The combat really comes alive on Hard mode when you've got everything unlocked and the game requires you engage more with the systems that could easily be neglected on Normal. Definitely one of the more enjoyable second playthroughs for me as someone who is typically one and done with games.
on hard mode i got stuck once or twice and really had to analize what i was doing wrong. even had to roll back to an earlier chapter once to get things sorted and ready for a certain mid game boss that can be really hard.
Sorry but if the devs design it in a way so that playing for 40 hours on normal mode is actually a complete waste of your time then that's objectively a 0/10 since they intentionally designed it to be boring
@@shanegale6143 Except it's not a complete waste of time. The combat is still fun on Normal and you are experiencing the story for the first time... which is the main draw of the game.
I watched Max Dood playing the whole thing before Rebirth was released and enjoyed it like it was a TV series. The character development is just amazing :-)
It's really not, if you're not already invested in the story. I've been playing it because Rebirth gonna release soon, but it's such a chore to play it. Everything is just so slow, you can see the padding everywhere and people talk so god damn slow and it's terrible anime voice acting including the awful grunting. It's cool that you can return to the quest giver once you finish a side quest.
It's alright. Characters are amazing and sometimes even better than the original. Music is epic and nostalgic. The sidequests and the chores are insane though, the game is extended waaaaaay to much. Makes it go from a 9 to 6 or so for me. Also the edited 'ending' with the ghosts was super weird and not needed.
Agreed- deserved the high scores and the praise on this video. I’ve see a lot of people who never grew up with the original love it too, which was nice to see. There’s always a loud minority who can’t get on with very good games. And in this case, some old fans who wanted it to be a more faithful remake, which I get, but this a fantastic game, and the combat, which I’ve seen lauded in many reviews, is one of the best I’ve played.
I’m glad you’re going into this knowing it should be treated as its own thing. I thoroughly enjoy these remakes as the alternate version we’re experiencing. The essence of each character was spot on for me so it just felt like spending more quality time with characters I love.
Y'know, I wouldn't've expected a company the size of SQEX to remember your response, AND then later offering you the previous entry as a bit of clever marketing for the next one coming on PC. Intrigued to know your thoughts on the remake series, especially considering your history with the OG.
The fact you beat the OG FF7 when you were 7 is amazing, as I was in my early 20s when it came out and it kicked my ass and it took the collective efforts of my roommate and I to beat the game 😂. I guess I just suck at games LOL.
Props to you OG. I was a little kid, this dude in his 20s that ran our community center came in all hype about FF7 and installed it on the PCs, we were captivated by the opening few hours and his passion. Took awhile to get the thing to work on his main PC. The only thing in years that quieted us wild kids down, like we gotta let him work this is important.
I could never beat FFVII as a kid because although I had a PlayStation on launch, I never wound up getting a memory card for it. So when a friend would bring it over, we would just end up replaying the opening parts and it wasn't until I would go over his house that I would see him in the open world outside of Midgar. My mind was blown. Anyway, FFVII remake has been a favorite of mine for a while not only because I have so much nostalgia for it, but also because despite what a lot of people say - that it has all this padding and yadda' yadda' - it's just supremely good. I'm about halfway through Rebirth on PS5 and I hope it gets a smooth release for PC, because god damn it is absolutely stacked.
Excited to hear your thoughts. Rebirth was my best played game last year. That difficulty really spiked going for all the trophies, but i got it done in around 125 hrs using some good guides.
When integrated first dropped, I picked it up on the PlayStation and played through it immediately. I had loved Final Fantasy seven when I was in high school and in the army, so this was a wonderful call back.
I played final fantasy shortly after it released at I think 11 years old. Its was the first game I ever did EVERYTHING in. Had the strategy guide. Man I loved that game, talk about a “core” memory. Ps1 had all the bangers, I had all the resident evil’s, parasite eves, silent hill, basically everything squaresoft put out, wild arms, suikoden 1&2, legend of dragoon, grandia, xenogears and too many more to remember. Man I miss those days.
Frankly what you said in the beginning is exactly how i feel. FF7 i played as a little kid and the memories and emotions from it are still very much with me to this day. I would not like to overwrite those or change them in any way. The new game might be great, but i simply value my memories of the original too much to play the new version. Ill leave that to the new generation that has never played the original first.
I love these games so much. Really look forward to your 100%. The endgame challenge “Top Secrets” is one heck of a trial that really requires mastery to beat. Good luck!
Can't wait to watch your full review. I'm thinking about buying it every sale but could never overcome my fear about me comparing it to the original, which is very special to me. Since you described the same struggle, I really want to hear how the experience will turn out for you.
You shouldn't be afraid of comparing it to the original. It's built to be compared - that's where a lot of the fun comes from! Remember that the original still exists and will always exist, and Remake existing alongside it doesn't change that. You can approach Remake as more of a "what if" scenario. That's what the developers are doing, after all. They're retelling the core story of FF7, but they're adding new things too. Some are just expanding what was already there - "what if you got to spend more time with Avalanche? What if characters like Jessie were fleshed out with more backstory?" - while other parts are actually diverging from the OG story in little ways, giving the devs some fun new plot threads to play with throughout the Trilogy. It's honestly a great game. Fun on its own for the cinematic presentation and excellent combat system. Even more fun if you know the original and can compare it as you play - spotting things that are the same, and spotting things they chose to change. Just remember that every change is intentional. If there's one thing that's clear about Remake, it's that the writers all understood what was good about OG FF7 very well. And when they don't do what OG FF7 did, it's on purpose, because they've got something to say.
I think it was Kitase or somebody high up at Squeenix who said giving FF6 the same treatment was impossible as it would take like ten years of development with the current technology. As much as I've seen people gripe about FF7 being split into three parts it's why it exists in the first place as total development time for all three parts combined is going to be close to a decade.
What a timely review so close to Rebirth PC. I went down this rabbit hole late December and I was hooked. Some slow pacing issues that give different character combinations time to breathe, but overall it's an intense rollercoaster of a game imo.
I've just started playing as well and haven't gone far past the point where your footage ends. For those looking to 100% this who happen to own a Steam Deck, it's not a bad way to plow through some of the grind. It's surprisingly performant, and looks decent as long as you mod it to disable the aggressive DRS.
