I played the original FF7 on Playstation when it first came out, when I was 13. First off, it's always great to hear from a fan who played Remake recently and then went back and played the original and confirmed that it's still one of the greatest video game stories ever told. I think a lot of people would say that FF7 fans are just nostalgic for a game we loved as kids. But the fact that so many adults are coming to the game for the first time and are blown away by it shows that's not the case. I will say though, that I'm somewhat disappointed by the decision to add what appears to be time travel/multiverse to the story, as it seems like that goes against the themes of the original of facing your past trauma and moving on from loss. There's a risk that the story will now be about doing it over and over again until all your friends survive. I agree that the Remake Trilogy can never replace the original, but I personally don't miss the prerendered backgrounds which were sometimes difficult to navigate. But overall, I'm looking forward to Rebirth and all the mini games and combat enhancements, even if the story may wind up going in a direction I think it shouldn't.
Great video, very much where I'm at with the game. Extremely excited for Rebirth, but can't really reconcile all the things they're saying and where they seem to be going after part 1's ending.
I totally think this is a sequel. There’s enough in part 1 to show sephiroth, or a version of him, is projecting himself into the past to change the outcome. It’s one part a trip down memory lane for us old people, and one part pseudo sequel where the changes make it fascinating. As an old almost 40er who played VII before legendary status,if I want the story of the original, I’ll always have that. The remakes actually keeps things interesting with the changes. The fact that we don’t know how rebirth ends, even when we know how it should end, makes it so cool.
I personally wanted it to be an exact remake.... as in upgraded graphics but exact same storyline.... but the word rebirth and the end of the first part showing Zack are signs telling me things will be different this time... To me I ranked FF7 the highest in my book out of all the FF I played is due to its plot... the Aeris moment is shocking at that time 20 yrs ago, but that was not the biggest twist to me... but it was the actual Nibelheim incident reveal that caught me off guard... hardly storytelling in games have such compelling plot twist back then... But ultimately... i just want to relive my childhood of playing this game in a highly rendered crystal clear beautiful graphics...
Agreed, it might've not been my childhood but an exact remake of FF7 would be something special for sure. No matter how this turns out, it's a shame that Square Enix went in this direction instead..
@@Arkry_it’s even more upseting when you see with rebirth what they are capable of… a more faithful remake would have been a tremendous success while improving and building on OG
@@Arkry_ If they at the very end make an alternate timeline DLC thats 95% faithful that would suck in everyone too OG bent. And they would appreciate having both. Alternate timeline sounds like alternate ending.
This was a fascinating watch for me since you come from the perspective of someone who started with Remake. I’ve done a lot of analysis about how and why they’re trying this “same but different” approach and a lot of the time I’ve spent thinking about it games from the same exact worries that you expressed here. I admire the ambition and it’s a fun intellectual exercise as a writer to think through how they can pull it off, but man is it hard to imagine how they can pull off this “have their cake and eat it too” approach. At some point, something has to win out between being faithful and being new. They keep publicly saying “faithful,” but that either sounds like a bad idea or a half truth - like a lot of the feelings you have will be similar to the OG, but the journey there will be pretty different.
I think that either way even if the trilogy is great there will be a divide no matter what There will be those that are disappointed in will way square enix has chosen to go about remaking it and there will be those that will enjoy it Depending on whether the game is faithful despite its additions is something that i can see a ton of people already split on since remake part 1 Heck i didnt even know people didnt like how the characters looked in remake Even if they tried their best to make it 1:1 remake of the old game there will always be those that are unhappy. But it also comes down to whether square enix actually understands what the game's core concept is and how it affected people. If they can nail that and add things onto it i think the games will be great. But even so one has gotta think what other changes will they bring to the story such as that particular scene. If they decide to for example make another character die instead of the original character or they decide to have the player do the deed instead I wonder how the community will take it?
Exactly! It's not a 1:1 remake which already divides the fanbase, but the thing that matters to me is whether or not they understand the core of the game. While I'm not mad at this remake, I do think it's a bit of a shame that we will probably never get a 1:1 remake so I do get where people are coming from.
@@Arkry_ it's very understandable I do see the fact that it is a trilogy instead of a single game a bit of a scummy route since they need to make more money. I do also think that ff7 remake trilogy as a whole serves as a kind of a testing ground for the series of final fantasy games as a whole since ff7 og already served as a huge departure from its traditional formula. Personally, it would have been cool if advent children was made part of part 3 for me but I'm sure that would piss of fans. I do think it would be simpler for people to accept the game like you said if it was a 1 to 1 remake just with updated graphics and voice acting and combat and exploration which I believe is what multiple people wanted. I have hope that SE actually pulls it off with the whole multiverse thing whilst making it impact full just as the og is. But tbh even if the next two games recapture and expand upon the core of ff7 will it be enough for those that look down upon it?
@@happyphiri4237well, people will always complain at the end of the day. But the hardcore fanboys calling Remake a masterpiece and looking down on OG fans piss me off. The reused assets ( motorbike, sewers), the neverending dungeons (graveyard, hojo lab), the boring FedEx sidequests, the arbiters of fate… so many things that killed the pacing of the story for me. Granted i really appreciated the soundtracks, the combat, the characters and the locations, i can’t help but feel sad when i imagine what a more faithful remake could have been… i mean the game was at his greatest when it improved upon OG like the wall market segment for example. Never expected a 1 on 1 retelling but something akin to what capcom achieved with the resident evil franchise (except the 3rd installment of course 😅)
I see FF7R as a alternate (sequel) take on FF7. I agree that you should play og FF7 before Remake. I played og FF7 and Crisis Core back in 2020 and Remake this year, couldn’t imagine enjoying Remake as much as I did had I not played og FF7 and Crisis Core first. The entire epilogue alone, would’ve been confusing bc I wouldn’t have known who Zack was lol
I am doing the opposite. I’m not playing the OG before the trilogy comes out so that I’m not spoiled on the big moments of the game. While I get that it’s not an exact remake of the original, that’s what makes it fun for me. Not 100% knowing the story is fun because I get to experience this with fresh eyes and no expectations. Though I 1000% plan to play the OG because these games make me want to compare and see which version I like best.
