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[Kaachan]

We successfully defended Mt. Condor and defeated the Shinra in the war. They were fierce and came in unbelievable swarm; enough to wipe out my troops and forces handily but when Cid, Barret, and Vincent stepped into battle we won easily. If I had known the battle would have been that easy with us heading to the front line then I'd have just went and spared all the troops and equipment from destruction. We received the Huge Materia from the General's father, and then we headed to Mideel to visit Tifa and Cloud

That was one hell of a segment there at Mideel Village. Tifa and Cloud in that cutscene as everything collapse behind them, and then they fall into the Lifestream. That was something special, retracing memories in Cloud's subconscious while in the Lifestream. We managed to find Cloud's true memories and who he really is, helping him to recover fully. But there ares still plenty of questions that remain. I'm going to most likely post a ton of pictures before I begin doing anything serious next. I want to see if I can see a pattern from any of the old screenshots, see if there is anything that I overlooked that can help piece together the story

Cid, Barret, and Vincent even fought Weapon. It was way beyond our strength level and would have killed us all had it not decided to leave mid-battle

I've been told that I'm about 70% finished with the game but it's difficult to tell. Whatever the case, my next mission is to explore more and battle more. To find more secrets and fortify my crew. We only need to get one more Huge Materia at Junon so I'll try to avoid that area if I can. But it might be difficult, I actually forgot where exactly Junon is... That's either in Midgar or it's near idk maybe where I saved Priscilla at the old port town taken over by Shinra? I can see us battling Weapon there by the shore or something unexpectedly

That’s one way to romanticise the Fort Condor mini game

You’re probably the only one who enjoyed it -that- much

 

[rofif]

rofif @Fugitive Sex

Tried finding mod-tuturial on YouTube, but couldn't find one I could endorse. It's a rabbit hole out there..!

I've not modded myself, I played it on ps6

 

[K2D]

I've not modded myself, I played it on ps6

How does it compare to on the PS9..?

 

[rofif]

How does it compare to on the PS9..?

They say if you get ps6 and ps9 next to each other, bloodborne remaster comes out

 

[Cutty Flam]

just like ff9, make sure you complete the chocobo mini game in ff7, it is massively helpful and really opens up the game for the most exploration and will help you get the most out of the experience

It might just be me, but I cannot be bothered to do anything Chocobo in FFVII. They really dropped the ball with the Chocobo sidequest in this game imo. I've visited the Chcobo Farm like a dozen and a half times have enough greens but for some reason I have zero interest in using the Chocobos even though I know that some of the overworld is probably only accessible via some kind of Chocobo. The process of finding one after many battles of no success, capturing it, then breeding it or whatever you have to do is drawn out. I haven't yet tried outside of what was necessary to escape the large serpent that hunts you down, but still, items don't interest me much here so searching the overworld further...I have no incentive for it tbh. The Chocobo sidequest and the items have been the low points in this game for me. Besides those two things, everything else is great

 

[TheInfamousKira]

The Chocobo sidequests have some of the best materia in the game, definitely worth getting through in my opinion. It can get a little tedious, but I'd honestly just use a guide for it until it gets to the point where you have a feel for it, then it gets a little more bearable. Going in in the dark would make it MUCH more frustrating.

 

[KiteGr]

It might just be me, but I cannot be bothered to do anything Chocobo in FFVII. They really dropped the ball with the Chocobo sidequest in this game imo. I've visited the Chcobo Farm like a dozen and a half times have enough greens but for some reason I have zero interest in using the Chocobos even though I know that some of the overworld is probably only accessible via some kind of Chocobo. The process of finding one after many battles of no success, capturing it, then breeding it or whatever you have to do is drawn out. I haven't yet tried outside of what was necessary to escape the large serpent that hunts you down, but still, items don't interest me much here so searching the overworld further...I have no incentive for it tbh. The Chocobo sidequest and the items have been the low points in this game for me. Besides those two things, everything else is great

You shouldn't bother with super end-game content IMO until after you've finished the game once.
There are barelly any new cutscenes or story to be given besides the final Summon's cool animation, and getting Cloud's final limit break might ruin a surprise in the final battle.
Just finish the game and return later for the extras.

Keep a save file before the final area (you can't return after you enter), and be carefull as the final area has no save points. Instead you find a save crystal in the very first box you open and place it wherever you want (preferably before the final battle). I've seen most new players waste it immidiatly after getting it, building a save point at the very beggining of the dungeon.

 

[K2D]

Cutty Flam Like I mentioned before, at disc 3, you get access to a npc that makes chocobo sidequest a *little* less cryptic.

But a sidequest is a sidequest is a sidequest.

Edit: "Do try approaching end game unprepared, but afterwards - don't skip the end game sidequests and easter eggs!"

 

[Kev Kev]

It might just be me, but I cannot be bothered to do anything Chocobo in FFVII. They really dropped the ball with the Chocobo sidequest in this game imo. I've visited the Chcobo Farm like a dozen and a half times have enough greens but for some reason I have zero interest in using the Chocobos even though I know that some of the overworld is probably only accessible via some kind of Chocobo. The process of finding one after many battles of no success, capturing it, then breeding it or whatever you have to do is drawn out. I haven't yet tried outside of what was necessary to escape the large serpent that hunts you down, but still, items don't interest me much here so searching the overworld further...I have no incentive for it tbh. The Chocobo sidequest and the items have been the low points in this game for me. Besides those two things, everything else is great

Understandable. If you’re not enjoying it, then don’t do it.

But the fact is there are invaluable rewards for the chocobo side quest, and if you look up a tutorial on how to do it you’ll see it’s not all that complicated. It just takes a bit of patience.

If you’re set on not looking up a tutorial, then wait till the end game where you can meet a hidden character in a hidden place that give you tips on how to complete the chocobo side quest.

I also think it just gives you more to do, more content to consume and ultimately makes the game more enjoyable. Give it a shot, I think you’ll be happy with the results if you see it through.

