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Legit. Barret has become my legit favorite character from FF7 now. (With Red XIII being a CLOSE second surprisingly!) I absolutely LOVE how much they have wrote Barret and his interactions with the rest of the party. I even love him and Red's... strange relationship. Like a solemn, yet awkwardly friendly partnership. I see them as a PAIR. THEY FREAKING JUST NAILED RED XIII TOO! GOD it's so great! But I love how amazing they did Barret. Claps and a half for the VA because he really just... MAKES you empathize and align with him. Especially when he was in the *SPOILERS* 7th Plate wreckage and he started punching the wall! When his voice cracked and he said, "...DAMNIT! DAMN YOU!" AAAAABSOLUTELY made me start crying instantly. It just... it broke me. The despair in his voice was SO lifelike I actually got goosebumps and tears wouldn't stop falling. I love his character arc and just love this idea that this man with a machine gun arm LOVES the planet enough to die for it and truly believe that, "Some things just shouldn't be tampered with."
Not only that but his design is one of the best jobs ive seen of a model of a black character. His skin tone, hair texture (especially his chest hair) and the expressions he gives off. The character design team and animators for this game did an excellent job
I haven't completed a front to back RPG in a LONG time. I just don't have the engagement anymore like I used to, but the original is my favorite game of all time. With everything going on in the world, I played this game non-stop and finished it and then finished it AGAIN on Hard Mode. I have a hard time finishing games nowadays, nonetheless finishing them TWICE. That's how much I loved this game.
See I’ve honestly never even played the original game, but still knowing what happened I feel like the entire snowboard sequence was a way to get the characters to open themselves up and an attempt to try to get their minds off of what happened. Even if it’s only for a second.
watching you play through this game was an absolute treat max, I finished it pre-release thanks to australian eb games and felt empty not being able to talk to anyone about it but watching you play through it was like experiencing it again for the first time appreciate you brother
Clouds and Aeriths interactions with each other were so cute and heartwarming, just thinking about the high five situation in the dungeon put a huge smile on my face!!
@@sparxskywriter2589 The Witcher 3 has Flaws Uncharted 4 has flaws so did MGS 4 in its time and a lot of other games .... that still have been getting a lot of 10/10 scores. I think 10/10 does not mean perfection by any means I think it refers to games that have such an impact they transcend gaming and are a cultural/artistic phenomenon and FF7R is definitely in that league.
Totally unrelated, but I think it'd be awesome if there was a "Max reacts to FF7 remake" compilation of all the best reactions in the first playthrough(But I can definitely keep rewatching the vods too)
@@albelvalentine8983 The question is, how will he fit all 5+ hours into one video? Because even then, I will watch all 5+ hours about his thoughts, speculation, and theories with the chat.
Best Review I’ve seen of this game hands down. 👏 Not only did you talk about the positives of the game, but also the negatives, you didn’t come off as a biased FF7 fan that automatically said this game was a masterpiece or as a FF7 fan who said “this game was trash because I didn’t like the ending”....weres most reviews I’ve seen of the game so far have said that....you definitely explained good points, that Part 2 could improve on, such as air combat and having more stuff to do. As well as talk about the best positives about the game, that made it so good, such as the character development and dialogue between the characters, as well the combat and music and visuals. Great review and this is only Part 1 all the, well atleast positive feedback Square Enix can take from Part 1 they can use to make Part 2 better.
Yeah I think the most irritating part about these discussions is the "0/10" or "10/10" mentality. Some ragey person says the the worst game ever and "total garbage that ruined their childhood" or something ridiculous like that, then someone who likes it feels they have to defend it as feverishly and act like nothing could ever be wrong with it, completely destroying any chance for reasonable ratings or discussions with any meaningful outcome.
To add, I also hate when people that put a time mark in their review. Like sure say how long a game literally goes on for, but I've never had a game that time factored into quality. Personally, a game like Last of Us goes on for a while but that game was so fucking boring for me, 3 times I've tried to play it and I've fallen asleep each time. And that doesn't mean it's a terrible game for others, it's one of Sony's biggest titles! But there are so many other factors that are so much more important than telling me that the game goes on for 30 or 40 hrs.
Sadly, some people are stupid as hell when it comes to reviewing games and even more than that, it creates mob mentality. If one review site says the game sucks because of its ending, then everybody and their mother will follow suit.
@@Lakross101 That shit annoys me. Since when on earth is the quality of a game determined by its length? RE2 is one of the most praised games out there and it's barely that long of a game. I think FF7R has a very good middle ground, not long enough that it starts to feel like it overstays its welcome but its also not short.
I finished the game last night. I am blown away. Such a rollercoaster of a game and I loved it. As a huge fan of FFVII this is what I needed. I want to shake everyones hand who worked on it and say thank you. Yes there are parts of the game that are not perfect but I still enjoyed all of it and just wanted to keep playing. I am excited, so so excited to see how the rest of it turns out. I'm gonna try out hard mode and get some things I may have missed. I neglected my steal materia when stealing in the original was a big deal for awesome items I kinda forgot all about it. Now I'm kicking myself! But I'm gonna enjoy replaying it anyway. I look forward to a spoliery review and speculation video!
Same just beat it last night this game blew me away this is my personal Game of the year shout out to all the devs that worked on this they did a amazing job
To me hard mode feels like the “original balance” of the combat system. By taking away item usage, mp is an insanely valuable resource and actually made me use abilities that I seldom used in normal mode (barret’s steelskin as an example). The battles become WAY more meticulous and punishing in a way to force players to learn patterns and efficiently dance between attack and defense. This combat system is truly a breakthrough in making a hybrid turn base/action rpg. Truly genius
I also totally agree, Hard mode is so much fun! I just beat hell house after like 8 attempts haha, but it gives me that satisfaction that only Souls games or Bloodborne/ Sekiro can give you. It is so good!
Totally agree. When I slept on Cloud's bed and woke up and got the message saying that HP is complete filled, I was like "What about my MP?" and quickly realized that MP does not fully replenish and there's no way to instantly replenish MP coz you can't use items. I have been constantly using Cure to heal and Ether my way to victory, but in Hard Mode I was forced to use Pray and Chakra, and only use Cure in very crucial situations or if I know the chapter's about to end.
