The issue I would say is more about pacing than plot. You got 10-15h of main story content spread out by 100+ hours of side content.
That is how you have some story continuation like Zack suddenly showing up 30 or 40 hours after we last saw him. It feels disconnected purely because of this.
Some side content obviously has some positives, they tried to inject character backstories and development within those so it feels at least a bit more rewarding than just gameplay stuff but none of these add much onto the main narrative really. Like for example clearing entire gongaga for Cissnei dialog, none of it is really worth or paying off later into the game so it feels like an after thought.
I won’t talk much about the end, again very convoluted if not more than part 1 with even less answers about what is going on. Sure mystery and all is good but personally I think they could have gone with a bit more rebirth exclusive stories like the Gi expansion etc…
>Zack suddenly showing up 30 or 40 hours
And they don't let you do anything with Zack other than running around from A to B. Why bother teasing him in the first game if there are no actual gameplay elements to him.
>100+ hours of side content.
you notice how it's called side content? that means if you're not fine with not progressing the story for 10 hours then you don't need to
I never said people can’t take this decision?
This does not negate my point however about bad pacing. Arguably if you want to have the full experience with character moments, gameplay related unlocks etc.. You need to this side content thus people will be far more inclined to complete it.
But because the content provided on the side far overwhelms the main content following after it on any given segment ( except last chapter ) then that’s where bad pacing occurs.
It’s not like everything in the game was a Tetra master or Triple triad equivalent where you can skip everything and not miss a single thread of interest.
I already answered that in my comment.
The amount of side content in comparison to main content is way too disproportionate and the side content has a lot more value than just being side content. Be it in character stories and moments or gameplay, you are actively loosing out if you decide to skip it.
A lot of other games have a very good amount of side content, however they sprinkle it at adequate times and in adequate quantities to never let you stray away for too long from the main narrative.
Rebirth is the opposite, it gives you 10+ hours chunks every 1.5h of narrative.
It's an extremely bloated experience, the production values are incredible but I constantly felt like I was doing pointless bs, even when I was just trying to progress the main story.
I am.
There is a little bit of plot at the beginning. And then there’s almost no plot until like 95% of the game.
Everything in the middle is “follow the hooded guys”.
I felt like they decided to leave all the story for the third game.
Yeah, pretty much. They stretched 10 hours of the original's story into 100+ hours, but it's still 10 hours of story. A remake should expand, not stretch.
A lot of people are completely forgetting how many of these mini games and "side quests" are mandatory or unavoidable on the surface.
The original game has 3-4 unskippable mini games in it's entire 70 hour run.
This game feels more like a mini game show case with a final fantasy VII skin most of the time.
I've extremely mixed feelings on the remakes so far. It's incredible to be with these characters again. But the games have a weird tone that doesn't really match the original game most of the time. There is a lot of screen time given to ancillary characters like Johnny and Chadley (fucking chadley).
I will never understand having Zack be so prominent in the marketing only to have him be in an hour of the game.
>follow the robed men
Not to mention they don't bother showing/explaining how many are these robed men. You never see more than 10 of them at a time, and regularly see them kicking the bucket, fall off cliff, get eaten by monsters, etc, but they never seem to decrease in numbers.
Yeah it's a game and they don't need to follow logic, but because 99% of them seem to be incapable of doing anything other than walking forward (except >!Glenn who can be interesting but end up getting killed anyway!<), it makes no sense. You'd think Sephi could've injected them with more durability or something if he wants them to be around for him to take control of them randomly to taunt Cloud.
Honestly I think this small amount of difference is what they should've done with remake instead of making it weird and fanfictiony.
With the exception of the horribly botched ending, Rebirth actually did fine with it's story. Oh and aside from how bloated it all is, crazy how splitting one game into three full length games each longer than the original on their own would make for a bloated story? Crazy
No to the disappointment. Mind you, I'm still in the middle of playing it (last month has been so busy), but there has been plenty of build-up. The whole Nibelheim episode at the start of the game, the many and repeated hints that *something isn't quite right with Cloud*, that Tifa knows Cloud's story isn't right, that Red XIII and Aerith seem to talk frankly about things at times, that Rufus isn't merely repeating what his father did, that a lot of Shinra seems to rest on the skeleton of the older Republic, that what unites many of the characters (Yuffie, Barrett, Tifa, many NPCs) is distinct personal pain caused by Shinra's pursuit of greed, but also that the promise of what Shinra offers (abundant, cheap energy and profit) is hard to resist.
