I'm the same as you. Never played an FF game and my wife suggested I try remake. Game was unbelievably good, before you knew it I was buying tickets to the rebirth symphony orchestra and i cant wait for part 3.
Also you don’t think we should relive the past because you were not a part of it. The whole point was not to make something that don’t exist. It’s a love letter to the fans. The people who allowed final fantasy to grow into the brand it has. The fans asked for this remake before remakes was a thing. All the way in PS2. The technology just now caught up so it’s possible. This was a project by the developers literally saying it may be the last game the make due to their ages. In a sense it’s the og creators final fantasy. That’s why its feels so great and have love and attention.
I concur with what you are saying, but the console that has the most remasters and remakes is the ps2. Arcade ports to nes and onwards was a huge thing, and just see Supe Mario All-Stars for example. Fans were screaming for a remake after Square showed that PS3 tech demo back in 2006 and Square caved in 1 decade later and gave ut what we now have.
About the Eco-Terrorism soap-box: The original Japanese calls Avalanche a criminal organization, that's it. The main conflict is about tradition and respect for the old memories and wisdom compared to the dangers of disregarding the sacred and the old and treat it as a comodity. It's more in line with Tom Cruise's Last Samurai, in a way. For proof, look no further than their solution to the Mako draining : Fossil fuels.
I beat this game three times and plan to do it again before playing Rebirth. I have no history with ff7 and 15 was my first final fantasy game before 7 remake. I liked 15 a lot. Went on to play 1-6 pixel remasters, 13x, and the 14 mmo. Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoy the series now
I think I put a total of 150hrs in remake because I enjoyed replaying it so much. I have over 350hrs in my first play through of rebirth because I enjoyed that one even more. Have fun when ya get to it homie
@@tophfb suprising that you havent tried ffx. its pretty well liked by all. and its very new ff-player friendly not that that matters to you atm with your list of played ff's by now :)
@@allanbarboza5090 reminiscent of kh3 imo (which is my favorite play style aside from kh2) but I find remake/rebirths to be almost tied. Especially the improvements in rebirth with aerial combat
The problem you have with the ending suddenly becoming supernatural is not a thing in the original because in the original game, the Remakes ending happens about 10 hours in and there's still about 50-60 more hours of game. But it is definitely jarring when you've been playing this realistic, relatable game this whole time, and then suddenly you're fighting time lords in a parallel dimension.
Not to mention the changing of party members due to story points. Leaving Midgar is when you're meant to feel free, in scope, and party-wise. Unlike the original, that won't happen until Rebirth.
The whispers are introduced early on. Magic is a thing as soon as materia is introduced. Shinra is presented as being obsessed with a myth. Plus, literally everything that happens in the train graveyard. Getting caught off by the supernatural elements in the ending requires ignoring all the world building up until that point.
@@arglebargle5531 supernatural elements that are part of the world and in balance with it are not a problem. Ghosts of the train yard and fire materia are not contradictory to the story. But time travel, parallel universes, monsters that spoil the ending of the game are literally world breaker and immersion breakers, because suddenly anything supposed to be impactful that happens after has no consequence at all since it can be cancelled by alternate universes or time travel.
@baronnuuke7821 the idea that anything can be cancelled is an assumption (especially if we're talking about being cancelled without cost, since the idea of the harsh price of victory is a core FF7 theme), and certainly not immersion breaking or contradictory to the story that's developed in Remake. The whispers and their effects on those who encounter them are developed throughout the story and pretty much everything that occurs with them is foreshadowed beforehand aside from the narratively pointless Advent Children cameos. Moreover, they're also not contradictory to the original FF7 worldbuilding, as that's where the Will of the Planet being an actual sentient force was first established. It's just a different take on the concept, which is refreshing from my point of view as someone who doesn't feel the need to experience a teenage of the exact same story that I fell in love with when FF7 first released. Remake's approach is a great balance -- having differences in the story while also providing a lore rationale for *why* things are different.
@@arglebargle5531 I won't argue, if you like it I have no problem with that, but to me it's kind of like the Dragon Balls that can do everything and bring back to life anyone. It's a cool story, it's explained why and how it works, but nothing is impactful in Dragon Ball because every time something crazy happens you know the balls will bring everything and everyone back. FF7 OG had supernatural aspects, but it was a very down to earth game compared to the other FF, with a dangerous company and CEO, eco terrorists and interesting themes like PTSD of war veterans. Now they bring alternate universes and it defeats all of that because now it has become a Sci-Fi game and dead people are not really dead, they are alive in a parallel universe, but wait they also die there, but nobody knows what it means. I think it's a very big immersion problem
This was a fantastic review. As someone who also analyzes this series (and hopefully more games when I have time) from a storytelling perspective, I loved that you really analyzed the storytelling elements. I will say this: if your primary issue is how the game becomes ungrounded in the ending, then I HIGHLY suggest playing the OG. You can beat it probably in less time than Remake (about 35 hours) and there is literally no storyline about fate and practically NOTHING from Chapter 18 is in the original. It’s much more grounded overall and it sounds like it’d be insanely up your alley. That is also why this Remake project isn’t exactly just “remaking the past.” Of all Remakes, it’s the most “new” and the devs set out to create a new experience for people who know the OG. Also, when you do get to Rebirth, I think you will bump up against the “individual works should stand up on their own” part. Since Rebirth essentially starts in Act 2 of the original, the opening doesn’t feel like a traditional opening or Act 1… mostly because that’s what Remake is. Even still, I would be curious about your take on it. But more than anything else, it really sounds like you should give the original a try.
I love your breakdowns on remakes and the real world systems that they are impacted by or at the cause of. The numbers on expected purchases of remakes in the Bloodborne video, the "betting it all on nostalgia and coming up short of expectations" of this, and such. It's nice hearing a thought out stance that both wears and removes the rose tinted glasses
I feel like ff7 is a mix of innovation and nostalgia. This game is kind of a special case, since they added so much to the game where it's essentially a new game. I love everything about remake but I can empathize with people who hated the story direction (especially OGs). I will say that aside from story remake is just an amazing game. It has pretty much most of the ingredients to make a good cinematic action jrpg game except for its poor aerial combat which they vastly improve in Rebirth. I hope you play Rebirth when it comes to PC, it's sad that the ps5 exclusivity kind a killed the hype for Rebirth since most people who don't own a ps5 probably just watched the game on youtube. But yeah, the combat, world building, voice acting, music, graphics are done so well. It makes Remake look like demo of Rebirth and not to mention the side content, o boy. There's like 1000% more side content to do in Rebirth I'm not exaggerating. Whether it's good or not, I'll leave that up to you. But it did side content way better than ff7 remake and ff16 that's for sure.
You’re trying to sell him on Rebirth when it basically does the things he says he doesn’t like. People need to stop glazing Rebirth because it’s clear from the low sales that the fans aren’t interested.
@@KieranHamilton-y7s low sales? It sold around 20 millions but that's due to the PS5. It most likely could have sold more if it existed on every system available.
@@agamersinsanity What? Rebirth sold no where close to 20 millions.. I really wish it did cuz it's by far the best game square made since the ps1 days, but it sold around 2 million at launch and not much more after that. probably around 3 million overall, not enough to meet square expectations unfortunately.
@@agamersinsanity the sales of rebirth is not disclosed by Square. And many websites that "research" the sales indicate that Rebirth sold only a little over 3 Million copies. It is no where close to 20 million. It might do better with a PC release but its still subject for further observation.
@@KieranHamilton-y7s Feel like a lot of the lower sales is due to it being PS5 exclusive, and a decent portion of players that want to wait for full all 3 in one version or at the very least waiting for part 3 to be out to continue playing through. There's quite a bit that I know are waiting for PC release, whenever that will actually be. The whole idea of glazing is funny, people just actually think the game is that good. As someone who started the series back on the NES with FF1 and OG7 being my favorite game of all time, Rebirth gave a feel that I haven't had in a long, long time. Even longer for a stand alone FF game.
FF7R is the perfect blend of nostalgia and modern gaming. One of the best combat systems in a game. Some of the most well realizing characters and locations in gaming. They more than delivered.
@@WeAreLight05 it's sad because every ounce of rebirth has so much love, care, fan service and heart put into yet people still complain. Oh it's too long. Oh there's too much to do. Oh it's not turn based. Too much game for my money. Oh it's not the exact game we've been playing for 25+ years. They didn't cut any corners and they could have so many different ways. The games are complete and they work. I wish part 3 would be even bigger and better but I'm afraid they're gonna cut it down now and make it more like remake. Which is still great but nothing like what we could have had if people didn't ruin it. It breaks my heart to see all the negativity this game gets. It deserves to be goty. When games are broken, incomplete, live service, filled with transactions, forcing an agenda, and 10 dlcs.
@Sctn187 I don't think you have anything to worry about concerning it being too much like remake it still has to incorporate open world and areas like rebirth and it's already been confirmed that the high wind is a huge part of moving around the world I think they will do a fantastic job and we'll all be happy. But the truth is is that rebirth you said it perfectly, they could have caught so many corners and they just made the game better and better it is the best effort ever put forth in a remake.
As someone who only knew of FF7s cast from Kingdom hearts and later in life movile gacha games, It was super cool to play the remakes. I've tried to play the original game but man is it rough lol.