@@Slash8675 The first time I tried to beat Hell House on Hard Mode I probably took more than 10 tries (at one point I almost rage quit when those Cutter and Sweeper machines all of a sudden came into play, damn those fucking machines) and probably an hour of theorycrafting to determine any possible way to beat that boss. The second time (since I need a second run through to take a different path), I was able to take him on 1 shot (also with the help of Bahamut) coz you know the patterns already.
I love everything about it except for the fact that there's long parts where you just walk with nothing for you to pick up. Not chest, no item bags, nothing for you to interact with. Just random debris and occasional boxes that you can slash. If those long walking parts at least had that then it'll be more exciting and rewarding for you as a player to go through. I explored every nook and cranny only to be disappointed to not find an item or secret. Give us incentives for us to explore in part 2.
The long walking is definitely because of loading assets in the background, it's entirely because of the hardware holding it back. Next gen would fix this for sure.
This was an experience for me. Some of the side quests felt like chores to me, but even then I enjoyed doing those chores because I helped paint a broader picture of the people in these slums. We found those cats in the beginning of the game for the little girl (name escaping me) and then we see her with Aerith when the sector is evacuating. I made that connection when I completed that side job. Everything about this blew me away and I’m not speaking from a nostalgia POV. I was exceptionally critical of the episodic approach and having experienced part 1, I’m so glad they’ve done it this way personally speaking
FF7R's combat is one of the best combat systems I've ever experienced in a JRPG. There's obvious issues, like the stagger bar or stagger state of a boss resetting after a phase transition, and the tracking for special moves being a little wonky, but nothing they can't iron out for part 2.
The tracking for special moves is not wonky, in my opinion. In fact, it is better than I thought. The fact Barret switches between targets when they die during attacks like Overcharge and Maximum Fury is incredible. Same for spells cast in Aerith's Arcane Ward: if your primary target dies in the first cast, the next cast will target the nearest enemy. It is quite impressive.
@@BingBangPoe Ranged tracking is good, but when you prep a Braver and your opponent steps 5 feet to the left it completely whiffs because they don't even try to change course at any point.
After having 100% the game a couple days ago I can say with confidence that this combat looked absolutely stupid to me at first, the demo made me in to a true believer and now I can’t imagine a game that doesn’t make use of at least some of these elements. Some issues did arise for me though. I think that the default settings are awful and they need to direct the player to those settings in some way if they stay the same. For instance the camera is too close which makes visibility atrocious but a simple trip to the settings lets you fix it making you wonder why it was ever set to zero by default. The lock on breaks your neck when enemies move around and removes control of the camera but there’s a setting that gives the control while locked on back. The other major issue is addressed my max. Air enemies are not fun. The characters have limited air attacks (Barrett has none) and they must fall all the way back down after each combo to start again. The intended counter is air magic which has a delayed activation so the enemies often just move away wasting atb and mana. The air combat also cause the camera to hit the ceiling of indoor sections which is.....not great. And lastly I fell like allies should generate atb when they land basic attacks just like when you control them directly. I understand that switching is the main focus of the combat but I think that the punishment for not switching is already steep enough. You get focused down, can get grappled, and are stuck on the defensive, but now you also have to deal with the fact that your party has no resources because it’s building slowly over time? That change alone would make a lot of the more stubborn and with all due respect “lesser skilled” players enjoy the combat more while not undermining the depth over all.
@@SH1NK1R01 I hope that in the subsequent episodes they fix the wonky camera and allow for even farther zoom. I still feel that the camera, even at 3, still is too damn close to the characters, which often leads you to getting hit by stuff offscreen.
There was never a time in this remake that I wasn't smiling like an idiot while playing. It captured everything I loved about the original FFVII and then some. And the music was stellar as expected, gonna be listening to it for a long time. Now time for hard mode.
Only legit problem I had was that sidequest where the sleep status is introduced. Genuinely frustrating. Everything else i really enjoyed what they have done with it
Dmen05 I disagree this is an amazing 1000 iq choice by square I didn’t think they could find a way to make me feel the need to want to play this game more and experience the story cuz I already know the original but now things could play out differently and that was such a pleasant surprise
I loved everything but the stupid dancing scene at the Honeybee Inn. I like that they changed it to a cabaret, but Cloud dancing along with little objection and no prep really pulled me out of the story.
Tanner Montgomery the ending was a fucking mess. There is a reason FFVII is one of the best games ever and they’re jizzing their kingdom hearts happy-clappy bullshit all over it.
Because of this comment, I went straight to watch that video again. No matter how many times I watch it, it always makes me smile because I remember how shocked I was when I was told Cloud is gonna be in Smash Bros before I even saw the news on the internet. It was also the video (besides the Mega Man reaction) that made me subscribe to Max Dood in the first place.
I finished the game last night and I will say, one of my favorite things about the remake is the world building they did in this game. Midgar actually feels like a massive city now. Shinra feels like an actually omnipresent oppressive company. The world feels like a place that people live in now.
thinking about it, Square just needs to improve on the issues and if they can, improve on the better aspects for part 2 and the next chapter will be even more awesome.
I think a lot of issue now are not technical problem, like camera and texture quality, especially the texture issue it depends on hardware spec, like no.5 slum, The Aerith house garden just too much polygam and texture face for the ps4 to show high quality I think. And the camera just need more time to fix and test, they cannot did that on time before the sale date I think. It's too obvious to un-recognize that issue.
Given how much work they put into cleaning up FFXV, I'm hopeful that not only will they make improvements in future entries, but that those improvements are also rolled into this first entry. There are some pretty big improvements they can make to this game that would only require fairly minor fixes and changes.
@@Cosmoman78 Exactly. I don't know wtf people are complaining about like these "issues" are the end of the world. It's an RPG, and every RPG has lower quality textures when compared to other games, simply because the games are so much bigger and current gen hardware can't handle it. It's always been like that. Anyone who plays RPGs knows that. Main characters, and main locations look as good (if not better) than any other AAA game out there, but the rest looks worse because of hardware limitations. It's simple as that.
That's why I agreed on this multi-part series, devs can see the mistakes and then improve. Imagine if they made the whole story. FF7R as we know will be in development hell and we will probably only see it in another 5-10 years lol. And when it came out , there were no room for feedbacks.
