So I didn't realize it until I watched a video but the Train Graveyard chapter is NOT filler content. It expands on Aerith's connection to the planet and the lifestream. It shows that she has struggled with that connection for her entire life, seeing the dead but not being able to interact with them and feeling truly alone quite often because of that. It also greatly foreshadows the final chapter of the game.
I guess I just wasn't into this bit of story, and the abandoned train station facility seemed not very fun to play through. For me personally, the game would have been stronger if it got us through that whole area faster.
I can’t understand the Aerith take at all. She’s always been snarky and childish ever since the original. What is there to not buy when it comes to her character? Your take is valid ofc but I just can’t understand it from my point of view
Hey, thanks for commenting! Some of her mannerisms just didn't land right for me. They seemed really cartoony and made her feel a bit more like a stereotype. What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
I'm glad you liked the video! Some of her mannerisms just didn't land right for me. They seemed a bit cartoony and made her feel more like a stereotype. @@juliusjohnson8046
@@gnosis_gaming Honestly just the immersion in the rest of the world and getting to enjoy the battle system and a full party after being disappointed by XVI
Kinda impressed you pointed out you got more addicted to the discourse than the actual game on this one... respect! Very few YT can tell the difference, or care to show they know the difference.
Thanks! Honestly, I'm getting a lot of flack for admitting I watched game reviews before buying and used them to make a purchasing decision. Later, I ended up giving the game a try and liked it overall. Pretty normal stuff happening over here, folks. Haha.
@@gnosis_gaming I had a similar feeling going in... although I did watch no reviews. I let it sit on the shelf for 3 weeks thinking there was 0 chance it could live up to the original... I was very glad to be wrong and like you find myself way more optimistic going forward.
Good point! Though checking out Wikipedia, it seems Kitase isn't a writer either (he was a producer), though I still hold Nomura accountable as the game's director.
Personally, I can see Nomura's style all over Remake. Also, Kitase isn't listed as a writer, so I feel like it's fair to hold Nomura (as director) accountable @@nariya36
@@gnosis_gaming in all interviews was it said. That Kitase wanted most changes but Nomura and Hamaguchi stopt Kitase. And Nojima the writer for og 7 and remake has the challenge to please every opinion from the production team
@@rzxwm10 I can't believe I'm actually kind of hyped to see Genesis, but I am. I kind of one his story wrapped up now. It could be an interesting final boss / sidequest to a superboss
Imagine working on ff7 remake for 15 years for it to be just a retelling of the same story. This is way better. We get to explore characters more, add to the story and have the story actually be surprising
I agree with about 90% of this assessment. I think the story is pure genius if it’s going where I believe it’s going. FF7 Remake is a sequel to the original. And without knowledge of the original and advent children, it is very easy to miss that
FF7R got me to play the OG, and both OG and Remake series are probably some of my favorite games of all time. I actually love the slower parts (except for going back to the sewers lol fk that), simply because I love the world they made and the atmosphere.
@@gnosis_gaming honestly everything, I just can’t wait to be in the actual world of FF7, outside of Midgar. I was a high school freshman when Remake came out, and now i’m a college student, it’s been too long lmfao
It's so funny to hear your opinion on Aerith, because what I hear the most about her, is how happy people are that Remake made her be like she was in the original(flirty and a little silly), instead of the pure angel of angelical purity, that the Compilation turned her into.
dude i highly recommend watching maximillians vids about ff7r story particularly referring to sephiroth and aerith and how self aware they are, for example the first encounter with seph, all he's doing is trying to delay cloud from meeting aerith but the whispers stops that from happening
You forgot about one really strong pro: the music! Man they really have outdone themselves and you can feel the passion that went into it. They also seem to be aware of that since they implemented the piano mini game in rebirth
@@gnosis_gaming So I feel that they do. Arbiters of fate is not necessarily accurate, more what they feel like to the characters. They're not exactly wrong to be called that, but Rebirth's expansion on them does a lot for me. So some slight spoilers ahead: They're basically a representation of the planets will, and eventually, also of Seph's will. They represent the ongoing battle between the planet with Jenova and how much power/influence each has. Which fits directly in line with OG Seph's goals, he wants to utilize the power of the lifestream to become a god. The arbiters are the representation of this, the more he has, the closer he is to godhood. The reason they come off as "arbiters of fate" is because the planet doesn't quite know the crew is a source for "good", and you can even argue they're not. Specifically...Cloud isn't. Cloud is considered to be a major link to how Sephiroth still exists, and also is how Sephiroth gets to as close to successful as he gets, by way of acquiring and giving Seph the black materia. So the planet would do better by stopping Cloud from continuing. But what ends up happening is at the end of Remake Seph takes a big chunk of them under his control. So again, Cloud and co. are actually aiding Sephiroth here. Which I think is both the same as OG but also a twist.
Yeah, I had no idea what he was talking about. Like, other than her "knowing too much" her personality itself was literally completely unchanged from the original. Maybe his interpretation of her while playing the OG was colored by his own reading of the unvoiced text, but all the original character designers and writers from the OG are also the leads on Remake so they're objectively portraying these characters exactly as they originally intended. Hell, one of the biggest points of praise for the game even from detractors is that the casting i s spot on and the character writing just "feels right."
@@loki210with respect, if a character has complete knowledge of the future they are by definition, fundamentally not the same character. Saying this game has the same writers is also incorrect considering Sackaguchi isn’t present this time around and he was probably the single most important person on the original project being producer.
I HIGHLY encourage you to watch ProfNoctis' video on Train Graveyard. It will blow your mind. Also, Nojima is the main writer of the Remake, same as the OG. Nomura is not a writer per say. Although, everyone does have some input. BTW. I loved the Jessie chapter. It gives us expanded world building and expands upon Biggs, Wedge and Jessie as characters greatly. And I thought Aerith was perfect. Because Aerith's mentality and phyisicality are basically reversed. Tifa looks more like a badass, while Aerith looks more like a sweet girl. When it's kinda the opposite when it comes to personalities. Also, Aerith is choosing her words in Remake very purposefully and deliberately.
The game indeed has other writers, though Nomura was the creative director of the project and his signature style is visible everywhere. And the Jessie chapter is fun! "Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama." www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
Just picked up remake today, but Aerith called herself a tomboy type character, but really in the original, she really wasn't. I can't think of a single scene there where she actually showed that's what she was. From when you first run into her in the church and she's running from Reno, hopping very slowly from, (was it sector 7?) to the higher plate.
This is total garbage Nomura was in charge of the project and any changes in the game had to get his approval. In this interview Nojima specifically references having to get Nomura's permission to implement changes. Furthermore in this interview the story was written collaboratively between them. "When I first approached Nojima to write the scenario I told him I wanted to do it in this way." - Quote from Nomura, explaining that he told Nojima how he wanted the story to go. "I couldn't come up with any other ideas besides this so when I first showed it to Nomura I had to explain everything to ensure he didn't say no" - Quote from Nojima, explaining that he had to get Nomura to approve story changes. The reality is that the writer doesn't write the story and then hand it to the director when it is finished. The writer takes concepts and ideas and rough drafts and storyboards and turns that into a completed screenplay/script/etc. Source: game8.co/games/Final-Fantasy-VII-Remake/archives/286914#hl_5
So I never played the original ff7, only the remake. I even went like 22 years without ever knowing the story 😂 but I really enjoyed ff7 remake, and maybe one day I’ll visit the og ff7. Also I thought Aerith was the cutest character!!! She really came off as someone I personally wanted to protect throughout the story. Also really enjoyed your video!
The ship has probably sailed by now the original has just aged a bit too much to be enjoyable, however only playing the remake is like only watching the Most recent Star Wars trilogy, not the original. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are all still in it but they're not the same and the story is not nearly as good. This star wars thing might seem okay but you won't understand the cultural impact unless you experience the original three films. In the same way you've played the remake, which is basically fanfiction. They've made so many changes to character, plot and themes that it's a graphically better version but alternatively much weaker. I wouldn't recommend you play the original though, in 1997 the graphics and text bubbles weren't detrimental to the experience but they certainly would be now.
Unfortunately the fillers were a necessary evil. They knew they had to stretch what amounted to just 2 hours of content in the original to fit a full 60 hour triple A game
Remake nailed Aerith imo. I wasn’t happy about the early Sephiroth reveal either, however as I eventually finished the game I understood what they were going for. I’m excited for rebirth though !
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that Aerith´s childish manners are part of the twist because she has knowledge of the future. She tries to play pretend she never experienced the outcome of the future and plays her past self in an exaggerated way. Keep up the good work :)
@@BlackSailPass_GuitarCovers it depends on your taste if you dislike the time and space continuum to fuse, people already fused with the lifestream (Aerith and Sephiroth) being able to experience past, present and future at the same time.
@@BlackSailPass_GuitarCovers Its not a twist, its just speculation. None of what he said has been confirmed in any way. If people stopped listening to the bunk they hear on the internet, people would start enjoying things again.
@renoslash1890 you don't need confirmation. Don't be lazy and expect the dev to spoonfeed you the answers. You can enjoy things again when you explore and exercise your creative processes.
Loved the OG and love Remake. while I agree about some of the padding I really don't mind. The gameplay is so good that I'm just happy to get to do more combat during those sections and most of the sidequests end with unique and challenging fights so while they are not the most interesting storywise for me they are worth it for the fights. Most of the new story stuff i think is pretty good as well, I mean Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were barely characters in the OG and i felt nothing about their deaths back then, and all the new stuff in wall market was a blast. More than happy for them to take time to flesh out characters if they want me to care about them. The only bit I'm iffy on is stuff to do with the plot ghosts. Not sure where that's going and guess I'll have to wait till it's done to decide if I like it or not but honestly even if i don't end up liking where they take that particular element everything else is so great that it won't bother me too much.
@@gnosis_gaming Oh Gold Saucer no question. I mean I'm obviously looking forward to all the big story moments done with this level of presentation but as long as they nail the Gold Saucer Rebirth will be a win in my books!
A pretty consistent trend I've found with criticism of Remake is this - people who didn't consume or didn't like the compilation content (Crisis Core, Advent Children, etc.) tend to like Remake a lot less than the people that did like the Compilation. It stands to reason since the Remake includes a lot of elements from the compilation. To me, it was obvious that they would continue the trend of the later games in terms of backstory, retcons, etc. But I have a lot of sympathy for those who wanted/expected a straight up remake of the original game. I'd have liked that too. Unfortunately, it just strikes me as economically nonviable to make a game as *BIG* as the original FF7 with the constraints of modern graphical expectations. Cloud was 20 polygons and a flat image in the original. I'm sure his hair in remake has more vertices than the whole of Midgar did in OG. The trend of Final Fantasy since 10 has been a gradual limitation of scope and increase in fidelity, like all modern AAA games just due to the cost in dollars and manpower it takes to make them. SE has had this issue with every modern FF game, FF15 was indev for 10 years for instance, and it's way smaller than 7 or even 7R. A full remake of 7 would have taken 20 years and cost us 200 bucks to buy at that pace. So they had to make Midgar for the first game, an experience that took maybe 3-6 hours of the OG. Nobody would have accepted Remake if it was that length, so they padded it out, and they took heavily from compilation material to do so. They fleshed out the characters, made extra side missions that don't feel as connected to the plot - it's a compromise, but I don't know what else they could have possibly done that would have been better. The real joy of remake is watching those scenes from the original but remade with beautiful new graphics and direction. In any case I think I fundamentally agree with your take here, the game is definitely not perfect but it's the best piece of FF7 media outside of the original game by a mile, lol
I think we agree! For me, I think the game may have been better with some editing. IF they had made a great 20-30 hour mainline story, the game would have benefitted from it, and then they could have added in lots of side content that was completely option for people who wanted to spend more time playing.
I mean. They created final fantasy 10 in almost no time at all, and that game looked fantastic. People've been asking for a visual update to the original FF7 since all the way back then - and that was 2001. They had enough time. I'd outright disagree with any takes about characters being fleshed out, though... if anything, they were torn apart and made into copy-paste versions of each other. Tifa is no longer freaked out about the fact Cloud is clearly off his rocker and filled with false memories, Jessie is no longer a vet from the war with wutai that ara-aras at cloud, sephiroth... sephiroth. I could go on for days.
I feel that it's less about them only having time to make Midgar and that Square has gotten insanely greedy over the years and they realized that FF7 fans will eat up anything with the name on it buy a single game stretched out into 3, no questions asked.
FF7 wasn't that big, neither would've it taken 20 years to remake it. Remaking something like 6 in 3D however, would've understandably taken 20 years due to many factors.
Great video! Im starting to shift the same way was kind of turned off from playing the remake, but recently warchinhg Max Doods and Symbalilys playthroughs, and also seeing how incredible rebirth looks are changing my mind to that
As a lover of the OG, I was really glad I played the remake to 100% before I watched any online content and was able to form my own opinions without being clouded by the negativity. Sure, there are a few key story moments I would alter but I do love remake and am excited for rebirth
Okay like I get your complaints but using Nomura as your way to complain about the plot ghosts is crazy. Nomura gets such a bad wrap despite all the devs saying Nomura is the one lead dev that wanted to keep the story strictly the same as the original.
Well, I think that since he's the creative director, he bears some responsibility. "Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..." www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
@@gnosis_gaming Nomura recently came out about how he found it funny how often concepts that he didn't come up with are attributed to him in a very recent interview. The "plot ghosts" as people like to call them are not his idea as this would be against his goal of trying to keep the story as close to the original as possible. Kitase is realistically the most likely person to come up with the changes as he's consistently said to be the one that wants to change the story the most. Yes, Nomura was the creative director for Remake, but *numerous* interviews have made it clear that they all were trying to make sure they were equally responsible and all were getting a compromise of what they wanted in this trilogy. Nomura wanting to be more strict, Kitase wanting to go all over the place. I think they're hitting a nice balance personally.