This game was magical when it came out I’ll never forget it. I remember spending all day just grinding and farming my character and is probably why i gravitated towards souls games later in life and I feel like the remake just doesn’t hit the same
That’s because it’s not even the same game. It’s a sanitised non canon adaptation based on the original game. It was made to make money. The existence of Ever Crisis and The First Soldier proves they only care about content and not quality.
@@KieranHamilton-y7s No way. that's all in your head, i heard the exact same from some others. It's called an echochamber. read the story of the devs, they have been cooking more than 20 years, and it shows! Nothing confirms your nonsense. I never stopped playing the OG and the Remakes are just EPIC in every single way
@@Mutation80what are you talking about especially after rebirth. It’s not the same story it’s based on the story, still like it but clearly it’s like some other version they wanted to do.
They actually did say it was a retelling from the start. More than once. They also made it abundantly clear there would be some changes and additions as far back as 2015.
@@Sctn187 Only because they are thinking of how other games used the word/title. Also when there are interviews going back 5 years before the game's release all stating that it wouldn't be a 1 to 1...Yeah.
@ling8956 exactly you can't win. You can't make everyone happy. You just gotta be happy your favorite game is getting some love imo. In this case we get 3 remakes of our favorite game and literally hundreds of hours in that world with those characters. They could have ruined it so many different ways but we have two working and finished games. They're not pushing any agenda. Not to mention they put so much love and care into these games. So much fan service. Barely any dlc and no transaction. Idk what else people could want. Yet people find ways to complain.
"Well, now I am a grown up with appreciably more money than I had as a middle schooler but significantly less time. Funny how that works." Bruh gotta be hitting me right where it hurts within minute 1 😭
You said it yourself man, you have no attachment to the originals, I do, and I appreciate the remakes more than you could understand. I also revere the original, own several copies and replay it again every 3 to 5 years. Its not nostalgia, its appreciation to the way it looks and plays, as I saw it on my imagination back when it was a limited resource PS1 game. There's nothing wrong with this. On the other hand, remaking Horizon Zero dawn, a ps4 game, that is worthy of debate
nice dissertation. agree with nigh everything you said including your gripe with the supernatural ending. overall i still love the game to death, not gonna let that one chapter sour my enjoyment
Final Fantasy VII Remake, and the games that follow it, are truthfully sequels to "The Compilation of FFVII". There was a ton of controversy among fans when Remake was released when people were getting to the ending. There were tons of praise, but a lot of fans jumped ship after the way Remake ended. As a relative newcomer to Final Fantasy as a whole, your reaction to Remake checks out because the final act was for people who were already fans of Compilation, and not for any newcomers or fans of strictly the original. FFVII fans were already split between people who liked the original but hate the direction took with Compilation, and people who liked the original and the direction Compilation took. Just about anyone who is still singing FFVII Remake's praises at this point are people who enjoyed Compilation. Truth be told, if it weren't for Remake's ending, I'd be in it for the long haul. But the moment I saw that ending, I understood that this game was not a remake for a new generation of players. It was a sequel for the people who were fans of the direction the story took during Compilation.
I disagree with the idea that "Just about anyone still singing FFVII Remake's praises at this point are people who enjoyed the Compilation". Personally OG 7 is my favorite game of all time, but I haven't really had much to like about the Compilation at all. Crisis Core is good, but mostly as a prologue peeling back some info on Zack/Cloud. Personally I think it is a remake for a new generation of players, while also being a love letter to those of us who loved the OG 7 so much...but not JUST for nostalgia. I would have played a straight 1 to 1 remake, of course, but there would almost be no stakes, no real feelings of discovery/rediscovery of what made me love the game in the first place. The way they've managed to recreate the same feelings I had the first time in different ways has been fantastic, and reading between the lines of what they are able to focus and emphasize on even more now points at an even more meaningful Part 3 to finish it all.
I hate the compilation, but I loved Remake. I even thought they were generally doing a good job at adding compilation material into the mix, it didn't put me off... but the ending did. The ending didn't kill my investment because it was compilation sequel material, it killed my interest because it was sloppy and ineffective storytelling.
I generally disagree with this statement, Id rate advent children 2/10, dirge of cerberus a 5/10. I like crisis core and think its a 7/10 game.I like the characterization of Zack/Cissnei. But the genesis stuff is kinda bleh. But, the OG and Remake are both in my top 10 favorite games of all time. I do not agree with all of the things they did with Remake, but it was fascinating to me regardless. The characterization of the whole party in remake/rebirth is much better imo than the compilation as well.
I grew up In the 90’s. Terrorism and bombings weren’t the nightmare we know it as today. There were a ton of movies and shows about middle eastern terrorists and people weren’t afraid of that word until 2001. The things you mentioned didn’t scare Americans in the 90’s, it was a carefree time and that sort of thing was glorified in entertainment, it was a different time
I think there is a lot of value in your review. The aspects you liked are just the opening to FF7 but greatly expanded, leaving the majority of the orginal title for Rebirth and the third game. I would love for your opinions on Rebirth, then to see what you think of the orginal. Once you have the context of the orginal story, you can see this is a strange sequel/remake. Another way to put, it's like the lord of the rings, but they extended the trip to Rivendell into a whole game.
Your gripe with the end of FF7R derives from the fact that Square wanted to divide the Remake project into 3 installments. The original FF7 didnt have any supernatural clash with gods or spirits in a fight with "fate" and bla bla bla. The Midgar section just finished with a normal boss battle at a bridge and then bam, that was it. You were out of Midgar and in you go with your pursuit of Sephiroth. But the remakes were thought as 3 separate games, with them wanting to create mystery and tension in those 4-year hiatuses between games ... everything you felt about the endgame of FF7R is related to this one decision. I agree with your gripes too.
I'm curious about the part about effectively using your whole party to their tuned up potential trivializing the hardest difficulty. I'd assume that playing like that should net you the reward of crushing the hardest difficulty, especially when the normal way through hardest difficulties is perfect reflexes and correct rapid button inputs. I like a difficulty curve that allows for both a deeply punishing brute-force method where you barely engage with the mechanics other than block/dodge/attack but are rewarded for lightning reflexes and "locking-in", and a well stratagized and prepared intellectualization approach that rewards the person who prepares intensely That way the most GO-GO-GO trigger gamer who's never read a dialogue option in their life but somehow perfect blocks a 47 hit boss combo and the player who reads every journal entry and learns all the ability interactions while meticulously turning their party into a seemless tower defense system both have the satisfaction of overcoming the highest difficulty. I guess, do you think it's "too easy" to optimize your team that well?
As an OG FF7 player and a lover of the FF7 RE-series, it's always a pleasure to have the inputs from a newcomer to the franchise. Yours was very well articulate. A lot to talk about but I'd like to comment on one of your point. FF7 is one story originally, not a trilogy. Making the Remake-series a trilogy was a good thing IMO given the material but it comes with some cons. Midgar in OG could be done in a few hours of gameplay. Thematically, I understand why they made it the 1st RE game but it's understandable the end has a hard time making sense to newcomers. Midgar is just a solid intro to a much broader story. Moreover, the developers added some spice to catch off guard even OG players. As remakes go, this one is really one particular case of study.
Love it or hate it, FF7 Remake was the game that got me into Final Fantasy as a whole. Growing up a young gamer in a post FFX world meant hearing only complaints and hostility towards newer entries: how could I have any form of interest for FF13/15 when people kept bashing them? The loud minority mostly. Finally, come FF7R, I watch the opening cinematic and find Aerith to be the most beautiful aggregation of polygons I've ever seen. I play the demo but decide not to buy the game. One year later, it was included in the monthly PS+ offering. I played it and loved the world, the characters, the feel... Basically everything up to the Numen shenanigans and the final chapter, which stood out like a sore thumb. Anyway, Midgar hooked me so much I had to buy the og FF7. I played it, loved it so much I ended up playing FF6-8-9-10-12 in about 16 months.
4:39 in 7 Remake's case, we are talking about polygon sprites vs basically what we saw in Advent Children. I think the Remake was warranted in this scenario, not to mention fans have been asking for it for 20+ years. You should watch some of the reaction vids and explainers why people were so happy. I know youre missing the context, but lets just say the devs had been doing remake fakeouts since 2000s.
In Remake, Avalanche's attempt at destroying the reactor fails, and Shinra instead are the unknown culprits. But in the original they full on destroy it. Both outcomes are the same, but I think Remake softens the terroristic blow by shifting the act onto the antagonists.
The thing about thee supernatural ending is that FF 7 remake is more of a sequel than a remake. They kinda assume you know and played the original and those whispers are trying to keep the events faithful to the original and you have to destroy them to break free from fate. If you play the original you can notice that every time the whispers intervene is at a moment you are trying to deviate from the original story.
:subbed: I'm always curious about how these remakes land with the folks that lack the context of the original, and you pretty much confirmed my suspicions. Do you plan on going back and playing the OG?
25:00 Because purple is usually the dominant color of the early FF/Mana final antagonists/end game bosses (i.e. Thanatos and the Mana (a.k.a. the god/holy) Beast from Secret of Mana, Kefka from FFVI, Lavos's final form from Chrono Trigger, etc.). Something interesting to not here is how "fate" is trying to perserve itself or stay "on course", similar to how the Mana Beast was trying to preserve/restore the flow of Mana after Thanatos incinerated the Mana Tree in Secret of Mana. The whispers don't seem much different, imho. Sephiroth is escalating the destruction of fate here like Thanatos would with Mana with the Mana tree.
