Episode 1 will release on March 3rd 2020

[Wolf Kanno]

An official release date and a new trailer. Happy Now?

T2zTJGOreFc

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

:05 Is that Heidegger?

76372

[Loony BoB]

Neat, a day before my birthday!

[Wolf Kanno]

:05 Is that Heidegger?

76372

I believe so.

[Psychotic]

English version here.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTCmN8TtkgQ)
So there's weird ghost shit that attacks Aerith now. Cool. Why not. I'm into it.

I also like that AVALANCHE are genuinely considering the impact of their actions.

[Big D]

Looks great, and it's nice to have a release date. I'm looking forward to learning more from E3 in the next couple of days too. I'm still impressed by the sheer attention to detail in the environments, characters, enemies, and animations that we've seen so far in only a few scant minutes of footage.

I'm still treating that release date as 'tentative' for now. After all, there's still a nine-month window for Tetsuya Nomura to annouce that he's delaying it while he "expands" the story to include Genesis Rhapsodos, Organization XIII, Shinra from FFX-2, and a Disney princess in a bikini.


So there's weird ghost trout that attacks Aerith now. Cool. Why not. I'm into it.I'm hoping that's just one of the many ghost-ish monsters from the original, rather than some awkward 'symbolism' being shoehorned in by the director. It's also weird to see Aerith whimpering for help like that, but it'd be silly to judge a character's personality from one line taken in isolation.

...I do apologise for continuing to sound cynical and skeptical about some aspects of the remake. I think it's just that I'd prefer to keep my expectations low, and end up pleasantly surprised, rather than the alternative.

[Example]

Nice, that's much sooner than I expected.

[Fox]

Yeah everything in that trailer I was like "...Yeah, OK, I can get on board with that" until the ghost stuff. That alone raised a number of concerns.

1) What is this New Thing? Change is scary.
2) The moment where Cloud and Aerith met in the original was not a moment where Aerith panics and begs for help. As everyone else runs away around her due to the chaos from the reactor, she approaches you and kindly asks if you would like to buy a flower. No hint of fear, just the nice flower girl selling flowers.
3) Aerith never really seemed to be the "help me!" type. I really hope that's not indicative of her overall character in the remake.

[Shiva95]

Yeah everything in that trailer I was like "...Yeah, OK, I can get on board with that" until the ghost stuff. That alone raised a number of concerns.

1) What is this New Thing? Change is scary.
2) The moment where Cloud and Aerith met in the original was not a moment where Aerith panics and begs for help. As everyone else runs away around her due to the chaos from the reactor, she approaches you and kindly asks if you would like to buy a flower. No hint of fear, just the nice flower girl selling flowers.
3) Aerith never really seemed to be the "help me!" type. I really hope that's not indicative of her overall character in the remake.

I have the same concerns about Aerith. I liked how she was pictured in the previous trailer, but not in that one. I hope it'll be better in the longer version.

[Sephiroth]

Yeah everything in that trailer I was like "...Yeah, OK, I can get on board with that" until the ghost stuff. That alone raised a number of concerns.

1) What is this New Thing? Change is scary.
2) The moment where Cloud and Aerith met in the original was not a moment where Aerith panics and begs for help. As everyone else runs away around her due to the chaos from the reactor, she approaches you and kindly asks if you would like to buy a flower. No hint of fear, just the nice flower girl selling flowers.
3) Aerith never really seemed to be the "help me!" type. I really hope that's not indicative of her overall character in the remake.

Aerith is asking for help and is helped by others about 1 million times in Final Fantasy VII and herself shouting as she is corned already starts as early as in her own church. That she is helping others courageously by helping Tifa and Marlene and running into her own death does not make her somebody that cannot be afraid or ask for help. That Aerith has a "shining good" side, her good soul, that is overly exposed in a short movie - where I cannot blame them for not showing all sides of every single character - or FFVIICC where here more "not just pure" side is a direct result of her contact with Zack will not change anything about any other part of her character that is displayed in FFVII.

As far as the shadow is a thing, it is either a harmless entity that has nothing to do with the overall story or, and that is the only thing that comes close to this, it is some sort of foreshadowing of the Black Lifestream that Sephiroth creates. But Sephiroth is not even awake at that time and the Black Lifestream is the direct result of what happens after the final battle so as long as that is not retconned I doubt it. Everything else would be new. And I am all in for changes because CD1 has a lot of unnecessary or wonkily written scenes, especially in Junon, Corel, Gongaga and Rocket Town. The only thing I want to hear soon is Those Chosen by the Planet. I mean the first Remake trailer contained it because the Advent Children made theme "Beyond The Wasteland" incorporated it but I mean the real deal.

