Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade

So I have this on Steam and I'm confused how these work and don't wanna Google cause I feel like the question might not be cut and dry.

Is this the only FF7 remake game I need to play at this point? Or am I supposed to be playing a different one first?

It contains the original game and the Yuffie episode, so you're good to go

Ok great

Stealth funshine turbo playthrough topic coming maybe

Tag

I'd follow a playthrough topic. These remakes have been really special.

Lopen posted...

Ok great

Stealth funshine turbo playthrough topic coming maybe

Hopefully it goes better than the FFX-2 one!

Been waiting for 20 years for it to finish...!

Maybe playing a good game will get me in the rhythm for some disasteriffic funshine

Yeah, it's confusing, but by Nomura standards it's crystal clear.

I am probably picking this game up for PS5 in a few weeks. Ill read this thread once Im done with my own playthrough!

Lopen posted...

Maybe playing a good game will get me in the rhythm for some disasteriffic funshine

Unfortunately you're playing FF7 Remake instead

Nice I'm like halfway through the game myself.

Well I dunno how elaborate I'm gonna be with a playthrough topic here, but I guess that's what this is now. I'm just gonna post random assorted thoughts I'm having as I play through and maybe there will be enough to be an entertaining playthrough topic I dunno.

I got to play a few hours this weekend so far-- I'm gonna play some more soon. I think I'm pretty hooked by it this game is sweet. I'm currently in Chapter 3 and I just did all of the random villager sidequests-- I dunno if this is a formula in this game, doing errands for townsfolk. I think if this becomes a recurring thing I may have to... not do them all, since I was super pumped when we hit that spinoff and I mean, I guess a cooldown segment was not that bad because I still enjoyed most of it aside from finding that girl's cats (Cloud saying "this sucks" when that mission was complete was so perfect-- felt like he was channeling my energy). But there was a bonus scene with Tifa at the end, so I dunno maybe it was worth doing them? And I got some good loot too I guess. I told Tifa to "... dress sporty?" mostly because it seemed kinda in character for Cloud currently and also because I assumed that was the negative affection points thing since he was basically just telling her to dress like she always does. Be light with spoilers but does gaming that even matter for this game?

I don't really want the Cloud/Tifa ship I'm not feeling it right now despite that being the one I thought was best in original FF7-- I blame the old woman trying to push that. Jessie being way more fun than Tifa has been hurts it too, but I even kinda enjoyed the Aeris/Cloud interaction with the flower and the ghosts more than all the Tifa stuff so far. No spoilers since I've been pretty good at avoiding knowing many details about this game, but I really hope Avalanche Crew lasts longer in this game. I like Jessie and Wedge (especially Jessie) a lot. Biggs is fine too I guess. Or maybe I'm just bitter towards Tifa cause her segment turned into sidequest central-- negative endearment for that.

Enjoying the interactions with Cloud and Barret a lot. The thing at the reactor mission when they were in the elevator and Barret was like "I HEAR THE PLANET CRYING!" and Cloud was like "You really hear the planet crying, huh? Get help." was so good had me rolling.

The gameplay is really awesome. I don't really like how Barret controls but Cloud and Tifa both seemed fun and distinctive to use. Barret felt distinctive too but he's just kinda clunky with his power shots and stuff. I dunno. Loved the Guard Scorpion fight. I'm a bit concerned about how open everything is-- I feel like I'm going to miss a lot of items and materia laying around but hopefully very little is straight missable. I have found a lot of stuff but am concerned I'm missing a lot cause I'm not exploring well.

Random side note I love how you can see the materia socketed in your weapon in the game. I saw two green orbs in Cloud's sword, immediately removed them to see it would change and it did and I was like AAHHHHH. I dunno it's the little things.

On the fence on how Sephiroth is being handled so far. I do like how Cloud's headaches are being done but Sephiroth feels like it might be a bit heavy handed? Visions of Sephiroth everywhere-- why he was cool in FF7 is because you just had this build of the guy and DIDN'T see him for so long. I mean I guess it's just Cloud having hallucinations so it'll be a reveal when you see him for real but eh. There was something really ominous about how Sephiroth was handled in FF7 that isn't really being captured yet. It's not bad just... I dunno, if I had one thing I wasn't blown away by it's that so far.

