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@Nyne11Tyme I pre-ordered the soundtrack from the SE website. Genuinely more excited for that to arrive next month than I am playing the game. It's comfortably the greatest gaming soundtrack of all time. Nothing comes close.

I think it's an 8 for me. I've put in nearly 30 hours, but I'm only nearing the end of Chapter 6.

There are a few things that have really stood out so far.

1. Chadley is ruining the game. I can't believe they included him in Chapter 5 too. It's like a bad joke. He's a rubbish character that has been heavily overused. He has more dialogue in the game than the main characters. It's one thing to have him destroy all the region exploration with his pop up chit chats every 5 minutes, but putting him in the actual story? That's a shockingly bad decision. Imagine if SE spent 10% of the time on Chadley and then put some proper hours developing the actual characters in the game more. You can spot it a mile off... sometimes Barett has something to say that's spot on and delivered perfectly - I smile - but then another time he will say something completely out of character and in a stupid way.

2. The world exploration is really poor... but it does look nice. None of it makes much sense. The lore is weak, which is frustrating because FF7 has an amazing world. In fact, FF7 is so good and so popular you'd think SE could have found someone that can actually write properly for them and add some amazing depth to the lore. But no... we have all sorts of nonsensical nonsense clearly written by devs that cannot write. Some of it is good. Not enough of it though.

3. Inconsistency. Kalm versus Costa del Sol pretty much sums this one up. It's like they forgot to go back and add some stuff.

4. The game looks absolutely fine. I actually can't believe people moaned about this when there's plenty else that is genuinely poor!

5. Junon is excellent and Costa Del Sol is very good too.

Cosmo Canyon and Gold Saucer are still to come and I'm confident those will be great too.

I think it's a shame that they haven't hit many highs with the extra storylines and lore. There is so much untapped potential.

@Andy22385 the original game did have a lot of great content crammed into it though? Think of all the minigames - way ahead of its time too. A lot of the summon materia had fun and challenging exploration before getting them - I'm thinking Phoenix and Alexandra - KOTR maybe went too far... but what a reward that was for all the labour!

I'm on Chapter 4 now, nearing 16 hours and just finished Junon area research in full. Actually a much better region on the whole - enjoyed it more. But still a few things that just leave me questioning the development of the game... Who signed off that Summon materia is just handed to you by Chadley? Who went to all the effort of putting a hooting flying bird in the game to locate something that is already marked on my map... do I really need the bird to locate? The Cache areas are much better - you find them by chance. Even the Chocobo stops have huge help in locating them. Just seems silly to me. We have all the areas to explore, and we have all the NPCs but all are being used in a very average way.

Oh and after 16 hours now... Chadley is the single worst thing in the game. I particularly despise his interactions with the characters. It's frankly interfering with the lore. The amount of dialogue he has is more than any other character!

So look, you're right... the game is great. I've sunk 16 hours in and counting plus 40 in Remake. So yes. Its really just the attention to detail for me. I'm genuinely sad that SE didn't strive for better. I guess maybe they did but this is all the team could manage? I mean, a game can only ever be as good as the individuals making it afterall.

@Andy22385 it's not about optional. You're talking to someone that not only maxed out every character in the original game, but did it in the hideously complex way that gave them all maxed out stats.

The issue is that SE have cut corners. Kalm is a perfect example of it. They've built this large town, packed it full of a few hundred NPCs and then done absolutely nothing with it. That's just plain stupid! Why waste all that time putting all these people in that do nothing? Houses that you can't go inside? Even the card game they made such a deal about... you can't even play the NPCs at the game bar what was it, 4 people?

That makes no sense.

Also, they make this big deal about leaving Kalm and going on an adventure. 20 minutes and a trip to a farm later I'm going back to Kalm.

This may seem like small things, but it's not good enough. This should have been picked up and they should have done better.

It's a remake of one of the best games ever made. I'm not accepting what is clearly a botch job.