I loved this game. Characters, story, graphics, music. The battle system is peak for me, the fact you can swap characters heightens the fun immensely (I missed that in FFXVI).
you mentioned the mouse and keyboard set up. as a main steam deck player myself , I trained myself just to use the controller set up and bind everything to my desire . ff14 , wow, lotro , pillars of eternity 1-2, dragons origin , baldurs gate etc
The biggest issue I had with the remake is that every single dungeon overstayed it's welcome. There were several times where I was getting frustrated at how big the dungeon was because I just wanted to get to the next part of the game
Have fun with the review Mort! As an OG fan with a similar experience (first RPG I actually finished, although I was 8 or 9 at the time I think) I absolutely loved it, Rebirth is even better it really impressed me, so much so that to me Rebirth is the best Final Fantasy since the PS1 era (I played all except MMOs and phone games). Will be interested to see your reviews for these games, Rebirth was my game of the year for 2024. I'll give some tips for anyone wanting to play this on PC: Run it on DX11 (-dx11 in steam launch options). This stops 99% of the stutters due to shader compilation and asset streaming. This will also disable HDR, however you can use SpecialK or nVidia RTX HDR for that and get a better result any way. Also, look for the ini tweaks on Nexus mods that disable dynamic resolution scaling and improve things like LOD and shadows as the games actual graphics menu is pathetic and you can squeeze a little more out of it visually. Also, set FPS in game to 120, unless you only have a 60hz monitor. Another step to eliminate the few remaining stutters is to use DXVK which is a DirectX to Vulcan translation layer, largely involves dropping the DLL into the games exe folder. I didn't bother with DXVK the last two times I played it and my experience was great (7800X3D and 4090 so mileage may vary). Good luck gamers!
glad to see this game on the channel!! i enjoyed this game a lot, despite the issues i might take with it. i feel like it hits really high highs, genuinely some of the most memorable moments and spins on beloved scenes from the original, but there's also a large quantity of the game that i felt was unnecessary, or could've been cut down; i feel as though the two balanced each other out well enough for me to have enjoyed it, though!
I’m so excited for you to finally play Rebirth. I didn’t actually like Remake, so the sequel improves on everything I didn’t like about it. It’s very Completionist friendly too, one of the most satisfying platinums I’ve gotten in a long time!
There's almost too much to say that hasn't been covered by everyone. But for me personally I think the lasting thing that stayed with me was how even though the combat isn't the same, the fact that I mainly kept the same materia load-out on my characters that I did when playing the original was honestly surprising. And that they more-or-less functioned the same way I played personally in the original (make Barret a healer, have Cloud and Tifa dps) was wild.
So pumped to play rebirth, so hard to stay on the media blackout from it for a year. I should also take this opportunity to finish intermission, only ever got a few hours in. I never buy games on release or full price but this is like the one exception.
FFVII was the first rpg (j or otherwise) that I ever played. And so I understand your reluctance Mort. But I've gotta say that both of these games only benefit from us already experiencing the original game. I mean, I just LOVE how they fleshed out the characters more, especially the Avalanche crew.
I finished the game 100% on hard and the MP management is not that hard on the player, maybe in latter chapters, but at the start, using area materia with basic low mp spells like fire or blizzard is enough to destroy most enemies. You can even equip area-fire and fire-mp recovery to recover mp while using area fire (or other elements...) and reach the chapter boss with almost full mp. It is more difficult to survive the damage some bosses do to your team.
Couple things from what you said: With the Materia system, a large part of FF7 base was the stat bonuses you'd get for Materia, which would negatively impact stats while boosting others. That is mostly gone with the Remake/Rebirth system where its just boosts. The Head Start function was added upon the release of FF7 Rebirth to make it easier for people to experience the game before playing Rebirth. One thing with 100%ing the game, not really spoilers, is that Integrade is its own special story that was released as DLC effectively as a PS5 tech demo for the game. Purchasing the game on PS5 gave you Integrade, together with the base game, while it was I believe $20 if you had initially bought the PS4 version of the game to upgrade to it. That mode has its own achievements, and will probably add another 10-15 hours to do everything, on top of the 80-100 hours to 100% Remake.
Will be interesting to see if you become one of those insane "Soloing hard mode bosses with Tifa's perfect blocking with only 1 HP" type of of players. Have fun!
Graphics is more than we have imagined when played this game as young or kids (I've played FFVII in early 2000's during high school when we found a copy of it hidden in a shelf during a trip with classmates: most of them got ps1 but like RE and soccer and I had N64 for reasons I don't remember). Have played this new FFVII and too many flashing lights (XVI got exaggerately more than this), speed actions and all the stuff I was discouraged to play cause I prefer turn base combats. I'm happy SE finally did this Remake but I keep in my mind and heart the old one. Cheers
6:11 to me, the new battle system feels like the natural evolution of 12's where they took the ATB and used it specifically for special actions, and because of that, and the slowdown, you can quickly swap between characters easier. so the gambit system became unecessary. i also liked how tactical it fells, being far harder than the original, because positioning and deciding what to pick and when became much more important.
Another game I recommend you look into is Lunacid it is a short dungeon crawler rpg that is kings field inspired and it is super fun in my opinion and I’d love to hear your thoughts
@@SirKnov-ph4yj they couldnt be more diferent. ff7 is closer to kingdom hearts. as its more of an action j-rpg. veilguard is a western rpg, which follows a completely diferent development philosophy.
@@petebagwell6666 its not what? for diferente players? because they are. ff7 remake/rebirth are JRPGS, static story, veilguard is a WRPG, which focus on "role playing". ff7 is closer to an adventure game with rpg mechanics. veilguard is closer to a pick your own adventure.
I highly recommend playing with the Hard Mode restrictions (at least the no items bit) even on a normal mode playthrough. Imo it forces you to engage with the combat much deeper and not rely on having functionally infinite heals and mp available.
FF7 original was also my first proper introduction into RPG games, i had dipped into few before but was too young back then to understand that it was a genre. I love how the remake plays with your nostalgia but at the same time switched up so many things to keep it fresh. I am really not sure why would you try playing a game that was designed from ground up for controllers using a keyboard, even with complete key bindings change to preference i would imagine it still being a handicapped experience on a keyboard. These days i just plug in a controller when playing such games for better experience.
Hard mood in both of these games are actually very hard mainly because of the MP and item restriction. Hard mode on this game and rebirth require a lot more strategy and tactics so that you can actually preserve your resources for the rest of the chapter.
So the light flickering is STILL there? I've heard people say Square fixed the issues with this port, but I bought it about 6 months ago & had so many issues that I had to refund. The more annoying issue was the camera stuttering, regardless of how high my frame rate was. It was apparently a DX12 issue, but forcing it to DX11 just created screen tearing (and my HDR stopped working & made everything gray). But it looks like you didn't have those issues, so maybe I'll give it another try.
