Square-Enix’s Vision For The Final Fantasy VII Remake Scares Me

Hey Poor Player's Francis DiPersio writes - "The latest details on Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake have me thinking this isn’t quite the much-needed Phoenix Down for the franchise fans were hoping for."

[derkasan]

I'm still on the fence myself. The episodic format and new battle system seem like strange directions.

[dead_pixels]

Absolutely. As it stands I'm getting a much more Crisis Core or Dirge of Cerberus vibe from this, rather than a full remake as it's been billed.

[Kalebninja]

Its several full games that tell the entire story and that's already been stated its no different from how they the 13 series, 3 games for the full story, and that's how they are doing the 15 series as well so there'll be at least 2 maybe 3 games.

[Neonridr]

@Kalebninja - that's fine for games moving forward, but not when a game was only one to begin with.

[Hoffmann]

The big amount of Final Fantasy VII Remake articles and comments is scarier than the details about the game though.

[Dabigsiebowski]

@Hoffman When you deal with nostalgia about one of the greatest games ever made and set the industry standards the way it did in 97 then people come out of the woods to discuss opinions. This is the Half life 3 status quo which is officially real. It's a big deal so no need to act like it's not and opinions are what's going to help shape it

[Gasian]

@Kalebninja That is not true for 15. Tabata has said in multiple interviews that they want the game to be one complete story and are not planning on sequels.

[DemonChicken]

Please all read before raging

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fi...

[CaptainCamper]

With their recent comments I'm leaning more towards a complete FF7 experience. The core game with other story related titles from other games joining as additional content.

If they deliver the main game with the complete story in a single swoop, I'd be happy to buy into additional stuff like that.

[Kalebninja]

Oh my god why is everyone saying episodic? Its multiple games not episodic.

[dead_pixels]

Square Enix has confirmed the game will be split up, splitting up a single game into multiple releases is releasing it in episodes. In any case, this is going to make the core experience wildly disjointed compared to the original release.

[Neonridr]

so you are taking a game that was playable on PS1 or PC as 1 game, and instead splitting it into 3 games. You can't tell me that it takes that many games to tell the story of a game that existed as a full game by itself.

They aren't changing the story...

[Kalebninja]

They are making several Full games and In the end its going to have way more detail and content than the original its not episodic its one story being told across several games that's not a new concept get over it.

[Reibooi]

I have not really tried to follow this in any way so forgive me if I am off here.

I think if they are doing more then one game they might do well to basically adapt each disc of the original game into a game now and then sell it for less then full price and when all of them are done make a complete release version. I think that would be ok cause it would basically be the same game but we would not have to wait as long to play it.

[Death]

They are changing the story. The only thing this game has in common with the original is the title and character names. Everything else is new.

[rainslacker]

I'd probably liken it more to how Xenosaga was done. Several distinct games all with one continuing story. The general thought of episodic is a smaller scope story, all in bite size segments.

@Death

It appears they're leaving most of the content in tact, with updated presentation, and then adding some new content. They'll be taking out a few things though. The story is the same, with a few changes to add in some stuff, and probably some scenes removed.

Not sure how that makes it a new story overall, as opposed to an expanded story. Kinda like the director's cut of a movie or something along those lines

Personally, if each game has enough content to justify it's price, I'll get it when it releases. Not how I originally would have hoped for, but I know the FF7 story is big enough to fit across 2-3 games, particularly if they add to it. I do hope they don't screw it up though.

Other than that, it's been confirmed to be action based game play.

[Muzikguy]

It's one game that they're splitting up into episodes. That's why it's episodic. I don't like this idea one bit. Yeah the original game was long and had a lot too it, but that's part of what makes I great! I don't want to pay almost $200 for this game in episodes. I highly doubt these episodes will be anything less than $30 each. My guess would be 4 or 5 episodes at $50 or $60 each. Big mistake on their part IMO. They need to get back to their good old days of these long, engrossing games that were fun to play. Not this new crap of episodes or "series" like they did with 13. We're getting less and less all the time :/

[DOMination-]

If you read the linked interview above, Kitase himself describes it as episodic

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

Dude stop calling it "episodic" because they never said that word once.

[Death]

The word they used was "installments". http://www.gamespot.com/art... Installment is a synonym for episodic according to Oxford.