It's true that FF7 Remake is a collaborative project, but at the end of the day Nomura was the man in charge. Being the creative head of a major project at a Japanese company, I think it's fair that he ultimately bears responsibility for the final product, even if every aspect of the game was not his idea in particular. His influence over the game is obvious stylistically, and his signature style is everywhere.@@TheLegendOfLame
@@gnosis_gaming once again, you're not looking into the facts of the matter and that the staff in multiple interviews say they all make sure to come to an agreement on something before a decision is made. Nomura doesn't just overwrite decisions others want because he had "control of the project" or whatever. If he did, the game would be a fairly 1:1 remake of the original.
"For Nomura, it was clear that a simple 1-1 remake wouldn’t do the iconic tale justice. “There were a number of successful remade games out there - and looking at them and how they turned out, I realised that if we just made it a better looking version of the original game it probably … wouldn’t have become the scale of project that it is, and it probably wouldn’t have worked out. To get people interested and give players the motivation to play through it again, we needed to change Final Fantasy Seven...'" www.theguardian.com/games/2023/sep/21/the-makers-of-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere%20were%20a%20number%20of,wouldn't%20have%20worked%20out. @@TheLegendOfLame
Didn't even know there were "FF7 Sucks" videos out there. I really love remake even with FF7 original being my favorite game of all time. As for Aerith's personality I adore her in remake when I never really connected with her in the original. Absolutely can't wait for rebirth and like you said Remakes combat system is the best action combat in an RPG.
Out of curiosity, did you play with Japanese or English voice acting? Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm glad that Aerith was a hit for you. I didn't hate her. I just had something else in mind.
This might be a hot take, but I think the devs are much better writers of characters and world building than of plots. This even goes for the classic age of Final Fantasy from VII-X. For example, FFVIII has some really wild and downright bonkers twists and turns but I love it anyway cause of its amazing characters (though I didn’t like Squall at first cause he was such an ass 😂). While I agree the plot writing in FFVII is questionable at times, what keeps me invested is the masterful character writing. I didn’t mind Sephiroth’s inclusion in the game though I’ll admit, it felt like he didn’t have much to do other than taunt Cloud since his story doesn’t really start until after Midgar. Besides, not including at all, might’ve felt anticlimactic so who knows. After playing the Rebirth demo though, oh boy they did him justice. Aerith is my favourite FF character ever. She is so sweet, kind and optimistic. She has such an innocent personality that might seem childlike at first but is actually wise beyond her years and has an infectious love for life. Like all the characters, she hides her trauma behind a mask which is her bright smile. Sorry for rambling but I’m just excited for what Rebirth has to offer. Really great video
The "filler" type of content that bothered me was: inefficient interactions. Crossing a plank, squeezing between a cramped space, slow-controlling contraptions in mini-game segments, drawn-out "walk backs" (when you went somewhere you weren't supposed to), drawn-out animations of pulling levers or turning a wheel, etc., etc. It's actually rampant. You can see there is a problem with the entire design approach for the game. So many aspects of the game waste just a tiny bit of the players time. It's everywhere, and it's grating! There are definitely developers cognizant about making their games streamlined, efficient, and fluid. While some aspects of FF7R are efficient (such as combat), much of the rest of the game simply isn't.
Yeah, it can be grating how frequently the game makes you slow down. Apparently it was a design choice in order to avoid loading screens between sections.
Gotcha. Well with the full transition to ps5 for Rebirth, I'm praying they'll be able to iron that out a bit. However, I've seen several red flags that it's still going to be an issue. How bad though, we'll have to see. @@gnosis_gaming
My favorite area was Mt Corel. It was so absolutely beautiful, with the scenery and the music is my favorite one from all final fantasies, and the sun setting on the horizon behind an abandoned rollercoaster, and the bird's nest with the chicks making cute noises... I've just come to terms that there won't be another one of these. I'll see the playthroughs online of this area just for curiosity probably, but it's probably gonna have a hundred npcs and their sidequests yapping about how BEAUTIFUL that place is, instead of just... Well let's be fair to the remake, the original was just art Either way, i love your channel man, cheers!
My God am I looking forward to Rebirth now. As you said the battle system in the remake is absolutely fantastic and seeing they added even more things in Rebirth in that regard is getting me REALLY excited. I've also never played the original so I didn't really notice the filler story bits at first, but you've definitely got a solid point there lol
@@gnosis_gaming in the trailer I saw that there's going to be some syncronised moves which I'm very curious about. Also really want to pick up the story where remake left off. But the thing I'm looking forward to most has to be just being in this universe again :)
Yeah , i don't like all the changes they did , i personally only wanted OG FF7 with advent children graphics. Plus, them doing this all part by part is also ridiculous imo , they are barely past disc 1 , this will take them so many more years to finish this game .
Respect for publicly admitting you have changed your mind. You don't often see that. I was disappointed by the remake and the latest demo but can't seem to look away; interested to hear your thoughts on 'FFVII: Rebirth'.
I had to let go of a lot of hopes about what I wanted a Remake to be in order to enjoy this, but I'd rather be enjoying this for what it is than hating it.
I feel like I’m Rebirth to make the padding better they should have more added scenes that weren’t in the OG so that way they don’t have to stretch the the stuff that was in OG nearly as much while also giving us cool new content.
I enjoyed the combat system a lot as well. In many ways it made the bland side quest fun because it was an excuse to participate in more battles. I noticed a lot of commenters acting like they worked on this game and knew who made every key creative decision. Somehow I imagine the Create Director being part of that like you mentioned. I am hyped for Rebirth!
One of the changes I wanted to happen for the remake was fleshing out more of the villains of the Shinra panel such as scarlet, heideggar, and hojo. Sadly they’re just bigger stereotypes of their former self’s
I think it's disingenuous to imply the story "issues" are because of nomura. They are all Nojima. Nojima wrote the original and every subsequent stories. The "bonkers" ideas have always been a thing with him and VII. Also the story issues are less issues once you realise that this is not a remake in nature (that name meaning more story wise than descriptor) and is instead a sequel to VII, Advent Children and all of the other prior VII games. The world has been remade. Not the game. It is also why Sephiroth acts differently and appears earlier.
Thanks for your input! I see a lot of claims on here that Nomura wanted a 1-1 remake and pushed against big changes, but I can't find any evidence for that. As the creative director, I think it's fair game to hold him accountable for the final product. "For Nomura, it was clear that a simple 1-1 remake wouldn’t do the iconic tale justice. “There were a number of successful remade games out there - and looking at them and how they turned out, I realised that if we just made it a better looking version of the original game it probably … wouldn’t have become the scale of project that it is, and it probably wouldn’t have worked out. To get people interested and give players the motivation to play through it again, we needed to change Final Fantasy Seven..." www.theguardian.com/games/2023/sep/21/the-makers-of-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere%20were%20a%20number%20of,wouldn't%20have%20worked%20out. "Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..." www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
I thougt the Sephiroth parts in remake were strange , but after playing the rebirth demo "Sephiroth'" showing in up in chapter 2 makes so much more sense.
Sorry to be yet another person disagreeing with you in the comments but I don’t think the section with Jessie’s house was filler. That whole section is all about expanding on her as a character as well as getting us more aquatinted with and letting us spend more time with her, Wedge, and Biggs. To my recollection they weren’t all that big of a part in the original. So I really appreciate the game letting them shine.
I just finished FF7R and it was WONDERFUL (for context, I played FF7 back in 2006 and greatly enjoyed the FF7:AC movie). The Remake’s story and characters are very well developed, acted and rendered.
Game design is tough, and it's probably really hard to change stuff if a great deal of the game was already made, though I'd hope they were open to hearing what fans had to say as much as possible. Thanks for watching and commenting!
"Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors." www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/ Thanks for sharing your thoughts, though! I did enjoy myself a lot while playing. By the way, what are you most looking forward to about Rebirth? @@aj-mindalex1448
Also I think many OGs forget an important detail from the original that is also at play here in the Remake. Most of your encounters with "Sephiroth" arent actual encounters with Sephiroth, they are encounters with Jenova cell infused test experiments.
The train yard and the turning off the lights were my biggest gripes. There’s some changes I loved and some I didn’t. I hope rebirth improves upon that.
I'm hoping Rebirth will have less/none of the 'Destiny' and 'Change fate' shenanigans that Remake had; it was very off-putting. I also agree Sephiroth was revealed way too early and wasn't utilized properly. There were also a few other minor things that bugged me, but overall, a good game. I don't mind adding more to uplift an already great story, but changing things bugs me.
Most of the expanded content I liked, actually. The worst stuff was the side quests which as you said, are skippable. I thought the scene with Jessie's parents was great and those characters definitely needed some more screen time. Sephiroth doesn't need to be a mystery anymore, we all already know him. Also think you're way off with Aerith, her personality wasn't much different in the original.
I know I included 'filler content' in my list of negatives, but there was also good filler content! I loved seeing more of Midgar, for example. And I'm glad you liked Aerith! She just didn't land right for me. I hope she'll grow on me and that I'll like her more in Rebirth. For me, Sephiroth being shown so early could have been okay if it weren't for the fact that his personality was really flat, like cardboard. He just said a lot of mysterious, 'evil' sounding stuff, so I didn't find him a very compelling villain. Thanks for watching and commenting! What are you most excited about for Rebirth?
The Algorithm brought me your 'Loneliest Final Fantasy' Video which I loved :) This video was cool too. I had my gripes with Remake, but over time, I kinda took it for what it is and I do enjoy it. Rebirth is a much better game and although I do wish this wasn't a weird-sequel (there is not way that it is not), it was really cool to see how things are going.
Just my personal feeling. Her mannerisms didn't land right for me. But overall, this game's characterization and voice acting are fantastic! What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
Played the OG at release in September 1997 - my goat. I loved FF7 Remake and looking forward to Rebirth. Things I did not like was some padding, the bright arrows and the slow moving parts.
I kinda agree with Aerith, for one side i think they done her personality justice, she have the exactly personality that she had on the original, i don't think the game treats her like the angelic otherwordly figure like Kingdom Hearts, but they kinda messed up with this (supposly) future stuff with Whispers and all. She is herself when this stuff isn't happening. And i completly agree with Sephiroth, if they were more restraint with his apperrances, it would make a big impact when we see him or when we play with him on Rebirth. But you know, unfotunally they had to break the fourth wall, make some kind of sequel to the original, meta stuff, etc...
I just wasn't keen on the last chapter. Went from trying to escape midgar to suddenly fighting three kingdom hearts entities and a (i felt was quite forced) sephiroth fight jumping around advent children level going on about fate where only a few hours prior Tifa couldn't get into a security booth without carefully slowly climbing on light fixtures. The midgar highway was a perfect setup for a rematch with Roche too. Why would Roche just sit that one out? Could of just had trying to fight off Roche and the big arse flamethrower tank thing together instead.
The game could have benefitted from pulling back a bit and editing some of the dungeon segments. I started to get a lot of gaming fatigue during the escape from the Shinra facility.
You're not wrong, friend. I'm optimistic for Rebirth, but I'm also... confused about the direction. If the first game gave us Midgar, and the second game gives us Gold Saucer (maybe a little further?), I'm almost certain they're either going to cut significant story beats to finish everything for game 3, or else we'll be given some odd, alternate ending that fits the remade series, rather than the original. But, what do I know? Maybe the filler isn't gunna hog much more of our time. Doubt it, but maybe.
I think final fantasy 7 remake would be better if it didnt have so much kingdom hearts-like content. Some people respond better to it, but for me its very cringy and uncomfortable, and although i did enjoy kingdom hearts, its because i overlooked the story completely. But in final fantasy 7 remake, i want to relive the story of the old one, i WANT to pay attention, but these goofy details keep making me look away. It's like everyone is a childish anime character, instead of Elmyra, using your example.
For some theory / context into the sephiroth and aerith of remake. If you consider that both died in the OG game and knowing how sephiroth embedded himself into the life stream you can infer that both characters are remnants of their advent children selves
@@gnosis_gamingI wanted to ask you if may have interpreted the story wrong maybe? From what me and my friends seem to have come up with is that this game is not Remake but a sequel story to the compilation. That Aerith already knows about here death and so does Sephiroth. That's why there's differences in the game like Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie being alive. (Jessie maybe).
@@KonEl17 I touch on the fact that it's a sequel near the very end of my video. I don't particularly love that idea, but I can enjoy the other parts for what they are.
I see what you're saying, but as someone who grew up with the original, I can't take my memories of the OG completely out of the equation, though I did give this game a fair shot and enjoyed it for what it was. What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
I think this “filler” content is actually a positive to the game. Sure not all of it is good, but I see it as a way to bring more character to the city of midgar, getting to know more about its residents and how they feel about the world around them. Also, the expanded story parts give many of the main characters opportunities to grow. The chapter about Jesse and her parents is a good example, as let’s us in on her life and personal goals, making her death later in the game more impactful. None of this was in the original game. Not to say og is bad or anything, quite the opposite, but I feel like this filler content is mostly a strength than a flaw. I can’t speak for everyone, but I enjoy it
just leting you knew Nomura wasnt realy for the changes. He wantet a 1 to 1 remake . It was Nojima and Kitase that added the Whispers and such. Part if the reason was simply Set up for the plotpoints and twists to be more Organic. Another Was to end all things FF7. However yes theRemakeproject is Nomuras and he basicly directs all parts in it including the Mobile games.. But he and Hamaguchi ar making Sure Nojima doesnt take it to far.
