Messages

51

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-08-15 21:26:25 »

It looked like sarcasm to me at first as well, but some of the points are written in a fairly convincing manner.

I don't get why someone wouldn't want a remake to actually be a remake. There are what, six entries in the compilation of final fantasy 7 that are sequels/prequels? The reason why there is such a demand for the remake is because it was constantly teased by those entries, and that all of those entries are of extremely low quality in the opinions of many fans. How about we get a remake first (that hopefully does justice to the original) and then all of these random requests and fan-fiction-esque wishes could easily be met with other titles? Hell, most of the requests I've read could easily be done with DLC, which I would actually be okay with because fans who wanted them could buy them and the rest of us could keep it out of our games.

52

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-08-15 04:12:00 »

What I'm wishing for in the remake.

1. not a remake but a sequel. fern having to play the same story.
2. I want to be able to play everyone. Zack, Angeal, Kadaj, Hojo, Sephiroth and anyone else already dead. Make it so that you can recruit anyone.
3. everyone's advent children outfit+ fusion sword
4. motorcycles maybe in battle as well. idk how but find a way
5. Maybe new outfits for everyone? if they suck we can always not use them.
6. I want to see Honey Bee Inn in its full ultimate glory. idc make it rated M prob will make the game better.
7. new game+  with normal, hard, and insane difficulty options.
8. turn based: honestly, I wouldn't mind if they used ffxv's battle system but leaning more towards turn based.
9. Give every American release a Japanese voice with English subtitles options.
10. lastly I hope they dont fern up Cloud overall appearance or anyone else's for that matter. He looks pretty derp in the new dissidia game. Just make him look exactly like in the ps3 demo or advent childern movie.

Even though I don't personally want a sequel or most of the things listed here, wouldn't it make more sense to have a remake first (especially if it was already announced as a remake)? You could easily justify a sequel using the assets of the remake for an easy cash in, and do FF7-2, FF7-3, etc. (I really hope they do not, but as long as they did an excellent job on the remake the sequels wouldn't really affect me)

53

Completely Unrelated / Re: Tetsuya Nomura Wishes Cloud Strife A Happy Birthday

« on: 2015-08-13 07:21:10 »

I think my biggest complaint with modern Cloud designs, aside from emaciation and depression, is how the back of his head comes to a point, which according to the cover of the original FF7, his field model, his battle model, and fmv model, is not what the back of Cloud's head should look like. Even though that drawing still has the back of his head spikey instead of smooth, I like it much better when the back of his head isn't all focused to a point that sticks out the back. When it does go to a point in the back, it makes it look deliberate, and I personally think it would be ridiculous to intentionally style the back of your head to a point (not that the other spikes are realistic, I just felt that the back was the least iconic spike and most ridiculous).

I also love the expression in that drawing, as it looks to be that cocky Cloud we used to know and fell in love with before all the spinoffs and cameos made Cloud forever angsty.

54

General Discussion / Re: Square Enix Current Gen Lineup

« on: 2015-08-13 06:30:11 »

Don't forget Project Setsuna, Dragon Quest Builders (a Minecraft game I actually want to play!), Dragon Quest Heroes & Dragon Quest Heroes 2
Square is on a roll this gen going all out just like the PS2 days

The one that caught me off guard the most was NieR 2, the first sold quite badly and hardly any attention towards it but now they are teaming up with alot of devs including Platinum games for this, can't wait and Star Ocean 5 looks really good 6 player simulataneous battle looks insane!... Also really glad Dragon Quest is coming to ps4

How could I forget the Dragon Quest spinoffs! They look great! I played Hyrule Warriors recently and am convinced that the Warrior games are much better with characters and universe that are already established and beloved. Dragon Quest builders has also got my attention I have to say, and will be championing it to my friends and family who are addicted to minecraft if the game actually turns out to be good.

Thanks for introducing me to project Setsuna, it had slipped my radar for some reason.

@L. Spiro: I was aware it was developed by tri-Ace, which is why I was surprised it was being made at all. I thought I read they were bought by a mobile gaming company or something. Regardless, I see publishing games as important of business decisions as developing them internally. The fact the Square Enix is publishing the game is a win in my book ('tis the reason I give some credit to Nintendo for Bayonetta 2, some credit to Sony for Bloodborne [I think Sony Japan actually had deep involvement in development as well], some credit to Microsoft [who I believe I read also gave help in development] for Scalebound).

55

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-08-13 06:15:46 »

To add on top of that, I would say that no matter how SE made the remake, even if it was EXACTLY how YOU (anyone here reading this) wanted it, it would still not have the same impact as the original. You can't repeat a "first time experience". There's no element of surprise.

