Author Topic: [FF7R] Remake Discussion & News  (Read 91715 times)

Kuraudo.

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #175 on: 2020-01-31 15:57:00 »
Maestro Uematsu is back
Some good shots

[EDIT: Uematsu interview]
« Last Edit: 2020-02-07 08:58:36 by Kuraudo. »

Izban

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #176 on: 2020-02-03 06:51:47 »
Red looks pretty dope

Fem cloud is like most of the fan art, kinda disturbing

Tiga ain't needed and its amazing

-Ric-

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #177 on: 2020-02-03 15:08:34 »
Nobuo Uematsu proves to be a legend yet again.

Kuraudo.

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #178 on: 2020-02-13 14:53:42 »
« Last Edit: 2020-02-14 19:30:44 by Kuraudo. »

gjoerulv

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #179 on: 2020-02-14 18:23:08 »
Nobuo Uematsu proves to be a legend yet again.

If you are accepted as a legend, you don't have to prove it again? :P But yaeh, listened to the soundtrack. Good stuff!

-Ric-

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #180 on: 2020-02-17 18:08:02 »
If you are accepted as a legend, you don't have to prove it again? :P But yaeh, listened to the soundtrack. Good stuff!

Oh absolutely, he didn't have to at all. But he did. The man is awesome.

52 days, 10 hours and 5 minutes left....

KaidenJames

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #181 on: 2020-03-02 09:06:25 »

-Ric-

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #182 on: 2020-03-02 14:15:23 »
Just finished the demo. Combat is VERY fun. An auto lock-on would be welcome when switching to Barret though. Graphics are great obviously (at least on the Pro model) and there weren't any intrusive loading screens.

There's a few tweaks to the story. Not changes necessarily. There's a big moment after the first boss that could've definitely taken place in the original as well but you never hear about it.

Overall... Day one purchase.

KaidenJames

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #183 on: 2020-03-02 17:47:50 »
I played through once last night. I loved it. Combat is a ton of fun, even if I sucked at first lol. Some of the back and forth banter got repetitive, but I expect stuff like that. Said banter is done well though. Graphics are sexy and the game runs well. Some dips in FPS every so often, again to be expected. I have an SSD in my Pro, so loading was nice and fast. I can't wait to get home and play more!

P.S. I've seen the new opening a few times now, but watching it in game on my PS4 gave me some feels!

-Ric-

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #184 on: 2020-03-02 18:20:10 »
but watching it in game on my PS4 gave me some feels!

Right!? It's an epic feeling when the logo pops up and the music kicks in.

KaidenJames

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #185 on: 2020-03-02 18:24:07 »
Right!? It's an epic feeling when the logo pops up and the music kicks in.

That's my favorite part. That and the transition from new opening to the old one is class.

olearyf2525

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #186 on: 2020-03-03 06:40:27 »
Beat it earlier today, the opening is amazing, I'm on the pro with an SSD, didn't even see any loading. The graphics are really good, the combat is fun on normal and has room for depth, sadly there is no hard mode so once you actually master combat I can see the game being very easy on a 2nd playthrough. Still not sure how I feel about them turning Midgar into a 40 hour game from a 6 hour story though. IMO they should have expanded Midgar from 6 hours to maybe 10 hours (expand the streets/scenes/dialogue/maybe the new character Roche) and ended the first part later on in the first disc maybe at the end of the Cargo ship, idk, I feel like Midgar will probably have a lot of fetch quests and stuff that doesn't really fit, but I guess we'll see.

obesebear

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #187 on: 2020-03-04 01:30:14 »
I wanted to comment that I did see some posters that pointed to some acknowledgement of the prior compilation as well as something Heidegger says that also seems to verify some compilation stuff is going to remain canon in the remake

Mabinog

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #188 on: 2020-03-04 02:59:48 »
The Guard Scorpion actually kicked my ass on Normal mode. This game doesn't seem to be pulling any punches with the difficulty, which is pretty exciting.

gjoerulv

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #189 on: 2020-03-05 17:04:36 »
PRE-EDIT: Wow this turned out to be a wall of text, that was not my intention xP. Sorry in advance, I don't wanna ruin the experience for anyone...
Take all this with a grain of salt. Haven't tried the demo myself.

