - I was not using new weapons because I liked the look of buster sword lol. In Rebirth, it was clear that I have to use EVERY new weapon at least until I master its ability to unlock it for use with any weapons. It flew right past me in remake lol. I loaded my late save from remake and clear as day - I only have braver and thrust abilities lol. Not touched any sword. Also, I didn’t do Charley stuff too much so only basic summons.

But one other thing stood up revisiting remake regarding that I thought UI and gameplay was cleaner and less chaotic in remake and that’s true.
First, the combat effects are cleaner to see and better particle effects.
Then, there are much less abilities (even if you unlock from all weapons, that’s like 5 more abilities) and for all your elemental, you go to magic afaik. So the lists are much shorter and easier to parse.
Idk, I will replay it after Dragons dogma 2 maybe but it seems simpler and cleaner…. Or I really do fucked up y first playthrough besides not upgrading new weapons. But there are no elemental magic skill you unlock to use as abilities afaik.
Edit: I also launched back ff16 and man does that game looks insane and controls great. I still think it’s excellent. Anyway I was ff noob when I played remake. Now I finished some of og7, whole xv, 16 and rebirth. Time to go back
One thing I missed from the Remake was putting on certain Materia to your weapons would give your normal attacks that elemental damage, so for example Fira would give your weapon fire damage, it was so useful for certain bosses on Hard mode
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Fuck this take down the mindflayer first nonsense


This one is nonsense, but doable straight away. Just use easy mode, there is no penalty. You need fast ATB builder like Yuffie. And give Sleep to her+Marlboro orb. Put those little guys to sleep while you draw the flayer far away.

I used Tifa and Yuffie i think, only 2 chars. Once i build synergy he died in one stagger on easy mode.
 
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