already looking forwards to it
Preview of the cross-dressing scene for you: Large Image
I still can't believe that's real. Still not going to play that episode just so that I can hold on to that disbelief.
It's been a long time since I looked towards SE when I want a good story and well-built game world.
If you're saying SE hasn't been good at stories lately, you won't hear any arguments from me. I think the compilation of FF7 is the worst thing SE has shat out apart for perhaps the fanfiction-level official story of Tidus blowing up after Yuna broke up with him.
I am a bit nostalgia-blind, admittedly. I did get to play through the superior reworked translation, so I missed some of the huge errors that the fanbase latched on to. But I love turn-based combat, and generally loathe most of the action based systems that Square has produced in their recent games. I feel they destroy the overall pacing, and reduce the overall depth of the combat. FFXII was utterly boring, because I didn't do anything except set up Gambits and walk around while my characters killed everything around me. In FFXIII and its ilk, direct control of your (one) character was possible, but it was pointless, because selecting the best actions was so pathetically easy that not only could the computer do it, it could do it better and faster than you. Only near the end of the game did there start to be some strategy with how you implemented which Paradigm you used. Crisis Core implemented RNG as a primary game mechanic. Dirge of Cerberus was a mess in so many ways... I don't want to lose the depth of combat that turn-based systems offer. I had THOUGHT that Square's statements about understanding the need to return to their roots after Bravely Default meant that they understood this. Then, this happened. Square has also shown consistently that it doesn't understand Cloud, as ANY game in the Compilation will portray him as a brooding emo punk, and not the smartass jerk that he was in FFVII. Square also doesn't know how to write a good story any more. They are over-complicated to ridiculous degrees. XIII was solved by a deus-ex machina. The entire fanbase has given up on understanding the story of Kingdom Hearts. XII was a massive load of political nonsense. Every aspect of this game that they have mentioned they are changing (except the graphics) is an area they have gotten wrong over and over again in the last decade. I just don't trust them any more.
Good to know
I played FFVII for the PC to death, back when it was originally released shortly after the PS1 release. I first got a copy loaned to me by a friend. I played through the entirety of Disc One, and had to wait for the second disc for months. I just explored the world and did grinding, getting up to Comet 2 among many other high-level spells. I've memorized most of the side quests and minigames. I fought every available Fort Condor mission. I mastered all four Enemy Skill Materia. I played FFVII to death. I used to hang out in the FFVII forum as my primary home at EoFF, until we slowly ran out of things to talk about. I loved that game.