@@Arkry_ Whats the point of having two timelines? You get your cake and eat it too. Original timeline, not original timeline. Thats the best case scenario. The budget is first going into the new content probably. Then at the very end they would be wise to stick with the project and make that faithful remake as a additional DLC which would surge sales again.
There are a lot of aspects that I dislike with remake. Jessie's thirst, the anime gasps, a lot of the slow walking on rails sections, too many cutscenes, a lot of annoying extra filler, questionable quests that end with you getting hated on, and of course the constant scene shifting during boss battles. But the graphics give my brain a super happy and I find myself really enjoying it. I also worry, but they have also given me hope. Im excited to play the next game, but this is going to be the lynchpin in whether or not the first part was just an intro before rebirth blows us away, or it could continue in that same shallow course of attempting to "fix what was wrong with the original" instead of building on what it did right, while bringing it into the new age of arpgs. Time will tell, and they definitely have my attention.
I can't see why one would be excited for this trilogy. They seem to be planning on ruining everything about the original and replace it with the most shallow fanservice. "Sephiroth is cool" being a reason to drop any and every aspect of the original, after all, what else would braindead hordes want from a game? If they wanted to make a sequel, sure, go ahead. But they called it remake. Also, if they want to make a sequel, then it's super disappointing how they just seem to repeat everything first one did, but worse. If they went fully with one idea or another, maybe, but it's essentially a playable directors commentary on the original game, not really doing anything on its own, and failing to add anything to the original either. Why does this trilogy exist?
Ofcourse I can't answer for everyone but I'm personally excited for it to see where this goes. Part of me is excited to see where this can go as a sequel or whatever they're doing, I think it could be interesting to start of as a remake but slowly turn it into something more. To kinda have the effect of "wait something here is off...." only for that to derail into a completely different story. But that would be very hard to pull off as it would have to be really good and lead to a worthy conclusion. But another part of me definitely agrees with you, this could easily end up being a 3 part game that just tells the same story but worse thanks to some weird changes that ultimately dont lead anywhere. Sometimes I dont even know why I'm as excited as I am tbh which lead to this video Either way its a strange concept for a game, this could end up being terrible but it could also becoming something really special.
This video sums up pretty good most of my feelings. Ff7 isn't even one of my favorites (been playing these games since the super Nintendo when i was just a child) I really wish they had done one of two things: 1. Been honest about this being a psuedo sequel and just called the FIRST game REBIRTH instead of remake. Or 2. Made a full on faithful remake. The route they took (and the frankly terrible writing towards the end of remake) have left me feeling like i don't even care to see where this goes. It feels like they lied, and it feels like they are cheating new ff7 fans out of the original experience. If somehow they pull this off and it's amazing, then sweet. But as of right now all i can think is... "why, why, and what is the point?"
It was pretty unclear exactly to what extent. They kinda jumped around between "oh yeah no worries we barely changed anything at all" kinda answers and "ohhhh yeah some stuff is different to make it flow better but its REALLY FAITHFUL to the original". So, yes, in that respect they were "honest" about it not being 1 to 1. But they reallllyyyyy didn't clarify, as they should have, just HOW different it was going to be. Honestly, I was fine with a LOT of the changes, as understandably they could have done a lot to help fix some of the issues with the original. It wasn't until we hit the shinra building and they just kinda threw everything out the window with that fanfiction-esque ending that I was like "okay yeah I'm annoyed now" lol.@@CrazyNerdSarah
I'm glad I'm planning to play the og (my 4th attempt lmao) soon before Rebirth! I'll play Intermission too but idk if I'll have time to play Crisis Core 😓
WIth the recent trailer and concerns i have, its nice to find videos like this that are still optimistic but also being honest about the tone and feel of the story. While not my favorite game of all time, this was the first ps1 game that made me want the system and feel like this was the best it could get. Playing the remake i knew they were not going to make it a 1 to 1 remake due to limitations and keeping the high end graphics. However once i got to the end i felt a little let down more than i thought. MCU and other games have been pushing this multi verse trend for a while and im tired of this trope and hoping this doesnt go the route i think its going. I get zack is popular but in comic logic, super heroes are never really dead, it was a fake out (captain america's death) or "i was just resting for while" (superman's death). I'm still excited as the the remake was fun to theorize at least but i dont need it to become the next MCU/kingdom hearts universe, but this would help make it to where ff7 alone becomes its own franchise outside the boundaries so that they can make as much while it lasts.
I have a feeling that we will get a lot of Zack sections. I hope they keep it to a minimum but we'll probably get a lot of him, especially since Crisis Core was so popular
@@monkeygunner67000 yeah that’s my problem with him. No depth to the character at all. I get it, you want to be the hero. But you have to be living for more than that
So the last time I played FF7 was on the PS1 back in the 90s. I've been thinking about giving it another play through, but honestly I am confused where to even start these days. I'm thinking "Should I get the remake? Crisis Core? Rebirth? What the hell!" I just want to play FF7 once, I don't have time to play through it like 3 or 4 different times just to see which version I like the best. Can someone help me understand which version I should try playing through again if the last time I played it was on the PS1 in the 90s?
If you want to play through the original story you should play Final Fantasy VII, the one that you already played on PS1. You can get it anywhere though, its on switch, playstation 4/5, PC and probably xbox. If you then want more from this world I would recommend Crisis Core so you get Zack's story, and then you can check out the remake trilogy. Part 1 = FF7 Remake, Part 2 = FF7 Rebirth and Part 3 doesnt have a title yet as it wont be out for a while. FF7 Remake also has a story DLC (FF7 Remake Intermission) set during/after Remake but before Rebirth. Remake will be very familiar since you played the original but they stretch out the Midgar section into a full game. So they expanded on a lot of plotpoints while also introducing characters early and introducing new characters, but at the end of the game the story branches quite a bit which is why I made this video haha It's a lot and I get that it's confusing but hopefully this helped!
