Current Events > FF7 Rebirth feels like a game that's afraid (please no spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm in Chapter 12, not finished yet, so please no comments about later in the game.

It's a game that's afraid it's not living up to one of the most defining RPGs of all time, so it's over-committing to content.

It's a game that's afraid of not being "enough", for each area you visit, so each area is now gigantic, and every character gets a bunch of scenes, even the incidental characters.

But beyond that, I feel it's a game that's afraid it's never going to get the chance to do this again, and I mean not only in the sense of remaking FF7, but also in the sense of making a video game of this massive scope.

Square-Enix has been going on about how this game is under performing and I wonder if the devs were seeing the writing on the wall with the way the company was being managed these last few years, so they went all out on this game because they worry about the third game in the series and its potential scope.

They put in way more minigames than they needed to, with way more involvement than they needed to (we didn't need "Hard Mode" on some of those, we didn't need twenty separate Chocobo races, we didn't need four separate locations for combat trials). Every area is ridiculous with detail.

It's funny because I thought Elden Ring was too big of a game. I thought Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth might have been too big of a game.

But this, THIS is too big of a game, even if it doesn't take me as long as the others.

I'm dreading finally starting up Baldur's Gate 3. >_>

The Titanic sinks.

I really hate that they didn't release it on Steam day 1. I'm dying waiting to play it. I almost caved and bought the PS5 version at one point.

Too many mini games is my only issue with the game

I wouldn't mind the length if it felt like the time spent and rewards were worth it but it reeks of overbalancing and for someone like me who loves that aspect of Final Fantasy games where you can become as OP as possible, it kills it for me. Don't think I could ever replay it. It was a slog.

Honestly, this game should have been how 16 was structured.

I LIKE FF7R, but I also wonder how it would be if it were more structured like FF16, minus the worlds worst sidequests.

Darkinsanity1 posted...

I wouldn't mind the length if it felt like the time spent and rewards were worth it but it reeks of overbalancing and for someone like me who loves that aspect of Final Fantasy games where you can become as OP as possible, it kills it for me. Don't think I could ever replay it. It was a slog.

See, I kind of feel the opposite. I feel like way too many good items are locked behind side quests to the point where they feel mandatory. Like, not only are all the best summons locked behind world content, but you need to do multiple pieces of world content in each area to even get them up to full strength. And then you have to do all the Moogle huts because that's how you unlock points for your pseudo-sphere grid. And then you have to do all the world intel if you want the hidden summon. And don't forget to do all of the landmarks so you can unlock the region boss so that you can get a new ability for enemy skill which is hilariously broken by endgame. Then, to add insult to injury, the game loves to throw a character's weapon in the highest rank of mini games, forcing you to grind through it because if you miss a weapon you miss a unique ability.

KBGiantsfan posted...

Too many mini games is my only issue with the game

What about Charley reading you a novel every time something happens

Rebirth is a good blueprint for future FF's...it just didnt need as many minigames. And Im also concerned about the scope of part 3 since they wanted to make a huge deal about wutai. Couple that with whats left of the game and you should have as much or even more to do than Rebirth.

the entire remake is indecisive

it wants to be a fresh take on the story but also wants to follow the original

so it makes overt changes but then still follows the same story path despite the fact it dont make since with the changes they have made

then there is the hole meta plot stuff but thats another issue alltogether

In a way, the reason why they're going so ham with expanding each and every aspect of the original (whether it's successful in making them better or worse outside of the new plot stuff is up to the individual) is because they have huge respect towards the original and its fans, so them turning it into a trilogy-long epic adventure with higher stakes to make sure nothing is cut is their way of paying respect. We're likely not gonna get another FF of this caliber, which kinda sucks IMO because Rebirth is pretty close to what I'd want future FFs to follow.

Rebirth could have been my favorite game of all time if there was simply LESS of it. It is unnecessarily padded and I played through remake 4 times and never felt like it was bad when alot of people had that criticism.

s0nicfan posted...

See, I kind of feel the opposite. I feel like way too many good items are locked behind side quests to the point where they feel mandatory. Like, not only are all the best summons locked behind world content, but you need to do multiple pieces of world content in each area to even get them up to full strength. And then you have to do all the Moogle huts because that's how you unlock points for your pseudo-sphere grid. And then you have to do all the world intel if you want the hidden summon. And don't forget to do all of the landmarks so you can unlock the region boss so that you can get a new ability for enemy skill which is hilariously broken by endgame. Then, to add insult to injury, the game loves to throw a character's weapon in the highest rank of mini games, forcing you to grind through it because if you miss a weapon you miss a unique ability.