 

[Cutty Flam]

This song kinda reminds me of Cid haha

As for the Chocobo sidequest, I'll give it another go. There is one cave I want to explore that might only be reached via Chocobo. I can't shun these brilliant chickens. How many games do you get to ride a chicken like a horse anyway? Will take one more stab at some Chocobo gathering, breeding, explore a little, possibly have another round of exploring the towns and such...and then I'm gonna see what Cloud and company has in store for Sephiroth, Meteor, possibly Shinra. I can already tell that there's going to be a hell of an ending awaiting me. I'm at the part where Weapon was killed by Rufus, Rufus himself was killed, and now the dome protecting the crater in the mountains is lifted. I'm pretty excited to see what's in store in regards to the story and what everyone's gonna do in battle. I'll select the three characters behind Cloud, Tifa, and Barret which have suffered the most to accompany me during the final dungeon, and when it's time to face Sephiroth I think I'll finish things off with Cloud, Tifa, and Barret since they have lost the most; have been through the most suffering due to Sephiroth. Although, I do think that Vincent may have lost as much as the aforementioned...

At any rate, this game is one of a kind, and I'm glad to have shared it with so many other avid fans here ITT. Invariably I'll continue to enjoy every moment forward as I go through the endgame. And at some point, I really gotta find an hour, specifically to upload all the interesting snapshots. I can't stress enough how much I loved the atmosphere, story, and characters of FFVII above all else. I might not ever see or play anything like this again. Think I might've taken over 400-500 pics in all. And on one last note, it was a real trip being taken back to times that I didn't expect to be taken back to. Although I have never played FFVII, there are some areas in this game that really picked me up and brought me to a sacred realm in my mind; the feeling of revisiting the late 90s when I was just a kid playing games. I believe that FFVII evokes the same energy that you can expect from the classic PS1 era, even when being played in modern times. It's been an excellent ride

 

[Cutty Flam]

During my ‘tour’ around the overworld I accidentally ran into the roaming, flying dragon and he sent me back into the now broken dome near the crater. It sent me into a cutscene instantly lol. It was completely by chance and I didn’t intend to even go to the crater until maybe another two hours of scanning the overworld. But it was nice seeing what was next all the same

Right now I’m at Midgar and some heavy plot related stuff just went down. We actually killed the two slime balls that were with Rufus all the time. I forget their names, one was the fatass “Heideggar” or something and I believe the other was named Scarlett? Well they challenged us in their high-tech Shinra robotic weapon and the battle lasted about an entire fifteen minutes maybe more. But finally we took them down, and they imploded with their proud creation. I think the woman took the most pride in it, that machine was her creation. Fought them with Vincent, Barret, and Cloud of course

Now I’m fighting Hojo. He went full Resident Evil mode and injected himself with something (Jenova) cells?) and now he’s a mutant force to be reckoned with. lost my first time battling him

It’s interesting, I think Hojo said he is Sephiroth’s father. We were at 81% energy power at one point during the battle. So it seems Sephiroth is about to be resurrected from his dormant state. But it’s so strange, I thought Cloud killed Sephiroth? Was he only down for count? How did he come back to wreak havoc and come back for the Black Materia?

There are multiple levels to this story, so I might as well be patient and wait for the time in which it all falls together

What a game. The Turks disbanded, they turned their backs against Shinra and decided they weren’t going to be another cog in the maniacal mass murder machine that is Shinra any longer

Cait Sith has also been revealed, he truly was Shinra all this time, yet he too decided to turn against them and help with the bigger picture; saving lives and the planet. In the end, I think we would have been better off without Cait Sith, but the fact that he turned on his own company shows that he has some guts. I just wonder what the mission would be like if he were not backstabbing us previously. He put us through a lot of danger and wasted a lot of our time. But I suppose information and direction are invaluable so Cait Sith did offer some intel that probably saved our lives at some point…story is thick, so idk. I’d have to think it all over very carefully during a playthrough of the Remake to fully see this game and understand every little bit

 

[K2D]

Have you tried exploring the ocean floor?

 

[Cutty Flam]

Have you tried exploring the ocean floor?

Indeed I have. Found a couple things there, and even took on Weapon while it was roaming the sea floor. Was surprised to find that sunken ship, or sub there as well

Earlier, I completed disc two. I thought the game was 99% over after we killed Hojo, but apparently there’s a disc three

 

[dwish]

Cait Sith aka Reeve Tuesti was actually against Shinra pretty early in disc 1. He's shown strongly objecting when they are planning to drop the plate. I think he fell for the propaganda that AVALANCHE is a terrorist group, which is probably why he acted the way he did.

 

[K2D]

Indeed I have. Found a couple things there, and even took on Weapon while it was roaming the sea floor. Was surprised to find that sunken ship, or sub there as well

Earlier, I completed disc two. I thought the game was 99% over after we killed Hojo, but apparently there’s a disc three

... There is a hidden path down there.

 

[KiteGr]

During my ‘tour’ around the overworld I accidentally ran into the roaming, flying dragon and he sent me back into the now broken dome near the crater. It sent me into a cutscene instantly lol. It was completely by chance and I didn’t intend to even go to the crater until maybe another two hours of scanning the overworld. But it was nice seeing what was next all the same

Right now I’m at Midgar and some heavy plot related stuff just went down. We actually killed the two slime balls that were with Rufus all the time. I forget their names, one was the fatass “Heideggar” or something and I believe the other was named Scarlett? Well they challenged us in their high-tech Shinra robotic weapon and the battle lasted about an entire fifteen minutes maybe more. But finally we took them down, and they imploded with their proud creation. I think the woman took the most pride in it, that machine was her creation. Fought them with Vincent, Barret, and Cloud of course

Now I’m fighting Hojo. He went full Resident Evil mode and injected himself with something (Jenova) cells?) and now he’s a mutant force to be reckoned with. lost my first time battling him

It’s interesting, I think Hojo said he is Sephiroth’s father. We were at 81% energy power at one point during the battle. So it seems Sephiroth is about to be resurrected from his dormant state. But it’s so strange, I thought Cloud killed Sephiroth? Was he only down for count? How did he come back to wreak havoc and come back for the Black Materia?