[nommers]

@Death But does the language SE used, Kanji or whatever translate to that?

[Baba1906]

well ff7 is a hige game. i understand that they might wanna make more than one of it, so that they can make is as good as possible. i mean its much more work than it was originaly. but new gameplay? i dont know.

[Letthewookiewin]

I'm a gamer who finds it difficult to embrace change. I was shell shocked with the change from FF10 to FF12 for example. But I actually think (hope) everything they are doing will turn out to be a good thing. No, don't care for the release format but being able to play the game earlier because of it is welcomed.

[averagejoe26]

But it's not episodic...

Why are people still saying this?

[Stokedup]

People are jumping in far to quickly judging this multi release format. We don't know enough details of it yet. Final fantasy was a big game back in 1997, with these visuals and performance capabilities now it will be triple the size, not just in game space but also the amount of extra content they WANT to put in. They clearly do not want to rush this project but instead make it as good as they can.

I reckon we're going to get 4 releases with each being 25-30 hours long without sidequest and exploration. The only problem I can see, is if the gap between releases is too long, SE don't want fans to get impatient and start to lose interest because they're waiting too long for each part to release.

[Christopher]

Stupid idea, IMHO. Like others have said, will just wait until it's all done and buy it at once while it's on sale.

[pcz]

The games industry is FUBAR.

the director is talking out his ass

"To a great extent, we just couldn’t take the plunge. Producing a proper HD remake of Final Fantasy 7 that maintains the same feeling of density of the original results in a volume of content that couldn’t possibly fit into one installment"

do you know the beauty of gaming is that you can play at your own speed. you play through as much content as you feel comfortable, then you simply take a break. why cant they release all the 'chapters' together.. you know, like how they did back in the glory days- simply put one chapter per disc (or how ever many discs are required) and release them all together.

"If we were to try to fit everything into one instalment, we would have to cut various parts and create a condensed version," he said. "

you dont have to cut anything. just use more discs.

"For instance, players will be able to explore many different areas of Midgar in this game that they couldn’t access in the original--if we’re remaking this world, we want to add in areas like this and depict them with real detail."

whats the difference between putting all that detail out in one release, and separating it into episodes? there is no difference, only you get to sell the content numerous times if you slit it into episodes.

"I’m sure everyone is anxious about the schedule, and we want everyone to get to play the game as soon as possible, too. Drawing the line on that front is another reason why we’re taking this approach."

no, this clearly isnt about making gamers happy. this isnt what anyone wanted when they envisioned a final fantasy remake. nobody dreamed of the day we would get an episodic final fantasy 7 remake. it literally is a nightmare, a sick joke. its the worse case scenario.

its just about exploiting the gamers to the maximum

[dead_pixels]

That exact thought crossed my mind after reading Nomura's latest statements after publishing this piece. Final Fantay VII was an IMMENSE game in 1997. That was nearly 20 years ago, and technology has been chugging along since. There is absolutely no excuse for the game to release piecemeal on today's hardware. Use multiple Blurays, for the love of God. People haven't forgotten how to swap discs.

[rainslacker]

Probably comes down more to price of production vs. sales of the game than it does to the media involved. It's possible the sales potential of the game can't match the production costs which means if it were 2-3 discs, they would have to charge more for it...which ultimately they will.

On top of that, say it's 2 discs, 100GB, that's a hard pill to swallow for some people to download.

I get what he's saying, and I know that a lot of people won't understand it.

Or it could just be them seeing it as a chance to milk the popularity of it. Unfortunately, people who want to believe that right now won't ever give them the benefit of the doubt on it, but seems that might be better determined once the game releases.

I don't like it though. I'd prefer one game. But I'll wait and see how it's handled before I make a final decision on when I'm willing to drop money on it. I will play it at some point though.

[pcz]

this game looks very very similar to The Last Story

even the combat looks the same

https://cdn02.nintendo-euro...

[SaveMeJebus]

Run Away. Run as fast as you can and don't look back.

[Relientk77]

The battle system scares me

[dead_pixels]

Yeah, that's definitely the elephant in the room, but the episodic format could be the real issue that neuters the experience. It could very well mean no overworld whatsoever.