I don't mind those activities if it feels like the rewards or what I gain from them is substantial but in this game it really doesn't feel that way. We definitely have different ideas of what "hilariously broken" means. Enemy Skill has 3-4 good skills, rest are pretty meh. Stat gains dont mean much in particular the 5% Hp gain, because there is a hard cap in the game and one maxed HP materia gets you there. So the 5% from the Enemy Skill materia just gets wasted. Stuff like that feels ridiculously stupid and annoying, drives me crazy.

Or take for instance the Gilgamesh sidequest which spans the entire game and ranges from tedious to okay, all for a super medicore summon(all summons are pretty meh with how they work), one decent accessory that removes an arbitrary damage limit(this seriously couldn't have some something else in addition to make it more exciting?) and two ridiculously bad Genji accessories that are trash. This kind of stuff is all over in this game, that's just the worst one that comes to mind.

I miss the old days of Final Fantasy, where they weren't as concerned with balancing the fun out of everything.

Best example of your complaint is probably the Ribbon being locked behind a ridiculously tough 3D Brawler minigame. I did it, but it really wasn't worth it, you really don't need the ribbon and can get by without it pretty easily.

Darkinsanity1 posted...

I don't mind those activities if it feels like the rewards or what I gain from them is substantial but in this game it really doesn't feel that way. We definitely have different ideas of what "hilariously broken" means. Enemy Skill has 3-4 good skills, rest are pretty meh. Stat gains dont mean much in particular the 5% Hp gain, because there is a hard cap in the game and one maxed HP materia gets you there. So the 5% from the Enemy Skill materia just gets wasted. Stuff like that feels ridiculously stupid and annoying, drives me crazy.

Or take for instance the Gilgamesh sidequest which spans the entire game and ranges from tedious to okay, all for a super medicore summon(all summons are pretty meh with how they work), one decent accessory that removes an arbitrary damage limit(this seriously couldn't have some something else in addition to make it more exciting?) and two ridiculously bad Genji accessories that are trash. This kind of stuff is all over in this game, that's just the worst one that comes to mind.

I miss the old days of Final Fantasy, where they weren't as concerned with balancing the fun out of everything.

Best example of your complaint is probably the Ribbon being locked behind a ridiculously tough 3D Brawler minigame. I did it, but it really wasn't worth it, you really don't need the ribbon and can get by without it pretty easily.

I feel like they do this because they're overly concerned with "balance" and don't want you to get too overpowered and trivialize the game. Which sucks, I know. It's a single-player game, let players be OP if they want to.

Since it's the final game in the trilogy and logically the end of the OG adventure, they should just let loose with the balance restrictions and actually give you pretty substantial OP options like unlocking the ability to use two or even three accessory slots, finally allowing Materia duplication upon mastery, Master Materia to let you use all abilities of their respective colors, etc.

Oh yeah, also I meant to mention that there are a million (175) tracks of music in this game.

Like at least twenty of them are variations on the Chocobo theme. Every minigame has a new piece of music with its own downbeat and upbeat variant.

I thought Infinite Wealth had a ton of new music and it's actually just like 125 tracks and like a good quarter of those are short jingles.

There's over 400 tracks. I'm patiently waiting for part two of the ost to release.

OzNarcissus posted...

The Titanic sinks.

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage. Quite the shallow analogy.

Yeah, remake is a mistake that they have to commit to, and unfortunately, they will pay dearly for it.

Darkinsanity1 posted...

We definitely have different ideas of what "hilariously broken" means. Enemy Skill has 3-4 good skills, rest are pretty meh.

Atb ward + yuffie doppelganger + atb materia + enemy skill breaks the game.

Doppelganger copies everything, which means double plasma discharge for easily filling the party ATB, double the soothing wind which keeps your party at full health all the time (although I prefer double prayer), double damage on self destruction,etc.

Or doppleganger + double cast ward. Get 8 comet casts for the price of 2.

s0nicfan posted...

Atb ward + yuffie doppelganger + atb materia + enemy skill breaks the game.

Doppelganger copies everything, which means double plasma discharge for easily filling the party ATB, double the soothing wind which keeps your party at full health all the time (although I prefer double prayer), double damage on self destruction,etc.

Or doppleganger + double cast ward. Get 8 comet casts for the price of 2.

Well yeah, that definitely adds missing context because that's not just enemy skill. I'll agree that ATB ward + Yuffie's Doppelganger or Brumal Form spam is pretty silly. Not the most interesting strategy though.

KBGiantsfan posted...

Too many mini games is my only issue with the game

I dont understand why people get mad at optional content.

i 100% agree. this is my biggest issue with the game, and it's kind of ruined itself for me.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

I dont understand why people get mad at optional content.

I mean I'm not mad, but consider: what is the FF7R trilogy?

It's the opportunity for fans of FF7 to come back to the world for more FF7, and if you give them more stuff, they're going to want to do more stuff because they want more FF7 content. Who knows where that really good bit of story, really cool battle, or really neat weapon could be? Behind the Chocobo Races? The Moogle Huts?