Speaking of rants, I guess I'll join with one now (warning, my first attempt at editing this post before submitting it seems that my fatigue has gotten the better of me, and I'm currently correcting random errors everywhere):

I'm not so sure it's necessary to put so much stock in the "first time experience". Speaking from my personal opinion, I have had times where my first experience with something was not pleasant. Be it food, media, or an activity (loss of virginity comes to mind due to my immature sense of humor), there are many experiences that are not at first pleasant, and instead of becoming even worse with repeated exposures, actually became more pleasant over time.

For me and FF7 specifically, my first experience was wonderful, but I was young and did not remember all of it or understand all of it clearly. My subsequent revisits to the game have only convinced me of its quality and inherent value despite the flaws I can easily spot with the wisdom I've acquired with age. With as many things I critique about the game, I also find aspects that I appreciate, and it is in my opinion that my opinion will not worsen.

I have found that for these reasons, spoilers have little effect on me. I used to be worried when people talk about something that I have not watched, but I found that media that I find to be of quality and value still retain it even though I may not be surprised. As long as the surprises make sense, are consistent with the rest of the story, or are interesting in some facet, I still have appreciation for them despite knowing they are coming. In fact, my brother told me that Aerith gets killed by Sephiroth before I reached that part of the game, and not being able to stop it even knowing that it was coming only deepened my connection to Cloud in feeling that I was helpless in stopping it.

All in all, I feel that surprise and "first time experience" are shallow and possibly irrelevant considerations in evaluating one's own enjoyment from something. Surprise to me, is just the phenomena of experiencing something unexpected, which in itself is just experiencing something new. Everything is new to someone and will not be after it is experienced and therefore I do not think it is worth talking about. Some people may seek surprise and consider it a valuable part of an experience, but I personally do not./ End rant

I think when it comes to campy vs. realistic and all that, the most important thing to preserving immersion to me is consistency. The weird aspects of FF7 work because they happen consistently throughout the story, and feel like they are apart of the world and the story no matter how absurd they would be in real life. Where realism interferes is that if they eliminate all of these moments save for a few iconic ones, it will be jarring with the rest of the story. I don't think the graphics or the art-style really have much to do with it, as long as it is consistent. A super realistic design choice that is consistently weird and abstract would be an interesting contrast and by no means bad (Metal Gear Solid comes to mind). But if FF7 is suddenly Ghost Recon (assuming it is realistic, I've never played it), but suddenly still has a moment or two of Cloud crossdressing or Scottish Cat Toys talking and nothing else, it will seem like the game has no identity or is keeping them simply to please fans. If FF7 wants to be super gritty and realistic, but also be weird, it needs to be both from start to finish. Any prolonged seriousness will cause the game to seem conflicted in its direction rather that consistent and yet contrasting.

@hian: I sincerely hope your theory is incorrect, as that would, for me, be the absolute worst case scenario and the biggest possible stretch of the term "remake". Aside from an occasional easter egg, any compilation material is completely unwarranted and unwanted. As you have stated, anything that cannot be internally explained and resolved within the game itself would only be a detriment to the goal of attracting new fans, and obviously does nothing to please old fans. The structure of narrative, and the ability to experience it without the restrictions of flashbacks are absolutely crucial to preserving any "magic" from the original game, and I'm not sure if anyone could really be foolish enough to not see that.

56

General Discussion / Square Enix Current Gen Lineup

« on: 2015-08-09 16:33:44 »

Excluding western games such as Hitman, Sleeping Dogs (western?), and Tomb Raider, Square Enix's lineup for the PS4/XBOX One generation already seems much more robust than the entirety of the PS3/Xbox 360 gen. Already announced games include: FFXV, FF7R, KH3, DQ11, SO5, PS4 Dissidia, World of Final Fantasy, and a new Nier project.

FFXV has its controversies but I still doubt it will have a worse reception than the XIII trilogy.

FF7R will definitely have its controversies, but probably an equally large number of fans, similar to how AC was poorly received by many yet still has legions of fans.

KH3 is the final entry in a saga fans have been clamoring for during years and years of spin off titles.

DQ11 looks to be incredible and a saving grace for those that feel betrayed by Square Enix's abandonment of turn-based RPGs for consoles.

Star Ocean 5 looks to be another quality entry in the franchise. I've only really had experience with 4, and it wasn't really my cup of tea, although I did enjoy aspects of it.