Please elaborate more on the keyboard wsad/arrow issues and how you fixed it in your full review. That's actually not a minor issue for a game like this where we have to go to menus regularly. I don't like arrow navigation either and I think many others will also find that very uncomfortable in a long game like this
I was 16 when FF7 came out and already a big fan of RPGs so while I played and beat FF7 and loved it, and thought the CGI and backgrounds and look were awesome and everything, it was kind of just another RPG for me. It was good but SNES was like the golden age of RPGs and it fell short of games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 for me. So when Remake came out I didn't go in with any massive amount of nostalgia but it really sucked me in. The Crisis Core remake (I played some Crisis Core on PSP but never finished it) pulled me in even further and Rebirth officially made me a massive fan. I've fallen in love with the world, the characters, and the story in a way that the original never did for me. I thought, as a game, Remake was just okay and had some issues but Rebirth is absolutely incredible and I can't wait for the final chapter of the trilogy. I understand the perspective but I think people who outright reject these games as "chopping up one game to make it three" and don't even give themselves a chance solely based on that are doing themselves a disservice. That was my knee jerk reaction at first too but, while feel like Remake was somewhat lacking in a lot of ways, I think Rebirth has fleshed things out in a way that was definitely worth it. I hope you enjoy the games as much as I did! They've really taken my fondness of the FF7 universe to another level.
Shinra actually enhances the Reactor 1 explosion in the original game also. After the beginning when you're on the train and also back in 7th Heaven Jesse keeps wondering what she did wrong, but it was actually Shinra all along
I mean its been like 25 years, but as I recall it was only ever implied the blast was bigger than expected and never directly stated it was something Shinra did
@MortismalGaming No, you're right. I went back after writing the comment and found that any evidence towards Shinra being behind it was circumstantial based entirely off what Jesse says (asking herself if she messed up, saying she followed the directions to spec, etc)
Thanks for the video. I'm cynical, and am going to wait until all entries are released before I consider them. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.
Aside from keyboard controls, my only other complaint is that the game really wants you to keep switching between companions to charge them up and use their abilities, when i preferred to just stick with Tifa since she is super mobile. Wish they had more auto materia for your team mates so you could just focus on playing one if you wanted.
Are you considering the remastered Crisis Core too (CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION)? It's not a game I'd consider 100%ing, but worked well for me as a story filler between Remake and Rebirth, especially since Remake was my first contact with FF7 overall.
The matching of your capped framerate to a multiple of your monitor refresh rate is an essential tip for any PC player. It should NOT have been something that has been put on the consumer... and it's a shame that it's come to that. But it still has fixed more and more skipping problems over the last couple of years as this issue has become more common.
You aren't on an LG OLED are you? With the screen flickering - if to the OLED community recently found a fix for OLED VRR flicker. Maybe it works for other monitors with the flicker (not specific to FFVIIR but the game gets it bad.) You need to change the VRR range from 48Hz to half your maximum refresh so for you 60Hz, enabling LFC for when your FPS is 60 or below. So when any game goes between 59 and 60fps your screen isn't switching between 59Hz and 60 Hz, it's switching between 118Hz and 120Hz.
It expands a lot of the characters (especially the AVALANCHE crew), which is a good thing - but also teases potential changes in later entries which divided some of the fanbase.
Everything that was in the original is also in these Remakes - nothing is cut. But there are also new things added. Some people hated these because on the surface they seem to "change" the original. But in reallity the original story still proceeds basically in the same way. The changes are there to just do something new with this universe - which is an amazing idea in my opinion
This game is pretty great. I actually missed out on FFVII (little too young for that one) but ended up catching The Legend of Dragoon. Of all the games that could benefit from the remake treatment, the Legend of Dragoon is probably the highest on the list.
I have a question maybe someone can answer. I actually found the game pre-owned so I was wondering how do I go about getting the added content? Is that something I can get on PSN? And is it something that has to be paid for? Thanks.
One of my favorite parts about the remakes is that they just ooze charm. And that is something that I feel like the last few mainline FFs have been missing to varying degrees.
Was so hyped for this but every review ive seen talks about how padded out it is with long winded repetitive content to make turning 1 game into 3 seem reasonable
Don’t listen to bs like that. All comes from purists who are butt hurt that the game has changed and is not a 1-1 remake. Og7 is my favorite game of all time and the remake/rebirth are not far behind
All of the padding is optional and can easily be skipped. The only padding in the first game is the sidequests, not repetitive open world fluff like the second one. Again, all skippable.
I personally found it mostly manageable. Depends on your tolerance for side content more than for padding if you ask me. I found most of the chapters really well paced, just the ones with optional side content that really dragged on for me, but it ended up being worth it as the little cutscenes you get as rewards were all pretty sweet. I personally struggled a lot more with Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI, but that's mostly because I'm stubborn and wanted to do everything in my first playthrough, which in retrospect was a bad idea. Really goes with what you struggle with more than anything if you ask me. If you enjoy a good story and can overcome some padding, I would strongly recommend the Remake trilogy!
You should also check out crisis core FF7 reunion I feel, a 100% or review would be difficult,but for your own enjoyment,you should play it I think, it would be great as it adds context to characters like zack and sephiroth which show up in rebirth is what I've heard, I'm myself going through it at the moment as well!!
I never played the original 7 but I played the original crisis core. I loved it and the "Remaster" what is for me more like a remake was amazing. I will play the whole 7 remake series and crisis core again when part 3 comes out.
I absolutely loved that one little tweak. In the original, Avalanche was absolutely over the moon with how big the reactor explosion was with no regard for collateral damage. A relatively small tweak changed them from straight up eco-terrrorists that we are supposed to root for as part of the greater good to actual good guys trying to do good all the way through.
I think there were some subtle hints in the original, like it being utterly unrealistic such a small group could actually successfully circumvent all the safety measures of a global corporation and such and the first boss only showing up after you plant the bomb, as well as an easily missed mention that the explosion was bigger than intended, but the remake makes it far more clear what's really going on.
@Llortnerof True but I was more referring to their reaction. Originally, they were excited. In the remake, it was 100% unintentional and particularly Jesse was not handling it well.
Iirc it was implied Shinra made the explosion bigger on purpose plus the collateral damage wasn't something the game really took time to actually examine it was downplayed and glossed over in the original unlike in Remake. After Midgar there's only a couple moments were it's brought up again in an optional conversation between Cait Sith and Barret who calls him out on it and Barret's own self reflection of using Avalanche for his selfish revenge instead of saving the planet that's it.