@@Arkry_ Thanks for explaining it to me, that actually helps a lot. So if I want to play the original FFVII but I want to play it on my switch, I want to play the "remastered version" (the one that comes with VIII as well)?
Nice video. I wish they would remake the OG almost exact, with unreal engine polygon characters, no voiceovers, fight mode the same where you dont run up to enemies but twist into a random battle with turn based fighting (here the characters could look the same as they do in the remake) The only additions would be having more cur scenes, more of the original world to explore, such as access to more of midgar, harder enemies. Surely they could do a version like this.
It would definitely be cool to get an extremely faithful remake at some point! I'm not expecting it any time soon but they might do it after this trilogy since they just keep milking FF7 haha
There is so many thing i loved in the remake ( though the padding was borderline ridiculous…)and rebirth looks astounding on so many regards. However i would kill for a more faithful remake storywise like the RE2 or RE4 remake.
I honestly don't think they'll change the results of the important moments in the OG game. They'll just change the way we get there. And I'll choose to believe they'll do a good job.
it's a full reimagining. The original will still happen they are just changing the way it's told they are diving into every piece of content they have on ff7 and elaborating the concepts beyond the original. They're taking the ogs story from ps1 and retconning ideas that were present in the original but not elaborated or explained to the fullest. Example there is a deleted scene in og at the temple of ancients that did not make the final cut of the game/ in this scene sephiroth explains that the summons were once existed "pure creatures of natural shape [that] sealed their life energy within materia, altering their lives forever." In remake we already see how they are explaining more on the summons. Shiva froze over the northern continent now apparently .... I love it
ps a side note the deleted scene was at the temple after the fight against the Red dragon and if you read remakes enemy intel for Bahamut he is retconned to be The Dragon King revered by the original stewards (ancients) of the planet.
@@gyung109 Yes they are expanding on certain ideas/concepts which makes it more of a reimagining, but some things like having 2 timelines, Zack being alive, Sephiroth & Aerith having memories from the OG and the Whispers being a thing is a lot more than that. Remake was following the events of the original but by the end it started setting up a whole new story. It's fine if you love it ofcourse! I also really liked Remake and I'm super excited for Rebirth but this isnt just a more fleshed out FF7 anymore
@@Arkry_ lol at first hands glance it’s easy to call the remake not a full re imagining because all the un explained scenarios placed in remake at the end that scare everyone. But play the original over you’ll start seeing remake plot hidden between and not explained. But we’ll see
The fact the first disc only goes through Midgar and not even up to Junon already told me how much they respect the fan base. Not at all. If it really is gonna be 3 games that third game is gonna take 20 years assuming rebirth doesn't even get past gold saucer. Hmm so it does go to saucer and cosmo
I mean considering the first game wasn't really VII then I can confidently say no, no it will not be. The first game fundamentally misunderstood the basic building blocks of the original and outright disrespected most of the more important parts while making characters like Aerith unrecognizable. They'd have to do a complete 180 in order to be faithful to VII and I don't see that happening.
Interesting, I always thought that it was relatively faithful but I also never replayed Remake after playing the original, I only rewatched some moments/scenes. Ofcourse they expanded on A LOT and added in characters from the compilation and stuff but I always thought it was still pretty faithful. Until the ending and the leadup to Rebirth at least I'm definitely replaying the remake at some point tho, so I'm curious as to how my thoughts will change on that
@@Arkry_ They screw up tone and setting ((everything is brightly lit, people aren't particularly downtrodden)) subtle aspects ((Sephiroth is introduced an hour in and they proceed to beat you over the head with him, even having a boss fight, Aerith has meta knowledge)) pacing and tone again ((Aerith and Tifa being all giggly during the sewer section in spite of the urgency, and as much as I love the new train graveyard it really bogs down the sense of urgency that scene requires)) to symbolism ((in the original you don't see the sun until you finish Midgar and open up the world, here you see the sun early on and then not when you leave Midgar)) to adding outright nonsensical elements in the Whispered. They also outright removed the first horror scene and one of my favorite parts from the original in Sephiroths murder spree up Shinra tower. I could go on but you get the point. The parts that are still Final Fantasy VII are still amazing but they changed so many of the basic building blocks that it's not even approaching the original. I understand this is a remake but if you stray too far from the original then you lose what made it great to begin with and the additional stuff wasn't enough to make up for that loss to me.
@@palladiamorsdeus Yeah I get what you mean, it's definitely not a "remake" in the usual sense of the word. I usually call it a "reimagining" instead, since they are changing so many things. Some changes I like, some I don't, but I think its very hard to judge until we get the full experience. Like for example, I dont mind that they introduced Sephiroth this early. He's a super iconic character that everyone knows so to have a FF7 game without him would feel weird, especially to new players. But I do agree with a lot of the original being ruined like some of the pacing, symbolism and some iconic moments like that horror sequence.
But Sephiroth was not going anywhere… it looks like square enix had not enough confidence in their own game… if remake had not so much useless padding, they could have introduced him in the kalm flashback at the end of remake.
Its ok to change some events and how and when but the only thing cant change are the big events who play knows whoever want those event to not happen are just someone fanboys cuz that changed the whole cloud and co journey.
You said "How can they surprise old players when the point is to tell the same plot". I'm pretty sure they aren't telling the same plot, nor do I think they have stated as much. To the best of my memory, I believe they said it would only follow a similar structure and would hit the same locations as the original.
I mean not all remakes are 1 to 1 retellings they have almost if not most of the same elements but with a big twist look at Pokémon ruby remake it’s a remake with mostly the same elements but with a twist and it played out very well for new and old fans
They did this with the "remake". Us original fans had been claiming for a 1 to 1 remake and it was billed as that. Then they started added in the whispers and fates and it just ruined the whole story. Yes we still have the original game. The problem with this statement though is that the original hasnt aged well in places. Unlike the pixel games. That was part of the reason so many people were clamoring for a remake. To retell the original game in a timeless fashion. This concept of fate and timelines is so offensive to me as a fan of the original. The original game was so loved as a story because it dealt with themes of loss, coming to terms with change, and finding yourself. Each character/party member in the game goes through these 3 main things and these emotions are so universal it resonated with so many people. They are also completely at odds with the notion of changing your destiny and fate. So instead of telling a story that is faithful to the original themes (even if it is original to the originals events) they are trying to tie in all this supplementary games/stories that just dilutes and muddies the water. There are so many examples of franchises that try to do this and fail (the one that annoys me most is Halo 5). The game itself looks fantastic, but the story looks so bad and I would argue that is always been the most important part of FF7.