Thanks for commenting! I think Nomura, being the director, bears responsibility for the final outcome. "Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..." www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
I wouldn’t worry too much about getting on the hate train early on. A lot of people (way more than are willing to admit) also jumped on that hate train, a lot are still on it. I absolutely detested the end of Remake (still not a big fan) but the combat system and the areas I just love. I only wish we could explore more of Midgar (like Chapter 4 where you visit Jessie’s mother/father, seeing the metro upper plate, filled me with nostalgia for some reason lol). Like a lot of people, I enjoyed Aerith’s character and thought her English VA hit it out the park. Part 2 looks way better in about every way though thankfully. Can’t wait to see Gold Saucer and the big Weapons likely in part 3.
Some spoilers in my post from Remake... The Sephiroth and Aerith critique is definitely valid, but one has to take into consideration they are different from their originals. They know/are aware of what's going on. Sephiroth more directly as the popular (all but confirmed) theory is he's the same Sephiroth from Advent Children who's ridden the lifestream back in time, while Aerith learned about what happened through the lifestream in the intro cinematic (where she's kneeling in front of the pipes before walking into the street). If you pay attention to her dialogue throughout the game and specially when she first meets Cloud, you can tell she knows what's up, especially Sephiroth. This would undoubtedly change one's way of acting going through the same events again with prior knowledge.
That was a great review, I'm glad you managed to experience the game yourself after years of that "What if it's bad?" due to internet ragebait. I myself really love FFVII Remake; it was the main reason I bought a PS4 back in the day. And I cannot wait for FFVII Rebirth finally launching on PC next week (I never got a PS5). I know FFVII Remake is very divisive among the community, especially diehard fans who wanted a 1:1 recreation of the original game, but I really like the remake. Personally, I think that the changes to the story are great (Whispers aside, that was the most Nomura thing to ever Nomura) as well the added scenes and expanded areas that help flesh out the characters way more; aside from Elmyra, I actually like how the game gives you a different side of Avalanche's actions; exploring Sector 8 in ruins after the Make Reactor #1 blows up, seeing the general population in desperation, really explores the human side of this game. And to me any excuse to see more of these characters interacting and talking to each other is fantastic, from the cutscenes down to the small banters while you're exploring Midgar. I can perfectly understand the complaint about the filler content, but even the most annoying parts of thi game (like the Collapsed Expressway in Chapter 7) expand Aerith's character and her relationship with Cloud (and sheds some hints on Zack). I do agree that visiting Jessie's parents was probably not needed but it does show how Shinra affects the life of the general population, and adding that bit of her father being in a coma due to Mako poisoning serves as a foreshadowing for Cloud's later in the story. Sorry, but I hard disagree with your take on Aerith. She is _exactly_ like that in the original game. Advent Children painted Aerith as this "Virgin Mary" character, which is far from what she has always been. She grew up in the slums, she's pretty "ThugLife", and uses her street smarts to get around Midgar really well; she's not a frail damsel. And even in the original game she has many moments of being childish to fish for Cloud's attention while competing with Tifa. But in Remake they also fleshed out her friendship with Tifa rather than forcing that love triangle. Yes, she ultimately accepts her fate and sacrifices herself, but only after she discovers more about the Cetra and their role in the protecting planet. The combat in this game is the best Action JRPG system I've ever seen, no joke. It feels so intuitive, and the fact it encourages you to constantly swap between characters since the non-active party members play defensively is great. I hate playing games like the Tales Of series where the party AI is a liability, with characters constantly eating damage for free and dying, forcing me to spend more time babysitting than actual fighting. And yes, boss fights are fantastic, like they're from MMOs with multiple phases and patterns. To me, personally, FFVII Remake is how you proper remake a game, even with all the bumps (which hopefuly the dev team learned from). It's not meant to replace the original game, and that's great. Nomura and Kitase know this, and that's why they purposedly made so many changes to the story; they made Remake its own thing in a "separate timeline". My only big peeve with FFVII Remake is the same as yours, about Sephiroth. I don't like how he's obsessed with Cloud; in the original game he barely even acknowledges Cloud until the end of the game. To him Cloud is just another tool for his ultimate goal to take control of the Lifestream and become a god. There are some wild fan theories that there are two Sephiroths in FFVII Remake, one being the Jenova clone and the other being Sephiroth from Advent Children that somehow managed to return his consciousness back in time. Maybe Rebirth tackles on that, but again I didn't play it yet and been dodging spoilers since it launched on the PS5.
Great video as always! Interesting to see the perspective of someone who played the OG. For me personally, Aerith was kinda cute and interesting, she and Sephiroth seemed to kinda know everything that was going on. I loved his appearance at the beginning bc I really just didn’t know who he was and it was a pleasure every time he was on screen, made me curious about the story all the time. I think he is overused tho, and I think this mostly falls on how they decided to split the story. They needed to establish him to make the game (that would only be first chapter of the OG) more engaging. Kinda enjoy the train graveyard too, thought it was moody, but I didn’t play the OG, so idk.(looking forward to see it in the OG when I play it) I don’t like that Sephiroth was the final boss bc, as I understand, he is the final boss of the OG right? It kinda cheapens that a little bit. But I enjoy the thing about destiny’s crossroads and the fact that they broke the heralds of destiny, meaning everything might change. I like that it is a sequel. Good to know you enjoyed the game! That’s the thing about the most hardcore fans, some are more open minded then others. The game was marketed as a remake, not a sequel. So I understand people expecting the same and getting disappointed. A lot of From Software fans don’t like sekiro bc it deviates from the formula, but it’s my favorite game from them🤷♂️ It’s hard not to fall for the hate train when you see opinions from people who, like yourself, really enjoyed the OG, props to you for giving it a fair chance!
Yup, the final Sephiroth boss fight of the Remake is a lot like the final boss fight of the Original, so it's surprising they stuffed it in at the end there. It makes sense they needed something 'big' to finish off this first part, but it could have easily been something else. I certainly didn't hate Aerith here or anything - I guess coming into the game with a lot of expectations is a lot of baggage though！ BTW, the train graveyard in the original takes like 5 minutes to get through. You just move some abandoned trains around in order to cut through to Sector 7.
@@gnosis_gaming ohh I see, yeah, they definitely make some parts bigger than they should, you did well not to play the side quests. I always do them, and there is narrative reward for some of them, but they are not great, feel too fetch questy, FFXVI sides felt the same but worse bc there were a lot of them, idk why not just make fewer, but better quality, it hurts the overall experience (still loved XVI tho)
@@gnosis_gaming Definitely! I like it more than VII remake. The story is amazing, the gameplay too. Some of the best and most ridiculous boss fights in videogames, really great spectacle and design. Sides are definitely the low points, bc you will want to do them, but they are busy work for the most part. The characters are really charismatic and I looved how they incorporated “summonings”. I did vibe with the demo, but it definitely doesn’t make the game justice, I think you’ll really enjoy it
I like the way the game is linear and slow paced in places. It captures the constraints of life in Midgar in my opinion. Sets the next game up perfectly. I do see your point though it's nice to see a well thought out and objective breakdown of your opinions. There were aspects of remake that grated a bit, like some of the pointless side quests.
I feel like you haven’t quite realized yet that this game is a sequel. For me, that realization elevated a lot of the parts that seem lacking. Rebirth is seemingly going to end up making that a lot more obvious.
@@12ealDealOfficial i don’t disagree. Actually feel like i will enjoy replaying it more because i’ll skip a lot of the bloat and have a more condensed experience.
@@BlackSailPass_GuitarCovers This is what's wrong with people today. How on earth can you come to a conclusion either way about story changes if you didn't experience the story in the first place?
@@renoslash1890 I forgive you for describing me as 'everything wrong with people today' based on one comment. My view is this - with the ability to watch longplays and read detailed Wiki articles, it is possible to experience the game and understand the plot beats without actually holding the controller yourself.
I’m turning 45 next week and the first game I bought with my own money was Final Fantasy seven. I’ve played everything except for the MMO‘s since then and FF seven is my favorite. As a bonus I’ve been in LA for almost 20 years now, and was a part of a theater company where I got to be friends with John, Eric Bentley so When remake was announced, I lost it. Super excited about the game. I’m super excited about rebirth as I think that’s going to be game of the year for sure but also game of the decade possibly. I will agree though the timeline side of things might get a little confusing, so I’m leery on that point. Seer totally got schoen off way too early way way too early. That was my biggest gripe to be honest but I really enjoyed remake and I’m in the middle of my hard mode play through ahead of rebirth. Good video I hope you’re well.
Square Enix knew the task of recreating FF7 was impossible as it was too beloved. That's why they set about to subvert expectations and introduce the Whispers, which are trying their best to ensure Cloud follows his 'destined' path....i.e a faithful frame-by-frame absolute recreation of the be loved original. You can look at Whispers as an analogy for the fans themselves; they try to keep things the same and I think it's smart that the player gets wrestle this control away from the Whispers and start a new story. The whole point is that Rebirth now has the freedom (hence the open world) to be it's own game, after getting past the battle with fans accepting what Remake actually is.
I definitely agree with you on the puzzles and the expanded areas. I also thought the sewers and the train graveyard was waaaayyy too “filler content.” But I actually thought Aerith was more snarky in this than any portrayal of Aerith since the OG. Have you seen her in Kingdom Hearts? She’s an airheaded gumbo in that version. FFVII Remake did her right, even making her cuss at some points
tbh i feel like standing still and talking is the better option if you can skip text as i often tend to read faster than the voice acting. Running around and hearing the characters talk like in ff13 was the best choice and cutscenes as a reward. But this slow movement where you are forced to explore/listen to the games pace is the worst. Reminds me why i almost hated god of war (4). Either let me chill, relax and listen or move and play...
I basically share all the same criticism as you. The ending of Remake left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. Back when it dropped we were fresh off the pandemic and tensions were at an all time high, the next title announced to release in the series was a garbage mobile battle royale shooter, and the conversation surrounding the next Remake title was largely about how much it was going to be delayed. Needless to say my hope for the series was at an all time low. Luckily now all my doubts have dissolved and I’m happy to hear that Rebirth stays more true to the source material. I cannot wait to jump in!
2:41 you do realize the original ffvii Midgar segment was 5 hours long. Would you really want a 5 hour ff game? They had to expand the story. I would be pissed if I played remake for 5 hours and square say "see you in 4 years" no thanks
Thanks for commenting! Later in the video, I mention some of the great expansion content. 'Filler' stuff is just what I thought was unnecessary. I think the game needed a bit of editing and could have been a better game if it was slightly shorter. What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
Whenever I play FFVII i try to get out of Midgar as fast as possible. In Remake I am stuck in that shithole city all game. I still love Remake even though it's mostly bloated additions to the game. Completely agree about Sephiroth, but Aerith was great for me. I also love how Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were people I cared about. Biggs and Jessie hit me the feelers.
Remake was great for what it was. It was a great door for new players into this world. But Rebirth... Everything good is still there but everything bad gets cranked to 11 and I cannot recommend Rebirth for anyone who is not a HC original ff7 fan. They completely changed the message of the game. Original ff7: You can become better and you can fix a broken world. Do the right thing. FF7 rebirth: You have to defy destiny!
I started playing FF VII when I was 11, and hasn´t stopped since. I was afraid as well to play Remake, and when I did, i actually share most of what you say, but what bothers me personally, personally because I know a lot of other people don´t, it´s that for me it feels like all the characters are kind of stupid. How they speak, the intention they put on their voices, or "childish" reactions which are not in a comedy contrast, which we know this game has a lot. IN SPITE, I also got a very grateful surprise, and left me with more hope than anything else. Love this analysis videos dude, carry on, you make a really good work
Having expectations is the killer of enjoying Remake/Rebirth. If you have expectations for how things should be, you're more than likely going to be disappointed. But if you go into it with an explorative mindset and let your expectations fade into the background, you're going to love these games. Edit: I doubt you will enjoy Rebirth though. To help explain - I agree that the most satisfying parts of Remake are the more grounded ones. In Rebirth, they take some of the flamboyance that was in Remake and put it on steroids. I'm still mostly enjoying Rebirth personally, but you seem much more of a purist and there's quite a few parts of Rebirth that are absolutely over the top.
As someone who only played about a third of the original before Remake, I didn't mind seeing more Sephiroth. I agree he wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed all the questions I had. Aerith was great! They made her feel special. She clearly knows more than she's letting on, but she chooses to remain positive. That optimism feels true to her character to me. Diving into the theory/lore videos that people have been posting has been a fun experience. They've really made me look at the actions of both characters with intrigue.
@@gnosis_gaming They all seemed relatively cartoony to me. But I understand if you feel it just doesn't work for some characters. I hope the next game blows your expectations away. :)
I agree with a lot of your assessment. A lot of areas seem to be placed to extend the length of the game. The pacing in FF7R is all over the place… In some areas it blows you away, like with the Hell House battle & the ending boss battles, but in other areas it feels unnecessary and boring. Chapter 17 is incredibly boring to me, and I absolutely hated messing with those switches. Beyond that, I loved the combat, the story (including how they handled Aerith and the rest of the team), the boss battles were done exceptionally well, and the game has a magic to it with its charming exposition and the well made interactions between the characters. The evolution of how Barret and Cloud’s relationship was so satisfying.
As an "OG" who played FF7 when it came out at 15. Getting a new spin on a story that was already rushed and poorly translated with expanded content and context is great. I would not have cared if they just deluxe remastered it.
The game I knew and love as a kid is still there. FF7R feels like something that grew as I did and thats ok. My favorite game grew and changed with me and I actually get to enjoy it and see other people enjoy it.