PS4 Dissidia has been requested for a long time, as people wanted their favorite FF characters to clash on a bigger screen than what the PSP could offer.

World of Final Fantasy, seems like it could be fun, but it's definitely milking nostalgia in order to get people to buy the game. It has a cute factor that will probably attract a lot of fans to it who are into that sort of thing.

And finally, the new Nier project had details that made me very excited about the game. I personally felt that Nier was a very fun game with a lot of good ideas. The writing in particular had a certain charm and flavor I seek more of (I bought Drakengard 3 in hopes to satiate my appetite, but I haven't tried it yet. Most reviews say the writing is certainly not on par with Nier). The only problems Nier had, in my opinion, was its combat and budget. Square Enix making the statement that new IPs need 3 entries to truly gauge their appeal gives me hope that Nier will have a larger budget, and it was annouced that Platinum games was developing it, which should make the combat amazing if Bayonetta and MGR are any indication.

In addition to those games, it seems as though Square Enix is planning on a FF12 HD remaster in addition to the FF10 and Type 0 remasters already released.

I personally feel Square Enix has been a lot more competent this generation as opposed to last, and seems like it has set itself up in a position to succeed. I know a lot of us prefer SquareSoft to Square Enix and rightly so, but compared to early Square Enix, does anyone else feel like things are changing over at Square Enix, and somewhat for the better?

57

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-08-09 05:39:51 »

I really don't know very much about game development but isn't part of the reason why other companies can create 2-3 games in the time it takes Square to make one game is because a lot of other developers aren't trying to create an entirely new engine with every entry? So the use of UT4 engine could be an attempt to speed up game development, especially if they are having some issues with Luminous. From what I read about FFXV's development, it is being created during the time in which Luminous is being expanded and optimized. I assume Square Enix wants to start on all of these other projects, but does not want to wait for Luminous and FFXV to be finished.

Also, the focus on the capabilities of Luminous engine, as shown in the highly detailed and technically impressive Agni's Philosophy demos are probably more for investors IMO. As impressive as those demos may be, I wonder how difficult Luminous is to work with, or how close to completion most of its features are. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see any potential FFXV sequels or FF Type series games being made with the Luminous engine later on once its finished, but in the meantime I think Square Enix must think that UT4 is adequate and will allow them to be more timely and cost efficient.

That being said, I hope UT4 does not come with any shortcomings in quality. The FFXIII games, as sub-par as I felt they were, I thought were very polished and technically gorgeous. The Crystal Tools engine seemed to be of a much higher quality than UT3. A lot of games last generation made with UT3 had framerate issues, washed out colors, texture pop-in, and were very glitchy. I don't know how much of that is the engine's fault or the studios who made those games because of a lack of QA testing, but there is a correlation there nonetheless.

If the UT engines are cheaper alternatives to creating your own engines, than another variable that could stand in the way of preconceived notion of UT engine leading to lower quality games might just be that studios who look to save money by using the engine simply don't have Square Enix's budget for their games.

At this point I am talking in circles with myself, but although the news isn't great I'm not getting too worked up over it yet. But my previous experience with games made with UT seem to have only been great in spite of UT, not because of it.

58

General Discussion / Re: [FF7PC-98/Steam] Multiple mods - The Reunion (R03c)

« on: 2015-07-19 03:29:08 »

My favorite slang term for "bolt" and "scram" is "ghost" but that is more a term a thug or gang-member might use. I definitely think that "split" or "bail" sounds a lot more natural than "bolt" or "scram", given the context.

59

General Discussion / Re: FF7r - Reviving the old rumors

« on: 2015-07-13 02:51:20 »

In terms of priority for the remake, I'm sure old rumors would be toward the bottom. But if we are assuming the rest of the game has been given enough attention so that silly extras are merely adding content and not taking the place of content that should be there or the quality that the main content is executed with, then I think that I would not mind a few of the most famous rumored glitches to be added. Maybe a ridiculous way of glitching your Cloud model into a Sephiroth or Zack model (only in-game with cutscenes excluded), a purely non-story related glitch that adds Aerith to the party but adds no story for her, and maybe a silver recolor of the golden chocobo. Just simple glitches with ridiculous feats required to trigger might be a fun add on in my opinion.

My real curiosity though, is how they treat events that were probably glitches but were real, like the Aerith ghost glitch in the church.

60

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Themed Birthday Adventure / Marriage Proposal

« on: 2015-07-02 07:37:37 »

Where were you to help me craft some sort of Pokémon themed proposal when I proposed?!?!?  (Seriously great job on the proposal though, you should definitely be proud).