FF7 Remake had its fair share of problems when I first playthrough it. But I did like it enough to play Crisis Core and then go even further backwards and play the original FF7 (albeit with a few mods) and watch Advent Children. I think that's the biggest feat Remake was able to accomplish for new fans like me. And after playing Rebirth it's harder to say that the trilogy is just a "cash grab" as many would claim it to be since you can clearly tell how much passion from the devs was put into it. Rebirth is just a much better version of Remake (mostly because it explores much more of FF7) despite similar issues and I couldn't help but be excited throughout my first playthrough that's also mainly due to my recent experience of the original 1997 masterpiece. The endings will always be controversial for better or worse and I can't say much about that. I'll sadly have to wait 3 years until the finale to get a full picture of it which is my problem with the remakes. By splitting it into a trilogy the devs pretty much cornered themselves into making the endings fall short for many people, causing less and less to be interested as a result. I do however think that the criticisms that many have towards the changes Remake/Rebirth has made to the story are overblown. For the majority of the games, the story is mostly faithful and improved from the original. I just feel like when you're remaking a game you're never going to satisfy everyone. I've witnessed this in Resident Evil, Persona 3 and have even spotted people bashing the Silent Hill 2 remake. That's just the consequence of making a remake
Your thoughts on chapter 15 are fucking perfect and is literally what I’ve been saying for years. And I loved allot of what you said about the game especially stuff about its drop off in narrative near the end. There’s obviously a reason for this but some parts of it are meta and sorta only work if you played the OG which can be alienating to people who aren’t that locked into. I’m really curious about how you’ll feel about 7Rebirth.
If you loved this fighting system, you're in for a real treat if/when you play Rebirth. I may be biased because I did play FF7 on release on PS1 and playing the remake series does bring that feeling of nostalgia. I did like FF7 Remake, I didn't think it was phenomenal or anything but I enjoyed it. Rebirth however to me was one of the best games I've ever played. They built on the fighting system so well. What's crazy to me is that Remake was about 3 to 5 hours of casual gameplay in the original game, Rebirth was maybe 10-15 hours, the 3rd part is supposed to cover much more, somehow.
"A basically modern setting with TVs, cars, network news channels, commuter trains and cops with guns is a far better environment for a story of alienation and reconnexion than, say, a medieval kingdom". Oh no. Brother you said earlier that you were surprised at how much character work there was. Well trust Square from 1999 to pour as much if not way more into Final Fantasy IX, play it, and see how your mind changes before your very eyes.
8:25 I think (and to be honest) we have to be fair considering the context of FFVII (and what Kitase has said himself about liking Star Wars), Avalanche aren't terrorists, they are the Star Wars rebels fighting against the Empire, the Viet-Cong against America, as noted with George Lucas's original notes for the first Star Wars's plot. The other idea are "the rebels" fighting against the 4 Shintenno vs the Emperor (a far more common Japanese concept, i.e. Pokemon's Elite Four and the Champion). This idea is commonly seen across Square's games for the earlier FF games (FFI and FFIV, for example) and Secret of Mana, etc. This is what FFVII likely inherited with the idea of Avalanche. So, I think it is (I'm not trying to call you out on this) a bit hasty of many fans to look at it through a purely polticial lens rather than the (more likely connotations/influences of popular culture English/Japanese films/cultural ideas) that shaped the role of Avalanche.
I understand why they went the direction they did with the ending as a way to write themselves out of being stuck in the exact same story being copy pasted into the new games and allowing for creative wiggle room so to speak. But with that being said, I think it absolutely could've been handled better. The "fist fight with God" is such a staple of JRPGs, but in this instance, we're looking at the end of the first 5-10 hours of the original game. Not even 1/3 of the way through the story. The inevitable heaven shattering battle is at the end of the story and has many hours of gameplay to build up to it without just suddenly showing up after a mostly grounded story with characters dealing with very human issues. I still love this game, but I wish they had found another way to give themselves a better sense of creativity and newness within the story instead of "time to kill the time jannies who make sure everything plays out the way it's supposed to." All this to say, your review was well stated and I look forward to your thoughts on Rebirth. The characterization gets deeper, and I think the story builds on itself in a more stable way. Plus, the combat options soar through the roof. I'm proud of the team at Square Enix for the way they're bringing the original vision of FF7 to new life despite some of the issues I and others may take with a few of the choices made along the way. They've done an incredible job bringing these characters to life in a new way.
Your argument at the end falls apart when you yourself tell us you preferred ff7 (remake) to the new original story of ff16. There's nothing inherently wrong with remakes or re-imaginings or adaptations. As long as the final product is quality, what does it matter?
The biggest blunder of ff7r is the whisper harbringer boss fight. If they didnt include that fight, ppl or at least the og fans wouldnt speculate too much abt the plot. By saying that now the team has an opportunity to change the "fate", ppl begun to wonder if the plot would differ from the og ff7 plot.
Great video, always love hearing opinions about FFVIIR from those who didn't experience the original first. While I understand your feelings for remakes in general, I don't think FFVIIR is a good example of that. Mainline Final Fantasy has always been innovative, but they got themselves in a rut for a long while. FFVIIR was a way for them to look backwards and bring forward what worked. FFVIIR's battle system is the biggest evidence of this, modernizing the ATB system allowed them to create the best action RPG hybrid system they've tried by far. If this team, after the trilogy, moves on and makes a new FF, it will be much better than if they didn't indulge themselves on this project at all. Where you might be right, however, is that this team may just continue pumping out remakes or even more FFVII content. That would be disappointing. But as of now, they have the cover of FFVII as a successful IP to be really experimental, and I think they've been very experimental across Remake and Rebirth in a way that would have been too much of a risk with a new FF.
This guy doesn't have ANYTHING to say about FFVII Remake. TLDR: he farts around about how publishers want to make money from safe titles, says he has never played Final Fantasy games before, and he says this game is basically mid. He farts around about terrorism too I guess for no reason. Fake clickbait
I love this remake initiative, they are finding new ways to make the story appealing that I never would have anticipated. Remake doesn't go in to it a lot, but Wutai are a much bigger deal than they ever were in the og ff7. "The war" with Shinra was alluded to, but never more than that. Just for the Wutai involvement so far I'm interested in a way I didn't think I would be.
This was well-written. Ff7R was pure magic. I will say your comments lamenting nostalgia felt a little arbitrary. I didn’t agree with that part: handling old stuff well can be magical. Hence the brilliant success of Ff7 Remake.
Welcome to final fantasy bud. Every singe game ends with a fist fight with god. Every single game DOES have to end with a fist fight with god because that’s exactly what final fantasy is about.
Yes but it is always logically written. When you fight Sephiroth in the OG, you know exactly who he is and how crazy the fight will be. In the remake you have no idea who tf this guy is and why is he supposedly strong and what even are his motives. The thing becomes completely ridiculous when they involve the spoiler monster that I think even the devs didn't know wtf is it supposed to be
@@baronnuuke7821 did you miss the part where the lifestream shows that sephiroth is gon drop a giant meteor on top of the world? everytime ppl criticize ff7r plot, it's as if they nvr bother paying attention to what happened on the screen. There' re much much bigger plot holes you can find in og ff7 than in ff7r
@@dsx4AI the only thing you know about Sephiroth in Remake is that he is a war hero, supposed to be dead and that he wants to destroy the world. So at that point you feel like in a cheap Marvel movie, until you play Rebirth and have at least the Kalm flashback. There is a reason why characters like Sephiroth are so famously iconic : they are well written. In OG Sephiroth back-story was very mysterious, you barely even saw him, you had to guess who he was after and what are his motives. In Remake some scenes are almost funny, the way Cloud almost literally bumps into him around every corner in Midgar, dropping one liners and cryptic messages to Cloud. It isn't well done and the opposite of subtle. It's not a plot hole, it just doesn't make much sense logically in a structured storyline. It makes only sense if you already played the OG and expect it to be a reboot or a weird sequel
I am so disappointed and hate both remakes, yes they are good 'games' but IMO the story has been butchered in a disgraceful way. I struggled to complete both from burn out and a lack of desire because around every corner was disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. As soon as you introduce time travel/dimension weird shit you lose me, these was nothing like this in the OG and there was no need, all I see is a story plot excuse to do whatever they want which is lazy.
You guys need to remember this isn’t the full game. It’s not the full story. What doesn’t make sense in Remake will make sense throughout the series. Plus I just want to add rebirth is ten times better than remake. Also most casual fans don’t realize that hard mode is when the game truly shines.
I appreciate this review a lot even years after this games release. I would love to have seen an ff16 review too, as someone that loves that game but has the same problems
I like the review, and shared a lot of sentiments with you. I'm still waiting on Rebirth to be sold on Steam because I don't own any other console except much older ones.
I'm okay with remasters -- where it's pretty much the same game with updated visuals and a few tweaks (for example adding analogue control, stuff like that) -- but with remakes I agree with you, not a big fan and I think we can do without them.
this was Squares chance to impress me and should have been a no-brainer, but they failed miserably. they claim we need 3 games to fit in all the content, then they add a completely empty upper plate with no treasure chests, NPCS or location to explore. Sephiroth stabs Barret in the chest so they can have a clip for the trailer, literally saying there are absolutely no stakes in this story because plot armor. Rebirth cuts out Bone Village and exploring the Forgotten Capital, yet they seem to have had plenty of resources for 100 minigames and 30 different sidequests. maybe exploring an ancient city would have been more interesting than finding 20 copy and paste life springs. and these are just the most egregious examples. its no wonder its not selling well cause the writing/creative decisions are awful. avoid this remake trilogy like the plague.
