Gaming Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4, PS5) | Put discussion of chapters etc in labelled spoilers as people will be at different points

Massive Spanner

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As someone who loved the original and until very recently was the only JRPG I ever enjoyed, will it ruin my nostalgia for the game if I play this one?
Not at all, compliments it very well, in my opinion, at least.

I'm only half way through it, though. I've heard late game changes a few things, story-wise.
 

b82REZ

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Not at all, compliments it very well, in my opinion, at least.

I'm only half way through it, though. I've heard late game changes a few things, story-wise.
Will pick it up at some point. I grabbed Persona 5 to scratch that itch and while they are massively different in terms of style and content it is scratching the JRPG itch for now.

Plus its fecking £60 for the standard version on PSN and no online retailers have physical copies in stock.
 

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i would swap out Tifa for Barret personally. He's very handy for Leviathan since he can shoot its head which staggers it much quicker. For bahamut I had Aerith with max level elemental fire. That way Ifrit heals her with his attacks. So just ignore him completely untill Bahamut is dead. If you save limit break and wail away with spells with the manaward thingy, you can stagger and kill him before het gets even 1 megaflare of.

To conserve mp in general, just use lvl 1 spells in earlier fights. Regular double cast fire wrecks Shiva utterly for instance. Hope this helps a bit. Oh and Id switch out revival earrings. Getting a res of is not that hard and the slot is better spend with a circlet or champion belt.
Thanks, I'll try it tonight. Always preferred Barret over Tifa for stuff. I went into the Bahamut fight with full MP that first time so that has never been an issue for me. My problem has always been getting Bahamut down before Megaflare destroyed me.

So you'd recommend Aerith with Elemental Fire over Barret?
 

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Thanks, I'll try it tonight. Always preferred Barret over Tifa for stuff. I went into the Bahamut fight with full MP that first time so that has never been an issue for me. My problem has always been getting Bahamut down before Megaflare destroyed me.

So you'd recommend Aerith with Elemental Fire over Barret?
i did it that way, because of her double cast ward. Lot of people swap Aerith out for Tifa though. Im definitely not in the same league as some peolle who clear the whole challenge in under 2 minutes
 

Irwin99

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Just seen the quotes from Nomura/Kitase..., I think this is more than a 3 part game, as I suspected. Could be many years before it ends.
 

Irwin99

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So I’m at least a decade out from dreaming of a FFVI remake?
Looks like it. 6 or 8 would be my bets for the next remake but they have to finish this one first.

It's a mystery why 6 hasn't even had a handheld remake like 3 and 4 at least. There's a mobile port on steam but it's nothing special. You'd think that 6 would be a big money maker considering it's critical acclaim and legendary status but for some reason they've never looked at remaking it.
 

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i did it that way, because of her double cast ward. Lot of people swap Aerith out for Tifa though. Im definitely not in the same league as some peolle who clear the whole challenge in under 2 minutes
Done it. Thanks for the help. Ended up using haste a fair bit and that helped some of the issues I had. Also decided instead to set up so I could breeze through Shiva rather than setting up for Bahamut from the start (so didn't use Elemental-Fire) and it actually made it all easier for me somehow.

My gear and materia for anyone who hasn't done it/inexplicably wants advice off me.

Cloud (9990 HP, 123 MP)
Iron Blade: (First Strike-Time) (Prayer-Revival) (Steadfast Block-MP Up)
Chain Bangle: (Elemental-Ice) (HP Up-HP Up)
Transference Module (Consuming ATB charges fills the limit gauge)

Barret (9167 HP, 128 MP)
Light Machine Gun: (Lightning-Elemental) (Prayer-Revival) (Time-Barrier)
Rune Armlet: (HP Up-HP Up) (MP Up)
Supernatural Wristguards (Increases strength by 10%)

Aerith (8204 HP, 207 MP)
Reinforced Staff: (Magic Up-MP Up) (Magnify-Healing) (Revival-Prayer)
Supreme Bracer: (HP Up) (HP Up) (MP Up)
Circlet (Increases max MP by 10%. Increases magic power by 5%)

Chapters left for me to do on hard: 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18
 

esmufc07

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I've just got Chapters 17 and 18 to do on hard, but putting it on hold for the moment as my dissertation is due Friday, and I can imagine a fair few of the bosses being quite a challenge!
 

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How long should I spend on chapter 14?

I get the sense, helped by an in game warning of course, that I’m headed towards a point of no return... I don’t want to miss a cool weapon or materia.
 

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How long should I spend on chapter 14?

