Quick note: This video is in no means supposed to be a judgement on the entire game, this is an early build and a tiny slice. I merely wanted to squeeze as much as possible out of my time with the game to greater extrapolate what the full game could entail. We can’t know if any of my praise or criticism is well placed until the full launch. What is safe to say though is that’s I’m interested and excited to see what the game holds no matter what.
I thought it was a good critique, I'm surprised you didn't grow up with the game, while not a youtuber myself, not for want of trying just lacking the patience to learn how to use different types of programmes and what not. I am envious that you got the chance to try this out and review it, you did it justice and to have consumed all FF7 content post-Remake is impressive that you still wish for the game to retain it's original narrative and spirit. You really have done well. I first finished the game when I was 8 years old and have played it and all the other FF's countless times over the span 24 years, as such I really ought to start learning to make content as I have the same insight as Blitz, Schrodingersseal, Maximillion, alas Uni. Additionally, just out of interest are you the guy that kept making the joke about Red XIII making some comment in Remake and it was hysterical? I feel like it was you, but you now suddenly have a slight Australian twinge to your accent which confuses me somewhat.
About the using potions Vs. casting magic, remember that the potions effects apply faster than defensive magic and cost no MP. That is why you can not use items in Hard mode, so you can beat the bosses faster with less resources.
@@wildvalentine Only just saw this comment, wanted to say thanks and that you should start learning some programs, create stuff of your own, I'm sure it'd be really liberating for you to put all your knowledge out there in some way. Also yes, I believe that moment with Red you're talking about was me, the Fourth Ward section perhaps. I've had a bit of an Australian twinge to my accent for some time, I've slowly sort of accidentally adopted it from one of my best mates who is himself Australian, after spending so much time together it's just become part of my own lmao.
Not sure I agree about Red’s wisdom being an issue. The wisdomous creature that turns out to be a child in dog years, and shamed by his own kind despite being impressive to anyone else, totally fits the arc IMO.
13:07-13:57 it’s clear they took the same words from Crisis Core and implemented in Rebirth, but the sentiment of these separate conversations can be found in the flashback sequence of FF7 proper. Cloud is being rambunctious so Sephiroth likens him to a kid(Crisis Core just changed it to something far cuter)and Cloud goes on a monologue about how his desire of becoming a hero died with the war. So your frustration for this being, “just like Crisis Core” is misplaced when you come to realize it’s more like the OG and Crisis Core just expanded upon what FF7 OG laid down.
@@andreseh87 it honestly blinds a lot of people on YT who talk negatively about how FF7 is being ruined by what has been adapted. It’s unfortunate, but there is always room for change and some have changed positively too. I grew up with FF7 so I am biased, but even I can look at the game and not worship it as a perfect game. Incredible game, incredible story, but they certainly have room to expand and make this game even better.
@JaredTVW This is why I'm more accepting of the Whispers. One day I woke up years after playing FF7 and wondered..."why didn't Sephiroth just wipe out everyone and deliver the Black materia to himself"? Unless I'm being blinded like you mentioned then this ephemeral, ethereal plot armor is satisfactory.
@@dontacrowder4319 that’s an incredibly astute observation. Sephiroth clearly had a motive to bring Cloud all the way to him only to then wake him up to the reality that he wasn’t the hero he thought he was and Tifa could no longer back him up. And to then make Cloud look untrustworthy and unreliable by having him be the one to hand deliver the Black Materia to Sephiroth. These themes seem to be more on display with the trailers and the dialogue we have gotten, and many people are complaining they are adding themes that weren’t there, but I feel like those themes were just underplayed. Like Sephiroth making Cloud think Tifa was dead. That does feel “new” until you replay the game and see one scene where Cloud’s inner subconscious makes him ask Tifa why they never saw each other outside of the tour in Nibelhiem. This stuff exists in the OG, it’s just being expanded upon, which naturally should happen.
Theres a whole reason why Sephiroth is playable, they didn't do it cuz lol or reasons: back on PS1 one of the most populars hacks of FF7, using gameshark, was making Sephirot playable. I would say that after begging for a remake, the second thing that we asked the most was making him playable. I get it that it feels like he's not as powerful but that can play into the story: he's there to teach "Cloud" and provide assistance. I wouldn't be surprise that the whole dragon scene happens and he literally demolish it in 2 slashes
That would be amazing if they had the foresight to do that but I don’t think so they don’t really have the balls to do high minded stuff. They keep it safe and simple and digestible to 7-11 yearolds their target audience. No blood, no jenova eye boob, no more horror elements, mystery or scifi or mature elements. Just more pre teen anime tropes and vibes. Whoever wrote ff7 is clearly not the influence with this new disney like direction.
9:28 Regarding the spoilers: . . . . . . Even though Hojo does reveal it in Remake, I think for many new players it’s something that goes over their heads. I’ve talked to a few that didn’t really catch that and still believed - after multiple playthroughs - that Cloud was a Soldier. While Square has marketed CCR as necessary to play before Rebirth, I still try and warn everyone fairly “hey, massive spoilers, if you want to play it cool, but I would wait for Rebirth and part 3 to see how they do it. But I think playing that first can ruin how you see one character for the rest of the series.” Because I think it can affect their outlook on Cloud, but it’s still up to them, it’s still often clear to me they did not catch the truth. If you hadn’t played OG and had been spoiled by it by CC, I’m sure it would have just felt sooooo disappointing, compared to the true shock you felt in the OG. For the Sephiroth power down, I feel that’s actually more for the player benefit than to make Zack look cool. Not saying it may not be part of it, but if they’re making their way up Mt. Nibel and Sephy’s just one-shotting everything in sight like he could in OG in this combat system, it’s just not as fun or as good a tutorial for the player entering the game. I do agree, Sephiroth’s raw numbers should be higher overall, but I do think it can’t also be so high that you press a button and the monsters just drop like they did in OG. I also always believed that that difference was also in Cloud’s head, since he always considered Sephiroth to be so powerful no one could touch him. You made a good point that the more modern style game may not translate as well as the old turn-based read-along open world game. To me, SE still has to make a true remaster for that. They’re already partway there with Ever Crisis, and there are plenty of fans new and old that would grab it day one still, imo and we all know the SE executives love putting out anything with the FFVII brand on it so I can’t see them NOT doing it at some point. The gameplay just looks incredible. Super jealous you got to get your hands on it so early but happy for you as well! From the videos I’ve seen, this makes me wish they had also used a variant of this combat system in 16 even more then I already did. Can’t wait for the game and your reaction to it! Hope you post your playthroughs like you did with 16 when it comes out! Edit: bet they’ll tie the MAI to Chadley 😂
Just a heads up, it’s my understanding that yuffie and Vincent were both originally going to be main characters but the team ran out of time to add them in, so they became optional. It’s likely that they are adding them in via main story beats that they planned in the original game?
Basically. Yuffies wutai story isn’t that amazing either I am ok with the scrap it was a fun little sidequest. The materia stealing thing would have honestly been fun though so sad to see that go it was a fun bit of her personality and character growth eventually being trustworthy.
You're the only person I've seen who said Sephiroth doesnt seem like hes way stronger than cloud. I feel like even your footage shows that he is though? I don't think Cloud needed to be doing single digit dmg to convey this.
For some reason I find it strange that you are kind of an OG purist since you played Remake first. I played the original first in 1997 and I rate it higher overall that Remake, however I loved Remake and put in more hours into Remake than I did with the original . Platinumed the game.
If you remember your playthrough, at one point you had to give the black materia to one of your party members. You instantly chose Nanaki, you didn't even know why but he seemed to be most trustworthy. I've seen dozens of ff7 playthroughs. 90% of them chose the same. You know why? It's because he's from Cosmo Canyon and it would make sense if he knows more about the planet than anyone else in the party. So, it's obvious if anyone's going to be the wise Gandalf like character that guides the party in difficult times, it's obviously going to be Nanaki. Now you may ask why not Aerith? Well, she hasn't lived as long as Nanaki and was confined in Shinra building. Nanaki on the other hand learned about the planet for decades from bugenhagen.
While I do think it makes sense for Red to be wiser and more knowledgeable about the world than everyone else, I still feel the same as James despite that, because of the specific knowledge and dialog they gave him and Aerith in Remake. And I think that's what he was trying to get across in his point. They gave both of the characters abrupt monologues about things related to alternate timelines and the whispers; basically everything that's completely new, mostly for the sake of the player, despite the rest of the party barely knowing (or caring) about any of what they were talking about. It comes across as far more jarring than Red organically educating them about elements of the existing world like Hojo's experiments, Jenova, the lifestream, or Fort Condor. There's a distinct difference between how it feels when Aerith is educating Cloud about Wall Market, versus when she's educating everyone about fate and whatnot. And its not just to do with the gravity of the situation.
@@vindifference why are you going back to remake? My comment was about this video specifically. He's complaining just for the sake of complaining. He once said that he's a FF7 purist but he's not one of THOSE purists, failing to realise he's become one. That's fine, as long as he's honest with himself and his audience.
@@vindifference constant negativity will only hurt his channel, not help it. I'm not saying he can't say negative things about popular games, what I'm saying is not to make a channel that only spreads negativity around a certain game and still continuing to play it. I'll advise him to move on from FF7 remake stuff and focus on ff14, which he loves. Why do I care you ask? Because I love FF7 remake. It's a phenomenal game (except for pacing issues) and I genuinely want everyone who plays that game to have a good time and the community that loves it to enjoy it in peace. It's much easier for him to just ignore FF7R games than it's for me to ignore his videos.
@@vindifference Q: why is what James is doing with FF7R any different than what many popular UA-camrs like Asmongold are doing with Starfield for example? A: It's different because those UA-camrs are not playing Starfield anymore. They've stopped playing it and moved on to different games after shitting on it. What James is doing is cringe.
I love how they are recapturing that feeling of an unreliable narrator that Og had with the story direction in the remake trilogy. It really makes me feel like im playing the OG for the first time again.
I feel as though our opinions on each game (the original and the remake) mostly align, however, I've been able to separate both as different works of art, and been more at peace with the changes, likely because I played the original a looooong time ago. Ultimately, I never got into the "extended universe" and only ever saw Advent Children (which I hated), and that was enough to turn me away from anything else they had tacked-on. I feel like all of that may have soured your feelings on the Remake hahaha. It's the Star Wars problem, they've gone around in circles for so long that it loses it's sense of mystery, of awe, and the question of 'why?'. The original, taken on it's own, is a perfect game to me, and although I had issues with the remake in terms of story direction and padding, I do feel like they got to the core of what made the original important and resonant. I don't know what spurred this lengthy-ass comment but I loved listening to your thoughts on this :)
Totally agree. I’ve come to terms with my misgivings about Remake and I’m here for Rebirth all in. Even if it may go in some strange directions - I’m just excited to see the characters I love and the locales and all those great character moments.
I'm kinda surprised after everything that you're not as big a fan of the Remake as you once were. But, I am glad you still enjoy the franchise enough to keep with it.
It’s a weird relationship I have with it. I like it in a lot of ways but I don’t truly love it the way I feel I should. But I’m still along for the ride, gotta see what they do.
@@ItsLazBoi It makes sense really. I'm surprised you even like 7 at all. You played it for the first time recently and played the remake before the original. I love the game (and the remake) because they are deeply connected to my childhood, I started playing 7 when I was about 9-10 years old. I still go back and play the original every few years. I get a massive nostalgia hit seeing everything I imagined as a kid come to life. I can't imagine how any of this could be appealing seeing it for the first time in 2020.
@@RyanSmith-on1hq tbh I only played after remake as well, and despite the dated graphics everything else about the game was incredible and it quickly became one of my favourite games I had ever played
@@itsyaboyrigby7852 Its good that you can still appreciate it now. Obviously, because of nostalgia I see it through rose-tinted glasses. Playing the Remake for the first time, just the opening scene in Midgar was basically like a religious experience for me 😂 There's a lot of great games available now but at the time, FF7 OG was peak gaming. We'd never seen anything like knights of the round or sephiroth casting super nova. It blew my mind at the time.
Part 3 will be drastically different I believe. This part is unfolding more and more back story of the remake, in a KH style where you visit worlds and get glimpses of information from antagonists, the same happens here but you move from one OG story key place to another in no particular order apparently.