@@CrazyxEnigma The much larger focus on Midgar certainly helped in that regard. Also makes Sector 7 much more impactful. Only part that annoyed me is that Midgar already felt like a slog that takes ages in the original, and now they made it an entire game...
Hope you end up enjoying it, I sure wish I could. While I'm by no means a huge fan, FF7 was one of the first RPGs that I ever really got lost in. Also the first to make me cry, now that I think about it. This remake just annoys the ever-loving hell out of me though. I feel like all the anime-isms (which were turned up to eleven in the remake) worked a whole lot better with lo-fi graphics where I could fill in the gaps myself and with no trope-laden voice acting to ruin the experience. The story changes also don't really work for me, but It's not like the original was perfect in that regard either, so that part's whatever. Sure is gorgeous though!
I'm interested in seeing how you like Hard mode. I thought it was the best way to do a new game + I've experienced. FF7 is my favorite game of all time and the Remakes are both incredible to me. I'm surprised you play games like this on keyboard though lol.
I feel the game tries to depoliticize the game in a way, turning your position towards shinra as a company into somewhat of a gray area. Where in the original it was pretty clear the energy company was evil
Pretty cool of square to reach out, I know rebirth didn't hit it sales target on PS5 so here I am selfishly hoping that PC can carry it and that these companies can finally start prioritizing us PC players :)
I've been debating getting this but I've also been reading about the atrociousness of the technical state, namely stuttering since it's an Unreal engine game. Was that a problem for you?
Through all my gripes with the story, Remake/Rebirth are the games that nailed the best what made these characters so good. If you love the original I think those games are worth it just to see the characters interacting Cloud is an insecure guy with a ton of baggage pretending he's cooler than he is, not the aloof emo kid he shows up as in his later appearances. Aeirth has her rebel streak and isn't just a white mage that sits there praying for others like she was in kingdom hearts english They are so well done
I also love the combat. It has so much complexity to it while still being understandable I can see why some people wouldn't like it, but to me this is the best they've ever done this turn based action blend
Square kept the characters true to who they are not the flanderizations that for some reason were super popular back then. It's like a bunch of people only ever saw Advent Children and never played the original game it's weird looking back, Cloud I get since edgelords were in vogue in the 00s but Aerith? Don't understand it at all.
Im gonna say this, do not sleep on the npcs in this game. A lot of people did and it was truly sad to see. The npcs in this game are some of the closest i have ever seen to being alive. Most npcs have at least 3 lines that they rotate between but some have more. And those lines also change for ever chapter. So they will have a whole new set of dialogue to exhaust. And thats most npcs. When you get to sector 7 for the first time there is literally people commenting on having to buy toilet paper before they are sold out due to panic buying. Remind you of anything? The fact this line was in the game after this happened in real life hit home hard when i played it back in 2020. There is a fuck ton of lore and world building to learn through the npcs in this game. And sadly while rebirth does inheret a lot of this, its not as robust as remake. I think SE saw that most people didnt put the time into it and so they scaled it back some. But i will caution, doing this will add a butt load of time to your playtime. My 1 play through took 93hrs due to this. Cause sadly all dialogue requires you to run away and run back to the npc to trigger the next set.its a bit combersome and thankfully they made this a bit better in rebirth. So while you may just want to rush and beat it i do think thats doing an injustice to this world and lore SE crafted here. Cause another more memorable line was a group of people talking about how Shinra paid them to lie about avalanche on the news. And that while they felt it was a bit wrong but they needed the money and hope shinra would reach out again. Play it how you want but trust me, tueres a lot more to learn that most people who played this game have not witnessed at all. And its really is sad.
I swear if this guys posts a 100% review on rebirth like just a week after pc release i might just belive this guy is a machine
Integrade and Rebirth I still play non-stop, they became my definitive games
SAME!!!
Im waiting to see how much time will he take to platinum Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
That's actually a good point, Mort should do a vid about the hardest 100% he had
It took me 250 😆
Hard mode is HARD too. I'm sure he can do it but yeah. will be interesting to hear his thoughts
🤫🤣
This guy is so freaking quick I expect him to say he's 100%'ed the game in barely more than 40 hours.
Oh nice, always good to see my favorite CRPG youtuber review things a little further outside, that being a JRPG action focused game.
Original FF7 for the PS1 is my favourite game of all time, the remake series being a close second so I'm very excited for you covering this one!
The combat really comes alive on Hard mode when you've got everything unlocked and the game requires you engage more with the systems that could easily be neglected on Normal. Definitely one of the more enjoyable second playthroughs for me as someone who is typically one and done with games.
on hard mode i got stuck once or twice and really had to analize what i was doing wrong. even had to roll back to an earlier chapter once to get things sorted and ready for a certain mid game boss that can be really hard.
@@danielbricker7204 um, hell house by any chance? :-)
@@pali1980 you know it :P that thing wipped me hard and i didnt have the mana or abilities to kill it. Aerith needed some work before i tried again.
Sorry but if the devs design it in a way so that playing for 40 hours on normal mode is actually a complete waste of your time then that's objectively a 0/10 since they intentionally designed it to be boring
@@shanegale6143 Except it's not a complete waste of time. The combat is still fun on Normal and you are experiencing the story for the first time... which is the main draw of the game.
I watched Max Dood playing the whole thing before Rebirth was released and enjoyed it like it was a TV series. The character development is just amazing :-)
Maybe if you arent fully mentally developed. Its actually cringe and shit
@@hiduck8247okay Donald Duck pfp
@@Evanz111 wait, isn't donald in that other cringe ass game the same anime obsessed lunatic makes?
@@hiduck8247ok edge lord. They did this game justice and it's a masterpiece
This game is really really good.
It's really not, if you're not already invested in the story. I've been playing it because Rebirth gonna release soon, but it's such a chore to play it. Everything is just so slow, you can see the padding everywhere and people talk so god damn slow and it's terrible anime voice acting including the awful grunting. It's cool that you can return to the quest giver once you finish a side quest.
@@makoaki9071 I couldn’t even get through it once. I feel like growing up with the original really slants peoples opinions.
Except I can still play and watch playthroughs of the original, everything in Remake is worse except the graphics
It's alright. Characters are amazing and sometimes even better than the original. Music is epic and nostalgic. The sidequests and the chores are insane though, the game is extended waaaaaay to much. Makes it go from a 9 to 6 or so for me. Also the edited 'ending' with the ghosts was super weird and not needed.
Agreed- deserved the high scores and the praise on this video. I’ve see a lot of people who never grew up with the original love it too, which was nice to see.
