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View Full Version : DoC: What a joke



G13
02-17-2011, 12:49 PM
I decided to replay this last night and just could not understand what I ever saw in this game. What the hell was SE thinking? Almost everything about this game bothers me, which is weird because when it first came out I loved it. The one redeeming feature is the CG cutscenes, those are actually interesting.

My two biggest whines kind of run together. SE was so lazy with this game. They could have really delved into Vincent's background a lot better, but instead we get EVERYTHING WE ALREADY KNEW ABOUT HIM in a neat little package, like the ones kids light on fire and leave on people's doorsteps. Vincent loves Lucrecia, Lucrecia has a baby with Hojo, Hojo shoots Vincent, Vincent becomes monster. Wow, thank you for clearing that all up SE. Vincent was a Turk! Tell us how he became one! Why was this not thought of? Also, why weren't we allowed to see just how he was transformed?

Another little bit of laziness is shown in the gameplay. The graphics are reminiscent of PS1 era. This game came out like two months before XII, why is there such a huge difference in graphics? In the cutscene where Vincent is dodging Rosso's attacks he looks like he's taking it slow. His movement is so stiff it really just pulls me out of the action of the scene. Also, there's a scene not long after that where he's in a (Mako?) tank with all of his clothes on. That's also a mood killer. Would it have been that hard to make a different model where he's got maybe a pair of shorts on or just his pants? Maybe take of his gauntlet and abnormally large shoes, show the beast side of him for a bit? It's just a little off-putting to see a guy come out of a wannabe bacta tank with perfect hair and completely dry.

My second piece of beef with this game is the little to no effort they put into the main antagonists. Like seriously, do we really need another group of super soldiers with a select few elite leading them? SOLDIER was interesting to me, DeepGround is boring. It's nothing new. Even the ultimate goal is the same! Destroy the planet and traverse the galaxy, big freakin' deal. Again, something a little more deeper into Vincent's past would have been much more preferable. These guys have one tie to him, which is pretty stupid imo.

Whine numbers three and four are the acting and writing. I've come to get used to the acting in X, and XII and XIII did pretty good in that department, but DoC is the worst I've had to endure since that five minutes playing Sonic: Heroes.

That big ape of a boss in Edge, his final lines sounded totally unnatural. The dude you find in the alley earlier in the level, where he gives you that cliche "Let me tell you this important info before I die" bs, sounds just as bad. And the little kid between those two! My god, I think they switched voice actors halfway through that scene. His voice literally became lower as he got sadder! Every bit of dialogue bugs the hell out of me, even Vincent's, and I LOVE Steve Blum!

And that's where the writing comes in (sort of). I don't particularly know how hard writing a video game is, I don't know anything about writing a video game actually, but I do know that those annoyingly dramatic soap opera-like pauses when Vince remembers something painful or when someone "says something wrong" are just the worst smurfing things ever! I can't take it! It is just so retarded. It makes these characters look dumb when they pause for five smurfing minutes! ARGH!

Final whine (for the moment) is Shalua Rui. This woman should not exist. Her outfit tells me that SE was trying to make her that sexy female character they've had to add in all their games since X-2, but she's had a goddamn stroke! Absolutely nothing about this woman is interesting, not even the fact that she's practically begging for it, dressing like that but tossing on her lab coat and glasses to "remain professional". I'm on to you, lady! She's just... God, I want so badly to kick her in the side of the face!

I even bought the guide to this game. Why did I do such a thing!? This game is cake! What the hell was 17 year old me thinking?

Shaibana
02-17-2011, 08:36 PM
xD lol..

cant rlly talk along on this topic.. but i to considered buying DOC (IF i could play ps2 on ps3.. wich i cant :( )
but after some youtubing i was like.... wtf :( this is so not final fantasy'ish

Fynn
02-17-2011, 09:58 PM
The music was perhaps the only redeeming quality of this game. Masashi Hamauzu FTW.

G13
02-18-2011, 10:36 AM
xD lol..

cant rlly talk along on this topic.. but i to considered buying DOC (IF i could play ps2 on ps3.. wich i cant :( )
but after some youtubing i was like.... wtf :( this is so not final fantasy'ish

Shaibana, you are a better human than I for resisting such a powerfully awful game. As much as I just bitched about it, I can't stop playing it.

Loony BoB
02-19-2011, 09:11 AM
I'll probably buy it anyway. I'd buy Before Crisis if it were possible where I am. Why release a compilation if one of the games won't be globally accessable!? Grr.

I'll get it since VII is my favourite game... I mean, I don't expect to get a massive thrill out of the game, I just want to know more about the VII world.

EDIT: Just bought it on eBay for £7.50. It'll give me something to do once I finish Crisis Core. :p

Rostum
02-19-2011, 11:26 AM
I felt they could have really added something great to the universe of Final Fantasy VII, but instead they smurfed it up completely. Here's to hoping Square-Enix to officially denounce it as part of the Compilation, and introduce Deepground in a better way.

Despite it now feeling like a complete cluster smurf addition, I was interested in Deepground until it pretty much went no where. I liked the idea that President Shinra had some dark secrets that are still being revealed so long after his death - and reading up about DoC: Online, Deepground was pretty dark. It's just a shame they really smurfed it up though.

Also what was up with Hojo? I mean, was it really necessary to have him still be alive? He would come across as a much more insane bat:bou::bou::bou::bou: crazy madman to discover bits of his legacy, rather than have him just take over the mind of the Deepground leader.

They also could have explored Chaos (inside Vincent) and Omega in a much better and less cheesy way.

They could have butchered a remake and it still would have turned out better. Oh well. I'm just glad they haven't touched Final Fantasy 9.