Saw a few playthroughs on YT out of curiosity. Not gonna lie, I cringed a lot. Not only from the game; the fanboy levels are through the roof.

FF7R: Hack and slash - style over substance edition.

No, seriously, it LOOKS like a hack and slash game with some tweaks (probably feels different if you play yourself, I dunno...). Nothing wrong with hack and slash games, but isn't this supposed to feign realism?
Yes, I know that you have to have some suspension of disbelief in a fantasy setting, and that the action can't be 1-to-1 realistic in certain styles of games to make it fun/interesting or whatever, but the slicing and dicing here is WAY over the top for a realistic setting. IF you are supposed to get this realism impression from the overall design I have no idea what they were thinking. To me it just looks dumb, and I would rather prefer it be 110% balls-to-the-walls DBZ. You know, if the game didn't take itself too seriously. If you're trying to look cool like this why not go all out?
(lol who are we kidding, we know why, sales, mainstream, all that. The term "realism" here is a term used to make it seem more appealing to the mainstream.)
Also, you need Barret to shot things up on ledges, but why, Cloud can jump like a ¤/¤%#&8.

Classic mode is NOT the same as original FF7. Not that anyone expected that, but the devs pointed out that this mode was for those who would prefer the original gameplay. It's basically a super easy mod as far as I can tell.

Spoiler: show
The banter from Biggs, Wedge and Jessie was well made if you ignore the setting. Jessie seems like a total player. But the attitude and tone they create is off from what their mission is.
They are blowing up a reactor, killing people, doing eco-terrorism, but they act like sunday morning cartoon characters about it.
I mean, the comments they give to Cloud when they leave the guards to him, the nonchalant attitude, the carefree banter, etc.
Example: First they are hiding from the guards, and when the guards notice Cloud they sneak behind the guards to move on. Only... They don't sneak. Before leaving they make sure to chant: "You got this Cloud!". It's so $%&£ dang stupid, and disregards almost the entire situation. Why even hide in the 1st place?
I dunno, maybe they smoked some greens before they started the mission. That could explain their behavior. They do resemble hippies at some level. I mean, their behavior CAN be explained, but I can hardly imagine there will be some super awesome logical explanation.

Barret acts like a brat sometimes, which seems out of character to me (or perhaps that's what they aim for?). For example when they enter the reactor, he goes on a tantrum because Cloud doesn't answer him right away. I know he doesn't trust Cloud, but, geez, his patience is in negative space at that scene.
Also, the battle banter really made me cringe for the most part. This has plagued soooo many games, please make it stop!


Cringe reactions from the top of my head:
"Omg, there is a map!!??!!?"
"Omg, you interact with stuff??!!?!?!"
"Omg, there can be stuff in the way that prevent bullets from hitting me??!?11?!1!?"
After killing 3 enemies: "Omg this is the best battle system ever!!!!11!!1"
(yes, there are people who mash square on the controller, kills the 1st couple of enemies, and all of a sudden it's the best battle-system ever.)
"This is a deeper look at a story we thought we knew, with new scenes."
...lol

Things that have been normal in games for over 40 years is now super impressive for some reason *cough*fanboying*cough*.

-Ric-

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #190 on: 2020-03-05 23:37:03 »
Nomura needs to be assassinated.

Lmao.

Do it, tough guy.

obesebear

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #191 on: 2020-03-06 00:13:41 »
I was going to write a rebuttal to all of that, but instead I'll just ask why you can't like it? 

Like, is it nostalgia? Or something deeper?

I get not liking it, that's cool, but there's such anger there.   It comes off like Trump and his cries of fake news.  "The Russians didn't interfere!!"  Except, yes, they clearly did.