There are multiple levels to this story, so I might as well be patient and wait for the time in which it all falls together

What a game. The Turks disbanded, they turned their backs against Shinra and decided they weren’t going to be another cog in the maniacal mass murder machine that is Shinra any longer

Cait Sith has also been revealed, he truly was Shinra all this time, yet he too decided to turn against them and help with the bigger picture; saving lives and the planet. In the end, I think we would have been better off without Cait Sith, but the fact that he turned on his own company shows that he has some guts. I just wonder what the mission would be like if he were not backstabbing us previously. He put us through a lot of danger and wasted a lot of our time. But I suppose information and direction are invaluable so Cait Sith did offer some intel that probably saved our lives at some point…story is thick, so idk. I’d have to think it all over very carefully during a playthrough of the Remake to fully see this game and understand every little bit

The ultimate weapon is flying around the world and eventually stops above various landmarks areas. If you crash into it then you'll trigger a fight with it, that it'll eventually run away from. Do it enough times, and at some point it'll stop at a random area near Cosmo Canion. If you beat it then it'll give Clouds ultimate weapon and open a passage to a secret area.

Fun fact about the Turks. You can trigger a fight with them at that final meeting, and it's the only time you fight all 3 of them including Elena.
Fun fact no. 2, Rude will never attack Tifa. He mentioned to have a crush on her, and he's coded in the fights to never target her. Even if she's the only member standing, he'll just skip his turns.

While climbing the cannon to face Hojo, there is a box in the stairs with Barret's final... Something. (Don't remember if it's his ultimate weapon or his final limit break).

You are nearing the end. Remember what I told you about the final area.

 

[Cutty Flam]

^^^Good post KiteGr that was an excellent read

I put up my final save right near Sephiroth. That area was so difficult to navigate and reach. And then you fight some really tough swarm of huge robotic axe users; huge blue axe wielding robots. I was in battle for over 50 minutes yesterday, fighting three consecutive bosses. First, Jenova, which was like a warm up. Trippy boss too. Then we found Sephiroth and he almost killed us before Cloud let the team know it’s not over. We then fought an extremely difficult boss, it kept regenerating and regenerating. Easily it too 25-30 minutes to finally defeat. I used all but Yuffie and Cait Sith to take it down. Then Cloud, Tifa, and Barret fought Sephiroth. That was probably the most epic battle I’ve had in over a decade. It’s up there with the final showdown between Link, Zelda, and Ganon/Ganondorf. Couldn’t believe it. The music. Sephiroth became an Angel of Death. Fucking physics on the screen. Sephiroth destroying entire planets. Now that is one hell of a battle. I wish I could fight with Cid as my fourth in this fight. Tifa was the last one standing. I used over 35 Phoenix Downs in the battle yet still was defeated

I’ll need to use my resources wisely to get out of the crater and resurface to prepare for this. To win I’ll need a lot more resources and even some leveling up. Smarter Materia and Equipment pairing. I’ll have to seek out places where X-Potions can be obtained in the fields if at all possible

 

[KiteGr]

I’ll need to use my resources wisely to get out of the crater and resurface to prepare for this. To win I’ll need a lot more resources and even some leveling up. Smarter Materia and Equipment pairing. I’ll have to seek out places where X-Potions can be obtained in the fields if at all possible

You can't get out of the crater. That's the final area that I told you about that you can't get out off. At least not a way that I know of. You must keep a save outside of it if you want to do the end-game stuff. If Cloud's level reach 99, the final boss get booster to make up for that.

In the Crater there is one of the 3 ribons in the game. They protect agains all ailments.
If you have any Hyper items, use them before the battle. They make the limit bar rises twice as fast.
Bizzaro Sephiroth is a multi-target fight, so abuse summons and combine materials with the all material.
Safer Sephiroth needs dispell as he immidatly puts up barriers. His Super-nova, for all it's glorious animation, never kills you. It always leaves your characters with a tiny bit of health, so have a mega-elixir ready. His pale horse toss random ailments and then Shadowflair and regular attacks usually one-shot you, so they are the ones you should be woried about. Toss a remidy on anyone who's been hit by pale horse and doesn't wear a ribon.
It's the final fight, so don't be greedy with your items! Go nuts!

 

[Cutty Flam]

You can't get out of the crater. That's the final area that I told you about that you can't get out off. At least not a way that I know of. You must keep a save outside of it if you want to do the end-game stuff.

The version I'm playing on allowed me to on a couple of occasions when I went down and decided to roam the overworld a bit more. But that was before I even went very far, maybe it's different now...

Either way, I gotta try to get out of this crater and/or find a way to gain more resources...if I have to, I'll fight in this crater for a while and just stick close to my save point, fight battles and heal through Cure 3 and Regen until I either level up a few more times or get enough items to contend. But I'm gonna try to resurface. I also need to find a website that can teach me all about the items as well. This game requires a guide for items because many do not explain their uses and powers much

 

[kraspkibble]

i finished VII remake the other day. i have Steam version of VII (original) but only played a couple hours of it. Something happened and now my mods won't work anymore. I can't be bothered going through and setting it all up again. I'm probably going to buy it on Switch.

as for the game itself... i don't know what happens after you escape Midgar. I'm excited to see what happens next. I do know one big spoiler...

Spoiler

Sephiroth kills Aerith

edit: i just bought it for Switch i was going to get the physical version but it's like ~£30. the digital version is on sale right now and i had some points so i only paid £4.76 for it! not bothered it doesn't come with FF8 cause i don't want to play that.

 

[K2D]

The version I'm playing on allowed me to on a couple of occasions when I went down and decided to roam the overworld a bit more. But that was before I even went very far, maybe it's different now...

Either way, I gotta try to get out of this crater and/or find a way to gain more resources...if I have to, I'll fight in this crater for a while and just stick close to my save point, fight battles and heal through Cure 3 and Regen until I either level up a few more times or get enough items to contend. But I'm gonna try to resurface. I also need to find a website that can teach me all about the items as well. This game requires a guide for items because many do not explain their uses and powers much

Requires.. not necessarily. I beat it at 14 without guides - maybe I did some grinding down in the sunken Shinra air-craft..?