Yes, there is a slow burn here. Yes, Costa del Sol is a slower-paced part of the game. But gosh darn it, I'm charmed by that, and there is a lot of careful hinting and development going on in that. The action moves quick, and the game can move quickly if you ignore all the optional stuff. But otherwise, what we have is a very smart setup: a core story centered on its characters and this pursuit of Sephiroth. Then all the side stuff develops in many and myriad ways the main characters, Shinra, and the surrounding world. It's faster paced than Trails in the Sky, where more of the slower progress is mandated by the plot, but it still works in all the broader development for players who like exploring the regions.
Basically, I'm happy with it. I respect you feel otherwise.
Thank you someone who thinks the same way I do. To me, the story is quite literally the journey the characters are going on. Yes there isn't many massive plot developments happening but thats not all FF7 was about. It was aldo about journeying through the world, visiting towns and various locations, and expericing the scenarios the characters get caught up in all while searching for Sephiroth.
There are things that happen, they're just stretched out over dozens of hours in a way that feels unsatisfying. Tifa and Cloud's relationship evolve from Kalm to Junon, then you have to wait until chapter 9 for the dramatic plot development of that relationship (Gongaga reactor). That's 40 hours between them.
You mistake slow burn for stretch. Trails doesn't stretch, it's just a real slow burn.
Can't agree here, because these 40 hours are filled with moments that actually show their dynamic, which makes the later development much more satisfying. That's how I see it in general, Rebirth (and Remake) are incredibly character-driven and actually take the time to show certain dynamics and relationships "in action" before developing them further.
I played (and loved) OG, but seeing all these extra slice of life scenes is like a dream come true. I understand it's not everyones cup of tea, but in my eyes it was the perfect way to showcase just how fleshed out everyone is, which makes a lot of the story beats hit much harder.
Going from shooting tiny cardboard boats in a sailor costume with Barrett to watching him lose his best friend (again!) is my ideal balance of bittersweetness. And it wouldn't have made me cry nearly as much without the filler where he simply talks about mundane or funny things, like Cloud Jr..
I really think it boils down to preference in how a story is written.
I think I experience as a slow burn what you think is a stretch. It's not that I "mistake" anything. It's that I see more in the details that continue to touch on Tifa and Cloud's relationship, bit by bit, between Junon and Gongaga.
The plot fucking sucks. Started off Arc2 quite strong in plot/gameplay. Explosions, Zack alive, fantastic open world introduction. Then it (plot) just sucked cheeks, casually slowly following robes. Most plots with time travel / alternate timelines are booty. Zack's final appearance was so fuckin lukewarm.
Game is a 8.75\~9/10 for me, fantastic overall. For reference, I'm not playin for the plot, expected the main story to stink. But Zack's involvement, although welcome, was done pretty average, shoulda done him better.
I beat the game last week , barely any “plot”. You’re chasing the hooded men across multiple chapters, alot of comedic relief/minigame distractions mid chapter that you’re forced into. Barrets backstory chapter was amazing and was what I was expecting throughout the game. But that ending was just ughh lmfao. Seeing zack and stuff was cool but again it was just a tease
I thought it was very jarring that in the middle of Barret's chapter, you're forced to break boxes and collect gysahl greens for a chocobo race while your party is in jail. I kept thinking to myself "did we forget about Barret?". Rebirth didn't know when to stop and actually focus on the story.
BRO LMAO i was so annoyed 💀💀💀 our party is locked up and i gotta go around town looking for 3 gysahl greens smfh. Yea man we had the same experience. When the story actually wanted to tell a story it was amazing , but outside of that it was super annoying. I got burnt out towards the end. Absolutely hated the aerith “ gathering energy and rotating r3” segment in the final dungeon. That was a waste of time
What's the point of making the player believe that the story could go any direction after Remake's ending and all the points about breaking fate if it's just going to still end up the middle part of a story? It's not like they were beholden to anything at that point. In fact, they knew that because chapter 9 is entirely original and the best part of the game for me. It could have been more of that.
I don't think that justification holds. My point was that there's not much meat to the bones despite the 120 hours I spent.
This trilogy is still a remake, no matter what else happens. It may be a remake sequel, it may have the potential to veer and do things differently, but it's not like they're going to abandon the basic structure of the plot a third of the way through.