I get what you mean, I only played OG after Remake so I already knew stuff was gonna be changed around. But damn, it mustve been so annoying to see the changes when they advertised it as a 1:1 remake. And yeah the original game hasnt aged that well, but the story is always the most important part with games like this so in that aspect I'd say that its still worth playing. And as someone who only played the OG 2-3 years ago I still really enjoyed it despite its age. Personally I can kinda detach this trilogy from my experience with the OG, for me this could turn out to be good/enjoyable in it's own right but this could also easily turn out to be shit. Either way the original will always be something special to me, if it's shit I'll just ignore it. I get that not everyone can do that tho or that you can see the remakes as something offensive
@@Arkry_ Yeah the story is definitely the most important part, its a shame because whenever anyone talks about the remake no one mentions the story. Yet the midgar section in the original is great. I am worried that this will be the legacy of these 3 games. Great "games" but terrible story. Where as the original is a great Story but an aged game. I commend you for going back and playing the original. I've detached the original from this too. It's separate in my mind. This is where my main complaint is though, there are so many new fans that will never go back and play the original. Turn based old school games dont appeal to them. So many casuals the original wont appeal too. The remake was supposed to be a way to show the story of the 1st in a game that would appeal to more players. I think the story only appeals to hardcore players who are deeply invested in FF in general and have engaged with all the supplementary games (which casuals just wont do), with the more casuals I talked to just saying the remake was okay. The way you would describe an assassins creed game or something. This is what we lost. We have an original game that has limited appeal but an amazing story, with a trilogy of games that are amazing games (so excited for how they have evolved turn based combat) but mediocre storys. Adding fate, destiny, timelines and an understanding of movies and other games does not enhance a typical heroes journey, coming of age story with themes of loss, change and grief. I'm just gutted I wont be able to share that story with more of my friends, and it wont go down as one of the best video game storys of all time.
I'm not worried at all. From the moment that I saw Remake's rendition of Hell House, I knew that they're going to do this game justice. There's no point doing a 1 for 1 remake with everything else that's been seen and done. There would be no buzz about this remake. If you use your brain, you see that there's a huge buzz concerning this game because so much seems up in the air. Saying, "What's the point?" shows a lack of understanding or consideration of what goes into making something like this. This is the perfect opportunity to not only add things they couldn't during the development of the original. But also a chance to tackle all the "what ifs" people had from the original. IE, Zack seeing Aerith again. Zack seeing Yuffie. Etc etc.
Dude… what do you even MEAN it “worries you”!? Were you not worried when sephiroth was shoved down your throat several times in the first 20 minutes of part 1? You weren’t sweating it when he was the final boss of the game? A game where the OG STARVED you for a GLIMPSE of him in the original? Barret almost dies.. Biggs lives…. Kingdom hearts fate being incorporated for some reason? They release the first game on ps4 and then say “f*ck these fans” and make it impossible to play the rest unless you buy a ps5!?!? If you’re just now getting worried, I feel sorry for your skills of observation. They are absolutely butchering our childhood and y’all are prepared to happily pay for it to create content🤦🏻 Anyone whose a TRUE OG fan and still actually values a TRUE remake (which hardly exists anywhere) won’t even play the second installment. Absolute garbage with beautiful graphics and a decent battle system. That’s it.
@@lostvayne9146 follow what? The “remake”? Hardly bro. I have absolutely zero interest since they butchered the first one. I was a believer until I wasn’t.
They needed to attract new customers as well as old. You're just never going to get that by pitching a sequal to the 7th installment in a game series, 25 years after it released. Not to mention the fact the game does work, for the most part, as a remake.
stop making everything into an ARPG... i want an actual remake with the turn based system. don't change the story, keep EVERYTHING exactly the same. That's how you do a REMAKE. if you change things then it's NOT a remake, it's just a re-imagining.
The OG game is there and will never change..and will always be there... Isn't true.. Things can come after the fact the recontextualize things.. And Chang the meaning and the experience of the OG game we.FF7 actually has that in spades.. Cloud finding himself recontextualize the nibelhime events... especially when dealing with time travel and multiverses.. I'm a FF7 purest...and you mistakenly think we don't want anything to change in the Remake...Changes are fine but they have to be good.. Don't add something that is bad... Don't pass the game with nonsense. Some of the changes in Remake were great ,like seeing more of midgar... But overall most were not good. And destroy other stuff in the narrative.. So no I have no excitement for Rebirth... I've gone from being hyped..to being apathetic.
![[FULL SPOILER DISCUSSION] Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is ALMOST PERFECT... Until its NOT!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TwtBVYFpSKg/mqdefault.jpg)
I played the original FF7 on Playstation when it first came out, when I was 13. First off, it's always great to hear from a fan who played Remake recently and then went back and played the original and confirmed that it's still one of the greatest video game stories ever told. I think a lot of people would say that FF7 fans are just nostalgic for a game we loved as kids. But the fact that so many adults are coming to the game for the first time and are blown away by it shows that's not the case.
I will say though, that I'm somewhat disappointed by the decision to add what appears to be time travel/multiverse to the story, as it seems like that goes against the themes of the original of facing your past trauma and moving on from loss. There's a risk that the story will now be about doing it over and over again until all your friends survive. I agree that the Remake Trilogy can never replace the original, but I personally don't miss the prerendered backgrounds which were sometimes difficult to navigate.
But overall, I'm looking forward to Rebirth and all the mini games and combat enhancements, even if the story may wind up going in a direction I think it shouldn't.
Great video, very much where I'm at with the game. Extremely excited for Rebirth, but can't really reconcile all the things they're saying and where they seem to be going after part 1's ending.