I know a lot of people expected this to be shit, myself included.  The problem is, it actually appears to be quite good.  Maybe not better (due to my own nostalgia goggles), but still surprisingly good.


Izban

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #192 on: 2020-03-06 00:26:15 »
I kinda have to completely disagree both gjoerulv and dlpb having played it's really kind of deceptive how strategic it is, it's also quite a bit harder then the footage appears.

The banter is definitely a bit ham fisted, but at the same time it makes alot of sense in the bombing run at least, from what I've played it didn't really feel out of place.

Combat does not equal press square to win, there was no I frames that I was able to find to exploit and both dodging and defending are actually needed or your gonna wipe, I did find they definitely through way more potions at you and if your not careful the number you get by the GS aren't gonna last you the fight. You can get stunned out of a cast or ability thus wiping the ATB charge which I found as a good thing some people might not like it. Enemy selection in the demo is pretty limited, however there are assorted regular enemies that will wrek your day if you don't pay attention.

I was rather sceptical before I played, even though I pre-ordered and I am legit convinced it's a goty candidate after the demo, it's glorious that a Kotaku editor took to Twitter complaining that it was to hard

-Ric-

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #193 on: 2020-03-06 00:52:15 »
The demo has 11087 reviews in the US PSN Store and a 5 star rating, 9307 reviews in the EU PSN Store and again, a 5 star rating.

It's not "reviewer hype". People are genuinely enjoying it.

Maybe not better (due to my own nostalgia goggles), but still surprisingly good.

But look, does it HAVE to be better? It's an entirely different game. Obviously the story is (mostly) the same but it's an entirely new game-play experience, entirely new visuals, entirely new voice acting. To me, it won't be better or worse, it will be different. And no matter how much I love the remake, I'm 100% sure I will end up replaying the original multiple times after it.
The original is going nowhere.

Like, is it nostalgia? Or something deeper?

Both.

I mean, one person shared his opinion of the game and listed his criticisms, which is perfectly ok and although I don't agree, I see nothing wrong with it. The other called for the assassination of another human being so yeah... There's definitely some deep issues there. lol.
« Last Edit: 2020-03-06 00:58:22 by -Ric- »

-Ric-

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #194 on: 2020-03-06 01:43:24 »
Also, I am clearly not being literal when saying he should be assassinated.  Only a total idiot trying to point score like a toddler or Democrat would think so, Ric.

That's hysterical considering you've posted the exact same calls for people's assassination in the past (regarding a different person), got called out by me (and others) and we both ended up having our posts deleted and warnings issued. At least own it. You would still look pathetic, but less so.

Now go take your medication and don't forget to apply the acne cream.

Aw crap. I'ma get that Warned status again lol.

Oh well.
« Last Edit: 2020-03-06 01:45:13 by -Ric- »

Izban

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #195 on: 2020-03-06 01:51:22 »
There is a f-ton of fanboying going on for it, and alot of it is unwarranted like the fanboying over the map and the interactivity of the scenery.

But the combat is genuinely deserving of the praise it's getting to the point I would suggest moving forward some variation of it should be in every coming action RPG until some revolutionary upgrade is thought up.

There are definitely some changes to the story that depending on how it comes together as a whole and what they do with the subthreads could be amazing or craptacular is still in the wind.

All told the gameplay is the main reason I'm buying it cause I know the story backwards and they really can't botch it that bad to tank just how amazing it feels to play, even though the gameplay is rather mentally exhausting, rewarding when you begin to figure it out.