[Relientk77]

Oh that scares me too, both do.

Like Episodes? Really

[averagejoe26]

Don't worry, it's not episodic.

That was just journalistic sensationalism.

It's already been confirmed this will not be released in episodic format.

[Summons75]

Is it the battle system or change? I'm betting you freak out every time something changes even if it's for the better.

[we420]

Imo I like how its going more in the direction of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy 15. To me, turn based is a thing of the past now.

[thricetold]

I'm with you on that. I feel for the turn base combat fans, but I detest such mechanics and now am interested in this game because of the new system. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Isn't it a remake and not a remaster? Why are folks expecting basically the same game with prettier pixels? That's not a remake.

[Debaitable]

People really admire characters standing still and attack. Might as well play with action figures.

[PygmelionHunter]

Planning ahead, exploiting enemy weaknesses, designating party members to follow a rol during battle are the things people love about turn based combat. Add the ATB system for extra pressure in attack and defense pattern management and you get what's most enjoyable from the Final Fantasy series.

You can't accomplish any of that while mashing buttons in an action oriented RPG whose combat system allows you to use a single chatacter at a time. And there's a s***-ton of those already. So what is it to you if we get a damn turn based JRPG once in a while, when you can go get the action oriented games you so treasure all the time?

[ApolloTheBoss]

What's the point of making it episodic if you know how it's going to turn out. They better not have added new things to the story.

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

They are adding things to the story. So what?. It will be fleshed out more which will be a good thing. I don't know why everyone is so bent out of shape about this.

[ApolloTheBoss]

It's a remake, not a re-imagining. You don't go and make a best selling book into a movie with your own uninspired ideas to it. You respect the author's work and tell it exactly as it's meant to be told. The same applies to this game. Changing anything about the plot just be a slap in the face to fans who played the first one. They don't need to change anything about the story. It's fine the way it is.

[-Foxtrot]

Probably adding small plot points that don't make a difference so they can justify doing multiple games

[rainslacker]

Apparently you can wonder around and do more in Midgar now.

I have a sinking feeling that will be some sort of hub, while they might do away with the overworld map.

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

Well the original authors are the ones who are making this game so I am not gonna get my panties in a twist about this unlike everyone else who are overreacting like crazy.

[ApolloTheBoss]

@TheOneWhoIsTornApart @Foxtrot I don't mind small plot points added. I'm talking about major plot twists like Aerith somehow surviving or Avalanche never setting the bomb off in the power plant. That would just piss people off.

[Eamon]

Uhh, that ain't gonna happen. They said it's the same story scenarios. Just added new plot stuff in it to surprise old players.

For example, in the trailer, when Cloud is surrounded by Shinra troops, he has that moment where his brain fries and runs off. That wasn't in the original game, however it's relevant because it's foreshadowing Cloud's deep problems with his memory that gets revealed later on in the game. Also, the style and sound effect they used is reminiscent of Advent Children.

No they are not going to get Aerith surviving or Avalanche never setting the bomb. That's just plain ridiculous. Did you not even watch the trailer? There were parts where the mako reactor was clearly falling apart due to the bomb.

[TheOneWhoIsTornApart]

@Eamon: Your preaching to the choir with that comment so I don't know why you addressed me with it instead of the guy I was talking to. When I said they will be adding things to the story I meant their will be changes is some of the dialogue and maybe elaborate on certain other things. I didn't mean that they were going to actually change the story.

Edit: Nevermind it looks like you were talking to that guy. Sorry.

[hamzilla]

The fine folks making this remake project happen to be the same group that worked on the original in 1997 so whatever they want to add or change they most certainly can. They did already state that there will be more stuff added that they just couldn't get in the final product 20 years ago too. But back then unlike today they didn't have Internet to update missing stuff.

[MasterCornholio]

Like Peter Jackson and the Hobbit.

One book three movies.

Oh and for anyone saying that its going to be like a Tell Tale game it wont.

[rainslacker]

Not sure that's a good example. Most of the hobbit trilogy was just filler with no real need for three movies. That was purely a decision to make more money. Two probably would have been more than enough, and it is certainly possible in one...though it would have multiple climax points.