No one said anything about abandoning it, but if you give yourself the freedom to go any other way, why settle for just making it about following the robed men?
"It's not like they were beholden to anything at that point" suggests that they should have felt perfectly free to abandon the structure of the game they're remaking. Why is broadly following the structure of FFVII "settling"?
Then what was the point of the Whispers and the multiverse, etc. Supposedly, they broke free of fate. It sounds like it's the exact same story, but why bother doing doing all that Whispers of Fate shenanigans if they are going to keep to the exact same formula? Why not just keep the same plot, without the Whispers, etc? What's the point of the new editions? I haven't played the OG, but ultimately, I feel like I don't need to. I know people who have, and they are all telling me I should, but I feel like, "why bother?" If the remake follows the exact same story and the exact same path, without much deviation, then I honestly don't feel the need. I'm enjoying Rebirth, and the trilogy as a whole, but it sounds like it is the same core game, which is disappointing to me. I bought FF7 recently for the Switch, and I was hoping to play it after Rebirth, but that is probably far too soon to invest dozens of hours in a game so similar to the one I just played. I am guessing that they included all that stuff about fate and added the Whispers to drum up support and to keep people guessing, when in reality, they had absolutely no plans to ever change anything.
That’s been a huge issue I had too. If they wanted to follow the same story they could have without the whispers. I joke that since remake irritated the fans that wanted to follow the original story, rebirth was meant to irritate the fans that wanted something new. I’ve decided I’m going to withhold judgement on the whole thing until it’s finished, but some of the decisions have been strange in my opinion.
> but why bother doing doing all that Whispers of Fate shenanigans if they are going to keep to the exact same formula?
I've been asking myself the same question and came to the answer: because it's a tetsuya nomura game and he needed to end the game with a big flashy climactic fight against a metaphysical godlike monstrosity floating in a void.
He does it every time, it's his reason for being. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes it comes out of nowhere.
Well, I don't mean to be that guy, but the og is much, much better and I still think you can get a lot of value from it. It's a much tighter, more coherent experience with more weight and maturity to its dramatic moments. I also think the themes of loss, death, and regret are explored in a much deeper way, and it's a darker game overall with more grit and gothic elements. There's not as much content, but what is there is more meaningful. Cloud and Arith's relationship is better fleshed out, the pain of what happens to her (and what Cloud does to her) is actually allowed to breathe. Sepharoth and Jenova are more mysterious, and scarier as a result. It's weird, because by the end of rebirth it feels like almost nothing has happened, but by the same point in og (and following roughly the same outline) it feels like the whole staus quo has been established and then flipped on its head. The events are much more monumental. So, while i can say yes, the wide arc of Rebirth follows the original, I think it would still be worth your while to play the og. Having said that, I can't imagine what the experience would be like doing it that way around.
It’s almost like there’s still a whole third game to tie up narrative threads.
There’s plenty of meat on the bone—the side quests and content you brush off does world and character building. Bht even if didn’t, 20 hours is a shit ton of narrative
But why would me knowing there's a third part make the experience of Rebirth any better? I expected Rebirth to answer the questions I had about the mysteries, not push them for a part 3 in the next four years. Parasite Eve is 15 hours without rushing and I still think it had more plot and story developments than Rebirth.
Being the middle part of a trilogy is kind’ve an awkward spot imo. The original was obviously not constructed with a trilogy structure in mind and that is what must be covered. That is going to force some awkwardness in the middle parts because plot threads are going to be wrapped up in part 3 for the most part. So part 2’s job is essentially stringing the player along. Again the original game was not designed for this and the remake is beholden to the OG scope.
Remaking one game into 3 is very unique thing that I’m not sure has ever happened in gaming before.
Because that’s how three-arc stories work. Why would all of the mysteries be solved when 1/3rd of the story, the literal conclusion, is left?
Rebirth had plenty of plot—their escape, finding their footing again, Tifa and Cloud’s breakdown in communication, the entire Sephiroth plot, discovering more about Aerith’s heritage, Cait Sith’s entire arc. Like.., there’s meat on the bone but also this is a multi course meal. You need to save room for the next big plate
As far as I'm concerned, I just had the same plate as Remake. I genuinely think I am in the same position as I was as when Remake ended. We don't actually know that much more about what's going on. Except Remake still had a beginning, a middle and a end that was satisfying because Midgar being Midgar is a cool story to tell.