Might have gotten some tips through word of mouth, but I remember the challange vividely.

Does the pc-ports not allow you to return from the crater? I've always been given the opportunity to return from the final save point, but you have to hoof back up.


Some tips - without telling you go here - do this..:

Safer Sephiroth: From what I remember, the fight is easier if you don't change parties.

Materia tips: Master Materia; If you return to the master materia with maxed out materia of corresponding color, you get something nice

Northern cave: You can explore both paths for hidden items, maybe materia

Accessories: There are exotic creatures in the overworld you can morph into valuable accessories

 

[EverydayBeast]

FF7 is a massive game, it shows signs of age, the linear level design is an issue for some, and there’s a fair share of combat issues. I love the deep story and characters and that’s the whole point.

 

[Neff]

The Northern Crater is worth fully exploring. And yeah, you've always been able to escape it, at least before the 'let's mosey' scene.

I cannot be bothered to do anything Chocobo in FFVII

Get the mountain-climbing Chocobo. It's very quick and easy and unlocks a juicy chunk of game with some great Materia and a must-have weapon.

and getting Cloud's final limit break might ruin a surprise in the final battle.

I can agree with this. I'm glad I finished the game for the first time without getting all of Cloud's Limits.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Playing many consoles games before 1997, now drawn by the anime TV hype, and also gaming on computers, there was nothing about it's advertising to deceive me and the models looked worse than Crash bandicoot so the "impressive graphics" line puzzled me when it came out, It's really not much more than any generic jrpg at the time, just it had RE style backgrounds and some polygons. Materia was slightly worse than what they had in other FF's, and the battle system were the only real standouts besides Square actually attempting a consistent story which none of the cotemporary Jrpgs 1996-1997 did.

While sales show it was not as popular outside Japan as the mags and some Japanese biased online gaming sites made it seem, I was still puzzled by its relative popularity, until I noticed that many of the same people who were talking up and pushing the game decreased substantially by FF8.

I also noticed that while the remake initially sold well it seemed to have stalled and Square stopped mentioning numbers, I don't recall if the ever mentioned introgrades sales at all.

I believe FF7 was fortunate when it released high-quality FMV was popular Squared had production-grade quality behind theirs in the game and within ads for the game, and when you combine that with the Anime rise, there were conventions going on at the time, and with Anime games not really having established themselves yet in that newer generation of hardware which was already favored for pushing 3D capabilities, it put the game on the map.

Problem is as i said, it's really not that different from most other Jrpgs formulas once you strip it of its flashiness. In some areas it's worse, many hours of padding are places into the game that just aren't needed, the battles are in many cases too slow and there are things you can't slip, that you could skip in FF6 or in other Jrpgs I'm sure Square knew of, especially from Enix which was a separate company from the time. There was actually less "reaL' exploration as well as other FFs and other larger jrpgs. It gave you a feeling that you were exploring but you were really following a linear path through big areas filled with time padding random battles.

I think now it's a solid 6/10, while back in the day it was closer to a 5.

FF7 is a massive game, it shows signs of age, the linear level design is an issue for some, and there’s a fair share of combat issues. I love the deep story and characters and that’s the whole point.

You have to go through the game and the combat to get the story though.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

The only exception I think, was the first FF, which there was no character development to get in the way, so it was more straight to the point (in a good way)
Still, most RPGs follow a linear path (The Witcher, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Skyrim, etc)

Skyrim and the Witcher don't have railed narratives like FF7, they encourage exploration and it's more than just going through 3o random battles to a dead end with an npc and maybe some sword, there's usually lore involved, sometimes connected to or expanding the core story, sometimes it's standalone, this isn't in FF7. Even using more contemporary examples, comparing FF7 to Dagger Fall shows this where the game encourages different approaches and exploration, while FF7 always pushes you into one path, any open world stuff is mostly just padding or busy work, some of which is required.

It's why Jrpgs have been compared more to Adventure games, generally interactive visual novels, the ones with some control. FF1 even though it threw you in, it was still a rail roaded experience just not as restricted as a game like FF7. You can't even really go anywhere until you start the plot at the castle, and you have to do it that way, and every objective has to be done the same way, any exploration" doesn't really do anything. Of course, every type of"rpg" has games like that but usually Jrpgs have that type of game design tilted in their favor.

I get your point, but that's the point of most JRPGs -- following the some similar basic template and adding a few different things here and there.
What made Final Fantasy stand out were its production values.

That's a bit of a problem though when other RPG types were improving mechanics or experimenting with new themes and narratives, and gameplay. The Jrpg, which back then i was fortunate enough to have played several, was effectively the same with almost all the same issues. You are correct that FF7 was among the handful of games that tried to add production, but if it was a chore to play that type of game before it's still going to be a chore even with the higher production values. If the issues from before are unchanged, then they will surface once again. But if, you've had limited experience or where new to such a gameplay style, I can see how the game could pull people in.

After all Square was one of few that actually went out of their way on production budgets in their Jrpgs, although this was too their detriment. But if that shock factor isn't there then it becomes another question entirely.

Well, I never felt that way about FF but I know Suikoden 2 designer had similar complaints about the genre, which led him to make that game's battles really quick and short

The problem is that Jrpgs devs knew they could do thing faster, they knew they could skip animations, they knew they could remove delays but still did them.

FF8's summons being an example of learning nothing, you can't skip them at all and have to watch the animation whole each time, among other things in the game. These things due add up to several seconds to minutes, and then across an entire game maybe an hour or two on its own.

