Final Fantasy VII Remake

Quaid_sl said:

I didn't read where they said 'episodic' in regards to FF7. I read 'multiple parts, each with its own unique experience'.

Maybe you are expecting a linearly told 'story' rather than an open world game in the style of FF7? In which case, the model you suggest makes much more sense. This model makes a lot of sense for Hitman, but not so much for an 'open world' game like FF7.

Unless of course they do away with the open world all together, and use Highwind cutscenes to travel between locations.... Ugh

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Eh, it's not impossible to do both, as long as they require the person to own the earlier episodes to play the latter ones. i.e. Episode 1 = one continent, Episode 2 adds a continent so the open world is now twice as large, ad nauseum.

And FF7 wasn't particularly "open world" it had some freedom, but a large portion was on rails.

People seem to be forgetting that the original Final Fantasy VII was split up into three episodes across three discs. Couldn't fit that whole game into one package, either.

Would be funny if they released it the same way for the remake.

Lenas_sl said:

People seem to be forgetting that the original Final Fantasy VII was split up into three episodes across three discs. Couldn't fit that whole game into one package, either.

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Not a single person is forgetting that.

I'll wait until the whole story is buyable. I'm not getting blue balled for a year waiting.

Vaclav_sl said:

Eh, it's not impossible to do both, as long as they require the person to own the earlier episodes to play the latter ones. i.e. Episode 1 = one continent, Episode 2 adds a continent so the open world is now twice as large, ad nauseum.

And FF7 wasn't particularly "open world" it had some freedom, but a large portion was on rails.

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It wasn't an open world per se, but that was probably due to technical limitations of the time. It certainly conveyed the spirit of one as best it could. In 2015, producing FF7 with anything less than a fully explorable overworld area would be an injustice IMO.

I agree with part 1 being midgar but part 2 ending with Junon is a very small part of the game with only four bosses, two being optional and hardly worthy of inclusion.

I'd guess:
1: Midgar fleshed out, more sector 5 with Aerith, longer route to shinra building via more sectors, more shinra building. End after bike minigame boss. A shorter prologue like mgs ground zeroes but much longer.

2: Hunt for sephrioth, more towns, more Turks/shinra execs, more zack/gongaga, more yuffie and Vincent. Linear progression/no airship with gold saucer being an endgame of sorts with Jenova LIFE being the last boss after aerith dies.

3: Open airship exploration, shit tons more sidequests on the reused assets from part 1 and 2. North crater only new area needed at start/end of game.

Quaid_sl said:

It wasn't an open world per se, but that was probably due to technical limitations of the time. It certainly conveyed the spirit of one as best it could. In 2015, producing FF7 with anything less than a fully explorable overworld area would be an injustice IMO.

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That's a ridiculous statement. Making FFVII an open world game would be an injustice because the original wasn't and that's a completely different game. The game should not be Fallout in an FF7 skin.

The Ancient_sl said:

That's a ridiculous statement. Making FFVII an open world game would be an injustice because the original wasn't and that's a completely different game. The game should not be Fallout in an FF7 skin.

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It's only a completely different concept if you have a shitty imagination.

What do you think is going to happen here? You're gonna fly around the world map and be zapped into battle screen encounters like it's 1997?

Keep in mind, they are being very specific about saying 'remake' and not 'remaster'.

Lenas_sl said:

People seem to be forgetting that the original Final Fantasy VII was split up into three episodes across three discs. Couldn't fit that whole game into one package, either.

Would be funny if they released it the same way for the remake.

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Do you honestly think before you type posts? FF7 was released all at once in one package on three separate discs. FF7:R will not be released all at once.

Original being released in 3 parts woulda fucked me up

Quaid_sl said:

It's only a completely different concept if you have a shitty imagination.

What do you think is going to happen here? You're gonna fly around the world map and be zapped into battle screen encounters like it's 1997?

Keep in mind, they are being very specific about saying 'remake' and not 'remaster'.

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I don't get what point you are making here, but it's probably your definition of open world that is poor. JRPGs are usually very story driven and that requires a directed path to achieve. Going to Icicle Inn before Nebelheim would break some narrative flow.