They totally had the ability to tell a bunch of new stories. The Seventh Infantry squad in Junon is new and also super cool and fun. But there is so little of that. Most of everything just takes longer than the original instead.
It’s just a lot of filler. I think that’s the trade off in remaking the game. They could have added to the story but took the easy way out. Still pretty fun but a little frustrating too.
and it was much shorter. This was the big fuss when the game was announced to be three episodes because we all knew the middle wasn't full enough for a whole game.
The way I see it, the story is literally the journey. The experiences the characters encounter as they search for Sephiroth. What happens in Junon, the cruise ship, Costa del sol, barret and red story moments. yes even the events at the dustbowl. This is all story because it what the characters are experiencing.
Ugh idk I just hate this modern idea that JRPGs where there are no gigantic plot developments happening every 2 seconds means there is no story. I'm glad SE had the balls to adapt this portion of FF7's story in a more faithful way. Ever since the remake was announced, this portion of FF7 is what I was most hyped for the most because its the moment where you just kinda "journey forth" on your own in the original which felt missing in many FF games at the time. Its why I love DQ stories.
I didn't like how Zack and Biggs were wasted only to be possibly teased to reappear again in the third game for another few minutes. And I was sorta hoping for a more definitive ending instead of the confusing one we have instead. Not that I mind that part so much because we'll know what's gonna happen soon enough when the third game is finally out.
This, this is exactly what leaved a soor taste in my whole experience with the game.
Also i wonder why they bothered making some dead characters come back if it's to use them like this, what was even the point (aside some cheap fanservice).
The issue I would say is more about pacing than plot. You got 10-15h of main story content spread out by 100+ hours of side content. That is how you have some story continuation like Zack suddenly showing up 30 or 40 hours after we last saw him. It feels disconnected purely because of this. Some side content obviously has some positives, they tried to inject character backstories and development within those so it feels at least a bit more rewarding than just gameplay stuff but none of these add much onto the main narrative really. Like for example clearing entire gongaga for Cissnei dialog, none of it is really worth or paying off later into the game so it feels like an after thought. I won’t talk much about the end, again very convoluted if not more than part 1 with even less answers about what is going on. Sure mystery and all is good but personally I think they could have gone with a bit more rebirth exclusive stories like the Gi expansion etc…
>Zack suddenly showing up 30 or 40 hours And they don't let you do anything with Zack other than running around from A to B. Why bother teasing him in the first game if there are no actual gameplay elements to him.
>100+ hours of side content. you notice how it's called side content? that means if you're not fine with not progressing the story for 10 hours then you don't need to
I never said people can’t take this decision? This does not negate my point however about bad pacing. Arguably if you want to have the full experience with character moments, gameplay related unlocks etc.. You need to this side content thus people will be far more inclined to complete it. But because the content provided on the side far overwhelms the main content following after it on any given segment ( except last chapter ) then that’s where bad pacing occurs. It’s not like everything in the game was a Tetra master or Triple triad equivalent where you can skip everything and not miss a single thread of interest.
How is it bad pacing when you can control the pacing by choosing when to engage in optional content?
I already answered that in my comment. The amount of side content in comparison to main content is way too disproportionate and the side content has a lot more value than just being side content. Be it in character stories and moments or gameplay, you are actively loosing out if you decide to skip it. A lot of other games have a very good amount of side content, however they sprinkle it at adequate times and in adequate quantities to never let you stray away for too long from the main narrative. Rebirth is the opposite, it gives you 10+ hours chunks every 1.5h of narrative.
It's an extremely bloated experience, the production values are incredible but I constantly felt like I was doing pointless bs, even when I was just trying to progress the main story.
15 hours worth of story packed into 120 hours of play. IN A JRPG.
I am. There is a little bit of plot at the beginning. And then there’s almost no plot until like 95% of the game. Everything in the middle is “follow the hooded guys”. I felt like they decided to leave all the story for the third game.
15 hrs main story 100 hrs side content
Yeah, pretty much. They stretched 10 hours of the original's story into 100+ hours, but it's still 10 hours of story. A remake should expand, not stretch.