I totally think this is a sequel. There’s enough in part 1 to show sephiroth, or a version of him, is projecting himself into the past to change the outcome.
It’s one part a trip down memory lane for us old people, and one part pseudo sequel where the changes make it fascinating.
As an old almost 40er who played VII before legendary status,if I want the story of the original, I’ll always have that. The remakes actually keeps things interesting with the changes.
The fact that we don’t know how rebirth ends, even when we know how it should end, makes it so cool.
I personally wanted it to be an exact remake.... as in upgraded graphics but exact same storyline.... but the word rebirth and the end of the first part showing Zack are signs telling me things will be different this time...
To me I ranked FF7 the highest in my book out of all the FF I played is due to its plot... the Aeris moment is shocking at that time 20 yrs ago, but that was not the biggest twist to me... but it was the actual Nibelheim incident reveal that caught me off guard... hardly storytelling in games have such compelling plot twist back then...
But ultimately... i just want to relive my childhood of playing this game in a highly rendered crystal clear beautiful graphics...
Agreed, it might've not been my childhood but an exact remake of FF7 would be something special for sure.
No matter how this turns out, it's a shame that Square Enix went in this direction instead..
@@Arkry_it’s even more upseting when you see with rebirth what they are capable of… a more faithful remake would have been a tremendous success while improving and building on OG
I appreciate you telling others to play the OG. Subbed.
Thanks, appreciate it! I just see too many people playing Remake without playing the OG so I had to mention that!
@@Arkry_
If they at the very end make an alternate timeline DLC thats 95% faithful that would suck in everyone too OG bent. And they would appreciate having both. Alternate timeline sounds like alternate ending.
This was a fascinating watch for me since you come from the perspective of someone who started with Remake. I’ve done a lot of analysis about how and why they’re trying this “same but different” approach and a lot of the time I’ve spent thinking about it games from the same exact worries that you expressed here.
I admire the ambition and it’s a fun intellectual exercise as a writer to think through how they can pull it off, but man is it hard to imagine how they can pull off this “have their cake and eat it too” approach. At some point, something has to win out between being faithful and being new. They keep publicly saying “faithful,” but that either sounds like a bad idea or a half truth - like a lot of the feelings you have will be similar to the OG, but the journey there will be pretty different.
I think that either way even if the trilogy is great there will be a divide no matter what
There will be those that are disappointed in will way square enix has chosen to go about remaking it and there will be those that will enjoy it
Depending on whether the game is faithful despite its additions is something that i can see a ton of people already split on since remake part 1
Heck i didnt even know people didnt like how the characters looked in remake
Even if they tried their best to make it 1:1 remake of the old game there will always be those that are unhappy. But it also comes down to whether square enix actually understands what the game's core concept is and how it affected people. If they can nail that and add things onto it i think the games will be great. But even so one has gotta think what other changes will they bring to the story such as that particular scene. If they decide to for example make another character die instead of the original character or they decide to have the player do the deed instead I wonder how the community will take it?
Exactly! It's not a 1:1 remake which already divides the fanbase, but the thing that matters to me is whether or not they understand the core of the game.
While I'm not mad at this remake, I do think it's a bit of a shame that we will probably never get a 1:1 remake so I do get where people are coming from.
@@Arkry_ it's very understandable
I do see the fact that it is a trilogy instead of a single game a bit of a scummy route since they need to make more money. I do also think that ff7 remake trilogy as a whole serves as a kind of a testing ground for the series of final fantasy games as a whole since ff7 og already served as a huge departure from its traditional formula. Personally, it would have been cool if advent children was made part of part 3 for me but I'm sure that would piss of fans. I do think it would be simpler for people to accept the game like you said if it was a 1 to 1 remake just with updated graphics and voice acting and combat and exploration which I believe is what multiple people wanted. I have hope that SE actually pulls it off with the whole multiverse thing whilst making it impact full just as the og is. But tbh even if the next two games recapture and expand upon the core of ff7 will it be enough for those that look down upon it?
@@happyphiri4237well, people will always complain at the end of the day. But the hardcore fanboys calling Remake a masterpiece and looking down on OG fans piss me off. The reused assets ( motorbike, sewers), the neverending dungeons (graveyard, hojo lab), the boring FedEx sidequests, the arbiters of fate… so many things that killed the pacing of the story for me. Granted i really appreciated the soundtracks, the combat, the characters and the locations, i can’t help but feel sad when i imagine what a more faithful remake could have been… i mean the game was at his greatest when it improved upon OG like the wall market segment for example. Never expected a 1 on 1 retelling but something akin to what capcom achieved with the resident evil franchise (except the 3rd installment of course 😅)
I see FF7R as a alternate (sequel) take on FF7. I agree that you should play og FF7 before Remake. I played og FF7 and Crisis Core back in 2020 and Remake this year, couldn’t imagine enjoying Remake as much as I did had I not played og FF7 and Crisis Core first. The entire epilogue alone, would’ve been confusing bc I wouldn’t have known who Zack was lol
I am doing the opposite. I’m not playing the OG before the trilogy comes out so that I’m not spoiled on the big moments of the game. While I get that it’s not an exact remake of the original, that’s what makes it fun for me. Not 100% knowing the story is fun because I get to experience this with fresh eyes and no expectations. Though I 1000% plan to play the OG because these games make me want to compare and see which version I like best.
I think that someone let Nomura out of his cage again and he got ahold of another pen. Sigh…you can’t make a security system good enough…
Nomura is a madman that cannot be stopped lmaoo
@@Arkry_
Whats the point of having two timelines? You get your cake and eat it too. Original timeline, not original timeline. Thats the best case scenario. The budget is first going into the new content probably. Then at the very end they would be wise to stick with the project and make that faithful remake as a additional DLC which would surge sales again.
The worst part is how all the developer interviews don't match anything that's actually gone on at all, even down the smallest questions.
ShinraEnix ain’t getting another Gil of mine, I’ll say that much
There are a lot of aspects that I dislike with remake. Jessie's thirst, the anime gasps, a lot of the slow walking on rails sections, too many cutscenes, a lot of annoying extra filler, questionable quests that end with you getting hated on, and of course the constant scene shifting during boss battles. But the graphics give my brain a super happy and I find myself really enjoying it.
