I feel with FFXIII, KH, and WoFF that SE has kind of tapped out their "weird" quota for the decade. I'm kind of tired of watching them take good premises and then see some weird troll logic applied to it to make it "interesting" when it really just makes it kind of ridiculous. The other issue is that this game is giving off the Crisis Core vibe all over again. When it's good, usually by playing the plot straight, it's really good. Yet every time they throw in this weird fanfictiony bulltrout into the plot, it just jerks you out of the experience and makes you resent them for ruining what could have been a good thing. Like I'm fine with the plot making changes from the original, I am even cool with the idea the plot may completely change halfway through and go in a completely new direction. I just don't like the silly concept of how they are doing it. I would have been happier if they had dropped them entirely, just changed stuff subtly like in RoE and then completely go off rails as they went along, than to make a big spectacle about "Hey we're changing the plot and the bad guys are thinly-veiled take that of fans who wanted a 1:1 remake! Aren't we so clever?". I guess my issue is that the lost potential here is too great to appreciate the schadenfreude, especially since I feel like Nomura has been kind of pulling this crap a little too often lately.
I for one welcome the weirdness :P My feelings on the matter haven’t really changed to be honest - I know a lot of it is stupid but somehow I just don’t really care and it doesn’t offend me to the extent the compilation did. Maybe it’s because the compilation just already conditioned me to accept it. Maybe seeing the tone be more joyful and energetic like the original game rather than the grimness of the compilation is what makes it okay for me. Maybe I’m just happy the most devoted FFVII fanboys are getting absolutely trolled. I dunno. I can’t speak for how padded the game feels yet, all I know is I really want to play it and that I’m happy they’re just going in a different direction. But of course, I also understand your frustrations with it. In general I also feel the best way to rewrite FFVII is to fix its flaws and maybe do some intertextuality bullcrap in a more subtle way. But hey, maybe not everything needs to be subtle and that’s ok? Like I can see how FFVIIR for me will be sonething that I really enjoy but not exactly sonething that sticks with me on a deeper emotional level. I may prefer games that do the latter, but I think personally I’m fine with Nomura, Toriyama and Nojima indulging in their pretentious side for once. Especially since some parts of the original are genuinely enhanced in one way or another.
Probably helps I never watched many of the Disney remakes so I don't have this issue. I like meta as well, but it's not really clever is the issue here. I mean RoE is clever because it plays on the fans knowledge and expectations to psych them out, this is a literal group of boogie men showing up to keep major plot points from being changed despite not really following the plot that well to begin with. I mean Jessie and Wedge were both present for the Reactor 5 mission in the OG but get sidelined thanks to the Whispers in this one just so Cloud will go along the mission. Cloud tried to kill Reno at the church and they stopped him from doing that, but then also stopped the Shin-Ra from capturing Aerith and blocked off sections of the church forcing you to take a linear route out of it. I feel my issue is that they are too blunt in their execution. They might as well as just be zombie looking people wearing FFVII Merch. The fact it's getting obvious Sephiroth is going to weaponize them for his own ends makes me cringe a bit for the future entries. Not to mention Aerith seems to know what they are up to as well. So my real concern is that this game is going to devolve into an acid trip so the party can finally get that Golden Ending where everyone lives, the bad guys are soundly defeated, and the planet will live on. I'm already waiting for time travel to enter the plot and that's going to be a pain. So ultimately, I see them as being stupid, and they are only going to lead to more stupid things. I can already see this is going to wind up being Sephy from the Compilation timeline using his powers to create an alternate timeline where he wins, and the planet in the form of the Whispers is trying to stop him, and then sends Aerith's spirit to possess her past self so she makes sure everything goes the way it's suppose to as well. I mean the real twist that is likely going to come out of the remake is that it won't be a remake but rather VII-2 when the dust clears.
Eh, I still think it’s dumb but I appreciate it more I guess because 1) in general I’m a fan of meta stuff and 2) I still prefer this approach to what Disney are doing with their live action remakes that are very definitely meant to “fix” things that weren’t broken and replace the old movies in the public consciousness. I think the reason why so many fans hate Rebuild of Evangelion is that they feel Anno is trying to replace the old stuff with it, but that’s not actually the case.
I never felt the original was ever going to be redundant because of it. I mean I like the DS version of IV, but it will never replace the original 16-bit version for me either. Of anything, the changes simply showed how difficult it was to make any meaningful improvements on the original. My issue so far with VIIR is that I could get behind this if it didn't have these silly ghosts interfering all the time. Like the game has already been making several subtle changes here and there but I'm pretty cool with most of them. Instead I feel these Whispers are going to wind up muddling the whole plot as it's becoming more and more apparent the cast is kind of breaking the fourth wall here. Basically it feels like it's turning into a DQV film kind of deal where I'm asking myself why they bothered, rather than an actual attempt to improve a good if awkward original. I'm probably just a little bitter tonight because the Whispers kind of ruined a moment from the original. They basically pulled a Genesis.
Yeah, it’s dumb, but what I meant is that it stands as a separate thing rather than eating as a modern replacement. The original hasn’t been made redundant, is my point
I'd say it would actually be building on the original if it wasn't being so, I don't know, smug about the whole thing. The Whispers reek of someone feeling smart about themselves while not being that smart about it. It would help if they were subtle but every time they appear, it's a big production.
KingK actually feels similar to me in that regard. It was this guy named Nerrel I think that basically pointed to every change and his reasoning was “the original was good so this is bad”. KingK’s opinions I feel are always very balanced, so even if he dislikes a mechanic, it doesn’t feel quite so... blah For FFVII, I feel it’s one of those remakes that isn’t really made with the intention of replacing the original, but building on it, which I honestly respect a lot. I’m just hoping I can get a console to play it on in the relatively near future. Or that my PC can run it once it inevitably comes to Steam.
I bet it was the KingK you were watching. He's got a strange opinion on the series and if he hates a mechanic, it ruins the whole experience for him. His Dark Souls videos are kind of in the same boat. The Remake has been interesting, and there are certainly some good merits to it. I don't think it's going to usurp the original for me anytime soon. A lot of the good in the game is often attached to some of the negatives. Like I enjoy the better customization system, but I'm not a fan of the combat in general. Some of the character expansions are nice, but the game's pacing is off and too many sequences over stay their welcome. Some of the new story elements are good, but the Whispers feel too contrived and their inclusion always happening when things go off rails hurts the overall story. I also feel like Sephy is getting way too much screen time and I prefer how the original had him as this background entity. So it's been a real mixed bag. I feel the OST is appropriate for the game, but I am not a big fan of the arrangements. The heavy orchestration and stripping away of the synth elements have downplayed the originals cyberpunk vibe. Midgar feels a bit off because of it.
I’ve recently rewatched this video of this one guy basically trashing all the changes to the 3D remake and I just can’t agree with anything he says anymore. The remake feels like an improvement in all respects and I’ve been enjoying myself way more than with the original game. Of course, some of it may have to do with going in guideless this time, but I honestly just feel the experience is so much better now. Glad to see you seem to be enjoying the FFVII Remake so far, by the way