Looking forward to seeing Aeris again. I really liked the one scene she had. One of my favorites. There's like a mystery about her already with seeing the spirit things that makes her character seem better than it did in FF7 and I thought how she just ran from Cloud when the Shinra dudes came was really funny. Good VA too. Maybe the SMFFFC people weren't crazy and this game really does improve her character a lot.

But yeah this game is sweet so far. I imagine I'll make quick work of it in the coming weeks.

Lopen posted...

I told Tifa to "... dress sporty?" mostly because it seemed kinda in character for Cloud currently and also because I assumed that was the negative affection points thing since he was basically just telling her to dress like she always does. Be light with spoilers but does gaming that even matter for this game?

It has a direct impact on one scene later in the game: It determines what outfit Tifa wears in Don Corneo's mansion.

Also yeah, I feel like the one thing that Remake and Rebirth get kinda wrong is the appeal of Sephiroth from the original. He shows up too much, even if it's something in Clouds head.

Aerith's voice is a bit too cutesy fake for me. It's definitely not on the bad end of things, but still overdone. I also feel like they lean into Barret's buffoonery too much. There really isn't that much sidequesting thankfully.

So what happens if you don't get this scene? Or do you get it eventually even if you don't do all the sidequests? Does she default to something? I'm just wondering because the map point didn't appear till I did all the sidequests.

I think I'm mostly asking to rule out whether I need to care about being thorough with sidequests for story content here.

I'm pretty sure that scene is mandatory, so yeah, you can't miss it.

I always did all the sidequests. There are some good moments hidden in there.

I think Barret is perfect so far tbh this is exactly the character I was imagining when I played FF7. I think it's because I always interpreted his $Q!@!%@ instead of more traditional censoring as kinda goofy.

Ironically he's about the only one that feels like what I was expecting. In a good way for most of them but yeah.

Good to know there won't be a ton of sidequests I'll probably just do them all too if there is some story content in them-- I was just worried it was gonna totally mess up the game pacing to do them all. I don't feel like this batch was too many but I was concerned it could get worse at some point.

Played a couple of more hours. The fight with the 5 thugs who wanted to know about Barret was actually the closest I got to dying that would have been embarrassing. Holding Cloud's arms from behind while your boys shoot the heck out of him that's a lot of damage, man.

Went with Jessie to get the weaker explosives. I'm sure that's gonna bite them later when something doesn't actually explode right. The darts minigame was actually kinda fun, got the top score in like 5 tries and had Wedge give me a luck up materia later for it-- no idea what luck is good for. Looks like crits and steal chance. Maybe it'll be useful but man I'm having trouble finding the slots to use the materia I want already.

Roche is... I don't know how to feel about this character. I guess he's fine. I feel like he's kind of like a pander to Lopen kinda character but he doesn't quite hit right for me to really like him yet, but he's not bad. The motorcycle stuff was kinda silly but ok to do once. Better than the original FF7 motorcycle stuff. I like the way the summons work here. Ifrit was pretty fun to bring out and have him sorta just do his own thing. I like that it doesn't steal a materia slot too.

This segment was basically the Jessie story, you get to meet her family and she's got a mako poisoned father that is her motivation for joining avalanche and there is a bunch of actual cute flirting with Cloud, which is something FF games have historically been bad at so I'm impressed-- this game kinda sucks for making her so likeable though because I want to use her in my party and I can't. Or at the very least don't want her to be removed from the story since she's the best part of it in the early game. I guess I can be hopeful that avalanche survives in this one since I've somewhat been spoiled that Aeris apparently does? Don't correct me if that's wrong, but, you know, apparently she does.

The thing with the ghosts was interesting... Jessie said "I feel like they were coming after ME" and then like, I'm realizing the first time they appeared was for Aeris. Is this some sorta weird meta thing where they go after OG FF7 casualties. That would actually be kinda amazing not gonna lie.

I stopped just after that. About to get on a train with Barret to Reactor 5. 6 hours and I haven't even seen Air Buster yet what is this game.

Jessie is pretty good!

Tag

Yeah while I really liked the game's on a first playthrough to soak in Midgar, the pacing feels like such a crawl if one's used to exiting Midgar after 10 or less hours in the original.

