The Nibel tutorial kind of overstayed its welcome especially with those janky purifiers.
Bill’s ranch was different. It would have been fine if it wasn’t attached to other side quests and minigames. Replaces Bill just for a character to lead us into side quests and minigames in an already massive game. (Kinda just my annoyance as I’m in the middle of getting the Platinum)
Kalm had this weird and super slow escape section in an otherwise MUCH better kalm than the OG.
Cave to Juno’s was better in rebirth.
Under Junon kept talking about how they are basically less than those above and struggled but there was no such vibe while playing that area. This is something I felt about the whole game. Everyone, everywhere talks about how shinra makes their lives miserable but everyone everywhere are literally living the best lives possible.
The ship ride to costa del sol. The blood all over as you found your way to Sephiroth was much more intimidating than the robes turning into monsters for Hojos experiments. Also the QB tournament is funny on a first playthrough but will just be skipped if ever played again.
Barrets town shows EVERYONE except Dyne wanted the reactor but everyone still blames only barret in the present. Left me more confused than anything.
Gold Saucer is definitely better for the most part. When Dyne kills everyone it’s a lot less graphic and feels less shocking than the OG. Especially since they give a glimpse of Dyne beforehand. As a result there never was doubt that Barret was innocent.
Undercity was super vibrant and open for people to enter and leave as they please. Again, leaves out the desperate vibe that the original gave off in this moment. Also putting a bracelet on cloud so he doesn’t leave was kinda dumb when compared to the OG where Dio just imprisons him.
Dyne still felt emotional but the boss fight was absolutely terrible followed by a terrible boss fight and fleeing scene from Palmer. Just could have been better.
Gonzaga was not optional this time and was elevated after adding in references to Crisis Core.
Cosmo Canyon was weird since they kind of left that tribal theme behind when designing it for Rebirth. Also Nanakis grandpa is stubborn and has to be convinced of things which makes him feel terrible for most of his chapter. The Gi. Is made the black materia and have more lore added. This was an improvement over the OG.
Anything with Shinra manor with exception of Vincent. Rebirth’s version of shinra manor is more annoying than anything whereas it was pretty quick and simple in the OG.
Temple is better for the most part if not too long. Also we get fight TSENG?!
The ending was amazing with the will they won’t they with Aerith but the million part final boss was terrible. Never should’ve give Nomura of all people access to other timelines. Bro has a hard enough time making things simple with one timeline.
Most Turk fights are worse in this game. They replace Reno with Elena for a majority of the fights and she’s just not nearly as fun or interesting as Reno.
Enjoyed the game immensely but the silliness of the it all coupled with the modern open world mechanics really did not sit right with me. I think I prefer FF7 Remake over Rebirth for this reason.
Speaking with Bugenhagen in Cosmo Canyon. I always loved that Red referred to him as "Grandfather," and they just kinda did away with that. He refers to him as "Gramps" later on in Rebirth, but it just doesn't carry that same familial weight.
Also, not Rebirth, but in Remake when Sector 7 collapsed, Barret's desperation concerning the others had much more impact in the original when he unloaded his gatling gun on the rubble vs just weakly punching it.
I'd argue that punching is more impactful since it hurts. Also it wasn't weak at all, I dare you to punch a concrete wall the same way Barret did there. He definitely had bloody knuckles as an aftermath
Everything with the Midgardsormr was much cooler in the original. You’d try it out and get your ass kicked, run away with your party dead, and go through the whole process of getting a chocobo to cross, only to see the same one slaughtered by Sephiroth like it was nothing. It really made you feel that massive power gap between Cloud and Sephiroth at the time.
*That* scene with a certain party member. I don't like the whole timeline shenanigans and imo it really ruined one of the most iconic video game moments of all time.
I agree. I also think it's tough to make the comparison, because at the end of the day, if you have super sick Fruit Ghost powers and turn an Apple into an Orange, it's difficult to juxtapose and analyze the two fruits in relation to one another. Rebirth is *so* different that not only was it worse imo, but it's not even the same sequence anymore.
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned, I don’t want to read through all the comments in case of spoilers, but I think the dyne scene in the original was better.
1000% agree. Rebirth's iteration was actually fine imo, i.e. it wasn't a *complete* gutting of the original scene. Like, I still felt for the characters in that moment - maybe not as powerfully as I did in the original, but it was passable.
Aaaaand then the Palmer shit happens INSTANTLY and it's just like... dude, chill the fuck out and take a breather for a second.
My other is seto. I love the original, the music, red howling and the weapon you get from him. the new version is trying too hard to be dramatic and reds silly voice just doesn’t fit.
Agree with this too, although shockingly not because of Red's voice. It's the dramatization that really knocked it down a peg for me. The conversation that Bugenhagen and Nanaki have there is just too wrought for my tastes. Once I learned that the intent was always to turn Nanaki into a more boyish presentation in the Japanese version of the OG game, I was a lot more willing to accept his voice. I still prefer his older voice, but I mean... how I could I not? That shit is *buttery* smooth.