I haven't tried it on classic mode yet but I'm unlikely to play full that way cause of just how fun the regular is

olearyf2525

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #196 on: 2020-03-06 08:13:46 »
FF7 Remake's gameplay is fantastic on normal mode. Easy mode is a joke akin to ffXIII and Classic mode is basically Easy mode and also a joke. My only concern was that once you mastered the new combat and enemy weaknesses even normal mode would become too easy on a second play through. That's not the case now that hard mode has been revealed, once you unlock more than just cloud and can start using barret in the demo and take a look at the previews of the uprade/materia systems combat is extremely deep, it's a mix of turn based, action, and MMO boss fight mechanics but getting rid of the worst aspects of each and embracing the best. I can't take anyone seriously who says the combat sucks because they are either being contrarian hipsters, or have some sort of agenda, this is the most polished combat I've seen from Square Enix since FFX International like 18 years ago. If you want to complain about the story or the possibly looming fetch quests to pad out the game, once the game is out and you've play it and they are actually there that's fine, but as of right now from everything everyone has played and everything we've been shown/leaked the gameplay is good on normal mode.

So why is the gameplay good? Because there is so much to do and keep track of.
1)Stances/Parries/Charge/ Triangle Mechanic - Keeps you engaged in the gameplay, now you have a reason to pay close attention to the move an enemy is about to do to you so that you can perform clouds operator transition parries. I mean sure some of the initial enemies in the tutorial section you can just spam square like a retard but outside of the first chapter's basic security guards that serve as the tutorial section that's the only place it's going to work.
2)Dodge/Movement -Aerith, Barret, and Cloud in Punisher mode  all have extremely limited movement while every boss and mini-boss we've seen so far have amazing movement, this forces you to utilize the i-frames of your dodge or the movement of your dodge or suck up damage like a retard and waste half your ATB charges on potions.
3) Boss Mechanics/Weaknesses/Guard - You have to figure out a bosses' weaknesses and weakpoints and MMO STYLE attack patterns/AOES, you can even interrupt their next attack with good timing and weakness exploitation. Or you can sit in their attacks and hope you looted twenty potions or 10 ether and use them all on the first boss fight. This also encourages you to use guard to save on MP/ITEMS
4)Limit breaks are extremely rare/limited- No more hyper cheesing/fury cheesing/back row cheesing/ any cheesing that we've seen so far, at least in what we've been shown. Some of that power was moved to Summons which are essentially a guest character and closer to 10's system which is how I preferred them.
5)Adaptive difficulty- You can now make some bosses harder on yourself, so far this has only been shown for the Airbuster but the concept is amazing and I'd be surprised if he was the only boss to incorporate this mechanic in the game. You make the game as hard as you want it, and hard in the way you want it.
6) With all this going on, having to pay attention to boss timings/particle effects/tells the ATB slow down time is actually really useful to let you gather your thoughts and plan your next few moves, you can also double que moves on each party member and mass execute 6 actions at once. Meaning you can stagger the boss and if you prepared for it on each character you have a burst window of about 5-10 seconds to dump all your ATB.
7)Jobs/Roles - Always preferred the older FF's and Tactics in terms of their role/jobs and it looks like FF7 is moving a step in the right direction. Barret has tank abilities, but he doesn't HAVE to tank. Aerith is a red mage that has superior doublecast magic abilities but you CAN just auto with her. Tifa has monk abilities, they are just slightly more job oriented/defined. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw some similar aspects to New Threat further along the game, I wonder if the gameplay guy researched it or heard about it all.
8) Good control scheme/seamless transitions to switch between characters and if you don't want to utilize the slowdown of the ATB you can quick bar abilities and play it more like kingdom hearts/more actiony games.

I could probably go on even further, but the combat looks and plays amazing, will it get stale after 50 hours? I don't know it depends on whether every new encounter throws new concepts/makes you think or re-think/ or new abilities change up your strategies, we'll see.
« Last Edit: 2020-03-06 08:40:04 by olearyf2525 »

mr_nygren

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #197 on: 2020-03-06 12:05:14 »
Thanks for the read.  I'm afraid you and I are in a minority overall where applying logic to storytelling is concerned and, you know, 'Strifing' for better.  Instead, people are happy if visuals look good and their understanding for storytelling is as low as dinosaur bones.  I've made the point numerous times across forums and on IMDB that the reason AC failed with a general audience is because the script was crap and no-one can care about characters that defy logic and reason every second.  And this sad, pathetic little remake ticks the same boxes.  The dialogue is shite.  The script reads and sounds like it's been created by a Mom's basement dweller.  The eye candy is all over the place.  Logic is out of the window there too.  The pacing looks crap too because battles last way too long.  There's no tactics to be had.

