What do you want to see in Episode 2?

[Fynn]

Honestly, I thought it was fun. It rewards exploration while also delaying gratification. A lot of first-time players would miss it, while those who didn’t will be like “huh, interesting. I wonder what new interesting character could I use this for!” And then when you finally get to Vincent, you’re rewarded for not only snooping around and finding a thing but also for sticking to something that was at that point useless. Accident or no, I think it’s brilliant.

[Mercen-X]

Meh. Lol. I actually may have felt similarly on my first playthrough. Maybe it's just the way Remake is constructed kind of makes me prejudiced against such old-school game design. Again, I don't mind Cloud finding the thing, I just kind of hope he voices a logical reason to take it with him. It would be cool if they reworked it so that it could function like a grenade and you could just use it as a one-off in battle. But otherwise, I hate the thought of the party "pretending" this item is going to be useful down the line. Better still, maybe an NPC can say something (tell a story) which leads to Cloud finding it and trying to give it over to which the NPC simply says "keep it". Absolutely anything at this point is a better reason than Cloud simply pocketing a random gun... or a boomerang (if it happens that we find one before meeting Yuffie which we still don't know how that'll play out).

Of course, for all we know, SQEX will toss this one easter egg aside in the name of a linear story and force the party to continue onto Bill's farm without being able to check out Kalm. Hell, maybe at the end of the Nibelheim flashback, we'll already be at the Ranch. And just like Part 1, your party members will whine that you're going the wrong way if you try to head over to Kalm. So maybe, all in all, we won't even return to Kalm until after recruiting Vincent and SQEX will find some way to force us to return to Midgar, I mean Kalm, just so we can look around for V's gun. Who knows?

[Jairus]

One of the things I'd like to see is Jessie return, alive - it's possible that she is, (SPOILER)the ending hinted at it. And if she does, I hope they'll give her more than just a measly 4 chapters to be in but rather a more significant role like Cloud said at the end of Chapter 4 - "There's always next time."

Also, hopefully if she does come back, she'll get a Gold Saucer date of her own with Cloud, considering she's the Princess of the play that's central to that event. The remake is about changing fate and moving away from the way things were done in the OG, so this would fit right into that theme by allowing us something that wasn't possible in the OG. And by making her into a viable third option, it allows us to still have a choice after Aerith's gone instead of Tifa possibly getting him by default merely because she was the last woman standing. This would also allow SE to continue to avoid playing favorites after Aerith's departure and make fans of all three main ships happy. The HIghwind scene could possibly happen with either Tifa or Jessie, depending on whose affection is higher by that point, and letting Cloud help Jessie with something very personal to her (such as saving her dad if he's still alive, which is possible since there were plateside survivors) after he's come back to himself could potentially give them a special moment comparable to his and Tifa's in the Lifestream so each of the girls has something like that.

Jessie could even be made playable - she already has the foundation for a hybrid ranged/melee fighting style with her gun and martial skills (remember the flying kick she does in the opening scene?), though I admit it's a long shot. But her popularity has grown a lot since the remake came out, she was #4 in Famitsu's popularity poll, right behind Aerith. SE even said she was more popular than they expected. So doing things like what I've said could be a way for them to take advantage of that.

[JJ Strife]

They can't just let everyone survive! It won't be the same story at all.

[Aulayna]

Hopefully we go far enough to see Barret's sailor suit and Red XIII disguised as a Shinra troop.

[JJ Strife]

If Part 2 didn't get that far in the main story, this would be like an 8-part series.

[Del Murder]

I'm not sure Part 2 will be able to keep up with the pacing scene for scene as well as Part 1 (with several more scenes thrown in), especially with (SPOILER)the ending with the Whispers suggesting they are seriously going to mess with established canon. However, I can't imagine they'd skip out on Gold Saucer for this episode and that's the place I'm looking forward to playing the most. Also with Cosmo Canyon (which I think they will need to get to since Red XIII will be a character), I am very interested in seeing how they re-imagine it in HD.

Also, based on how much it was mentioned in Remake, I'd expect a huge subplot with Wuitai making it a large and non-optional section of the game. Depending on when they introduce Yuffie, we may get the big Wutai part in the next game or the following game. My kids and I have a fun theory that the next game will start with Yuffie stealing all your materia and equipment outside of Midgar so you have to start the game from scratch.

[JJ Strife]

suggesting they are seriously going to mess with established canon

They're not gonna mess with it too much, because they know the fans would riot. Too many of the key locations and story events are iconic.

They can't change Kalm, Gold Saucer, Junon, Nibelheim, Cosmo Canyon, Rocket town, Wutai, too much without some serious backlash.
They can probably change Mideel, Gongaga, Costa Del Sol, Bone village, North Korel and most people probably wouldn't care.

That's my guess of the general fans mood. Maybe there are some people who are mad about Gongaga though, and I just haven't noticed.

[Fynn]

They're not gonna mess with it too much, because they know the fans would riot. Too many of the key locations and story events are iconic.

You really don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah we are talking about Tetsuya Nomura here.
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And Kitase himself said a straight remake would be boring.

[Fynn]

It’s funny to me how it turned out that it was Kitase that wanted all the off-the-wall changes while Nomura was all about sticking to the original

[Psychotic]

They're not gonna mess with it too much, because they know the fans would riot. Too many of the key locations and story events are iconic.

They can't change Kalm, Gold Saucer, Junon, Nibelheim, Cosmo Canyon, Rocket town, Wutai, too much without some serious backlash.

Are people really going to riot over Rocket Town? Do people even remember the town itself outside of the actual rocket and Cid’s House?

Every one of those locations, if included, will change. We know this because they already heavily changed Midgar to suit the new gameplay. Look at how very different the Shinra Building was from the original as an example. The key thing is that it kept the feel.

Nobody will riot with changes though imho. And if they do, well, who cares? They already gave Square their money and will continue to give them their money.

[qwertysaur]

I fully expect part 2 to be heavily focus on the flashback at Kalm.

[JJ Strife]

Are people really going to riot over Rocket Town? Do people even remember the town itself outside of the actual rocket and Cid’s House?

Every one of those locations, if included, will change. We know this because they already heavily changed Midgar to suit the new gameplay. Look at how very different the Shinra Building was from the original as an example. The key thing is that it kept the feel.

Yeah that's what I meant, keep the general feel and style of it, not just copy it identically. Shinra building was a great example of something that was completely changed but was perhaps even better at recreating that same feel of extreme wealth and power. Easily one of the best locations in Remake.

I just mean don't ditch any of those locations entirely, and don't change them beyond recognition, like they did with Kalm in Dirge of Cerberus, where they took this really quaint and charming location and just turned it into 'generic medieval town #1'

And yeah I don't care about the actual town in Rocket Town. I just like the setting of a small village built around a Rocket (or vice versa) in the middle of nowhere. It felt like it was a visual metaphor for Cid's personality.

[Example]

It’s funny to me how it turned out that it was Kitase that wanted all the off-the-wall changes while Nomura was all about sticking to the original

I honestly kinda feel bad for Nomura since he cops so much flak for things that aren't even his fault. Sure he directed one of the worst movies ever made but he's far from the only thing wrong with Square Enix.