Dude! You’re in the know now! Congrats!! This was very well executed. All your hard work paid off. Fuck yeah. Also, I appreciate your pov on this and you just made my day, I never expected this to even be a thing today.
12:00 Cloud wasn't there, so if there is something wrong it was how "Cloud" was portrayed in the OG. If they made Cloud to strong people would ask questions about how he was so strong back then and why we aren't that strong further along the story and revealing to soon the punch. Showing that even compared to another first class Sephiroth is on another level shows how strong he really is. Compare to a infantry vs a Soldier, there is to much of a gap to grasp his strength.
In that section he also mentioned the stats being too similar between Sephiroth and “Cloud” and counts that as a flaw in his opinion, but knowing that “Cloud” is actually Zack in this flashback punches a hole in that for me personally. Zack is a 1st class SOLDIER during this segment, same as Sephiroth, their stats would definitely be comparable. Sephiroth is a little stronger though obviously because he’s the strongest warrior on Gaia that we know of. Cloud’s stats would be garbage compared to Sephiroth of course but that’s not him🤷🏻♂️ just nitpicking on my end
What's cool about this is Zack was tired of Shinra and burden, but persevered. Cloud goes from lighthearted Zack impression to cold stone Zack as he most likely was with everyone's BS.
@@davidrich27 Never, but Cloud is playing it up as if that's what Zack or any generic overburdened soldier/SOLDIER or working man would be like. Zack has been close to fed up, but Cloud adds another flavor or layer to it because he really doesn't know any better.
Spoilers is a courtesy for people who haven't had the time to partake in some art, and while the exact timeline can be debated as to how long spoilers are still valid, 25 years is far too long. There are no spoilers for OG FF7 at this point. None. It's on EVERY platform, for cheap.
On one hand I feel bad that we ruined your movie experience by telling you "the book is way better" and then you went and read the book, now you hate the movie lol on the other hand, I'm happy you got to experience FF7... it truly is a fantastic experience through and through, and my favorite piece of media/art/anything. Really looking forward to playing this thing and seeing you play through it as well. Also congrats on getting invited to play this thing! Regardless of how you feel, that's an amazing opportunity as a content creator, never turn those down.
you make very good points as far as the general adaptation which I didn't think of, but I do think that Cloud's current character mimics Sephiroth the person he once looked up to more than his Zack alter ego. Zack is a vessel of the past but not the defining aspect of his current persona. As for Nanaki, I never got the sense that he was supposed to be a young character even in the OG from the very start how he introduces himself and tells Cloud he'll fight Jenova with the team, so I think the remake is very accurate on his character.
I think Red was always kind of a wise battle worn “I speak to the planet” type. It’s just in cosmo canyon you end up seeing the childlike side of him and he opens up more. He seems young during this part due to the plot portion centering around “grandpa” his senior who addresses him in childlike way. Then we learn he is kind of like the male version of Aerith in a lot of ways and some heartfelt moments before he goes on his journey. It’s nice to have like a loremaster in your party and Red 13 just seems like the most fitting choice. I don’t really like his voice actor though. I guess it’s back to Japanese again.
It seems from the short look in this video (the only shots I've seen, btw), that the 'Open World' being zones with choke points reminds me of FF14 1.0. In that game, the world was 'Full and Seamless', but in reality was a lot of fully loaded zones connected by 'hidden loading tunnels'. In FF14 1.0, you'd walk through the city of Ul'dah, but instead of having the main gate be open to leave to the zone of Thanalan, you would walk through a gate on the side which would turn into a tunnel, hiding Ul'dah from your vision so it could be unloaded while Thanalan could load, and at the other end you would turn again to reveal the new loaded zone--the 'tunnel' was there to hide both zones from your vision and give time to load the one you moved close to before you exited. That's just one example, but it happened a lot--the long bridges entering the other two cities or tall cliff-face walls to change between other zone areas or the like. It looks like they took what they came up with then that didn't work well at the time due to hardware limitations of the day and implemented it here with much better effect. With better hardware, the 'tunnels' wouldn't have to be covered or unusual--they could be uncovered. This is because having more memory, faster storage, and faster processing, they could have the 'next zone' be loaded in a 'low res distance view' and swap the active and the distant zones quickly and seamlessly. Looked like that was what they did from the small bits I saw, but it looks really well done.
Wholeheartedly agree on the mixed feelings on controlling Sephiroth. Obviously exciting in a vacuum, but the lack of control *did* serve the story. Obviously this level will also be serving a new purpose of a tutorial, so you can't just have every battle last 3 seconds whiel Sephiroth wrecks face for you, but, yeah, something to miss. And I agree on all the Zack stuff, totally, though I do think SOME of the dialogue is Cloud's own self-insert. It's primarily Zack, but by this point in his career, Zack was not idolizing Sephiroth to this degree, for instance. I think the Yuffie thievery will be best served by doing what Remake does best - doing what happened before, but elevating the context. So she'll steal stuff on the approach to Wutai in part 3, but she'll have mroe complex reasons for doing so this time. Maybe Wutai spies get word to her that something big is going down, and she doesn't want to drag the party into what she thinks is an internal Wutai matter, but still needs their materia to help. Or maybe her Avalanche HQ friends from Intermission get in touch and somehow cause her to doubt the main party's intentions when it comes to Wutai, and so she robs them and runs off. Something like that. (And I still call them Guard Scorpion and Hundred Gunner. I'm sure they'll still be "Bottomswell" to me, too. In Japanese it usually is their original names!)
I always felt that in the original, the part of cloud being so weak was how he mixed up memories in his mind. He knows he was nothing back then, so even if it was actually Zack fighting alongside Sephiroth, cloud mixing it up with his own self is still relevant. It’s also super efficient story telling. Makes sephiroth seem so awesome, not to mention the zolom scene not long after. By the time you see sephiroth on the boat, you already know he’s like a God
This was a really good video. While watching/listening I was thinking about what you said about Sephiroth in the flashback sequence. For those that don’t want OG FF7 or Crisis Core spoilers don’t read further. I feel like they made Seph playable for a few reasons here: Unlike in the original game, we’ve already met and fought Sephiroth at this point. Not only the Jenova clones but also what is likely a post Advent Children version of him. There isn’t any mystery to his power at this point so they don’t need to wow you with the strength disparity between Cloud/Zack and Sephiroth. I believe another reason comes as a weakness of SE going for an action heavy combat system. It would simply be incredibly boring and frustrating to play as a character that gets killed in one hit and can’t do any damage to enemies. Having Seph be playable here doesn’t necessarily mean they also can’t show off him being insanely strong later on though. Given his personality change here compared to the original, they could play it off as him holding back initially. They could show moments, where he isn’t playable, with him effortlessly taking down some of these creatures. I wouldn’t be surprised if they turn the fight against him in the reactor into more of a boss fight ala CC as well and that would give them a chance to show a strength disparity. With Sephiroth being playable in what is likely the tutorial section of Rebirth it makes me wonder if we’re going to end up playing as him later on either in Rebirth or the final game.
Great video. I always enjoy your takes since they're similar to mine. To the your point during the flashback story portion of the video; i think Square really wants to hammer in the fact that ff7r is a sequel and its meant to be consumed as such (though im aware they've stated that you can start with the remake series). Hence why the want you to KNOW the rest of the compilation via CC Reunion and even Ever Crisis. So to me it makes sense that certain aspects, secrets and twists arent treated with as much "secrecy" as before. They expect the player to already know the story, Sephiroth's true strength, zach's personality, etc. Leaving room for us to take in the new things they're sure to add
Clouds big mako-induced therapy session was really important to me, and im bummed it probably won't get the se weight as it used to. That said, as far as new players go, Clouds vibe in his memories could be explained away as "this was his personality BEFORE his town got burned down." And honestly this seems like a good way to frame it.
Yeah for sure, that’s is a way of looking at it. I don’t think any of the elements are “technically” wrong or bad. I think it’s more a matter of them not necessarily serving the story in the same way the original did, which is obviously up to particular tastes
I feel like we share a lot (like to a scary degree) of the same opinions on FF7 and the compilation. It was nice to see someone else feel so upset at what Crisis Core did to the OG. And your personal concerns for the Remake trilogy leaning more into the compilation is EXACTLY how I felt after finishing Remake for the first time. I'm still going to feel a tad worried but as time has moved on I've actually kind of found peace in the matter. The OG FF7 will always be there. No matter what they do in these extra projects I always have that solace. Remake really nailed the characters for me and the combat was so much fun. As long as these two thing carry over I can more or less be down for the ride. Really liked your analysis here and super looking forward to Rebirth!!
Great video, very informative. I agree with a lot of your points. Especially the point you made about the Story portion of the Mt Nibel sequence early on. *Rant incoming* Spoilers... ... ... The choice to make Sephiroth appear multiple times in Remake (as a hallucination or clone or whatever) really hurt his introduction imo. In the original, he was only alluded to sparingly. As the this legendary soldier who was somehow untouchable and stronger than anyone else. Then, he suddenly runs through Shinra, the force we've been struggling against for the first 3-5 hours, all while the party is taking a nap. And then, the first time we actually see him in combat is in the flashback sequence, where we experience his strength through the actual game mechanics, showing us he was far more powerful than not just level 1 Cloud but also far more powerful than our full party that just left Midgar. And that was how strong he was 5 YEARS AGO? How strong is he now!? It's how he was presented with the gameplay and scenario writing that established him a legendary JRPG villain. Not his character design, dialogue, cutscenes, or animations. Those were just the hook to intrigue us. It's how he was actually presented in the language of the game itself that established him as this threatening, insurmountable force. But now in Rebirth, the choice to portray Sephiroth as only about 10 -15% stronger than "Not Cloud" in the flashback sequence just serves to make Sephiroth feel much, much less intimidating than he did in the original. I totally disagree with how they've decided to present Sephiroth in both Remake and Rebirth. I don't think it's worth having "Zack" or "Not Cloud" scaled up in power just so Zack doesn't look weak to Sephiroth in comparison. Because in the original game... Zack was portrayed as completely outclassed compared to Sephiroth. We see in the correct version of the Mt Nibel events that Zack went after Sephiroth in the Jenova Room and was swatted out like a fly in about 3 seconds (which Crisis Core retconned, along with several other things). Zack being knocked away so quickly didn't make him look weak, it made Sephiroth look unstoppable. If they really wanted to make Sephiroth playable, go ahead and do it. But just make the character levels as "??" or have "Not Cloud" as like Level 5 and Sephiroth level 60 or something. And if that means everyone wants to control Sephiroth the whole time... it doesn't matter. Everyone is going to do that anyway since Cloud is playable in all the other scenarios and Sephiroth is (probably) limited to just this chapter. And like you said, this choice throws all the subtlety of the original scenario and major story twist out the window. Think about it, at the start of Remake part 1, Cloud was level 6 (instantly up to level 7 in the first fight. Just like in the original). But now he's going to tell us a story about how 5 YEARS AGO he was level 36 and doing all kinds of awesome combat stuff with Sephiroth that he wasn't capable of doing during the first Bombing mission. And then we see in the Junon demo he's back down to level 20 or so. The player and his party members should see through his story as a lie immediately. It's just waaay too obvious of an inconsistency for what they know about him so far. And like you pointed out, this power level issue, the "hero" and "puppy" lines, and Hojo's line in Remake, makes it very clear that the writers are not at all concerned with spoiling the most important moment of Cloud's character. Instead, they prefer to have Remake/Rebirth make significant changes in order to serve whatever new vision they have for this new version of FF7. Which, if that's what they want to do, it's fine. It's their story and their game after all. But then the Marketing speak from Kitase really bothers me. Please don't make statements suggesting that the story will still be "faithful to the original" while simultaneously having such huge deviations to the scenario writing and story presentation. Just be honest and describe this new version of FF7 for what it is, a sequel/next chapter for the Compilation. Not a traditional Remake. And just to be clear, even though I disagree with the changes they are making to the story, I am not judging anyone for liking Remake/Rebirth's story and being excited for the next game. Everyone is allowed to enjoy whatever they like. I am not trying to De-hype or gatekeep anyone.
I really loved this video man, it was so interesting hearing your perspective, someone who cares so much for what the original was and what it was doing. And I love you're still willing to give the new shit a chance even with your misgivings. The way you describe your perspective and opinions makes it really easy to understand where it's coming from even if I disagree or am enjoying the new stuffs more. Love the vid man, keep up the great work!