And the extra visuals are like Lucas dumping dinosaurs onto the screen because he could - not because it's good.  Same here.  More visuals just takes away from what made FF7 so good.  And, the main point, as you say, is that believability is zero. 

The redemption arc for Barrett - all gone.  The darker tones and more adult themes?  Cartoon teeny bopping.

It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Shakespeare was how long ago?  And the phrase applies to this dreck more each passing second.

And guess what?  I knew all this years before the remake was even released.  I knew if they ever did make a remake, this is what they'd do.  And I said so.  Nomura needs to be assassinated.

I liked Advent Children simply because it were FF7- but i hated the new style and wanted them to look like in the first few scenes (original looks) the entire movie. I do also agree that the new style of fighting introduced by Advent Children looked good in the movie, and worked well in FF Dissidia/Duodecim (a fun fighter and i have all the titles) but doesn't work well in a realistic sense. It doesn't make sense for Cloud to be able to fly and i think he should be grounded, as should the others- in the original game he couldn't jump as high as Goku, or fly like Superman. Frankly the movie made the fights less grounded and i didn't really like that when implemented into a real FF game. Frankly if you don't have wings (like Sephiroth) you shouldn't be able to fly. That's what i like in the classic FF7 that they run forward and doesn't fly forward- much more realistic.

"The redemption arc for Barrett - all gone." Explain?

I am mostly worried about two things, because unlike you i think the Remake is looking awesome in it's own way, as it's own stand-alone game (but it isn't the remake of the classic that people might have wanted with simply updated graphics) - the things i'm worried about?

1. Multiple games. I'm worried they will lack the same quality, that they will take forever to release and that gameplay will change from one of the games to the other. I'd like the games to be the same with just new story. Not a FFX2 styled different game as a sequel. It should be FF7R Part 2. Not a completely different game, and i'm worried it will be totally different from the first game.

2. I'm worried that Square-Enix will remove any dark scenes- Dyne, Sephiroth killing people in the Shinra HQ and in Kalm, blood on the floor in the Shinra HQ, dead bodies of slain Shinra/prisoner bodies, blood on the walls of the Shinra HQ etc.

I don't want a child-friendly game. Remember that we were all kids when we played the original. The age restrictions on the original were 15 years in Sweden- i did play it as a six year old. So no need to censor the blood, death etc- it would make it worse than the original.

A warning sign was the Game Over screen.. I watched someone get beaten by the Sentinel Scorpion during the boss fight.. Neither Barret nor Cloud fell unconscious.. Instead they were on their knee's when the game over happened. Not only that- but a text clearly said they fell unconscious..

In the old classic you thought that they died.. Because they all would lay down like dead characters, and there were no text saying anything about them falling unconscious. I really dislike this censorship and childification. I could handle the gore of the original as a six year old. Modern six year olds can handle the gore of the new version- if it's kept at all..

I don't need the characters to stand up when they have 0 health.. That just screams censorship to me.. They should lay down, even when someone is fainted as in not dead they would still lay down on the ground- an unconscious person would still lay down but they censored that to them standing on one knee. That's a minus for me and also makes me worried about all the darker scenes that i need in the Remake- or it will get one point less in my review for each deleted scene of that nature.

Final Fantasy VII should be dark.. People should die in it visibly. If not then it's worse than the original.
« Last Edit: 2020-03-06 12:16:07 by mr_nygren »

gjoerulv

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #198 on: 2020-03-06 23:43:08 »
I was going to write a rebuttal to all of that, but instead I'll just ask why you can't like it? 