Heidegger looks surprisingly good, I guess. A bit too slim though. But I have to agree with Jinx here (not that extreme though). The combat with Cloud looks a bit too simple and limited too me, especially the slice sound was not satisfying. But I am sure there will be a lot more. I have played very combat limiting games. This surely is not one of them.

[Jinx]

god the gameplay looks like a steaming pile of shit

[Fox]

Aerith is asking for help and is helped by others about 1 million times in Final Fantasy VII and herself shouting as she is corned already starts as early as in her own church. That she is helping others courageously by helping Tifa and Marlene and running into her own death does not make her somebody that cannot be afraid or ask for help. That Aerith has a "shining good" side, her good soul, that is overly exposed in a short movie - where I cannot blame them for not showing all sides of every single character - or FFVIICC where here more "not just pure" side is a direct result of her contact with Zack will not change anything about any other part of her character that is displayed in FFVII.



Does she ask for Cloud to protect her from the Turks in the church? Sure. But here's how she does it:

Aerith: "Say, Cloud, have you ever been a bodyguard? You DO do everything, right?"
Cloud: "Yeah, that's right."
Aerith: "Then, get me out of here. Take me home."
Cloud: "OK, I'll do it... but it'll cost you."
Aerith: "Well then... let's see... how about if I go out with you once?"

Between that and clinging to his arm crying "help me," the tonal difference is night and day. So I stand by what I said. And when she's cornered during the escape, she's facing her enemies weapon in hand. Again, very different kind of thing from what we saw in the trailer.

[Sephiroth]

Fun fact, the first time Aerith calls for help (using the word "help!") in the original game, is when Kotch is trying to rape her in Don's Mansion.

...

Between that and clinging to his arm crying "help me," the tonal difference is night and day. So I stand by what I said. And when she's cornered during the escape, she's facing her enemies weapon in hand. Again, very different kind of thing from what we saw in the trailer.

You know very well that one does not need to say the word "help" to ask for help and signalize "I am in danger and need somebody". You also did not say that you mean the wording specfically. And I am not talking about Aerith asking Cloud to be a bodyguard. She was signalizing Cloud she was in danger in the back hall. Btw. she very well DID ask for help, using the word in the game as well. And I am not talking about Corneo's Hall. So she repeatedly asks in the way you mean it. I do not know how often you want to read it for you to see that she can be like that as well. It is there, that is enough. And no, it does not matter that she carries a weapon. You wanted to question what her character is/was like. She had a weapon in the game and still was like that. I don't know why you are acting she did not. Or is your problem now that she particularly was clinging onto Cloud? That is very thin for a complaint considering she was shown afraid often enough and asking for help often enough - and not just "be my bodyguard, k?"

[Fox]

Aww, I was hoping I edited that before anyone saw it. I got my facts wrong when I forgot about the escape sequence and that's very frustrating >_<

The points remains: in the original she did not seem like a "drop her flowers to the floor, cling onto Cloud's arm and beg for his help" kinda person. That was what I was getting at.

[Sephiroth]

Aww, I was hoping I edited that before anyone saw it. I got my facts wrong when I forgot about the escape sequence and that's very frustrating >_<

The points remains: in the original she did not seem like a "drop her flowers to the floor, cling onto Cloud's arm and beg for his help" kinda person. That was what I was getting at.

Okay, that is fair. But I do not think that is too much of an expansion. I know you probably do not want to read that but apart from everything in the game she was also explained as a person that can be afraid and very much "stepping back" in the book. It was when she was approaching Sephiroth in the Lifestream. That is why she needed the other Cetra to help her. And for being scared away he was even laughing at her. And of course Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura will keep not just what they wrote for the original game in mind but they also remember what they wrote in other media for it. She is a very good mix of human characteristics. Brave, but can also be afraid. And so much more.

[charliepanayi]

Are we really arguing over a two second moment in a trailer and what it means for an entire character arc?

[Sephiroth]

Are we really arguing over a two second moment in a trailer and what it means for an entire character arc?