Especially for people getting into this trilogy, they're gonna be compelled to do as much as they can, and if you give them a TON of stuff to do with relatively little payoff, they might feel like it wasn't worth it.

this actually makes me want to play it even less...

ViewtifulGrave posted...

I dont understand why people get mad at optional content.

Look at it this way. How is someone gonna know if theyre going to enjoy the side missions? By trying it out of course. Content is content, playing the game itself is optional, bad content is still bad even if its optional and the only way to find out if its bad is to do it. And you cant just assume all the side content is bad because there are some fun things to do.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

I was told I vastly undershot and it's actually ~400.

ViewtifulGrave posted...

I dont understand why people get mad at optional content.

It's kind of not because if you skip it your party level is severely too low and this game already has an issue where enemies are too bloated with HP

I dont think a complaint should be SE putting too much into whats arguably the best game of all time as a remake.

I watched a friend play the Junon section and saw how many activities were just "let's fill out some time" and changing things to be way more complicated. I dread seeing this blueprint applied to any FF I'm actually a fan of, haha. Imagine doing FF9 and taking one of the trams up the mountain, but instead, now a rival gang hijacks a parallel tram and you have to do boss fights and a minigame race and you have to find Cinna's makeup and then do a bundt cake cook-off in order to get [item that has no business appearing this early].

it is more like "we don't understand why FF7 was so beloved"

so they pull every stop possible hoping somewhere they replicate it

the irony being they could have easily just replicated it

Irony posted...

It's kind of not because if you skip it your party level is severely too low and this game already has an issue where enemies are too bloated with HP

Not true. I finished the game just fine with very minimal side content done.

No one said is wasn't possible

I suspect they'll streamline a lot for Part 3. After Rebirth's unwhelming sales, I don't see them putting in that much time/money/effort again. Probably drop a lot of the open world stuff and be more linear like the first one.

FF7 is a game that is very succinct, especially with its script and the remake is basically all the worst things about JRPG's that the original did not have

Irony posted...

No one said is wasn't possible

What you implied was that people would have a hard time if they didn't do side content, not that it makes it impossible.

After two regions I decided to skip most of the side content to get to the end and aside from a couple late-game fights I finished without much struggle. Doing 100% is more for preparing for late-game optional challenges including Hard mode.

I recorded 100% of my first playthrough of the game for posterity. By the end of the game I was so done with it that I uninstalled both Remake and Rebirth off my PS5 and deleted the saves. I definitely will not buy the third installment when it comes out in like 3-4 years.

ModernPost posted...

The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage. Quite the shallow analogy.

...What analogy? I was posting a spoiler.

Even as someone who's enjoyed most of the minigames (with some godawful notable exceptions) and didn't think Remake was padded too much...yeah, holy shit, this game is padded to fuck and back.

Some of it's just little things too. Like at this very moment, I'm doing a sidequest where you have to follow the slow-ass black robed figures around for a bit. Why do I have to do that? Or the last one where I had to lead a cat down a mountain when it could have just tp'd me back to the village. Or the grandaddy of them all, that bitch and her fucking chickens.

What it partially comes down to:

Most people who buy games dont have it as the only thing they must do and/or wanna do.

Theres work, family/children/friends, taking care of your household, exercising and other hobbies. So if a game comes across as a huge hassle rather than something enjoyable, sales will drop. And it will kill the franchise.

Are you guys trying to play and master every minigame you come across?

PowerOats posted...

Are you guys trying to play and master every minigame you come across?

So much stuff like great materia and summons are locked up behind optional content as previously stated.

Skip the mini games and side content its 50 hours long. Its not actually long, just incredibly bloated.

BalanceLost posted...

So much stuff like great materia and summons are locked up behind optional content as previously stated.

Trophies too for whoever cares about that. Ive already given up on the platinum.

Makeveli_lives posted...

Skip the mini games and side content its 50 hours long. Its not actually long, just incredibly bloated.

Is this not like countless other games? FFX is a 40-50 hour game, but postgame without prep is another 50 hours

Probably won't get this

Oh and now I have to do all the Gold Saucer minigames AGAIN again but harder this time because of that dude.

Makeveli_lives posted...

Trophies too for whoever cares about that. Ive already given up on the platinum.

There's a trophy for playing the game on Hard. And screw that very much.

CyricZ posted...

Oh and now I have to do all the Gold Saucer minigames AGAIN again but harder this time because of that dude.

Yes, I just got to that same part lmao. I knew the Gold Saucer minigames would be updated (there's a beginner Chocobo Race cup but nothing higher), but I didn't expect new quests all over the place or that the "minigames would be updated" beyond the Saucer.

Lord preserve me, I thought I'd be able to squeeze Paper Mario between the two, but Rebirth might be hitting right into Shadow of the Erdtree <_<

that's what they get for cutting it into pieces