Took me close to forty hours to beat it in a span of one week since I got it. It was fun while it lasted. The story kept me engaged while I played. For some reason this was parallel to the Yakuza franchise with the amount of weird and serious story beats. It's a fine balance and the remake found it. I missed the other items so I'll have to play it again for that platinum.
i don't want to be an ass here but there is a ton to the game you don't know. You got the main story to be sure but you missed out on the world building aspects. Learn the world building via the npcs takes considerable amount of time. Im just shy of 30hrs an i am only at chapter 8 close to 9.
@@densetsu4286 Ehhh, I dunno. Loved the game but my first playthrough was about 38 hours and I didn't really miss much. Have since platinumed it and gotten all extra scenes etc and it took me 63 hours.
Been dying for your review. This was my first final fantasy game I've played and I platinum'd it last night. My first time platinuming a video game ever. I loved it so much I just started the original today.
Dylan K if you never played the original, I warn you that you should be prepared to the 90’s graphics (at the time those graphics were the best ever seen). Asside that, I hope You enjoy it because its amazing
Right! In the original I don’t think I spent to much time with them to really get emotionally invested, but in the Remake, when IT happens, I was wrecked 😂
There will never be a perfect game EVER, thats impossible, what is important is that you enjoy the game, not nit pick it to the ground based on other types of games like souls and things like that, from software level design is something that characterizes the franchise, FF is based on story and characters, 2 different genres in a sense, I can't imagine they creating souls level design in a way that would remain loyal to the story telling, keep in mind that Midgard was a linear section of the game, hell, pretty much all Final fantasies are linear. People need to understand that when it comes to game design, you need to invest time and work in specific elements of the game, you cannot do everything in just one thing, its like balancing a diet, you cannot get all nutrients in a meal if you wanna see it that way
"ENDING WAS BAD SO GAME IS TRASH" So the bombing run, Jessie chapter, combat, music, maybe not level design but art, expanded content, direction of characters and scenes... all TRASH? Ok sure. You don't have to like every decision a director or team makes but did they put love into the game? OBVIOUSLY YES.
That’s what I was gonna say,the things that would be nitpicked so to speak are not really a issue 90-95% of this game is done amazingly well his review is really good but coming at it like this game isn’t perfect is kinda silly to me nothing is but there is not one glaring issue with this game it’s ok to say this game is blowing my mind and I love it and not be a “fanboy” everybody that has played alllll say this game is fun as shit one of the funniest game they played this year the combat the sound the characters the story being driven thru the characters is all done damn near perfect honestly I wouldn’t change a single thing I can’t wait for the next parts cause this could be a lord of the rings type situation improve on the game very minimally across all the parts coming out so by the end we’ll have a game that literally gets better as you play
Even if the ending is different and the next installment might be going in a new direction, I’m in. This game convinced me that even if it’s not the same story, as long as these characters are here I’m here for it.
I think what this game did best was lay the ground work for why we should be excited the next game will be new and different. I love the arbiters of fate because they gave me as a fan an in universe reason to be ok with any changes made to the story.
It can't go too differently but I am really interested to see what direction they do go since they seem to be showing a completely different timeline and Aerith seems to know what's going on this time.
Damn Max, I've been following your playthrough here on youtube, while being just a few chapters ahead of each video release. But I love seeing you play through it and share your pure awe and excitement. As a first time player that makes me that much more excited too and somehow feel that magic of this universe as well. I was afraid when I saw your review you would be a bit biased as an uber-fanboy to not criticize this game for its obvious faults. But it's really cool you're being absolutely fair and real about it. As a game designer myself these shortcomings are on the nose, and I guarantee SE knows about these as well. Every designer does, but the budget and money only go so far. The question remains why they did leave in some of the more atrocious stuff in regards to sidequests and not invest in a different part. Scrap some of that stuff and replace it by a single AMAZING sidestory at each location or some more involved minigames. Because the minigames acted as the diversions they probably wanted, but also as amazing worldbuilding, like the gym, box whacking and arena fights. That would've worked way better. In regards to some of the horrible texture stuff, I'm sure this will get patched out (along with probably some additional features like photo mode) and it's only due to the nasty COVID situation that it hasn't happened yet. The game definitely has it's faults, but you're right; my god that music, those characters, the setting - some of the sewer stuff was a slog, but it's the other factors that pulled you through with ease. This game is one of the few that I would actually call cinematic too. I'm definitely on board this train, excited to see where it goes. Again, good work on this review Max!
@@applejuicejunkie316 yh I don't recall that at all. I just typed in RU-vid cloud beats aerith and immediately found it lol. This definitely won't be in the remake lol.
Yeah,the scene where Cloud spat on Tifa and told her to "be quiet,you dirty woman" was pivotal for his character development,hope they show that in future installments
i sure theyll have an excuse to shy away from this like how barret no longer beats the shit out of the shinra employee on the train like in the original
Hard mode makes you REALLY appreciate the combat more and becomes way more fun imo because you HAVE to be tactical and you cant get away with mindless button mashing and healing if you take too much damage, it makes you strategize and actually engage with the battle mechanics of each boss,or else you're dead and I learned much more about the combat that I didn't before when I played on normal and I wish hard mode was there from the beginning and they instead added like a hardcore version after you complete the game where you cant even recover HP on benches and from completing quests and cant heal outside of battles or whatever idk im not a game designer
I thought benches were the only thing you can recover HP on but you can't use items. I haven't tried it yet since I just got done beating the game on normal.
I am 10+ hours in. Totally feel the same way. 7R is like a dream, and you have to pinch yourself wondering if it's real. And it is, it's right there. I love the journey, character & world building. It is a marvel, to just hear what's on their minds, or what brought to this point. And Cloud just plays it cool. It keeps you going, motivated, to explore what's ahead, sometimes challenging, but still fun. I had to take a break to gather my thoughts, because you are right there are moments that digs deep into your soul. I think it's fantastic, and love this so much. The memories of the original FF7 are there, but Remake excels on so many levels as to what was limited, and now it's gone beyond that. I am going to keep going. New game + sweet jenova!!! 🤣
100% agree with the difficulty. The fight with Roche was super cool and engaging from a mechanics standpoint that I was hugely wanting for it to last long. But story-wise it still kinda makes sense because he was not injured at all after the fight. But the fact that this game made me excited for boss fights in 2021 is a huge testament to the quality of this RPG. I never played the original at all and this is already my favorite final fantasy game.