Of course there were some slow non-Jrpgs but generally they were faster. In Squares case I know there's some "showing off" involved but you can still show off your production without being as slow as a snail. As for Suikoden 2, while I am mixed on the game I do agree that it was a problem with the genre. it really stood out with Jrpgs more than others, that was the real problem. Almost every issue with Jrpgs back then with some exceptions, were almost all universal which was the opposite of most Rpgs otherwise.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

During my ‘tour’ around the overworld I accidentally ran into the roaming, flying dragon and he sent me back into the now broken dome near the crater. It sent me into a cutscene instantly lol. It was completely by chance and I didn’t intend to even go to the crater until maybe another two hours of scanning the overworld. But it was nice seeing what was next all the same

Right now I’m at Midgar and some heavy plot related stuff just went down. We actually killed the two slime balls that were with Rufus all the time. I forget their names, one was the fatass “Heideggar” or something and I believe the other was named Scarlett? Well they challenged us in their high-tech Shinra robotic weapon and the battle lasted about an entire fifteen minutes maybe more. But finally we took them down, and they imploded with their proud creation. I think the woman took the most pride in it, that machine was her creation. Fought them with Vincent, Barret, and Cloud of course

Now I’m fighting Hojo. He went full Resident Evil mode and injected himself with something (Jenova) cells?) and now he’s a mutant force to be reckoned with. lost my first time battling him

It’s interesting, I think Hojo said he is Sephiroth’s father. We were at 81% energy power at one point during the battle. So it seems Sephiroth is about to be resurrected from his dormant state. But it’s so strange, I thought Cloud killed Sephiroth? Was he only down for count? How did he come back to wreak havoc and come back for the Black Materia?

There are multiple levels to this story, so I might as well be patient and wait for the time in which it all falls together

What a game. The Turks disbanded, they turned their backs against Shinra and decided they weren’t going to be another cog in the maniacal mass murder machine that is Shinra any longer

Cait Sith has also been revealed, he truly was Shinra all this time, yet he too decided to turn against them and help with the bigger picture; saving lives and the planet. In the end, I think we would have been better off without Cait Sith, but the fact that he turned on his own company shows that he has some guts. I just wonder what the mission would be like if he were not backstabbing us previously. He put us through a lot of danger and wasted a lot of our time. But I suppose information and direction are invaluable so Cait Sith did offer some intel that probably saved our lives at some point…story is thick, so idk. I’d have to think it all over very carefully during a playthrough of the Remake to fully see this game and understand every little bit

About Sephiroth

Spoiler: Spoilers in case you wanna wait to read

Sephiroth did indeed die in Nibelheim, or rather, his physical body returned to the Lifestream, which is the end for most folks, because it's apparently very hard to maintain you sense of self and individualism in the Lifestream. The Sephiroth that you see throughout the main game is actually different pieces of Jenova using her magic to appear as Sephiroth, who is in a state of symbiotic existence with Jenova. His real, physical body was being reformed at the Northern Crater, that's who/what Cloud gives the Black Materia to. Watch the cutscene again, you'll notice Sephiroth doesn't have legs, his body is being reformed by the Lifestream.

 

[K2D]

I have seldom read such an amount of objectively incorrect line of false statements.

anime TV hype,

advertising to deceive,

the models looked worse than Crash bandicoot,

"impressive graphics", not much more than any generic jrpg at the time,

just it had RE style backgrounds and some polygons.

Materia was slightly worse than what they had in other FF's,

the battle system were the only real standouts

besides Square actually attempting a consistent story which none of the cotemporary Jrpgs 1996-1997 did.

While sales show it was not as popular outside Japan as the mags and some Japanese biased online gaming sites made it seem, I was still puzzled by its relative popularity, until I noticed that many of the same people who were talking up and pushing the game decreased substantially by FF8.

(What is this conspiracy you're spinning??)

I also noticed that while the remake initially sold well it seemed to have stalled and Square stopped mentioning numbers, I don't recall if the ever mentioned introgrades sales at all.

I believe FF7 was fortunate when it released high-quality FMV was popular Squared had production-grade quality behind theirs in the game and within ads for the game, and when you combine that with the Anime rise, there were conventions going on at the time, and with Anime games not really having established themselves yet in that newer generation of hardware which was already favored for pushing 3D capabilities, it put the game on the map.

Problem is as i said, it's really not that different from most other Jrpgs formulas once you strip it of its flashiness.

In some areas it's worse, many hours of padding are places into the game that just aren't needed, the battles are in many cases too slow and there are things you can't slip, that you could skip in FF6 or in other Jrpgs I'm sure Square knew of, especially from Enix which was a separate company from the time.

There was actually less "reaL' exploration as well as other FFs and other larger jrpgs. It gave you a feeling that you were exploring but you were really following a linear path through big areas filled with time padding random battles.

I think now it's a solid 6/10, while back in the day it was closer to a 5.


You have to go through the game and the combat to get the story though.

This just reeks of 'I had a bad go at a popular title, let me tell you why it stinks while ignoring the "tent poles" qualities'.

 

[Pidull]

The version I'm playing on allowed me to on a couple of occasions when I went down and decided to roam the overworld a bit more. But that was before I even went very far, maybe it's different now...

Either way, I gotta try to get out of this crater and/or find a way to gain more resources...if I have to, I'll fight in this crater for a while and just stick close to my save point, fight battles and heal through Cure 3 and Regen until I either level up a few more times or get enough items to contend. But I'm gonna try to resurface. I also need to find a website that can teach me all about the items as well. This game requires a guide for items because many do not explain their uses and powers much

I'm not gonna lie, I lost my FF7 guide and had to find and buy another one because the guide makes item collecting and more so much easier in a lot of ways. Looking stuff up online works great for some things but can be a pain for others.

 

[kraspkibble]

started playing it on switch. only played 30 minutes so far and need to catch up to where i was on PC. i think i only got as far as Aerith's house after escaping the church.

i think it looks better to be playing on the switch. even with mods on PC it looked rough on my 27" monitor lol. the only thing i'm worried about are these menus burning in to my OLED screen lol.

do you all keep the default blue menu colours or set them to something else?

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

The only exception I think, was the first FF, which there was no character development to get in the way, so it was more straight to the point (in a good way)
Still, most RPGs follow a linear path (The Witcher, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Skyrim, etc)

Skyrim and the Witcher don't have railed narratives like FF7, they encourage exploration and it's more than just going through 3o random battles to a dead end with an npc and maybe some sword, there's usually lore involved, sometimes connected to or expanding the core story, sometimes it's standalone, this isn't in FF7. Even using more contemporary examples, comparing FF7 to Dagger Fall shows this where the game encourages different approaches and exploration, while FF7 always pushes you into one path, any open world stuff is mostly just padding or busy work, some of which is required.