I also worry, but they have also given me hope. Im excited to play the next game, but this is going to be the lynchpin in whether or not the first part was just an intro before rebirth blows us away, or it could continue in that same shallow course of attempting to "fix what was wrong with the original" instead of building on what it did right, while bringing it into the new age of arpgs.
Time will tell, and they definitely have my attention.
I can't see why one would be excited for this trilogy. They seem to be planning on ruining everything about the original and replace it with the most shallow fanservice. "Sephiroth is cool" being a reason to drop any and every aspect of the original, after all, what else would braindead hordes want from a game?
If they wanted to make a sequel, sure, go ahead. But they called it remake.
Also, if they want to make a sequel, then it's super disappointing how they just seem to repeat everything first one did, but worse. If they went fully with one idea or another, maybe, but it's essentially a playable directors commentary on the original game, not really doing anything on its own, and failing to add anything to the original either.
Why does this trilogy exist?
Ofcourse I can't answer for everyone but I'm personally excited for it to see where this goes.
Part of me is excited to see where this can go as a sequel or whatever they're doing, I think it could be interesting to start of as a remake but slowly turn it into something more. To kinda have the effect of "wait something here is off...." only for that to derail into a completely different story. But that would be very hard to pull off as it would have to be really good and lead to a worthy conclusion.
But another part of me definitely agrees with you, this could easily end up being a 3 part game that just tells the same story but worse thanks to some weird changes that ultimately dont lead anywhere. Sometimes I dont even know why I'm as excited as I am tbh which lead to this video
Either way its a strange concept for a game, this could end up being terrible but it could also becoming something really special.
This video sums up pretty good most of my feelings.
Ff7 isn't even one of my favorites (been playing these games since the super Nintendo when i was just a child)
I really wish they had done one of two things:
1. Been honest about this being a psuedo sequel and just called the FIRST game REBIRTH instead of remake.
Or
2. Made a full on faithful remake.
The route they took (and the frankly terrible writing towards the end of remake) have left me feeling like i don't even care to see where this goes. It feels like they lied, and it feels like they are cheating new ff7 fans out of the original experience.
If somehow they pull this off and it's amazing, then sweet. But as of right now all i can think is... "why, why, and what is the point?"
I thought they were honest about it not being an exact copy of the original game. I’m curious if I missed something now,
It was pretty unclear exactly to what extent. They kinda jumped around between "oh yeah no worries we barely changed anything at all" kinda answers and "ohhhh yeah some stuff is different to make it flow better but its REALLY FAITHFUL to the original". So, yes, in that respect they were "honest" about it not being 1 to 1. But they reallllyyyyy didn't clarify, as they should have, just HOW different it was going to be.
Honestly, I was fine with a LOT of the changes, as understandably they could have done a lot to help fix some of the issues with the original. It wasn't until we hit the shinra building and they just kinda threw everything out the window with that fanfiction-esque ending that I was like "okay yeah I'm annoyed now" lol.@@CrazyNerdSarah
I'm glad I'm planning to play the og (my 4th attempt lmao) soon before Rebirth! I'll play Intermission too but idk if I'll have time to play Crisis Core 😓
Hopefully you can stick to it this time haha
Crisis Core is pretty short tho iirc so maybe you can still find time for it!
WIth the recent trailer and concerns i have, its nice to find videos like this that are still optimistic but also being honest about the tone and feel of the story. While not my favorite game of all time, this was the first ps1 game that made me want the system and feel like this was the best it could get. Playing the remake i knew they were not going to make it a 1 to 1 remake due to limitations and keeping the high end graphics. However once i got to the end i felt a little let down more than i thought. MCU and other games have been pushing this multi verse trend for a while and im tired of this trope and hoping this doesnt go the route i think its going. I get zack is popular but in comic logic, super heroes are never really dead, it was a fake out (captain america's death) or "i was just resting for while" (superman's death). I'm still excited as the the remake was fun to theorize at least but i dont need it to become the next MCU/kingdom hearts universe, but this would help make it to where ff7 alone becomes its own franchise outside the boundaries so that they can make as much while it lasts.
As long as we don’t have to spend hours playing as Zack I’m fine with the Trilogy 😂
I have a feeling that we will get a lot of Zack sections. I hope they keep it to a minimum but we'll probably get a lot of him, especially since Crisis Core was so popular
Zack is cool and very popular… but he’s a generic shonen character the likes of which we’ve seen hundreds of time before and after OG…
@@monkeygunner67000 yeah that’s my problem with him. No depth to the character at all. I get it, you want to be the hero. But you have to be living for more than that
So the last time I played FF7 was on the PS1 back in the 90s. I've been thinking about giving it another play through, but honestly I am confused where to even start these days. I'm thinking "Should I get the remake? Crisis Core? Rebirth? What the hell!" I just want to play FF7 once, I don't have time to play through it like 3 or 4 different times just to see which version I like the best. Can someone help me understand which version I should try playing through again if the last time I played it was on the PS1 in the 90s?
Play crisis core next
Then delve into the remake
Either way I think after you play the remake you should play the og
If you want to play through the original story you should play Final Fantasy VII, the one that you already played on PS1.
You can get it anywhere though, its on switch, playstation 4/5, PC and probably xbox.
If you then want more from this world I would recommend Crisis Core so you get Zack's story, and then you can check out the remake trilogy.
Part 1 = FF7 Remake, Part 2 = FF7 Rebirth and Part 3 doesnt have a title yet as it wont be out for a while.
FF7 Remake also has a story DLC (FF7 Remake Intermission) set during/after Remake but before Rebirth.
Remake will be very familiar since you played the original but they stretch out the Midgar section into a full game. So they expanded on a lot of plotpoints while also introducing characters early and introducing new characters, but at the end of the game the story branches quite a bit which is why I made this video haha
It's a lot and I get that it's confusing but hopefully this helped!