Your "Sephiroth doesn't feel powerful enough compared to Cloud" gripe is a bit off-base... 1) Cloud is remembering himself as Zack 2) It took an entire platoon of Shinra troops to kill Zack 3) Sephiroth looked PLENTY powerful here (dude literally had teleport as his dodge button)
He sure LOOKS powerful, just doesn’t feel powerful, or I guess not in comparison to Cloud/Zack which I found to be purposeful in the original. The disparity was important to character building for both Cloud and Sephiroth and their conflict. In rebirth it’s just a bit of flashy fun rather than a narrative statement which like is fine, I’m not saying everyone HAS to feel how I do, it just doesn’t mean as much to me personally.
@@ItsLazBoi OG ff7 had to use absurd damage numbers to portray power differences due to graphical limitations. Remake just had him Jedi-force throw entire buildings... Pretty sure he's still powerful! 😉
@@ItsLazBoi Btw, the cutscene where Sephiroth steps in front on a blow that's about to kill "Cloud" in the flashback, turns it aside with ease, then lets Cloud finish the enemy PERFECTLY portrays their power difference in one simple moment.
I do agree with your take that Sephiroth feels like less of an extremely powerful being in the flashback, but I honestly think that significance was already taken away from him in Remake. It wouldn't really be a big deal when Sephiroth slays a dragon or a big snake in one shot, because the player already beat the the literal manifestation of destiny and then fought him while slicing skyscrapers in half at the end of Remake. Now I don't really like that they took away this part of his character, but it sorta is what it is. I hope they at least do something new and interesting to make up for it.
I think they are already doing something new and interesting with his character, he knows a lot more than he should, it's almost like this version of Sephiroth is an all knowing character, it seems like he is almost unreachable, I mean, he was literally smiling when Cloud "defeats" him in the ending of Remake, he is definitely in control of the situation. For me it's already insanely cool what they're doing with his character, but that's only my opinion.
@@nyonlight357 He got exactly what he wanted but the party, and the audience, still doesn't know what that exactly is. Hell its like half the players want to forget that ending even happened, but that might be keeping themselves in the dark even more. Very 'meta' design happening.
Some story thoughts: I would assume that "Rebirth" applies to Aerith (and maybe Sephiroth.) But in order to be reborn, you must first die. I think that, based on interviews, Cloud and the gang will still be at the mercy of the Whispers / Fate, and follow the original narrative. But simultaneously you will see Zack on a quest in his own world, perhaps to bring Aerith's unconscious body to the Forgotten Capital and help her reawaken. Aerith will die in pretty much the same way she died in the OG game, but rather than return to the lifestream and help Holy defeat the Black Materia, her soul will be trapped in the physical world and she will reawaken in Zack's arms instead, which is Sephiroth's plan all along. To stop her from re-joining the lifestream. Also I imagine Sephiroth will take control of Cloud's body in Zack's timeline, march him toward the reunion, and take physical form at full strength with Cloud's body, which is why Sephiroth told him he has to live. So to recap... Aerith will die, and be cut off from the lifestream, Sephiroth will be at full power by using a black-hooded Cloud, but Zack and Aerith will be reunited, while Cloud and Aerith will be forever separated. And then we head into the 3rd game where Zack's world will need to die (along with Aerith and Zack) in order to bring the balance of life and harmony back to the planet and stop Sephiroth. The fact Aerith gave Red XIII some of her visions may also be important since the gang will be lost without Aerith if not for Red XIII gaining some of her knowledge.
Games like this are the reason I sold my xbox I had both consoles but when I noticed that I brought both spiderman games both horizon game's FF7 remake both GOW games I realised I was only buying Sony games as xbox really did not have much to offer me whereas I still have my 360 which really says it all
so I’m still watching the video but I can’t hold myself back from commenting on where you said you can’t have your cake and eat it too with red 13 being knowledgeable the fact that he has the maturity of a teenager he still was alive for 48 years just because you’re immature doesn’t mean that you don’t have knowledge he’s just simply quoting knowledgeabout the land can’t be alive for 48 years and not know about the land around you
love this video... some of the best quality gameplay footage i have seen to date and love your impressions and thoughts about the game... i am so on the hype train... next stop February 2024.
I want to point out that Sephiroth already had moveset animations and stuff from his boss fight in Remake. Red XIII didnt so that's why Sephiroth is playable. Because they already had the moveset for the most part.
Dude ...... this take !!! Hahahahaha I followed once you were playing Barrett and were yelling "Marlene" hahaha And dude the joke about Jenova at the start 😂😂😂😂 keep it up love all the videos!!
I haven't quite figured something out yet, ... are we going to be able to swap a character in our party at any time? like I'm in a fight with Cloud, Aerith and Tifa... can I swap and get Barret for example? I confess I haven't quite figured it out yet... or have I missed something?
Ff7 og was my first ps1 game that came with the my first used ps1 I ever bought, still got that copy to this day, I like ff7 remake and rebirth might be my first preorder in while
PREFACE: ONLY THEORY. My bigger speculation is indeed that they plan more for after Part 3, using material like Ever Crisis/The Last Soldier story as a start. Like Lightning Returns, the world will be re-somethinged (made/birthed/ETC) at the hands of the protagonist, except it won't be freaking Earth with Cloud as a fashion model, but (yet) another Gaia. This journey is one meant to recall FFVII, absorb the content of the Compilation and come to terms with how it was already meant as a post-FFVII, establish a now more peaceful relationship with the Planet instead of humanity's seeming extinction, and open up the lore, for better or worse, in more multiversal concepts, or at least that the potential could go anywhere at all, not just 'pre/post FFVII'. Its a remembrance, but also a launching point for anything they might want to do in the future (2030s...or later). I don't know how much of what we're seeing is a 'timelines' story or instead closer to 'purgatory realms within the Lifestream' or somehow both at the same time due to weird Gaian reality, but in a sense, I feel they're trying to confuse players so much with what FFVII is, muddle it all up, so that our future understandings might accept or positively wonder what FFVII could be, instead of it must being a very specific nostalgic vision. The often current "DON'T TOUCH IT" mentality, expressed a bit by yourself (not bashing you here, and your stance makes some sense; this is also a 'side series' that technically never needed to happen but they keep trying to profit from it). So, they're transforming the FFVII setting into something more easily marketable and sequalizing for whenever in the future, rather than the whole growing mess of canon. The Remake trilogy may be apex confusing in some ways, but it may end in a setting that can be well, anything at all, which would be the point. Unchained to the past. But this first means a project that mixes in concrete things like the Compilation, but also abstract things like player expectations and emotions when experiencing FFVII material. Its the road to a strong reboot. The new characters in First Soldier, possible multiple realms with different rules, many, many outfits coming in a gacha, and a story involving the protagonists gradually looking back on their first 'official' story - everything to push us to accept some different journey of the 'same' setting, one day. FFVII makes them cash money, but they must also know that just revolving everything around freaking Midgar and Nibelheim and Meteor and etc etc - doesn't make a world that can really move forward to something new (while keeping FFVII brand).
Elden Ring had an extensive item crafting system that was fun, but utterly UNNECESSARY for easy completion of the game. I've no reason to believe Rebirth will be any different. For those stressing about inventory management, just sell all the crap you find! PROBLEM. SOLVED. 😎
Honestly I just hope not every other ladder, bridge crossing, and head scratch leads to another cutscene. It really hurt my soul when I saw that slow wall ledge traversal part. I absolutely hated all slow parts, forced walking, slow animations, climbing and anything of that sort in remake and to make it even worse after you did any of those things it jumped into another cutscene. There were moments that were literally just ladder climb into cutscene, walk one single hallway into cutscene etc. Essentially removing all player agency and slowing it down to a screeching halt. I would always scream at my screen during these moments and I don’t think I have ever screamed while playing a video game before. “LET ME DO WHAT I WANT!” Not being able to use your menu screen during combat for example, not being able to use menu during a cutscene, (the game autosaves after every cutscene so if you ever want to reload a recent save you had to hard reset) also for good measure, npcs always say some closing remark after you are done talking to them so when you are trying to enter your menu you end up getting the start resume screen. I really disliked things like this just slow clunky sloggy gameplay. Not to mention I also hated the benches how they go into a slow screen animation and then the screen for NO reason goes black, waits FOR NO REASON other than to waste your time, then opens back up again. Why can’t it just say (hp/mp) restored… why do I have to go through this super slow animation, I mean there isn’t even a cool sound effect or anything that makes it pleasant. It’s just a pointless black screen. All the excuse makers for the “loading screens” are 100% biased and wrong because more than half of those situations aren’t loading anything at all and are in areas where you could previously travel through at running speed. Remake had to have been the most frustrating game I have ever played due to these moments. Especially those ones where you want to explore side areas and your character starts walking super slow until you see the “no traversal sign”. And you had no idea what was meant to be explored or not, it was so random what was explorable and what wasn’t so if you were wrong, you were busy stuck in these super slow walking, crawling, or climbing scenes exploring areas that had nothing and had to slowly backtrack out of those animations all over again to get back to the correct path. It made exploring the absolute worst.
Your the first person who played remake first who has said that they like the og alot more than remake.... Blows my mind when I hear people say remake is better than the original and I'm just like .."errrr no it isn't" it's refreshing 😂
@@jasoncurtis4404 think people are blinded by the shiny shiny graphics 😂 id honestly say that the midgar part of the original is better than remake even at its short length because it's better paced
the back thing in the menu that look like the temple of the ancients is the character individual upgrade grid like FF10 obviously they talked about it they put one for each character too to build the stats the direction we want mostly. at least I can think of nothing else.
PREFACE: ONLY THEORY. The flashback is because this Cloud is a different Cloud, a different Sephiroth is affecting this different Cloud, and this Sephiroth is more early appearing, to frequently position himself as a (dark) ally of Cloud's for some ultimate purpose. This is not Cloud sorting out messed memories on his own, this is Cloud being mentally compromised by an enemy. The changes that are happening to FFVIIR trilogy is because its actually a different story with a different aim, one that may inspire greater dread as Rebirth proceeds, to contrast the brightest setting we'll be exploring. Cloud isn't well, in FFVII or AC, but also in a new way here. He has acted differently in notable ways, several times now, and not in positive peaceful ones. He's not the ending of Advent Children with a Cloud that's done with this spectre and he smiles. He's going through a mysterious and reality bending tribulation and Sephiroth will NOT let up on him. Its a new story, of multiple worlds and perspectives, multiple spiritual levels of combat (than FFVII's Lifestream vs Jenova, or AC's white and black/negative Lifestream).
Idk I kind of like cloudzack being not that far behind sephiroth, zack was pretty strong and in the original they made him seem like a useless baby wimp when the dude was a first class. I get the purpose of it, but it made zack seem like a shitter when he really wasn't
The whole point of ffvii is cloud's story and him defeating his demons. It was so meta to play as a character that was larping as someone else. That he was 'role-playing' as a bad-ass soldier. A fantasy game is a slice of escapism you play as characters that perform heroic feats. And this is sort of what Cloud had dreamt up about himself by imitating Zack. But then he comes clean about putting on an act, about his past failures, his shame, but puts it behind him and goes on to be a hero for real and saves the planet. It was truly redemptive. I don't know what ffvii remake is about any more and I don't know how Cloud's story can be redeemed if Zack is still hanging about stealing the spotlight.
Think this is most peoples fears with the remake trilogy...how do you ruin one of the originals best aspects and then if you do..what do they possibly do that can be better.....I don't think they can
PREFACE: ONLY THEORY. Red is on a new arc. Aerith knows the original journey (or at least intuits it), but she has to keep mostly silent. Red however has been bestowed a measure of the same perspective, so he would know many details as well, but with no incentive to keep silent about it. He knows the world because he's 'already' explored it. His awareness may be subconscious, but it is now there. He was not simply pacified by Aerith as if given a chewtoy. As it is increasingly exhibited, this is at least partially a sequel. Red was the student, now he's something of a master, because this is now partially his second going. Likely eventually, all will be awoken to what is really happening. If you didn't want a post-AC/FFVII crew, unfortunately this is something you may very well eventually have. Only a few are touched for now, like Aerith, Red XIII, Marlene, and only to extents. The others have been touched by visions of the future, but that panic isn't the same as what Aerith's been triggering in people.