A lot of people were already doing that the last time when Aerith was handing over the flower to Cloud because you had a choice in the game and it affected the dating scene, while also criticising her character. But Aerith already "just like this" gave a flower to another character and that was Johnny. And even if she didn't, I would not care. Especially not about the dating scene. She should be the one in the scene anyway as it is an important one. Japan even hated on her facial design in the remake because she does not look Asia enough and/or has too long of a face according to them. The remake is an amalgamation of old and new anyway. The Buster Sword has its old design but Cloud has the Compilation SOLDIER emblem. This looks and behaves like this and this like that ... artistic freedom already was visible between DoC and CC where the same stuff was designed differently. And with Roberto Ferrari helping Nomura-san with the character designs now it is no wonder for them. And as far as the writing goes I have yet to see something that is weird in the Remake.

[Fox]

Are we really arguing over a two second moment in a trailer and what it means for an entire character arc?

I believe the phrasing I used was "I really hope that's not indicative of her overall character." I think that's a pretty fair way to critique something in a trailer. The rest of the discussion was about her character arc in the original​ game

[Sephiroth]

Are we really arguing over a two second moment in a trailer and what it means for an entire character arc?

I believe the phrasing I used was "I really hope that's not indicative of her overall character." I think that's a pretty fair way to critique something in a trailer. The rest of the discussion was about her character arc in the original​ game

I am more concerned George Newbern will probably not reprise his role. But I will mostly go for Japanese anyway. Toshiyuki Morikawa is the one anyway.

What I will expect is One-Winged Angel as a rock version. One-Winged Angel was supposed to be that according to Uematsu-san but they never could do it which explains its version in AC.

EDIT: Just saw this on a German website that was writing about when today more info will come so seeing this picture revealing Sephiroth we can definitely expect to see him in a trailer or whatever they use to reveal him. And not just him from the back as 2 trailers ago.

https://www.bilder-upload.eu/upload/68aa2c-1560177206.png

He has his Amano belt. And he uses his left hand other than his Amano art and the original game do; just like AC, CC and the Nomura-artwork make him use his left hand.

[Example]

Didn't Aerith at one point state that she could take care of herself due to growing up in the slums? Or was that just a mistranslation and is her flanderized portrayal in Crisis Core how she really acts in the original game?

[Psychotic]

I mean, if I got attacked by black swirling ghost monsters I’d drop my basket of posies and beg for help in a far more girly manner than that.

[charliepanayi]

Maybe they're planning a crossover with Ghostbusters?

[Wolf Kanno]

My guess is that it's Aerith sensing a disturbance within the Lifestream caused by Sephiroth, hence why Cloud can see it when she touches him since he's kind of the link for that. I get the feeling Sephy is going to be heavily foreshadowed in this version compared to the original.

[Melisandre]

I think that Aerith just summoned this ghost to get Cloud's attention.

[Loony BoB]

Could be something to do with the ghosts in the Train Graveyard. idk. But I'm really not bothered, because I'm treating this game as something that will be different to the original. The original is still there, still my fave game of all time, and nothing the remake does will change that (unless it's somehow better but I don't know if a remake is capable of recapturing that first play of a game).

As for Aeris asking for help, that's totally normal for her, I don't think it's unusual at all. Especially as she's seemingly being confronted by something much different to the usual thugs in the slums. I mean it's not every day that you get a ghost thing swirling around you, is it? Even Cloud seemed alarmed to some extent by what was going on. They're brave, that doesn't mean they can't be scared, it just means they fight on when they are scared. And asking for help is part of clever fighting.

[Sephiroth]

So Midgar it is then.

I knew they would reveal Sephiroth and Tifa.

[Fox]

I really wish they'd clarify, and apologies if I missed it, exactly how much of the 'game' you're getting day 1 if you buy it.

Other than that though, everything they showed at the press briefing was extremely good? Like actually just a fantastic blend of Ye Olde FFVII with some new ideas. Very pleasantly surprised with basically everything, I love Tifa to bits, the Avalanche crew seem like they're gonna be better fleshed out. And the gameplay was great. Tactical mode just looks like a great way to blend the ATB into real time button mashy spectacle action. Show me some summons please!

I was into the music as well. They seem to have chosen to go the orchestra heavy route, and it's *such* a hard soundtrack to translate to an orchestra. But so far so good on that front.

Good show, Squenix, you have successfully eroded a decent chunk of my cynicism regarding this game.

[Sephiroth]

I really wish they'd clarify, and apologies if I missed it, exactly how much of the 'game' you're getting day 1 if you buy it.


Midgar. The Rest will be on the second BluRay. Which means either Kalm-Northern Cave is heavily cut down or Midgar is ridiculously large in its story expansion.