Oh, I imagine many comments already told you but the final act that you didn't like is not in the OG and was the worst possible thing that Nomura could have done to FFVII. You have to go back and play the OG, play FFIX, play FFX and I swear you won't be disappointed. Those games are top tier, even VIII. Unfortunately it seems there is little chance for us to get Final Fantasy VII Remake as it should have been, and what you seem to praise in the first half of the video is really the basis of that.
Nomura didn't do that. When will you people learn... Nomura has been trying to keep the remake trilogy close to the OG. Also, it wasn't even that bad... the whole reason this "remake" is happening in universe is due to those whispers and some other worldly interference
Because FF7 in its original state alienates most people except old me with nostalgia glasses. Though I admit the ending was random... I still cant stomach the original outdated grind heavy game tedious game
@@ling8956 I beg to differ. As a child I hated grinding and still do, I could always get to the end of FF games with zero grinding. I was actively trying to avoid fighting altogether and ended up fighting the last boss at level 30 or something. This is some misconception at best.
26:25 good news FF seven rebirth let’s you have all of them and sometimes will limit you but for the majority you get to have all of them unfortunately that also means more material slots that you have to switch in and out
remakes are okay if done correctly. better graphics is all the remakes need to improved, but the stories must remain true to its core. maybe some putting i depth flesh out more for those characters that has not been given arc in the original. improving the game mechanics to its original state not tampered or cater to those new gamers that all know is to hack and slash, JRPG is not just attacking, you planned and think carefully on battle thats why turn based system is the best mechanic. not just real time slashing that is good at first but youll get bored eventually.
16:17 all of that wasnt in the OG and is what I love about the Remake project. You just didnt get that level of detail in that game, although it was a pinncle of narrative based video games in '97.
To all the people complaining it does not hit the same its not as good blablabla start thinking its maybe you grew the f up whn i was a kid any game with magic and super powers would hit like game of the year now gaming its just okay i like it still but i don't dream about it like when i was a kid got it ?? But ff7 remake and even 16 sone parts of it were so dawn epic that i wanted to just continue playing regardless of how late it was at night as a grown man we need to empty our minds and just play the games its not like getting a new girlfriend to fill the gap of the old one it does not work like that
I really hated playing through the remake. I felt like the enimies died way too fast except for bosses and I felt like all I was doing was walking around 70% of the time. Not to mention how the butchered the story. I just felt like it was inferior to the original in almost every way.
Sigh...FF7Rebirth getting stuck in PS5 limbo alienated fans...and now Sony pushing PS5Pro. Who has that much money?!😅 Hoping their sales pick-up once PC version gets released. Because, as one of thlse who has played and owned rhe original FF7, I really, really like more people new to this franchise to like this series (FF7). And I feel like the creators behind this remake trilogy, really love the series. That said, it may be overwhelming for some, but to those who are in the know, the FF7 Remake trilogy are part of a more grandiose (ambitious) attempt to tie together all FF7 projects from the past (and present)--- the movies (Advent Children), the tie-up games (FF7 Crisis Core, FF7 Ever Crisis), some novels(?) written by the creators to fill in some story gaps (and try to add more to the fleshing out of some characters). Maybe it was alm a marketing ploy to make new players who enjoyed FF7Remake to explore these past "side material" while waiting for the 3rd FF7R. It all may end up construed (and confusing or superfluous) by the time we get the 3rd entry into the trilogy, but I dont think it will affect the fundamental flow of the OG story. But knowing some of the people behind this (Tetsuya Nomura and his confusing treatment of the Kingdom Hearts story), I am not gonna be surprised if it disappoints/confuses some people. But I dont think that'll make me love FF7 any less than I do at present. I have very rose-colored tinted glasses😅
Thats the thing, for all the great things about the remake, what it changes with the main story from the original is what sucks. The original Final Fantasy 7 built up to the fighting a god thing throughout the whole game at the perfect pace. For the remake the first game ending is what tells you that this not a remake at all and going forward the main story of the game will be completely different. This is not a remake but a sequel in reality, thats why the game is divisive for a lot of people and Square is now sad cause their games are not selling as well as they thought.
I don't think remakes make the original less interesting... How?😂 I even think remakes can actually elevate the value of the original one! People who don't even know there's an older version will take a look at the original when they engage with remakes!
In the end you played and talked about remake instead of 10 smaller games, we get to caught up in ideology when talking but when its time to buy, play and make video we dont practice that and point fingers to the devs (justified) and players base (where we forget we are contributing too)
I bought a PS4 shortly after this game was announced, what went from just having not gotten around to buying it yet turned into not wanting it anymore after they announced that only the first game would be on the PS4, I will not buy a PS5, and even if they put it on PC, I will not buy it on a DRM ridden platform.
I have no nostalgia for the original. I played it. I enjoyed it. But I never loved it. But I refuse to play this game in particular. I hate how it looks visually and it's not turn based. I could probably get over the first thing eventually but not being turn based is unforgivable.
Attacking a nuclear power plant near Oak Creek, WI...as I drive past the Oak Creek exit. I was half paying attention and suddenly thought I was hearing a news report lol.
so i'm 8 min in, he supposed to talk about nostalgia and the ff7 remake but instead he keeps listing real world terrorist attacks. bro??? video games are fantasy you don't start to analyse them in terms of real world , my god. video games are escapeism.
Yeeeaaah as you didn’t play this game as a child and you hold no nostalgic value for it, I don’t think this review has much worth. Although it was very entertaining and well made 😊 😅
Need to finish the video (only 5min in) but I wanted to say as respectfully as possible, that these kind of takes on remakes being born from creatively bankrupt companies and only financially motivated while all these other hidden gems are left in the past is so cynical and such an overdone take. You said that you were the prime age for the final fantasy games (I assume you’re talking about the ps1 games in the series) and I’m willing to bet you’re not exactly frothing at the bits to go back and play a round of pong or Pac-Man, but if you talk your dad or an older uncle they may have had amazing experiences in arcades. The og ff7 IS pong to some younger people. Just because you miss a certain time in gaming doesn’t mean others will share that. Remakes are a great way to share what you saw in it with a generation whose favorite game is Fortnite. Maybe using your creativity and analysis format to bring light to these forgotten games you mention is something you could do as well instead of focusing on remakes that have a ton of exposure.
Actually it's based more on the interviews with the creators from back then, and watching these people make games before the entire world was buying them. In 19976 playing video games was lame and nerdy, it wasn't expected to be a blockbuster. They were making these games for different reasons, and the reasons were more artistic. These observations are based on living through the reality of games being mad by people who didn't expect to get rich, versus games being made by people who expect them to be blockbusters. FFVII was so great that people wanted to remake it. FFVII Remake can never inspire that same experience. That's basically what he's saying. When you make a remake, you are never making something that is so great it will get remade...
The OG fans were demanding a remake since the PS2 was released. Remaking this game was good business sense and an acknowledgement to fans.
I'm the same as you. Never played an FF game and my wife suggested I try remake. Game was unbelievably good, before you knew it I was buying tickets to the rebirth symphony orchestra and i cant wait for part 3.
Also you don’t think we should relive the past because you were not a part of it. The whole point was not to make something that don’t exist. It’s a love letter to the fans. The people who allowed final fantasy to grow into the brand it has. The fans asked for this remake before remakes was a thing. All the way in PS2. The technology just now caught up so it’s possible. This was a project by the developers literally saying it may be the last game the make due to their ages. In a sense it’s the og creators final fantasy. That’s why its feels so great and have love and attention.
I concur with what you are saying, but the console that has the most remasters and remakes is the ps2. Arcade ports to nes and onwards was a huge thing, and just see Supe Mario All-Stars for example. Fans were screaming for a remake after Square showed that PS3 tech demo back in 2006 and Square caved in 1 decade later and gave ut what we now have.
About the Eco-Terrorism soap-box: The original Japanese calls Avalanche a criminal organization, that's it. The main conflict is about tradition and respect for the old memories and wisdom compared to the dangers of disregarding the sacred and the old and treat it as a comodity. It's more in line with Tom Cruise's Last Samurai, in a way.
For proof, look no further than their solution to the Mako draining : Fossil fuels.
七番街スラムの酒場「セブンスヘブン」の地下を拠点とする、過激派の反神羅組織。いわゆるエコテロリスト。
リーダーはバレットで、彼らの壱番魔晄炉爆破テロからゲームが始まる。
壱番街魔晄炉破壊事件に関してアバランチと名乗る組織から犯行声明が出されています
声明によるとアバランチは今後も同様のテロを続けることを予告しております
I beat this game three times and plan to do it again before playing Rebirth. I have no history with ff7 and 15 was my first final fantasy game before 7 remake. I liked 15 a lot. Went on to play 1-6 pixel remasters, 13x, and the 14 mmo. Suffice to say I thoroughly enjoy the series now
Then you haven’t played FF7?