The one thing I have learned from reviewers is that they are showing the subject in their mindset. To find out what you really think of a game/movie/book/whatever, you should at least try the thing.
When it comes to Sephiroth I completely agree, I know why they wanted him in there, and I know some people were happy that they got to fight Sephiroth at all but it doesn't change the fact that it weakens the impact of Sephiroth's character and the mystery surrounding him. Aerith on the other hand I actually prefer in Remake, I don't find her to be all that memorable in the original game to be honest with you, it often felt like she had the least interactions with other characters which made me not really care when she was killed off, she has more moments here and I guess helps me understand why people liked her.
Regards to Sepiroth appearig to soon and throwing cryptic messages to Cloud, makes sense when you replay the game. Let me ask you a question: In all of Final Fantasy compilation, when did you start to see him appearing with a black feathered wing?
Thanks for commenting! I think that as the creative director, it's fair to place a lot of responsibility at Nomura's step. "Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..." www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
So, I understand your perspective as someone who played the original. But there's a few very important factors that you haven't kept in mind. I played the original as well. And when I first played the game, I wasn't a huge fan. I felt the same way. The revisionism confused me. But there's a couple of important things that made me realize 1. Why it's a great game. 2. Why it has great potential. It is a remake. Even in terms of story. They want to change the timeline so they can tell a new story. The whole point of Sephiroth feeling ambiguous, and unknown to the player is because at that point, he knows something we don't. The wraiths exist not as a cop out for Destiny, but for a designed goal. Sephiroth is most likely aware of these other timelines. Aerith has her arc in the train yard so that she better understands her connections to the lifestream and the planet. This was one of the many events building her up to be more aware. So when she tells Cloud and the group at the end of the game that they're about to head into Destiny's Crossroads, what lies ahead is not only unknown to her, but to the player as well. And it can seem very confusing at first. As up until this point, outside of revisions, the story was largely left in tact. However the final 2 bosses, being whisper Bahamut and Sephiroth tie the narrative together. The whispers represent the forces of fate trying to stop us from veering off path. They may even be future versions of our characters (or the original FF7 characters so to speak) trying to stop us from altering Sephiroths path. As if we do intervene, it might prevent Sephiroths defeat and lead to calamity again. Also should keep in mind, Cloud uses a sword, barret uses guns and tifa uses her hands. And all 3 whispers also share one of those attributes though. Now you might see that as a stretch, could go either way. But the important part is the ending. As upon defeating Sephiroth and the whispers, we've altered fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it. Which is why when Cloud speaks to Sephiroth at the edge of reality or whatever, Sephiroth seems more than aware of everything. Once again, still being vague to Cloud and the viewer. But he tells cloud that there's seven seconds left. This could be interpreted many ways. But what comes after is concrete. We see Zack suriviving his battle at the end of Crisis Core and carrying cloud to Midgar. And as Cloud and Zack walk towards Cloud and Aerith, though they don't react to each other, Aerith stops in her tracks for just a moment. Suggesting that she also sensed Zacks prescence. And After the Intergrade DLC, we receive another ending tying us into rebirth. We see Zack go to Aeriths Chruch only to find the injured civillians there. This means that Zack only arrived there AFTER we altered fate. Regardless, we see our characters traveling away from Midgar. And they hitch a ride. Rebirth's Demo takes place almost immediately after this. With cloud telling Red XIII and crew about the Nibelheim mission when Sephiroth went berserk. But Cloud was already a Soldier member at this point which doesn't make sense going off of the original timeline. We know it still takes place at the same period though because Tifa is still doing her normal routine and Cloud mentions that it's only been about two since he left Nibelheim. So I guess in this world he became a solider out of the gate and wasn't a member of Shinra before? Still unsure of that myself. But regardless, Zack was no where to be found, neither was genesis and Sephiroth kind of just loses his shit like last time in the library below the shinra mansion and massacres the town. Now it's quite obvious Zack will be seeing the other characters. Promotional art alone shows that. That was a lot to go over. But it was important to outline that the world FF7 Remake exists is NOT the world FF7 exists in. Some events have not gone down the same way. And because of their early introduction of Sephiroth and Jenova into the timeline will carry a greater purpose I feel going forward. Only Rebirth can really tell us what lies next. And I think Square was smart to do that. Sure, a remake of a very acclaimed game is cool. And they've been successful doing that before. Like with NieR for instance. But I think they really want to tell a new story with the world because not only is there many new things they can explore, but it also leaves the player more excited because it's new. You can't just play the old game and know what's gonna happen. But if you have played the old game, then you're rewarded by seeing some of those joyous things getting adapted again. I'm very excited to see FF7 Rebirth. And though FF7 Remake has it's flaws, I think that it did an excellent job setting up it's sequel. I think the presentation was misleading which is what made people dislike it. People were expecting a faithful remake of the FF7 story and while it does do that in many areas, that's not what their full intentions were and I think that resulted in confused fans hating the game because it's not what they expected.
I think the developers may have had better luck if they had marketed the game differently, because it was sold to fans as 'a' remake and not 'Remake,' if you know what I mean. Sometimes you need to make sure people enter the product with the right expectations.
The thing i hate most about FF7R is the obnoxious slow walking segments and just how clunky in general it feels to control Cloud outside of combat. Square put so much focus on making realistic moving animations that it gets really irritating when all i want is a consistent and speedy way to move Cloud from point A to B
Yeah i generally agree with this. I really liked the chapter 4 addition and Jessie was a star as well as the other avalanche members. Also, I was in complete awe when fighting Ghoul during the train graveyard that left me on another plane almost. But because of the points you mentioned, and for me some of the iconic scenes they straight up left out, it unfortunately doesn't surpass the OG. But i personally put it 2nd on my all time Squares greatest hits.
I am totally agree, with the cons. I am okay that it is a new adaptation of original, but when this story about parallel worlds, arbiters of fate and cringe dialogues, i dont want it. It feels like fan fiction mixed with the key events from original game
Great game but as a remake it was a let down. Enjoyed the nostalgic moments it had like cloud jumping from the train , and part where he looks up at the tower like in the og and leaving Aeris house without waking her up. Its a solid 8.5 out of 10
Liked this and can share som eof your points, thanks for the video. I did still enjoy Remake a lot and am actually replaying it now before Rebirth releases.
@@gnosis_gaming I'd say the more tedious filler parts definitely feel more tedious but overall am still very impressed with the best parts, also the PS5 upgrade shows in it too. For Rebirth am quite psyched about a lot of things, getting to go around the world more freely and many of the story points are going to be fun to see play out. Am little worried on the huge amounts of added content but seems like the optional can be left optional if wanted and the quality and effort that they are putting into it also seems outstanding. Are you planning on Rebirth?
It seems some of your problems with the game stem from the belief that this game is supposed to be a remake like the Resident Evil games recently when in fact it is more a sequel to Advent Children in a new timeline like the Abrams Star Trek movies. The events of the original compilation happened, and afterwards Sephiroth found a way out of the Lifestream and is trying to go back and change the events of the original game. Aerith follows to try and prevent it. The planet summons the whispers to try and protect the original timeline where the planet's will (lifestream) triumphed over meteor.
I have a problem with your third con, maybe you just worded it wrong but it seemed off to me. Firstly, Nomura is not the reason for the changes and additions to the story, he has said that he was the main one in the team who fought to keep it closer to the original. It was actually Kitase, the director and scenario writer of the original, that wanted a lot of the changes and he really wanted to change it a lot more, thus they met in the middle and the game became a sequel that uses the original story as a skeleton of sorts. Meaning that it is a new story, and with that your assessment is wrong. For example, the whispers (basically anything with them) and the party fighting destiny isn't foreshadowing, it's a plot point, they change their fate, it is literally the climax of the story. Or, when it comes to Sephiroth popping up more often and earlier than he did in the original, this is and change made not to pander nor to foreshadow, but to establish that this new Sephiroth is a lot more adamant when it comes to tormenting Cloud, and we'll definitely see more elaborate examples of that in Rebirth. Obviously, in hindsight, once the other games come out, this will be easier to understand. It's not more complex for the sake of it, it's a new story and what you see are the new plot points being added on top of the retelling of the original. Links to interviews that show Nomura gets more blame than he deserves from the people who don't link x change or y change. Turns out it's not "Kingdom Hearts bullshit" after all: www.pushsquare. com/news/2020/05/interview_final_fantasy_vii_remake_producer_and_co-director_on_development_launch_and_being_grateful_for_the_fans automaton-media. com/en/interviews/20240207-26820/
“Filler you can’t skip” = more opportunities to get back to the awesome combat. And all the “real fans” keep telling me that Aerith always had pieces of dialogue like she knew what was going on in the OG. And the OG sold 14 million, I’m tryna figure out how much mystery you can still keep intact.
I just didn't care for her characterization in this game -- mannerisms, etc. I'm glad so many people liked her! Just wasn't a hit for me. What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
The remake was the most enjoyable game I played for years and what I was absolutely craving for! I can't get enough of it. My only gripe was the filler quests in the slums to expand game time (find cats, anyone?). Otherwise it would have been a 10/10 for me.
Ill do my research on games before, and upon release... but, I also do my absolute best to never fall down that rabbit hole of hate. Hate videos are a strange thing. If a person doesnt like something they should just move on to what interests them. Its always all about the clicks from neckbeards with them. Im happy for you that you gave it a try for yourself.
So I didn't realize it until I watched a video but the Train Graveyard chapter is NOT filler content. It expands on Aerith's connection to the planet and the lifestream. It shows that she has struggled with that connection for her entire life, seeing the dead but not being able to interact with them and feeling truly alone quite often because of that. It also greatly foreshadows the final chapter of the game.
It's not filler but it does slow the pace where it should've a hurried section
The train graveyard was un the of ff7, of course its not filler, in remake it was just expanded upon alot
The part of the train graveyard that I didn't like was chasing the ghosts around the abandoned railway station.@@sirducksworthythe3rd842
I guess I just wasn't into this bit of story, and the abandoned train station facility seemed not very fun to play through. For me personally, the game would have been stronger if it got us through that whole area faster.
@gnosis_gaming I felt same with Hugo lab near the end of remake, way to long and boring
I can’t understand the Aerith take at all. She’s always been snarky and childish ever since the original. What is there to not buy when it comes to her character? Your take is valid ofc but I just can’t understand it from my point of view
I enjoyed this video a lot, but yeah that also threw me off lol. She's one of the strongest points of the game for me.
I enjoyed Aerith's character. It literally fits her
Hey, thanks for commenting! Some of her mannerisms just didn't land right for me. They seemed really cartoony and made her feel a bit more like a stereotype.
What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
I'm glad you liked the video! Some of her mannerisms just didn't land right for me. They seemed a bit cartoony and made her feel more like a stereotype. @@juliusjohnson8046
@@gnosis_gaming Honestly just the immersion in the rest of the world and getting to enjoy the battle system and a full party after being disappointed by XVI
Kinda impressed you pointed out you got more addicted to the discourse than the actual game on this one... respect! Very few YT can tell the difference, or care to show they know the difference.
Thanks! Honestly, I'm getting a lot of flack for admitting I watched game reviews before buying and used them to make a purchasing decision. Later, I ended up giving the game a try and liked it overall. Pretty normal stuff happening over here, folks. Haha.
@@gnosis_gaming I had a similar feeling going in... although I did watch no reviews. I let it sit on the shelf for 3 weeks thinking there was 0 chance it could live up to the original... I was very glad to be wrong and like you find myself way more optimistic going forward.
Btw Nomura was not the writer he was against most changes 😂. Kitase wanted more changes
people always blame nomura for these kinda things smh, he was the one pushing for the remake being the same as the og if i recall right
Good point! Though checking out Wikipedia, it seems Kitase isn't a writer either (he was a producer), though I still hold Nomura accountable as the game's director.
Personally, I can see Nomura's style all over Remake. Also, Kitase isn't listed as a writer, so I feel like it's fair to hold Nomura (as director) accountable @@nariya36
@@gnosis_gaming in all interviews was it said. That Kitase wanted most changes but Nomura and Hamaguchi stopt Kitase. And Nojima the writer for og 7 and remake has the challenge to please every opinion from the production team
@@gnosis_gaming He said in a current Interview that he knows that he is the blame Figur but he don't dont know why😂
Added story and expanded story is basically the reason this remake exists, and i'm all for it.
Some of the additions were fantastic. What are you most excited for in Rebirth?
I'm excited to see Cissnei, and maybe Genesis. It is not time for slumber...
@@rzxwm10 I can't believe I'm actually kind of hyped to see Genesis, but I am. I kind of one his story wrapped up now. It could be an interesting final boss / sidequest to a superboss
Imagine working on ff7 remake for 15 years for it to be just a retelling of the same story. This is way better. We get to explore characters more, add to the story and have the story actually be surprising
I agree with about 90% of this assessment. I think the story is pure genius if it’s going where I believe it’s going.
FF7 Remake is a sequel to the original. And without knowledge of the original and advent children, it is very easy to miss that
FF7R got me to play the OG, and both OG and Remake series are probably some of my favorite games of all time. I actually love the slower parts (except for going back to the sewers lol fk that), simply because I love the world they made and the atmosphere.
I like some of those parts too. What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
@@gnosis_gaming honestly everything, I just can’t wait to be in the actual world of FF7, outside of Midgar. I was a high school freshman when Remake came out, and now i’m a college student, it’s been too long lmfao
It's so funny to hear your opinion on Aerith, because what I hear the most about her, is how happy people are that Remake made her be like she was in the original(flirty and a little silly), instead of the pure angel of angelical purity, that the Compilation turned her into.