Like, is it nostalgia? Or something deeper?

A repeat in TL;DR version:
1. The tone of the setting does not match how the characters act overall. 2. The design mentality is in conflict with the actual design.
The technological evolution in gaming have been great, why does storytelling need to regress to the point which, in part, it has to rely on trivial musings? (hint: welp, again, we know why)

I get not liking it, that's cool, but there's such anger there.   It comes off like Trump and his cries of fake news.  "The Russians didn't interfere!!"  Except, yes, they clearly did.

I know a lot of people expected this to be strawberries, myself included.  The problem is, it actually appears to be quite good.  Maybe not better (due to my own nostalgia goggles), but still surprisingly good.

Dude, I'm not angry. If anything, I tried to be rather comical in my criticism, which I guess can be intrepeted as angry ranting (hard to convey your emotional state by text only).
I'm disappointed by the direction SE is headed and fascinated by the fanboyism, yes :). Trump....??
On what I expected: If I'm not mistaken, I believe I mentioned somewhere that I expected the gameplay to be ok but that the story would annoy me. At least that's how I remember it, but me and my former self don't always agree. :P

1-8

All these things are doable, and have been done, in many battle systems, including turn based.

And, not a response to anyone in particular (lol these walls of text should be documented for future archeologists) (I'm a bit drunk so I feel I have to write more):
Back when, Square had a lot of failed attempts to get FF popular in the west. Making the FFs easier was a way of making them more appealing. That combined with the 3D of FF7 definitely helped getting FF to the mainstream.
And this is my main criticism of most of the "old" FFs. They are too fucking easy. Why do I need those ultimate weapons? Glamour?
Today, gaming is a much bigger part of the culture. To the point where calling gamers "casuals" can be considered an insult. The tables have turned. Nerds rule! Learn how to code goddammit!. Marked research teams knows this, and is THE MAIN reason why AAA companies strives to make their games more gamer friendly (harder). They do this in order to please the "true" gamers, or whatever lall (yes there are other reasons, devs aren't souless zombies).
Is this "bad"? Not self-evedently at least. Imo it's a good thing gaming has been generally accepted as a genuine form of entertainment. But at the same time it bears the mainstream baggage of, for example, stupid batle banter. And out of character behaviour. Like you you see in FF7R demo.

1. Multiple games. I'm worried they will lack the same quality, that they will take forever to release and that gameplay will change from one of the games to the other. I'd like the games to be the same with just new story.

Would it really be that bad if they changed the genre of the game. I mean, come on, just like it! (sorry couldn't resist, nothing against you).

Still not angry. If FF7R will be the best game to ever grace God's green earth, I will be a happy man. :)

obesebear

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Re: [FFVII-R] 04.2020 - News
« Reply #199 on: 2020-03-07 01:11:16 »
Ugh, fine, the kids are down so I'll do it "Jari" style and address everything as best I can, including gjorulv's concerns.   Please keep in mind that a lot of this is going to be playing devil's advocate and using some extremes, but it's mostly to make a point

No, seriously, it LOOKS like a hack and slash game with some tweaks (probably feels different if you play yourself, I dunno...). Nothing wrong with hack and slash games, but isn't this supposed to feign realism?
If it was supposed to be realistic, you would get an uncanny valley vibe.  Nothing in the demo actually appears to be going for realism.  Further from cartoony graphics? Yes.  All out realism? No

Yes, I know that you have to have some suspension of disbelief in a fantasy setting, and that the action can't be 1-to-1 realistic in certain styles of games to make it fun/interesting or whatever, but the slicing and dicing here is WAY over the top for a realistic setting. IF you are supposed to get this realism impression from the overall design I have no idea what they were thinking. To me it just looks dumb, and I would rather prefer it be 110% balls-to-the-walls DBZ. You know, if the game didn't take itself too seriously. If you're trying to look cool like this why not go all out?
If you watch videos of people doing multiple play throughs, or play it a few times yourself, you'll notice it's not nearly as hack and slash as it appears. Once people understand the stagger mechanic and how to best use their ATB bar, the enemy fights are extremely quick.  Think of it like the first time you played FF7, you probably died to the guard scorpion.  The next time you beat it but it took quite a while with a lot of healing.  Playing it now you'd breeze through no problem (hence a harcore mod is needed).  It's the same concept.  Whether or not it will hold up throughout the whole game, who knows, but so far it works well.