61

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-07-02 07:32:00 »

Hian's analysis of Square Enix's action track record is pretty spot on IMO, as well as his thoughts on a hybrid system, and the fact that square is unlikely to actually create something that would satisfy both fan bases.

When it comes to Hian's and Dan's distain for the "don't knock it 'till you try" mentality, I completely agree. Another good analogy is that I never want to try crack, because I assume I may in fact become addicted and have it ruin my life. It's a thought I formed without having to try it based on knowledge of other cases and my own personal feelings. At the same time, I don't think it is wrong to let yourself be swept up in the excitement of the promise of something great (even if Square has no reason to make me actually believe it), as long as you didn't literally buy into or are being consistently duped, as some "diehard" fans may unfortunately experience from time to time.

But at the end of the day, some fans may legitimately like the gameplay we sit around criticizing, and have fun with it in one way or another. They may even legitimately prefer it to a more complex or thought-provoking system, which is not inherently wrong for them to like.

I don't think that people who are excited should not be, or that people who are pessimistic should not be either. We all have our reasons, and at the end of the day, logic is only impartial when viewed from within our own personal set of parameters for defining what logic is (probably could and would like to continue that discussion with anyone who wants to somewhere else).

The aspect of this discussion I have enjoyed reading and making lazy attempts to participate in is what we think we will see out of this game and what we hope or fear will come from it as well.

62

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-07-01 04:48:45 »

I do feel that there is a very good chance that the FF7 remake and FFXV will share a lot of similarities based on the knowledge that they are being made around the same time, that Square spent so much time and money developing the engine for FFXV, and that they seem to be very proud of FFXV and the type of game it is (renaming FFVSXIII to FFXV). I hope that if that really is the case, that FF7 will be able to correct some of the issues people will have in the final release of FFXV (at least when it comes to real time combat).

It's strange to think that these three things are true simultaneously: I am generally accepting of real time combat, many of my favorite games are real time combat, and one of my favorite game series of all time is Zelda, but I don't think that the hacky slashy part of Zelda has been executed very well (as far as 3D entries go. I'm not as experienced in the 2D entries) except for maybe Twilight Princess (don't particularly like this entry overall) and Wind Waker (I love this one though). It is generally too simplistic for my taste.

My personal opinion of hack and slashy 3D combat is that it has been nearly perfected in two different styles: Devil May Cry (1, 3, and 4) and the Souls series (Demon's, Dark, Bloodborne). Devil May Cry is fast & frantic action where the strategy comes from stringing together combos, dodging, and proper use of abilities and skills to kill everything in the most flashy way possible. I would say the complexity of that series rivals that of fighting games in terms of truly mastering characters. The Soul's series, on the other hand, has a very slow and deliberate pace where the goal is to value all of the moves and decisions you make in order to survive long enough to learn enough about the area and/or enemies to make it to the next checkpoint. These two series are why I can't bring myself to dismiss a game based on whether it has real time combat, because if any game could make the gameplay as deep as either of those two in real time I would buy it in a heartbeat.

That being said, it seems most modern third person action games have aimed to be in the middle of the two, in order to not require the thinking present in the Souls series or the reflexes required in the Devil May Cry series, but still retain the flashy action that makes for hype trailers. I guess I just hope in my mind that any game that is announced to have real time combat that it will satisfy me on at least one of those two fronts and am optimistic about the possibility until I am proven wrong.

But I do understand more and more by reading some of the viewpoints here, and elsewhere, that a lot of fans are very attached to FF7's combat, or the combat of the series pre-FFXII in general, and I can similarly understand why the entire series going down this new road can be so frustrating and make Senix seem so short-sighted. I know I'd be confused and frustrated if Dark Souls IV or Devil May Cry 5 were turn based.

63

Completely Unrelated / Re: Random Links

« on: 2015-06-30 06:27:29 »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmZUnqjvEgI

History warns us about the dangers of appeasement, but unchanging human nature still finds appeasement seductive and trumps the bitter lessons of the past every time.
http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/barack-obama-is-the-classic-appeaser/#U33x7RFJzhXmij6O.99

Wow, thank you for the read. That was an interesting opinion and I enjoyed the unique perspective. That particular political figure is so divisive it usually devolves into mud-slinging or ridiculously high praising, so that was a refreshing take.

64

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-06-30 01:24:45 »

I think one thing people might also be forgetting is that, just because you might have some enthusiasm for the remake, does not necessarily mean you are going to buy it, let alone at full price. I have some excitement, but it's not as though I have a Senix's store linked to my bank account, allowing them to make whatever they want. I was EXTREMELY interested in FF Type-0, but I haven't bought it and am not going to because after I learned more I discovered it was not my cup of tea.