[sephiroth420]

I like the look of the battle system, I loved the old turn based style they had to the old games but now i think them going for this action battle system will make things interesting and keep the game feeling fresh well if they implement it in the correct way. As for the whole split in to parts thing, i think they are gonna do something like that of ff13, and remember remaking one of those massive maps from 7/8/9 would take alot of work to get them all feeling right, maybe its so they can give themselves enough time to do and be able to do it to proper scale.

[dead_pixels]

Here's hoping, but I can't help but feel the end result is going to be more akin to a gorgeous, "highlight reel" style take on the original story driven in a much more cinematic direction.

I'm hoping I'm wrong.

[sephiroth420]

I have that same fear, but I think they have learnt their lesson from FF13, where they really fucked up. I think they know that this the biggest game for them and they need to create something amazing and that stays true to the Final Fantasy fans. I think a world like FF7 would have to be multi disc if it was to actually be remade properly, the worlds and towns were big and there was a hell of a lot of content, I have a feeling the scale of this game is gonna be alot bigger than we are imagining.
Keep hope :)

[ninsigma]

From the trailer shown on Saturday, it is exactly what I was hoping for.

With regards to the splitting it up, can we stop calling it episodes?? It's not that. As far as I can interpret from their comments, each release will be packed full so essentially we'll probably get a logical stop point in the first release (you all know where that is) and end there. The second release will continue on from there as if it was a sequal. We don't call the halo or uncharted games episodes within their franchises.

Now I know that ff7 was originally a full game and it does suck that this has to happen. I would much rather have the full experience in the one package.

Splitting it up is not the problem because the original was split up on 3 disks. What I see as the problem is why can't the multiple disks be a part of the same purchase?? And if they really are going down the route of selling us multiple releases for the one game, what is the cost going to be?? You can argue all day long about the combat but that's all opinion so not exactly an issue.

[dead_pixels]

" The new trailer features the first CG scenes as well as gameplay footage. FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE will be told across a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience."

This is lifted from the PR email that was sent to me last night from Square Enix. Every Telltale release has been a "multi-part series". Not to say they will be one and the same, but Square's own PR talk seems to indicate this will be one tale pared into several entries. That's episodic enough for me.

[ninsigma]

Ff13 was 3 games but no one calls that episodic. Difference is we know ff7 to be one game from the original.
Anyway, I just read an article saying the devs said that each release will have the content of a full game and each will have their own story.
http://venturebeat.com/2015...

[Eamon]

Not really, FF13-2 and LR are sequels. It's not the same thing as splitting an already established single story into several parts.

It may not be episodic in the definition we know of in current gaming. I suspect it will be like full games lasting around 20 hours each. Still not very happy about this, but I'm very sure Nomura and co. didn't take this decision easily. They probably estimated that the scope and scale of this remake was far too immense for them to be done in a single project.

[rainslacker]

I think it's episodic in the fact that until the last game, there won't be any conclusion to that particular episodes story, and it will continue on, thus making it episodic, like a telltale game.

From a release standpoint, I think it's going to be more along the lines of a trilogy, but without each part being it's own thing.

It doesn't appear that it's going to be small sections of game in the traditional episodic we know from telltale or others.

Best example I guess would be The hunger games, mockingjay, the last harry potter book, or the last twilight book movie adaptations.

[-Gespenst-]

"What I see as the problem is why can't the multiple disks be a part of the same purchase??"

I suspect that the reason they aren't doing this is that they wouldn't be able to complete all three games until like 2020. People are already sort of blue-balled because of Versus / XV. I just hope we don't have to wait TOO long between the parts.

I wouldn't even think of it as three different games though. It's more as if they're releasing discs 1 through 3 separately. Ya see, if disc 1 was released as a single game, you'd presumably be able to max out all your stats and fight all kinds of super bosses and do optional dungeons, and get ultimate weapons and the like - a kind of self-contained Final Fantasy experience. But that wouldn't really make sense - it surely wouldn't carry over into the next game, and you'd probably have to do it all again, getting the same ultimate weapons etc. And what level would your party start at? 1 again? That wouldn't make sense because the game picks up where it left off - no "4 years later" type thing. But I think the first part will have about as much as the first disc had. They'll probably beef it up to "fill out" the open world they've got going on of course. There's not enough in the original game to fill an open world - there was enough to fill a semi-linear, much smaller game, but not a vast open world.

