Final Fantasy

[hogso]

3 hours ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

Finally spent a bit of time with this now. Totally finished the Grasslands and got through Mythril Mines, I've just mopped up all the stuff the other side before even setting foot in Junon >_<

It's a beauty of a game, and I'm loving all the extra filler story stuff along the way - my only gripe, and it's more on my part than anything, is that there is A LOT of new stuff to get my head around. Synergy (which I still don't fully understand how to activate), synergy whilst blocking, folios, the weapon abilities you can assign, item crafting, and there is so much more materia. Just a bit overwhelming.

Synergy abilities are relatively straight forward - and very handy. Each time you use an ATB action with a character it adds a pip to a little bar beneath your health, you can get 6 in total, I think. Once you and another character in your party whom also has enough 'pips', and also has a synergy ability unlocked with the other character who has enough 'pips', they can unleash a synergy ability. Think of them as low power limit breaks - except they also imbue other bonus, like temp unlimited MP, 3 ATB instead of 2, and a bunch of other stuff. 

Synergy skills are a little different, they can be used instead of a block either defensively - you use R1 plus the appropriate button to enable to skill with your team mate which uses that skill instead of block, or for some offensive abilities you hold the button in and then unleash it. The bonus with those is they accrue ATB charge for both characters, but also aide characters with things they're not so good at. Tifa has one which launches her in to the air for flying enemies with Barret for example, which are usually her achilles heel. 

They're not only a good way of pushing the player to switch between characters in battle to try and get you to learn them all, but they're genuinely powerful most of the time. You can get up to 3 limit levels, but they're only accessible by using the synergy ability to raise the limit level of the two characters involved in that ability. You don't want to miss out on those!

 

I'm now about 95 hours in and have reached chapter 13. The game is just unreal - not everything hits quite right, there is one mandatory section in particular, and one proto relic related quest line I didn't like, but the vast majority of everything else is such a high quality. It's not a criticism as such, but there have been times where I've been desperate to see where the story goes, and have been overly distracted by everything else...but it's of such a high quality and generally feels rewarding so in hindsight I don't mind so much. I just need to know what happens at the end, so far I've managed to stay spoiler free! 

Edited April 3 by hogso

[Dante_Lockhart]

Cheers @hogso - I'll make an effort to mess around with the synergy stuff so it makes sense in the heat of battle.

Got to say, I loved the Fort Condor game. Just done the first one so far but looking forward to following the story line.

[Dante_Lockhart]

Just beat Bottomswell. Been some good boss fights so far to be honest.

Spoiler

I was wondering how they were going to introduce Yuffie to the group - was a nice little surprise and deviation from the original

 

[HKP90]

Just picked up Remake again. I'd kind of drifted out of it, but Rebirth sounds proper good, so I need to get through it. I'm enjoying it more now tbf. The combat still throws me a bit (I don't like mashing square to build up the bar), and I wish you could summon wherever you want, but it's grown on me in my hiatus.

[hogso]

4 hours ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

Just beat Bottomswell. Been some good boss fights so far to be honest.

  Hide contents

I was wondering how they were going to introduce Yuffie to the group - was a nice little surprise and deviation from the original

Oh just you wait - some of the deviations in character intros and plot points are genuinely so much better than the original! 

[hogso]

Well, the main story anyway - 102 hours. What a wild, wild ride. Now I can get stuck in on the theory crafting for part 3. 

There's definitely an argument for it being superior to the original FF7. 

 I will do as much as I can towards the plat, like I have for most FFs, but I can't imagine I'll get it. 

[Dante_Lockhart]

I've just mopped up Junon intel, done everything I can - now to dolphin my way up to the top. Looking forward to this bit.

[villa4europe]

Just started and something just doesn't feel right, think I really need to see tifas scar too

[villa4europe]

The way they've started it is really clever

during the flashback I was thinking it's a bit slow but I'm in my comfort zone here, I know this story, I know these characters, I know this game, I know nibelheim, I know Kalm, it's cool that they've improved it and updated it and fleshed it out a bit more, everything looks and feels like a PS5 version of that game I love... 

Then it kicks off properly and it's like oh, wow, I don't know Kalm, I don't know this game 

It's amazing what they've done with it, what they could have done with it as pure fan service would have been enough yet in the 4 or so hours I've put in the original game feels like about 20% of what this is and the nostalgia is like a comfy safety blanket from what otherwise could very easily be completely overwhelming - I can see them pushing this too far but at the moment I'm going along with it 

[hogso]

10 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Then it kicks off properly and it's like oh, wow, I don't know Kalm, I don't know this game 

I started typing out something much longer, and decided against it - instead, just go with it, both knowing and not knowing what's to come makes numerous portions of the game an absolute joy...I still can't get over what an achievement it is. 

And the soundtrack! I've not even mentioned that when posting in here. It's **** incredible, holy shit. Some incidental tracks tucked away in corners of towns, side quest exclusive tracks, the boss themes, the regional songs...there is some stunning stuff in there. 

