Topic: Final fantasy discussion thread

Final Fantasy 7 Remake just keeps getting better and better.
@TraCuz- I’ll leave some more detailed impressions later, but I’ve been really pleased with these last few chapters I’ve played.

@Iver I agree. The first dozen hours or so I felt like it was a pretty good game, but it just seemed a little ‘off’ from what the original game did. However, over time, it has really grown in my mind and ultimately has become something all its own. It’s a strange combination of nostalgia and also something new and unique. These latter chapters seem to really ramp up the production quality too. The HDR visuals are fantastic.

@Just2Milky I figured I’d respond over here to keep from derailing over yonder. 😄 It’s definitely worth $50. As far as time-wise, the in-game clock has me at about 45 hours. I think I have about 2 chapters left and so I’ll probably finish around 50-55 hours maybe. That’s with me playing pretty slow, I’ve done all side quests and spent some time grinding in the coliseum and whatnot. There is some replay value too, and a lot of people replay on Hard because apparently there are some unlockables only available that way (and not to mention platinum trophy requires the Hard run). For me, I don’t think I’ll turn around and replay right away, but maybe later.

If you’re a fan of Final Fantasy then I think it’s a no brainer. I have seen it preowned for as low as $25, if you are tolerant of buying used. And the PS5 upgrade is free if you own the disc, so it’s a great deal to experience the native PS5 version, which I think looks beautiful. Not much DualSense support, but the 4K and the 60fps are both super, as it the lightning fast load times.

Been following this talk about FF7 and it's put me in the mood to finally give the original FF7 a go. Played for about an hour now on Vita and it's pretty good so far. Will definitely share more thoughts when I've played a bit more.

On a side note, ever since I started playing through the FF series back in 2016, I've never had a proper good time with any of the games. FF1 was okay, FF2 was awful, FF3 was too difficult, FF4 was decent enough but I couldn't finish it due to the difficulty spike with the final boss, FF5 had a very engrossing gameplay system but not a good story, FF6 was just like FF4, i.e. decent enough but I didn't finish it either. So hopefully, FF7 will be the game that will finally make me like the series.

Well, I spoke too soon. I was all grins and accolades about FF7 Remake and then I got to the Motor Ball boss fight. 😒
That was awful. I almost just shut the game off because I was so discouraged by the whole thing, but I didn’t know how far back my save would start me and I didn’t want to have to do all those preliminary fights again too. Ugh, what a mess. Well, I finally killed him after my 5th attempt, but it was not fun and not satisfying, just annoying. It wasn’t even that the boss was that hard, it was just a poorly executed idea — the controls were awful, the game didn’t really tell you what to do, and the hit detection was lousy. Also, for some reason they decided to put in some half-baked DualSense support with adaptive triggers and haptics for that section and it somehow made the whole experience worse.

Oh well, it’s a blemish on an otherwise good final stretch of bosses. There’s been some tough ones in Ch 17. I’ve got to put down the game now for a day or more and regain my composure after that motorbike fiasco, but I reckon I’m close to the end.

@Th3solution Let’s just say that if FF7 remake was at all faithful then Motor Ball would have been the final boss!

@LtSarge I have to agree about FF6 (I haven't played any of the earlier ones). I loved the game, played it twice, never finished it because it becomes ridiculously hard after that big event (I guess you're supposed to power up through side quests and a general grind but it's really discouraging). I should try again some day

7, 9 and 10 are much better in that regard.

@Voltan It's very reassuring to hear you say that because I kinda quit preemptively without actually finding out if the final parts of the game were that difficult. I had barely used any other characters besides like Terra, Sabin, Locke and Edgar, so I had like 10 characters that hadn't been used at all and you have to use all of them in the final level of the game. So I didn't want that to ruin my experience with the game when the rest of it had been decent.

Glad to hear that at least 7 won't be like that because I'm enjoying it a lot so far and I don't want anything to ruin that.