There’s always a loud minority who can’t get on with very good games. And in this case, some old fans who wanted it to be a more faithful remake, which I get, but this a fantastic game, and the combat, which I’ve seen lauded in many reviews, is one of the best I’ve played.
FF7 was my first jrpg, and such a breakthrough game for me as a teenager.
Same for me. Remake and Rebirth is a Dream
FF1 was my first!
I’m an old man.
Also my first. Had to learn about novel concepts like healing.
Both Remake and Rebirth are incredible games I hope you enjoy your first time journey with both. The nostalgia really hits hard.
It nice to see you use keyboard and mouse. There's dozens of us! Dozens!
I’m glad you’re going into this knowing it should be treated as its own thing. I thoroughly enjoy these remakes as the alternate version we’re experiencing. The essence of each character was spot on for me so it just felt like spending more quality time with characters I love.
Y'know, I wouldn't've expected a company the size of SQEX to remember your response, AND then later offering you the previous entry as a bit of clever marketing for the next one coming on PC.
Intrigued to know your thoughts on the remake series, especially considering your history with the OG.
The fact you beat the OG FF7 when you were 7 is amazing, as I was in my early 20s when it came out and it kicked my ass and it took the collective efforts of my roommate and I to beat the game 😂. I guess I just suck at games LOL.
Props to you OG. I was a little kid, this dude in his 20s that ran our community center came in all hype about FF7 and installed it on the PCs, we were captivated by the opening few hours and his passion. Took awhile to get the thing to work on his main PC. The only thing in years that quieted us wild kids down, like we gotta let him work this is important.
Same
@@echodff facts. youre only quiet as gamer kids when someones setting up delicate tech work lol
I could never beat FFVII as a kid because although I had a PlayStation on launch, I never wound up getting a memory card for it. So when a friend would bring it over, we would just end up replaying the opening parts and it wasn't until I would go over his house that I would see him in the open world outside of Midgar. My mind was blown. Anyway, FFVII remake has been a favorite of mine for a while not only because I have so much nostalgia for it, but also because despite what a lot of people say - that it has all this padding and yadda' yadda' - it's just supremely good. I'm about halfway through Rebirth on PS5 and I hope it gets a smooth release for PC, because god damn it is absolutely stacked.
Thanks, Mort! Lookin forward to the review.
Excited to hear your thoughts. Rebirth was my best played game last year. That difficulty really spiked going for all the trophies, but i got it done in around 125 hrs using some good guides.
Morning mort. Can’t wait to see the rest of the videos on this series. Remake was my first final fantasy.
Please tell me you've played the original FF7 since playing Remake.
I'd highly recommend playing the original as well, it's pretty much required to fully understand what remake is trying to do esp with the story
Wowwww, that's really cool! This would be a super dope Final Fantasy to start with.
have you played 16 yet?
@@hannahrose7981 Original FF7 aged like milk. I'm sorry, but it's true.
When integrated first dropped, I picked it up on the PlayStation and played through it immediately. I had loved Final Fantasy seven when I was in high school and in the army, so this was a wonderful call back.
I played final fantasy shortly after it released at I think 11 years old. Its was the first game I ever did EVERYTHING in. Had the strategy guide. Man I loved that game, talk about a “core” memory. Ps1 had all the bangers, I had all the resident evil’s, parasite eves, silent hill, basically everything squaresoft put out, wild arms, suikoden 1&2, legend of dragoon, grandia, xenogears and too many more to remember. Man I miss those days.
Frankly what you said in the beginning is exactly how i feel. FF7 i played as a little kid and the memories and emotions from it are still very much with me to this day. I would not like to overwrite those or change them in any way. The new game might be great, but i simply value my memories of the original too much to play the new version. Ill leave that to the new generation that has never played the original first.
Just finished this yesterday interested to see your take Mortim I thoroughly enjoyed it
Awesome!! I really wanted to know what you thought!
This is so funny I just finished the game myself about a day ago! GREAT VID MORTY G!
I love these games so much. Really look forward to your 100%. The endgame challenge “Top Secrets” is one heck of a trial that really requires mastery to beat. Good luck!
Had a lot of fun. Pre purchased, hope Morgan likes it.
Really liking the attention your giving RPGs lately dude. Keep it up.
Can't wait to watch your full review. I'm thinking about buying it every sale but could never overcome my fear about me comparing it to the original, which is very special to me. Since you described the same struggle, I really want to hear how the experience will turn out for you.
You shouldn't be afraid of comparing it to the original. It's built to be compared - that's where a lot of the fun comes from! Remember that the original still exists and will always exist, and Remake existing alongside it doesn't change that. You can approach Remake as more of a "what if" scenario. That's what the developers are doing, after all. They're retelling the core story of FF7, but they're adding new things too. Some are just expanding what was already there - "what if you got to spend more time with Avalanche? What if characters like Jessie were fleshed out with more backstory?" - while other parts are actually diverging from the OG story in little ways, giving the devs some fun new plot threads to play with throughout the Trilogy.
It's honestly a great game. Fun on its own for the cinematic presentation and excellent combat system. Even more fun if you know the original and can compare it as you play - spotting things that are the same, and spotting things they chose to change. Just remember that every change is intentional. If there's one thing that's clear about Remake, it's that the writers all understood what was good about OG FF7 very well. And when they don't do what OG FF7 did, it's on purpose, because they've got something to say.
I would love to see FF6/FF9 done like the FF7 remakes. My favs in the series.
I think it was Kitase or somebody high up at Squeenix who said giving FF6 the same treatment was impossible as it would take like ten years of development with the current technology. As much as I've seen people gripe about FF7 being split into three parts it's why it exists in the first place as total development time for all three parts combined is going to be close to a decade.
What a timely review so close to Rebirth PC. I went down this rabbit hole late December and I was hooked. Some slow pacing issues that give different character combinations time to breathe, but overall it's an intense rollercoaster of a game imo.
I've just started playing as well and haven't gone far past the point where your footage ends. For those looking to 100% this who happen to own a Steam Deck, it's not a bad way to plow through some of the grind. It's surprisingly performant, and looks decent as long as you mod it to disable the aggressive DRS.