The problem I have with FF7 character is that the 3 ladies, Jessie, Aerith and Tifa has the same personality with little variations.
dude i highly recommend watching maximillians vids about ff7r story particularly referring to sephiroth and aerith and how self aware they are, for example the first encounter with seph, all he's doing is trying to delay cloud from meeting aerith but the whispers stops that from happening
Interesting! Thanks for the suggestion. What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
@@gnosis_gaming the story, how zack is handled and obviously the ost
maximillian is a massive shill, he has cringey takes
Can you link the max video? He has like 100 ff7 videos and I can't find it.
@@booblaa9734go to the easy allies with maximilian dood spoiler alert for ffvii remake. Many of the predictions turn out right.
You forgot about one really strong pro: the music! Man they really have outdone themselves and you can feel the passion that went into it. They also seem to be aware of that since they implemented the piano mini game in rebirth
Remake's storytelling and its inclusion of the Arbiters of Fate makes things feel less organic than the original.
I'm hoping the Whispers get walked back a little in Rebirth.
There is no going back. Worlds will collide in Rebirth
@@gnosis_gaming So I feel that they do. Arbiters of fate is not necessarily accurate, more what they feel like to the characters. They're not exactly wrong to be called that, but Rebirth's expansion on them does a lot for me. So some slight spoilers ahead: They're basically a representation of the planets will, and eventually, also of Seph's will. They represent the ongoing battle between the planet with Jenova and how much power/influence each has. Which fits directly in line with OG Seph's goals, he wants to utilize the power of the lifestream to become a god. The arbiters are the representation of this, the more he has, the closer he is to godhood.
The reason they come off as "arbiters of fate" is because the planet doesn't quite know the crew is a source for "good", and you can even argue they're not. Specifically...Cloud isn't. Cloud is considered to be a major link to how Sephiroth still exists, and also is how Sephiroth gets to as close to successful as he gets, by way of acquiring and giving Seph the black materia. So the planet would do better by stopping Cloud from continuing. But what ends up happening is at the end of Remake Seph takes a big chunk of them under his control. So again, Cloud and co. are actually aiding Sephiroth here. Which I think is both the same as OG but also a twist.
the aerith take is fucking crazy she was a amazing
I'm glad you liked her! What are you most looking forward to in Rebirth?
Yeah, I had no idea what he was talking about. Like, other than her "knowing too much" her personality itself was literally completely unchanged from the original. Maybe his interpretation of her while playing the OG was colored by his own reading of the unvoiced text, but all the original character designers and writers from the OG are also the leads on Remake so they're objectively portraying these characters exactly as they originally intended. Hell, one of the biggest points of praise for the game even from detractors is that the casting i s spot on and the character writing just "feels right."
Some of her mannerisms and voice acting landed the wrong way for me personally. I'm glad you liked her!@@loki210
@@loki210with respect, if a character has complete knowledge of the future they are by definition, fundamentally not the same character.
Saying this game has the same writers is also incorrect considering Sackaguchi isn’t present this time around and he was probably the single most important person on the original project being producer.
Aerith is this game is not aerith
I HIGHLY encourage you to watch ProfNoctis' video on Train Graveyard. It will blow your mind. Also, Nojima is the main writer of the Remake, same as the OG. Nomura is not a writer per say. Although, everyone does have some input. BTW. I loved the Jessie chapter. It gives us expanded world building and expands upon Biggs, Wedge and Jessie as characters greatly. And I thought Aerith was perfect. Because Aerith's mentality and phyisicality are basically reversed. Tifa looks more like a badass, while Aerith looks more like a sweet girl. When it's kinda the opposite when it comes to personalities. Also, Aerith is choosing her words in Remake very purposefully and deliberately.
The game indeed has other writers, though Nomura was the creative director of the project and his signature style is visible everywhere.
And the Jessie chapter is fun!
"Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama."
www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
Just picked up remake today, but Aerith called herself a tomboy type character, but really in the original, she really wasn't. I can't think of a single scene there where she actually showed that's what she was. From when you first run into her in the church and she's running from Reno, hopping very slowly from, (was it sector 7?) to the higher plate.
This is total garbage Nomura was in charge of the project and any changes in the game had to get his approval. In this interview Nojima specifically references having to get Nomura's permission to implement changes. Furthermore in this interview the story was written collaboratively between them.
"When I first approached Nojima to write the scenario I told him I wanted to do it in this way." - Quote from Nomura, explaining that he told Nojima how he wanted the story to go.
"I couldn't come up with any other ideas besides this so when I first showed it to Nomura I had to explain everything to ensure he didn't say no" - Quote from Nojima, explaining that he had to get Nomura to approve story changes.
The reality is that the writer doesn't write the story and then hand it to the director when it is finished. The writer takes concepts and ideas and rough drafts and storyboards and turns that into a completed screenplay/script/etc.
Source: game8.co/games/Final-Fantasy-VII-Remake/archives/286914#hl_5
So I never played the original ff7, only the remake. I even went like 22 years without ever knowing the story 😂 but I really enjoyed ff7 remake, and maybe one day I’ll visit the og ff7. Also I thought Aerith was the cutest character!!! She really came off as someone I personally wanted to protect throughout the story. Also really enjoyed your video!
I'm sure playing FF7 Remake with 0 expectations is a huge advantage! Thanks for watching and commenting.
The ship has probably sailed by now the original has just aged a bit too much to be enjoyable, however only playing the remake is like only watching the Most recent Star Wars trilogy, not the original. Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia are all still in it but they're not the same and the story is not nearly as good. This star wars thing might seem okay but you won't understand the cultural impact unless you experience the original three films. In the same way you've played the remake, which is basically fanfiction. They've made so many changes to character, plot and themes that it's a graphically better version but alternatively much weaker.
I wouldn't recommend you play the original though, in 1997 the graphics and text bubbles weren't detrimental to the experience but they certainly would be now.
Unfortunately the fillers were a necessary evil. They knew they had to stretch what amounted to just 2 hours of content in the original to fit a full 60 hour triple A game
Remake nailed Aerith imo. I wasn’t happy about the early Sephiroth reveal either, however as I eventually finished the game I understood what they were going for. I’m excited for rebirth though !
What are you most looking forward to?
Hi, I just wanted to let you know that Aerith´s childish manners are part of the twist because she has knowledge of the future. She tries to play pretend she never experienced the outcome of the future and plays her past self in an exaggerated way. Keep up the good work :)
Interesting! Thanks for sharing that.
There's a problem though... That's a dumb twist.
@@BlackSailPass_GuitarCovers it depends on your taste if you dislike the time and space continuum to fuse, people already fused with the lifestream (Aerith and Sephiroth) being able to experience past, present and future at the same time.
@@BlackSailPass_GuitarCovers Its not a twist, its just speculation. None of what he said has been confirmed in any way. If people stopped listening to the bunk they hear on the internet, people would start enjoying things again.
@renoslash1890 you don't need confirmation. Don't be lazy and expect the dev to spoonfeed you the answers. You can enjoy things again when you explore and exercise your creative processes.
Loved the OG and love Remake. while I agree about some of the padding I really don't mind. The gameplay is so good that I'm just happy to get to do more combat during those sections and most of the sidequests end with unique and challenging fights so while they are not the most interesting storywise for me they are worth it for the fights. Most of the new story stuff i think is pretty good as well, I mean Biggs, Wedge and Jessie were barely characters in the OG and i felt nothing about their deaths back then, and all the new stuff in wall market was a blast. More than happy for them to take time to flesh out characters if they want me to care about them. The only bit I'm iffy on is stuff to do with the plot ghosts. Not sure where that's going and guess I'll have to wait till it's done to decide if I like it or not but honestly even if i don't end up liking where they take that particular element everything else is so great that it won't bother me too much.
I really like Biggs and Wedge in the Remake. They had a great camaraderie. What are you excited to see in Rebirth?
@@gnosis_gaming Oh Gold Saucer no question. I mean I'm obviously looking forward to all the big story moments done with this level of presentation but as long as they nail the Gold Saucer Rebirth will be a win in my books!
I bet Gold Saucer has a ton of fun mini games. I'm really looking forward to Cosmo Canyon.@@dajungle4010
A pretty consistent trend I've found with criticism of Remake is this - people who didn't consume or didn't like the compilation content (Crisis Core, Advent Children, etc.) tend to like Remake a lot less than the people that did like the Compilation. It stands to reason since the Remake includes a lot of elements from the compilation.
To me, it was obvious that they would continue the trend of the later games in terms of backstory, retcons, etc. But I have a lot of sympathy for those who wanted/expected a straight up remake of the original game. I'd have liked that too. Unfortunately, it just strikes me as economically nonviable to make a game as *BIG* as the original FF7 with the constraints of modern graphical expectations. Cloud was 20 polygons and a flat image in the original. I'm sure his hair in remake has more vertices than the whole of Midgar did in OG.
The trend of Final Fantasy since 10 has been a gradual limitation of scope and increase in fidelity, like all modern AAA games just due to the cost in dollars and manpower it takes to make them. SE has had this issue with every modern FF game, FF15 was indev for 10 years for instance, and it's way smaller than 7 or even 7R. A full remake of 7 would have taken 20 years and cost us 200 bucks to buy at that pace.
So they had to make Midgar for the first game, an experience that took maybe 3-6 hours of the OG. Nobody would have accepted Remake if it was that length, so they padded it out, and they took heavily from compilation material to do so. They fleshed out the characters, made extra side missions that don't feel as connected to the plot - it's a compromise, but I don't know what else they could have possibly done that would have been better. The real joy of remake is watching those scenes from the original but remade with beautiful new graphics and direction.
In any case I think I fundamentally agree with your take here, the game is definitely not perfect but it's the best piece of FF7 media outside of the original game by a mile, lol
I think we agree! For me, I think the game may have been better with some editing. IF they had made a great 20-30 hour mainline story, the game would have benefitted from it, and then they could have added in lots of side content that was completely option for people who wanted to spend more time playing.
I mean. They created final fantasy 10 in almost no time at all, and that game looked fantastic. People've been asking for a visual update to the original FF7 since all the way back then - and that was 2001. They had enough time.
I'd outright disagree with any takes about characters being fleshed out, though... if anything, they were torn apart and made into copy-paste versions of each other. Tifa is no longer freaked out about the fact Cloud is clearly off his rocker and filled with false memories, Jessie is no longer a vet from the war with wutai that ara-aras at cloud, sephiroth... sephiroth.
I could go on for days.
I feel that it's less about them only having time to make Midgar and that Square has gotten insanely greedy over the years and they realized that FF7 fans will eat up anything with the name on it buy a single game stretched out into 3, no questions asked.
FF7 wasn't that big, neither would've it taken 20 years to remake it. Remaking something like 6 in 3D however, would've understandably taken 20 years due to many factors.
Great video! Im starting to shift the same way was kind of turned off from playing the remake, but recently warchinhg Max Doods and Symbalilys playthroughs, and also seeing how incredible rebirth looks are changing my mind to that
Simbalily has the best playthrough commentary
Nice! What are you most excited for in Rebirth?
@@gnosis_gamingZack!
I'm looking forward to see how that's handled too!@@inniyolk
As a lover of the OG, I was really glad I played the remake to 100% before I watched any online content and was able to form my own opinions without being clouded by the negativity. Sure, there are a few key story moments I would alter but I do love remake and am excited for rebirth
What are you most excited for in Rebirth?
Loved it more than the og, music and voice acting/dialogue was very well done.
Okay like I get your complaints but using Nomura as your way to complain about the plot ghosts is crazy. Nomura gets such a bad wrap despite all the devs saying Nomura is the one lead dev that wanted to keep the story strictly the same as the original.
Well, I think that since he's the creative director, he bears some responsibility.
"Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..."
www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
@@gnosis_gaming Nomura recently came out about how he found it funny how often concepts that he didn't come up with are attributed to him in a very recent interview. The "plot ghosts" as people like to call them are not his idea as this would be against his goal of trying to keep the story as close to the original as possible. Kitase is realistically the most likely person to come up with the changes as he's consistently said to be the one that wants to change the story the most.
Yes, Nomura was the creative director for Remake, but *numerous* interviews have made it clear that they all were trying to make sure they were equally responsible and all were getting a compromise of what they wanted in this trilogy. Nomura wanting to be more strict, Kitase wanting to go all over the place. I think they're hitting a nice balance personally.
It's true that FF7 Remake is a collaborative project, but at the end of the day Nomura was the man in charge. Being the creative head of a major project at a Japanese company, I think it's fair that he ultimately bears responsibility for the final product, even if every aspect of the game was not his idea in particular. His influence over the game is obvious stylistically, and his signature style is everywhere.@@TheLegendOfLame
@@gnosis_gaming once again, you're not looking into the facts of the matter and that the staff in multiple interviews say they all make sure to come to an agreement on something before a decision is made. Nomura doesn't just overwrite decisions others want because he had "control of the project" or whatever. If he did, the game would be a fairly 1:1 remake of the original.
"For Nomura, it was clear that a simple 1-1 remake wouldn’t do the iconic tale justice. “There were a number of successful remade games out there - and looking at them and how they turned out, I realised that if we just made it a better looking version of the original game it probably … wouldn’t have become the scale of project that it is, and it probably wouldn’t have worked out. To get people interested and give players the motivation to play through it again, we needed to change Final Fantasy Seven...'"
www.theguardian.com/games/2023/sep/21/the-makers-of-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere%20were%20a%20number%20of,wouldn't%20have%20worked%20out.