Also, you need Barret to shot things up on ledges, but why, Cloud can jump like a ¤/¤%#&8.
I've only played the demo, but have seen a few other videos of later chapters where Cloud is attacking in the air, so his movement isn't completely ground based.  It's also likely done to encourage players to learn how to switch between characters to use their unique abilities.  And honestly, how many times did you actually NEED Barret's long range? Like, 2 fights? 3?

Classic mode is NOT the same as original FF7. Not that anyone expected that, but the devs pointed out that this mode was for those who would prefer the original gameplay. It's basically a super easy mod as far as I can tell.
I haven't played classic mode, but my understanding is you're right.  I think it's a story mode.  Normal seems about perfect, but I really hope there's a hard mode for seasoned players to really dig into the battle mechanics.  Also, isn't the original game super easy mode it's also pretty much "press X to win"

The banter from Biggs, Wedge and Jessie was well made if you ignore the setting. Jessie seems like a total player. But the attitude and tone they create is off from what their mission is.
They are blowing up a reactor, killing people, doing eco-terrorism, but they act like sunday morning cartoon characters about it.
I mean, the comments they give to Cloud when they leave the guards to him, the nonchalant attitude, the carefree banter, etc.
Having been in the military and done my share of deployments, I can vouch that this is how military personnel act.  Sure it's serious when it needs to be (like when escaping an exploding reactor) but taking care of the mundane enemies and situations is akin to working a 9-5. No one's really stressed or worried, you're just doing your job.

Example: First they are hiding from the guards, and when the guards notice Cloud they sneak behind the guards to move on. Only... They don't sneak. Before leaving they make sure to chant: "You got this Cloud!". It's so $%&£ dang stupid, and disregards almost the entire situation. Why even hide in the 1st place? I dunno, maybe they smoked some greens before they started the mission. That could explain their behavior. They do resemble hippies at some level. I mean, their behavior CAN be explained, but I can hardly imagine there will be some super awesome logical explanation.
I would agree with you if this were a Tom Clancy game.  The original had similar banter while still fighting enemies.  They're just use it here to show that Cloud was actually hired to do the fighting.  You actually see them avoiding battle and saying "All yours, buddy" and whatever to help reinforce that his job there is strictly to defend them as they infiltrate the reactor.  Also, from a military perspective, if you see someone who is an active threat, versus someone not immediately posing a threat to you, you attack the threat, not the guy running away.  From a strategic level, sure, don't let them blow up the reactor!! From a personal level of not wanting to die, you attack the threat

Barret acts like a brat sometimes, which seems out of character to me (or perhaps that's what they aim for?). For example when they enter the reactor, he goes on a tantrum because Cloud doesn't answer him right away. I know he doesn't trust Cloud, but, geez, his patience is in negative space at that scene.
Also, the battle banter really made me cringe for the most part. This has plagued soooo many games, please make it stop![/spoiler]
Some of the banter is good and does help with character development.  I wouldn't say it's completely necessary, but it also doesn't do any harm (so far as the demo is concerned)Is Barret over the top?  Yes.  Was he over the top in the original? Yes, getting all riled up and beating his chest and yelling expletives and trying to intimidate Cloud so everyone knew he was the leader.   His remake dialogue feels right in line with how it was 20 years ago(Whether or not that was his intended personality in the original is irrelevant since he was translated to be over the top and that's who his character became)