Went in expecting max to talk about his love for ff7 og and how he enjoyed this remake. Got that and him praising yakuza, one of my fav franchises so I'm happy.
Great, amazing game. However, that ending will never not be controversial. And whether the remake succeeds or fails depends on how they handle the story elements in the following games. Hopefully they are able to keep the same general spirit because many major crucial aspects have been completely changed this remake. I honestly miss the horror feel of the Jenova/Shinra-President segment the most.
for me the biggest downside I saw to the remake was midgar not being fully explorable. before this games release, I assumed since ff7 was just entirely midgar that they were gonna have cloud be able to travel through sectors 1-7 top and bottom, and the train was gonna be the main aspect of transportation. instead you can only go to sectors 5,6, and 7, and although they give me plenty of locations to explore in these areas, it would've been cool to explore all of midgar.
That'd be really cool, but as it is right now the game is already around 100GB and/or has 2 disks, imagine the bytes if all of Midgar is explorable lol.
Yep that's my major downside aswell. Like when they announced the first part being midgar I didn't mind as long as I can explore more of midgar. But that wasn't the case. Like you can only go to the upper plate probably 3 times in the entire game and even then they were short lived. I still loved the game but they couldve easily removed some parts like the midgar lamp mission with a new sector to explore.
I think they could have perhaps done more with the Sector 7 Plate (it would have been fun to revisit, maybe see Roche again, and the suburb type area was mostly unused), but it's unreasonable to expect the entire city to be explorable. I mean it took half a decade for them to design and implement just what is available here. There are simply practical limitations here.
Guys lets juzt agree that remake is disc 1 until sephiroth got impatient and used his black materia early which happened when he absorbed all the whispers he just became god
That's a tricky expectation. I didn't think we would even SEE the upper plates aside from the reactor bombings and Shinra HQ. So I was pleasantly surprised.
FF7 original was such a mind blowing game when it was released, and over 2 decades later I’m glad with modern gaming advancements it brings justice to the way we envisioned it back then. 10/10 personal score as well
I know that there was a complaint of those “walking simulator” moments in FF7 but honestly it was great inclusion because it just helped to spend more time for character development. It’s like a slice of life approach, and I can’t see a way were you can bond with the character without having a few of those moments.
It didnt originally. "This city don't have no day or night." The only places we ever see light shining through to are Aeriths house and the church. They probably changed that to make chapters less visually samey.
@@KarasuVII Damn good memory, I always just figured that sunlight was so rare due to them LIVING UNDER A GODDAMN CITY ON A PLATE ABOVE THEM... This remake is ... ugh!
I think it holds up pretty well for a psp game, both graphically and as a game. Of course, if you put side to side with the remake, it will look dated.
When FF7 came out, I was only 2 years old. In 2000, my family has the first television. In 2003, we have first CD player. In 2007, my dad bought me the first computer, there, is the first time I know about something call video games. So I have no special feeling or nostalgia about this game at all. The first thing I know about FF is from a CD a bought, a CD with Advent Children movie, a low quality CD, and all they said is Japanese which I don't understand anything. But I swear until that point, in my life I haven't ever seen something beautiful like that. In my country we watched a lot of Kung Fu and Wuxia movies but what I saw that day is most amazing fight scenes I have ever seen. And I watched that movie everyday of that week. It's so beautiful that after about 30 mins, I just realize this is CGI (I didn't know what CGI is back then, I thought they all humans, actors,...). I'm absolutely in love with all those characters despite know anything about them. FF7 remake and Max made me live again in those childhood moments. For me the game nailed it in every way a RPG should be. And I love every moments watching Max plays. He's like the ambassador of this game. I hope I will have PS4 and this game soon. Can't wait to watch Max's plays when part 2 come out.
What a cool story bro , I loved your comment, enjoy and have a lot of fun , I had a great time with the original ff7 and the remake which I have just finished 1hour ago.
This game didn't need to start on the highest of highs imo. Having somewhere to go, while still being a great game, is the best thing a first entry can do.
I disagree there was so much hype surrounding this game square knew they had to deliver on part 1 can you imagine the amount of pressure they must have been under? People have been waiting a long time for this game this is no time to half ass it go big or go home. And thankfully they delivered and their hard work definitely payed off in the end.
@@Ronin-kk4bt I agree. Plus, we're talking about a big company here (resources-wise). I did not hop on the hype train when they announced FF7R, because let's be honest: FF installments have not been the same since FFX (and I don't like FFX). I was expecting them to mess this one up big time, especially when they announced that it would be episodic. Yet the moment they released the intro cinematic, it was impossible not to beg for more. They sure raised the bar tremendously high for the next parts, but if someone could deliver it had to be SE and they couldn't aim any lower.
I finished the original FFVII 3 or 4 times, and how they managed character development in the remake actually made me care about Biggs, Wedge & Jessie for the very first time ever.
@@jorgelugo9473 not that much, it was executed in a way where it wasn’t really clear they died, it didn’t feel like I had known them enough to really feel for them. It was a sad moment but I didn’t feel a connection with them as I did in remake (also, I was 11 when first played the game)
Honestly, this game's level design (like most games of this scale) is held back the HDD hardware. PS5's SSD will change that; like no longer the need for long corridors to hide loading. I think that that's the benefit of this series being multi-part.
It should be obvious that they aren't going to make the future games exclusive to the next gen. Square Enix has even stated outright that they're going to be continuing to develop primarily for the PS4 going forward because the PS5 is backwards compatible.
Fair review, my dude. I personally loved the whole game and never really felt it had any lows, and I really like the story changes, but that’s me. I agree the narrative in this was excellent, especially the characters and their interactions. I felt more emotions this time around than with the original. I would actually rate this remake higher than the original, and that’s saying something.