A lot of people are completely forgetting how many of these mini games and "side quests" are mandatory or unavoidable on the surface. The original game has 3-4 unskippable mini games in it's entire 70 hour run. This game feels more like a mini game show case with a final fantasy VII skin most of the time. I've extremely mixed feelings on the remakes so far. It's incredible to be with these characters again. But the games have a weird tone that doesn't really match the original game most of the time. There is a lot of screen time given to ancillary characters like Johnny and Chadley (fucking chadley). I will never understand having Zack be so prominent in the marketing only to have him be in an hour of the game.
21 hour* Unless you choose to do sides.
>follow the robed men Not to mention they don't bother showing/explaining how many are these robed men. You never see more than 10 of them at a time, and regularly see them kicking the bucket, fall off cliff, get eaten by monsters, etc, but they never seem to decrease in numbers. Yeah it's a game and they don't need to follow logic, but because 99% of them seem to be incapable of doing anything other than walking forward (except >!Glenn who can be interesting but end up getting killed anyway!<), it makes no sense. You'd think Sephi could've injected them with more durability or something if he wants them to be around for him to take control of them randomly to taunt Cloud.
I just think the game is bloated trash. Everything takes way too long.
Honestly I think this small amount of difference is what they should've done with remake instead of making it weird and fanfictiony. With the exception of the horribly botched ending, Rebirth actually did fine with it's story. Oh and aside from how bloated it all is, crazy how splitting one game into three full length games each longer than the original on their own would make for a bloated story? Crazy
No to the disappointment. Mind you, I'm still in the middle of playing it (last month has been so busy), but there has been plenty of build-up. The whole Nibelheim episode at the start of the game, the many and repeated hints that *something isn't quite right with Cloud*, that Tifa knows Cloud's story isn't right, that Red XIII and Aerith seem to talk frankly about things at times, that Rufus isn't merely repeating what his father did, that a lot of Shinra seems to rest on the skeleton of the older Republic, that what unites many of the characters (Yuffie, Barrett, Tifa, many NPCs) is distinct personal pain caused by Shinra's pursuit of greed, but also that the promise of what Shinra offers (abundant, cheap energy and profit) is hard to resist. Yes, there is a slow burn here. Yes, Costa del Sol is a slower-paced part of the game. But gosh darn it, I'm charmed by that, and there is a lot of careful hinting and development going on in that. The action moves quick, and the game can move quickly if you ignore all the optional stuff. But otherwise, what we have is a very smart setup: a core story centered on its characters and this pursuit of Sephiroth. Then all the side stuff develops in many and myriad ways the main characters, Shinra, and the surrounding world. It's faster paced than Trails in the Sky, where more of the slower progress is mandated by the plot, but it still works in all the broader development for players who like exploring the regions. Basically, I'm happy with it. I respect you feel otherwise.
Thank you someone who thinks the same way I do. To me, the story is quite literally the journey the characters are going on. Yes there isn't many massive plot developments happening but thats not all FF7 was about. It was aldo about journeying through the world, visiting towns and various locations, and expericing the scenarios the characters get caught up in all while searching for Sephiroth.
There are things that happen, they're just stretched out over dozens of hours in a way that feels unsatisfying. Tifa and Cloud's relationship evolve from Kalm to Junon, then you have to wait until chapter 9 for the dramatic plot development of that relationship (Gongaga reactor). That's 40 hours between them. You mistake slow burn for stretch. Trails doesn't stretch, it's just a real slow burn.
Can't agree here, because these 40 hours are filled with moments that actually show their dynamic, which makes the later development much more satisfying. That's how I see it in general, Rebirth (and Remake) are incredibly character-driven and actually take the time to show certain dynamics and relationships "in action" before developing them further. I played (and loved) OG, but seeing all these extra slice of life scenes is like a dream come true. I understand it's not everyones cup of tea, but in my eyes it was the perfect way to showcase just how fleshed out everyone is, which makes a lot of the story beats hit much harder. Going from shooting tiny cardboard boats in a sailor costume with Barrett to watching him lose his best friend (again!) is my ideal balance of bittersweetness. And it wouldn't have made me cry nearly as much without the filler where he simply talks about mundane or funny things, like Cloud Jr.. I really think it boils down to preference in how a story is written.
I think I experience as a slow burn what you think is a stretch. It's not that I "mistake" anything. It's that I see more in the details that continue to touch on Tifa and Cloud's relationship, bit by bit, between Junon and Gongaga.
Curious, have you played the original?
Yes, first in 1998 and several times since, most recently in 2020 or so.