I loved this game. Characters, story, graphics, music. The battle system is peak for me, the fact you can swap characters heightens the fun immensely (I missed that in FFXVI).
you mentioned the mouse and keyboard set up. as a main steam deck player myself , I trained myself just to use the controller set up and bind everything to my desire . ff14 , wow, lotro , pillars of eternity 1-2, dragons origin , baldurs gate etc
I come from the same situation where the original ff7 is a dear memory and was weary with playing it. Picked this up a few days ago.
god i love this Channel so much
The biggest issue I had with the remake is that every single dungeon overstayed it's welcome. There were several times where I was getting frustrated at how big the dungeon was because I just wanted to get to the next part of the game
Oh yeah!!!! So hyped for the eventual final review for this one!!! Best video game soundtrack of all time and yes I’m biased IDGAF🎉
Looking forward to hearing your final thoughts on this one and Rebirth, they are super interesting titles in a lot of ways
I'm playing this, too. It's rare I'm playing something concurrently with the channel. 100% doesn't seem crazy with this one.
Have fun with the review Mort! As an OG fan with a similar experience (first RPG I actually finished, although I was 8 or 9 at the time I think) I absolutely loved it, Rebirth is even better it really impressed me, so much so that to me Rebirth is the best Final Fantasy since the PS1 era (I played all except MMOs and phone games). Will be interested to see your reviews for these games, Rebirth was my game of the year for 2024.
I'll give some tips for anyone wanting to play this on PC:
Run it on DX11 (-dx11 in steam launch options). This stops 99% of the stutters due to shader compilation and asset streaming. This will also disable HDR, however you can use SpecialK or nVidia RTX HDR for that and get a better result any way. Also, look for the ini tweaks on Nexus mods that disable dynamic resolution scaling and improve things like LOD and shadows as the games actual graphics menu is pathetic and you can squeeze a little more out of it visually. Also, set FPS in game to 120, unless you only have a 60hz monitor.
Another step to eliminate the few remaining stutters is to use DXVK which is a DirectX to Vulcan translation layer, largely involves dropping the DLL into the games exe folder. I didn't bother with DXVK the last two times I played it and my experience was great (7800X3D and 4090 so mileage may vary).
Good luck gamers!
glad to see this game on the channel!! i enjoyed this game a lot, despite the issues i might take with it. i feel like it hits really high highs, genuinely some of the most memorable moments and spins on beloved scenes from the original, but there's also a large quantity of the game that i felt was unnecessary, or could've been cut down; i feel as though the two balanced each other out well enough for me to have enjoyed it, though!
I’m so excited for you to finally play Rebirth. I didn’t actually like Remake, so the sequel improves on everything I didn’t like about it. It’s very Completionist friendly too, one of the most satisfying platinums I’ve gotten in a long time!
There's almost too much to say that hasn't been covered by everyone. But for me personally I think the lasting thing that stayed with me was how even though the combat isn't the same, the fact that I mainly kept the same materia load-out on my characters that I did when playing the original was honestly surprising. And that they more-or-less functioned the same way I played personally in the original (make Barret a healer, have Cloud and Tifa dps) was wild.
I finished Integrade last week and it was the most fun I had with any Final Fantasy game so far. I loved it. Now counting the days until Rebirth!
For me, it was fun for 2 hours and then I was BEGGING for it to end.
I'm glad you reconsidered
So pumped to play rebirth, so hard to stay on the media blackout from it for a year. I should also take this opportunity to finish intermission, only ever got a few hours in. I never buy games on release or full price but this is like the one exception.
It's such an amazing game and plays really well on my ROG Ally X. Can't wait for Rebirth to drop so I can continue this epic story!
FFVII was the first rpg (j or otherwise) that I ever played. And so I understand your reluctance Mort. But I've gotta say that both of these games only benefit from us already experiencing the original game. I mean, I just LOVE how they fleshed out the characters more, especially the Avalanche crew.
I finished the game 100% on hard and the MP management is not that hard on the player, maybe in latter chapters, but at the start, using area materia with basic low mp spells like fire or blizzard is enough to destroy most enemies. You can even equip area-fire and fire-mp recovery to recover mp while using area fire (or other elements...) and reach the chapter boss with almost full mp. It is more difficult to survive the damage some bosses do to your team.
My first ff game, didn’t expect to like it, but was one of my favorite games of last year
Looking forward to full review
I don’t often subscribe, but when I do, I subscribe to TH-camrs who respect ff7
Couple things from what you said:
With the Materia system, a large part of FF7 base was the stat bonuses you'd get for Materia, which would negatively impact stats while boosting others. That is mostly gone with the Remake/Rebirth system where its just boosts.
The Head Start function was added upon the release of FF7 Rebirth to make it easier for people to experience the game before playing Rebirth.
One thing with 100%ing the game, not really spoilers, is that Integrade is its own special story that was released as DLC effectively as a PS5 tech demo for the game. Purchasing the game on PS5 gave you Integrade, together with the base game, while it was I believe $20 if you had initially bought the PS4 version of the game to upgrade to it. That mode has its own achievements, and will probably add another 10-15 hours to do everything, on top of the 80-100 hours to 100% Remake.
it also has one of the most hilariously cute minigames SPECIALLY for people who played the original.
SquEnix really padding the lily here with probably 3 100+ hour games from a single game that I completed in 60 hours as a kid.
Will be interesting to see if you become one of those insane "Soloing hard mode bosses with Tifa's perfect blocking with only 1 HP" type of of players. Have fun!
Graphics is more than we have imagined when played this game as young or kids (I've played FFVII in early 2000's during high school when we found a copy of it hidden in a shelf during a trip with classmates: most of them got ps1 but like RE and soccer and I had N64 for reasons I don't remember). Have played this new FFVII and too many flashing lights (XVI got exaggerately more than this), speed actions and all the stuff I was discouraged to play cause I prefer turn base combats. I'm happy SE finally did this Remake but I keep in my mind and heart the old one.
Cheers
6:11 to me, the new battle system feels like the natural evolution of 12's where they took the ATB and used it specifically for special actions, and because of that, and the slowdown, you can quickly swap between characters easier. so the gambit system became unecessary.
i also liked how tactical it fells, being far harder than the original, because positioning and deciding what to pick and when became much more important.
Another game I recommend you look into is Lunacid it is a short dungeon crawler rpg that is kings field inspired and it is super fun in my opinion and I’d love to hear your thoughts
I feel like if you liked Veilguard this game would blow your socks off
completely diferent games, for completely diferent audiences.
@@marcosdheleno Maybe. I just figure they’re similar because they’re both story driven a-RPGs with a “pause” strategy mechanic in them.
@@SirKnov-ph4yj they couldnt be more diferent.
ff7 is closer to kingdom hearts. as its more of an action j-rpg.
veilguard is a western rpg, which follows a completely diferent development philosophy.