I have to say, ever since playing Crisis Core, i can‘t see Cloud and Aerith‘s relationship the same way again like i did before playing CC. For one, Zack and Aerith are just better together. Their relationship just feels so natural and they are just the cutest. Like, they just go like Fries and Vanilla Ice Cream (no, you shut up, that‘s delicious!). Another things is that Aerith likes Cloud because he reminds her of Zack, which is a bit creepy when you find out that Zack actually is just straight up part of Cloud (or at least his Persona). Lastly. Dude, seriously, you just can‘t hit on your best friends biggest love, even after he‘s dead. Come on, bro code dude. Especially when Tifa is also there.
100% there with you. I had loved the character of Zack, and especially the portrayal of Aerith in Crisis Core. I was absolutely stoked to see how seamlessly her physical mannerisms in that game were amalgamated into the remake; I genuinely hadn't expected the content of Crisis Core to actually be given the same respect as that shown for the original FFVII. Even the English voice actress for Aerith was spot on in continuing Aerith's spoken speech patterns and sound from CC. As for Zack, he is an AMAZING character, and after playing Crisis Core, I just can't imagine anyone more naturally suited for Aerith anymore. I know that CC had a much smaller audience, but for me, getting the background on Cloud and Zack's friendship made me even more excited to see how Cloud and the OG would be treated in the remake. Looking so forward to the next installment. Cheers!
Especially when your best friend’s girlfriend and you are the reason of your best friend die. I mean Zach just mindlessly rushed back to Midgar and ending up surrounded by Shinra guys because of he worry about Aerith. And He can’t take the fight seriously because he has to take care of unconscioused Cloud.
You realize it’s not as simple as “oh well Aerith belongs to Zack so Aerith and Cloud is not real, Cloud has Tifa anyway”. It’s supposed to be complex... these characters are complex and multi-faceted and they have different dynamics with each other. Aerith and Zack definitely loved each other. Zack died so Aerith moved on. Tifa has a thing for Cloud and Cloud seems interested but then he met Aerith. They’re basically canon until Aerith dies. After that it’s really anyone’s guess what happens.
Character development is so important. Just look at a fun action movie like Predator and how nothing came close to it in its day - because of great characters. Back to the Future, all driven by great characters. Aliens... characters (some cool FX of course). Now they only had the length of a movie to development them, but still.
It's why the Uncharted games are ao much more popular than the three newer mainline Tomb Raider games. People don't come back to the Uncharted games for its gameplay, but for its characters. That's why Naughty Dog could get away with Uncharted 1-4 having relatively minor gameplay changes. You could argue that the Tomb Raider games have more gameplay depth, but most of the characters in the new TR trilogy are just flat, and the games take themselves way too seriously. Uncharted games are self aware. Characters point out how absurd the situations they're in are, and it shows their personalities, and so players come back to every new entry to see more of those personalities.
I think I agree with literally everything you said. 10/10 for me personally, 9/10 if I had to put on a critic hat. The highs are absolutely awe inspiring and there are a ton of them. I could scoop dog poop between those moments and the game would still be essential.
One thing that Woolie and Pat mentioned is that the quality of life upgrades to this game are amazing. The playtime stops ticking up if you leave the game idle for a minute or so, sidequests give you the option to fast travel straight back after completing them and characters outright tell you if the area are heading toward is hard progress or a side area to explore. Good job.
I did love this game, though the ending left me wanting more. I really enjoyed watching you play through this game, thank you for all you did for this game.
But I feel thats the point. Its not DONE! so we can keep looking forward to more stuff. Its just, getting that feeling after so many years of waiting already. So, the feeling is extra potent and sad.
I appreciate the sentiment. I really do, but I didn't do anything that really assisted FFVIIR. I've just been in the extremely fortunate situation to deliver to you guys the stories about my experiences with the original and this game pre-release. The fact that people listen is something I'll never take for granted.
@@Maximilian_Dood Your original reaction to the announcement of the game is one of my favourite reaction videos I've ever seen. I've been an avid viewer of your content ever since.
@@Maximilian_Dood Your reaction video gave life and energy to the dev team. Could they have done it without that? Sure. But you still helped in your own way. That's big.
I think it’s the best Final Fantasy game since X. Been waiting almost 2 decades for Square to make another good one, and honestly I had given up hope after 13. I’m glad to have been proven wrong. I was so worried they were going to ruin 7 for me with this remake.
I agree with you, but, a lot of fans havent played through FF14 because it’s a MMO. But it mostly plays like a single player FF and it’s seriously one of the best games in the series.
@@dreamer6737 I'm among those who haven't played 14 not because it's an mmo's... but because its p2p.... dont like paying for a game continuously after I bought it
i played the original FF7 a couple of years ago. i liked it, but it's definitely showing its age. i played the new one recently. like you said, it's still flawed. but the mix of visuals, music, gameplay, and characters makes it a top-3 game of all time. i think people who aren't just die-hard OG elitists will end up going on the emotional journey that max went through on his playthrough. it's a love letter to the original, while introducing a lot of modern gaming elements. it'll make a lot more sense for fans of the original and probably have a higher appeal for them than for total newcomers to the world of FF7, but i think it'll rope in a fair number of the latter while still greatly satisfying the former.
I completely disagree with Max about level design. The world of Midgar is not vast where you have the option to move around a lot. The original was proof of that where you have very restrictive pathways. The same applies to the remake. There is no value to have an open world Midgar. That should be saved when you leave Midgar.
Completely agree. I was very disappointed in hearing Max say that. It makes absolutely no sense. The same game that he loves so much does that, and yet here he thinks it's bad.
As a long-time fan of the original, the character development and interactions you undertake within the different environments really help in creating this more fully-realized world and experience. As a remake, it does so much in building on the original narrative (respectfully) and in fleshing out the characters and their personalities. I just loved learning so much more about characters I have grown up with. Amazing game.
the one thing i love about the dialogue is it never feels forced or they don't say things that make you think "nobody talks like that", the conversations are natural so much so that I was completely drawn in to every character, even the side characters. It may not be perfect, but it made me fall in love with FF7 all over again and i can't wait for the rest of it! Also can i just give props to the summon effects as well, the first time i saw Ifrit cast his special I was like "hooooooooly faaaaaaaark!"