@@Arkry_ Thanks for explaining it to me, that actually helps a lot. So if I want to play the original FFVII but I want to play it on my switch, I want to play the "remastered version" (the one that comes with VIII as well)?
@@kromanaut Yup! That's the original game but cleaned up a little bit with some added accessibility features
@@kromanauti would advise you to play it on steam if possible. The 7th heaven mods are doing wonders and you can tailor your own experience
Nice video.
I wish they would remake the OG almost exact, with unreal engine polygon characters, no voiceovers, fight mode the same where you dont run up to enemies but twist into a random battle with turn based fighting (here the characters could look the same as they do in the remake)
The only additions would be having more cur scenes, more of the original world to explore, such as access to more of midgar, harder enemies.
Surely they could do a version like this.
It would definitely be cool to get an extremely faithful remake at some point!
I'm not expecting it any time soon but they might do it after this trilogy since they just keep milking FF7 haha
There is so many thing i loved in the remake ( though the padding was borderline ridiculous…)and rebirth looks astounding on so many regards. However i would kill for a more faithful remake storywise like the RE2 or RE4 remake.
Those open world environments looked a little too barren for my tastes. I'll stick with the complete original.
I honestly don't think they'll change the results of the important moments in the OG game. They'll just change the way we get there. And I'll choose to believe they'll do a good job.
it's a full reimagining. The original will still happen they are just changing the way it's told they are diving into every piece of content they have on ff7 and elaborating the concepts beyond the original. They're taking the ogs story from ps1 and retconning ideas that were present in the original but not elaborated or explained to the fullest. Example there is a deleted scene in og at the temple of ancients that did not make the final cut of the game/ in this scene sephiroth explains that the summons were once existed "pure creatures of natural shape [that] sealed their life energy within materia, altering their lives forever." In remake we already see how they are explaining more on the summons. Shiva froze over the northern continent now apparently .... I love it
ps a side note the deleted scene was at the temple after the fight against the Red dragon and if you read remakes enemy intel for Bahamut he is retconned to be The Dragon King revered by the original stewards (ancients) of the planet.
@@gyung109 Yes they are expanding on certain ideas/concepts which makes it more of a reimagining, but some things like having 2 timelines, Zack being alive, Sephiroth & Aerith having memories from the OG and the Whispers being a thing is a lot more than that. Remake was following the events of the original but by the end it started setting up a whole new story.
It's fine if you love it ofcourse! I also really liked Remake and I'm super excited for Rebirth but this isnt just a more fleshed out FF7 anymore
@@Arkry_ lol at first hands glance it’s easy to call the remake not a full re imagining because all the un explained scenarios placed in remake at the end that scare everyone. But play the original over you’ll start seeing remake plot hidden between and not explained. But we’ll see
Expanding, improving and building upon a game is what every remake should be about. But this trilogy is something else…
The fact the first disc only goes through Midgar and not even up to Junon already told me how much they respect the fan base. Not at all. If it really is gonna be 3 games that third game is gonna take 20 years assuming rebirth doesn't even get past gold saucer.
Hmm so it does go to saucer and cosmo
I mean considering the first game wasn't really VII then I can confidently say no, no it will not be. The first game fundamentally misunderstood the basic building blocks of the original and outright disrespected most of the more important parts while making characters like Aerith unrecognizable.
They'd have to do a complete 180 in order to be faithful to VII and I don't see that happening.
Interesting, I always thought that it was relatively faithful but I also never replayed Remake after playing the original, I only rewatched some moments/scenes.
Ofcourse they expanded on A LOT and added in characters from the compilation and stuff but I always thought it was still pretty faithful. Until the ending and the leadup to Rebirth at least
I'm definitely replaying the remake at some point tho, so I'm curious as to how my thoughts will change on that
@@Arkry_ They screw up tone and setting ((everything is brightly lit, people aren't particularly downtrodden)) subtle aspects ((Sephiroth is introduced an hour in and they proceed to beat you over the head with him, even having a boss fight, Aerith has meta knowledge)) pacing and tone again ((Aerith and Tifa being all giggly during the sewer section in spite of the urgency, and as much as I love the new train graveyard it really bogs down the sense of urgency that scene requires)) to symbolism ((in the original you don't see the sun until you finish Midgar and open up the world, here you see the sun early on and then not when you leave Midgar)) to adding outright nonsensical elements in the Whispered. They also outright removed the first horror scene and one of my favorite parts from the original in Sephiroths murder spree up Shinra tower.
I could go on but you get the point. The parts that are still Final Fantasy VII are still amazing but they changed so many of the basic building blocks that it's not even approaching the original. I understand this is a remake but if you stray too far from the original then you lose what made it great to begin with and the additional stuff wasn't enough to make up for that loss to me.
@@palladiamorsdeus Yeah I get what you mean, it's definitely not a "remake" in the usual sense of the word. I usually call it a "reimagining" instead, since they are changing so many things. Some changes I like, some I don't, but I think its very hard to judge until we get the full experience.
Like for example, I dont mind that they introduced Sephiroth this early. He's a super iconic character that everyone knows so to have a FF7 game without him would feel weird, especially to new players. But I do agree with a lot of the original being ruined like some of the pacing, symbolism and some iconic moments like that horror sequence.
But Sephiroth was not going anywhere… it looks like square enix had not enough confidence in their own game… if remake had not so much useless padding, they could have introduced him in the kalm flashback at the end of remake.
Play OG. I love it. Subbed, my man.
I think the "BIG surprise" they are planning is turning Sephiroth good, there are hints of it all across the game.
It’s basically “FF7: Directors Cut”
I call it: Aerith survives - Tifa dies.
"We don't know what they're doing "
Good. It keeps people interested. A straight retread wasn't going to mean anything.
Its ok to change some events and how and when but the only thing cant change are the big events who play knows whoever want those event to not happen are just someone fanboys cuz that changed the whole cloud and co journey.
You said "How can they surprise old players when the point is to tell the same plot". I'm pretty sure they aren't telling the same plot, nor do I think they have stated as much. To the best of my memory, I believe they said it would only follow a similar structure and would hit the same locations as the original.