You don't get a choice of dress without doing all the sidequests. Tifa defaults to the one that is based on her dress in the original then. Getting the others is mostly about achievements if memory serves right.

Well I dont think the pacing is slow beyond that random sidequest spree Tifa inflicted. Stuff is happening but yeah it's just really funny how little of the original game's plot has occurred. I feel like Midgar is gonna be like 30 hours of content at this rate. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing in a lot of ways Midgar was the best part of the original.

There are a few of those "sidequest sprees." I do all of them and the game rewards you with some additional scenes for each of those sprees.

Lopen posted...

Well I dont think the pacing is slow beyond that random sidequest spree Tifa inflicted. Stuff is happening but yeah it's just really funny how little of the original game's plot has occurred. I feel like Midgar is gonna be like 30 hours of content at this rate. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing in a lot of ways Midgar was the best part of the original.

Well, they had to make a full game out of Midgar somehow!

Oh is it the whole game? Neat. Wait does Yuffie show up in Midgar that'd be wild. Or maybe it's just a random Yuffie side thing thrown in after the game.

See I basically don't know anything about this game I have been skilled at avoiding knowledge.

Yeah, even the Yuffie episode is set in Midgar.

Wutai dealings with Shinra for materia... just like the thugs foretold...

Lopen posted...

survives in this one since I've somewhat been spoiled that Aeris apparently does?

well of course she survives this game

Lopen posted...

There's like a mystery about her already with seeing the spirit things that makes her character seem better than it did in FF7

well I'm certainly gonna disagree with your takes here! It's weird feeling like one of the only people who thinks the original game's story was actually good anymore. Just don't be a Jessie saver

The original story is great, and Remake Aerith is great because she's a lot more like original Aerith than she was in the spinoffs where she's just this pure innocent girl

The ghosts suck though

Lopen posted...

Well I dont think the pacing is slow beyond that random sidequest spree Tifa inflicted.

About to get on a train with Barret to Reactor 5? Let's see if you still feel that way in a bit...

Also, tag

Remake's side quests are not good, IMO! It's crazy how much better Rebirth's are.

there's so few it doesn't end up bothering me that much, though they are pretty bad

Yeah, Rebirth's sidequests are a step up, but I didn't mind Remake's.

I dunno, I can't think of many games with worse side quests than Remake. FFXV and XVI, I guess.

I didn't mind remakes sidequest on the first playthrough, but Rebirth offers at least a lot more variety in quests, but the environments as well.
With midgar no matter the quest it's still in Midgar and there's only so much they could do to provide different environment.

I think across both remake and intergrade, I racked up a hair under 50 hours.
It does feel like it drags a bit to get there as the extra content isn't all that.
Unlike Rebirth which feels like it's got way too much content crammed in.

MacArrowny posted...

I dunno, I can't think of many games with worse side quests than Remake. FFXV and XVI, I guess.

Assassin's Creed?

There's 4 chapters with sidequests. IMO, the best payoff is for doing all of the ones in 8 , the rest could be skipped.

pjbasis posted...

Just don't be a Jessie saver

Jessie best character in first 6 hours we may already be too far gone.

Leonhart4 posted...

The ghosts suck though

Well I'm not gonna commit to liking them depending on what the payoff actually is. We will see if I'm just fanficing them into being good or if they actually end up cool.

I liked OG FF7's story fine I just thought Aeris was a huge weak point early so any sort of different direction for her was encouraging.

Anyway only 4 sets of sidequests I'll just do them and hopefully not hate myself for it. As long as theyre not cat rustling it should be fine. Thanks for letting me know though.

voltch posted...

Assassin's Creed?

there's still actually good side content in those games, even if you stumble upon the worst now and then

R1 is near flawless with great pacing. The side quests are very short and fine as a breather. Some areas do drag longer than they need to, but the game is still fun enough during those times. But for the other 90%, it's hard to imagine the game being less detailed. (I played the original up to Wall Market and quit because it was too difficult to understand. But doing the same in R1 makes me appreciate it so much more.)

foolm0r0n posted...