Now it also makes sense why "the Compilation would not be coherent with the story at the moment". They only have Midgar. I expected them to not have much but I hoped for Cargo Ship. The second game will have a lot of the twists then. Well. We had one that had all of them. But at least on different CDs. Kazushige Nojima will have a lot to do for the second one. I guess Aerith will be the mid-point then. But this means we got 1.5 games with her alive and 0.5 with her in the Lifestream.

EDIT: Outdated post.

[Loony BoB]

From what I'm reading, one of the discs will heavily flesh out the story, lore, world, etc. Which, based on what we're seeing, I expect to be the Midgar disc. The other one I expect to be more in line with the original for the most part, at this rate. I don't think they'll cut out as much of the non-Midgar stuff as you might think because they said they will still fill a 50GB blu ray. GTA V was only on one blu ray, which gives you a good idea how much you can fit onto those suckers. I'm not sure if there are any other games out there that even edge past the one blu ray. RDR2 according to a Google search had an install disc and a play disc. I'm not sure how much of each they filled up. The towns we visit in FF7 are considerably smaller than what we see in GTAV/RDR2 though, I'd wager. That'll leave a large amount of space for dungeons, an overworld and minigames.

I'm more astonished that Midgar will be so big that it takes up a full disc, personally! I wonder if the Kalm flashback will move to Midgar now, if anything.


I was into the music as well. They seem to have chosen to go the orchestra heavy route, and it's *such* a hard soundtrack to translate to an orchestra.

I haven't listened yet so I'm excited to (just watched a few times on silent mode on my phone)! Thankfully a huge amount of the music was orchestra-ready, and notably all the major songs are already played at the Distant Worlds concerts (the recent one in London had a whole half dedicated to FFVII and it was awesome).

[Sephiroth]

So apparently the two disc thing was a misunderstanding and part 1 itself will have 2 discs and somehow that also is said in the game store. I should have listened to Kitase-san himself instead of listening to a translator and get confused by that but who can blame me past 3 AM in the morning. I will watch the whole thing later again to see if that was really what he said.

EDIT: Could really be that he was talking about just the first game. Talking about the game made me associate it with the game as a whole, so everything. This is quite peculiar.

[Loony BoB]

Wait, really? All the news sites ran with two discs for the entire game. If it's actually two whole discs for Midgar alone then holy trout.

EDIT: Looks like some news sites are saying one thing and others are saying the other, so idk anymore.

[Sephiroth]

I watched the show again by now which is why I edited my post but I cannot really figure out what Kitase-san meant even when listening to him. But I guess he means the first installment. Everyone was waiting for an announcement how many installments will come and I see it all as one but maybe they really put Midgar on two discs. It is probematic because some people think of "entire game" as "Part 1" or "entire game from PS1 meaning all of it".

I mean, since Avalanche gets more exposition this has to mean if they do not retcon where they died, there will be lots of time between Mako Reactor 1 and 5, retconning the time when they did the mission.

I do not care out that though as log as they keep what they say and stay true to the core which means all the essential plot points need to be included kinda like in Resident Evil 2.

EDIT: Edamame Arcade Channel who were there also said Midgar has 2 discs.

[Big D]

The game's description on the offical Square-Enix store drops a few more hints about its length and content, though it's just as possible that translation quirks affected their news too.

The UK store describes it thus: "A spectacular reimagining of one of the most visionary games ever, the first game in this project will be set in the eclectic city of Midgar and presents a fully standalone gaming experience." (https://store.eu.square-enix-games.com/en_GB/product/564495/final-fantasy-vii-remake-1st-class-edition-ps4)

The USA store elaborates that it's "The first entry in a multi-part saga" (https://store.na.square-enix-games.com/en_US/product/562671/final-fantasy-vii-remake-1st-class-edition-ps4#/desc).

The Australia/New Zealand store does't even mention the remake yet, because screw us antipodeans I guess.

[Sephiroth]

So, even Square is currently not sure how many installments Final Fantasy VII gets.

[Loony BoB]

I don't see anything at all there suggesting it will be more or less than two episodes, nor do I see anything there suggesting it will be anything other than a Midgar episode and a non-Midgar episode. The only thing I'm not sure about is the number of discs in episode 1.

[Wolf Kanno]

I don't see anything at all there suggesting it will be more or less than two episodes, nor do I see anything there suggesting it will be anything other than a Midgar episode and a non-Midgar episode. The only thing I'm not sure about is the number of discs in episode 1.