@@TheLegendOfLame
Didn't even know there were "FF7 Sucks" videos out there. I really love remake even with FF7 original being my favorite game of all time. As for Aerith's personality I adore her in remake when I never really connected with her in the original. Absolutely can't wait for rebirth and like you said Remakes combat system is the best action combat in an RPG.
Out of curiosity, did you play with Japanese or English voice acting? Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I'm glad that Aerith was a hit for you. I didn't hate her. I just had something else in mind.
@@gnosis_gaming I played in English, glad you checked out the game on your own even after all those videos steered you away
Me too! Now I'm excited for Rebirth.@@Rosamune
This might be a hot take, but I think the devs are much better writers of characters and world building than of plots. This even goes for the classic age of Final Fantasy from VII-X. For example, FFVIII has some really wild and downright bonkers twists and turns but I love it anyway cause of its amazing characters (though I didn’t like Squall at first cause he was such an ass 😂). While I agree the plot writing in FFVII is questionable at times, what keeps me invested is the masterful character writing.
I didn’t mind Sephiroth’s inclusion in the game though I’ll admit, it felt like he didn’t have much to do other than taunt Cloud since his story doesn’t really start until after Midgar. Besides, not including at all, might’ve felt anticlimactic so who knows. After playing the Rebirth demo though, oh boy they did him justice. Aerith is my favourite FF character ever. She is so sweet, kind and optimistic. She has such an innocent personality that might seem childlike at first but is actually wise beyond her years and has an infectious love for life. Like all the characters, she hides her trauma behind a mask which is her bright smile.
Sorry for rambling but I’m just excited for what Rebirth has to offer. Really great video
Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts. I'm excited for Rebirth as well.@@tidusace0721
The "filler" type of content that bothered me was: inefficient interactions.
Crossing a plank, squeezing between a cramped space, slow-controlling contraptions in mini-game segments, drawn-out "walk backs" (when you went somewhere you weren't supposed to), drawn-out animations of pulling levers or turning a wheel, etc., etc.
It's actually rampant. You can see there is a problem with the entire design approach for the game. So many aspects of the game waste just a tiny bit of the players time. It's everywhere, and it's grating!
There are definitely developers cognizant about making their games streamlined, efficient, and fluid. While some aspects of FF7R are efficient (such as combat), much of the rest of the game simply isn't.
Yeah, it can be grating how frequently the game makes you slow down. Apparently it was a design choice in order to avoid loading screens between sections.
Gotcha. Well with the full transition to ps5 for Rebirth, I'm praying they'll be able to iron that out a bit. However, I've seen several red flags that it's still going to be an issue. How bad though, we'll have to see. @@gnosis_gaming
My favorite area was Mt Corel. It was so absolutely beautiful, with the scenery and the music is my favorite one from all final fantasies, and the sun setting on the horizon behind an abandoned rollercoaster, and the bird's nest with the chicks making cute noises...
I've just come to terms that there won't be another one of these. I'll see the playthroughs online of this area just for curiosity probably, but it's probably gonna have a hundred npcs and their sidequests yapping about how BEAUTIFUL that place is, instead of just... Well let's be fair to the remake, the original was just art
Either way, i love your channel man, cheers!
My God am I looking forward to Rebirth now. As you said the battle system in the remake is absolutely fantastic and seeing they added even more things in Rebirth in that regard is getting me REALLY excited. I've also never played the original so I didn't really notice the filler story bits at first, but you've definitely got a solid point there lol
Nice! What part are you most excited for?
@@gnosis_gaming in the trailer I saw that there's going to be some syncronised moves which I'm very curious about. Also really want to pick up the story where remake left off. But the thing I'm looking forward to most has to be just being in this universe again :)
Yeah , i don't like all the changes they did , i personally only wanted OG FF7 with advent children graphics.
Plus, them doing this all part by part is also ridiculous imo , they are barely past disc 1 , this will take them so many more years to finish this game .
Respect for publicly admitting you have changed your mind. You don't often see that. I was disappointed by the remake and the latest demo but can't seem to look away; interested to hear your thoughts on 'FFVII: Rebirth'.
I had to let go of a lot of hopes about what I wanted a Remake to be in order to enjoy this, but I'd rather be enjoying this for what it is than hating it.
He still didn't actually play the game
I just finished it two days ago and very excited to start Intergrade. Did you play Intergrade yet?@@petebagwell6666
The remake is great. Rebirth looks even better.
I feel like I’m Rebirth to make the padding better they should have more added scenes that weren’t in the OG so that way they don’t have to stretch the the stuff that was in OG nearly as much while also giving us cool new content.
I enjoyed the combat system a lot as well. In many ways it made the bland side quest fun because it was an excuse to participate in more battles. I noticed a lot of commenters acting like they worked on this game and knew who made every key creative decision. Somehow I imagine the Create Director being part of that like you mentioned. I am hyped for Rebirth!
One of the changes I wanted to happen for the remake was fleshing out more of the villains of the Shinra panel such as scarlet, heideggar, and hojo. Sadly they’re just bigger stereotypes of their former self’s
Yeah, Hojo wasn't that great in my opinion.
I think it's disingenuous to imply the story "issues" are because of nomura. They are all Nojima. Nojima wrote the original and every subsequent stories. The "bonkers" ideas have always been a thing with him and VII. Also the story issues are less issues once you realise that this is not a remake in nature (that name meaning more story wise than descriptor) and is instead a sequel to VII, Advent Children and all of the other prior VII games. The world has been remade. Not the game. It is also why Sephiroth acts differently and appears earlier.
Thanks for your input!
I see a lot of claims on here that Nomura wanted a 1-1 remake and pushed against big changes, but I can't find any evidence for that. As the creative director, I think it's fair game to hold him accountable for the final product.
"For Nomura, it was clear that a simple 1-1 remake wouldn’t do the iconic tale justice. “There were a number of successful remade games out there - and looking at them and how they turned out, I realised that if we just made it a better looking version of the original game it probably … wouldn’t have become the scale of project that it is, and it probably wouldn’t have worked out. To get people interested and give players the motivation to play through it again, we needed to change Final Fantasy Seven..."
www.theguardian.com/games/2023/sep/21/the-makers-of-final-fantasy-vii-rebirth#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere%20were%20a%20number%20of,wouldn't%20have%20worked%20out.
"Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..."
www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
I thougt the Sephiroth parts in remake were strange , but after playing the rebirth demo "Sephiroth'" showing in up in chapter 2 makes so much more sense.
Sephiroth showed up because these games are sequels, not just updated graphics and bonus missions.
Also i think Sephiroth is mostly in Clouds head most of the time in the remake. Other than in the end.
Sorry to be yet another person disagreeing with you in the comments but I don’t think the section with Jessie’s house was filler. That whole section is all about expanding on her as a character as well as getting us more aquatinted with and letting us spend more time with her, Wedge, and Biggs. To my recollection they weren’t all that big of a part in the original. So I really appreciate the game letting them shine.
I just finished FF7R and it was WONDERFUL (for context, I played FF7 back in 2006 and greatly enjoyed the FF7:AC movie). The Remake’s story and characters are very well developed, acted and rendered.
Btw Rebirth story was written befor remake came out! So the story will not change to please the original Fans
Game design is tough, and it's probably really hard to change stuff if a great deal of the game was already made, though I'd hope they were open to hearing what fans had to say as much as possible.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@gnosis_gaming ther want opinion for the gameplay most parts. The big changes in Design we can already see in the rebirth Trailer and demo
Nice. I'm looking forward to it. I haven't watched much of the trailer so I have fewer expectations. What are you excited about?@@aj-mindalex1448
"Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors."
www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, though! I did enjoy myself a lot while playing. By the way, what are you most looking forward to about Rebirth?
@@aj-mindalex1448
@@gnosis_gaming Mini games lol ff16 was dry i need something with fun
Also I think many OGs forget an important detail from the original that is also at play here in the Remake. Most of your encounters with "Sephiroth" arent actual encounters with Sephiroth, they are encounters with Jenova cell infused test experiments.
That’s true accept for the end fight that’s obviously real original time sepy
Nice video you really are not lying and I had the same exact feelings you did before playing it at chapter 9 now and am actually enjoying it so far
Thanks! Yeah I'm just being honest and tried to be fair.
The train yard and the turning off the lights were my biggest gripes. There’s some changes I loved and some I didn’t. I hope rebirth improves upon that.
I'm hoping Rebirth will have less/none of the 'Destiny' and 'Change fate' shenanigans that Remake had; it was very off-putting. I also agree Sephiroth was revealed way too early and wasn't utilized properly. There were also a few other minor things that bugged me, but overall, a good game. I don't mind adding more to uplift an already great story, but changing things bugs me.
I hope they walk it back a little bit too.
Most of the expanded content I liked, actually. The worst stuff was the side quests which as you said, are skippable. I thought the scene with Jessie's parents was great and those characters definitely needed some more screen time. Sephiroth doesn't need to be a mystery anymore, we all already know him. Also think you're way off with Aerith, her personality wasn't much different in the original.
I know I included 'filler content' in my list of negatives, but there was also good filler content! I loved seeing more of Midgar, for example.
And I'm glad you liked Aerith! She just didn't land right for me. I hope she'll grow on me and that I'll like her more in Rebirth.
For me, Sephiroth being shown so early could have been okay if it weren't for the fact that his personality was really flat, like cardboard. He just said a lot of mysterious, 'evil' sounding stuff, so I didn't find him a very compelling villain.
Thanks for watching and commenting! What are you most excited about for Rebirth?
The Algorithm brought me your 'Loneliest Final Fantasy' Video which I loved :) This video was cool too. I had my gripes with Remake, but over time, I kinda took it for what it is and I do enjoy it. Rebirth is a much better game and although I do wish this wasn't a weird-sequel (there is not way that it is not), it was really cool to see how things are going.
Never heard someone have a problem with Aerith’s character in Remake before. That’s an interesting take.
Just my personal feeling. Her mannerisms didn't land right for me. But overall, this game's characterization and voice acting are fantastic!
What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
@@gnosis_gaming everything really but I think narrative is the most interesting thing. I’m curious on how much will change or not change.
Played the OG at release in September 1997 - my goat. I loved FF7 Remake and looking forward to Rebirth. Things I did not like was some padding, the bright arrows and the slow moving parts.
What part of Rebirth are you excited for?
@@gnosis_gaming The potential deviation from the OG story and all the well known emotional moments in a modern light. Can’t wait :)
@user-ky8nd2rz4f I loved it so far. The OG story will be 90% the same. I’m good with that
I kinda agree with Aerith, for one side i think they done her personality justice, she have the exactly personality that she had on the original, i don't think the game treats her like the angelic otherwordly figure like Kingdom Hearts, but they kinda messed up with this (supposly) future stuff with Whispers and all. She is herself when this stuff isn't happening.
And i completly agree with Sephiroth, if they were more restraint with his apperrances, it would make a big impact when we see him or when we play with him on Rebirth.
But you know, unfotunally they had to break the fourth wall, make some kind of sequel to the original, meta stuff, etc...
Feels like the Remake and all the wierd additions was made in order to set up the next 2 games in the remake. Alot of foreshadowing and set-up.
I just wasn't keen on the last chapter. Went from trying to escape midgar to suddenly fighting three kingdom hearts entities and a (i felt was quite forced) sephiroth fight jumping around advent children level going on about fate where only a few hours prior Tifa couldn't get into a security booth without carefully slowly climbing on light fixtures. The midgar highway was a perfect setup for a rematch with Roche too. Why would Roche just sit that one out? Could of just had trying to fight off Roche and the big arse flamethrower tank thing together instead.
The game could have benefitted from pulling back a bit and editing some of the dungeon segments. I started to get a lot of gaming fatigue during the escape from the Shinra facility.
You're not wrong, friend. I'm optimistic for Rebirth, but I'm also... confused about the direction. If the first game gave us Midgar, and the second game gives us Gold Saucer (maybe a little further?), I'm almost certain they're either going to cut significant story beats to finish everything for game 3, or else we'll be given some odd, alternate ending that fits the remade series, rather than the original. But, what do I know? Maybe the filler isn't gunna hog much more of our time. Doubt it, but maybe.
Yeah, Rebirth seems to be covering WAY more story than Remake.
@@gnosis_gaming Absolutely. And that's our new benchmark for what they plan in the finale. I hope.
I think final fantasy 7 remake would be better if it didnt have so much kingdom hearts-like content. Some people respond better to it, but for me its very cringy and uncomfortable, and although i did enjoy kingdom hearts, its because i overlooked the story completely. But in final fantasy 7 remake, i want to relive the story of the old one, i WANT to pay attention, but these goofy details keep making me look away. It's like everyone is a childish anime character, instead of Elmyra, using your example.
Completely agree
For some theory / context into the sephiroth and aerith of remake. If you consider that both died in the OG game and knowing how sephiroth embedded himself into the life stream you can infer that both characters are remnants of their advent children selves
That seems to be the case! Did you enjoy the Compilation series?
@@gnosis_gamingI wanted to ask you if may have interpreted the story wrong maybe? From what me and my friends seem to have come up with is that this game is not Remake but a sequel story to the compilation. That Aerith already knows about here death and so does Sephiroth. That's why there's differences in the game like Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie being alive. (Jessie maybe).
@@KonEl17 I touch on the fact that it's a sequel near the very end of my video. I don't particularly love that idea, but I can enjoy the other parts for what they are.
your problem is you compare it with the original, ff7 remake is not a remake, its a sequel, the remake on the title had a different meaning entirely.
I see what you're saying, but as someone who grew up with the original, I can't take my memories of the OG completely out of the equation, though I did give this game a fair shot and enjoyed it for what it was.