I think there'll possibly be a level cap on the first disc, because the second disc might take some time to release, and people could just go mad playing it solidly for months until their party was maxed out, taking any challenge out of the rest of the parts. Like really, this will be one game in the very same way that the original was one game divided into three discs. I also think your stats and items will carry over to the next disc just like they did with the original.

Maybe when they inevitably release the episodes together they'll remove the level cap.

[ninsigma]

Yep I get that. That's a solid look on it. I wasn't trying to imply they were self contained or anything like that. I see it as you see it. I do want more solid answers from SE though lol

[hamzilla]

Just another way for them to make even more money on one game. I will cave in and buy them all sadly.

[quenomamen]

Play it with lights on.

[JMPetrequin]

I am one of the (apparently) few who is actually a big fan of the battle system; in theory, at least. I hope it goes well in practice. But yeah, the episodic nature of this project seems really strange to force on a remake of a game that was not originally structured that way.

[ninsigma]

No there's loads of people excited by the new combat system. Including me, it looks great!
The episodic thing is a bit iffy but I won't blow this out of proportion until I know 100% of the details.

[rainslacker]

I honestly can't see how anyone can make a judgement yet since they didn't show a whole lot of it. Granted it's supposedly similar to FFXV and KH3, so it probably won't be bad.

Although, it's been said they will have a ATB option...but didn't express exactly what that meant.

[-Gespenst-]

They've yet to really clarify what they mean when they say there will be multiple parts. I don't think it will be episodic though. Surely they don't think that a season-pass, highlights-only version of the game is a good idea? I trust they're not that stupid.

I don't want to repeat myself too much, but I'm willing to bet that there will be a "part" for each disc of the original game - so, three parts. Kitase said that to maintain the level of detail and quality evident in Midgar across the entire game and pack it all onto one disc would be unfeasible, and would necessitate cutting a lot in order to make it fit. This leads me to believe that it will be a very big game indeed, not a series of bite-size episodes designed to be played during a bus journey. I'd also expect no less from a remake of one of the most legendary games of all time - I don't think the significance of VII is lost on SE, and I'm sure they want to do it justice. Takashi Mochizuki's tweet sort of corroborates all of this.

What they will probably do, is release the first part when they've developed up to the end of the first disc. I'd say they want to do this to avoid making us wait for the full 3 parts. I think we'd be waiting a long time for anything related to this remake if SE decided to release the full thing in one go. I'd say they also want to mend their reputation after the whole XV affair (which still doesn't have a release date).

I reckon, or hope, they'll handle the parts like the discs of the original game. I'd say they'll put as much of the world as the story requires on the first disc and no more for space reasons - the same applies to disc 2. For disc three, you'll probably be free to explore the whole world, but space will be freed up because not all the events of the previous discs will be stored on the third disc. The parts will be (quoting the press release) "unique experiences" in the sense that they will, obviously, deal with different parts of the story, just like the original discs did.

I think that ultimately, this will be a massive and detailed open world action RPG. I hope anyway.

Also, people need to remember that the source for most of this is a Japanese article which may or may not have been faithfully translated. Phrasing is a very delicate thing - the translations might not have properly conveyed what Nomura and Kitase were trying to say, especially the google translations.

[dead_pixels]

The source my piece wasn't from Japan, but rather Square USA's PR reps.

In any case, you and I share the same hopes for what this title will be, but for now I'm a bit skeptical.

[averagejoe26]

The PR send out has been elaborated on already.

This will not be episodic. It will be a game with multiple sequels.

FF7 - 1, FF 7 - 2, etc

Each release is going to be a full game.

Don't worry, we're not getting a tell tale type release here. We're getting more FF7 then we ever could have imagined.

"More content than the original game" as stated in the Famitsu interview.

[ninsigma]

This article has quotes that were translated directly by square Enix. Haven't looked for the full version but this one describes things better than I had previously read.
http://venturebeat.com/2015...

[RealTrueGamer]

Aaaaaaaand they ruined it..........

[OzzY-waZZy]

Why is it being called episodic? That lends itself to believe this will be 30 minutes worth of content per episode like the telltale games.