It's why Jrpgs have been compared more to Adventure games, generally interactive visual novels, the ones with some control. FF1 even though it threw you in, it was still a rail roaded experience just not as restricted as a game like FF7. You can't even really go anywhere until you start the plot at the castle, and you have to do it that way, and every objective has to be done the same way, any exploration" doesn't really do anything. Of course, every type of"rpg" has games like that but usually Jrpgs have that type of game design tilted in their favor.

I get your point, but that's the point of most JRPGs -- following the some similar basic template and adding a few different things here and there.
What made Final Fantasy stand out were its production values.

That's a bit of a problem though when other RPG types were improving mechanics or experimenting with new themes and narratives, and gameplay. The Jrpg, which back then i was fortunate enough to have played several, was effectively the same with almost all the same issues. You are correct that FF7 was among the handful of games that tried to add production, but if it was a chore to play that type of game before it's still going to be a chore even with the higher production values. If the issues from before are unchanged, then they will surface once again. But if, you've had limited experience or where new to such a gameplay style, I can see how the game could pull people in.

After all Square was one of few that actually went out of their way on production budgets in their Jrpgs, although this was too their detriment. But if that shock factor isn't there then it becomes another question entirely

I have seldom read such an amount of objectively incorrect line of false statements.


















(What is this conspiracy you're spinning??)








This just reeks of 'I had a bad go at a popular title, let me tell you why it stinks while ignoring the "tent poles" qualities'.

Why don't you break down what's "objectively wrong" with these, starting with explaining to me how those tubesock character models looked better than Crash 1? Or where those FF7 Remake updated sales are/current Intergrade sales?

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

I do enjoy more straight to the point JRPGs, and it seems nowadays every developer forgot how to make a fun JRPG.
They add a lot of filler, meaningless cutscenes, annoying characters with no interesting personalities or goals and pander way too much to weaboos, more than what I can tolerate.

I believe that if the developers know what they are doing, and understand what makes a JRPG enjoyable, adding higher productions values allows them to stick to what works best and polish it to perfection as much as they can.

I noticed even Dragon Quest is changing a bit, that used to be the stale, but surefire formula you'd expect if you wanted a modern traditional Jrpg.

But I get why the developers are doing this, they believe they have to compete with other genres and have to add content. It's the opposite of the fighting game issues, where having more content IS good, but in a Jrpg, pandering to weebs, a lot of padding filler, and trope character flaws and personalities seem to be checklist requirements for Jrpgs that have a AA budget or beyond.

They seem to go with a checklist first, then make the game around it, which is why sometimes you don't have that polish, or you have your annoying characters and writing. Or whatever Star Ocean has become.

I do enjoy when JRPGs attempt something new, like Dragon Quest with monster capturing or Persona with some daily routine thing going on.
Though I still appreciate simplicity more often than not. Sometimes I think developers try too hard to "innovate" and make the entire game a chore to play through.

Well again, it seems like Jrpgs are believing they need to compete outside their genre, it's not just themselves or other Rpgs like Wrpgs, but they feel they need to compete with Adventure games, including the type that are popular in Japan, shooters, Action games etc. A lot of innovation seems to be trying to gain audience from those markets into a Jrpg even when it doesn't make sense.

If you recall, when FFXIII was relevant, one of the producers or directors, I forgot which said, that Final Fantasy XIII is closer to a First-Person shooter than a Jrpg. Which is hilarious and completely nuts but that seems to be the mindset that has prevailed.

I found the link

https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-xiii-creators-on-the-influence-of-call-of-5470533

That is how Final Fantasy XIII designer and writer Motomu Toriyama describes the latest game in the 22-year-old series, born on the Nintendo Entertainment System. Toriyama told Kotaku that the design of Final Fantasy XIII doesn't follow the JRPG "template" intentionally, a choice that has received mixed response.

Here's how that relates to Call of Duty, in Toriyama's mind.

"In that sense it's more similar to an FPS genre, like Call of Duty," he said. "That's not to say it's an action shooting game at all, so Final Fantasy XIII takes some different aspects of different genres, transcending different types of games."

 

[K2D]

Why don't you break down what's "objectively wrong" with these, starting with explaining to me how those tubesock character models looked better than Crash 1? Or where those FF7 Remake updated sales are/current Intergrade sales?

Nah man, don't need to.. People know it's the truth. I also have better things to do than make a list for you. But I'll answer to the deal with the chibi models - who gives a damn??

If you're suspension of disbelief is so poor you should try novel on for size..! They nailed the models where it counts - in combat. You're comparing an RPG with a 3d platformer? How does that make sense for you?

Why do need the sales numbers? As ammunition for the format wars?

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

But I'll answer to the deal with the chibi models - who gives a damn??

The people and press that were saying the graphics were technically incredible when they were objectively worse than Crash bandicoot 1996 in that regards. This is the most long-winded way of saying that I was right about the graphics I've seen. Why did you enter the conversation if and say I was "objectively wrong' if you wanted to speak about your opinion the whole time?

I'm not saying that the graphics were bad, but people constantly overrate FF7's graphics. The world graphics are Jaguar level, and the battle Graphics are the best out of any Jrpg but still below other games form the year before or earlier that same year. When discussing what got consumers to buy the game, these are all things to take into consideration, the fact that many of its buyers didn't know of these games makes the graphics SEEM a lot more impressive than they were, and that in turn, attracted more buyers to the game.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

Yeah, if it's change for the sake of having the confidence that a new idea will make the game more fun, I'm all for it.

Unfortunately it's like you said. The bigger the budget the more dumb and padded the game becomes nowadays. It's like they're afraid of making a 30+ hour RPG like they used to. Now they HAVE to add tons of filler to make the game last 90+ hours just to use that on their marketing campaign.

I really hope Dragon Quest doesn't become an action game or some hybrid between action and turn based.

DQ has been slowly changing form that reliable basic but traditional Jrpg, and I think it's going to get worse unfortunately. At least for main titles.