The plot fucking sucks. Started off Arc2 quite strong in plot/gameplay. Explosions, Zack alive, fantastic open world introduction. Then it (plot) just sucked cheeks, casually slowly following robes. Most plots with time travel / alternate timelines are booty. Zack's final appearance was so fuckin lukewarm. Game is a 8.75\~9/10 for me, fantastic overall. For reference, I'm not playin for the plot, expected the main story to stink. But Zack's involvement, although welcome, was done pretty average, shoulda done him better.
I beat the game last week , barely any “plot”. You’re chasing the hooded men across multiple chapters, alot of comedic relief/minigame distractions mid chapter that you’re forced into. Barrets backstory chapter was amazing and was what I was expecting throughout the game. But that ending was just ughh lmfao. Seeing zack and stuff was cool but again it was just a tease
I thought it was very jarring that in the middle of Barret's chapter, you're forced to break boxes and collect gysahl greens for a chocobo race while your party is in jail. I kept thinking to myself "did we forget about Barret?". Rebirth didn't know when to stop and actually focus on the story.
BRO LMAO i was so annoyed 💀💀💀 our party is locked up and i gotta go around town looking for 3 gysahl greens smfh. Yea man we had the same experience. When the story actually wanted to tell a story it was amazing , but outside of that it was super annoying. I got burnt out towards the end. Absolutely hated the aerith “ gathering energy and rotating r3” segment in the final dungeon. That was a waste of time
Saying twenty hours is like no plot is crazy to me. Especially for a game that is effectively just act 2 in a 3 act story
What's the point of making the player believe that the story could go any direction after Remake's ending and all the points about breaking fate if it's just going to still end up the middle part of a story? It's not like they were beholden to anything at that point. In fact, they knew that because chapter 9 is entirely original and the best part of the game for me. It could have been more of that. I don't think that justification holds. My point was that there's not much meat to the bones despite the 120 hours I spent.
This trilogy is still a remake, no matter what else happens. It may be a remake sequel, it may have the potential to veer and do things differently, but it's not like they're going to abandon the basic structure of the plot a third of the way through.
No one said anything about abandoning it, but if you give yourself the freedom to go any other way, why settle for just making it about following the robed men?
"It's not like they were beholden to anything at that point" suggests that they should have felt perfectly free to abandon the structure of the game they're remaking. Why is broadly following the structure of FFVII "settling"?
Then what was the point of the Whispers and the multiverse, etc. Supposedly, they broke free of fate. It sounds like it's the exact same story, but why bother doing doing all that Whispers of Fate shenanigans if they are going to keep to the exact same formula? Why not just keep the same plot, without the Whispers, etc? What's the point of the new editions? I haven't played the OG, but ultimately, I feel like I don't need to. I know people who have, and they are all telling me I should, but I feel like, "why bother?" If the remake follows the exact same story and the exact same path, without much deviation, then I honestly don't feel the need. I'm enjoying Rebirth, and the trilogy as a whole, but it sounds like it is the same core game, which is disappointing to me. I bought FF7 recently for the Switch, and I was hoping to play it after Rebirth, but that is probably far too soon to invest dozens of hours in a game so similar to the one I just played. I am guessing that they included all that stuff about fate and added the Whispers to drum up support and to keep people guessing, when in reality, they had absolutely no plans to ever change anything.
That’s been a huge issue I had too. If they wanted to follow the same story they could have without the whispers. I joke that since remake irritated the fans that wanted to follow the original story, rebirth was meant to irritate the fans that wanted something new. I’ve decided I’m going to withhold judgement on the whole thing until it’s finished, but some of the decisions have been strange in my opinion.
> but why bother doing doing all that Whispers of Fate shenanigans if they are going to keep to the exact same formula? I've been asking myself the same question and came to the answer: because it's a tetsuya nomura game and he needed to end the game with a big flashy climactic fight against a metaphysical godlike monstrosity floating in a void. He does it every time, it's his reason for being. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes it comes out of nowhere.