I disagree completely. I honestly don't understand people who claims these characters acts and talks like human beings. The dialogues are bad man, these characters are anime robots. So many grunts, moans, forced "kawai" moments/poses, retarded characters giving the thumbs-up, etc.. extremely generic moments like: Aerith and Tifa starting a girly friendship out of nowhere, Barret and Red starts a bromance, the forced harem moments featuring Cloud, etc... Jessie's motivation to fight the big corporation it's because a close parent suffered an accident... the "bodyguard" (who looks more fragile than Justin Bieber) helps Cloud and his anime gang because his fiance was taken away by his pimp boss... a random SOLDIER suddenly backflips his motorcycle for no goddamn reason, even the generic housekeeper have a spiked anime hair, etc... These are not human beings, I'm sorry. To experience these characters + the storytelling and acting/directing style, it's like watching a more "lenient" version of Advent Children (until the game goes full Advent Children at the end). It's fine if some people like the anime cringe, but to say this kind of storytelling feels "human" is a big stretch.
The hard mode is like REALLY HARD and with the new game plus really brings a new dimension to play the game and even farming against bugs could seem fun and you'll have to be Much more strategic than before and have to really be carefull on how you use every each of your materia slots ! It's a lot of fun, Haven't had this much fun in a long time
First Strike + Triple Slash curb stomps fodder mobs. Chakra and Pray for extra healing to conserve MP for attacks and barriers. Really sucks you cant even use items in town, but just adds to strategy element!
This game made me cry, laugh out loud, scream of frustration and just pure joy. It has some minor issues, but for me it is an exceptional game and far exceeded my expectations. This review pretty much nails it. The way they brought these characters to life was incredible, and that is the most important part of FF7, the characters. While this game is fairly linear like FF13, it had one thing that FF13 did not have. And that is a truly awesome combat system. It is so much fun and to me it is a perfect combination of the new more action packed combat we see in most modern games and the tactical turned based of the original. They also took elements of previous FF games that did not really work in those games, but made it work really well in this one, such as the stagger system from FF13. Some minor refinements can still be done, but I absolutely love it. The boss battles are pretty much perfect, with so many interesting quirks and nuances that made every new boss a fun event. It is also challenging in the right ways. One of the biggest and most welcomed surprises for me was the weapon upgrade system. I remember always thinking that the Buster Sword was the coolest weapon in the original. So to be able to just use that weapon for the entire story is awesome. The graphical inconsistencies is my only real gripe with the game as some of the texture work in this game is just horrible, bordering on unacceptable. I really do not know how some of it got passed QA testing. and it is odd as some parts of this game just looks stunning, especially the character moments, the facial animations and all the effects. Hopefully the inevitable PC version gets a high texture pack to fix it. Took me about 43 hours, although I tried to do all the side stuff I could find. And I definitely want more, especially after that ending. I have some fears going forward, but I am also really excited about what is to come. And with characters this good, I just want to see more of them. And lastly I just have to mention that the musical score in this game is just so close to perfection. I can only think of one track that I wish was more distinct and similar to the original, which was the bike scene music. It just lacked the uniqueness of the original track. Still amazing though, just did not really nail it imo. But overall the music is just stellar. I have not finished a Final Fantasy game since FF10, and to have this remake turn out this good makes me truly happy. I just hope they do not mess up the following games. Anyways, for me, if I have to put a score to it. I would rate it as a very solid 9/10. If they fix up the ugly textures, this would be a 10/10 for me.
I love everything about it. People nitpick to love or hate aspects of the game and that's fine. Do your thing but don't hard seek a group validate for either outcome. I have a lot of gripes with games in general and my options are to either not support it, vent my grievance, or the one that requires skill and talent straight up compete in this market place. So as far as negatives go, no unlockable costumes. You'd expect square enix to have this as a norm by now. Followed by how the gear is treated. Sure I can go mage Cloud with the mythril weapon but I'm already used to just whacking things with him that I don't deviate. Almost done with hard mode and getting that plat trophy. A quality of life would've been giving us the option that have save materia sets. Since I keep moving blue and purple materia around a lot. The extra minute moving everything back in place accumulates overtime to a huge chuck in that menu alone.
Max was blown away by the stage design a LOT of times though. I think he meant more about stage interactivity, not about the design / graphics of the stage itself.
Yeah but take about every other action game studio in japan, and the design is the same. Not to complain because I LOVE linear games nowadays. Every fuckin western game has to be open world now -_-
I agree with everything Max says except for one. The "last minute twist" isn't last minute and doesn't come out of left field. They set it up SO HARD from literally the first hour and I think it pays off in such a beautiful, meaningful, and thematic way when it all wraps up.
@@NicolasSilvaVasault he said it himself about the ending, it was bold And decisive, I can understand the outrage if they made the game totally different from the start, but they didn't, plus I can respect their desire to try And make the game their own, And separate themselves from the original
My only complaint is how absolutely loooooonnnnngggggg some parts were dragged out. You could really tell which parts of the game they used to add hours here and there
Can we say Hojo's "floors" in the shinra building... don't get me wrong, I loved the character building during that portion.... but the whole puzzle aspect just felt out of place and unnecessary at the time. I kinda wish that was put in a one of the VR missions instead. Otherwise all the long parts felt pretty good for world building.
Yep agreed. The lamp area, the train graveyard, the second sewers encounter, hojo lab, climbing the destroyed sector 7 and the second mako reactor (same as first just blue) all give me PTSD now.
Yeah. Parts like this could have been used to collect little side quests or little lore expanding objects , like books or something. Like go look for this monster that happens to be here to complete a quest for chadley.
I'm fine with the direction the game takes near the end, I just feel like we could have had about two, maybe three less boss fights at the end. Really felt like they were stretching it out.
The NPCs in FFVIIR finally having different lines of dialogue and new stuff to say as the story moves along as you talk to them is actually something Dragon Quest is known for. It's kinda funny but so ridiculously welcomed that Final Fantasy FINALLY got onboard with doing the same since that's what always made Dragon Quest games (and Lunar 1 & 2 as other examples from back in the day) feel so lived in and added wider lived in world building that felt so endearing to spend time talking to all of them.
Some people forget that Midgard was a tutorial section of 7 original. It was a narratively driven section. Really 7 doesn’t start in a lot of ways until you leave Midgard. Luckily 7-remake pushes this tutorial to a supreme level.
