☄ FFVII Rebirth

the level of analysis in this is genuinely insane btw

it’s a testament to him that he manages to make it entertaining

Jessie is both a former actress and monster horny

This is taking me forever to watch but it’s incredible

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Started playing it Sunday. On chapter three now. It’s good.

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Been watching a disc per lunchtime. It’s very surprisingly close to how i feel about it in a number of ways.

Weirdly nice sum up in the epilogue

“I loved it. It’s not a great game. A lot of it’s not even good.”

About two thirds of the way through. So many great quotes but I think my favourite bit is when after a lengthy section he emphatically concludes that “video games aren’t real

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not strictly relevant but I did not realise he was in his 40s

I mean tbf makes sense seeing as I’m nearly in my 30s and he was a teenager when playing FF7 for the first time

He definitely doesn’t look 40. His voice, on the other hand, is that of an ageless god

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I wish I could pull off that kind of delivery. I was on a Zoom call with friends and really wished I could slow my voice down at will for emphasis

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It’s an easy bit, but makes me laugh every time when he does the voice thing.

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Right I’ve just finished the game.

I’ve avoided everything since it came out - reviews, YouTube videos, this thread, so went into it with no idea what the consensus was or anything they had added or changed.

I’m gonna give more thoughts and specifics on it tomorrow but overall I loved it. Bits nearly had me in tears, bits had me laughing and shouting “yeah!!!l” at the screen and the nostalgia factor was intense, the original was a game that actually changed the way I thought about video games and the emotional impact on me set the bar for everything else since so when it chucked those ‘member berries at me it was powerful.

Despite all this I don’t actually know how good a game it is if that makes sense? There are things I really didn’t like but probably not the things other people didn’t like.

Gonna read the thread now.

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Ok the things I loved in no particular order -

  • The music is the star of the show, the arrangements and indeed rearrangements of the original score is even better than I could have ever imagined. The particular moment that blew my mind was going through Sector 7 after the plate has fallen and the music being a minor key version of Tifa’s theme. Genius

  • The friendship between Aerith and Tifa. You don’t really get any real interaction between them two in the original but they quickly become really close and it feels organic, made me realise you don’t see that often in video games with two women characters, let alone FF games.

  • Aerith’s scene saving Marlene at the bar. Marlene has baby yoda levels of cuteness for me, and this particular really brings home the devastation of the destruction of sector 7, people losing their homes and loved ones. Little hint at Marlene being more than she seems too, they’ll obviously expand upon this in future chapters

  • Aerith’s house! Exactly as I imagined and the attention to detail was unreal, the weird hexagonal living room/kitchen, being able to go up to the roof, the tranquil overworldly calm of the garden and lake out front, even finding a pink materia there at some point and having a mission where you need to leave quietly. Full marks, 5 stars, excellent work. The playground in sector 5 with the weird kids slide was similar too, really well done.

  • Madame M was my favourite of the new characters, strong, unpredictable and confident but also quirky and overall a good egg. Hope she shows up at some point in the next game too.

  • Jesse! What a character, her backstory/mission to see her parents is lovely/heartbreaking too. In general loved her and Biggs and Wedge, felt no attachment to them at all in the original.

  • The fact you can almost always see the plate above you and indeed Shinra Tower wherever you were. Felt ominous but that’s exactly how it should feel.

  • Most of the boss fights felt fucking epic, particularly Reno, Airbuster, even the first fight with the Scorpion. Did a good job or making it feel like these battles really mattered.

  • Dance off. Fucking glorious and silly and fun, absolutely one of my favourite if not my favourite moment in the game, and Wall Market being my favourite area. Excellent, looking forward to replaying that chapter a couple of times to get the platinum.

  • Hell House! Obviously shows up later than in the original where it shows up in sector 5? Was a bit sad getting to the end of that bit and just thinking “ah I guess it doesn’t fit the tone of the game ah well” then it shows up in the colosseum and is hard as fuck! YEAH

  • Actually liked Roche! Reading through the thread seems like he’s the Jar Jar of this new game but I liked the fact he is someone in SOLDIER other than Sephiroth and Zack, makes sense to have a few about. If he becomes a playable character in future I’ll be cool with it. Enjoyed his ambiguity, I don’t know if he wants to fuck or fight Cloud or if he’s good or bad, regardless I enjoyed it and his fight.