Hrmm seems pretty sensible to me. I love FF7, but the last third or so of the game is definitely the weakest. The story pretty much goes off the rails, the locations are less interesting, the game gives you a lot of (albeit optional) backtracking, and even the soundtrack dips in form.

So yes, moving a few interesting elements into the final game does make sense.

The big question for me is whether the third game can pull everything together, including the previous locations which we'll need to revisit, and actually deliver the full FF7 experience OR will it just be part 3... and that's my biggest concern.

Part 3 can save the game, but will SE choose to do it right? Or are they going to cut corners all over the place like they have with Rebirth?

WB have some very good developers and some very good IP. I really don't think it's unhinged for them to want to roll the dice again. A live service game set within the Wizarding World clearly has enormous potential.

I'd argue they got their game IP the wrong way around. DC should be the single player experience and Harry Potter the live action, but I can understand why they went the way they did. The DC franchise needs the momentum more.

Also, how many amazing games exist today off the back of mass failure beforehand? Or are we suggesting you need to hit the jackpot first time or just give up?!

I think it's summed up perfectly by "I'll wait for a sale" and "ahhh my backlog is huge".

1. Economy is challenging both to make games and to buy games. More people are thinking twice before laying down 60 quid. Publishers and developers are taking less risks due to the high stakes.

2. Creativity is at a real low point. Where are the absolute must have day one games?

3. Saturation of games. We all joke about backlogs... but actually, it's not really a joke is it? We have dozens of games to play, so again, where is the urgency to support a new release?

The funny thing? As individuals we are spending more than we have ever spent on gaming. The industry is worth more than ever before. Why the problems then? It's diversified. We spend our money in 20-30 quid packages across many, many more developers versus historically 50-60 with fewer.

That is the rise of digital. The resurgence of indies. The "wait for a sale" "onto my backlog you go" mentality.

@Elitepatriot so far(!) there are two things that Rebirth has visualised for me that my own imagination failed to even consider when playing the original game back in 97.

1. Red XIII riding a Chocobo.
2. Barret managing to climb walls one handed.

Looking forward to more...!

@Elitepatriot From a nostalgia point of view it remains a great experience. I love the soundtrack - there's some great new tracks sitting alongside new versions of the entire OST. I really enjoyed the opening Chapter too - it was really nice to go deeper into the Nibelheim section.

I know there will be plenty of upcoming chapters that also hit the mark - Costa Del Sol, Cosmo Canyon and Gold Saucer will surely deliver the goods. Kalm is way off the mark though. Junon remains to be seen...

@DennisReynolds no, I was aware the world map would be limited. My issue is that after just 3 chapters I have a Junon area that is a copy and paste of Grasslands area. That's got nothing to do with Ubisoft design it's bone idleness from SE and instantly kills the game dead. After just 3 chapters I now know SE have decided not to do the best job they possibly can, they've decided to cut all the corners.

Also don't get me started on Kalm! They made this huge location and put 3 quests in it?! And i say quests... 1 is literally taking a screenshot! Are they serious?

And to be clear on where the bar has been set... this is not just another Ubisoft open world game. It's a remake of one of the greatest games ever made. SE have dropped the ball all over the place with this project.

@Korra Yes, Final Fantasy Chadley. I decided to do all the stuff in the Grasslands before beyond the swamp and seriously, Chadley must have popped up more than 50 times.

There's plenty I'm enjoying with it, but the game is well off the pace overall.

I'm only on Chapter 3 but it's already clear to me that Rebirth is disappointing.

The World is not open enough. It's annoying to navigate around. It's boring to explore. It's painting by numbers and it's just plain lazy. SE have actually really annoyed me. Remake was handled well, within the confines of Midgar. It was manageable.

Rebirth is like SE got scared of the scale of the game and decided to wrap the whole thing in chains.

It's yet another game that suffers from BotW syndrome too. The exploration is terrible. It's frustrating to move around the map. The whole thing is messy.

I'm hopeful they make amends with later iconic locations... but so not impressed by Kalm. It all felt wrong. Grasslands were depressing to explore. Frigging Chadley pops up on that monitor way too much. He's literally the lead character in dialogue for me so far. I'm aware 3 chapters is very early in the game, but first impressions and all that... it's a really poor effort that lacks all the charm that Remake managed to include.