I think I put a total of 150hrs in remake because I enjoyed replaying it so much. I have over 350hrs in my first play through of rebirth because I enjoyed that one even more. Have fun when ya get to it homie
@@tophfb suprising that you havent tried ffx. its pretty well liked by all. and its very new ff-player friendly not that that matters to you atm with your list of played ff's by now :)
To me 15 has the best combat gameplay of them all
@@allanbarboza5090 reminiscent of kh3 imo (which is my favorite play style aside from kh2) but I find remake/rebirths to be almost tied. Especially the improvements in rebirth with aerial combat
The problem you have with the ending suddenly becoming supernatural is not a thing in the original because in the original game, the Remakes ending happens about 10 hours in and there's still about 50-60 more hours of game.
But it is definitely jarring when you've been playing this realistic, relatable game this whole time, and then suddenly you're fighting time lords in a parallel dimension.
Not to mention the changing of party members due to story points. Leaving Midgar is when you're meant to feel free, in scope, and party-wise. Unlike the original, that won't happen until Rebirth.
The whispers are introduced early on. Magic is a thing as soon as materia is introduced. Shinra is presented as being obsessed with a myth. Plus, literally everything that happens in the train graveyard.
Getting caught off by the supernatural elements in the ending requires ignoring all the world building up until that point.
@@arglebargle5531 supernatural elements that are part of the world and in balance with it are not a problem. Ghosts of the train yard and fire materia are not contradictory to the story. But time travel, parallel universes, monsters that spoil the ending of the game are literally world breaker and immersion breakers, because suddenly anything supposed to be impactful that happens after has no consequence at all since it can be cancelled by alternate universes or time travel.
@baronnuuke7821 the idea that anything can be cancelled is an assumption (especially if we're talking about being cancelled without cost, since the idea of the harsh price of victory is a core FF7 theme), and certainly not immersion breaking or contradictory to the story that's developed in Remake. The whispers and their effects on those who encounter them are developed throughout the story and pretty much everything that occurs with them is foreshadowed beforehand aside from the narratively pointless Advent Children cameos.
Moreover, they're also not contradictory to the original FF7 worldbuilding, as that's where the Will of the Planet being an actual sentient force was first established. It's just a different take on the concept, which is refreshing from my point of view as someone who doesn't feel the need to experience a teenage of the exact same story that I fell in love with when FF7 first released. Remake's approach is a great balance -- having differences in the story while also providing a lore rationale for *why* things are different.
@@arglebargle5531 I won't argue, if you like it I have no problem with that, but to me it's kind of like the Dragon Balls that can do everything and bring back to life anyone. It's a cool story, it's explained why and how it works, but nothing is impactful in Dragon Ball because every time something crazy happens you know the balls will bring everything and everyone back. FF7 OG had supernatural aspects, but it was a very down to earth game compared to the other FF, with a dangerous company and CEO, eco terrorists and interesting themes like PTSD of war veterans. Now they bring alternate universes and it defeats all of that because now it has become a Sci-Fi game and dead people are not really dead, they are alive in a parallel universe, but wait they also die there, but nobody knows what it means. I think it's a very big immersion problem
This was a fantastic review. As someone who also analyzes this series (and hopefully more games when I have time) from a storytelling perspective, I loved that you really analyzed the storytelling elements.
I will say this: if your primary issue is how the game becomes ungrounded in the ending, then I HIGHLY suggest playing the OG. You can beat it probably in less time than Remake (about 35 hours) and there is literally no storyline about fate and practically NOTHING from Chapter 18 is in the original. It’s much more grounded overall and it sounds like it’d be insanely up your alley.
That is also why this Remake project isn’t exactly just “remaking the past.” Of all Remakes, it’s the most “new” and the devs set out to create a new experience for people who know the OG.
Also, when you do get to Rebirth, I think you will bump up against the “individual works should stand up on their own” part. Since Rebirth essentially starts in Act 2 of the original, the opening doesn’t feel like a traditional opening or Act 1… mostly because that’s what Remake is. Even still, I would be curious about your take on it.
But more than anything else, it really sounds like you should give the original a try.
Your historical contextualisation of the first portion of the game was really interesting and not something I’d considered until now.
I love your breakdowns on remakes and the real world systems that they are impacted by or at the cause of. The numbers on expected purchases of remakes in the Bloodborne video, the "betting it all on nostalgia and coming up short of expectations" of this, and such. It's nice hearing a thought out stance that both wears and removes the rose tinted glasses
I feel like ff7 is a mix of innovation and nostalgia. This game is kind of a special case, since they added so much to the game where it's essentially a new game. I love everything about remake but I can empathize with people who hated the story direction (especially OGs). I will say that aside from story remake is just an amazing game. It has pretty much most of the ingredients to make a good cinematic action jrpg game except for its poor aerial combat which they vastly improve in Rebirth. I hope you play Rebirth when it comes to PC, it's sad that the ps5 exclusivity kind a killed the hype for Rebirth since most people who don't own a ps5 probably just watched the game on youtube. But yeah, the combat, world building, voice acting, music, graphics are done so well. It makes Remake look like demo of Rebirth and not to mention the side content, o boy. There's like 1000% more side content to do in Rebirth I'm not exaggerating. Whether it's good or not, I'll leave that up to you. But it did side content way better than ff7 remake and ff16 that's for sure.
You’re trying to sell him on Rebirth when it basically does the things he says he doesn’t like.
People need to stop glazing Rebirth because it’s clear from the low sales that the fans aren’t interested.
@@KieranHamilton-y7s low sales? It sold around 20 millions but that's due to the PS5. It most likely could have sold more if it existed on every system available.
@@agamersinsanity What? Rebirth sold no where close to 20 millions.. I really wish it did cuz it's by far the best game square made since the ps1 days, but it sold around 2 million at launch and not much more after that. probably around 3 million overall, not enough to meet square expectations unfortunately.
@@agamersinsanity the sales of rebirth is not disclosed by Square. And many websites that "research" the sales indicate that Rebirth sold only a little over 3 Million copies. It is no where close to 20 million. It might do better with a PC release but its still subject for further observation.
@@KieranHamilton-y7s Feel like a lot of the lower sales is due to it being PS5 exclusive, and a decent portion of players that want to wait for full all 3 in one version or at the very least waiting for part 3 to be out to continue playing through. There's quite a bit that I know are waiting for PC release, whenever that will actually be.
The whole idea of glazing is funny, people just actually think the game is that good. As someone who started the series back on the NES with FF1 and OG7 being my favorite game of all time, Rebirth gave a feel that I haven't had in a long, long time. Even longer for a stand alone FF game.
The first time you beat it is actually just the tutorial. Hard mode is soooo amazingly tuned to having everything it's really the true game
Can’t wait to see a review on rebirth from you after this!
FF7R is the perfect blend of nostalgia and modern gaming. One of the best combat systems in a game. Some of the most well realizing characters and locations in gaming. They more than delivered.
Ff7 Rebirth will go down as perhaps the greatest effort ever put forth into a remake of a video game and may not ever be accomplished again.
@@WeAreLight05 it's sad because every ounce of rebirth has so much love, care, fan service and heart put into yet people still complain. Oh it's too long. Oh there's too much to do. Oh it's not turn based. Too much game for my money. Oh it's not the exact game we've been playing for 25+ years. They didn't cut any corners and they could have so many different ways. The games are complete and they work. I wish part 3 would be even bigger and better but I'm afraid they're gonna cut it down now and make it more like remake. Which is still great but nothing like what we could have had if people didn't ruin it. It breaks my heart to see all the negativity this game gets. It deserves to be goty. When games are broken, incomplete, live service, filled with transactions, forcing an agenda, and 10 dlcs.
@Sctn187 I don't think you have anything to worry about concerning it being too much like remake it still has to incorporate open world and areas like rebirth and it's already been confirmed that the high wind is a huge part of moving around the world I think they will do a fantastic job and we'll all be happy. But the truth is is that rebirth you said it perfectly, they could have caught so many corners and they just made the game better and better it is the best effort ever put forth in a remake.
FFVII Rebirth according to me atleast is probably the greatest JRPG ever made I never played a game that good.
As someone who only knew of FF7s cast from Kingdom hearts and later in life movile gacha games, It was super cool to play the remakes. I've tried to play the original game but man is it rough lol.
the polygons are glorious peasant
This game was magical when it came out I’ll never forget it. I remember spending all day just grinding and farming my character and is probably why i gravitated towards souls games later in life and I feel like the remake just doesn’t hit the same
That’s because it’s not even the same game. It’s a sanitised non canon adaptation based on the original game.
It was made to make money. The existence of Ever Crisis and The First Soldier proves they only care about content and not quality.
Ofc it didn't, everything is experienced different when young.
@@KieranHamilton-y7s No way. that's all in your head, i heard the exact same from some others. It's called an echochamber. read the story of the devs, they have been cooking more than 20 years, and it shows! Nothing confirms your nonsense. I never stopped playing the OG and the Remakes are just EPIC in every single way
@@KieranHamilton-y7scorrect not the same game. It's not my fantasy 7
@@Mutation80what are you talking about especially after rebirth. It’s not the same story it’s based on the story, still like it but clearly it’s like some other version they wanted to do.
Remake is so much better than 16.
I wasn't really a fan of 16
Loving this new trilogy so far, exceeding all my expectations.
The games are absolutely amazing the only mistake they made was not saying it was a retelling from the start
They actually did say it was a retelling from the start. More than once. They also made it abundantly clear there would be some changes and additions as far back as 2015.
@Dayv018 well remake implies otherwise. People use it to complain about the game.
@@Sctn187 Only because they are thinking of how other games used the word/title. Also when there are interviews going back 5 years before the game's release all stating that it wouldn't be a 1 to 1...Yeah.