I'm ok with this being a trilogy especially if they intend to add all the FF7 universe content. (Crisis Core, Dirge)

Hopefully, we find out what they're up to soon.

[JevonDee]

Let's hope at least your saved data transfers from disc to disc..

And if I start on the second 'episode' and skip the first, is that allowed?

[Lonnie18]

Sounds like they are aiming to expand upon the FF7 universe, which if the case would be good.

[Skankinruby]

There's nothing anyone could do to make everyone happy. You want nostalgia? Go back and play ff7 again. But all these individual opinions heavily judging a project with this much pressure and anticipation baser on a few seconds of game play are ridiculous. Let them do their best and chill the hell out.

[sk8ofmnd]

Im tired of speculating. Honestly i would have rather them said nothing at all and released information about ff7 when the game was closer to release.

[Mikeyy]

All of my hype for this game is dwindling really fast.

I understand that times change but I feel soo much gameplay will be sacrificed in favor of this modern combat system. I just can't understand why they can't make crazy awesome graphics and use the final fantasy 10 combat system or sonething.

There shouldn't be enough time to run around like a jackass during the fight. You should be digging in your menus readying up the next strategic attack! Why are RPGS being dumbed down so much. Arggg..

[averagejoe26]

Dude, you act like the original FF7 was so strategic. It wasn't.

You need hp? Cast cure. You need a lightning attack? Thundaga. You need to whoop serious ass? KOTR.

It wasn't THAT intense. It's my favorite game of all time, I've beaten it more times than I can count. You're blowing this way out of proportion.

You know what sounds intense? Digging through those same menus (which we saw in the gameplay reveal) while running around avoiding enemies. You better get your strategy ready, get it right, and get it fast.

But acting like you had to dig thru menus for strategy in the original is ridiculous.

[Artemidorus]

Spoken like a true modern gamer. If you want running around avoiding enemies then go buy Call of Duty.

[Artemidorus]

I can't see how they will not provide a beginning a middle and an end.

Fan or no fan, how can you justify playing a game only for the logo "to be continued" at the end.

They need to put as much as they can on the first part.

This just doesn't add up to me.

[silkrevolver]

After reading the famitsu interview, I'm excited again. It really seems like they're splitting it up for a justifiable reason.

[bow2yoda]

They didnt even bring the original staff on for this project. I dont think that the original director even likes this direction.

[silkrevolver]

The original was made in 1997 - a lot of the members of the original staff aren't even at Square anymore.

[bow2yoda]

I know so when square enix said that this was their original vision for the game they are full of shit

[Claudinho69]

lets all jump the guns, yay

[feraldrgn]

It's basically going to follow the FFXIII format,
with FFVII, FFVII-2, FFVII-3 & however many more to nickle & dime us.

[rainslacker]

The FFXIII series were all self contained stories which only had cursory connections to one another because the director is bad at keeping consistent vision for his own lore. Technically, they were all sequels to the prior ones, and that is not episodic, nor is it multi-part. That's like saying the Indiana Jones series is episodic.

FFVII is more a single story in multiple parts, like with the movies The Hobbit, Hunger games: Mockingjay, Last Harry potter book, or the last twilight book.

[SharnOfTheDEAD]

Walking dead episodic "YEAH IT'S AWESOME", FF7 remake episodic "waaaah I'm scared hold me". Get a fucking grip.

[Artemidorus]

Go away and buy another season pass.

[SharnOfTheDEAD]

Cry a river of boiled piss. The same idiots complaining are the morons that probably said they'd do anything for a FF7 Remake. So much boiled piss from the fan boys.

[zodiac909]

I KNEW they would pull some sh*t like this when the trailers ONLY showed Midgar..

[holtzy]

as long as it is not ff13 all over again then it should be fine. ff13 was a absolute piece of shit

[susanto1228]

You guys asked for it now look what's happening

that's why game developers shouldnt' listen to fanboys and leave
classics the hell ALONE

[magus]

ff7 should not need multiple installments unless they plan to expand on ff7 after the events of the original game. I got a feeling they are going to pull a slick willy with this game.

[WheatBread]

I'm ok with this, but they really should make him look more like Cloud from Advent Children. The current cloud looks like some teen japanese dude in cosplay.