[Dante_Lockhart]

Been humming the Junon parade tune all day

[villa4europe]

On 08/03/2024 at 11:26, HKP90 said:

For those who have played the remake, how open world is it? Is there a map to explore?

I'm only on the first area but would say from the get go it's still an eastern RPG rather than a western one, you need to follow the story and the set things rather than just going off exploring, I put about an hour in to just looking round when I first got access to it and nothing happens, everything is locked or inactive until the game wants you to go there 

But it's a massive improvement on the first game which to me the 2 main pitfalls were the game wasn't actually open it used deception to make you think it was and arenas for enemies and then the bigger problem that the side stuff was boring, the mission design on this still isn't incredible (so far anyway) and imo some of the stuff is busy work but it's enjoyable 

Id be interested to know what the game does if you streamline it, if it grinds to a halt or punishes you at any stage 

[Dante_Lockhart]

Personally, if it was streamlined a little I'd probably still love it. I'm one of the ones that loved FF13 and that was linear as hell. As long as the graphics are good, the battles are interesting and the story hits home I don't care if you're 'walking down a corridor'

[HKP90]

I'd just like to say, further to my last post, that after picking up Remake again I'm absolutely loving it. Expectations can be so harmful sometimes. It's a cracker, and I've got rebirth to come. See you all in the winter.

[Dante_Lockhart]

Just got to Costa Del Sol. Amazing stuff so far. They've really done a great job in filling out the areas (The ferry especially!)

[hogso]

For me, that feeling was reflected in every single area of the game, with one significant exception! Which I won't mention, but I would be shocked if anyone playing it, who enjoyed the original, doesn't feel the same way about it. Guess what I'm talking about when you think you get to it

Generally, it never felt like bloat either, there was a huge variety of things to do, and see, and side quests which often felt like main quests story. 

I posted in the baby thread that we're expecting our second. My girlfriend has been pregnant during the releases of both FF7 Remake releases...part three when? 

[Dante_Lockhart]

Just now, hogso said:

I posted in the baby thread that we're expecting our second. My girlfriend has been pregnant during the releases of both FF7 Remake releases...part three when? 

Someones been getting too excited about the game releases

[HKP90]

4 minutes ago, hogso said:

For me, that feeling was reflected in every single area of the game, with one significant exception! Which I won't mention, but I would be shocked if anyone playing it, who enjoyed the original, doesn't feel the same way about it. Guess what I'm talking about when you think you get to it

Generally, it never felt like bloat either, there was a huge variety of things to do, and see, and side quests which often felt like main quests story. 

I posted in the baby thread that we're expecting our second. My girlfriend has been pregnant during the releases of both FF7 Remake releases...part three when? 

I don't think that will matter much any more. You have two small kids now. Your gaming days will become scarcer. 

I've got 2 primary school age kids, and the entirety of my time off is between 11.00pm and whatever time I can get away with, without being a zombie the next day. It's going to take me 6 years to get through each of the FF games. 

[hogso]

Tell me about it. I played Rebirth on 'shifts' I suppose you could say. I'd watch TV with my girlfriend after our daughters bedtime from 8ish till 10ish, then play Rebirth from 10 until 1 most nights. Excluding the first 5 days post release which I booked off work

Worth it! 

With regards to part 3 of the Remake trilogy, interviews with Hamaguchi have pretty much confirmed that the final game will basically be open world, in so far as there is a large map with towns in it, you fly around in the Highwind and land where you want, there will be inaccessible areas initially, secret areas, and so on - just like the classic games, but for the current gen. I'm pretty sure the last game with a proper WORLD map (not open world in FFXV) was Type-0 which was originally released in 2011, and fans have been begging for a return to that ever since. 

Edited April 9 by hogso

[HKP90]

43 minutes ago, hogso said:

Tell me about it. I played Rebirth on 'shifts' I suppose you could say. I'd watch TV with my girlfriend after our daughters bedtime from 8ish till 10ish, then play Rebirth from 10 until 1 most nights. Excluding the first 5 days post release which I booked off work

Worth it! 

With regards to part 3 of the Remake trilogy, interviews with Hamaguchi have pretty much confirmed that the final game will basically be open world, in so far as there is a large map with towns in it, you fly around in the Highwind and land where you want, there will be inaccessible areas initially, secret areas, and so on - just like the classic games, but for the current gen. I'm pretty sure the last game with a proper WORLD map (not open world in FFXV) was Type-0 which was originally released in 2011, and fans have been begging for a return to that ever since. 

I originally thought that maybe they weren't being that ambitious, just updating graphics and trading on the original popularity of 7 etc, but I'm coming to realise that the scope and dedication to this cause is staggering (no pun intended). The original followed much the same path. Linear Midgar, becoming more and more open as the game progressed. 

The sophistication of recent FF games, current hardware, and storytelling/world building from earlier games in the series, it's a fantastic recipe.