It is logical to have low expectations, because it is basically a win-win, except for when you have to eat your words like Covarr said. That being said, however, sometimes its fun to have a little enthusiasm, to let the announcement brighten your day a little, even if by the time it comes all you have to say is "meh" to it. That exact scenario played out for me regarding Mass Effect 3 (excited initially but never bought it), and I survived it, and I probably would do it again.

I don't think, I may be wrong, but I don't think all viewpoints on the remake are bimodal. It seems to me like more of a gradient of expectations, where Covarr seems to be middle (wait and see), DLPB and hian seem to be lower (nearly convinced it will be crap), and others somewhere between all three. (I personally am more wait and see but undeniably a little happy about the news).

65

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-06-28 20:12:02 »

If will turned out good I will buy it.

Honestly this goes the same way as the discussion about Dan's Beacause mod on an other forum. Something actually good is happening and most are against it for some reasons, while other try to defend it.
Ironically I bet that exact the same guys who attacked DLPB's mod are now happy that SE is finally creating a remake and the fact that SE will make changes to the game with which they grow doesn't matter anymore.

At the moment it I can't tell how good the game will be. I have only concerns about the way they present the story and I hope some one is reducing Nomura's great character art to a practical looking way as they once did with the work of Amano.

But what about people like me who are absolutely excited about Dan's mod but are also cautiously optimistic about the remake? I do agree that Nomura's art could use some editing (I don't think that is the term I'm looking for.). I love some of Nomura's art, but I feel he has a tendency to over-design quite often.

66

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-06-28 19:50:42 »

Personally, I believe that I share your subjective impression. In my opinion, I think it is very difficult to have a conversation which does not degenerate into a confrontation.

That seems to be the case. In my opinion, I think people tend to be nicer to those that agree with them, and interpret their posts in a much more positive light.
I agree and I think it is because people tend to be nicer to those that agree with them, and interpret their posts in a much more positive light.

EDIT: Sorry Mayo! I reread my posts to try to eliminate as many possible negative interpretations as I could, then I realized I copied the structure of your previous post. It almost makes it look like I was intentionally copying/mocking if looked out of context.

67

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-06-28 19:19:58 »

Just saying - The No True Scotsman fallacy is an informal fallacy that is easy to get wrong.

To exemplify a general issue with the appeal to the fallacy though -
in the case of Scotsmen, this is determined by legal national status. A person who is not a legal Scottish National is not a Scotsman period. And all who are, are all real Scotsmen period.
The no true Scotsman fallacy only works when the state that is being discussed is ambiguous - and most things are (after all, we could
have a perfectly valid discussion about whether or not legal national status should be the qualifying factors for Scotsmen or not)
It is possible to have discussions about what factors into a state, or what qualifies something as being applicable for certain labels without this being a no true Scotsman fallacy.

In the cases of fans - qualifying your opinion about what you think a true fan is, is not a NTS fallacy.
The NTS fallacy only happens when the opinion of what a true [something] is, is re-asserted as fact as a means of dismissing
objections to the definition you're working with.

As for whether DLPB is incorrect in his labeling of the people who'll end up buying the remake -
You have no way of knowing that unless you read his post in bad faith and assumed he was actually, and literally,
talking about every single person who's going to buy it - which I think is unreasonable. He was clearly generalizing.
And, making a personal appeal is not a rebuttal to his perspective.
I am not going to say that he is correct - but you can't in good conscious pretend to know that he is incorrect either, unless you have access
to some great pool of FF7 fan statistics going into why they plan on buying the game or not.
In either case, you're both making an argument from ignorance.

Personally, I think most of the people who will buy it, won't actually be people who played the original.
Most people will be new to the title and will probably buy it because they think it looks "kewl".

Personally, I might end up buying the game just because I want to know personally, first-hand, how it turned out.
If it's bad though, it'll end up in the "used games" section at the local Tsutaya faster than people can say "You look like a bear trapped in a
marshmallow."

Wow, getting super technical on our fallacies are we? Just saying: "it's not really a 'no true Scotsman' fallacy, it's actually a (Insert Fallacy)" would have sufficed. It's basically like saying, "you used the wrong word for 'there'", and then continue to breakdown the historical use of every phonetically similar word. You knew what I was meaning to say, the uncalled for lecture seems a little abrasive/defensive, or possibly a little self-congratulatory showboating. I was never asserting any type of superiority in my statement, so I'm not appreciating the condescension here. However, I'm not denying you are correct.