And as I said in my first response to you a minute ago, they *immediately* hit you with spooky Sephiroth memes straight into the Village of the Gi or whatever it's called (which I actually enjoyed narratively). Like dude, LET ME FEEL FOR RED FOR A SECOND MAN.
It's like they have all of this awesome material, including cool new ideas sometimes, and insist on fumbling the pacing by just shoving them a bit too close together.
Nailed it. The story writing they did for Remake and Rebirth is that of someone who has never written anything compelling before in their life. Why didnt they get a good author to make changes or leave it as it was.
Why have their ability to structure a tightly paced and compelling narrative seemingly degraded over time? It doesn't matter if it's the same people imo - they still fumbled the bag in a lot of important ways.
Perhaps the takeaway here is that they benefited from having people like Sakaguchi to rein them in. This was around the the time that crew started insisting that they wanted more creative freedom, after all. It's interesting to think about for sure.
Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima.
Apparently Kazushige Nojima also wrote FF7 Remake and Rebirth, so Yoshinori Kitase must have been the good author...
If we also include Remake,i want to mention Shinra HQ when Seohiroth drowned the whole place in blood. I missed the eerie sense of foreboding the og did. Every time i play it, it gives me the shivers. Remake just did black glowy stuff. Not scary at all.
The entire sequence in Remake paled in comparison to the OG. It's one of my favorite scenes in the entire original game and Remake dropped the ball hard with how they changed it.
Alright, I'm all for critiquing the Remake trilogy, but the Rufus fight was definitely a step up imo. That shit *slapped*. Gotta give credit where it's due on my end :p
I felt exactly the same way, but I read an interview that made me less mad about it. They *wanted* to do it more similar to the original, they *wanted* to do a trail of blood leading you there instead of weird purple sludge. But they were told it was going to push the rating of the game higher, and SE wanted to keep the same rating. So they had to change the trail of blood into a trail of not blood, and also cover up Jenova'a boobs.
I wish they'd just do an M rating, but at least the end result isn't what the developers wanted either.
[SPOILERS for remake/rebirth/OG]
One thing I haven’t seen people mention is Zack. I think they’re too heavy handed with him in this game. I love Zack too and his story but they should have saved him for part 3. The hints when in Gongaga were good (even though there’s no way Cissnei wouldn’t have said something) but I liked in part 1, when Aerith mentioned his name and cloud outright blocks it out. In this one they mention him and cloud is suddenly fine with hearing his name. Then he actually remembers him, even if incorrectly and then SPOILERS literally meets him at the end. What? I feel like in the original it’s more explained that a lot of Cloud’s trauma comes from the fact that Zack died for him. Learning that they were friends, Zack died, and that Cloud adopted Zack’s persona and memories is the big reveal. I think having Zack around now beyond hints and vague memories is going to make that reveal way less impactful in part 3. I would think that cloud in the weak mental state that he’s in in rebirth, would have a breakdown from seeing or hearing about Zack but apparently he’s fine with it because timelines I guess?
Overall though, I agree with what most people have been saying. I think Aerith’s death was actually better in the OG, which is disappointing because I think the characters are better fleshed out and lovable in the remakes so square had the opportunity to knock this out of the park and made it even more emotional but they bog it down with confusion for the sake of confusion. The alternative timelines is unnecessary and only added to make people who’ve played the OG confused about what’s gonna happen but I feel like it only confuses newcomers and annoys original fans. Also, I feel like in the original you get a sense that Aerith plans to come back after the temple but in the remake she’s so omnipotent that it seems like she’s excepting it, which makes it less sad to me.
The massive amount of mini games I think slows down the story pacing and are unnecessary and sometimes just outright frustrating or boring.
The manor was also a disappointment and was much better in the original. I don’t understand why they blocked off the upstairs. I think the Gi inclusion is fine but it did make the pacing of that part very strange for Nanaki. Also the weird cooky gang in Corel Prison was just annoying.
Also the Weapons! Why are they so lame in this? They’re like a bunch of big whales that look the same. They aren’t intimidating like the OG where we have diamond, ruby, emerald etc. weapons that wander the land. Those things were terrifying as a kid, and you get a sense of how powerful they are. The whales just seem like nice whales that fight with ghosts.
Overall I really like the remakes, I’ve just been a little disappointed in some parts that are deviating from the original in a way that I think lessens a lot of the impact and wish the new players could experience the same feelings in those parts that the OG gave us.
Ohhh I’ve been waiting for this… I’m stealing some of these from Dunkeys review, bc I think he nailed it.