I've been playing Rebirth. All good so far except for one thing.

1. Why bring Chadley back when he's clearly an irritating character.
2. Why make him pop up ALL THE TIME. I'm practically playing Final Fantasy Chadley at this point.

What is with developers being so out of touch with reality?! Anyone and I mean literally any person on the planet would realise there is way, way, way too much Chadley. It's literally ruining the game!

@DennisReynolds of course I have! You clearly haven't played the original to think there are some key differences in the plot of the game!

Why not enlighten us as to these big game changing differences in the plot between the original and the remake?!

@DennisReynolds a plot is the main events. The main events are the exact same. You need to look up what a plot is lol

@DennisReynolds Remake is the exact same plot as Disc 1 of the original!

There is plenty of new content to pad out the experience, but the plot is identical. As are all the key moments.

1. The game's available 2. The plot is well known, so I don't see any harm here at all.

Why have SE not made additional content available? There were a few minor preorder incentives, a bang average deluxe and then nothing else.

Do SE need reminding that the original came out in 1997, making a huge audience of 30-40 somethings who can clearly spend more than £60 in 4 years on this franchise. Huge missed opportunity, and genuinely disappointing for fans too.

"It should be included in the game". I disagree entirely. The game is already stupidly large for the price. Give us some extra content to pay you for SE. Perhaps then you can keep your staff employed...?!

And where's the merchandise?! Collectable cards, a poorly written book or two, OK an excellent OST (but not until April?!) and... why is there nothing else to buy?! Not even an official walkthrough guide?!

How much money is SE leaving on the table? Absolute madness. They should be milking this moment but they've literally done nothing! This release was always the moment to go for it. SE have completely missed the boat. Foolish.

@KundaliniRising333 Yes, it's called playing the original.

Just to be clear... the overall consensus remains that videogames shouldn't cost more than they do?

An absolute legend. The FF7 soundtrack is a masterpiece. I'm as excited for the Rebirth soundtrack, particularly the tracks based on his original work, as I am the game!

I actually did a playlist last night where I followed the original CD1 of the OST with the Remake OST versions. 20 of the 23 tracks are featured - and I'm hopeful the last 3 will be on the Rebirth OST (Barrett's Theme, Red XIII's Theme - both characters feature prominently in Disc 2 of the original game so I think they held these tracks back for Rebirth, and Holding My Thoughts In My Heart which should be very near the opening of Rebirth, if it's included, as it's right at the end of CD1 on the original game).

I just preordered the soundtrack. It'll arrive in April apparently, so a nice addition to look forward to after playing the game a while!

I think Sony should be praised for attempting to push VR forward. I don't see the issue as a Sony one to be honest - they're doing as much as anyone in this space. The problem is that the consumer behaviour and appetite just isn't at a critical mass.

Seems to me that we are simply not there on the technology side of things - and Sony can't really do anything about that. I don't want to wear this cumbersome equipment, I don't want to charge yet another device, and frankly, I don't even want gaming on VR - not ahead of other things anyway.

I want to be sat in the crowd at the football and watch the match however I want. I want to be stood at the front of a concert. I want to walk into my grocery store and see all the prices automatically compared against other stores. I want to see exactly where I need the screws to go on my flat pack furniture.

VR has so much amazing possibility, but honestly, gaming isn't the priority. We need to fulfill the purpose for wider society first.

It's not dissimilar to mobile phones. Mobile gaming took off long after everyone had a mobile in their hand. (And kudos to Nokia for driving that forward).

Assuming the textures are better than the original... then who cares?! It's open world FF7 Remake time! Cannot wait.

I used to enjoy the Resistance games as they had couch co-op. Not sure about this one though... remaking a portable title for the PS5 versus remaking the PS3 games is an interesting decision...?!

Deep down I think we all accept that there is no chance a PS5 Pro will deliver GTA 6 at 4k and 60fps.