DLPB must have read Izban's post in "bad faith" in order to assume that he was literally talking about every "real fan" was going to buy it then, no? For someone who is keen to "understand" the implications in DLPB's writing, you sure ignored what either Izban or I were "implying" in our posts. Obviously, both DLPB and Izban were making generalizations about a large portion of the actual population they were talking about. But if DLPB was clearly meaning to use a word such as "most", than Izban was as well. If DLPB read Izban's as "all" is it not fair to assume that DLPB's post written in a similar manner was intended to be "all"?

And I'm sorry that my opinions need to say "Personally," before I'm allowed to express them otherwise they are a illogical and ignorant attempts at dismissing DLPB's "facts" because neither of us know everything about everyone. People may not have quantifiable data regarding the opinions they express, but since we are both long time fans (meaning we've talked about the game and discussed with others for years) we both have a pretty good "feeling" (personal estimation) of what that data would turn out to be.

You dismissed everything I had to say, and in a very negative way, based on the technicality of my writing, and not my overall meanings. I was attempting to have a friendly discussion which you have nearly single-handedly ruined any enthusiasm I had for speaking on the subject here. I apologize ahead of time for anyone who feels my rebuttal here is too abrasive as well, but it's this type of posting that gives the impression that there is "correct" way of expressing opinions (apparently using "Personally," on video game "general discussion" board instead of just using common courtesy).

@Izban, I'm sorry if it seemed like I was being rude or condescending; it was not my intention, and I apologize. I was merely attempting to say to DLPB that obviously just because you don't buy the game does not mean you're not a real fan, and in the same way just because you buy it does not mean you are too dense/ignorant to understand that it is a money making scheme.

68

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!

« on: 2015-06-28 04:40:55 »

I'm a real fan and I can assure you I won't be buying it.  I sold my PS3 and I have no plans on buying any modern console.  If I was even dreaming of buying this remake, I'd have to see countless videos and reviews beforehand.

The people who are going to buy it are the vast majority of fans who aren't able to see past this money making scheme and are completely incapable of separating nostalgia and reason.  I don't think that makes them any more a real fan than I am.

The "no real Scottsman" argument isn't valid in any scenario, so no none of them are more of a "real" fan than you are. On the other hand, labeling the people who buy it as people who aren't capable of seeing a money making scheme or separating nostalgia and reason is also incorrect.

I am a fan who is likely to buy it as long as it checks my own personal set of boxes I'd like to see. For me, as long as they keep the memorable, mature-rated moments (cursing, sephiroth violence, cross dressing, honey-bee inn, etc.), and keep everything reasonable and give it the charm of the original instead of complete fanservice pandering, then I'll be likely to buy it.

Personally, I've said in the past how Kingdom Heart's Sephiroth fight made me dream of an ARPG fight where you could be Cloud instead of Sora, and I've personally always wanted to see it. It is what made me so interested in FFXV, because that combined with the character switching that was showcased when it was still FFVSXIII looked like it could be implemented in FF7 (Prompto's third person shooter section for Barret and Vincent comes to mind). Now that FFXV scrapped the character switching, I wonder if it'll return in the FF7 remake.

I know it's basically heresy to say, but an ARPG with character switching and a deep Materia system is a wet dream to me. With a pause mode similar to what Dragon Age Inquisition was trying to do, but executed in a way that was satisfying, would be basically everything I want in a game. Being able to fight and move freely, but to also pause the action and que up abilities is what I love about the Tales series, but I think that it could be done soooo much better. Basically, I would want a hybrid system that allows careful planning and reaction based combat simultaneously. The reason why that is not going to happen is because that would be almost like making two or three battle systems for the same game, and balancing all of it accordingly. Most hybrid systems are good, but they seem to not be as good at either as games that focus on a single battle system. I can always dream though...

That being said, honestly I'd be down for any combat system as long as the material is implemented in a significant way, and that the battles themselves were interesting to play.

69

Team Avalanche / Re: I guess that's it, guys

« on: 2015-06-27 18:01:02 »

Square may well have resources, but they're not going to recreate the original game - they're going to leave a ton of content out and it will not be the same game anyway.  The remake isn't a reason I'd personally have to quit but that's up to each person.

If this remake was sticking to the original and updating as necessary (which it should be doing but is not) then I'd agree this project is redundant.

DLPB and I have the same view on what the original will be even though we differing levels of excitement for it.

The fact is, the remake is going to be drastically different from the original, and those that want the original with some TLC and few changes will still desire a mod such as Team Avalanche. In an ideal world, we could have both this mod to keep the game faithful to the original, and the remake to get the modernized take on it.

