Final Fantasy VII Remake

[Aeolus]

A few people should be dead but aren't (looking at you Rufus), Cloud's characterization osmosed Vincent's Hot Topic style brooding rather than keeping his more cocky and standoffish attitude before his cosmosphere fix or his more mature/level-headed acceptance of reality afterwards, and various Gackts somehow managing to become both the Alpha and Omega Sephiroths respectfully (among other things).

I think the characterization of Cloud is my primary concern. Ever since AC, he has been presented as a brooding emo kid, but that isn't how is portrayed in the original. Yes, he still broods, and gets depressed, but he's also a loveable, roguish jerk at the same time. I don't think that Square Enix has shown they're interested in portraying Cloud that way any longer. I also worry that a lot of the humor from the original just won't translate well into an HD remake. I mean, can you really imagine Barrett and Cloud going on a date at the Gold Saucer in HD? I'm excited still, and the environments in the trailer look excellent, but I'd like to see some more detail of the characters and their personalities before I get too carried away.

I'm playing thru FFVII on PC now. How "confirmed" was Rufus' death in FFVII and where did it happen? At least in AC they didn't try to bring back Hojo or some nonsense.

The building he was standing in kinda gets blown to pieces by Diamond Weapon near the end of the second disk. The cutscene shows him trying to shield himself in vain when the shots hit, then the scene cuts to the outside showing Shinra Tower getting smashed up by the barrage. Afterwards, Hediger and Scarlet are basically in charge of Shinra for about 10 minutes before Cloud and co shows up to run them down like the glorified speed bump on their way to Hojo.

[Dice]

Look, Rufus was Level 99 and he could withstand the blast.  He just needed a Phoenix Down, but they ran out of Hi-Potions and Cloud and Co got all the healing/curing Materia...so natural recovery it is.

[Agent D.]

Look, Rufus was Level 99 and he could withstand the blast.  He just needed a Phoenix Down, but they ran out of Hi-Potions and Cloud and Co got all the healing/curing Materia...so natural recovery it is.

Guys, gals, peeps in general. Yuffie and Vincent ran back during the ending and cleared the buildings,, found Rufus semi dead and cast Life 2 on him, and got him and most of the rest of Midgar out to safety. Cmon, everyone, keep up.

[Annubis]

A bit off subject but...
If they add a way to revive Aerith, does that mean that Christina Love will have to update Hate Plus with a way to revive *Mute and get the level 4 Revive Materia achievement?

[Kevadu]

If they add a way to revive Aerith

Oh please no...

[90sgamer]

Cloud cross dressing in glorious HD, now there's a sight. They better not cut any content like that.

[Klutz64]

As much as I want to see the comedic bits stay the same and see them redone in modern engine, I also can't wait to see some of the environments we have yet to see redone.

Like Wutai, or Mideel, OR FORT CONDOR, OR THE GODDAMN GOLD SAUCER, OR MOTHER F#@%ING TEMPLE OF THE ANCIENTS, BITCHES!!

*takes a deep breath*

[mecharobot]

Cloud cross dressing in glorious HD, now there's a sight. They better not cut any content like that.

You mean Palmer getting hit by a glorious HD truck? Now that would be a sight to behold.

[Klyde Chroma]

I'm not trying to be negative about this whole thing but am I the only one slightly disgusted by all this hoop-lah?

Hear me out. I feel as though I put my best foot forward to stay excited about Square Enix efforts over the years but at this point I just simply cannot muster a drop of care for more of ANY expansion/remake/re-release or otherwise of Final Fantasy anything.

The only thing I was hoping for was news that production was moving along swiftly and we were actually going to get the titles that we already knew about for the last 5 years soon. We don't even have a release date for some games we've been waiting for through full console eras and now this comes along and effectively promises what, another 5-6 years anticipating something we all know and are familiar with whilst slogs  of people bitch and whine about it. This of course all MUST be endured before the hope of something new could even be entertained.

Sadly, and my sympathies go out to Square for this, I know they could never appease folks without this project being addressed in some sense.

I suppose I am gonna shut up now, because as the expression goes "if you don't have anything nice to say...". But seriously, this news does not strike me as good, it does not strike me as bad, it just strikes me as a bland and boring confirmation of what I know I will now be reading about in regards to FF franchise for the next half-decade of my life.

[EmeraldSword]

Personally, I'm looking forward to that mini snowboarding game. That was epic fun dive bombing the mountain back in the day on the PS1. Although not RPG related, I'm biased on this one as I love snowboarding games and played the SSX series to death through the PlayStation evolution.

[timmyFd]

I'm playing thru FFVII on PC now. How "confirmed" was Rufus' death in FFVII and where did it happen? At least in AC they didn't tou ry to bring back Hojo or some nonsense.

You were aware that's what Dirge of Cerberus did right? Or was that what you were implicitly comparing it to?

found Rufus semi dead and cast Life 2 on him

There's something they could change and very few people would mind.

[Giga_Force]

I cried a bit when this was revealed, along with Shenmue III and The Last Guardian. I hope they include the original soundtrack as an option because we all know the soundtrack will be orchestrated.

[Dice]

yay!

Tetsuya Nomura speaks about the project:

Nomura, who was a character designer on the 1997 original, is clearly excited about the prospect. "The talks about making this remake, internally it's been mentioned on and off," he told Eurogamer's Aoife Wilson in the interview. "Sometimes we think we can do it, and then sometimes we think maybe we can't. Considering some of the original staff, like Kitase, he's acting as producer, and [Kazushige] Nojima, he's doing the script - we're all getting older! If we keep going like this, the thought occurred to us that we might have to pass this on to a younger generation, without the original developers taking part. It doesn't seem like such a grand intention, but we wanted to do it with the original members."

So why has it taken 'til now for it to happen - especially as it comes relatively soon after Square Enix disappointed fans by setting up a reveal last December before announcing the PC port of the original was coming to PlayStation 4?

"When we announced the HD port, the PC port on the PS4, we weren't sure when we wanted to announce the remake," Nomura said elsewhere in the interview. "The production was underway then, so there's no real connection between the timing of the two FF7s coming to PS4. We've announced several different titles coming to the PlayStation 4 like World of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts 3."

The slow uptake of new consoles in Japan seems to be a concern, and Square Enix is making a concerted effort to make sure the PlayStation 4 is more attractive to the audience in its home country. "There's more and more titles being introduced for the platform, and we're hoping that announcing the remake of Final Fantasy 7, it'll give a boost to people wanting to buy this current generation of console. If we announced the remake after all those titles have been sold, it wouldn't have created such an impact, so that's why we decided on this timing. We wanted to reassure players that PlayStation 4 is coming out with great titles including Final Fantasy 7. That's why we decided to announce the remake."

How the new, slightly darker aesthetic sits with some of the crazier elements of the original game remains to be seen, but it seems there'll be intact. Can't wait to see the delicious sight of Cloud in a dress in glorious HD? "Please look forward to it," said Nomura as the interview came to a close.

I didn't highlight it, but also great to hear the original scenario writer, Kazushige Nojima, will be back on duty for this as well.

[Klutz64]

And there goes most of my fears washed away.

Bring on the hype!!

[Wild Armor]

Now I can play that submarine minigame in HD...