I get the sense, helped by an in game warning of course, that I’m headed towards a point of no return... I don’t want to miss a cool weapon or materia.
Do all the side quests before accepting the 'point of no return'. There are three things materia/equipmentwise you'll want from the chapter before leaving, you'll know what they are if you get them but if you want any more info let me know. Equip Steal for the sidequest Subterranean Menace.
 

Damien

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Gotterdammerung is awesome. Blasted through Chapters 10-13 on Hard in little time (Chapter 14 I did days ago). Fun parts were like on Chapter 13 with all the Bugaboos, using Barret's limit break then seeing up to 13 "Bugaboo X has been defeated" messages at once. Now will probably go through Chapter 9 again to get the last manuscript I need in that then onto the last three chapters :nervous:
 

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Just went to buy this and a lot of the reviews are saying it's essentially just disc 1.

Is that true? If so I assume they have plans to release the rest at some point as standalone games
 

Damien

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Just went to buy this and a lot of the reviews are saying it's essentially just disc 1.

Is that true? If so I assume they have plans to release the rest at some point as standalone games
It's the first five hours of the game expanded to 40-50 hours. Rest of disc 1 will probably be in the next game.
 

b82REZ

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It's the first five hours of the game expanded to 40-50 hours. Rest of disc 1 will probably be in the next game.
Seems like a bit of a sly move. 50 quid for not even a 3rd of the game. Have they announced when future installments will be released?
 

Ødegaard

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My initial playthrough was absolutely blinded by nostalgia & pretty graphics (with a few horrible hickups) and by the end I was one of the people annoyed by the new direction.
I'm not a fan of there being talk about fate, chosen one and that sort of stuff in the actual story. If it's there I prefer it to be small throwaway points for deepdives into lore and not taken to such grand scales as you fighting fate itself.

I was left very disappointed by how it was said to be a fully fledged final fantasy in itself by the marketing team, which it in no way was.
As a start for the story they seem to want to make, going by the 4 levels theory, it could be fantastic. But the initial playthrough had me love it as a expanded remake up until it threw it down and shat in its face.
For now I think FF15 was a far superior game, with the FF7 remake having a much more likable cast and story.

That said I think I need a few more playthrough before making a final judgement.
 

Ødegaard

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Great to have you back @Ødegaard

Translation of an interview the director, producer and scenario writer of FF7R had (obviously there are spoilers).

Sounds like they're integrating the world map
God yes!
A world map with openness on the level of FF15 would be great. I was afraid they would cut out the world map and make the game too linear further. Midgar is acceptable as the story there is linear, but the feeling of freedom when reaching world maps in final fantasy games is a big deal for me. It gives me the feeling of breathing space to start farming and time to think through what I've seen up until then.


Forgot to mention in the post I had earlier that I obviously loved the combat in the remake, although I felt like there was a lack of fun synergies in materia and there being a lack in quality of vertical battle functions.
 

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Great to have you back @Ødegaard

Translation of an interview the director, producer and scenario writer of FF7R had (obviously there are spoilers).

Sounds like they're integrating the world map
Interesting read.

I find it reassuring that they've said they're not going to stray too far from the originals story. And a world map, feck yes I'd love it. I have no idea how they're going to do it though!

But then the changes seem like ones they made without much planning behind them? When he mentioned someone else wanting a Sephiroth fight he just okays it like that? And how they initially wanted Sephiroth to be more behind the scenes but they seem to keep adding more and more of him into it? I don't know, I find it a bit weird that they can just decide on big changes just like that! But I ain't a game developer, what do I know.

And also the mention about future installments. How they could release fewer parts at the expense of a long wait time, or more parts that are released more regularly. If it's the second option then they better not charge £50 for them!
 

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Interesting read.

I find it reassuring that they've said they're not going to stray too far from the originals story. And a world map, feck yes I'd love it. I have no idea how they're going to do it though!

But then the changes seem like ones they made without much planning behind them? When he mentioned someone else wanting a Sephiroth fight he just okays it like that? And how they initially wanted Sephiroth to be more behind the scenes but they seem to keep adding more and more of him into it? I don't know, I find it a bit weird that they can just decide on big changes just like that! But I ain't a game developer, what do I know.

And also the mention about future installments. How they could release fewer parts at the expense of a long wait time, or more parts that are released more regularly. If it's the second option then they better not charge £50 for them!
You just know they will.
God yes!
A world map with openness on the level of FF15 would be great. I was afraid they would cut out the world map and make the game too linear further. Midgar is acceptable as the story there is linear, but the feeling of freedom when reaching world maps in final fantasy games is a big deal for me. It gives me the feeling of breathing space to start farming and time to think through what I've seen up until then.