Really? Because *nerds* on the other side of your coin are bashing MGS3 Delta for being near copy and paste of the origin. We can never win with nerds
@ling8956 exactly you can't win. You can't make everyone happy. You just gotta be happy your favorite game is getting some love imo. In this case we get 3 remakes of our favorite game and literally hundreds of hours in that world with those characters. They could have ruined it so many different ways but we have two working and finished games. They're not pushing any agenda. Not to mention they put so much love and care into these games. So much fan service. Barely any dlc and no transaction. Idk what else people could want. Yet people find ways to complain.
"Well, now I am a grown up with appreciably more money than I had as a middle schooler but significantly less time. Funny how that works."
Bruh gotta be hitting me right where it hurts within minute 1 😭
If you enjoyed this game you will fall in love with rebirth.
You said it yourself man, you have no attachment to the originals, I do, and I appreciate the remakes more than you could understand. I also revere the original, own several copies and replay it again every 3 to 5 years. Its not nostalgia, its appreciation to the way it looks and plays, as I saw it on my imagination back when it was a limited resource PS1 game. There's nothing wrong with this. On the other hand, remaking Horizon Zero dawn, a ps4 game, that is worthy of debate
You must consooooooom
nice dissertation. agree with nigh everything you said including your gripe with the supernatural ending. overall i still love the game to death, not gonna let that one chapter sour my enjoyment
Final Fantasy VII Remake, and the games that follow it, are truthfully sequels to "The Compilation of FFVII". There was a ton of controversy among fans when Remake was released when people were getting to the ending. There were tons of praise, but a lot of fans jumped ship after the way Remake ended. As a relative newcomer to Final Fantasy as a whole, your reaction to Remake checks out because the final act was for people who were already fans of Compilation, and not for any newcomers or fans of strictly the original. FFVII fans were already split between people who liked the original but hate the direction took with Compilation, and people who liked the original and the direction Compilation took. Just about anyone who is still singing FFVII Remake's praises at this point are people who enjoyed Compilation. Truth be told, if it weren't for Remake's ending, I'd be in it for the long haul. But the moment I saw that ending, I understood that this game was not a remake for a new generation of players. It was a sequel for the people who were fans of the direction the story took during Compilation.
I disagree with the idea that "Just about anyone still singing FFVII Remake's praises at this point are people who enjoyed the Compilation". Personally OG 7 is my favorite game of all time, but I haven't really had much to like about the Compilation at all. Crisis Core is good, but mostly as a prologue peeling back some info on Zack/Cloud. Personally I think it is a remake for a new generation of players, while also being a love letter to those of us who loved the OG 7 so much...but not JUST for nostalgia. I would have played a straight 1 to 1 remake, of course, but there would almost be no stakes, no real feelings of discovery/rediscovery of what made me love the game in the first place. The way they've managed to recreate the same feelings I had the first time in different ways has been fantastic, and reading between the lines of what they are able to focus and emphasize on even more now points at an even more meaningful Part 3 to finish it all.
@@Dayv018 exactly that! couldn't said it better
I hate the compilation, but I loved Remake. I even thought they were generally doing a good job at adding compilation material into the mix, it didn't put me off... but the ending did. The ending didn't kill my investment because it was compilation sequel material, it killed my interest because it was sloppy and ineffective storytelling.
I hate the compilation stuff and absolutelly loved this game. This game is a masterpiece. Disliking it because of the ending is crazy
I generally disagree with this statement, Id rate advent children 2/10, dirge of cerberus a 5/10. I like crisis core and think its a 7/10 game.I like the characterization of Zack/Cissnei. But the genesis stuff is kinda bleh.
But, the OG and Remake are both in my top 10 favorite games of all time.
I do not agree with all of the things they did with Remake, but it was fascinating to me regardless.
The characterization of the whole party in remake/rebirth is much better imo than the compilation as well.
I grew up In the 90’s. Terrorism and bombings weren’t the nightmare we know it as today. There were a ton of movies and shows about middle eastern terrorists and people weren’t afraid of that word until 2001. The things you mentioned didn’t scare Americans in the 90’s, it was a carefree time and that sort of thing was glorified in entertainment, it was a different time
I think there is a lot of value in your review. The aspects you liked are just the opening to FF7 but greatly expanded, leaving the majority of the orginal title for Rebirth and the third game.
I would love for your opinions on Rebirth, then to see what you think of the orginal. Once you have the context of the orginal story, you can see this is a strange sequel/remake.
Another way to put, it's like the lord of the rings, but they extended the trip to Rivendell into a whole game.
Your gripe with the end of FF7R derives from the fact that Square wanted to divide the Remake project into 3 installments. The original FF7 didnt have any supernatural clash with gods or spirits in a fight with "fate" and bla bla bla. The Midgar section just finished with a normal boss battle at a bridge and then bam, that was it. You were out of Midgar and in you go with your pursuit of Sephiroth. But the remakes were thought as 3 separate games, with them wanting to create mystery and tension in those 4-year hiatuses between games ... everything you felt about the endgame of FF7R is related to this one decision. I agree with your gripes too.
I'm curious about the part about effectively using your whole party to their tuned up potential trivializing the hardest difficulty. I'd assume that playing like that should net you the reward of crushing the hardest difficulty, especially when the normal way through hardest difficulties is perfect reflexes and correct rapid button inputs.
I like a difficulty curve that allows for both a deeply punishing brute-force method where you barely engage with the mechanics other than block/dodge/attack but are rewarded for lightning reflexes and "locking-in", and a well stratagized and prepared intellectualization approach that rewards the person who prepares intensely
That way the most GO-GO-GO trigger gamer who's never read a dialogue option in their life but somehow perfect blocks a 47 hit boss combo and the player who reads every journal entry and learns all the ability interactions while meticulously turning their party into a seemless tower defense system both have the satisfaction of overcoming the highest difficulty.
I guess, do you think it's "too easy" to optimize your team that well?
I'm not sure! I played on normal mode and I heard hard mode is a significant challenge. Something I might check out in the future
Hard Mode was really a pleasant surprise, for me. It felt like this particular game system was meant to be played this way.
As an OG FF7 player and a lover of the FF7 RE-series, it's always a pleasure to have the inputs from a newcomer to the franchise. Yours was very well articulate.
A lot to talk about but I'd like to comment on one of your point.
FF7 is one story originally, not a trilogy. Making the Remake-series a trilogy was a good thing IMO given the material but it comes with some cons. Midgar in OG could be done in a few hours of gameplay.
Thematically, I understand why they made it the 1st RE game but it's understandable the end has a hard time making sense to newcomers. Midgar is just a solid intro to a much broader story. Moreover, the developers added some spice to catch off guard even OG players.
As remakes go, this one is really one particular case of study.
@@info_mercial Square said that they were pressured by fans to remake FF 7.
I adore the Remake, partly because it got my wife into FF. Rebirth is among my top 5 games ever.
Love it or hate it, FF7 Remake was the game that got me into Final Fantasy as a whole.
Growing up a young gamer in a post FFX world meant hearing only complaints and hostility towards newer entries: how could I have any form of interest for FF13/15 when people kept bashing them? The loud minority mostly.
Finally, come FF7R, I watch the opening cinematic and find Aerith to be the most beautiful aggregation of polygons I've ever seen. I play the demo but decide not to buy the game. One year later, it was included in the monthly PS+ offering. I played it and loved the world, the characters, the feel... Basically everything up to the Numen shenanigans and the final chapter, which stood out like a sore thumb.
Anyway, Midgar hooked me so much I had to buy the og FF7. I played it, loved it so much I ended up playing FF6-8-9-10-12 in about 16 months.
4:39 in 7 Remake's case, we are talking about polygon sprites vs basically what we saw in Advent Children. I think the Remake was warranted in this scenario, not to mention fans have been asking for it for 20+ years. You should watch some of the reaction vids and explainers why people were so happy. I know youre missing the context, but lets just say the devs had been doing remake fakeouts since 2000s.
In Remake, Avalanche's attempt at destroying the reactor fails, and Shinra instead are the unknown culprits. But in the original they full on destroy it. Both outcomes are the same, but I think Remake softens the terroristic blow by shifting the act onto the antagonists.
It's the same in the OG. What are talking about ? In the og the president say shinra destroy the reactor. He say it before the airbuster fight.
The thing about thee supernatural ending is that FF 7 remake is more of a sequel than a remake. They kinda assume you know and played the original and those whispers are trying to keep the events faithful to the original and you have to destroy them to break free from fate. If you play the original you can notice that every time the whispers intervene is at a moment you are trying to deviate from the original story.
:subbed: I'm always curious about how these remakes land with the folks that lack the context of the original, and you pretty much confirmed my suspicions. Do you plan on going back and playing the OG?
You gotta play FF7 Remake Part 2 Rebirth its GREAT!
25:00 Because purple is usually the dominant color of the early FF/Mana final antagonists/end game bosses (i.e. Thanatos and the Mana (a.k.a. the god/holy) Beast from Secret of Mana, Kefka from FFVI, Lavos's final form from Chrono Trigger, etc.).
Something interesting to not here is how "fate" is trying to perserve itself or stay "on course", similar to how the Mana Beast was trying to preserve/restore the flow of Mana after Thanatos incinerated the Mana Tree in Secret of Mana. The whispers don't seem much different, imho. Sephiroth is escalating the destruction of fate here like Thanatos would with Mana with the Mana tree.