No, no its not, stop it @@marcosdheleno
@@petebagwell6666 its not what? for diferente players? because they are.
ff7 remake/rebirth are JRPGS, static story,
veilguard is a WRPG, which focus on "role playing".
ff7 is closer to an adventure game with rpg mechanics.
veilguard is closer to a pick your own adventure.
I highly recommend playing with the Hard Mode restrictions (at least the no items bit) even on a normal mode playthrough. Imo it forces you to engage with the combat much deeper and not rely on having functionally infinite heals and mp available.
FF7 original was also my first proper introduction into RPG games, i had dipped into few before but was too young back then to understand that it was a genre.
I love how the remake plays with your nostalgia but at the same time switched up so many things to keep it fresh.
I am really not sure why would you try playing a game that was designed from ground up for controllers using a keyboard, even with complete key bindings change to preference i would imagine it still being a handicapped experience on a keyboard. These days i just plug in a controller when playing such games for better experience.
I imagine playing this game on keyboard to be a challenging task. Even more so than playing on a harder difficulty. Good luck!
Been playing “FF7 Remake Intergrade” on Steam Deck & plays great so far!
Hard mood in both of these games are actually very hard mainly because of the MP and item restriction. Hard mode on this game and rebirth require a lot more strategy and tactics so that you can actually preserve your resources for the rest of the chapter.
So the light flickering is STILL there?
I've heard people say Square fixed the issues with this port, but I bought it about 6 months ago & had so many issues that I had to refund.
The more annoying issue was the camera stuttering, regardless of how high my frame rate was. It was apparently a DX12 issue, but forcing it to DX11 just created screen tearing (and my HDR stopped working & made everything gray).
But it looks like you didn't have those issues, so maybe I'll give it another try.
Please elaborate more on the keyboard wsad/arrow issues and how you fixed it in your full review. That's actually not a minor issue for a game like this where we have to go to menus regularly. I don't like arrow navigation either and I think many others will also find that very uncomfortable in a long game like this
I didn't fix that specifically, was able to adjust basically everything else I needed though
I was 16 when FF7 came out and already a big fan of RPGs so while I played and beat FF7 and loved it, and thought the CGI and backgrounds and look were awesome and everything, it was kind of just another RPG for me. It was good but SNES was like the golden age of RPGs and it fell short of games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 for me. So when Remake came out I didn't go in with any massive amount of nostalgia but it really sucked me in. The Crisis Core remake (I played some Crisis Core on PSP but never finished it) pulled me in even further and Rebirth officially made me a massive fan. I've fallen in love with the world, the characters, and the story in a way that the original never did for me. I thought, as a game, Remake was just okay and had some issues but Rebirth is absolutely incredible and I can't wait for the final chapter of the trilogy.
I understand the perspective but I think people who outright reject these games as "chopping up one game to make it three" and don't even give themselves a chance solely based on that are doing themselves a disservice. That was my knee jerk reaction at first too but, while feel like Remake was somewhat lacking in a lot of ways, I think Rebirth has fleshed things out in a way that was definitely worth it.
I hope you enjoy the games as much as I did! They've really taken my fondness of the FF7 universe to another level.
Shinra actually enhances the Reactor 1 explosion in the original game also. After the beginning when you're on the train and also back in 7th Heaven Jesse keeps wondering what she did wrong, but it was actually Shinra all along
I mean its been like 25 years, but as I recall it was only ever implied the blast was bigger than expected and never directly stated it was something Shinra did
@MortismalGaming No, you're right. I went back after writing the comment and found that any evidence towards Shinra being behind it was circumstantial based entirely off what Jesse says (asking herself if she messed up, saying she followed the directions to spec, etc)
Playing FF7 remake @120hz on a super ultrawide monitor is hands down the single most beautiful game I have ever seen.
Thanks for the video. I'm cynical, and am going to wait until all entries are released before I consider them. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.
Hope u can talk about the compatibility with steam deck on this game. Thanks
Aside from keyboard controls, my only other complaint is that the game really wants you to keep switching between companions to charge them up and use their abilities, when i preferred to just stick with Tifa since she is super mobile. Wish they had more auto materia for your team mates so you could just focus on playing one if you wanted.
Are you considering the remastered Crisis Core too (CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION)? It's not a game I'd consider 100%ing, but worked well for me as a story filler between Remake and Rebirth, especially since Remake was my first contact with FF7 overall.
The matching of your capped framerate to a multiple of your monitor refresh rate is an essential tip for any PC player. It should NOT have been something that has been put on the consumer... and it's a shame that it's come to that. But it still has fixed more and more skipping problems over the last couple of years as this issue has become more common.
You aren't on an LG OLED are you? With the screen flickering - if to the OLED community recently found a fix for OLED VRR flicker. Maybe it works for other monitors with the flicker (not specific to FFVIIR but the game gets it bad.) You need to change the VRR range from 48Hz to half your maximum refresh so for you 60Hz, enabling LFC for when your FPS is 60 or below. So when any game goes between 59 and 60fps your screen isn't switching between 59Hz and 60 Hz, it's switching between 118Hz and 120Hz.
No it isn't but thanks anyways!
How different is the story from the original?
It expands a lot of the characters (especially the AVALANCHE crew), which is a good thing - but also teases potential changes in later entries which divided some of the fanbase.
Everything that was in the original is also in these Remakes - nothing is cut.
But there are also new things added. Some people hated these because on the surface they seem to "change" the original. But in reallity the original story still proceeds basically in the same way. The changes are there to just do something new with this universe - which is an amazing idea in my opinion
Are the textures and graphics any better on PC compared to PS5 or PS5 Pro Enhanced or just better frame rate pretty much?
This game is pretty great. I actually missed out on FFVII (little too young for that one) but ended up catching The Legend of Dragoon. Of all the games that could benefit from the remake treatment, the Legend of Dragoon is probably the highest on the list.
I have a question maybe someone can answer. I actually found the game pre-owned so I was wondering how do I go about getting the added content?
Is that something I can get on PSN? And is it something that has to be paid for?
Thanks.
One of my favorite parts about the remakes is that they just ooze charm. And that is something that I feel like the last few mainline FFs have been missing to varying degrees.
Was so hyped for this but every review ive seen talks about how padded out it is with long winded repetitive content to make turning 1 game into 3 seem reasonable
Don’t listen to bs like that. All comes from purists who are butt hurt that the game has changed and is not a 1-1 remake.
Og7 is my favorite game of all time and the remake/rebirth are not far behind
All of the padding is optional and can easily be skipped. The only padding in the first game is the sidequests, not repetitive open world fluff like the second one. Again, all skippable.