I played the original up to Wall Market and quit because it was too difficult to understand

I feel like a lot of things clicked into place, thank you

That's my generous wording. What I meant was the original game is unplayable garbage.

foolm0r0n posted...

That's my generous wording. What I meant was the original game is unplayable garbage.

pjbasis posted...

I feel like a lot of things clicked into place, thank you

I played up to the start of chapter 9 a week or two ago, need to get back into it. The game looked and ran pretty amazing on my semi-aging rig, and the OST is absolutely fantastic. Also I do agree the sidequests suck and Jessie best girl.

I thought the original was only about alright (better than 8 9 and 4 for sure. come at me bro), but I played it too late in life for nostalgia to really be a factor. The changes are making it a lot more interesting to ponder

agesboy posted...

(better than 8 9 and 4 for sure. come at me bro),

eh, 2/3 correct, I'll give you a pass

Played through the Air Buster, who apparently took 4 more hours to get to. Freakin ridiculous. It was a cool fight at least, and I liked the gimmick where you scrap his upgrades leading up to him, though the idea of Air Buster having 30k HP is just hilarious to me. I took the 3 M Pods and 3 AI Cores. I think I made the right choice prioritizing the AI Cores over the nukes. The stun attack was annoying when it hit and the nuke missiles were not actually that dangerous. I was able to tank them most of the time by using protect and just having HP topped off. Helps that I have Barret specced as a tanky healbot with magic and defensive stats pumped up so he just stands back and can revive as necessary and heals as necessary.

I feel like I actually prefer using Tifa to Cloud now that I've played around with them both (and Barret-- lots of time in the super long dungeon crawl). She's fast so she gets moves more often and her Unbridled Strength + finisher mechanic feels more interesting than Punisher mode (I don't really like blocking)-- also her basic combo feels better to use cause it's so fast. I gave her linked Elemental to Fire so now she's got big Ken Masters energy with flaming fists (love that there are graphical effects for the elemental links-- I need more of this materia). Lightning fists would have been better for Air Buster but it wasn't a hard fight anyway so no regrets. She chews up the soldiers at least. Her sonic fists weapon kinda encourages this too-- though I had started doing this before I got those. I do enjoy using Cloud too though so I'm not sure I'm gonna be a Tifa main or anything. If nothing else this feels encouraging that Yuffie will be good to use (Wutai, MORTAL ENEMY TO MIDGAR, that is so funny that they went so hard on that when Wutai was never even mentioned in Midgar in the original)

Honestly hardly any story in this part-- pacing feels messed up even worse than the sidequests at this point. I'm still enjoying the game-- there was fun banter during the dungeon crawling at least. Barret singing a song while I went and grabbed the Choco Mog materia was absurd even for him lol. He was definitely very needed though-- Cloud and Tifa are too serious in general (though Tifa did have a goofy moment imitating a Shinra ad, that was unexpected but in a good way)-- I guess the dynamic where Tifa was like, having doubts about whether eco terrorism was the right way added to things too. I will say if the party choices start opening up and you get this kinda dialogue going through dungeons with every combination that'd be incredible, though I'm not too hopeful of that.

Found the Heidegger stuff SUPER zzz. Game was trying very hard to make him out to be a thing and it just wasn't working for me. I did not need to see him watch the party on cameras and yell at Shinra grunts 3 times much less the 7 times he got.

So between her being fun to use in the game and her interactions in this segment I'm liking Tifa again (I did like her in FF7! My main party was Cloud Tifa Yuffie pretty much all the time), so hopefully she keeps getting better and that'll make me feel less bad when the Cloud x Jessie ship dream inevitably fails (no Jessie for this entire segment-- sad!)

Did see the very beginning of Chapter 8 while I waited to save after air buster. A teaser for a segment to look forward to that should be more story/character based than the crazy dungeon crawling I just did-- which was entertaining to play but not so entertaining to talk about. Did Cloud just have a vision of the Aerith death scene-- I saw that bouncing materia, what is going on here. Multiverse ghosts man I'm tellin ya. Hyped to get story stuff next time! The glacial pace of story things will thaw!

Tifa is a lot of fun to use in battle. She also becomes a lot more fun as a character once Aerith gets involved. They have a great dynamic, so I think you'll get your wish!