  • The chapter where you climb up to Shinra tower through sector 6? Vista up top was glorious, infact just the backgrounds in general of the city and metal plate were so good, that’s one thing Square have really excelled at since FF12 and probably more so 13, as terrible game as that was it was glorious just to look out at structures and stuff in the distance.

  • Hugely looking forward to getting to Wutai, I think they’ll make a big deal out of it whereas in the previous game it didn’t feel like that at all, it was like a bonus tacked on area. This game did a good job if making it seem like this distant mysterious place that people are wary of. Basically how western media portray North Korea.

Things I didn’t like in no order -

  • Clouds voice acting, and perhaps Cloud in general. A moody joyless dickhead. I get it he’s troubled of course but give us something to show a sense of fun and personality, how could you not with the absolute joy of Jesse, Tifa, Aerith and actually even Barrett around you! He felt wooden, which is such a shame.

  • Getting summon materia! I don’t think it was needed for this game, in the original I’m sure you don’t find your first summon until after you get out of Midgar? Also I think give summons a bit more of a backstory and relevance if you are going to introduce them, felt like a missed opportunity all round really.

  • Tifa constantly saying in/after battle she needs a shower or is working up a sweat. Felt a bit weird and almost like they were appealing to pervs with this. Shame.

  • fighting the “destiny” demons are the end. Felt a bit tacked on and I felt no sense of emotion in these battles, was like fighting the last boss in FF9. I’m fine with the game essentially making the statement “this is going to be different to the original story going forward deal with it” but I think they showed that already throughout the game, even by chapter 2 they showed that. I think they could have just done an epic Sephiroth final boss fight and have him almost wipe you out in a cut scene but need to leave before he does.

  • I could write an essay on Barrett. Obviously keeping his with the Mr T gimmick is offensive and racist, you can still portray him as angry in places without giving him that voice portrayal. His interactions and love for Marlene is lovely though and I always found myself being empathetic towards him over Cloud which I think is the point? Again a missed opportunity.

PREDICTIONS

think we’ll get the next game Xmas 2022 earliest and the following ones all within about a year of each other, and the game overall will be 4 parts. Think Aerith won’t die but someone else will, perhaps Tifa. If Aerith does die it won’t be at the same point or in the same way.

Anything I haven’t talked about (battle system, side quests, other characters) means I’m fine with and have no real feelings for one way or the other.

Overall the game has that sense of quirkiness and humour from the original but also takes on a grittiness and darkness, someone mentioned the Last of Us above somewhere and I totally got that in places. Obviously nowhere near as bleak but it touches upon certain moods and atmosphere in the darker moments of the game for sure and even kinetically with the movement of climbing ladders/going through tight spaces and under stuff.

Looking forward to combing through the chapters with a guide/YouTube videos to get the platinum now!

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Yeah I think theres a weird consensus of “i loved this game while being fully aware that big aspects of it are very quite shite”. Tim Rogers puts it really well when he says they have somehow accurately transposed the experience of playing a slightly rickety ps1 game onto a huge budget new gen console game

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Completely agree with almost everything you’ve said. Except Roche he can fuck off.

I’ll play it again in a year or so without the weight of expectation and see what I think

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Just finished it. Really bloody good game.

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Really fancy replaying it at some point. It has passed the nostalgia test cause I occasionally think warmly of my time playing it. Cracking stuff, and I’ve warmed to the weird ending even though there I’m almost 99 percent sure there wont be a sequel

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I’m still playing it to get the platinum, currently stuck on the Shinra training simulator mission in chapter 17 doing the final “top secrets” mission. Won’t spoil it but it’s definitely the hardest thing in the game. However I’ve quite enjoyed grinding to level up my materia and it’s given me a new appreciation for the battle system and tactics.

How long after starting chapter 17 does it take to get to that bit? I forget. I like the VR stuff

I might just replay it to have a go on those VR bits (have only played the main game on normal difficulty – dunno if I can arsed with hard mode, but would like to look for more of the secrets and things). The battle system is so much fun – it’s like they’ve finally figured out how to join the slow appeal of the original system with the satisfying immediacy of hacking the cack out of a bad fucker