I personally found it mostly manageable. Depends on your tolerance for side content more than for padding if you ask me. I found most of the chapters really well paced, just the ones with optional side content that really dragged on for me, but it ended up being worth it as the little cutscenes you get as rewards were all pretty sweet. I personally struggled a lot more with Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI, but that's mostly because I'm stubborn and wanted to do everything in my first playthrough, which in retrospect was a bad idea. Really goes with what you struggle with more than anything if you ask me. If you enjoy a good story and can overcome some padding, I would strongly recommend the Remake trilogy!
@ thats very good to know thank you
You should also check out crisis core FF7 reunion I feel, a 100% or review would be difficult,but for your own enjoyment,you should play it I think, it would be great as it adds context to characters like zack and sephiroth which show up in rebirth is what I've heard, I'm myself going through it at the moment as well!!
I never played the original 7 but I played the original crisis core. I loved it and the "Remaster" what is for me more like a remake was amazing. I will play the whole 7 remake series and crisis core again when part 3 comes out.
I absolutely loved that one little tweak. In the original, Avalanche was absolutely over the moon with how big the reactor explosion was with no regard for collateral damage. A relatively small tweak changed them from straight up eco-terrrorists that we are supposed to root for as part of the greater good to actual good guys trying to do good all the way through.
I think there were some subtle hints in the original, like it being utterly unrealistic such a small group could actually successfully circumvent all the safety measures of a global corporation and such and the first boss only showing up after you plant the bomb, as well as an easily missed mention that the explosion was bigger than intended, but the remake makes it far more clear what's really going on.
@Llortnerof True but I was more referring to their reaction. Originally, they were excited. In the remake, it was 100% unintentional and particularly Jesse was not handling it well.
Iirc it was implied Shinra made the explosion bigger on purpose plus the collateral damage wasn't something the game really took time to actually examine it was downplayed and glossed over in the original unlike in Remake. After Midgar there's only a couple moments were it's brought up again in an optional conversation between Cait Sith and Barret who calls him out on it and Barret's own self reflection of using Avalanche for his selfish revenge instead of saving the planet that's it.
@@CrazyxEnigma The much larger focus on Midgar certainly helped in that regard. Also makes Sector 7 much more impactful.
Only part that annoyed me is that Midgar already felt like a slog that takes ages in the original, and now they made it an entire game...
An all around excellent game. IMO one of the best remakes ever delivered.
Never played OG FF7 but I loved Remake, can't wait to play Rebirth
What's your take on the shader comp stutters? I had to stop playing in PC because of it.
Haven't had any issues with it
I recommend checking crises core before rebirth there is some context there that you need also it’s short lol
Do you never play with controller? And is Crisis Core on your list as well?
Hope you end up enjoying it, I sure wish I could.
While I'm by no means a huge fan, FF7 was one of the first RPGs that I ever really got lost in. Also the first to make me cry, now that I think about it. This remake just annoys the ever-loving hell out of me though.
I feel like all the anime-isms (which were turned up to eleven in the remake) worked a whole lot better with lo-fi graphics where I could fill in the gaps myself and with no trope-laden voice acting to ruin the experience.
The story changes also don't really work for me, but It's not like the original was perfect in that regard either, so that part's whatever.
Sure is gorgeous though!
I'm interested in seeing how you like Hard mode. I thought it was the best way to do a new game + I've experienced. FF7 is my favorite game of all time and the Remakes are both incredible to me. I'm surprised you play games like this on keyboard though lol.
I feel the game tries to depoliticize the game in a way, turning your position towards shinra as a company into somewhat of a gray area. Where in the original it was pretty clear the energy company was evil
Pretty cool of square to reach out, I know rebirth didn't hit it sales target on PS5 so here I am selfishly hoping that PC can carry it and that these companies can finally start prioritizing us PC players :)
Someone's gotta tell Morty PC players are allowed to use controllers.
Looking forward to the final review!
Block and watch enemies. The game actually has a bit of a turn based rhythm to it despite the real time feel
I've been debating getting this but I've also been reading about the atrociousness of the technical state, namely stuttering since it's an Unreal engine game. Was that a problem for you?
I havent had any issues with it
I have a stuttering issue in this game that I cannot fix… I tired vsync I tried mods. I play in 1080p on 6700XT
These remakes do the original justice. I love them both
Through all my gripes with the story, Remake/Rebirth are the games that nailed the best what made these characters so good. If you love the original I think those games are worth it just to see the characters interacting
Cloud is an insecure guy with a ton of baggage pretending he's cooler than he is, not the aloof emo kid he shows up as in his later appearances. Aeirth has her rebel streak and isn't just a white mage that sits there praying for others like she was in kingdom hearts english
They are so well done
I also love the combat. It has so much complexity to it while still being understandable
I can see why some people wouldn't like it, but to me this is the best they've ever done this turn based action blend
Square kept the characters true to who they are not the flanderizations that for some reason were super popular back then. It's like a bunch of people only ever saw Advent Children and never played the original game it's weird looking back, Cloud I get since edgelords were in vogue in the 00s but Aerith? Don't understand it at all.
Im gonna say this, do not sleep on the npcs in this game. A lot of people did and it was truly sad to see. The npcs in this game are some of the closest i have ever seen to being alive. Most npcs have at least 3 lines that they rotate between but some have more. And those lines also change for ever chapter. So they will have a whole new set of dialogue to exhaust. And thats most npcs.
When you get to sector 7 for the first time there is literally people commenting on having to buy toilet paper before they are sold out due to panic buying. Remind you of anything? The fact this line was in the game after this happened in real life hit home hard when i played it back in 2020.
There is a fuck ton of lore and world building to learn through the npcs in this game. And sadly while rebirth does inheret a lot of this, its not as robust as remake. I think SE saw that most people didnt put the time into it and so they scaled it back some. But i will caution, doing this will add a butt load of time to your playtime. My 1 play through took 93hrs due to this. Cause sadly all dialogue requires you to run away and run back to the npc to trigger the next set.its a bit combersome and thankfully they made this a bit better in rebirth.
So while you may just want to rush and beat it i do think thats doing an injustice to this world and lore SE crafted here. Cause another more memorable line was a group of people talking about how Shinra paid them to lie about avalanche on the news. And that while they felt it was a bit wrong but they needed the money and hope shinra would reach out again.
Play it how you want but trust me, tueres a lot more to learn that most people who played this game have not witnessed at all. And its really is sad.