I finished the original back in the day and like many it was my introduction to JRPGs. I've played many others since, and now regard FF7 as pretty middle tier, but its importance cannot be understated. Now we have this fancy remake, and it's an odd one.
First impressions are of course strong, as the production values are through the roof. This is as close to playing a CG movie as I think we've yet come, although the word "playing" is perhaps stretching it. This is where I just can't get on board with this remake. The combat is terrible. Genuinely terrible. It's so bad it ruins the game.
If you gave up on FF15 (as I did) due to its dumbed down combat then get ready for something even less interesting. Combat in this is essentially hold down square, dodge occasionally, then when your ATB charges up you can use a potion, an ability, or some magic. The inability to use even a potion if you're out of ATB is so strange, and it usually means you can't refill your health outside of battle either. There's an alternate combat mode called "classic", which is supposed to be more turn based, but in reality just holds down square for you and Cloud auto runs to each enemy. It also lowers the difficulty to easy, making every battle comically simple, and they're already a push over on normal.
Square clearly spent a lot of money on this but in their attempt to chase the mainstream (who were willing to get on board with turn based combat with the original, and continue to be okay with it in countless Pokemon and Dragon Quest games) have dumbed down the game to the point of being flat out uninteresting. Perhaps it gets better eventually, but I'm 6 hours in so far and every battle has been a total snoozefest. A very pretty snoozefest, but dull all the same.
I think I may have to finally accept that Final Fantasy is no longer for me. Fortunately I have Dragon Quest, Bravely Default 2, Octopath Traveller, and many others that still understand what makes a JRPG work.
I kind of expected this to be a dud based on the gameplay videos I'd seen in the past, so this isn't a surprise. Still a shame though.
First impressions are of course strong, as the production values are through the roof. This is as close to playing a CG movie as I think we've yet come, although the word "playing" is perhaps stretching it. This is where I just can't get on board with this remake. The combat is terrible. Genuinely terrible. It's so bad it ruins the game.
If you gave up on FF15 (as I did) due to its dumbed down combat then get ready for something even less interesting. Combat in this is essentially hold down square, dodge occasionally, then when your ATB charges up you can use a potion, an ability, or some magic. The inability to use even a potion if you're out of ATB is so strange, and it usually means you can't refill your health outside of battle either. There's an alternate combat mode called "classic", which is supposed to be more turn based, but in reality just holds down square for you and Cloud auto runs to each enemy. It also lowers the difficulty to easy, making every battle comically simple, and they're already a push over on normal.
Square clearly spent a lot of money on this but in their attempt to chase the mainstream (who were willing to get on board with turn based combat with the original, and continue to be okay with it in countless Pokemon and Dragon Quest games) have dumbed down the game to the point of being flat out uninteresting. Perhaps it gets better eventually, but I'm 6 hours in so far and every battle has been a total snoozefest. A very pretty snoozefest, but dull all the same.
I think I may have to finally accept that Final Fantasy is no longer for me. Fortunately I have Dragon Quest, Bravely Default 2, Octopath Traveller, and many others that still understand what makes a JRPG work.
I kind of expected this to be a dud based on the gameplay videos I'd seen in the past, so this isn't a surprise. Still a shame though.
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