Yeah, that guy's hopeless.
I think there was also an interview with Nomura where he wanted FF15 to be a musical or something?
Jesus, Square-Enix is a lost case.

Meanwhile, old designers like Sakaguchi just stick to the basics and make memorable games. Albeit basic in structure, they're solid JRPGs.

A musical? There was an article years ago about FFXIII and sequels having a "lack of vision" at Square, and I think he was part of the problem. It seems there's been a lack of synergy for awhile on what to do and how to make what. I mean, even good open shooters had towns and such back then, and even some of the shooters it was "influenced from" back then weren't narrow hallways with terrible characters outside the Afro guy.

 

[K2D]

[...]

I'll concede ONE aspect of VII that is garbage:

 

[Cutty Flam]

Hell of a game
9.5/10 easily

We took down Sephiroth, and then Cloud finished him off. That Omni Slash at the end was fucking insane. I never seen it used until then. Aeris and the Lifestream finished off Meteor and Shinra

It’s one of the greatest stories I’ve ever come across in a video game. These Final Fantasy games at their best are so great. In FFVII, there are so many themes masterfully woven throughout the course of the game that it’s just overwhelmingly awesome to experience and be a part of. I’ll be talking about this one for ages. And I didn’t even get the godly experience; which would have been playing late 90s on my PlayStation, as a kid at the time, growing up with it. To those who did play like 1997-2005, I’d love to hear what those players have to say about the game. They’re the ones that played the game and experienced it in full imo; the way it was intended to be played

This is also one of the most challenging RPGs I’ve ever played. Playing FFVII would have been an unbelievable undertaking had I played it like ages 10 until I managed to complete the game which might have taken me a couple years tbh back then

So much to take in and think about. Gotta let it all simmer for just a bit, but wow guys, is this game something... I could probably write about about it endlessly just like I could the Zelda games that I love

Thanks for everything guys, for 3/4 of an entire year I chipped away at this game and it’s a work of art and masterpiece just as everyone has suggested

 

[dwish]

Hell of a game
9.5/10 easily

We took down Sephiroth, and then Cloud finished him off. That Omni Slash at the end was fucking insane. I never seen it used until then. Aeris and the Lifestream finished off Meteor and Shinra

It’s one of the greatest stories I’ve ever come across in a video game. These Final Fantasy games at their best are so great. In FFVII, there are so many themes masterfully woven throughout the course of the game that it’s just overwhelmingly awesome to experience and be a part of. I’ll be talking about this one for ages. And I didn’t even get the godly experience; which would have been playing late 90s on my PlayStation, as a kid at the time, growing up with it. To those who did play like 1997-2005, I’d love to hear what those players have to say about the game. They’re the ones that played the game and experienced it in full imo; the way it was intended to be played

This is also one of the most challenging RPGs I’ve ever played. Playing FFVII would have been an unbelievable undertaking had I played it like ages 10 until I managed to complete the game which might have taken me a couple years tbh back then

So much to take in and think about. Gotta let it all simmer for just a bit, but wow guys, is this game something... I could probably write about about it endlessly just like I could the Zelda games that I love

Thanks for everything guys, for 3/4 of an entire year I chipped away at this game and it’s a work of art and masterpiece just as everyone has suggested

Great thread. Kinda sad you're done. Plz do Chrono Trigger next?

 

[K2D]

If you're up for some side-questing I suggest talking to the guy outside the outskirts-gate on the way into midgar, then going for a scavenger hunt at the bone village.

 

[K2D]

Yeah, if it's change for the sake of having the confidence that a new idea will make the game more fun, I'm all for it.

Unfortunately it's like you said. The bigger the budget the more dumb and padded the game becomes nowadays. It's like they're afraid of making a 30+ hour RPG like they used to. Now they HAVE to add tons of filler to make the game last 90+ hours just to use that on their marketing campaign.

I really hope Dragon Quest doesn't become an action game or some hybrid between action and turn based.


Yeah, that guy's hopeless.
I think there was also an interview with Nomura where he wanted FF15 to be a musical or something?
Jesus, Square-Enix is a lost case.

Meanwhile, old designers like Sakaguchi just stick to the basics and make memorable games. Albeit basic in structure, they're solid JRPGs.

Honestly, I'm not a hundred percent confident Sakaguchi-San wouldn't do the same, looking at FF6 and FF9.

 

[Cutty Flam]

Great thread. Kinda sad you're done. Plz do Chrono Trigger next?

Thanks dwish. It is a little bit bittersweet... I wish there was more time in the day and technology was a little bit better on the Switch’s end; that way I could’ve expressed a lot more of what was running through my mind as Cloud and the rest journeyed. But even though I’ve played through the main story and saved the planet, there is still a lot that I’ve missed. And a lot that I don’t fully understand about the story. As well as plenty of pictures I might never, but 100% should (lul) share and speak on; to better understand the story. I think one day several years from now it would be a great time to play the Remake

Final Fantasy games are a lot to process. They incorporate so many things about life into the games. They’re very heavy games to process. I always thought I was kind of a hard rock when it came to video games, the stories I could always appreciate but seldom was touched by anything I’ve played in the past. That was true until I played FFIX and was overcome with emotion. It is truly a touching and moving story. A masterpiece. With FFVII I was more prepared for what to expect, but the suffering that almost every NPC and protagonist in this game lives through is on another level. When I saw that Aeris had sacrificed herself for our victory, and saw Cloud holding her in the water and let go I knew I had just seen something that goes beyond video games. These Final Fantasy games have some very impressive moments

 

[EruditeHobo]

Yeah, it's a wonderful game. Been fun following the thread and reminiscing.

To play through it at the time, all I can say is you are right to assume it was special. It's a really unique game, right on the cusp of a great blend of narrative, creative, and technological innovation in gaming, it hit me at the perfect moment and defined a genre for me.

I hesitate to use this kind of comparison, but i feel that it's a little like how some people read The Lord of the Rings or Dune, or saw Star Wars, at a particular age... the exact right formative age to experience those things, when they are hitting the public for the first time and they are right in the zeitgeist. And because of that, at least for a while, a person having experienced those stories in those exact moments, the impact they have is massive. Being there in the moment has the ability to impact what you're interested in, maybe for the rest of your life in one way or another.