P.S. Anyone who complains about spoilers, don't worry about it. Seriously, just don't.

P.S.S. Did Square-Enix really just make this just to throw :bou::bou::bou::bou: in their fans faces?

G13
02-19-2011, 01:33 PM
tbh I think DeepGround was a really lame attempt at a new antagonist. We've already got SOLDIER 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Class, I really don't think another attempt at making super soldiers was necessary. They could have done anything at all but they chose to remake SOLDIER. It really bothers me, I see it as them just being lazy.

The Hojo bit was ridiculous as well. Him popping back up made no sense to the plot at all. What reason would a fail scientist have to prevent his own death just so he could destroy all life? It was convenient storytelling just to get a game out there to bring in some money. More laziness.

Rostum
02-19-2011, 10:32 PM
tbh I think DeepGround was a really lame attempt at a new antagonist. We've already got SOLDIER 3rd, 2nd, and 1st Class, I really don't think another attempt at making super soldiers was necessary. They could have done anything at all but they chose to remake SOLDIER. It really bothers me, I see it as them just being lazy.

It's not like 3rd and 2nd SOLDIER classes were really that big of a deal, it was mainly just Sephiroth and Genesis. It wouldn't make much sense if Shinra didn't have his grubby hands on more things than just the G and S experiments.

Granted, there's a lot of Deepground's history that never got explained outside of the Japan-only and now discontinued DoC: Online. But you can read up about it here:

The Darkness of Shinra – Deepground’s History Revealed | The Lifestream (http://thelifestream.net/final-fantasy-vii/4546/the-darkness-of-shinra-deepgrounds-history-revealed/)

The way they implemented the idea of Deepground, and the fact that it isn't seen anywhere else in the compilation other than some really vague bit where they drag Genesis off, make it really lame. But it could have been great.

G13
02-20-2011, 11:15 AM
It's not like 3rd and 2nd SOLDIER classes were really that big of a deal, it was mainly just Sephiroth and Genesis. It wouldn't make much sense if Shinra didn't have his grubby hands on more things than just the G and S experiments.

That's kind of my point though, DG and SOLDIER are pretty much the same thing.

- SOLDIER 3rd and 2nd Class equate to DG troops
- SOLDIER 1st Class equated to Tsviets

How much more super can super soldiers get?

I'm sure the link you provided will answer this question but why have two groups of super soldiers? If they are the ultimate soldiers then it makes 1st Class seem rather pointless. Also, on a completely different tangent, they're all fucking insane and only listen to Weiss. I have a hard time believing that Shinra could have handled them had they ever let hem loose. It just seems to me like very poor storytelling.

They made a better group of soldiers without really explaining why they were better, or how they became that way. And with that in mind, it's also just a little annoying that we have to rely on sources other than the game itself to get more of a background on DG. The way I see it SE threw DG together haphazardly and expected us to just buy into it.

Dear god, what have I become? I'm taking this game way too seriously.

Jessweeee♪
02-21-2011, 05:17 AM
For games like these I just skip myself the grief and head over to SA's Let's Play archive.

Rostum
02-23-2011, 12:17 PM
How much more super can super soldiers get?

I'm sure the link you provided will answer this question but why have two groups of super soldiers? If they are the ultimate soldiers then it makes 1st Class seem rather pointless. Also, on a completely different tangent, they're all smurfing insane and only listen to Weiss. I have a hard time believing that Shinra could have handled them had they ever let hem loose. It just seems to me like very poor storytelling.

They made a better group of soldiers without really explaining why they were better, or how they became that way. And with that in mind, it's also just a little annoying that we have to rely on sources other than the game itself to get more of a background on DG. The way I see it SE threw DG together haphazardly and expected us to just buy into it.

The online version explains all this pretty well, as shown in the link I supplied. The Tsviets have a lot more history than what is shown in the game that was released in NA/EU. Like, for instance, President Shinra putting restrictors in place to keep the Tsviets under control.

I'll agree though, they really missed the mark with this game. Well... even the compilation as a whole. Whilst I do like Crisis Core and Advent Children, I can't help but feel the compilation could have been done a hell of a lot better considering FFVII would be such an important installment to Square-Enix.

But I guess Wada doesn't care what the smurf he does to ruin the Square-Enix brand.

G13
02-23-2011, 12:48 PM
The online version explains all this pretty well, as shown in the link I supplied. The Tsviets have a lot more history than what is shown in the game that was released in NA/EU. Like, for instance, President Shinra putting restrictors in place to keep the Tsviets under control.

That's really disappointing. Like I said before, it really aggravates me when I have to find out important story elements outside of the game, but now it's just getting sad. It takes me out of the story. :cry:

I completely forgot to take a look at that link before, but I'll give it a look now.


I'll agree though, they really missed the mark with this game. Well... even the compilation as a whole. Whilst I do like Crisis Core and Advent Children, I can't help but feel the compilation could have been done a hell of a lot better considering FFVII would be such an important installment to Square-Enix.

I agree wholeheartedly. VII is my favorite in the series and the only good thing that has come of this compilation is a greater respect for the original game. Crisis Core was alright, but the story felt repetitive. Advent Children was good, and AC: Complete was even better, but something felt very off about it.

Jiro
02-23-2011, 01:36 PM
I played through it and it was pretty balls. I mean I had "fun" I guess. The controls disagreed with me and I didn't feel like a psycho vampire ninja badass like he's supposed to be (imo). And once he goes Chaos I just didn't even bother. You can basically run through that game and finish it. I wonder what the minimum bullet count is, because it'd be small.

The points raised about DeepGround being kind of cop out antagonists are good, and valid, but in my head I just write them all out of the canon. It's just a cool knockabout in Vince's boots and then we head on back to the real world.