I hope SEGA can pull off a great reboot of this franchise as I have fond memories of the original game.

However, I have to be realistic. This multiple IP reboot appears desperate to me - they should have done it years and years ago, so why now? I'd feel a lot more confident about it if there was some significant change in their leadership team ahead of doing it.

The same team, working across multiple IP feels pretty stupid of anyone to expect anything but the same results we've grown tired of seeing.

And let's be brutally honest here... Crazy Taxi is not going to be a super easy IP to bring to "AAA" standard (or whatever they want to call it). Its going to be hugely challenging, yet SEGA are parading it about like it's a sealed deal?

Let's see what happens, but right now I'm thinking we can add "delusion" to "incompetent" to describe the leadership team at SEGA.

Xbox: "We see console exclusives as a thing of the past"
Me: "Nintendo says hi"
Also Me: "Are you absolutely sure this isn't just because the Xbox Install base is too low to give the necessary ROI on your software?"

Ridiculing the "AAAA" aside, there is definitely a huge challenge within the industry right now when it comes to making games.

Fact is, games are getting bigger, taking longer to develop, overheads are increasing and we're at this frankly irritating point in time where developers are forced to take shortcuts (I.e. bulking out content with boring chores) and/or having to increase revenues (in-game transactions and paying for additional core gameplay).

Difficult to see a solution... feels like we're in a really bad spot where games are frankly unimaginative and boring/samey. How do we take things to the next level without increasing the cost of the software to the end consumer?

The type of game I want Skull & Bones to be... I just don't see how they can ever deliver it without charging more for the game.

There is also the issue of time. Developers are still churning out a high volume of games despite the longer lead times in development.

Honestly, I want the industry to move on to developing fewer games that actually push the boundaries and bring some wow factor. This generation is getting a nasty reputation of being underwhelming and boring. Games have too many limits on them and I'm convinced it's all driven by price.

Wow. This is quite the revelation...

I'm most excited for the 400 song soundtrack. That's a staggering amount of music.

Final Fantasy 7's soundtrack is the best part of the game - that's a fact. The story hits some highs, but generally becomes a big old mess of nonsense in the end. The characters are well developed and interesting, but it all goes a bit trippy towards the end... I mean Sephiroth goes from al ltime greatest villain to absolute garbage. The locations include some of the best, for sure, but the later areas really aren't so good or interesting (I'm hoping the third game will pad these areas out more as the original game seems to have lost momentum).

The soundtrack though? What an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. Everyrhing about it. From Underneath the rotting pizza to one winged angel. Tifa and Aerith's theme. Cosmo canyon. The main theme! The whole thing is utter brilliance. Even what should be simply a filler track for a minor location is brilliant - Farm boy is a good example.

The game I'm not so fussed about - although Gold Saucer is going to be great - but the soundtrack with all new songs in keeping with the original? And 400 of them?! That's the thing we should be drumming up more. It's going to be amazing!

Part 2 of the Trilogy was always going to be awesome. Cosmo canyon, gold saucer, Costa del sol are all legendary locations in the Final Fantasy series.

The challenge for SE is Part 3. Less exciting locations and the story in my opinion goes off the rails into borderline jibberish. But that's a problem for another day... for now, it's Gold saucer time!

Not interested in this at all, or a demo for that matter. I'm buying the game day one and will enjoy it then...

It's less than 4 weeks... why do we even need this update and a demo now?

I'd have liked an update and a demo like a year ago... Honestly, it's just poor marketing. They're just doing the same old when this was an opportunity to try new things.

I'm kinda surprised it's taken this long. They have a dedicated EMEA team, but they may as well just be called European team for the lack of work done in the Middle East and Africa.

South Africa isn't the most obvious choice in my opinion. Egypt is just as wealthy, but would be "easier" from a logistics point of view due to its close proximity to Europe.

Nigeria is also extremely wealthy, and again a good target due to the amount of countries you could quickly and easily distribute to if you had logistics setup there. The likes of Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Then there's Algeria and Morocco that again offer close proximity to Europe and are also very wealthy.