That's kind of what it was like for me... this weird kind of world, a blend of epic Japanese fantasy, the kinds of thematic motifs at work, the healthy dash of cyberpunk... all that is almost certainly part of the reason I'm into fantasy stories/games today, and am drawn to post-apoc cyberpunk aesthetics. The experience with this game is the reason I'm into RPG elements in gaming... I probably would have gotten there with another game, another time, eventually, because RPG elements are amazing in games... but THIS was that game for me, the one that got me interested in it and opening my eyes to the possibilities of character leveling/RPG progression mechanics. So it will always be hugely special in that way.

Thanks for following through and finishing! Glad to have been here.

 

[OOGABOOGA]

You should try X and XII, there are remasters for both of them on the ps4. I just picked them up again last week.

 

[dwish]

Thanks dwish. It is a little bit bittersweet... I wish there was more time in the day and technology was a little bit better on the Switch’s end; that way I could’ve expressed a lot more of what was running through my mind as Cloud and the rest journeyed. But even though I’ve played through the main story and saved the planet, there is still a lot that I’ve missed. And a lot that I don’t fully understand about the story. As well as plenty of pictures I might never, but 100% should (lul) share and speak on; to better understand the story. I think one day several years from now it would be a great time to play the Remake

Final Fantasy games are a lot to process. They incorporate so many things about life into the games. They’re very heavy games to process. I always thought I was kind of a hard rock when it came to video games, the stories I could always appreciate but seldom was touched by anything I’ve played in the past. That was true until I played FFIX and was overcome with emotion. It is truly a touching and moving story. A masterpiece. With FFVII I was more prepared for what to expect, but the suffering that almost every NPC and protagonist in this game lives through is on another level. When I saw that Aeris had sacrificed herself for our victory, and saw Cloud holding her in the water and let go I knew I had just seen something that goes beyond video games. These Final Fantasy games have some very impressive moments

One of my stronger memories of FF7 is, after meteor has been summoned, just going around the world talking to NPCs, seeing how they react. I particularly remember the guy going to Gold Saucer to waste all his money "since he'll soon be dead anyway".

This combination of great writing and optional parts keeping you in control, somewhat (I can skip this travelling but the main story is still fixed), of your own experience is one of the things that, to me, sets gaming apart from other media.

 

[KiteGr]

Hell of a game
9.5/10 easily

We took down Sephiroth, and then Cloud finished him off. That Omni Slash at the end was fucking insane. I never seen it used until then. Aeris and the Lifestream finished off Meteor and Shinra

It’s one of the greatest stories I’ve ever come across in a video game. These Final Fantasy games at their best are so great. In FFVII, there are so many themes masterfully woven throughout the course of the game that it’s just overwhelmingly awesome to experience and be a part of. I’ll be talking about this one for ages. And I didn’t even get the godly experience; which would have been playing late 90s on my PlayStation, as a kid at the time, growing up with it. To those who did play like 1997-2005, I’d love to hear what those players have to say about the game. They’re the ones that played the game and experienced it in full imo; the way it was intended to be played

This is also one of the most challenging RPGs I’ve ever played. Playing FFVII would have been an unbelievable undertaking had I played it like ages 10 until I managed to complete the game which might have taken me a couple years tbh back then

So much to take in and think about. Gotta let it all simmer for just a bit, but wow guys, is this game something... I could probably write about about it endlessly just like I could the Zelda games that I love

Thanks for everything guys, for 3/4 of an entire year I chipped away at this game and it’s a work of art and masterpiece just as everyone has suggested

For us who played on the 90s:

• The prerendered FMVs impressed much more back then. They where kind of a reward for progressing the game, and the 10min fmv at the end was insane.
• For most of us Europeans it was also the first JRPG we played, setting extremely high standards. They just didn't localize many of them here back then.
• On ps1 it was 3 disks long, requiring a change after Aeris's death and after defeating hojo. That means that the 3rd disk was just the final battle and endgame.

FF6, 7 ,9 and 10 was the golden age of Final Fantasy.

• FF6 was a legend on SNES. The story of those older games is nowhere near as complicated or well acted as FF7, but FF6 was taking steps to the right direction.
• FF8 was ground breaking in terms of presentation and impressed back then, but in retrospect it is brought down by bizarre design decisions and a needlessly convoluted story full of plot holes.
• FF9 was ages better, but suffered the wind waker syndrome of having cartoony graphics, plus it came at the end of the ps1's life. It's IMO one of the most complete, and the 2nd best FF game.
• FF10 was the jump to the talkies, and had some amazing graphics and systems, but it was clear that they had to downsize their ambitions when they jumped to the ps2. The scope was smaller and many aspects where clearly incomplete. Still turned out great.
• After that we had inaccessible online games, and needlessly convoluted games that seem to had lost a lot in production hell.

I suggest playing FF9 next. Don't even try ff8 without the Ragnarock mod.

 

[EruditeHobo]

FF9 is absolutely worth playing. And I also liked X & 12... but yes, the above post is correct that 6, 7, 9, and I would include FF tactics... that is the obvious high point of the series.

Xenogears is another epic Square JRPG, narratively-focused, lots of interesting characters, very fun combat, just a massive enthralling adventure. Great art style as well.

And Xenogears has a better story than IMO most FF games (this and FF Tactics are great interactive stories, for me, the best of their era).

 

[Cutty Flam]

There are so many great JRPGs to play now, the temptation is great but I have my eyes set on either Earthbound or FFXII: The Zodiac Age for next JRPG

At the end of FFVII I wasn’t sure if Bugenhagen had left Nanaki to die somewhere alone btw, or if he truly was going on a trip out of nowhere at the most crucial point in the game. He was acting strange, and was kind of overworked from journeying with us. Seems kind of odd that he would go anywhere. That decision raises some questions

 

[Cutty Flam]

Wish I could play Chrono Trigger and FFVI on the Switch too, maybe one day next year if we’re lucky. FF Tactics as well everyone does rave about that game