@LtSarge I mean, last time I played 7 was 20+ years ago but I know I don't remember anything being too hard (other than some entirely optional endgame stuff).

@LtSarge In 7 you also have to use every character in the final dungeon. Also make sure you pick up Vincent and Yuffie as soon as you can, they’re essential.

@nessisonett That's completely fine since there aren't so many playable characters in 7 compared to 6, lol. Will keep the last part in mind, thanks!

@LtSarge I mean, technically there are 7 mandatory party members in VII, with 6 of those being available for the final dungeon and 2 optional. In VI, there are 10 mandatory party members, with 4 optional party members. But remember you only have 3 characters in a party, so I usually have 3 parties in the final dungeon on VII, same as I have in VI.

@nessisonett I just didn't like using a lot of the characters in VI besides the initial main team. Those painters for example were not appealing to me at all. I just hate it when JRPGs have too many characters and they force you to use all of them at the end. If it was optional to use them, then I would've been fine with it. But being forced to form multiple teams with all the characters is so annoying. It's the same thing in the Trails of Cold Steel games, which was pretty much my only major gripe with the titles.

@Th3solution I don't remember finding Motor Ball that difficult but it is a loooooong section if nothing else.

The good news is that on any replays you can choose to skip all of the motorbike sections! But good luck with the Biker Boy trophy if you want the platinum

Final Fantasy VII is really forgiving in that a) you can use any characters you like because the only things that really separate them are some slight stat changes and their limit breaks, and b) it doesn't matter anyway because the game is way easier than previous Final Fantasy games.

@johncalmc Yeah, that's the thing I've noticed with the characters in VII, i.e. they all feel pretty much the same and are in general very accessible unlike some characters in VI where you have to learn how to properly use them in battle. Cloud, Barret and Tifa are you standard fighters and feel great to use. Even Aerith feels great to play as even though I'm guessing she's supposed to be the healer/magic-user of the group. Although the game doesn't seem to go by any classifications, everyone can attack and use magic due to the Materia system, which makes the gameplay system even more accessible.

This is honestly a breath of fresh air for me after having tackled so many difficult FF titles in the past. I probably should've started with VII in all honesty, lol.

@Th3solution Hmm I'm gonna guess you're in the Chapter 15-17 range?

@LtSarge The only time I can remember it making a huge difference is that some more "melee" attack characters can't reach some enemies/bosses who can only be hit with magic or ranged attacks.

Moving materia between characters isn't too much of a chore as you swap party so little but the remake has one section where it's a nightmare constantly swapping your load out between members of your party.

@Thrillho Long Range materia usually goes on Red for me as Vincent/Barret have guns so I could stick them and Red in the back row and Cloud in the front row. Yes, I use the same party every single time I play.

@LtSarge I always recommend people start on VII or X because they're so easy to get into, even though neither are my favourite. I don't even really like X.

VII is a lovely JRPG though. It's comfort food to me. It's not really challenging that much but it pushes back enough that if you start messing around you'll get punished. It's a sunday afternoon chilling with a glass of wine RPG for me. Love it.

@TraCuz- At the beginning of Ch 18, actually. Ch 14-17 have been fantastic. The long list of side quests was a bit cryptic in Ch 14, but once I explored around enough to unlock them all, then completing them wasn’t bad and ended up being pretty fun. I can see how some people may not have enjoyed it though and choose to skip the side quests. There’s some really nice gear and items though, as well as experience that you gain.

I really liked the end of Ch 15 and all of Ch 16. I agree that the story elements and cut scenes are really great. Something about the Shinra building just put a huge smile on my face at how beautiful it looked. And I absolutely love playing as Tifa. She’s so fun to run around and kick stuff with. 😄

If not for the driving section, I’d have called this a perfect crescendo up toward the ending. Of course, I haven’t seen the end yet (I’m not sure how long Ch 18 is) and I know it’s controversial, but I can’t imagine it will be at all disappointing after Motor Ball 😜.