Language is obviously an issue, and moreso than Europe due to the insane amount of dialects in some of those African countries. The other major issue is war and conflict - and all the associated issues with corruption, security and the economy.

Africa, and indeed the Middle East, are rarely peaceful parts of the world.

Tifa is too big for Tekken. I don't think SE will allow it.

I'm not playing Tekken 8 as I'm still playing Street Fighter...

When I'm done with Street Fighter, I'll pick up MK1. And when I'm done with MK1, I'll pick up Tekken 8.

Even in a booming economy, buying 3 fighting games in quick succession is a crazy ask. I don't understand why these 3 games came out so close to each other.

It suits me fine though. I will end up getting 3 quality fighting games for cheap.

Everyone knows the fighting genre has a sales ceiling. Really poor decision making from the publishers.

I think it's a solid 8. Better than I was anticipating too.

Me: 1,900 job losses is awful.
Also Me: I'll wait for a sale...

I don't think this is all that bizarre? FF7 will be a system seller and at this point of the lifecycle there will be plenty of people that are unsure which TV options are best for the PS5. Plenty of people will opt for this as an easy solution.

But will there be a Pool and/or Football minigame in the Costa Del Sol?! They added Darts to the first game afterall...

Is there anyone, anywhere, that requires more than a year's notice of this game coming out?!

Keep your powder dry until nearer the release date. This announcement, especially given how insanely busy this period is for new releases, is just a waste of time!

@UltimateOtaku91 Amazon made 9.9 billion in profit in dollars, so it's slightly less in sterling... BUT and this is the really sick part... that 9.9 billion is only for July-September. 3 months!

I want to see a Pool minigame in the Costa Del Sol!

I'm still reasonably confident I'll prefer this to the Spiderman nonsense. I don't understand the love for those games (or films) at all...!

The majority of my excitement for this title stems from it not being developed by EA.

Disney need to bite the bullet and develop games in-house - or, adopt the WB Games model of buying a decent studio and working more closely with them.

Seems to me, its too easy for Disney to take a back seat on these games and we will never get anywhere near the potential unless those that own and manage the brand are fully invested.

Think about how much hidden lore there could and should be in this Outlaws game. Now think about the process Ubisoft devs would have to go through with Disney execs to secure it in the game. And now realise how much will not be in this game as a result.

Agree with the Top 3!

Who voted for the Tomb Raider games at 10 though? Did you see the announce trailer?! These are lazy upgrades. Where's the full remake some of the biggest games in history actually deserve? In fact... where is our new Tomb Raider game for the PS5? It really is a toss up between Tomb Raider and Donkey Kong for the worst gaming franchise management this console generation.

The fact there's a piano minigame in FF7 gives me fresh hope that the Pool Table in the bar in Costa Del Sol will also be a minigame.

Oh, and the football outside!

"Golden Saucer"?! Is that another new location... near the Gold Saucer?! Looking forward to this one. Exploring Costa Del Sol, Gold Saucer and Cosmo Canyon again is going to be amazing!

This is a shame. I'm hoping they can salvage a good chunk of the work into future projects though... I personally had no interest in an online multiplayer of this kind, but I would absolutely love something akin to Resident Evil 4.

Feels like we're at a really annoying point in videogames where innovation is really limited. I want to see the next generation of games... PS5 is just PS4 with less loading. I want an online The Last Of Us game where I am challenged to survive in a world that has other real players in it - not just shooting people on a map. I want to race in Gran Turismo against real drivers - not multiplayer 1 on 1, I want every race, online or offline, to have cars that have been driven by real people. I want FIFA to allow me to do whatever I want with the football, not just an algorithm of button presses.

This generation feels like it has stalled. We need more innovation.

Seems to me, the costs are so high that no-one is taking any real risks to push things forward. It's prevalent in the movies industry too. Genuinely a bit of a naff time all round!

Final Fantasy 7 is my most anticipated. I want to kick the football and play pool in the Costa Del Sol!