I was first introduced to Final Fantasy when i played FF Crisis Core and Tactics on PSP. Never had the chance to play FF7, i bought it digitally so i'm going to play the heck out of it.
The thing is, Chrono Trigger doesn't need to be remade. Its spritework still holds up really well. The main reason people were clamoring for a remake of FF7 is because it had those blocky character models which aged the game dramatically. ...Not that I would say no to anything new Chrono-related, but I consider Chrono Trigger to be the most perfect video game ever made: it was super ambitious, everything it did it did extremely well, and it had no real flaws to speak of whatsoever. The idea of taking gaming's embodiment of perfection and adapting it into something that would likely be less than perfect scares me a bit.
@@sntfrancisco31 hundred percent. I think if final fantasy 6 was remade a lot of people who are ff7 fans who never played ff6 will be kicking themselves for never knowing this spectacular story beforehand.
The building of character relationships to me was the biggest plus, exceeds expectations moment for me. In the original game, the intent was for the player/Cloud to get really attached to Aerith so when she dies you get that overwhelming feeling of loss. But it just solely focuses on Clouds attachment to her, and everyone's elses relationship to her was just subtext. We knew Tifa became friends with her because she told us, we knew Barret felt grateful to her for protecting Marlene because he told us, Red XII felt a kinship to her because of their spiritual connection with the planet because he told us, ect. But in the remake, it shows us. You get to see Aerith playfully flirt with Cloud and him bringing his macho man emotional barrier down. You see Aerith and Tifa's friendship start to bloom. You see Barret relate to Elmyra, because he too has an adopted daughter and he understands the need to protect her at any cost. Also where Red XII and Aerith had that "wait! You too?" Moment really makes me believe that these characters relate to her. Not just her, but how everyone relates to eachother. In the original game, you get a sense that they are allies, but in the remake, you get the sense that they are all family. They have each others backs and would do anything for eachother. Barret is such a Dad to everyone. When Tifa, Aerith, and Cloud are together, it feels like two chick friends hanging out with their guy friend, busting his balls. This comment is turning into a novel so I am going to stop here. But I cannot praise the character development enough!
The minus point are very MINOR, it's almost like nitpicking. And those minor things are already a huge improvements over the OG. It's just maybe they can be improved even further for the next installments.
Justin Belluardo What he said about the game feeling like a rollercoaster is really how I feel. For me the game was either pretty boring or freaking incredible depending on the chapter, there wasn’t much in between. When the game is good, it’s REALLY good. Like 10/10 good. But when it’s not so good, there were sections I honestly had a hard time playing through because of how dull they were in comparison. It’s 100% a game of highs and lows quality-wise. Hope future installments are more consistent!
The only "slow" or "boring" bits for me were when they put 2 exploration zones back to back without story development in between (chapter 10 and 11 to be specific). I was really hoping they would make those 2 chapters into a single chapter, with each section taking up half of it. Still didn't hate it, but it was definitely the slow point of the game for me and I wish they had been combined. I don't think we needed 3 boss fights between the end of chapter 9 and beginning of chapter 12, and they weren't the most exciting ones either.
7:25 - It's called dynamic music. And it's effectively a technique that game companies are starting to use to give their games a more cinematic feel to them.
After playing Horizon Forbidden West I really really hope that Square takes a lot from Horizon as far as the side quests. Forbidden West by far has created an entire troth of side quests that are actually really good at telling a story, and making the quests feel like they matter. No other game has done that before, and not to mention that they reward you extremely well for doing these side quests.
Dude, the passion you have for games is clearly shown in this review and I love it so much. You are super well invested in what you do and I love how it is shown naturally through your enthusiasm and appreciation.
Despite the whole ending I think main two problems with this game is: 1) I wish you were allowed to choose your team more often. I understand stand why they did it this way, I just wish I could have chosen at least a few times. 2) I wish you could at least play Red XIII in the post game. Maybe they will fix it with a DLC update, I just wish I could have played with Red XIII.
@@myrrh.g Same, and I was thinking about it. If Red XIII is done in a DLC then they would only need to work on 4 more characters instead of 5 in part 2
100% agree with the playable party. Especially in hard mode. Like, we've already beat the game and have our characters maxed out, let us finally get to make the party ourselves and use them however we want. It's ridiculous that we have to replay the story to get to the colosseum and then we have to replay another chapter because Barret and Tifa aren't around for the colosseum when Aerith is.
Well, it's kind of necessary. The OG is very linear during the Midgar portion. You don't get access to the PHS until you leave the city in the original. And the game doesn't really have a "postgame" outside of extra VR missions; they can't let you have the full party while replaying on hard mode for obvious reasons -- it would flat out break the game. I do think DLC would be cool, though. Personally I feel like the game is very obviously missing a boss rush mode, and it would be really cool to have a version of boss rush where you can pick your party members, and use characters in fights that they aren't available in normally.
@@SuzakuX I understand that, it's more that I wish I could change my team in New Game Plus. Like we just beat the game why not allow us to have some fun in New Game Plus, you know what I mean
I achieved my platinum a few days ago and let me say hard mode if your unprepared is almost dark souls level of punishing. If you take the time to plan your battle it isn't too hard but always challenging. I felt though playing on hard that every fight punishes mistakes and rewards patient play. If you just rush every battle you will die...a lot. Every time I completed a chapter on hard I would breathe a slight sigh of relief. It was intense.