“Before we actually started working on this, we knew it was going to be a large amount of content,” Kitase told the press at E3. When we started out planning the plot for the first game, it hit us again… at that point we decided we were going to focus first game on Midgar and what happens in Midgar. Unfortunately we can’t say anything more about the future games, because we don’t know ourselves.”


Source Siliconera (https://www.siliconera.com/2019/06/12/final-fantasy-vii-remake-producer-comments-on-how-many-games-will-be-in-the-series/)

Yeah, so Episode 1 is just Midgard and will be two discs. How long this remake will go is uncertain at this point. Even the devs don't know.

[Sephiroth]

I don't see anything at all there suggesting it will be more or less than two episodes, nor do I see anything there suggesting it will be anything other than a Midgar episode and a non-Midgar episode. The only thing I'm not sure about is the number of discs in episode 1.

As said, I was listening to Kitase-san again and for double checking asked Edamame Arcade Channel as well so Midgar is 2 discs. An as Kitase-san was recently asked how long the remake will be he said they currently do not know. I have not checked Wolf's link but I think he has linked the same interview and it seems to be from the quote.

[Loony BoB]

Oh, I was referring to Big D's post. That quote certainly opens up the future episodes to potentially more than just one and I'm cool with that so long as I don't have to spend TOO much money xD I mean I'll spend it regardless but yeah :x

[Wolf Kanno]

Nomura did an interview for Famitsu that has been partially translated. Here's the highlights:


The black mist things that attack Aerith in the trailer are called the Keepers of Fate and were added to give something new in the scenario for old fans.
There are still lots of dialogue options like the original, and in fact there should be more to give the game a heavier replay value.
The Honey Bee Inn Cross-dressing event is still in the game, though it's been "rearranged" with a modern touch.
The main scenario is still the same, but they've added a tone of new events within the game.
Aerith and Tifa's redesigns are meant to give one a Western aesthetic and the other an Eastern one.
Tifa was given an athletic style in order to show off her abs. The company ethics department told him to tighten up her chest so it wasn't too unnatural in fight scenes, hence her new top design.
The characters are taking a note from FFX, and will each have certain affinities that work better against certain types of enemies.
You'll still need items to restore MP.
There will be new monsters and enemy types in the game.


Source: Siliconera (https://www.siliconera.com/2019/06/19/final-fantasy-vii-remake-director-tetsuya-nomura-confirms-cross-dressing-event-talks-tifas-design/)

[maybee]

Keepers of Fate ? Sounds Kingdom Heart-y.



https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/379/797/a81.gif

[Del Murder]

I wonder what the SE ethics department does all day besides telling the designers to make boobs smaller. Maybe that's a full time job as it is.

[Karifean]

Why exactly is an ethics department commenting on what "looks unnatural in fight scenes", again?

[Del Murder]

Maybe it was a mistranslation and he actually said physics department.

[fat_moogle]

Stop it.

Stop.

I can't cope. I'm replaying FFVII right now and honestly, ugh. Remake Part 1 is going to be epic.

[Lord Golbez]

Maybe it was a mistranslation and he actually said physics department.

Breaking the law is unethical. Even if it's a law of physics.

[Big D]

I wonder what the SE ethics department does all day besides telling the designers to make boobs smaller.A sturdy sports top can make a woman's chest look smaller. It doesn't mean Tifa'a actually had a redesign in that respect.

The 'Keepers of Fate' business ('Watchers of Fate' according to some) are giving me a bit of pause. I hope it's not just some hot nonsense that's being added for the sake of it, but I'm keeping an open mind with few expectations. I'm guessing they might be related to the Cetra in some way. After all, the original story tells us early on that Aerith sometimes hears voices from the planet, and even from the long-dead Cetra themselves. Not much is done with this info until the party reaches the Temple of the Ancients. I figure the keepers/watchers might be the spirits of Cetra who've kept an eye on the world from inside the Lifestream, and they're reacting to Jenova's nascent reunion because it signals the return of their old nemesis. For me, that would explain Aerith's reaction to the creatures we see in the trailer, and it would be an opportunity for this part of the story to 'do something' with Aerith's supernatural connection to the Lifestream.

Either that, or the Keepers of Fate are actually a mistranslation of the Auditors of Reality, as found in the Discworld series, and they've shown up because Jenova and Sephiroth represent an opportunity to make the Auditors' jobs much easier by riddng the cosmos of sentient life.

[Ayen]

I ain't afraid of no ghost.