FF7 Remake had its fair share of problems when I first playthrough it. But I did like it enough to play Crisis Core and then go even further backwards and play the original FF7 (albeit with a few mods) and watch Advent Children. I think that's the biggest feat Remake was able to accomplish for new fans like me. And after playing Rebirth it's harder to say that the trilogy is just a "cash grab" as many would claim it to be since you can clearly tell how much passion from the devs was put into it. Rebirth is just a much better version of Remake (mostly because it explores much more of FF7) despite similar issues and I couldn't help but be excited throughout my first playthrough that's also mainly due to my recent experience of the original 1997 masterpiece.
The endings will always be controversial for better or worse and I can't say much about that. I'll sadly have to wait 3 years until the finale to get a full picture of it which is my problem with the remakes. By splitting it into a trilogy the devs pretty much cornered themselves into making the endings fall short for many people, causing less and less to be interested as a result. I do however think that the criticisms that many have towards the changes Remake/Rebirth has made to the story are overblown. For the majority of the games, the story is mostly faithful and improved from the original. I just feel like when you're remaking a game you're never going to satisfy everyone. I've witnessed this in Resident Evil, Persona 3 and have even spotted people bashing the Silent Hill 2 remake. That's just the consequence of making a remake
Your thoughts on chapter 15 are fucking perfect and is literally what I’ve been saying for years. And I loved allot of what you said about the game especially stuff about its drop off in narrative near the end. There’s obviously a reason for this but some parts of it are meta and sorta only work if you played the OG which can be alienating to people who aren’t that locked into. I’m really curious about how you’ll feel about 7Rebirth.
So... when are you reviewing Rebirth?
Fantastic video btw
Really enjoyed this. Hope you stick with this direction as ER winds down.
I love how your opinions on VII Remake and XVI are the same as mine.
If you loved this fighting system, you're in for a real treat if/when you play Rebirth. I may be biased because I did play FF7 on release on PS1 and playing the remake series does bring that feeling of nostalgia. I did like FF7 Remake, I didn't think it was phenomenal or anything but I enjoyed it. Rebirth however to me was one of the best games I've ever played. They built on the fighting system so well. What's crazy to me is that Remake was about 3 to 5 hours of casual gameplay in the original game, Rebirth was maybe 10-15 hours, the 3rd part is supposed to cover much more, somehow.
Fantastic video! 💯 It's cool how our options are so similar. I'm a new Final Fantasy fan just like you.
"A basically modern setting with TVs, cars, network news channels, commuter trains and cops with guns is a far better environment for a story of alienation and reconnexion than, say, a medieval kingdom". Oh no. Brother you said earlier that you were surprised at how much character work there was. Well trust Square from 1999 to pour as much if not way more into Final Fantasy IX, play it, and see how your mind changes before your very eyes.
Honestly never understood what people liked in IX. IMO best old school FF is 4
8:25 I think (and to be honest) we have to be fair considering the context of FFVII (and what Kitase has said himself about liking Star Wars), Avalanche aren't terrorists, they are the Star Wars rebels fighting against the Empire, the Viet-Cong against America, as noted with George Lucas's original notes for the first Star Wars's plot.
The other idea are "the rebels" fighting against the 4 Shintenno vs the Emperor (a far more common Japanese concept, i.e. Pokemon's Elite Four and the Champion). This idea is commonly seen across Square's games for the earlier FF games (FFI and FFIV, for example) and Secret of Mana, etc. This is what FFVII likely inherited with the idea of Avalanche. So, I think it is (I'm not trying to call you out on this) a bit hasty of many fans to look at it through a purely polticial lens rather than the (more likely connotations/influences of popular culture English/Japanese films/cultural ideas) that shaped the role of Avalanche.
No one would ever remake FFVII Remake.
I understand why they went the direction they did with the ending as a way to write themselves out of being stuck in the exact same story being copy pasted into the new games and allowing for creative wiggle room so to speak. But with that being said, I think it absolutely could've been handled better. The "fist fight with God" is such a staple of JRPGs, but in this instance, we're looking at the end of the first 5-10 hours of the original game. Not even 1/3 of the way through the story. The inevitable heaven shattering battle is at the end of the story and has many hours of gameplay to build up to it without just suddenly showing up after a mostly grounded story with characters dealing with very human issues. I still love this game, but I wish they had found another way to give themselves a better sense of creativity and newness within the story instead of "time to kill the time jannies who make sure everything plays out the way it's supposed to."
All this to say, your review was well stated and I look forward to your thoughts on Rebirth. The characterization gets deeper, and I think the story builds on itself in a more stable way. Plus, the combat options soar through the roof. I'm proud of the team at Square Enix for the way they're bringing the original vision of FF7 to new life despite some of the issues I and others may take with a few of the choices made along the way. They've done an incredible job bringing these characters to life in a new way.
Rebirth is going to blow your socks off, great video I am glad you liked this game.
Your argument at the end falls apart when you yourself tell us you preferred ff7 (remake) to the new original story of ff16.
There's nothing inherently wrong with remakes or re-imaginings or adaptations. As long as the final product is quality, what does it matter?
Finaly somebody with a brain in the comments.
"i dont think we need to remake the past" very wise last word
Currently on final fantasy 6 I didn't know the remastered version removed the cutscenes 😭 and i have yet to finish the original final fantasy 7
The biggest blunder of ff7r is the whisper harbringer boss fight. If they didnt include that fight, ppl or at least the og fans wouldnt speculate too much abt the plot. By saying that now the team has an opportunity to change the "fate", ppl begun to wonder if the plot would differ from the og ff7 plot.
Great video, always love hearing opinions about FFVIIR from those who didn't experience the original first. While I understand your feelings for remakes in general, I don't think FFVIIR is a good example of that. Mainline Final Fantasy has always been innovative, but they got themselves in a rut for a long while. FFVIIR was a way for them to look backwards and bring forward what worked. FFVIIR's battle system is the biggest evidence of this, modernizing the ATB system allowed them to create the best action RPG hybrid system they've tried by far. If this team, after the trilogy, moves on and makes a new FF, it will be much better than if they didn't indulge themselves on this project at all. Where you might be right, however, is that this team may just continue pumping out remakes or even more FFVII content. That would be disappointing. But as of now, they have the cover of FFVII as a successful IP to be really experimental, and I think they've been very experimental across Remake and Rebirth in a way that would have been too much of a risk with a new FF.
This guy doesn't have ANYTHING to say about FFVII Remake. TLDR: he farts around about how publishers want to make money from safe titles, says he has never played Final Fantasy games before, and he says this game is basically mid. He farts around about terrorism too I guess for no reason. Fake clickbait
I love this remake initiative, they are finding new ways to make the story appealing that I never would have anticipated. Remake doesn't go in to it a lot, but Wutai are a much bigger deal than they ever were in the og ff7. "The war" with Shinra was alluded to, but never more than that. Just for the Wutai involvement so far I'm interested in a way I didn't think I would be.
This was well-written. Ff7R was pure magic. I will say your comments lamenting nostalgia felt a little arbitrary. I didn’t agree with that part: handling old stuff well can be magical. Hence the brilliant success of Ff7 Remake.
Loving the tone of the video. Good stuff
Welcome to final fantasy bud. Every singe game ends with a fist fight with god. Every single game DOES have to end with a fist fight with god because that’s exactly what final fantasy is about.
Lol ikr? When he said that I was like... do you not know where you are? I don't watch Star Wars and complain that Lightsabers aren't realistic
Literally every JRPG man.
Yes but it is always logically written. When you fight Sephiroth in the OG, you know exactly who he is and how crazy the fight will be. In the remake you have no idea who tf this guy is and why is he supposedly strong and what even are his motives. The thing becomes completely ridiculous when they involve the spoiler monster that I think even the devs didn't know wtf is it supposed to be
@@baronnuuke7821 did you miss the part where the lifestream shows that sephiroth is gon drop a giant meteor on top of the world? everytime ppl criticize ff7r plot, it's as if they nvr bother paying attention to what happened on the screen. There' re much much bigger plot holes you can find in og ff7 than in ff7r
@@dsx4AI the only thing you know about Sephiroth in Remake is that he is a war hero, supposed to be dead and that he wants to destroy the world. So at that point you feel like in a cheap Marvel movie, until you play Rebirth and have at least the Kalm flashback. There is a reason why characters like Sephiroth are so famously iconic : they are well written. In OG Sephiroth back-story was very mysterious, you barely even saw him, you had to guess who he was after and what are his motives. In Remake some scenes are almost funny, the way Cloud almost literally bumps into him around every corner in Midgar, dropping one liners and cryptic messages to Cloud. It isn't well done and the opposite of subtle. It's not a plot hole, it just doesn't make much sense logically in a structured storyline. It makes only sense if you already played the OG and expect it to be a reboot or a weird sequel
I am so disappointed and hate both remakes, yes they are good 'games' but IMO the story has been butchered in a disgraceful way. I struggled to complete both from burn out and a lack of desire because around every corner was disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. As soon as you introduce time travel/dimension weird shit you lose me, these was nothing like this in the OG and there was no need, all I see is a story plot excuse to do whatever they want which is lazy.
You guys need to remember this isn’t the full game. It’s not the full story. What doesn’t make sense in Remake will make sense throughout the series. Plus I just want to add rebirth is ten times better than remake. Also most casual fans don’t realize that hard mode is when the game truly shines.