Great analysis, understandable people's misgivings, but i perosonally love the Remake project even with it's flaws. I am super excited for Rebirth, more than any other game in years. FF7 is also my favorite game of all time and has been for 20 years. I don't care for the compilation though, but feel as if Remake actually has done a good job of incorporating them and making me care about them.
Hey Laz, i discovered you through the AC1 retrospective video (amazing video btw, ac1 is my favorite in the franchise as well, so sad they missed the mark in future games). Thanks for the video and preview and i really appreciate the honesty, i really dislike people that just acts all hype for views. I dont care if you like or dislike the remake or the original or whatever, you are respectful about it and i really like that. For me, it looks like an amazing game all around and i cant wait to play it. I never liked open world approaches and this "big instances" semi-open world hits just the mark about what i want about rebirth. And about the whole "sephiroth didnt feel strong enough", i disagree with you. I feel like in the OG, yes, they made it in a way so you get the idea that sephiroth is absurdly strong, but they sacrificed all the gameplay in the flashback for pure narrative, something i believe just cant hold in rebirth. So instead of making sephiroth strong through gameplay, they used cutscenes, dialogue and some combat aspects to portray him as strong, but not forgetting that you need to play with cloud as well and that "cloud", despite everything, hes still a soldier first class, so you cant have him be like level 1 and get one shot while sephiroth is lvl 50, if you get what i mean. And the flashback is now an actual playable section, so no just pure exposition like the in OG. It doesnt have to be necessarily pure fan service, from a game design perspective it makes sense without having to compromise on narrative. Cheers man, have a great day.
I'm just glad they ditched Barrets glasses. Regarding MAI, I love it, but maybe they could use the FF16 system where you use the TouchPad to access additional info, giving the player the option to engage in intel with more info provided after using Asses.
@@jasonborne238 it wasn't that deep. It was just Japanese leaning into the early 90s macho black male stereotype Barret was built from. Practical use would be to reduce flash from the galling gun
The japanese name for the "terrain action" is indeed just parkour. after seeing more footagge, i think this game is far more of an open world than you felt.
You acknowledge that they're making changes, knowing that it isn't the same story, but every change from the original is a negative to you. You are, of course allowed your own opinion, but for someone who is opened minded and fully aware that this is a newish story that they're trying to tell, it's exhausting to watch, sir. Compare all the changes to the original as you like, but hearing you say that every single alter made to a character or story beat, missing the mark for you is not legitimate criticism at all.
I genuinely didn’t even notice that, I want to say I didn’t experience it often, but then again I didn’t even notice this one. I’d imagine though any bugs like that will be ironed out for the final game. Still worth pointing out though.
Yuffie's character arc is tied to Wutai and her father, not our party members. Why do you think she won't have the same character arc? 🤔 We know how funny chasing that mischievous little thief was in the OG 😂. But doing that in modern game would be very annoying. You may like that like you like stairs in remake, but believe me most people wouldn't.
Really nice and informative video! You are really good at making these detailed video essays where you voice out a lot of information in an easy to listen to way. I do think its strange to put this many thoughts out on just the demo. The demo is genuinely deliberately overly limited and the open-world things you say are boring might have meaning in the final game once you've been introduced to those systems in the proper way. I just think there is such a massive lack of knowledge about the game based on this demo that it seems meaningless to speculate and evaluate it this early. But I know you are aware of this. I personally HATE all of the FF7 content that isn't within OG FF7 or FF7 Remake. So I share your fears to some degree. But I also think your evaluation of some things is going a bit too far. For instance how Hojo in Remake makes the remark that you aren't a soldier, to a new player you wouldn't really know what that means. And in the same way I don't think new FF7 players will figure out the truth about Cloud in the flashback. In fact, the Cloud in the flashback is (several years) younger and more naive which fits with his more youthful mannerisms so that would only help sell his story to newcomers in my opinion. While I do agree that the Crisis Core remaster was heavily marketed as having a connection to this Rebirth trailer I still feel like they are trying to replicate the same twists as we knew them in the OG. I think your perspective is a bit overly causious because in hindsight we put so much more meaning into the details of the original that when we see it fully fleshed out it seems more on the nose. But that isn't necessarily true at all. If they really didn't want to replicate the twist then they wouldn't have distorted Hojo's remark to Cloud the way they did. Oh well. We'll just have to wait and see lol.
There was also your comments about Nanaki being too knowledgable and not being "a child" etc. But really in the OG he was already speaking in an overly formal manner and was always able to see through situations in a more direct way than the rest of the party. In fact, for me and everyone I know that played the OG, when we find out he is a child its like a surprise. I think that is exactly what they are going for with this Nanaki as well.
@@Blag_Cog Yes Red XIII has always been that way, so I don't get the implication that he should almost be like a naive kid (or whatever he was getting at). He hasn't been so explanatory though. Personally I think something triggered in him that he wouldn't have had otherwise. If we play the game and he's essentially our tour guide for many hours, I have to say my suspicions will be raised.
Found it a bit jank relative ro Remake. Camera control options don't work effectively. Animations are a bit wonk, especially with terrain transitions. Found it less than ideal with Sephiroth's parry mechanic. Performance mode adds Vaseline to the visuals; super blurry. Story was fine, but I'm not a FFVII simp. Not blown away, but overall, 8/10.
as a retired gamer. its good to see folks never tired of the never ending final fantasy franchise single gender role playing gamer especially thee final fantasy 7 series.......
22:23 The choice to do a more faithfull remake this time comes from alot of backlash they got for (at least implying to) screwing so much with the original story. I am more releaved to hear that it follows more closely the original even if it makes the ending for remake pointless. I am interested, open and to be honest glad with what they did with yuffie for example. Makeing them (vincent will likly get the same treatment) no longer optional and more involved in the story. I am actualy absolutly fine with changes as long as they keep the original story intact. And that does not nessesary mean it needs to be a one for one remake.
In my opinion it‘s not a good idea that they make Sephiroth look so weak compared to Zack. In the original he was so intimidating by his sheer power and that is how you install the major villain. I already had this problem with the remake before. He never felt like a big threat because the party was already strong enough to face him in the end. For me they destroyed Sephiroth so bad.
As far as the integrity of final fantasy vii, given the fact that we were told in the ultimate entry for edge of creation that sephiroth is at the end of the world, is holding time still, and this whole thing is manipulating the memories of the planet... This effectively is a sequel it's obvious that this supper off is after the 500 years later sing with red 13. It really doesn't matter when specifically because this effer off is very clearly from the future manipulating the the past by manipulating memories. Give me this gives him pretty free rein. I mean consider this: he is messing with memories and nostalgia. When worlds merge we're going to have a brand new reality with an unknown course. At such to me this is a sequel and to the developers this is the fifth entry into the compilation. As such this is not the original. And I'm fine with that.
People still treat it as if it should fit the form of a remake, instead of a follow-up journey with these characters (who are only partially aware of this at the end of Remake). Its not just some single timeline being messed with - FFVII still happened, its still a thing, its not being changed. Its understandable to an extent, to avoid the discomfort of their memories being sullied by corporate greed or personal interpretations and so on, but I think Rebirth will be ripping off that bandage after enough sequences of exploring the world in a close-enough-to-original fashion. We'll have that sweetness, and then get hit, hard. Where Remake built up suspicion leading to surprise, Rebirth might build up dread leading to, I don't know really, insanity? Intentionally done though.
The direction the story is going is a bit upsetting especially with zack being alive. I really hope they don't bring him into Cloud's biggest moments as a character.
Your disagreement with some choices shines through a lot. Lol I respect it, thats fine, though i think its unfortunate. I disagree about Red. In the OG, before Cosmo Canyon, Red came across older and wiser than he was. He was a bit standoffish, composed, and observant of the group and their choices. That made the reveal of his age more surprising, and his characterization going forward was much the same but with a little more youthful bounciness at times. I mean, he's 42, if he has humanlike intelligence he shouldnt be acting like a child anymore just because he is young for his species, right? Esp covered in scars as he is for being a young'un of his species. I AM worried, however, that in Rebirth they will change him in a way that feels unnatural, instead of nuanced. I would dislike it if all of a sudden he acted like a naive child after CC, but id also really dislike it if he didn't change at all. I hope its a more nuanced change that captures the longevity of his species while also showing his youth.
Yeah, I disagree with Laz here. Red being labeled as a child is only because that's biological true to his species, not that he should act like a child. He is 48 btw, wisdom comes from age, not biological labelling, he has similar life experience as a human counterpart that is 48 years old.
@@Reia11thin the OG Red behaves with the same level of wisdom “I am what you see”. I really can’t believe Red contextualizing regions is an issue anybody would have. Talk about nitpicky
The best thing these games have going for them is how much i want to like them. The problem is trying to play and watching a cutscene to walk to a dialogue section to have maybe one fun fight to go immediately into more slow walking dialogue and cutscenes. Like just let me play the game. It happens so constantly it gets extremely irritating. Just let me play! If i wanted to watch a movie id throw on advent children, so please just let me kill more stuff and stop with the cringey dialogue scenes.
Yep, he is. Doesn't mean it justifies his character being all knowing and wise. Red never was this, and his Grandpa hasn't changed since the original game. The core reason he WANTS to be so wise is because of his grandpa who he looks up to. But the difference between OG and Remake is that in the OG, he was still just naive and childlike, there was an innocence and ignorance to him. All of those key elements made his arc flourish. He has none of these traits in Remake.
I also disagree with you on Sephiroth being able to one shot everything in Rebirth to show his powers. It was cool in the OG, but from modern action RPG gameplay perspective it would be really boring, no different from quick time events in lame RPGs that waste players time by taking away their agency.
@@FreeFlow__ Sephiroth is still more powerful than Cloud. They didn't make them same in terms of power level. It was the best choice they could make considering how long that dungeon was.
@@Koustav_04 Still more powerful but not as much powerful as in the og, which is the whole point. I dont know if you played the og on release, but seeing him being so much powerful than cloud had a huge impact on his character portrayal. You dont get that feeling here, thats a fact.
Quick note:
This video is in no means supposed to be a judgement on the entire game, this is an early build and a tiny slice. I merely wanted to squeeze as much as possible out of my time with the game to greater extrapolate what the full game could entail. We can’t know if any of my praise or criticism is well placed until the full launch. What is safe to say though is that’s I’m interested and excited to see what the game holds no matter what.
I thought it was a good critique, I'm surprised you didn't grow up with the game, while not a youtuber myself, not for want of trying just lacking the patience to learn how to use different types of programmes and what not. I am envious that you got the chance to try this out and review it, you did it justice and to have consumed all FF7 content post-Remake is impressive that you still wish for the game to retain it's original narrative and spirit. You really have done well. I first finished the game when I was 8 years old and have played it and all the other FF's countless times over the span 24 years, as such I really ought to start learning to make content as I have the same insight as Blitz, Schrodingersseal, Maximillion, alas Uni. Additionally, just out of interest are you the guy that kept making the joke about Red XIII making some comment in Remake and it was hysterical? I feel like it was you, but you now suddenly have a slight Australian twinge to your accent which confuses me somewhat.
Check out Final Fantasy Peasant on UA-cam he has some wild great theories that seem right
Just started the video but was wondering have they said when the demo will be public? After tgs, or weeks/months after?
About the using potions Vs. casting magic, remember that the potions effects apply faster than defensive magic and cost no MP. That is why you can not use items in Hard mode, so you can beat the bosses faster with less resources.
@@wildvalentine Only just saw this comment, wanted to say thanks and that you should start learning some programs, create stuff of your own, I'm sure it'd be really liberating for you to put all your knowledge out there in some way. Also yes, I believe that moment with Red you're talking about was me, the Fourth Ward section perhaps. I've had a bit of an Australian twinge to my accent for some time, I've slowly sort of accidentally adopted it from one of my best mates who is himself Australian, after spending so much time together it's just become part of my own lmao.
Not sure I agree about Red’s wisdom being an issue. The wisdomous creature that turns out to be a child in dog years, and shamed by his own kind despite being impressive to anyone else, totally fits the arc IMO.
