"Dramatic changes" to combat in FFVII Remake confirmed

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah, I guess Hamlet was a good story "for its time" as well. But that was written hundreds of years ago, it's so out of date and ridiculous these days.

I'd argue that most stories today (especially from Square) have gotten so over-complicated and focused on edgy characters that they've forgotten what makes a good story.

So VII = Hamlet now? No, just no. Hamlet was written by a screenplay writer following in the footsteps of two millennia of the medium. VII was written by guys who grew up on comic books and Sci-Fi movies and largely aped what little they knew about film in haphazard fashion on a genre barely 20 years old. It's real equivalent would probably be Kevin Smith's Clerks. Considered one of his best works by many of his fans but honestly, he has written better films and his later works did many things better once he got more experience as a director and writer.

Oh no. FFVII is most definitely not Hamlet. Just saying that old =/= less quality.

Lol, I know what he was getting at, but I had to play the VII troll card.

[black orb]

>>> As long I have full control of the 3 characters in battle I wont complain.
Just dont dare to put A.I characters on my battles.

[Noctis Caelum]

There is absolutely no reason for 2015 and Beyond FF games to be stuck in the ATB combat style.
Don't like that? Go play the old FF games. That kind of combat was perfect for the late 80s and 90s because systems weren't really powerful. Now it's 2015 and we have nothing BUT options and no limits holding creativity back. And there are still people that complain about FF straying away from turn base combat. Like... seriously?

[Forsaken Lover]

Except turn-based combat doesn't exist because of technological limitations. Which is why even some modern JRPGs use it.

[krissy]

i think all combat should be just fmv's of them fighting and then i can just play the exploration/town/world map bits

[Mirage]

There is absolutely no reason for 2015 and Beyond FF games to be stuck in the ATB combat style.
Don't like that? Go play the old FF games. That kind of combat was perfect for the late 80s and 90s because systems weren't really powerful. Now it's 2015 and we have nothing BUT options and no limits holding creativity back. And there are still people that complain about FF straying away from turn base combat. Like... seriously?

Yeah, that's why turn based strategy games ceased to exist once real time strategy became possible to do.

That's also why RPGs with realtime combat like Tales and Star Ocean repeatedly outsold any turn based Final fantasy since their inceptions.

[Dr Unne]

Combat was never the strength of FF7. By the middle part of the game I was usually reading a book while holding down the button to fast-forward through battles. Most of the spells were useless. Many of the weapons were either crap you'd never use, or strict upgrades to your existing stuff so that it was obvious you should switch. Most of the enemies looked really cool but did nothing exciting. Combat was braindead grinding except for a few tough bosses and the usual "pick the right elemental weakness" thing.

FF7 was good because the world was cool, the plot was engaging, the characters were interesting, the music was amazing, etc. I loved collecting and levelling up Materia, unlocking Limit Breaks, that kind of thing, but I think most of the fun of that was in collecting them rather than actually using them in battle.

Honestly I'd play a 120 hour FF7 point-and-click adventure with no combat and be happy, if it's presented in the same style as the trailer video. I'm excited to revisit the world, not sit around for hours holding down the button for Attack again.

[Elly]

It's not a remake... I'd say it's a reboot.
Because remake is based on the old game and it's enhanced, like HD and stuff.
It looks like a reboot definitely to me, because they're doing a new game actually, which is based storywise on the classic VII.
Am I right?

that's Enhanced Ports and HD Remaster/Remixes you're thinking about... a remake starts over from the script and character designs... so it really does look more like a remake which is exactly what i was hoping for... though baring that, an enhanced port would have been just fine by me...

[Mirage]

There would be no realistic way to enhance a port much more than what you see in HD mods for the PC version. And they're typically not very impressive

[Psychotic]

Honestly I'd play a 120 hour FF7 point-and-click adventure with no combat and be happy, if it's presented in the same style as the trailer video. I'm excited to revisit the world, not sit around for hours holding down the button for Attack again.

This is a very interesting concept actually and I'd be up for playing that.

I do think FFVII suffered from too much mind-numbing combat. In my current LP I've simply cut a hell of a lot of random encounters out as it's all very repetitive. Take two steps, oh, the same monsters I just fought, better spam more Matra Magic/Beta/Magic Breath at them until they go away. A couple of alternatives I would suggest would be no more random encounters, but instead each dungeon having perhaps 1 to 5 really memorable encounters that last longer and make you think and be more tactical.

Going off on a tangent here, the Final Fantasy with the most tactical and challenging combat that I can think of is actually Record Keeper, the mobile title. You have a party of five and only two abilities per character. All bosses will have some weakness or attack pattern and you have to choose your abilities accordingly. The boss is weak to Slow and casts a lot of magic so do you bring Slowga to give you more time to finish it off or do you bring Carbuncle to get reflect set up? The boss is weak to magic but then you only have limited uses - so do you bring Vivi and try to blitz it quick or do you bring someone like Sephiroth who can just attack indefinitely? Good (and free) game and chock full of nostalgia, you should all get it. Or don't, it'll take over and ruin your life.

[Elly]

There would be no realistic way to enhance a port much more than what you see in HD mods for the PC version. And they're typically not very impressive

unfortunately that is true... i have looked at several HD mods for the PC version and didn't like any of them, i was like wow character portraits are images from Advent Children in different outfits than they wear in game, that's just awefull...

[Psychotic]

There would be no realistic way to enhance a port much more than what you see in HD mods for the PC version. And they're typically not very impressive

unfortunately that is true... i have looked at several HD mods for the PC version and didn't like any of them, i was like wow character portraits are images from Advent Children in different outfits than they wear in game, that's just awefull...

I have an HD mod for the PC version and they're all in their FFVII attire in their portraits. Barret, for example, has been photoshopped into his brown jacket.

[Del Murder]

Yeah, walk two steps and then random encounter just won't fly in today's gaming and I really hope that's not how they do it (and I doubt it is). But even 'modern' combat systems can quickly get tedious and boring if all you do is run around slash and dodge rolling (Crisis Core) or 2/3 of your team is controlled by programmable AI (FFXIII). I will keep playing this broken record until they bring it back: FFX-2 was the greatest combat step they have taken in the last 15 years and they should have another game that builds off that system in all the right ways and not the wrong ways like FFXIII did.

Also, a tactical grid-based combat system (FFT) would work too. Or a menu-driven action RPG (KH:BBS).

[Mirage]

Imagine FFX-2's combat without screen transitions. FFX-2 fused with chrono trigger.

[Jinx]

FFX-2's system without screen transitions would be amazing. Personally, I still love ATB, but I will say the screen transitions are annoying (especially when you're grinding or looking for a specific blue magic).

My main concern--and if it happened, I would likely not purchase the game--is that two members of your party will be AI controlled. I hate that function, especially in a Final Fantasy game, and it would completely turn me off of it. I'd probably still enjoy watching other people play the game, but hopefully SE has has enough negative feedback from doing that in past games they won't do that for this one.