There is a very real possibility the remake is going to be completely crap like many of the posters here believe, and if that happens we will all come crawling back to beg modders to keep working on the original.

70

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!!!

« on: 2015-06-27 17:51:45 »

Well, when is the FF8 remake coming?
SE is making 7, why not 8, or 9?

FF8 remake would be amazing to see, but I don't think it's ever going to happen.

Sorry to break it to you but not only do you have to wait for 7, 6 is the most likely candidate for a remake. 6 is the third most popular entry in the franchise after 7 and 10, and many consider it to be the best in the series (I don't, but I feel like I should replay it since it has been so long to see if my opinion has changed).

Nomura has recently expressed interest in remaking 5 and 6, since there is a gap between the 4 remake and the 7 remake, making it even more likely that they are up next.

8 and 9 are only really important to those of us who grew up with the 7-9 era, but 8 and 9 have a mixed reception among fans. I know there are fans that love both (I love 9, it's my 3rd favorite FF only slightly behind 7 and 10), but there are those that dislike 8 for its poorly written story and broken gameplay (I'm one of them) and those that dislike 9 for its art style.

Being logical, I'd say 5 gets a remake on a handheld, 6 on a console, and 8 & 9 possibly get remade last sometime way down the line. FF12 remaster is a given IMO. As far as wishful thinking goes, I'd be down for Chrono Trigger remake.

71

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy VII Remake is HAPPENING!!!

« on: 2015-06-17 00:26:20 »

I think we can all agree that the best we can hope for is that the game is an adequate remake. Most likely, the game is going to have some issues that will prevent it from being the superior version for us old school fans who play it.

I agree with Covarr that Square makes games that are very faithful to the originals; my fear is that the remake is going to be more faithful to the spinoffs than the original game.

All that being said though, for those of you who are completely appalled by the idea of a remake, please don't ruin it for the rest of us by constantly trashing the idea. I'm not super confident in Square's ability but I would rather there be a remake than none at all. The remake will not do any more harm to the original that the spinoffs haven't already done. If all else fails, we'll still be here patiently waiting for more of Dan's mods.

72

Completely Unrelated / Re: The Fall of Gaming, the Modern Crash

« on: 2015-04-28 04:47:49 »

I don't know if a crash would be good, but I'm not liking the bipolar nature of the industry right now. It's either larger than life, AAA blockbuster games or cheap, artistic games that are interesting but usually end up feeling like a demo to me rather than a complete game. They are an "experience" instead of a game, which to me means they had a good idea or mechanic but lacked the funding to make the full game.

I think the fall of the "middle" happened when gamers, critics, and developers focused way more on the technology presented to them instead of crafting a quality game. Technology is more advanced than ever, and games are now easier to make than ever, so the rising cost is only due to some crazy notion that better graphics is something developers should strive for.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against a game looking good, but I value highly stylized art design over super realistic technical graphics. I would take Bloodborne's or Sunset Overdrive's visuals any day over the Order 1886, which looks dull, bland, and boring in every possible way. I also think a minimalist approach to design in every sense of the phrase would be very useful for a modern franchise like Assassin's Creed, where it is all about quantity over quality.

For a good breakdown of how I feel on the topic, the youtuber TheGamingBrit has released a couple videos, the latest of which is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Wd-2Nrobs

I think in terms of budgeting their games From Software and Atlus do an amazing job creating spectacular games on modest budgets, to where even if their game sells only 500,000 copies or so it is considered a success. Maybe I'm a little biased because my latest passions in video gaming have been the Souls series and the Shin Megami Tensei series, but man do I think the rest of the industry could learn a thing or two from them.

73

Completely Unrelated / Re: Dilly Dally, Shilly Shally

« on: 2015-04-28 04:28:45 »

Spirits Within and Advent Children are both so poorly written nobody besides die-hard fans (I am one, but even I had my troubles explaining them to others) has any idea what is going on in either of them. They are both technical marvels for the time and absolutely gorgeous animations for sure, but I don't think I really have any other praises to give other than that. For AC I will put up some pros and cons:

Pro: More Cloud!
Con: They ruined his character development and helped create the alternate universe where Cloud is emo and Squall is badass in Kingdom Hearts (I claim it all started with KH1 anyways).

Pro: Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie are very attractive!
Con: Can't tell them apart from each other or Kadaj or Cloud. They all look like fairly bangable chicks.

Pro: Fight scenes have cool action!
Con: Action drags on too long and some scenes cross the line into absurdity.