13:07-13:57 it’s clear they took the same words from Crisis Core and implemented in Rebirth, but the sentiment of these separate conversations can be found in the flashback sequence of FF7 proper. Cloud is being rambunctious so Sephiroth likens him to a kid(Crisis Core just changed it to something far cuter)and Cloud goes on a monologue about how his desire of becoming a hero died with the war. So your frustration for this being, “just like Crisis Core” is misplaced when you come to realize it’s more like the OG and Crisis Core just expanded upon what FF7 OG laid down.
Ironically, the power of hindsight is blinding him.
@@andreseh87 it honestly blinds a lot of people on YT who talk negatively about how FF7 is being ruined by what has been adapted. It’s unfortunate, but there is always room for change and some have changed positively too.
I grew up with FF7 so I am biased, but even I can look at the game and not worship it as a perfect game. Incredible game, incredible story, but they certainly have room to expand and make this game even better.
@JaredTVW This is why I'm more accepting of the Whispers. One day I woke up years after playing FF7 and wondered..."why didn't Sephiroth just wipe out everyone and deliver the Black materia to himself"? Unless I'm being blinded like you mentioned then this ephemeral, ethereal plot armor is satisfactory.
@@dontacrowder4319 that’s an incredibly astute observation. Sephiroth clearly had a motive to bring Cloud all the way to him only to then wake him up to the reality that he wasn’t the hero he thought he was and Tifa could no longer back him up. And to then make Cloud look untrustworthy and unreliable by having him be the one to hand deliver the Black Materia to Sephiroth.
These themes seem to be more on display with the trailers and the dialogue we have gotten, and many people are complaining they are adding themes that weren’t there, but I feel like those themes were just underplayed. Like Sephiroth making Cloud think Tifa was dead. That does feel “new” until you replay the game and see one scene where Cloud’s inner subconscious makes him ask Tifa why they never saw each other outside of the tour in Nibelhiem. This stuff exists in the OG, it’s just being expanded upon, which naturally should happen.
Theres a whole reason why Sephiroth is playable, they didn't do it cuz lol or reasons: back on PS1 one of the most populars hacks of FF7, using gameshark, was making Sephirot playable.
I would say that after begging for a remake, the second thing that we asked the most was making him playable.
I get it that it feels like he's not as powerful but that can play into the story: he's there to teach "Cloud" and provide assistance. I wouldn't be surprise that the whole dragon scene happens and he literally demolish it in 2 slashes
If they did something like that to show Sephiroth was in fact holding back, I do think it would go a long way.
That would be amazing if they had the foresight to do that but I don’t think so they don’t really have the balls to do high minded stuff. They keep it safe and simple and digestible to 7-11 yearolds their target audience. No blood, no jenova eye boob, no more horror elements, mystery or scifi or mature elements. Just more pre teen anime tropes and vibes. Whoever wrote ff7 is clearly not the influence with this new disney like direction.
9:28 Regarding the spoilers:
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Even though Hojo does reveal it in Remake, I think for many new players it’s something that goes over their heads. I’ve talked to a few that didn’t really catch that and still believed - after multiple playthroughs - that Cloud was a Soldier. While Square has marketed CCR as necessary to play before Rebirth, I still try and warn everyone fairly “hey, massive spoilers, if you want to play it cool, but I would wait for Rebirth and part 3 to see how they do it. But I think playing that first can ruin how you see one character for the rest of the series.” Because I think it can affect their outlook on Cloud, but it’s still up to them, it’s still often clear to me they did not catch the truth. If you hadn’t played OG and had been spoiled by it by CC, I’m sure it would have just felt sooooo disappointing, compared to the true shock you felt in the OG.
For the Sephiroth power down, I feel that’s actually more for the player benefit than to make Zack look cool. Not saying it may not be part of it, but if they’re making their way up Mt. Nibel and Sephy’s just one-shotting everything in sight like he could in OG in this combat system, it’s just not as fun or as good a tutorial for the player entering the game. I do agree, Sephiroth’s raw numbers should be higher overall, but I do think it can’t also be so high that you press a button and the monsters just drop like they did in OG. I also always believed that that difference was also in Cloud’s head, since he always considered Sephiroth to be so powerful no one could touch him.
You made a good point that the more modern style game may not translate as well as the old turn-based read-along open world game. To me, SE still has to make a true remaster for that. They’re already partway there with Ever Crisis, and there are plenty of fans new and old that would grab it day one still, imo and we all know the SE executives love putting out anything with the FFVII brand on it so I can’t see them NOT doing it at some point.
The gameplay just looks incredible. Super jealous you got to get your hands on it so early but happy for you as well! From the videos I’ve seen, this makes me wish they had also used a variant of this combat system in 16 even more then I already did. Can’t wait for the game and your reaction to it! Hope you post your playthroughs like you did with 16 when it comes out!
Edit: bet they’ll tie the MAI to Chadley 😂
Just a heads up, it’s my understanding that yuffie and Vincent were both originally going to be main characters but the team ran out of time to add them in, so they became optional. It’s likely that they are adding them in via main story beats that they planned in the original game?
Basically. Yuffies wutai story isn’t that amazing either I am ok with the scrap it was a fun little sidequest. The materia stealing thing would have honestly been fun though so sad to see that go it was a fun bit of her personality and character growth eventually being trustworthy.
You're the only person I've seen who said Sephiroth doesnt seem like hes way stronger than cloud. I feel like even your footage shows that he is though? I don't think Cloud needed to be doing single digit dmg to convey this.
For some reason I find it strange that you are kind of an OG purist since you played Remake first. I played the original first in 1997 and I rate it higher overall that Remake, however I loved Remake and put in more hours into Remake than I did with the original . Platinumed the game.
If you remember your playthrough, at one point you had to give the black materia to one of your party members. You instantly chose Nanaki, you didn't even know why but he seemed to be most trustworthy.
I've seen dozens of ff7 playthroughs. 90% of them chose the same. You know why? It's because he's from Cosmo Canyon and it would make sense if he knows more about the planet than anyone else in the party. So, it's obvious if anyone's going to be the wise Gandalf like character that guides the party in difficult times, it's obviously going to be Nanaki.
Now you may ask why not Aerith?
Well, she hasn't lived as long as Nanaki and was confined in Shinra building. Nanaki on the other hand learned about the planet for decades from bugenhagen.
While I do think it makes sense for Red to be wiser and more knowledgeable about the world than everyone else, I still feel the same as James despite that, because of the specific knowledge and dialog they gave him and Aerith in Remake. And I think that's what he was trying to get across in his point. They gave both of the characters abrupt monologues about things related to alternate timelines and the whispers; basically everything that's completely new, mostly for the sake of the player, despite the rest of the party barely knowing (or caring) about any of what they were talking about. It comes across as far more jarring than Red organically educating them about elements of the existing world like Hojo's experiments, Jenova, the lifestream, or Fort Condor. There's a distinct difference between how it feels when Aerith is educating Cloud about Wall Market, versus when she's educating everyone about fate and whatnot. And its not just to do with the gravity of the situation.
@@vindifference why are you going back to remake? My comment was about this video specifically. He's complaining just for the sake of complaining. He once said that he's a FF7 purist but he's not one of THOSE purists, failing to realise he's become one. That's fine, as long as he's honest with himself and his audience.
@@vindifference constant negativity will only hurt his channel, not help it. I'm not saying he can't say negative things about popular games, what I'm saying is not to make a channel that only spreads negativity around a certain game and still continuing to play it.
I'll advise him to move on from FF7 remake stuff and focus on ff14, which he loves. Why do I care you ask? Because I love FF7 remake. It's a phenomenal game (except for pacing issues) and I genuinely want everyone who plays that game to have a good time and the community that loves it to enjoy it in peace. It's much easier for him to just ignore FF7R games than it's for me to ignore his videos.
@@vindifference Q: why is what James is doing with FF7R any different than what many popular UA-camrs like Asmongold are doing with Starfield for example?
A: It's different because those UA-camrs are not playing Starfield anymore. They've stopped playing it and moved on to different games after shitting on it. What James is doing is cringe.
I love how they are recapturing that feeling of an unreliable narrator that Og had with the story direction in the remake trilogy. It really makes me feel like im playing the OG for the first time again.
Exactly, we think we know the story but something is off and we don't know what. It's actually genius in my opinion
Well here’s hoping they don’t tip their hand too soon. To spoil clouds big twist would be a real shame if it’s all in service of the zack fandom
20:00 so, in every compilation game including remake, they used genetic memory hexagons. Now, spiraling circles. Definitely worth noting.
YO WHAT? Congratulations, man. Not only is this major FF7 fan cred, it's just awesome that you're being acknowledged for how great your videos are.
I feel as though our opinions on each game (the original and the remake) mostly align, however, I've been able to separate both as different works of art, and been more at peace with the changes, likely because I played the original a looooong time ago. Ultimately, I never got into the "extended universe" and only ever saw Advent Children (which I hated), and that was enough to turn me away from anything else they had tacked-on. I feel like all of that may have soured your feelings on the Remake hahaha. It's the Star Wars problem, they've gone around in circles for so long that it loses it's sense of mystery, of awe, and the question of 'why?'. The original, taken on it's own, is a perfect game to me, and although I had issues with the remake in terms of story direction and padding, I do feel like they got to the core of what made the original important and resonant. I don't know what spurred this lengthy-ass comment but I loved listening to your thoughts on this :)
Totally agree. I’ve come to terms with my misgivings about Remake and I’m here for Rebirth all in. Even if it may go in some strange directions - I’m just excited to see the characters I love and the locales and all those great character moments.
Words cannot describe how excited I’m for this
I'm kinda surprised after everything that you're not as big a fan of the Remake as you once were. But, I am glad you still enjoy the franchise enough to keep with it.
It’s a weird relationship I have with it. I like it in a lot of ways but I don’t truly love it the way I feel I should. But I’m still along for the ride, gotta see what they do.
@@ItsLazBoi It makes sense really. I'm surprised you even like 7 at all. You played it for the first time recently and played the remake before the original. I love the game (and the remake) because they are deeply connected to my childhood, I started playing 7 when I was about 9-10 years old. I still go back and play the original every few years. I get a massive nostalgia hit seeing everything I imagined as a kid come to life. I can't imagine how any of this could be appealing seeing it for the first time in 2020.
@@RyanSmith-on1hq tbh I only played after remake as well, and despite the dated graphics everything else about the game was incredible and it quickly became one of my favourite games I had ever played
@@itsyaboyrigby7852 Its good that you can still appreciate it now. Obviously, because of nostalgia I see it through rose-tinted glasses. Playing the Remake for the first time, just the opening scene in Midgar was basically like a religious experience for me 😂 There's a lot of great games available now but at the time, FF7 OG was peak gaming. We'd never seen anything like knights of the round or sephiroth casting super nova. It blew my mind at the time.
Dudes that don't like the game being able to play it over people who love and have so much emotion is just not fair
Part 3 will be drastically different I believe. This part is unfolding more and more back story of the remake, in a KH style where you visit worlds and get glimpses of information from antagonists, the same happens here but you move from one OG story key place to another in no particular order apparently.
Dude! You’re in the know now! Congrats!! This was very well executed. All your hard work paid off. Fuck yeah.
Also, I appreciate your pov on this and you just made my day, I never expected this to even be a thing today.
12:00 Cloud wasn't there, so if there is something wrong it was how "Cloud" was portrayed in the OG. If they made Cloud to strong people would ask questions about how he was so strong back then and why we aren't that strong further along the story and revealing to soon the punch. Showing that even compared to another first class Sephiroth is on another level shows how strong he really is. Compare to a infantry vs a Soldier, there is to much of a gap to grasp his strength.
In that section he also mentioned the stats being too similar between Sephiroth and “Cloud” and counts that as a flaw in his opinion, but knowing that “Cloud” is actually Zack in this flashback punches a hole in that for me personally. Zack is a 1st class SOLDIER during this segment, same as Sephiroth, their stats would definitely be comparable. Sephiroth is a little stronger though obviously because he’s the strongest warrior on Gaia that we know of. Cloud’s stats would be garbage compared to Sephiroth of course but that’s not him🤷🏻♂️ just nitpicking on my end
What's cool about this is Zack was tired of Shinra and burden, but persevered. Cloud goes from lighthearted Zack impression to cold stone Zack as he most likely was with everyone's BS.
When was Zack ever stone-cold?