What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
I thought it wasn't a remake or a sequel but a whole new different game. But I have to say aside from graphics, the game is trash compare to the OG
I also grew up with ff7 I am 43yo now, my first FF is 7, but Remake surpass the OG by far.@@gnosis_gaming
I think this “filler” content is actually a positive to the game. Sure not all of it is good, but I see it as a way to bring more character to the city of midgar, getting to know more about its residents and how they feel about the world around them. Also, the expanded story parts give many of the main characters opportunities to grow. The chapter about Jesse and her parents is a good example, as let’s us in on her life and personal goals, making her death later in the game more impactful. None of this was in the original game. Not to say og is bad or anything, quite the opposite, but I feel like this filler content is mostly a strength than a flaw. I can’t speak for everyone, but I enjoy it
You're right. In the second half of my review, I talk about how great it is seeing the bigger Midgar.
just leting you knew Nomura wasnt realy for the changes. He wantet a 1 to 1 remake . It was Nojima and Kitase that added the Whispers and such.
Part if the reason was simply Set up for the plotpoints and twists to be more Organic. Another Was to end all things FF7.
However yes theRemakeproject is Nomuras and he basicly directs all parts in it including the Mobile games..
But he and Hamaguchi ar making Sure Nojima doesnt take it to far.
Thanks for commenting! I think Nomura, being the director, bears responsibility for the final outcome.
"Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..."
www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
I wouldn’t worry too much about getting on the hate train early on. A lot of people (way more than are willing to admit) also jumped on that hate train, a lot are still on it. I absolutely detested the end of Remake (still not a big fan) but the combat system and the areas I just love. I only wish we could explore more of Midgar (like Chapter 4 where you visit Jessie’s mother/father, seeing the metro upper plate, filled me with nostalgia for some reason lol). Like a lot of people, I enjoyed Aerith’s character and thought her English VA hit it out the park.
Part 2 looks way better in about every way though thankfully. Can’t wait to see Gold Saucer and the big Weapons likely in part 3.
Some spoilers in my post from Remake...
The Sephiroth and Aerith critique is definitely valid, but one has to take into consideration they are different from their originals. They know/are aware of what's going on. Sephiroth more directly as the popular (all but confirmed) theory is he's the same Sephiroth from Advent Children who's ridden the lifestream back in time, while Aerith learned about what happened through the lifestream in the intro cinematic (where she's kneeling in front of the pipes before walking into the street). If you pay attention to her dialogue throughout the game and specially when she first meets Cloud, you can tell she knows what's up, especially Sephiroth. This would undoubtedly change one's way of acting going through the same events again with prior knowledge.
That was a great review, I'm glad you managed to experience the game yourself after years of that "What if it's bad?" due to internet ragebait.
I myself really love FFVII Remake; it was the main reason I bought a PS4 back in the day. And I cannot wait for FFVII Rebirth finally launching on PC next week (I never got a PS5).
I know FFVII Remake is very divisive among the community, especially diehard fans who wanted a 1:1 recreation of the original game, but I really like the remake. Personally, I think that the changes to the story are great (Whispers aside, that was the most Nomura thing to ever Nomura) as well the added scenes and expanded areas that help flesh out the characters way more; aside from Elmyra, I actually like how the game gives you a different side of Avalanche's actions; exploring Sector 8 in ruins after the Make Reactor #1 blows up, seeing the general population in desperation, really explores the human side of this game. And to me any excuse to see more of these characters interacting and talking to each other is fantastic, from the cutscenes down to the small banters while you're exploring Midgar.
I can perfectly understand the complaint about the filler content, but even the most annoying parts of thi game (like the Collapsed Expressway in Chapter 7) expand Aerith's character and her relationship with Cloud (and sheds some hints on Zack). I do agree that visiting Jessie's parents was probably not needed but it does show how Shinra affects the life of the general population, and adding that bit of her father being in a coma due to Mako poisoning serves as a foreshadowing for Cloud's later in the story.
Sorry, but I hard disagree with your take on Aerith. She is _exactly_ like that in the original game. Advent Children painted Aerith as this "Virgin Mary" character, which is far from what she has always been. She grew up in the slums, she's pretty "ThugLife", and uses her street smarts to get around Midgar really well; she's not a frail damsel. And even in the original game she has many moments of being childish to fish for Cloud's attention while competing with Tifa. But in Remake they also fleshed out her friendship with Tifa rather than forcing that love triangle. Yes, she ultimately accepts her fate and sacrifices herself, but only after she discovers more about the Cetra and their role in the protecting planet.
The combat in this game is the best Action JRPG system I've ever seen, no joke. It feels so intuitive, and the fact it encourages you to constantly swap between characters since the non-active party members play defensively is great. I hate playing games like the Tales Of series where the party AI is a liability, with characters constantly eating damage for free and dying, forcing me to spend more time babysitting than actual fighting. And yes, boss fights are fantastic, like they're from MMOs with multiple phases and patterns.
To me, personally, FFVII Remake is how you proper remake a game, even with all the bumps (which hopefuly the dev team learned from). It's not meant to replace the original game, and that's great. Nomura and Kitase know this, and that's why they purposedly made so many changes to the story; they made Remake its own thing in a "separate timeline".
My only big peeve with FFVII Remake is the same as yours, about Sephiroth. I don't like how he's obsessed with Cloud; in the original game he barely even acknowledges Cloud until the end of the game. To him Cloud is just another tool for his ultimate goal to take control of the Lifestream and become a god. There are some wild fan theories that there are two Sephiroths in FFVII Remake, one being the Jenova clone and the other being Sephiroth from Advent Children that somehow managed to return his consciousness back in time. Maybe Rebirth tackles on that, but again I didn't play it yet and been dodging spoilers since it launched on the PS5.
Great video as always!
Interesting to see the perspective of someone who played the OG.
For me personally, Aerith was kinda cute and interesting, she and Sephiroth seemed to kinda know everything that was going on. I loved his appearance at the beginning bc I really just didn’t know who he was and it was a pleasure every time he was on screen, made me curious about the story all the time.
I think he is overused tho, and I think this mostly falls on how they decided to split the story.
They needed to establish him to make the game (that would only be first chapter of the OG) more engaging. Kinda enjoy the train graveyard too, thought it was moody, but I didn’t play the OG, so idk.(looking forward to see it in the OG when I play it)
I don’t like that Sephiroth was the final boss bc, as I understand, he is the final boss of the OG right? It kinda cheapens that a little bit. But I enjoy the thing about destiny’s crossroads and the fact that they broke the heralds of destiny, meaning everything might change. I like that it is a sequel.
Good to know you enjoyed the game! That’s the thing about the most hardcore fans, some are more open minded then others. The game was marketed as a remake, not a sequel. So I understand people expecting the same and getting disappointed. A lot of From Software fans don’t like sekiro bc it deviates from the formula, but it’s my favorite game from them🤷♂️
It’s hard not to fall for the hate train when you see opinions from people who, like yourself, really enjoyed the OG, props to you for giving it a fair chance!
Yup, the final Sephiroth boss fight of the Remake is a lot like the final boss fight of the Original, so it's surprising they stuffed it in at the end there. It makes sense they needed something 'big' to finish off this first part, but it could have easily been something else.
I certainly didn't hate Aerith here or anything - I guess coming into the game with a lot of expectations is a lot of baggage though！
BTW, the train graveyard in the original takes like 5 minutes to get through. You just move some abandoned trains around in order to cut through to Sector 7.
@@gnosis_gaming ohh I see, yeah, they definitely make some parts bigger than they should, you did well not to play the side quests. I always do them, and there is narrative reward for some of them, but they are not great, feel too fetch questy,
FFXVI sides felt the same but worse bc there were a lot of them, idk why not just make fewer, but better quality, it hurts the overall experience (still loved XVI tho)
I haven't played 16 yeatmbecause I just couldn't get into the demo. Did you enjoy it overall?@@Igones
@@gnosis_gaming Definitely! I like it more than VII remake. The story is amazing, the gameplay too. Some of the best and most ridiculous boss fights in videogames, really great spectacle and design.
Sides are definitely the low points, bc you will want to do them, but they are busy work for the most part.
The characters are really charismatic and I looved how they incorporated “summonings”.
I did vibe with the demo, but it definitely doesn’t make the game justice, I think you’ll really enjoy it
I like the way the game is linear and slow paced in places. It captures the constraints of life in Midgar in my opinion. Sets the next game up perfectly. I do see your point though it's nice to see a well thought out and objective breakdown of your opinions. There were aspects of remake that grated a bit, like some of the pointless side quests.
I liked that too!
I feel like you haven’t quite realized yet that this game is a sequel. For me, that realization elevated a lot of the parts that seem lacking. Rebirth is seemingly going to end up making that a lot more obvious.
It did, but it also hasn't yet given us definitive answers. The story is still great but gah Rebirth is such a bloated game.
@@12ealDealOfficial i don’t disagree. Actually feel like i will enjoy replaying it more because i’ll skip a lot of the bloat and have a more condensed experience.
i mean cmon man how could you base your opinion on the game without playing it first
Haha, well I'm only human 🤣Please forgive me.
You don't have to play the game to criticise the changes made to the story.
@@BlackSailPass_GuitarCovers This is what's wrong with people today. How on earth can you come to a conclusion either way about story changes if you didn't experience the story in the first place?
@@renoslash1890 I forgive you for describing me as 'everything wrong with people today' based on one comment.
My view is this - with the ability to watch longplays and read detailed Wiki articles, it is possible to experience the game and understand the plot beats without actually holding the controller yourself.
You don’t have to worry about other people picking apart FF7 remake piece by piece. Square Enix is doing that for us.
🤣 Brutal
I’m turning 45 next week and the first game I bought with my own money was Final Fantasy seven. I’ve played everything except for the MMO‘s since then and FF seven is my favorite. As a bonus I’ve been in LA for almost 20 years now, and was a part of a theater company where I got to be friends with John, Eric Bentley so When remake was announced, I lost it. Super excited about the game. I’m super excited about rebirth as I think that’s going to be game of the year for sure but also game of the decade possibly. I will agree though the timeline side of things might get a little confusing, so I’m leery on that point. Seer totally got schoen off way too early way way too early. That was my biggest gripe to be honest but I really enjoyed remake and I’m in the middle of my hard mode play through ahead of rebirth. Good video I hope you’re well.
Thanks for watching!
Square Enix knew the task of recreating FF7 was impossible as it was too beloved. That's why they set about to subvert expectations and introduce the Whispers, which are trying their best to ensure Cloud follows his 'destined' path....i.e a faithful frame-by-frame absolute recreation of the be loved original. You can look at Whispers as an analogy for the fans themselves; they try to keep things the same and I think it's smart that the player gets wrestle this control away from the Whispers and start a new story. The whole point is that Rebirth now has the freedom (hence the open world) to be it's own game, after getting past the battle with fans accepting what Remake actually is.
The changes they made to the story from the original is what makes me excited to play the rest of the remake games.
I definitely agree with you on the puzzles and the expanded areas. I also thought the sewers and the train graveyard was waaaayyy too “filler content.”
But I actually thought Aerith was more snarky in this than any portrayal of Aerith since the OG. Have you seen her in Kingdom Hearts? She’s an airheaded gumbo in that version. FFVII Remake did her right, even making her cuss at some points
One of the best stories written in video games
the remake? 😂
The original? Yes. The remake? You have lobotomy
tbh i feel like standing still and talking is the better option if you can skip text as i often tend to read faster than the voice acting. Running around and hearing the characters talk like in ff13 was the best choice and cutscenes as a reward. But this slow movement where you are forced to explore/listen to the games pace is the worst. Reminds me why i almost hated god of war (4). Either let me chill, relax and listen or move and play...
I basically share all the same criticism as you. The ending of Remake left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth. Back when it dropped we were fresh off the pandemic and tensions were at an all time high, the next title announced to release in the series was a garbage mobile battle royale shooter, and the conversation surrounding the next Remake title was largely about how much it was going to be delayed. Needless to say my hope for the series was at an all time low. Luckily now all my doubts have dissolved and I’m happy to hear that Rebirth stays more true to the source material. I cannot wait to jump in!
Very valid points. Both pros n cons. Great video
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
2:41 you do realize the original ffvii Midgar segment was 5 hours long. Would you really want a 5 hour ff game? They had to expand the story.
I would be pissed if I played remake for 5 hours and square say "see you in 4 years" no thanks
Thanks for commenting!
Later in the video, I mention some of the great expansion content. 'Filler' stuff is just what I thought was unnecessary. I think the game needed a bit of editing and could have been a better game if it was slightly shorter.
What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
Whenever I play FFVII i try to get out of Midgar as fast as possible.
In Remake I am stuck in that shithole city all game. I still love Remake even though it's mostly bloated additions to the game.
Completely agree about Sephiroth, but Aerith was great for me. I also love how Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie were people I cared about. Biggs and Jessie hit me the feelers.
Haha that's a fair point! The game is much better after the opening Midgar arc.
Remake was great for what it was. It was a great door for new players into this world.
But Rebirth... Everything good is still there but everything bad gets cranked to 11 and I cannot recommend Rebirth for anyone who is not a HC original ff7 fan.
They completely changed the message of the game.
Original ff7: You can become better and you can fix a broken world. Do the right thing.
FF7 rebirth: You have to defy destiny!
Hug? Wasnt that what Cloud did? Defy destiny and overcome being dominated by Sephiroth?
I started playing FF VII when I was 11, and hasn´t stopped since. I was afraid as well to play Remake, and when I did, i actually share most of what you say, but what bothers me personally, personally because I know a lot of other people don´t, it´s that for me it feels like all the characters are kind of stupid. How they speak, the intention they put on their voices, or "childish" reactions which are not in a comedy contrast, which we know this game has a lot. IN SPITE, I also got a very grateful surprise, and left me with more hope than anything else.