Cringe reactions from the top of my head:
"Omg, there is a map!!??!!?"
"Omg, you interact with stuff??!!?!?!"
"Omg, there can be stuff in the way that prevent bullets from hitting me??!?11?!1!?"
After killing 3 enemies: "Omg this is the best battle system ever!!!!11!!1"
(yes, there are people who mash square on the controller, kills the 1st couple of enemies, and all of a sudden it's the best battle-system ever.)
"This is a deeper look at a story we thought we knew, with new scenes."
...lol
Things that have been normal in games for over 40 years is now super impressive for some reason *cough*fanboying*cough*.
Surely these are people appealing to their base of subscribers.  I would suggest finding different youtube personalities to follow that review games a way you might better respond to.  I personally also don't like that crap and the fake crying and the other nonsense they do to try and get subscribers.   I recently discovered Maximillian Dood (sp?) and really appreciate his take on things.


A repeat in TL;DR version:
1. The tone of the setting does not match how the characters act overall. 2. The design mentality is in conflict with the actual design.
The technological evolution in gaming have been great, why does storytelling need to regress to the point which, in part, it has to rely on trivial musings? (hint: welp, again, we know why)
1. Pretty sure I address this higher up.  2. You'll have to be more specific on what the conflict is.  I genuinely don't know, nor what the regress in storytelling you're referring to.

Dude, I'm not angry. If anything, I tried to be rather comical in my criticism, which I guess can be intrepeted as angry ranting (hard to convey your emotional state by text only).
I'm disappointed by the direction SE is headed and fascinated by the fanboyism, yes :). Trump....??
On what I expected: If I'm not mistaken, I believe I mentioned somewhere that I expected the gameplay to be ok but that the story would annoy me. At least that's how I remember it, but me and my former self don't always agree. :P
I didn't take you as angry at all.  DLPB though.... :P    What direction are they headed?  I will happily admit I think it's been pretty bad since IX.  I kinda barely liked X, but couldn't get into 12 or 13, and probably won't even try 15.  But it appears they've actually put in effort here.  Like they actually want to make a good game that respects the original and isn't just a cash grab.  I'm sure it's a cash grab for SONY, but I think the directors and employees genuinely want this to be great.

And, not a response to anyone in particular (lol these walls of text should be documented for future archeologists) (I'm a bit drunk so I feel I have to write more):
Back when, Square had a lot of failed attempts to get FF popular in the west. Making the FFs easier was a way of making them more appealing. That combined with the 3D of FF7 definitely helped getting FF to the mainstream.
And this is my main criticism of most of the "old" FFs. They are too fucking easy. Why do I need those ultimate weapons? Glamour?
Today, gaming is a much bigger part of the culture. To the point where calling gamers "casuals" can be considered an insult. The tables have turned. Nerds rule! Learn how to code goddammit!. Marked research teams knows this, and is THE MAIN reason why AAA companies strives to make their games more gamer friendly (harder). They do this in order to please the "true" gamers, or whatever lall (yes there are other reasons, devs aren't souless zombies).
Is this "bad"? Not self-evedently at least. Imo it's a good thing gaming has been generally accepted as a genuine form of entertainment. But at the same time it bears the mainstream baggage of, for example, stupid batle banter. And out of character behaviour. Like you you see in FF7R demo.
Again, maybe the battle banter isn't 100% necessary, but so far it does help to establish the characters.  And it's also currently in fashion.  If you remember, turn based games also used to be in fashion.  Maybe that part won't age well.  But neither did a character saying "Press X to climb the ladder"

Would it really be that bad if they changed the genre of the game. I mean, come on, just like it! (sorry couldn't resist, nothing against you).
Still not angry. If FF7R will be the best game to ever grace God's green earth, I will be a happy man. :)
Could it win game of the year? Potentially.  Will it be the mega hit the original was? No.   It's not pioneering any new technologies.  It's not introducing anyone to anything they haven't seen before.  But that also doesn't mean it won't be good