Gaming Final Fantasy Saga (FF7 Rebirth Spoilers TAGGED)

I got FFVII remake off Playstation Plus (as far as I know, as long as you're a PS+ member your games will be available the whole time you're subbed, I basically just use it for automatic online game save storage cuz I'm OCD and about 4 multiplayer matches quarterly but "free" games = bonus). It's available for a few more weeks then back into the DisneyVault so add it to library now if you can. But I'm currently plugging away at Last of Us 2 so I probably won't get to it in a few months. Waited years, what's 3 months anyway to start?

 

I'm at Chapter 17 of VII:R and I'm still enjoying the ride.

Spoiler

The Shinra HQ interiors are gorgeous. The party members' reflections on the floors is a very nice touch; it reminds me of the glossy floors in the fancy-pants hotel lobbies and office buildings I've been in. (Also: That CG cutscene of the Ancients was so gorgeous that I was busting my rear to take as many screenshots as I could. Got some good ones.)

All of the playable characters are enjoyable, thankfully. Tifa and Aerith are sweet, and surprisingly similar in personality. I think, because my introduction to them was through Kingdom Hearts, I was expecting the former (Tifa) to be a bit more assertive and the latter (Aerith) to be a bit more passive and solemn. Though they do have those moments, I'm glad their situations are bit more nuanced than that. Tifa can be assertive, but has a 'cool big sister/best friend' vibe about her--- all the while having reservations about the methods of Avalanche and the effects their actions can have. Aerith's general appearance and tone of voice gives off "passive and solemn", but she actually tells jokes and pokes fun at Cloud's serious demeanor. That the two (Tifa and Aerith) bond fairly quickly makes a whole lot of sense. The avoidance of any 'love triangle' nonsense is just perfection.

Speaking of Cloud: I like him way more than I thought I would. Though I did play the original FFVII, I never beat it, so my first introduction to the game's characters was in Kingdom Hearts. In that game, Cloud is "cool" and, as we used to say in middle school, "emo". In this game he still does cool things, but he reads more as socially awkward than a "too cool for school badass" to me. His word choices can be harsh, but he never goes out of his way to say something spiteful or hurtful to his allies, unless they overstep boundaries. From those character traits, I can understand why Lightning is considered his female counterpart, beyond just the physical resemblance they share--- though she was quite hurtful in the earliest segments of XIII. They do share the same combat virtuoso nature, but, Cloud seems apathetic to the plights of his world (tagging along for the pay, at first), while Lightning, in the interests of freewill, is actively trying to fight against that which seeks to antagonize her. I love the contrast. (He also has a sense of humor and cracks smiles. Awesome, awesome)

Barrett is cool, and I do like his character, but his role as the hothead, prone to fits of rage teeters into offensive/annoying for me. This would be less problematic if he wasn't the only Black character of any importance in the game but he is. I do appreciate that he is not falling all over the place and that his goal is to cease Shinra's draining of the planet's resources. He gets bonus points for being the leader of his own rebel cell and for calling Cloud "SOLDIER boy", which makes me think of "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"--- idk if "SOLDIER boy" was lifted from the original, but either way: bravo! He also became fun as hell to play with once I got the hang of his character.

I only know of Sephiroth through pop-culture osmosis and, you guessed it, KH, but he gives off psycho/toxic ex-boyfriend vibes here, so I already know that the fanfics have lots of material to work with.

 

Speaking of this thread, I've been watching clips from FFVIIR for the past day

I love Aerith's theme...

 

I have the original theme on my iPod; though I do appreciate the modern take on the theme in the remake.

 

Just beat the game. Now, I need part 2. I'm hoping for next year, but I'm not sure if that will happen with XVI possibly being next year, as well (speculation, I know). Though I guess they could both come out within the same year but in different quarters. I'm hoping there are PS5s available around Black Friday.

I think I may try FFXII next, then loop back around to X-2.

 

Go for FFXII

 

I follow a FFVIIR group on Facebook, and every time someone suggests about delays in part 2 having anything to do with XVI you wind up getting about three dozen people reminding you that they're two completely different teams working on those games and one shouldn't have anything to do with the other.

 

It's the polarizing opinions around FFXII that makes me want to check it out the most. I don't think it is as reviled as XIII was/is, but, generally, I enjoy fictional things other people dislike. I actually liked XIII.

Beyond that, from what little I've read of the game's synopsis, I believe it involves royalty and rebellions? Those are hard to make 'un-fun'.
I'm also interested to see how its battle system contrasts from the other FF games I've played. Getting used to the new systems has been the second most enjoyable thing when hopping from game-to-game; the first would be the new stories & characters that accompany each entry.

I should have remembered that fact since I frequent the Final Fantasy subreddits (particularly the one devoted to XVI) where they discuss those things too. I just figured Square would be against releasing two games from the same franchise in the same year; or they would be against releasing them too close together in the same year because they would want to maximize sales or something to that effect.

 

I could see FF7R2 getting an early year release next year like part 1, and then 16 also being released around holidays. Especially if Outriders doesn’t perform as expected this year and Avengers dlc doesn’t do as well as hoped- which given the pushback to their leveling changes is a large possibility imo.

 

You know FFVIIR2 only BEGAN preproduction after the first one came out right? That game is like four years off.

 

4 years is an underestimate.

 

That I actually did not know lol. I don't know why I assumed that they had some production completed before Part 1 dropped.
Now that I know that the wait will be longer, I'm even more excited to see what they release.

(Honestly, I'm hoping we can have a party of at least four-playable characters, instead of being limited to three (in battle). I don't know if it's a technical limitation, or a design choice, but I would have loved to have been able to cycle between Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, and Aerith in battle. Though I suppose too many characters on screen at once can get too 'messy'?)

 

This just needs to be SE Japan's slogan.

 

Worth remembering that the remaster is very different to the first one we got. That aside, the idea that the game plays itself have far less edge now as automated if-then character commands have been used more, see Dragon Age.

Since I started with FFX then FFXII, FFXIII was fine, but had some brutal bosses.

 

That's not entirely true. Sure there were all sorts of articles saying that SE was in "full production" of Part 2 during the Summer of last year, but the company confirmed as early as November 2019 (pre-COVID, mind you) that the second game was already in development.

 

You know, I've been checking into the PS5 thread every so often just to read the topics of the day; not particularly paying too much attention as I don't have the console yet and have been biding my time. But the newest trailer for FFVII: Intergrade has me absolutely salivating and jealous of all of those people who will get to play this right away.

 

Oh. Time to boot up YouTube

Edit - Damn, that is one hell of a trailer.

 

I'll just leave this here. Someone posted the article in an FFVII:R Facebook group I follow. I haven't seen anything else about it on the Internet, so for now I'm not sure if it's official or not.

NETFLIX WILL PRODUCE A NEW ANIME SERIES DEDICATED TO FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

 

tentative like


need to know more

 

I got the PS + version so I believe that means I have to pay for Intergrade? Not sure how that works. Is the Yuffie stuff more or less like the Eps of 15?

My goodness please don’t deliver us a broken 16 with stupid sith like that!

 

Intergrade is free for bought copies but not the PS+ version.

Yuffie DLC is hard to say how it'll work, but everyone who wants it must pay for it.

By all accounts, it's a different team on FF16. With I think FF15 lot being on Fourspoken.

 

One thing that is definitely legit is that there will be a new novel featuring a side story about Aerith and Tifa from FFVII: Remake called Trace of Two Pasts.

 

I really hope so. It’s going to crush me if it’s broken. I fear that 15 opened the floodgates for the franchise’s future.