@@davidrich27 Never, but Cloud is playing it up as if that's what Zack or any generic overburdened soldier/SOLDIER or working man would be like. Zack has been close to fed up, but Cloud adds another flavor or layer to it because he really doesn't know any better.
@@dontacrowder4319 oh gotcha.
Spoilers is a courtesy for people who haven't had the time to partake in some art, and while the exact timeline can be debated as to how long spoilers are still valid, 25 years is far too long. There are no spoilers for OG FF7 at this point. None. It's on EVERY platform, for cheap.
Still, I'd rather give people that courtesy if they'd prefer to avoid having the plot ruined.
On one hand I feel bad that we ruined your movie experience by telling you "the book is way better" and then you went and read the book, now you hate the movie lol on the other hand, I'm happy you got to experience FF7... it truly is a fantastic experience through and through, and my favorite piece of media/art/anything. Really looking forward to playing this thing and seeing you play through it as well.
Also congrats on getting invited to play this thing! Regardless of how you feel, that's an amazing opportunity as a content creator, never turn those down.
you make very good points as far as the general adaptation which I didn't think of, but I do think that Cloud's current character mimics Sephiroth the person he once looked up to more than his Zack alter ego. Zack is a vessel of the past but not the defining aspect of his current persona. As for Nanaki, I never got the sense that he was supposed to be a young character even in the OG from the very start how he introduces himself and tells Cloud he'll fight Jenova with the team, so I think the remake is very accurate on his character.
I think Red was always kind of a wise battle worn “I speak to the planet” type. It’s just in cosmo canyon you end up seeing the childlike side of him and he opens up more. He seems young during this part due to the plot portion centering around “grandpa” his senior who addresses him in childlike way. Then we learn he is kind of like the male version of Aerith in a lot of ways and some heartfelt moments before he goes on his journey.
It’s nice to have like a loremaster in your party and Red 13 just seems like the most fitting choice. I don’t really like his voice actor though. I guess it’s back to Japanese again.
It seems from the short look in this video (the only shots I've seen, btw), that the 'Open World' being zones with choke points reminds me of FF14 1.0. In that game, the world was 'Full and Seamless', but in reality was a lot of fully loaded zones connected by 'hidden loading tunnels'. In FF14 1.0, you'd walk through the city of Ul'dah, but instead of having the main gate be open to leave to the zone of Thanalan, you would walk through a gate on the side which would turn into a tunnel, hiding Ul'dah from your vision so it could be unloaded while Thanalan could load, and at the other end you would turn again to reveal the new loaded zone--the 'tunnel' was there to hide both zones from your vision and give time to load the one you moved close to before you exited. That's just one example, but it happened a lot--the long bridges entering the other two cities or tall cliff-face walls to change between other zone areas or the like. It looks like they took what they came up with then that didn't work well at the time due to hardware limitations of the day and implemented it here with much better effect. With better hardware, the 'tunnels' wouldn't have to be covered or unusual--they could be uncovered. This is because having more memory, faster storage, and faster processing, they could have the 'next zone' be loaded in a 'low res distance view' and swap the active and the distant zones quickly and seamlessly. Looked like that was what they did from the small bits I saw, but it looks really well done.
Wholeheartedly agree on the mixed feelings on controlling Sephiroth. Obviously exciting in a vacuum, but the lack of control *did* serve the story. Obviously this level will also be serving a new purpose of a tutorial, so you can't just have every battle last 3 seconds whiel Sephiroth wrecks face for you, but, yeah, something to miss.
And I agree on all the Zack stuff, totally, though I do think SOME of the dialogue is Cloud's own self-insert. It's primarily Zack, but by this point in his career, Zack was not idolizing Sephiroth to this degree, for instance.
I think the Yuffie thievery will be best served by doing what Remake does best - doing what happened before, but elevating the context. So she'll steal stuff on the approach to Wutai in part 3, but she'll have mroe complex reasons for doing so this time. Maybe Wutai spies get word to her that something big is going down, and she doesn't want to drag the party into what she thinks is an internal Wutai matter, but still needs their materia to help. Or maybe her Avalanche HQ friends from Intermission get in touch and somehow cause her to doubt the main party's intentions when it comes to Wutai, and so she robs them and runs off. Something like that.
(And I still call them Guard Scorpion and Hundred Gunner. I'm sure they'll still be "Bottomswell" to me, too. In Japanese it usually is their original names!)
I always felt that in the original, the part of cloud being so weak was how he mixed up memories in his mind. He knows he was nothing back then, so even if it was actually Zack fighting alongside Sephiroth, cloud mixing it up with his own self is still relevant.
It’s also super efficient story telling. Makes sephiroth seem so awesome, not to mention the zolom scene not long after.
By the time you see sephiroth on the boat, you already know he’s like a God
Please get this game right it means the world to me
Oh that is really cool that you were able to go try it early, congrats!
This was a really good video. While watching/listening I was thinking about what you said about Sephiroth in the flashback sequence. For those that don’t want OG FF7 or Crisis Core spoilers don’t read further.
I feel like they made Seph playable for a few reasons here:
Unlike in the original game, we’ve already met and fought Sephiroth at this point. Not only the Jenova clones but also what is likely a post Advent Children version of him. There isn’t any mystery to his power at this point so they don’t need to wow you with the strength disparity between Cloud/Zack and Sephiroth.
I believe another reason comes as a weakness of SE going for an action heavy combat system. It would simply be incredibly boring and frustrating to play as a character that gets killed in one hit and can’t do any damage to enemies.
Having Seph be playable here doesn’t necessarily mean they also can’t show off him being insanely strong later on though. Given his personality change here compared to the original, they could play it off as him holding back initially. They could show moments, where he isn’t playable, with him effortlessly taking down some of these creatures. I wouldn’t be surprised if they turn the fight against him in the reactor into more of a boss fight ala CC as well and that would give them a chance to show a strength disparity.
With Sephiroth being playable in what is likely the tutorial section of Rebirth it makes me wonder if we’re going to end up playing as him later on either in Rebirth or the final game.
Great video. I always enjoy your takes since they're similar to mine. To the your point during the flashback story portion of the video; i think Square really wants to hammer in the fact that ff7r is a sequel and its meant to be consumed as such (though im aware they've stated that you can start with the remake series). Hence why the want you to KNOW the rest of the compilation via CC Reunion and even Ever Crisis. So to me it makes sense that certain aspects, secrets and twists arent treated with as much "secrecy" as before. They expect the player to already know the story, Sephiroth's true strength, zach's personality, etc. Leaving room for us to take in the new things they're sure to add
every entry? you played the before crisis i did not see that playthrough yet.
Incredible video Laz, well done & thank you. Always loved your AC stuff but your recent passion for Final Fantasy is just the best.
Clouds big mako-induced therapy session was really important to me, and im bummed it probably won't get the se weight as it used to.
That said, as far as new players go, Clouds vibe in his memories could be explained away as "this was his personality BEFORE his town got burned down." And honestly this seems like a good way to frame it.
Yeah for sure, that’s is a way of looking at it. I don’t think any of the elements are “technically” wrong or bad. I think it’s more a matter of them not necessarily serving the story in the same way the original did, which is obviously up to particular tastes
I feel like we share a lot (like to a scary degree) of the same opinions on FF7 and the compilation. It was nice to see someone else feel so upset at what Crisis Core did to the OG. And your personal concerns for the Remake trilogy leaning more into the compilation is EXACTLY how I felt after finishing Remake for the first time. I'm still going to feel a tad worried but as time has moved on I've actually kind of found peace in the matter. The OG FF7 will always be there. No matter what they do in these extra projects I always have that solace. Remake really nailed the characters for me and the combat was so much fun. As long as these two thing carry over I can more or less be down for the ride. Really liked your analysis here and super looking forward to Rebirth!!
Crisis core was not nearly as bad as Remake to the story. They took out the horror and mystery and scifi and replaced it with cheesy teen anime vibes.
Great video, very informative. I agree with a lot of your points. Especially the point you made about the Story portion of the Mt Nibel sequence early on.
*Rant incoming*
Spoilers...
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...
The choice to make Sephiroth appear multiple times in Remake (as a hallucination or clone or whatever) really hurt his introduction imo. In the original, he was only alluded to sparingly. As the this legendary soldier who was somehow untouchable and stronger than anyone else. Then, he suddenly runs through Shinra, the force we've been struggling against for the first 3-5 hours, all while the party is taking a nap. And then, the first time we actually see him in combat is in the flashback sequence, where we experience his strength through the actual game mechanics, showing us he was far more powerful than not just level 1 Cloud but also far more powerful than our full party that just left Midgar. And that was how strong he was 5 YEARS AGO? How strong is he now!? It's how he was presented with the gameplay and scenario writing that established him a legendary JRPG villain. Not his character design, dialogue, cutscenes, or animations. Those were just the hook to intrigue us. It's how he was actually presented in the language of the game itself that established him as this threatening, insurmountable force.
But now in Rebirth, the choice to portray Sephiroth as only about 10 -15% stronger than "Not Cloud" in the flashback sequence just serves to make Sephiroth feel much, much less intimidating than he did in the original. I totally disagree with how they've decided to present Sephiroth in both Remake and Rebirth. I don't think it's worth having "Zack" or "Not Cloud" scaled up in power just so Zack doesn't look weak to Sephiroth in comparison. Because in the original game... Zack was portrayed as completely outclassed compared to Sephiroth. We see in the correct version of the Mt Nibel events that Zack went after Sephiroth in the Jenova Room and was swatted out like a fly in about 3 seconds (which Crisis Core retconned, along with several other things). Zack being knocked away so quickly didn't make him look weak, it made Sephiroth look unstoppable.
If they really wanted to make Sephiroth playable, go ahead and do it. But just make the character levels as "??" or have "Not Cloud" as like Level 5 and Sephiroth level 60 or something. And if that means everyone wants to control Sephiroth the whole time... it doesn't matter. Everyone is going to do that anyway since Cloud is playable in all the other scenarios and Sephiroth is (probably) limited to just this chapter.
And like you said, this choice throws all the subtlety of the original scenario and major story twist out the window.
Think about it, at the start of Remake part 1, Cloud was level 6 (instantly up to level 7 in the first fight. Just like in the original). But now he's going to tell us a story about how 5 YEARS AGO he was level 36 and doing all kinds of awesome combat stuff with Sephiroth that he wasn't capable of doing during the first Bombing mission. And then we see in the Junon demo he's back down to level 20 or so. The player and his party members should see through his story as a lie immediately. It's just waaay too obvious of an inconsistency for what they know about him so far.
And like you pointed out, this power level issue, the "hero" and "puppy" lines, and Hojo's line in Remake, makes it very clear that the writers are not at all concerned with spoiling the most important moment of Cloud's character. Instead, they prefer to have Remake/Rebirth make significant changes in order to serve whatever new vision they have for this new version of FF7.
Which, if that's what they want to do, it's fine. It's their story and their game after all. But then the Marketing speak from Kitase really bothers me. Please don't make statements suggesting that the story will still be "faithful to the original" while simultaneously having such huge deviations to the scenario writing and story presentation. Just be honest and describe this new version of FF7 for what it is, a sequel/next chapter for the Compilation. Not a traditional Remake.
And just to be clear, even though I disagree with the changes they are making to the story, I am not judging anyone for liking Remake/Rebirth's story and being excited for the next game. Everyone is allowed to enjoy whatever they like. I am not trying to De-hype or gatekeep anyone.
I really loved this video man, it was so interesting hearing your perspective, someone who cares so much for what the original was and what it was doing. And I love you're still willing to give the new shit a chance even with your misgivings. The way you describe your perspective and opinions makes it really easy to understand where it's coming from even if I disagree or am enjoying the new stuffs more. Love the vid man, keep up the great work!
Really insightful video, I have subscribed to your channel!
Your "Sephiroth doesn't feel powerful enough compared to Cloud" gripe is a bit off-base...
1) Cloud is remembering himself as Zack
2) It took an entire platoon of Shinra troops to kill Zack
3) Sephiroth looked PLENTY powerful here (dude literally had teleport as his dodge button)
He sure LOOKS powerful, just doesn’t feel powerful, or I guess not in comparison to Cloud/Zack which I found to be purposeful in the original. The disparity was important to character building for both Cloud and Sephiroth and their conflict. In rebirth it’s just a bit of flashy fun rather than a narrative statement which like is fine, I’m not saying everyone HAS to feel how I do, it just doesn’t mean as much to me personally.