Dude (dood) this review was incredible and pretty spot on in my opinion. I'd be interested to hear what others feel about the came as a whole and the specifics - my thoughts are below (slight spoilers): *The Music* Better than the original. They kept it true, made it epic and the new tracks I love love love. 12/10 *The Characters & C Development* 10/10 (would have been a 12 if not for Roche, Sephiroth and even Jenova). FF7 is carried based on these characters, it's why we've loved it like no other title for 23 years. The way they built most of the characters in this game was unreal. I smiled, laughed, cried, punched air - all sorts. BARRET of all characters perhaps became my favourite. He went from a bit of a fun parody in OG to in my view the most developed in this game. He was so human, flawed but authentic - trying to do the "right" thing. Loved him. Tifa and Cloud were absolutely nailed. Loved The Turks and Shinra. Aerith I will one day create in VR and marry. Marlene was cute as a button. Jessie, Bigs and Wedge had the comradery that FFXV wanted. Jonny and Jonny's dad are fun. Leslie good addition and Corneo great. Hojo was NOT the cliche of Dirge but a truly menacing and sadistic presence. Every character and even the NPCs were great... EXCEPT. Sephiroth was just a visual. He brought nothing in my opinion and it's a huge disappointment - his execution was corny. He's been whored out and his build up missed. I know we can't have the same mystique but you can still build anticipation - I would have even been ok with him not appearing in this game. It would have been for the greater good and the payoff huge. I really wanted more backstory on Jenova (perhaps future games) and Roche was simply annoying. *Story* 7/10. I am SO grateful for this game (thank you Square Enix!). But I feel slightly mislead (sorry to sound spoilt). Our fears were this would be "just" Midgar and padded out and to be blunt, it was. We were told that the Midgar arc would be built out and there would be more depth/story/world. I don't think there was much of that and there so easily could have. How I feel about the ending is conflicted and open minded. In regards to The Whispers... I was intrigued before and during the story but since playing the game kind of roll my eyes. It's kinda corny is the best way I can put it. Would I prefer FF7R with them or without them? Without. *Side Quests* 6/10. Not much to say here. Apparently they cut content but left in finding kittens and killing rats. *The World* 8/10. Visually stunning but antagonisingly restricted. The way certain areas were blocked off felt lazy and slum areas got bit monotonous. I thought we'd get more exploration of upper plates and we don't. It's annoying that characters can go from Neo levels of agility to not being able to step over a box. God Of War gets the balance of this well IMO. That being said, the concepts of FF7 are already amazing and I love how this game pays homage to that and showcases it in a way we've never seen. *The Combat* 9/10. Really fun, loved it. Such an upgrade from ffXV. And to be honest I didn't mind the camera. Really loved this. Better AI with other party members would be good in future. *Pacing* 8/10. From Chapter 14 onwards I felt like I was experiencing a movie - it was breathtaking and a rollercoaster of emotions. Shinra HQ is STUNNING. Overall 8/10. It felt like FF7 and I am so so grateful this was made. The experience was incredible I just wanted even more (again, sorry to be spoilt).
Me, listening to Max: Good to hear that every character is fun to play as in combat! Even Aerith is fun to play as! :D Me, a few minutes later, remembering the ending of Disc 1 in the original game: Ah, shoot.
For me, destroying enemies with Tifa provided the most HOLY SHIT! gameplay moments. Finishing battles with a combo of her Abilities or finishing a Boss off with her Dolphin Blow Limit Break were both absolute insanity and incredibly satisfying to watch and pull off.
This has to be explained by all game creaters. The best is how the God Of War creater says how Kratos can hold the world on his shoulders literally but struggles with a loot box. It's game design and sometimes so places can load better. It's a fucking video game, it ain't meant to be completely realistic.
nailed it regarding the characters - i keep repeating this as well. Since Square completely captured the characters and treated them awesomely - i doubt they can mess anything up in the future.
One little difference in the materia system: Summons can only be used in boss battles (where you build a summon resource bar before you can use a summons) and the summons acts like a non-controllable party member. Old FF7 you could basically skip battles by using summons, you can't do that in remake. FF7 was a linear, single path game until you got past Wutai. Even then it only opens up a little until you get the Airship. Part 2 might become an open world game, but I think there is a good chance that you'll be heavily constrained on travel in the second game. My personal feeling is the 3rd part will be a real open world game.
My gut reaction to the ending as I played through it was disgust purely because everything else up to that point was near perfect. I’ve decided to let it digest for a few days, revisit the ending chapter and give it another chance. I can’t come away from having played this game feeling disappointed because it really does do the original justice.
I agree. I was in complete awe playing through the whole game, but as I saw the ending I was just disgusted by it. FF7 is my favorite game of all time and this remake did it justice. But seeing that ending I was very frustrated as a fanboy with emotional ties to the original. Now that I've let it sit for a week I revisited the chapter and can say that my first impression was too judgemental and blindfolded. It is growing on me.
After that ending I couldn’t stomach even looking at the game. For me the ending is the biggest travesty I’ve seen in a game for a long time. Completely out of place
It's weird that the Original FF7 that I want to battle all the time and try new battle things. But now, I want more dialogue from the character, maybe because back then, there's no voice and detailed expressions. Don;t get me wrong, the battle system of the Remake is amazing as well, but I really love more cut scene and dialogues.
My only complaint about the game is that it actually ended, I just wanted it to go on. At least its version of NG+ is actually meaningful with specific things that are only unlocked after you beat the game.
The level design? I seriously cannot imagine how they could’ve changed from point A all the way to Z. I mean those areas were based on story locations. How could they have made that any more interesting? To some extent it does come off as padding, but I think the limitation of it taking part in Midgar is what limited the options. The level design reminded me of God of War(2019). That’s actually good in my opinion.
*minor spoiler alert* My main complain about the story is, as of yet, this game's main concept doesn't exactly tie in with the theme of lifestream. In advent children, at least Geo stigma ties in to the lifestream. It's like they just threw the lifestream theme out the window. Of course we haven't get the final final ending yet, since there will be other parts coming but they really have a lot to answer for the concept.
9 Fade Palamasguna what in the fuck are you talking about this is a remake of ff7 which came out like a decade before advent children.... Why on earth would this game need to have ties to that movie? Sounds stupid right?
well, you said yourself...this game still not complete....its not even 50% actually, so it's too early to connecting anything in this game into any other ff7 event
@@cillajendar4378 *Major spoiler alert* If you haven't played the original or familiar with the story, don't read it. First of all, it's not just any other FF7 event, it's their main concept. The problem with it is that there is no explanation, subtle or direct, for the Arbiters of Fate. The game just throws itself into this concept abruptly without any regards to the concept of lifestream. Just to name a few, Where do they come from? why are their appearance robe-like? What's the catalyst for their appearance? If they're the will of the planet then what's the lifestream? Aren't they the planet's will? Didn't the planet use the lifestream to protect itself against the meteor?