Pro: New villains!
Con: The villains are extremely lame and in the worst way possible.

Pro: Sephiroth is awesome!
Con: He has no reason for being in the movie than the other villains sucking so hard.

Pro: The movie has some cool things in it!
Con: For every cool thing there are many more terrible things to bury it.

74

General Discussion / Re: The most epic Summoning in FF ever! (FFXV Ramuh)

« on: 2015-03-30 01:13:47 »

As a modern FF I consider anything since the ps3 releases and maybe since FFXI online if we think FFXI and XII as kind of experimental releases. I've read rumors that a new FF is programmed to be a mixture of the FF games and Bloodbourne.

FFXV is similar to Bloodborne in two ways:

1. The enemy difficulty varies greatly and some enemies can wipe the floor with you if you are not careful. I'm sure FFXV will be significantly easier though, but I can see a little inspiration taken from the Souls series by not completely eliminating difficulty.

2. You only level up by camping, similar to bonfires in Dark Souls, so that if you die you lose the experience you have accumulated. There are no bloodstains to recover experience though and like I said before, the game will obviously be a lot less punishing or difficult compared to the Souls series.

I feel like the game also takes inspiration from Dragon's Dogma in two ways:

1. The time of day dictates how dangerous the monsters are and finding shelter before nightfall is important.

2. Preparing for the journey before setting out from camp is crucial to success.

I think this game might have a good enough blend of elements from a lot of rpgs to make something fresh, unique, and exciting. I just hope that all the features it promises are fully fleshed out and utilized, because if they aren't the game will feel too derivative and seem like a half-hearted attempt at pandering to the ideas that have been successful from other popular arpgs.

@sunz: FF Type-0 seems like it could be somewhat fun, but I have a couple of concerns that no reviews have really touched on that keeps me cautious about the game.

First, I think the cast is too large. Obviously, a cast can technically be very large and have lots of interesting characters, but in general even amazing writers have enough on their plates writing two or three interesting characters, so I remain skeptical that 13 characters will be fleshed out and dynamic. I feel like the large majority of them will probably be throw-away characters who only have personalities based on appearance, fighting style, and random one-liners sprinkled into cutscenes so you don't forget they are there. I think the side missions that eat up in game time could have been used to flesh out each character, similar to a combination of persona and mass effect. Also, instead of there being a handful of characters with multiple weapons and playstyles which are interesting in their own right, from what I have seen the battles look pretty monotonous unless you are switching between characters frequently, as their movesets seem pretty limited individually.

Second, the setting seems pretty boring to me. I get that all the nations are at war but none of it has done anything to get me interested. Wars don't interest me as much I'm afraid. I'm more into adventures or mysteries, where discovery of story, places, and things play a big part in the game. I know this is basically a personal preference, but all the trailers I've seen just to captivate me in that regard. I know the games has airships though, so I wonder if the game has more than the trailers and reviews show.

Third, I've heard that the story is pretty forgettable, and has exposition dumps frequently. This does not excite me after playing through the 13 trilogy, where the story was atrocious, the characters were bland, and the story was explained through exposition dumps buried in the datalogs in the menus.

Finally, the fact that it used to be a psp game makes me think of MGS Peace Walker, where although it looks significantly better in HD, there will be big, open & empty environments that are lifeless and angular because it was made with a psp in mind.

If you could reassure me on any of those concerns I might consider playing it when it drops in price, but one of the reasons I don't have the FFXV demo is because I want to make sure whatever money I send to Square Enix from now on is a reflection of what I want from them. I'm not super interested in type-0 or a type-franchise, and I don't think paying for a demo is acceptable, so I will keep my money for now.

@DLPB: I think you have a good mindset regarding this game. I would recommend everyone to not write this game off quite yet, as I think it has signs of promise in there, but also not jump on its bandwagon as well as there are some things that are troubling. Waiting for a game to come out and gathering as much info as possible before making a purchase is the best idea when buying any game, regardless of what it is. It's the safest way to not feel screwed out of your money.

75

General Discussion / Re: The most epic Summoning in FF ever! (FFXV Ramuh)

« on: 2015-03-23 04:20:18 »

This will be the best modern FF ever! And the reason I will buy a ps4! Mark my words folks!

What games are considered "modern"? If by modern you mean last gen through current gen definitely, if ps2 era is included then possibly, but if that includes ps1 era probably not. If it turns out to be good though it may finally force me to buy a ps4 too and get Dragon Age Inquisition and The Witcher 3 along with it.

Edit: And Bloodbourne!