@@ItsLazBoi OG ff7 had to use absurd damage numbers to portray power differences due to graphical limitations. Remake just had him Jedi-force throw entire buildings... Pretty sure he's still powerful! 😉
@@ItsLazBoi Btw, the cutscene where Sephiroth steps in front on a blow that's about to kill "Cloud" in the flashback, turns it aside with ease, then lets Cloud finish the enemy PERFECTLY portrays their power difference in one simple moment.
someone didnt play the og
@@FreeFlow__ No I played it. Many, many times.
good video broski, needed all this info cant wait for this game
i love Red XIII. he always struck me as the wise sage of the party
I do agree with your take that Sephiroth feels like less of an extremely powerful being in the flashback, but I honestly think that significance was already taken away from him in Remake.
It wouldn't really be a big deal when Sephiroth slays a dragon or a big snake in one shot, because the player already beat the the literal manifestation of destiny and then fought him while slicing skyscrapers in half at the end of Remake.
Now I don't really like that they took away this part of his character, but it sorta is what it is. I hope they at least do something new and interesting to make up for it.
I think they are already doing something new and interesting with his character, he knows a lot more than he should, it's almost like this version of Sephiroth is an all knowing character, it seems like he is almost unreachable, I mean, he was literally smiling when Cloud "defeats" him in the ending of Remake, he is definitely in control of the situation. For me it's already insanely cool what they're doing with his character, but that's only my opinion.
@@nyonlight357 He got exactly what he wanted but the party, and the audience, still doesn't know what that exactly is. Hell its like half the players want to forget that ending even happened, but that might be keeping themselves in the dark even more. Very 'meta' design happening.
Some story thoughts:
I would assume that "Rebirth" applies to Aerith (and maybe Sephiroth.) But in order to be reborn, you must first die. I think that, based on interviews, Cloud and the gang will still be at the mercy of the Whispers / Fate, and follow the original narrative. But simultaneously you will see Zack on a quest in his own world, perhaps to bring Aerith's unconscious body to the Forgotten Capital and help her reawaken. Aerith will die in pretty much the same way she died in the OG game, but rather than return to the lifestream and help Holy defeat the Black Materia, her soul will be trapped in the physical world and she will reawaken in Zack's arms instead, which is Sephiroth's plan all along. To stop her from re-joining the lifestream.
Also I imagine Sephiroth will take control of Cloud's body in Zack's timeline, march him toward the reunion, and take physical form at full strength with Cloud's body, which is why Sephiroth told him he has to live. So to recap... Aerith will die, and be cut off from the lifestream, Sephiroth will be at full power by using a black-hooded Cloud, but Zack and Aerith will be reunited, while Cloud and Aerith will be forever separated. And then we head into the 3rd game where Zack's world will need to die (along with Aerith and Zack) in order to bring the balance of life and harmony back to the planet and stop Sephiroth. The fact Aerith gave Red XIII some of her visions may also be important since the gang will be lost without Aerith if not for Red XIII gaining some of her knowledge.
Games like this are the reason I sold my xbox I had both consoles but when I noticed that I brought both spiderman games both horizon game's FF7 remake both GOW games I realised I was only buying Sony games as xbox really did not have much to offer me whereas I still have my 360 which really says it all
This is your best work yet. Your hard work is paying off. Cheers!
23:28 with this sentence you got me 😂 I love your Videos, maaan. And I love the demo footage 😮
I 'm so excited 🤓😊
This is definitely the best preview I've watched. I can't wait until next March.
so I’m still watching the video but I can’t hold myself back from commenting on where you said you can’t have your cake and eat it too with red 13 being knowledgeable the fact that he has the maturity of a teenager he still was alive for 48 years just because you’re immature doesn’t mean that you don’t have knowledge he’s just simply quoting knowledgeabout the land can’t be alive for 48 years and not know about the land around you
Can you swap out the characters that are not in your party during combat?
Not during combat, only outside of combat
love this video... some of the best quality gameplay footage i have seen to date and love your impressions and thoughts about the game... i am so on the hype train... next stop February 2024.
I want to point out that Sephiroth already had moveset animations and stuff from his boss fight in Remake. Red XIII didnt so that's why Sephiroth is playable. Because they already had the moveset for the most part.
Dude ...... this take !!! Hahahahaha I followed once you were playing Barrett and were yelling "Marlene" hahaha
And dude the joke about Jenova at the start 😂😂😂😂 keep it up love all the videos!!
I haven't quite figured something out yet, ... are we going to be able to swap a character in our party at any time? like I'm in a fight with Cloud, Aerith and Tifa... can I swap and get Barret for example? I confess I haven't quite figured it out yet... or have I missed something?
No. He literally explained that. OUT of combat only with r1 l1
In max video magic can instantly get rid of the water balls it’s not mandatory but still a cool detail tho
Okay that’s interesting, I like that tbf
@@ItsLazBoi yeah same it was a blink and you miss it moment but max being the mega fan he is of course he would try it but great vid as always fam 💯
Ff7 og was my first ps1 game that came with the my first used ps1 I ever bought, still got that copy to this day,
I like ff7 remake and rebirth might be my first preorder in while
PREFACE: ONLY THEORY. My bigger speculation is indeed that they plan more for after Part 3, using material like Ever Crisis/The Last Soldier story as a start. Like Lightning Returns, the world will be re-somethinged (made/birthed/ETC) at the hands of the protagonist, except it won't be freaking Earth with Cloud as a fashion model, but (yet) another Gaia. This journey is one meant to recall FFVII, absorb the content of the Compilation and come to terms with how it was already meant as a post-FFVII, establish a now more peaceful relationship with the Planet instead of humanity's seeming extinction, and open up the lore, for better or worse, in more multiversal concepts, or at least that the potential could go anywhere at all, not just 'pre/post FFVII'. Its a remembrance, but also a launching point for anything they might want to do in the future (2030s...or later). I don't know how much of what we're seeing is a 'timelines' story or instead closer to 'purgatory realms within the Lifestream' or somehow both at the same time due to weird Gaian reality, but in a sense, I feel they're trying to confuse players so much with what FFVII is, muddle it all up, so that our future understandings might accept or positively wonder what FFVII could be, instead of it must being a very specific nostalgic vision. The often current "DON'T TOUCH IT" mentality, expressed a bit by yourself (not bashing you here, and your stance makes some sense; this is also a 'side series' that technically never needed to happen but they keep trying to profit from it).
So, they're transforming the FFVII setting into something more easily marketable and sequalizing for whenever in the future, rather than the whole growing mess of canon. The Remake trilogy may be apex confusing in some ways, but it may end in a setting that can be well, anything at all, which would be the point. Unchained to the past. But this first means a project that mixes in concrete things like the Compilation, but also abstract things like player expectations and emotions when experiencing FFVII material. Its the road to a strong reboot. The new characters in First Soldier, possible multiple realms with different rules, many, many outfits coming in a gacha, and a story involving the protagonists gradually looking back on their first 'official' story - everything to push us to accept some different journey of the 'same' setting, one day. FFVII makes them cash money, but they must also know that just revolving everything around freaking Midgar and Nibelheim and Meteor and etc etc - doesn't make a world that can really move forward to something new (while keeping FFVII brand).
Its 1 seamless map. Devs confirmed it. But yeah there are walls in the map. But it appears there will be full airship control in part 3.
How is a wall different from a seam?
Elden Ring had an extensive item crafting system that was fun, but utterly UNNECESSARY for easy completion of the game. I've no reason to believe Rebirth will be any different. For those stressing about inventory management, just sell all the crap you find! PROBLEM. SOLVED. 😎
Honestly I just hope not every other ladder, bridge crossing, and head scratch leads to another cutscene. It really hurt my soul when I saw that slow wall ledge traversal part. I absolutely hated all slow parts, forced walking, slow animations, climbing and anything of that sort in remake and to make it even worse after you did any of those things it jumped into another cutscene. There were moments that were literally just ladder climb into cutscene, walk one single hallway into cutscene etc. Essentially removing all player agency and slowing it down to a screeching halt. I would always scream at my screen during these moments and I don’t think I have ever screamed while playing a video game before. “LET ME DO WHAT I WANT!”
Not being able to use your menu screen during combat for example, not being able to use menu during a cutscene, (the game autosaves after every cutscene so if you ever want to reload a recent save you had to hard reset) also for good measure, npcs always say some closing remark after you are done talking to them so when you are trying to enter your menu you end up getting the start resume screen. I really disliked things like this just slow clunky sloggy gameplay.
Not to mention I also hated the benches how they go into a slow screen animation and then the screen for NO reason goes black, waits FOR NO REASON other than to waste your time, then opens back up again. Why can’t it just say (hp/mp) restored… why do I have to go through this super slow animation, I mean there isn’t even a cool sound effect or anything that makes it pleasant. It’s just a pointless black screen.
All the excuse makers for the “loading screens” are 100% biased and wrong because more than half of those situations aren’t loading anything at all and are in areas where you could previously travel through at running speed.
Remake had to have been the most frustrating game I have ever played due to these moments. Especially those ones where you want to explore side areas and your character starts walking super slow until you see the “no traversal sign”.
And you had no idea what was meant to be explored or not, it was so random what was explorable and what wasn’t so if you were wrong, you were busy stuck in these super slow walking, crawling, or climbing scenes exploring areas that had nothing and had to slowly backtrack out of those animations all over again to get back to the correct path. It made exploring the absolute worst.
Shame you can’t play as Vincent and Cid but I’m looking forward to how Cait Sith plays
Im beginning to like you. A different perspectives on things
Your the first person who played remake first who has said that they like the og alot more than remake.... Blows my mind when I hear people say remake is better than the original and I'm just like .."errrr no it isn't" it's refreshing 😂
Yea, remake is only the 1st 10-12 hours of OG. How is that better?
@@jasoncurtis4404 think people are blinded by the shiny shiny graphics 😂 id honestly say that the midgar part of the original is better than remake even at its short length because it's better paced
the back thing in the menu that look like the temple of the ancients is the character individual upgrade grid like FF10 obviously they talked about it they put one for each character too to build the stats the direction we want mostly. at least I can think of nothing else.
PREFACE: ONLY THEORY. The flashback is because this Cloud is a different Cloud, a different Sephiroth is affecting this different Cloud, and this Sephiroth is more early appearing, to frequently position himself as a (dark) ally of Cloud's for some ultimate purpose. This is not Cloud sorting out messed memories on his own, this is Cloud being mentally compromised by an enemy. The changes that are happening to FFVIIR trilogy is because its actually a different story with a different aim, one that may inspire greater dread as Rebirth proceeds, to contrast the brightest setting we'll be exploring. Cloud isn't well, in FFVII or AC, but also in a new way here. He has acted differently in notable ways, several times now, and not in positive peaceful ones. He's not the ending of Advent Children with a Cloud that's done with this spectre and he smiles. He's going through a mysterious and reality bending tribulation and Sephiroth will NOT let up on him. Its a new story, of multiple worlds and perspectives, multiple spiritual levels of combat (than FFVII's Lifestream vs Jenova, or AC's white and black/negative Lifestream).
Amazing analysis!!!!!!!!! Can’t imagine how long it must’ve taken fr
Idk I kind of like cloudzack being not that far behind sephiroth, zack was pretty strong and in the original they made him seem like a useless baby wimp when the dude was a first class. I get the purpose of it, but it made zack seem like a shitter when he really wasn't
The whole point of ffvii is cloud's story and him defeating his demons. It was so meta to play as a character that was larping as someone else. That he was 'role-playing' as a bad-ass soldier.
A fantasy game is a slice of escapism you play as characters that perform heroic feats. And this is sort of what Cloud had dreamt up about himself by imitating Zack. But then he comes clean about putting on an act, about his past failures, his shame, but puts it behind him and goes on to be a hero for real and saves the planet.
It was truly redemptive.
I don't know what ffvii remake is about any more and I don't know how Cloud's story can be redeemed if Zack is still hanging about stealing the spotlight.
Think this is most peoples fears with the remake trilogy...how do you ruin one of the originals best aspects and then if you do..what do they possibly do that can be better.....I don't think they can
This guy don’t like anything 😂
You said it, bruh.😂
British
At least he's pleasant about it XD
Isn’t that just everyone nowadays? Even Nick Swardson has a bit about that when it comes to movies.