Love this analysis videos dude, carry on, you make a really good work
Thanks for taking the time to write this! I think we're coming from the same place in regard to this game.
Having expectations is the killer of enjoying Remake/Rebirth. If you have expectations for how things should be, you're more than likely going to be disappointed. But if you go into it with an explorative mindset and let your expectations fade into the background, you're going to love these games.
Edit: I doubt you will enjoy Rebirth though. To help explain - I agree that the most satisfying parts of Remake are the more grounded ones. In Rebirth, they take some of the flamboyance that was in Remake and put it on steroids. I'm still mostly enjoying Rebirth personally, but you seem much more of a purist and there's quite a few parts of Rebirth that are absolutely over the top.
As someone who only played about a third of the original before Remake, I didn't mind seeing more Sephiroth. I agree he wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed all the questions I had.
Aerith was great! They made her feel special. She clearly knows more than she's letting on, but she chooses to remain positive. That optimism feels true to her character to me.
Diving into the theory/lore videos that people have been posting has been a fun experience. They've really made me look at the actions of both characters with intrigue.
Aerith's cartoony mannerisms just didn't land right for me personally. I'm glad you liked her!
@@gnosis_gaming They all seemed relatively cartoony to me. But I understand if you feel it just doesn't work for some characters. I hope the next game blows your expectations away. :)
I agree with a lot of your assessment.
A lot of areas seem to be placed to extend the length of the game. The pacing in FF7R is all over the place…
In some areas it blows you away, like with the Hell House battle & the ending boss battles, but in other areas it feels unnecessary and boring. Chapter 17 is incredibly boring to me, and I absolutely hated messing with those switches.
Beyond that, I loved the combat, the story (including how they handled Aerith and the rest of the team), the boss battles were done exceptionally well, and the game has a magic to it with its charming exposition and the well made interactions between the characters.
The evolution of how Barret and Cloud’s relationship was so satisfying.
As an "OG" who played FF7 when it came out at 15. Getting a new spin on a story that was already rushed and poorly translated with expanded content and context is great. I would not have cared if they just deluxe remastered it.
What are you most looking forward to in Rebirth?
The game I knew and love as a kid is still there. FF7R feels like something that grew as I did and thats ok. My favorite game grew and changed with me and I actually get to enjoy it and see other people enjoy it.
What are you excited for about Rebirth?
What theyre doing with this timeline stuff
The one thing I have learned from reviewers is that they are showing the subject in their mindset. To find out what you really think of a game/movie/book/whatever, you should at least try the thing.
When it comes to Sephiroth I completely agree, I know why they wanted him in there, and I know some people were happy that they got to fight Sephiroth at all but it doesn't change the fact that it weakens the impact of Sephiroth's character and the mystery surrounding him.
Aerith on the other hand I actually prefer in Remake, I don't find her to be all that memorable in the original game to be honest with you, it often felt like she had the least interactions with other characters which made me not really care when she was killed off, she has more moments here and I guess helps me understand why people liked her.
I'm hyped for FF7 Rebirth I'm curious to see where it goes also I like the gameplay improvements over the first one
Regards to Sepiroth appearig to soon and throwing cryptic messages to Cloud, makes sense when you replay the game.
Let me ask you a question: In all of Final Fantasy compilation, when did you start to see him appearing with a black feathered wing?
No mans sky
Kingdom Hearts?
Nomura actually was against the changes.
Thanks for commenting! I think that as the creative director, it's fair to place a lot of responsibility at Nomura's step.
"Kitase, who was director of the original FFVII, is asked how much input he had on the remake. He says that the overall direction and concept, story and worldbuilding was left to Nomura, while game design and drama scene direction was left to co-directors Hamaguchi and Toriyama. Kitase did not make many direct requests..."
www.frontlinejp.net/2020/04/17/final-fantasy-vii-remake-interview-with-nomura-tetsuya-and-kitase-yoshinori/
So, I understand your perspective as someone who played the original. But there's a few very important factors that you haven't kept in mind. I played the original as well. And when I first played the game, I wasn't a huge fan. I felt the same way. The revisionism confused me. But there's a couple of important things that made me realize 1. Why it's a great game. 2. Why it has great potential. It is a remake. Even in terms of story. They want to change the timeline so they can tell a new story. The whole point of Sephiroth feeling ambiguous, and unknown to the player is because at that point, he knows something we don't. The wraiths exist not as a cop out for Destiny, but for a designed goal. Sephiroth is most likely aware of these other timelines. Aerith has her arc in the train yard so that she better understands her connections to the lifestream and the planet. This was one of the many events building her up to be more aware. So when she tells Cloud and the group at the end of the game that they're about to head into Destiny's Crossroads, what lies ahead is not only unknown to her, but to the player as well. And it can seem very confusing at first. As up until this point, outside of revisions, the story was largely left in tact. However the final 2 bosses, being whisper Bahamut and Sephiroth tie the narrative together. The whispers represent the forces of fate trying to stop us from veering off path. They may even be future versions of our characters (or the original FF7 characters so to speak) trying to stop us from altering Sephiroths path. As if we do intervene, it might prevent Sephiroths defeat and lead to calamity again. Also should keep in mind, Cloud uses a sword, barret uses guns and tifa uses her hands. And all 3 whispers also share one of those attributes though. Now you might see that as a stretch, could go either way. But the important part is the ending. As upon defeating Sephiroth and the whispers, we've altered fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it. Which is why when Cloud speaks to Sephiroth at the edge of reality or whatever, Sephiroth seems more than aware of everything. Once again, still being vague to Cloud and the viewer. But he tells cloud that there's seven seconds left. This could be interpreted many ways. But what comes after is concrete. We see Zack suriviving his battle at the end of Crisis Core and carrying cloud to Midgar. And as Cloud and Zack walk towards Cloud and Aerith, though they don't react to each other, Aerith stops in her tracks for just a moment. Suggesting that she also sensed Zacks prescence. And After the Intergrade DLC, we receive another ending tying us into rebirth. We see Zack go to Aeriths Chruch only to find the injured civillians there. This means that Zack only arrived there AFTER we altered fate. Regardless, we see our characters traveling away from Midgar. And they hitch a ride. Rebirth's Demo takes place almost immediately after this. With cloud telling Red XIII and crew about the Nibelheim mission when Sephiroth went berserk. But Cloud was already a Soldier member at this point which doesn't make sense going off of the original timeline. We know it still takes place at the same period though because Tifa is still doing her normal routine and Cloud mentions that it's only been about two since he left Nibelheim. So I guess in this world he became a solider out of the gate and wasn't a member of Shinra before? Still unsure of that myself. But regardless, Zack was no where to be found, neither was genesis and Sephiroth kind of just loses his shit like last time in the library below the shinra mansion and massacres the town. Now it's quite obvious Zack will be seeing the other characters. Promotional art alone shows that. That was a lot to go over. But it was important to outline that the world FF7 Remake exists is NOT the world FF7 exists in. Some events have not gone down the same way. And because of their early introduction of Sephiroth and Jenova into the timeline will carry a greater purpose I feel going forward. Only Rebirth can really tell us what lies next. And I think Square was smart to do that. Sure, a remake of a very acclaimed game is cool. And they've been successful doing that before. Like with NieR for instance. But I think they really want to tell a new story with the world because not only is there many new things they can explore, but it also leaves the player more excited because it's new. You can't just play the old game and know what's gonna happen. But if you have played the old game, then you're rewarded by seeing some of those joyous things getting adapted again. I'm very excited to see FF7 Rebirth. And though FF7 Remake has it's flaws, I think that it did an excellent job setting up it's sequel. I think the presentation was misleading which is what made people dislike it. People were expecting a faithful remake of the FF7 story and while it does do that in many areas, that's not what their full intentions were and I think that resulted in confused fans hating the game because it's not what they expected.
I think the developers may have had better luck if they had marketed the game differently, because it was sold to fans as 'a' remake and not 'Remake,' if you know what I mean. Sometimes you need to make sure people enter the product with the right expectations.
@@gnosis_gaming 100% have to agree with you there. That's exactly why I was angry as well.
Bro its already been discussed to death the 3 whispers at the end are advent children kadaj n his crew.
The thing i hate most about FF7R is the obnoxious slow walking segments and just how clunky in general it feels to control Cloud outside of combat. Square put so much focus on making realistic moving animations that it gets really irritating when all i want is a consistent and speedy way to move Cloud from point A to B
Yeah i generally agree with this. I really liked the chapter 4 addition and Jessie was a star as well as the other avalanche members. Also, I was in complete awe when fighting Ghoul during the train graveyard that left me on another plane almost. But because of the points you mentioned, and for me some of the iconic scenes they straight up left out, it unfortunately doesn't surpass the OG. But i personally put it 2nd on my all time Squares greatest hits.
I am totally agree, with the cons. I am okay that it is a new adaptation of original, but when this story about parallel worlds, arbiters of fate and cringe dialogues, i dont want it. It feels like fan fiction mixed with the key events from original game
I had similar feelings. Changes are fine, but there's a thing called going a bit far 🤣
Bro, this is me! Just beat it last week, stoked on Rebirth
*for
@@Seiborg88 I'm excited too! What are you looking forward to the most?
Great game but as a remake it was a let down. Enjoyed the nostalgic moments it had like cloud jumping from the train , and part where he looks up at the tower like in the og and leaving Aeris house without waking her up. Its a solid 8.5 out of 10
Liked this and can share som eof your points, thanks for the video. I did still enjoy Remake a lot and am actually replaying it now before Rebirth releases.
Oh nice! How is it on a second playthrough? More enjoyable or less? And what are you excited for in Rebirth?
@@gnosis_gaming I'd say the more tedious filler parts definitely feel more tedious but overall am still very impressed with the best parts, also the PS5 upgrade shows in it too. For Rebirth am quite psyched about a lot of things, getting to go around the world more freely and many of the story points are going to be fun to see play out. Am little worried on the huge amounts of added content but seems like the optional can be left optional if wanted and the quality and effort that they are putting into it also seems outstanding. Are you planning on Rebirth?
Aerith is the best character in remake tho
It's great that other people liked her. What are you most looking forward to in Rebirth?
It seems some of your problems with the game stem from the belief that this game is supposed to be a remake like the Resident Evil games recently when in fact it is more a sequel to Advent Children in a new timeline like the Abrams Star Trek movies. The events of the original compilation happened, and afterwards Sephiroth found a way out of the Lifestream and is trying to go back and change the events of the original game. Aerith follows to try and prevent it. The planet summons the whispers to try and protect the original timeline where the planet's will (lifestream) triumphed over meteor.
I have a problem with your third con, maybe you just worded it wrong but it seemed off to me. Firstly, Nomura is not the reason for the changes and additions to the story, he has said that he was the main one in the team who fought to keep it closer to the original. It was actually Kitase, the director and scenario writer of the original, that wanted a lot of the changes and he really wanted to change it a lot more, thus they met in the middle and the game became a sequel that uses the original story as a skeleton of sorts. Meaning that it is a new story, and with that your assessment is wrong. For example, the whispers (basically anything with them) and the party fighting destiny isn't foreshadowing, it's a plot point, they change their fate, it is literally the climax of the story. Or, when it comes to Sephiroth popping up more often and earlier than he did in the original, this is and change made not to pander nor to foreshadow, but to establish that this new Sephiroth is a lot more adamant when it comes to tormenting Cloud, and we'll definitely see more elaborate examples of that in Rebirth. Obviously, in hindsight, once the other games come out, this will be easier to understand. It's not more complex for the sake of it, it's a new story and what you see are the new plot points being added on top of the retelling of the original.
Links to interviews that show Nomura gets more blame than he deserves from the people who don't link x change or y change. Turns out it's not "Kingdom Hearts bullshit" after all:
www.pushsquare. com/news/2020/05/interview_final_fantasy_vii_remake_producer_and_co-director_on_development_launch_and_being_grateful_for_the_fans
automaton-media. com/en/interviews/20240207-26820/
I found aerith to be endearing, moreso than in the original
“Filler you can’t skip” = more opportunities to get back to the awesome combat.
And all the “real fans” keep telling me that Aerith always had pieces of dialogue like she knew what was going on in the OG.
And the OG sold 14 million, I’m tryna figure out how much mystery you can still keep intact.
I just didn't care for her characterization in this game -- mannerisms, etc. I'm glad so many people liked her! Just wasn't a hit for me.
What are you looking forward to in Rebirth?
I love the game. Never played the original. Back in the day it wasn't for me. And I love FF6, FF8, FF9. Maybe I triednto play it too late.
The remake was the most enjoyable game I played for years and what I was absolutely craving for! I can't get enough of it. My only gripe was the filler quests in the slums to expand game time (find cats, anyone?). Otherwise it would have been a 10/10 for me.
And I don't know if its my imagination but shadows seems like a representation of a narrative divergence from the original story. Mindblowing
Yeah that's why I ended up skipping most side quests.
This video is… “I shit on the game, but now that rebirth is about to drop I have to change my mind to clickbait”.
I didn't make a negative FF7 Remake video before. Just sharing my honest feelings. I'm excited for Rebirth too! What are you looking forward to?
Ill do my research on games before, and upon release... but, I also do my absolute best to never fall down that rabbit hole of hate. Hate videos are a strange thing. If a person doesnt like something they should just move on to what interests them. Its always all about the clicks from neckbeards with them. Im happy for you that you gave it a try for yourself.
I didn't have a PS4 at the time of release, so I just kept watching RUclips reviews lol