I appreciate this review a lot even years after this games release. I would love to have seen an ff16 review too, as someone that loves that game but has the same problems
I like the review, and shared a lot of sentiments with you. I'm still waiting on Rebirth to be sold on Steam because I don't own any other console except much older ones.
Ah yeah FF7 Rebirth my guiding moonlight , my true mentor
I'm okay with remasters -- where it's pretty much the same game with updated visuals and a few tweaks (for example adding analogue control, stuff like that) -- but with remakes I agree with you, not a big fan and I think we can do without them.
this was Squares chance to impress me and should have been a no-brainer, but they failed miserably. they claim we need 3 games to fit in all the content, then they add a completely empty upper plate with no treasure chests, NPCS or location to explore. Sephiroth stabs Barret in the chest so they can have a clip for the trailer, literally saying there are absolutely no stakes in this story because plot armor. Rebirth cuts out Bone Village and exploring the Forgotten Capital, yet they seem to have had plenty of resources for 100 minigames and 30 different sidequests. maybe exploring an ancient city would have been more interesting than finding 20 copy and paste life springs. and these are just the most egregious examples. its no wonder its not selling well cause the writing/creative decisions are awful. avoid this remake trilogy like the plague.
I restarted around 2 months ago. I've been on Digimon Next order lol smh
Final Fantasy 9 will ALWAYS be my fav.
7:21 I think you’re using the wrong analogy. Nuclear power doesn’t harm the environment. Were it a coal plant or an oil rig, then you’d have it.
Oh, I imagine many comments already told you but the final act that you didn't like is not in the OG and was the worst possible thing that Nomura could have done to FFVII. You have to go back and play the OG, play FFIX, play FFX and I swear you won't be disappointed. Those games are top tier, even VIII. Unfortunately it seems there is little chance for us to get Final Fantasy VII Remake as it should have been, and what you seem to praise in the first half of the video is really the basis of that.
Nomura didn't do that. When will you people learn... Nomura has been trying to keep the remake trilogy close to the OG. Also, it wasn't even that bad... the whole reason this "remake" is happening in universe is due to those whispers and some other worldly interference
Because FF7 in its original state alienates most people except old me with nostalgia glasses. Though I admit the ending was random... I still cant stomach the original outdated grind heavy game tedious game
@@ling8956 I beg to differ. As a child I hated grinding and still do, I could always get to the end of FF games with zero grinding. I was actively trying to avoid fighting altogether and ended up fighting the last boss at level 30 or something. This is some misconception at best.
26:25 good news FF seven rebirth let’s you have all of them and sometimes will limit you but for the majority you get to have all of them unfortunately that also means more material slots that you have to switch in and out
Awesome stuff man! Got yourself a new sub! God bless ya and Jesus loves ya!
remakes are okay if done correctly. better graphics is all the remakes need to improved, but the stories must remain true to its core. maybe some putting i depth flesh out more for those characters that has not been given arc in the original. improving the game mechanics to its original state not tampered or cater to those new gamers that all know is to hack and slash, JRPG is not just attacking, you planned and think carefully on battle thats why turn based system is the best mechanic. not just real time slashing that is good at first but youll get bored eventually.
Some new content! Hell ya brother
16:17 all of that wasnt in the OG and is what I love about the Remake project. You just didnt get that level of detail in that game, although it was a pinncle of narrative based video games in '97.
To all the people complaining it does not hit the same its not as good blablabla start thinking its maybe you grew the f up whn i was a kid any game with magic and super powers would hit like game of the year now gaming its just okay i like it still but i don't dream about it like when i was a kid got it ?? But ff7 remake and even 16 sone parts of it were so dawn epic that i wanted to just continue playing regardless of how late it was at night as a grown man we need to empty our minds and just play the games its not like getting a new girlfriend to fill the gap of the old one it does not work like that
Part 1 was a success because of Covid they high expectations on large sales in the 2nd part but forget that not many have a ps5 yet.😂
We got a great game, but your complaining the budget could have been used elsewhere? Give me a break.
They've been milking FF7 for so long it's embarrassing
I really hated playing through the remake. I felt like the enimies died way too fast except for bosses and I felt like all I was doing was walking around 70% of the time. Not to mention how the butchered the story. I just felt like it was inferior to the original in almost every way.
Sigh...FF7Rebirth getting stuck in PS5 limbo alienated fans...and now Sony pushing PS5Pro. Who has that much money?!😅 Hoping their sales pick-up once PC version gets released. Because, as one of thlse who has played and owned rhe original FF7, I really, really like more people new to this franchise to like this series (FF7). And I feel like the creators behind this remake trilogy, really love the series.
That said, it may be overwhelming for some, but to those who are in the know, the FF7 Remake trilogy are part of a more grandiose (ambitious) attempt to tie together all FF7 projects from the past (and present)--- the movies (Advent Children), the tie-up games (FF7 Crisis Core, FF7 Ever Crisis), some novels(?) written by the creators to fill in some story gaps (and try to add more to the fleshing out of some characters). Maybe it was alm a marketing ploy to make new players who enjoyed FF7Remake to explore these past "side material" while waiting for the 3rd FF7R.
It all may end up construed (and confusing or superfluous) by the time we get the 3rd entry into the trilogy, but I dont think it will affect the fundamental flow of the OG story. But knowing some of the people behind this (Tetsuya Nomura and his confusing treatment of the Kingdom Hearts story), I am not gonna be surprised if it disappoints/confuses some people.
But I dont think that'll make me love FF7 any less than I do at present. I have very rose-colored tinted glasses😅
Thats the thing, for all the great things about the remake, what it changes with the main story from the original is what sucks. The original Final Fantasy 7 built up to the fighting a god thing throughout the whole game at the perfect pace. For the remake the first game ending is what tells you that this not a remake at all and going forward the main story of the game will be completely different. This is not a remake but a sequel in reality, thats why the game is divisive for a lot of people and Square is now sad cause their games are not selling as well as they thought.
Remake and Rebirth. Im alone stating this. These are worth the gawd damn money!!!! Idc
I don't think remakes make the original less interesting... How?😂
I even think remakes can actually elevate the value of the original one! People who don't even know there's an older version will take a look at the original when they engage with remakes!
In the end you played and talked about remake instead of 10 smaller games, we get to caught up in ideology when talking but when its time to buy, play and make video we dont practice that and point fingers to the devs (justified) and players base (where we forget we are contributing too)
I bought a PS4 shortly after this game was announced, what went from just having not gotten around to buying it yet turned into not wanting it anymore after they announced that only the first game would be on the PS4, I will not buy a PS5, and even if they put it on PC, I will not buy it on a DRM ridden platform.
Man i loved the characters in 16
Great video!
Rebirth because it's beautiful and it's not and with ascending to heaven and fighting with the gods
I have no nostalgia for the original. I played it. I enjoyed it. But I never loved it. But I refuse to play this game in particular. I hate how it looks visually and it's not turn based. I could probably get over the first thing eventually but not being turn based is unforgivable.
We were promised a “remake”. We expected a remake like resident evil 4. This is FAR from it.
Attacking a nuclear power plant near Oak Creek, WI...as I drive past the Oak Creek exit. I was half paying attention and suddenly thought I was hearing a news report lol.
The remakes are too much now. I happily bought and beat re2 remake, but now I want DIFFERENT games. Stop remaking everything please.
They have to remake the past because they can’t make memorable final fantasy games anymore.
Update on how you liking rebirth. Is 10x better than remake
so i'm 8 min in, he supposed to talk about nostalgia and the ff7 remake but instead he keeps listing real world terrorist attacks.
bro???
video games are fantasy you don't start to analyse them in terms of real world , my god. video games are escapeism.
5:55 actually gets to talking about thoughts on the game...
love this video. that's all
Yeeeaaah as you didn’t play this game as a child and you hold no nostalgic value for it, I don’t think this review has much worth. Although it was very entertaining and well made 😊 😅
28:28 "In Final Fantasy XVI, .... whereas in Final Fantasy XVI..." 😂
came here wanting to watch a video on ff7 not a history lesson ...and btw 9/11 was an inside job.
Need to finish the video (only 5min in) but I wanted to say as respectfully as possible, that these kind of takes on remakes being born from creatively bankrupt companies and only financially motivated while all these other hidden gems are left in the past is so cynical and such an overdone take.
You said that you were the prime age for the final fantasy games (I assume you’re talking about the ps1 games in the series) and I’m willing to bet you’re not exactly frothing at the bits to go back and play a round of pong or Pac-Man, but if you talk your dad or an older uncle they may have had amazing experiences in arcades. The og ff7 IS pong to some younger people. Just because you miss a certain time in gaming doesn’t mean others will share that. Remakes are a great way to share what you saw in it with a generation whose favorite game is Fortnite.
Maybe using your creativity and analysis format to bring light to these forgotten games you mention is something you could do as well instead of focusing on remakes that have a ton of exposure.
Actually it's based more on the interviews with the creators from back then, and watching these people make games before the entire world was buying them. In 19976 playing video games was lame and nerdy, it wasn't expected to be a blockbuster. They were making these games for different reasons, and the reasons were more artistic. These observations are based on living through the reality of games being mad by people who didn't expect to get rich, versus games being made by people who expect them to be blockbusters.
FFVII was so great that people wanted to remake it. FFVII Remake can never inspire that same experience. That's basically what he's saying. When you make a remake, you are never making something that is so great it will get remade...