I appreciate the more critical approach. But at the same time, i thought FF7R was trash so 😂😂😂
PREFACE: ONLY THEORY. Red is on a new arc. Aerith knows the original journey (or at least intuits it), but she has to keep mostly silent. Red however has been bestowed a measure of the same perspective, so he would know many details as well, but with no incentive to keep silent about it. He knows the world because he's 'already' explored it. His awareness may be subconscious, but it is now there. He was not simply pacified by Aerith as if given a chewtoy. As it is increasingly exhibited, this is at least partially a sequel. Red was the student, now he's something of a master, because this is now partially his second going. Likely eventually, all will be awoken to what is really happening. If you didn't want a post-AC/FFVII crew, unfortunately this is something you may very well eventually have. Only a few are touched for now, like Aerith, Red XIII, Marlene, and only to extents. The others have been touched by visions of the future, but that panic isn't the same as what Aerith's been triggering in people.
Top notch breakdown
Appreciate that!
Great analysis, understandable people's misgivings, but i perosonally love the Remake project even with it's flaws. I am super excited for Rebirth, more than any other game in years. FF7 is also my favorite game of all time and has been for 20 years. I don't care for the compilation though, but feel as if Remake actually has done a good job of incorporating them and making me care about them.
Hey Laz, i discovered you through the AC1 retrospective video (amazing video btw, ac1 is my favorite in the franchise as well, so sad they missed the mark in future games). Thanks for the video and preview and i really appreciate the honesty, i really dislike people that just acts all hype for views. I dont care if you like or dislike the remake or the original or whatever, you are respectful about it and i really like that. For me, it looks like an amazing game all around and i cant wait to play it. I never liked open world approaches and this "big instances" semi-open world hits just the mark about what i want about rebirth. And about the whole "sephiroth didnt feel strong enough", i disagree with you. I feel like in the OG, yes, they made it in a way so you get the idea that sephiroth is absurdly strong, but they sacrificed all the gameplay in the flashback for pure narrative, something i believe just cant hold in rebirth. So instead of making sephiroth strong through gameplay, they used cutscenes, dialogue and some combat aspects to portray him as strong, but not forgetting that you need to play with cloud as well and that "cloud", despite everything, hes still a soldier first class, so you cant have him be like level 1 and get one shot while sephiroth is lvl 50, if you get what i mean. And the flashback is now an actual playable section, so no just pure exposition like the in OG. It doesnt have to be necessarily pure fan service, from a game design perspective it makes sense without having to compromise on narrative. Cheers man, have a great day.
I'm just glad they ditched Barrets glasses. Regarding MAI, I love it, but maybe they could use the FF16 system where you use the TouchPad to access additional info, giving the player the option to engage in intel with more info provided after using Asses.
What was wrong with his glasses?
The purpose was to hide his expressions to make himself seem tougher in front of everyone and hide his real feelings
@@jasonborne238 it wasn't that deep. It was just Japanese leaning into the early 90s macho black male stereotype Barret was built from.
Practical use would be to reduce flash from the galling gun
@@ryanhorton9594 have you read the ultimania?
The japanese name for the "terrain action" is indeed just parkour.
after seeing more footagge, i think this game is far more of an open world than you felt.
You acknowledge that they're making changes, knowing that it isn't the same story, but every change from the original is a negative to you.
You are, of course allowed your own opinion, but for someone who is opened minded and fully aware that this is a newish story that they're trying to tell, it's exhausting to watch, sir. Compare all the changes to the original as you like, but hearing you say that every single alter made to a character or story beat, missing the mark for you is not legitimate criticism at all.
2:47 for Goblins Bar
Before I watch the vid I have to say, WHY DOES CLOUD HAVE TO SO CUTE?! Seriously that thumbnail makes me feel things 😩
So when i said Sephiroth was playable like Sonon you knew he wasn't!
17:38 looks like quite a bad visual glitch. is that something you experienced quite often?
I genuinely didn’t even notice that, I want to say I didn’t experience it often, but then again I didn’t even notice this one. I’d imagine though any bugs like that will be ironed out for the final game. Still worth pointing out though.
I mean 3 remakes to expand the OG and then the REAL SEQUEL FINAL FANTASY 17 being a direct continuation of FF7
Yuffie's character arc is tied to Wutai and her father, not our party members. Why do you think she won't have the same character arc? 🤔 We know how funny chasing that mischievous little thief was in the OG 😂. But doing that in modern game would be very annoying. You may like that like you like stairs in remake, but believe me most people wouldn't.
Really nice and informative video! You are really good at making these detailed video essays where you voice out a lot of information in an easy to listen to way.
I do think its strange to put this many thoughts out on just the demo. The demo is genuinely deliberately overly limited and the open-world things you say are boring might have meaning in the final game once you've been introduced to those systems in the proper way.
I just think there is such a massive lack of knowledge about the game based on this demo that it seems meaningless to speculate and evaluate it this early. But I know you are aware of this.
I personally HATE all of the FF7 content that isn't within OG FF7 or FF7 Remake. So I share your fears to some degree. But I also think your evaluation of some things is going a bit too far. For instance how Hojo in Remake makes the remark that you aren't a soldier, to a new player you wouldn't really know what that means. And in the same way I don't think new FF7 players will figure out the truth about Cloud in the flashback. In fact, the Cloud in the flashback is (several years) younger and more naive which fits with his more youthful mannerisms so that would only help sell his story to newcomers in my opinion. While I do agree that the Crisis Core remaster was heavily marketed as having a connection to this Rebirth trailer I still feel like they are trying to replicate the same twists as we knew them in the OG. I think your perspective is a bit overly causious because in hindsight we put so much more meaning into the details of the original that when we see it fully fleshed out it seems more on the nose. But that isn't necessarily true at all. If they really didn't want to replicate the twist then they wouldn't have distorted Hojo's remark to Cloud the way they did. Oh well.
We'll just have to wait and see lol.
There was also your comments about Nanaki being too knowledgable and not being "a child" etc.
But really in the OG he was already speaking in an overly formal manner and was always able to see through situations in a more direct way than the rest of the party. In fact, for me and everyone I know that played the OG, when we find out he is a child its like a surprise. I think that is exactly what they are going for with this Nanaki as well.
@@Blag_Cog Yes Red XIII has always been that way, so I don't get the implication that he should almost be like a naive kid (or whatever he was getting at). He hasn't been so explanatory though. Personally I think something triggered in him that he wouldn't have had otherwise. If we play the game and he's essentially our tour guide for many hours, I have to say my suspicions will be raised.
Found it a bit jank relative ro Remake. Camera control options don't work effectively. Animations are a bit wonk, especially with terrain transitions. Found it less than ideal with Sephiroth's parry mechanic.
Performance mode adds Vaseline to the visuals; super blurry. Story was fine, but I'm not a FFVII simp. Not blown away, but overall, 8/10.
as a retired gamer. its good to see folks never tired of the never ending final fantasy franchise single gender role playing gamer especially thee final fantasy 7 series.......
22:23 The choice to do a more faithfull remake this time comes from alot of backlash they got for (at least implying to) screwing so much with the original story.
I am more releaved to hear that it follows more closely the original even if it makes the ending for remake pointless.
I am interested, open and to be honest glad with what they did with yuffie for example. Makeing them (vincent will likly get the same treatment) no longer optional and more involved in the story.
I am actualy absolutly fine with changes as long as they keep the original story intact. And that does not nessesary mean it needs to be a one for one remake.
In my opinion it‘s not a good idea that they make Sephiroth look so weak compared to Zack. In the original he was so intimidating by his sheer power and that is how you install the major villain. I already had this problem with the remake before. He never felt like a big threat because the party was already strong enough to face him in the end. For me they destroyed Sephiroth so bad.
Why can't Red 13's character arc work if he's a wise old character? Do adults not hate their parents for abandoning them?
10:17 VR Simulator like in Remake maybe?
Why the hell is Sephiroth in your party?.
As far as the integrity of final fantasy vii, given the fact that we were told in the ultimate entry for edge of creation that sephiroth is at the end of the world, is holding time still, and this whole thing is manipulating the memories of the planet... This effectively is a sequel it's obvious that this supper off is after the 500 years later sing with red 13. It really doesn't matter when specifically because this effer off is very clearly from the future manipulating the the past by manipulating memories. Give me this gives him pretty free rein. I mean consider this: he is messing with memories and nostalgia. When worlds merge we're going to have a brand new reality with an unknown course. At such to me this is a sequel and to the developers this is the fifth entry into the compilation. As such this is not the original. And I'm fine with that.
People still treat it as if it should fit the form of a remake, instead of a follow-up journey with these characters (who are only partially aware of this at the end of Remake). Its not just some single timeline being messed with - FFVII still happened, its still a thing, its not being changed. Its understandable to an extent, to avoid the discomfort of their memories being sullied by corporate greed or personal interpretations and so on, but I think Rebirth will be ripping off that bandage after enough sequences of exploring the world in a close-enough-to-original fashion. We'll have that sweetness, and then get hit, hard. Where Remake built up suspicion leading to surprise, Rebirth might build up dread leading to, I don't know really, insanity? Intentionally done though.
Really great video
Great vid!
The direction the story is going is a bit upsetting especially with zack being alive. I really hope they don't bring him into Cloud's biggest moments as a character.
Your disagreement with some choices shines through a lot. Lol I respect it, thats fine, though i think its unfortunate.
I disagree about Red. In the OG, before Cosmo Canyon, Red came across older and wiser than he was. He was a bit standoffish, composed, and observant of the group and their choices. That made the reveal of his age more surprising, and his characterization going forward was much the same but with a little more youthful bounciness at times. I mean, he's 42, if he has humanlike intelligence he shouldnt be acting like a child anymore just because he is young for his species, right? Esp covered in scars as he is for being a young'un of his species. I AM worried, however, that in Rebirth they will change him in a way that feels unnatural, instead of nuanced. I would dislike it if all of a sudden he acted like a naive child after CC, but id also really dislike it if he didn't change at all. I hope its a more nuanced change that captures the longevity of his species while also showing his youth.
Yeah, I disagree with Laz here. Red being labeled as a child is only because that's biological true to his species, not that he should act like a child. He is 48 btw, wisdom comes from age, not biological labelling, he has similar life experience as a human counterpart that is 48 years old.
@@Reia11thin the OG Red behaves with the same level of wisdom “I am what you see”. I really can’t believe Red contextualizing regions is an issue anybody would have. Talk about nitpicky
Must be a whirlwind as a new fan
Love thissss
Great video
The best thing these games have going for them is how much i want to like them. The problem is trying to play and watching a cutscene to walk to a dialogue section to have maybe one fun fight to go immediately into more slow walking dialogue and cutscenes. Like just let me play the game. It happens so constantly it gets extremely irritating. Just let me play! If i wanted to watch a movie id throw on advent children, so please just let me kill more stuff and stop with the cringey dialogue scenes.
They'll probably just reuse Sephiroth's animations and moves for a boss fight.
Typical laz fashion to drop an almost hour long video lol
His grandpa is bugenhagen
Yep, he is. Doesn't mean it justifies his character being all knowing and wise. Red never was this, and his Grandpa hasn't changed since the original game. The core reason he WANTS to be so wise is because of his grandpa who he looks up to. But the difference between OG and Remake is that in the OG, he was still just naive and childlike, there was an innocence and ignorance to him. All of those key elements made his arc flourish. He has none of these traits in Remake.
the activating combat mode took me out
😭😭
I also disagree with you on Sephiroth being able to one shot everything in Rebirth to show his powers. It was cool in the OG, but from modern action RPG gameplay perspective it would be really boring, no different from quick time events in lame RPGs that waste players time by taking away their agency.
That logic man ☠️ If you choose to make a plot element worse just to please the audience from a gameplay perspective is a bad choice.
@@FreeFlow__ Sephiroth is still more powerful than Cloud. They didn't make them same in terms of power level. It was the best choice they could make considering how long that dungeon was.
@@Koustav_04 Still more powerful but not as much powerful as in the og, which is the whole point. I dont know if you played the og on release, but seeing him being so much powerful than cloud had a huge impact on his character portrayal. You dont get that feeling here, thats a fact.