Forgot to mention in the post I had earlier that I obviously loved the combat in the remake, although I felt like there was a lack of fun synergies in materia and there being a lack in quality of vertical battle functions.
I doubt the world map would be that open but hopefully they do something like that. If they do then the split point makes more sense and with it probably being on next gen consoles only, they have a hell of a lot more possibilities they could do.

Yeah the combat is great. Hopefully in the next one they use more types of materia but other than the summons I can't really remember what they've missed.

On my Hard playthrough and only just realised you can choose to go up the stairs instead of going up in the elevator. I regret going up the stairs (59 flights...) but it is a nice little touch that they put what floor each character is on.

 
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Ødegaard

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You just know they will.

I doubt the world map would be that open but hopefully they do something like that. If they do then the split point makes more sense and with it probably being on next gen consoles only, they have a hell of a lot more possibilities they could do.

Yeah the combat is great. Hopefully in the next one they use more types of materia but other than the summons I can't really remember what they've missed.

On my Hard playthrough and only just realised you can choose to go up the stairs instead of going up in the elevator. I regret going up the stairs (59 flights...) but it is a nice little touch that they put what floor each character is on.

Magic materia: Earth (quake), Contain (flare/freeze/tornado/break), Comet, Full Cure, Gravity (demi 1-3), Shield, Ultima, Destruct (despell/debarrier/death), Exit (Escape/remove which would have been pointless I think), Transform (frog/small), Mystify (confusion/berserk), Seal (sleepel/silence), Heal (poisona/esuna/resist).

Support materia is the big thing though as it has all those lovely effects.
Added cut, Added effect, Counter & Magic counter (ability is there, but support would mean you could have linked it with any weapon-ability for example or magic), Final attack, MP turbo, Quadra-magic, Sneak-attack, Steal as well for those who don't want to waste time stealing when you can kill and steal at the same time when grinding.

It's easy to understand why they didn't include many of the skill-materia as I don't really understand how they could have made them good. W-item and W-magic I suppose could be nice to double-cast or double-use. Morph could have added more grind for stat-upgrades for hard mode if it was linked to combinations of weapon abilities.
There are also master-materia for skill & magic that could have fitted in for those who like grinding.


Yeah, I think making the world in FF15 openess could be hard, but man would it be fun! Think how it would feel if instead of a short lake you'd have a marsh and the damn Midgar Zolom hunting for you in a setting like this:
 

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Magic materia: Earth (quake), Contain (flare/freeze/tornado/break), Comet, Full Cure, Gravity (demi 1-3), Shield, Ultima, Destruct (despell/debarrier/death), Exit (Escape/remove which would have been pointless I think), Transform (frog/small), Mystify (confusion/berserk), Seal (sleepel/silence), Heal (poisona/esuna/resist).

Support materia is the big thing though as it has all those lovely effects.
Added cut, Added effect, Counter & Magic counter (ability is there, but support would mean you could have linked it with any weapon-ability for example or magic), Final attack, MP turbo, Quadra-magic, Sneak-attack, Steal as well for those who don't want to waste time stealing when you can kill and steal at the same time when grinding.

It's easy to understand why they didn't include many of the skill-materia as I don't really understand how they could have made them good. W-item and W-magic I suppose could be nice to double-cast or double-use. Morph could have added more grind for stat-upgrades for hard mode if it was linked to combinations of weapon abilities.
There are also master-materia for skill & magic that could have fitted in for those who like grinding.


Yeah, I think making the world in FF15 openess could be hard, but man would it be fun! Think how it would feel if instead of a short lake you'd have a marsh and the damn Midgar Zolom hunting for you in a setting like this:
Yeah, there are quite a lot of possibilities materia-wise. Think a few of those were later in the original game so should make a show in later remakes. I think they've decided to cover themselves double casting wise with Aerith's ability.

That kind of open world really would be fantastic but think doing that would end up with the development time going up tenfold.

Decided to do this one before Chapter 17 as that one will be a slog. No joke, I managed to kill Sephiroth with Aerith on 1 health and Cloud and Tifa dead. That was nervewracking dealing the final blow before Sephiroth would attack again.

Trophies I still need:
  • Biker Boy (tried the level on Easy and annoyed that I didn't manage to trigger it)
  • Dancing Queen (got two left feet, tried it on three different attempts of Chapter 9, no cigar)
  • Dressed to the Nines (got 2/3 dresses on all three characters. Should be straightforward)
  • Hardened Veteran (just got Chapter 17 left and that is going to be a bitch)
 
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Art Vandelay

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Interesting read.

I find it reassuring that they've said they're not going to stray too far from the originals story. And a world map, feck yes I'd love it. I have no idea how they're going to do it though!