Maybe you want the ability to travel there and do some quests(...?) whenever you want, but I don't think most people have interest in that sort of FFVII.

The Ancient_sl said:

I don't get what point you are making here, but it's probably your definition of open world that is poor. JRPGs are usually very story driven and that requires a directed path to achieve. Going to Icicle Inn before Nebelheim would break some narrative flow.

Maybe you want the ability to travel there and do some quests(...?) whenever you want, but I don't think most people have interest in that sort of FFVII.

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I'm not saying I expect FF7:R to be a sandbox open world experience. I certainly expect a very linear experience.

By 'open world' I am referring to the player's visual perspective, the world's layout, and how you traverse through that world. There's no way they are going to make this game top-down-world-map-based travel like an old school RPG. I expect a third person free roam world, populated with MOBs in real time, similar to a modern MMORPGs.

I do not expect a non-linear experience like Skyrim or Fallout. That would be a huge and unwelcome departure from the game's roots.

square is also sorta doing this with hitman, releasing "the game" in february but it won't be complete for another 9 months. hopefully that bombs hard and makes companies reconsider this model. The model is great for something like Telltale games, but does not belong at all for RPGs, etc.

spronk_sl said:

square is also sorta doing this with hitman, releasing "the game" in february but it won't be complete for another 9 months. hopefully that bombs hard and makes companies reconsider this model. The model is great for something like Telltale games, but does not belong at all for RPGs, etc.

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Well, Hitman I kinda 'get' if I'm under the right impression. From what I'm reading, they are gonna release large level-like experiences. For example, they'll release a giant skyscraper full of targets and you can approach each target in numerous ways. Then they'll do a casino, then a whatever etc etc.

I don't think the same thing will work for FF7, but it's Squeenix, so who knows wtf kind of shit they'll pull.

Nirgon_sl said:

I'll wait until the whole story is buyable. I'm not getting blue balled for a year waiting.

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I feel like this is Starcraft 2 all over again for me if this is a multi-year/multi-part release. I bought the first SC2, have no interest in getting the rest of the expansions. I don't have time for this shit anymore. If it's released all at the same time, kudos.

Fuck me did chaos actually say that shit in your sig? wow

Echo-chamber alert!

Also, I agree. Midgar is going to be the size of an entire game just to convey its scope properly. Battles will be shorter and more numerous. There will be more loot and side-quests. Should be interesting.

Quaid_sl said:

I'm not saying I expect FF7:R to be a sandbox open world experience. I certainly expect a very linear experience.

By 'open world' I am referring to the player's visual perspective, the world's layout, and how you traverse through that world. There's no way they are going to make this game top-down-world-map-based travel like an old school RPG. I expect a third person free roam world, populated with MOBs in real time, similar to a modern MMORPGs.

I do not expect a non-linear experience like Skyrim or Fallout. That would be a huge and unwelcome departure from the game's roots.

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So you consider Kingdom Hearts an open world game.

The Ancient_sl said:

So you consider Kingdom Hearts an open world game.

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Never played it. I'll check out some footage and get back to you.

Update: hmmm skimmed through Let's Plays of the first 2 hours or so. Doesn't look like you're ever traversing any geography to get from static POI A to POI B. Doesn't look like you can go back to where you've been in the past. Looks like a bunch of levels connected together from what I can tell.

Part of an open world game is that you can go back to where you've already been, or often to places where the narrative hasn't explicitly directed you yet. And it's not all or nothing. Is Fallout 4 not an open world because the game gates your access to The Institute before certain conditions are met? Similarly, does having to breed a chocobo to pass the swamp snake exclude FF7 from being an open world game?

Once I got the appropriate travel means, I was absolutely free to go to towns that the narrative hadn't yet sent me to. Sure, there may not be much directed triggered content for me to complete there, but I could go. The game didn't FORCE me to go from Level 1 to Level 2. I could go grind cactuars instead of progressing the story just fine. I'd even consider games like The Legend of Zelda an open world game.

Check outthis very well made videoon the subject. Mentions Final Fantasy series @ 9:54

Legend of Zelda is an open world game. Saying the original FFVII was close to open world makes me question what the heck your definition is. And I still haven't really gotten an answer, it's important to be able to travel all over and effectively do nothing?