You've just got to have faith that they know what they are doing and it will be good. The original will always be the cannon storyline for me anyway.
I mean not all remakes are 1 to 1 retellings they have almost if not most of the same elements but with a big twist look at Pokémon ruby remake it’s a remake with mostly the same elements but with a twist and it played out very well for new and old fans
They did this with the "remake". Us original fans had been claiming for a 1 to 1 remake and it was billed as that. Then they started added in the whispers and fates and it just ruined the whole story. Yes we still have the original game. The problem with this statement though is that the original hasnt aged well in places. Unlike the pixel games. That was part of the reason so many people were clamoring for a remake. To retell the original game in a timeless fashion.
This concept of fate and timelines is so offensive to me as a fan of the original. The original game was so loved as a story because it dealt with themes of loss, coming to terms with change, and finding yourself. Each character/party member in the game goes through these 3 main things and these emotions are so universal it resonated with so many people. They are also completely at odds with the notion of changing your destiny and fate.
So instead of telling a story that is faithful to the original themes (even if it is original to the originals events) they are trying to tie in all this supplementary games/stories that just dilutes and muddies the water. There are so many examples of franchises that try to do this and fail (the one that annoys me most is Halo 5). The game itself looks fantastic, but the story looks so bad and I would argue that is always been the most important part of FF7.
I get what you mean, I only played OG after Remake so I already knew stuff was gonna be changed around. But damn, it mustve been so annoying to see the changes when they advertised it as a 1:1 remake.
And yeah the original game hasnt aged that well, but the story is always the most important part with games like this so in that aspect I'd say that its still worth playing. And as someone who only played the OG 2-3 years ago I still really enjoyed it despite its age.
Personally I can kinda detach this trilogy from my experience with the OG, for me this could turn out to be good/enjoyable in it's own right but this could also easily turn out to be shit. Either way the original will always be something special to me, if it's shit I'll just ignore it. I get that not everyone can do that tho or that you can see the remakes as something offensive
@@Arkry_ Yeah the story is definitely the most important part, its a shame because whenever anyone talks about the remake no one mentions the story. Yet the midgar section in the original is great. I am worried that this will be the legacy of these 3 games. Great "games" but terrible story. Where as the original is a great Story but an aged game.
I commend you for going back and playing the original. I've detached the original from this too. It's separate in my mind. This is where my main complaint is though, there are so many new fans that will never go back and play the original. Turn based old school games dont appeal to them. So many casuals the original wont appeal too. The remake was supposed to be a way to show the story of the 1st in a game that would appeal to more players. I think the story only appeals to hardcore players who are deeply invested in FF in general and have engaged with all the supplementary games (which casuals just wont do), with the more casuals I talked to just saying the remake was okay. The way you would describe an assassins creed game or something.
This is what we lost. We have an original game that has limited appeal but an amazing story, with a trilogy of games that are amazing games (so excited for how they have evolved turn based combat) but mediocre storys. Adding fate, destiny, timelines and an understanding of movies and other games does not enhance a typical heroes journey, coming of age story with themes of loss, change and grief. I'm just gutted I wont be able to share that story with more of my friends, and it wont go down as one of the best video game storys of all time.
Great video tho btw@@Arkry_
FF7 is slop to feed nostalgia pay pigs
This is the video game version of read the book before watching the movie.
2 cents.
I'm not worried at all. From the moment that I saw Remake's rendition of Hell House, I knew that they're going to do this game justice.
There's no point doing a 1 for 1 remake with everything else that's been seen and done. There would be no buzz about this remake.
If you use your brain, you see that there's a huge buzz concerning this game because so much seems up in the air. Saying, "What's the point?" shows a lack of understanding or consideration of what goes into making something like this.
This is the perfect opportunity to not only add things they couldn't during the development of the original. But also a chance to tackle all the "what ifs" people had from the original. IE, Zack seeing Aerith again. Zack seeing Yuffie. Etc etc.
Yeah you should just avoid any news about the game and just play rebirth with mild expectations
Dude… what do you even MEAN it “worries you”!? Were you not worried when sephiroth was shoved down your throat several times in the first 20 minutes of part 1? You weren’t sweating it when he was the final boss of the game? A game where the OG STARVED you for a GLIMPSE of him in the original? Barret almost dies.. Biggs lives…. Kingdom hearts fate being incorporated for some reason? They release the first game on ps4 and then say “f*ck these fans” and make it impossible to play the rest unless you buy a ps5!?!?
If you’re just now getting worried, I feel sorry for your skills of observation. They are absolutely butchering our childhood and y’all are prepared to happily pay for it to create content🤦🏻
Anyone whose a TRUE OG fan and still actually values a TRUE remake (which hardly exists anywhere) won’t even play the second installment. Absolute garbage with beautiful graphics and a decent battle system. That’s it.
and yet you will follow it like an NPC.
@@lostvayne9146 follow what? The “remake”? Hardly bro. I have absolutely zero interest since they butchered the first one. I was a believer until I wasn’t.
They needed to attract new customers as well as old. You're just never going to get that by pitching a sequal to the 7th installment in a game series, 25 years after it released. Not to mention the fact the game does work, for the most part, as a remake.
stop making everything into an ARPG... i want an actual remake with the turn based system.
don't change the story, keep EVERYTHING exactly the same. That's how you do a REMAKE.
if you change things then it's NOT a remake, it's just a re-imagining.
…
The OG game is there and will never change..and will always be there... Isn't true..
Things can come after the fact the recontextualize things.. And Chang the meaning and the experience of the OG game we.FF7 actually has that in spades..
Cloud finding himself recontextualize the nibelhime events... especially when dealing with time travel and multiverses..
I'm a FF7 purest...and you mistakenly think we don't want anything to change in the Remake...Changes are fine but they have to be good.. Don't add something that is bad... Don't pass the game with nonsense.
Some of the changes in Remake were great ,like seeing more of midgar... But overall most were not good. And destroy other stuff in the narrative..
So no I have no excitement for Rebirth... I've gone from being hyped..to being apathetic.
"you mistakenly think we don't want anything to change in the Remake"
fkin lies.