But then the changes seem like ones they made without much planning behind them? When he mentioned someone else wanting a Sephiroth fight he just okays it like that? And how they initially wanted Sephiroth to be more behind the scenes but they seem to keep adding more and more of him into it? I don't know, I find it a bit weird that they can just decide on big changes just like that! But I ain't a game developer, what do I know.

And also the mention about future installments. How they could release fewer parts at the expense of a long wait time, or more parts that are released more regularly. If it's the second option then they better not charge £50 for them!
Why would you believe them saying it won't stray too far? It's not like they were honest about this one and they spent the final act giving themselves licence to stray from it and have strayed so far that it really can't be the same. Even if they go to the same places and do the same things, it's already been fundamentally altered for the worse.
 

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Seems like a bit of a sly move. 50 quid for not even a 3rd of the game. Have they announced when future installments will be released?
An argument that doesn't really hold up, like saying Lord of the Rings shouldn't have been split in 3 when it was written originally as one book.
It has a full games worth of content. Its 40+ hours of game, I could play through all 7 numbered Resident Evil games almost twice in 40 hours.
 

Massive Spanner

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Another one in the Platinum club.


I know what you mean. What chapter are you up to now?
Just started 14.

The fights against
Reno in particular were a pain. Just could not avoid his attacks at all. It's a bit annoying, I get that the game wants you to take damage but not being able to dodge an attack cause you started one sword swing is really irritating. One of the more poorly designed aspects of the battle system for me

Oh and I tried fighting leviathan in chapter 13 and got destroyed. I'm assuming I need to be a higher level!.
 

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Just started 14.

The fights against
Reno in particular were a pain. Just could not avoid his attacks at all. It's a bit annoying, I get that the game wants you to take damage but not being able to dodge an attack cause you started one sword swing is really irritating. One of the more poorly designed aspects of the battle system for me.
Yeah, the Turk fights were a pain for me on the initial run as well. Gets a bit easier on a second run thanks to (not that spoilery) an ability you get later on in the chapters.
 

Massive Spanner

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I actually won both battles on my first go. I think that's my problem with the system, on normal at least. Feels like you can be shit but as long as you have healing spells and potions you'll still be fine. I assume that's not the case on hard!
 

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I actually won both battles on my first go. I think that's my problem with the system, on normal at least. Feels like you can be shit but as long as you have healing spells and potions you'll still be fine. I assume that's not the case on hard!
You're right that in most boss fights you're 'supposed' to take damage and work in effective heals from Aerith/Barrett during fights.

It does take a while to get used to the intricacies of a surprisingly deep combat system, particularly the best ways to minimise damage.

A lot of it revolves around knowing what enemies are weak to and learning the correct reaction to their moves so you can choose when to counter, dodge, interrupt or block. Hard mode especially.

For Cloud, the best way to avoid damage is to parry. Blocking a physical attack whilst in punisher mode will take reduced damage and launch a counter hit. A nice tip with this- switching in to punisher mode also gives you a counter stance, so if you see a physical attack coming you can tap triangle to switch to punisher and counter it without having to wait until you can switch and block. Towards the end of the game you get a sword with a really powerful counter move that even counters magic and projectiles which takes his counter game to another level. Before then you'll have to block vs some ranged and magic spells and eat some damage.

For Tifa, her speed can get her away from most damage, especially when you give her that pink materia that turns her dodge into a stupidly quick roll (I think it's deadly dodge?) When you have that equipped you can be sprinting and sliding around the battlefield like a demented longjumper and can basically hold down the block button whilst inputting her combos when up close and personal as an insurance policy in case they power through your moves.

Barrett and Aerith are too slow and don't have reliable counters or dodges, so blocking and keeping them healed up is the name of the game. At least Barrett has thick skin and lifesaver so can be a useful tank. Aerith has even less options and feels less fun to play in my opinion as a result.
 

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Well after so many years of hearing about this game and my friend not shutting up about it. I finally got around to playing FF7. And all I can say is WOW. Amazing game. Great characters and the cutscenes were up there with MGS4. Some brilliant moments in the game and some things caught me by surprise. And this is only less then the first half of the game!? Unbelievable. Easily a 10/10 for me. Can’t wait for the next one
 

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I can't see there being any chance of that. In an interview in March this year they said they were still in the planning stages or something along those lines.
In fairness there is only really assets to create, all the systems are in place, using UE4 they will be essentially designing assets and levels. The code is already there and done. I wouldn't bet against it being next year for sure. People talk about the long dev cycle but it only took as long as it did because they binned engines and built in UE4 from the ground up.