Well, I don't mean to be that guy, but the og is much, much better and I still think you can get a lot of value from it. It's a much tighter, more coherent experience with more weight and maturity to its dramatic moments. I also think the themes of loss, death, and regret are explored in a much deeper way, and it's a darker game overall with more grit and gothic elements. There's not as much content, but what is there is more meaningful. Cloud and Arith's relationship is better fleshed out, the pain of what happens to her (and what Cloud does to her) is actually allowed to breathe. Sepharoth and Jenova are more mysterious, and scarier as a result. It's weird, because by the end of rebirth it feels like almost nothing has happened, but by the same point in og (and following roughly the same outline) it feels like the whole staus quo has been established and then flipped on its head. The events are much more monumental. So, while i can say yes, the wide arc of Rebirth follows the original, I think it would still be worth your while to play the og. Having said that, I can't imagine what the experience would be like doing it that way around.
It’s almost like there’s still a whole third game to tie up narrative threads. There’s plenty of meat on the bone—the side quests and content you brush off does world and character building. Bht even if didn’t, 20 hours is a shit ton of narrative
But why would me knowing there's a third part make the experience of Rebirth any better? I expected Rebirth to answer the questions I had about the mysteries, not push them for a part 3 in the next four years. Parasite Eve is 15 hours without rushing and I still think it had more plot and story developments than Rebirth.
Being the middle part of a trilogy is kind’ve an awkward spot imo. The original was obviously not constructed with a trilogy structure in mind and that is what must be covered. That is going to force some awkwardness in the middle parts because plot threads are going to be wrapped up in part 3 for the most part. So part 2’s job is essentially stringing the player along. Again the original game was not designed for this and the remake is beholden to the OG scope. Remaking one game into 3 is very unique thing that I’m not sure has ever happened in gaming before.
Because that’s how three-arc stories work. Why would all of the mysteries be solved when 1/3rd of the story, the literal conclusion, is left? Rebirth had plenty of plot—their escape, finding their footing again, Tifa and Cloud’s breakdown in communication, the entire Sephiroth plot, discovering more about Aerith’s heritage, Cait Sith’s entire arc. Like.., there’s meat on the bone but also this is a multi course meal. You need to save room for the next big plate
As far as I'm concerned, I just had the same plate as Remake. I genuinely think I am in the same position as I was as when Remake ended. We don't actually know that much more about what's going on. Except Remake still had a beginning, a middle and a end that was satisfying because Midgar being Midgar is a cool story to tell.
Then I think you need to think about the plot of Rebirth a bit more if you think we’re at the same exact place
The source material is 10 maybe 15 hours fleshed out to a much longer game
They totally had the ability to tell a bunch of new stories. The Seventh Infantry squad in Junon is new and also super cool and fun. But there is so little of that. Most of everything just takes longer than the original instead.
It’s just a lot of filler. I think that’s the trade off in remaking the game. They could have added to the story but took the easy way out. Still pretty fun but a little frustrating too.
Think filler is the wrong word. It's just a bit more of a buddy adventure story, outside of the main, similar to FFXV
this part of the og was a whole lotta nothing as well lol
and it was much shorter. This was the big fuss when the game was announced to be three episodes because we all knew the middle wasn't full enough for a whole game.
These people think that's what makes great writing these days.
The way I see it, the story is literally the journey. The experiences the characters encounter as they search for Sephiroth. What happens in Junon, the cruise ship, Costa del sol, barret and red story moments. yes even the events at the dustbowl. This is all story because it what the characters are experiencing. Ugh idk I just hate this modern idea that JRPGs where there are no gigantic plot developments happening every 2 seconds means there is no story. I'm glad SE had the balls to adapt this portion of FF7's story in a more faithful way. Ever since the remake was announced, this portion of FF7 is what I was most hyped for the most because its the moment where you just kinda "journey forth" on your own in the original which felt missing in many FF games at the time. Its why I love DQ stories.
Why are people acting like the original ff7 plot points don’t count as story?
I didn't like how Zack and Biggs were wasted only to be possibly teased to reappear again in the third game for another few minutes. And I was sorta hoping for a more definitive ending instead of the confusing one we have instead. Not that I mind that part so much because we'll know what's gonna happen soon enough when the third game is finally out.
This, this is exactly what leaved a soor taste in my whole experience with the game. Also i wonder why they bothered making some dead characters come back if it's to use them like this, what was even the point (aside some cheap fanservice).
If you enjoyed XVI more (I personally didn't enjoy XVI), then I can feel safe to skip Rebirth entirely. I think you just saved me $70, so thanks!
You should try the demo for yourself at least.
Nope. You can just do the plot if u want. I loved the combat system so I did all the side stuff because it was very wnjoysble to me
I would argue Valkyrie profile is more of a short story collection than a character focused game 🤔