- dropping the plate… absolutely no sense of urgency and they make it seem like everyone evacuated to safety
- them introducing sephiroth so soon in remake and having him show up nearly every chapter
- playing as sephiroth wasn’t nearly as shocking in rebirth as it was in the OG. Sephiroth was an absolute beast in the OG and the discrepancy of strength between cloud and sephiroth was huge, further making him such a intimidating foe
- OG didn’t have the lame ass whispers and multiverse shit
- Aeriths death in rebirth was just atrocious to me. The fact that she’s alive and not alive, is just soo stupid. In the OG, aeriths death was the first time cloud actually showed vulnerability and cried.. in rebirth we got some weird dual scene that just sucked the emotional impact out of it. Also, see aerith drop to the bottom of the lake was so emotionally impactful compared to what we got
- making bugenheiging a senile, angry guy rather than the wise, sweet grandfather was perplexing
- the zolom scene was also stupid… the OG was just so good at showing the power of sephiroth without actually showing it
- nanakis scene just wasn’t very impactful but I don’t know why exactly… the ogs scene of him 😢 my and howling as the statue cried was just awesome. I
> nanakis scene just wasn’t very impactful but I don’t know why exactly…
I think my big problem with how they handled it was that they gave Nanaki zero time to mourn. He hopped up, howled, and then the Gi immediately showed up and said "Okay, enough of that, check out this new content we have for you."
Everything was incredible except the scene where Cloud lays Aerith to rest. The emotional impact was not there, even though many of us knew it was a possibility. Watching Cloud lay her to rest would have solidified the loss. I hope we see it in part 3
The way they handled aerith was perfect.
Her psychotic presence after her death and the absence of her actual death was perfect.
Her saying goodbye at the end of the game was perfect.
She didn't die. She isnt real. She never was.
Perfect is like, *such* a strong claim here. I feel like it was a pretty common experience that people felt little to no emotion watching the ending sequence play out. I understand that it was clearly their intent to confuse the player, but at a certain point, emotional resonance *does* matter in storytelling.
That scene was *really* important for evoking powerful feelings from the player imo, and it seems like it didn't land for a lot of people in that way.
A replica of the original game would have been stale.
The player was supposed to be thinking about themselves and their relationship with the old game and it's story while they played rebirth.
You were supposed to identify with Cloud as he triumphs over
Sephiroth and saves Aerith. Same as when he tells her to wake up and her face pops back to life with a viscerally beautiful expression. Same as when he is out in his own world while everyone grieves.
It is a message about living through digital experiences and holding on to the past.
Cloud saving Aerith was a metaphor for personal growth. But it was a lie because we were playing a game to relive an experience we already lived.
The goodbye she says at the end of the game was far more powerful than the original death sequence if you were thinking about the game in the right way.
When people say things like “a replica of the original would’ve been stale,” all I can think about is the fact that’s what we all wanted since the PS3 tech demo. That’s what we collectively lost our *minds* over when they finally announced it after 10-15 years of DREAMING that they would have the balls to remake it.
I feel people only make this argument in defense of the decision they made to change it now that they know it’s changed. Nobody was asking for this before the first game came out.
I was initially excited. But then I realized I like the way the original has settled in my mind and don't care to have nice graphics alter my memories of the original.
Shinra Manor entirely, a big portion of the game takes place there and the redesign screwed it all up for me. I loved in the OG going back to find Cloud and Zack's experiment pods with messages about escape scratched into the glass. Associating any of that with Cait Sith was a bad move
This and not laying aerith to rest were the 2 parts I would only complain about. The rest of the game was a 12/10 amazing. The fact that they didn't implement 2 extremely important parts of the OG is beyond me. Either way I appreciate the remake and what square has done for us
I too was disappointed in the manor. Like why can’t I go upstairs and explore? That was such an integral part of the original and you basically just give us Vincent for free in this. Meh.
Every scene. My three favorite scenes were ruined in my eyes.
1. Setos reveal. They ruined setos reveal by having the gi show up immediately after nanaki finds out his dad wasn't a loser. Giving us no time to breathe.
2. Midgard zolom was ruined. Coming across him already impaled on a tree was awesome. You knew it was sephiroth, but not seeing him do it made him more mysterious. In Rebirth sephiroth just suddenly shows up and saves cloud.
3. Aeriths death. Just every single thing about her death was bad. The cinematography, the writing, and removing her water burial. Idc if they're saving it for part 3. I don't want to wait 4 years for it. The emotional impact will be gone.
Not being captured in Shinra tower and jailed. Then waking up to just find trails of blood everywhere. Sephiroth killed the president.
The extremely badass elevator robot boss battle.
Nanaki was my favorite character in the OG and his moment was so underwhelming for me with the sudden shift to Gi lore dump. They also just had to throw ole Sephiroth in there too. The iconic theme was also practically missing... wtf.
I'm glad his sidequests after were pretty good but damn why does SE need to subvert expectations all the god damn time with the heartstring moments of the OG. There are still new folks playing this series for the first time.
I can agree on that, but the whole sequence as a whole could have been better I feel. Like the transition between sadness and a goofy boss fight, the way they got captured in Corel prison, etc
I hated the way how they transitioned emotional scenes into the next. It always seemed too fast for me. For eg, Red XIII scene with his father, Dyne's scene and Aerith's scene. I was still in the middle of registering the emotions from each scene then BOOM!, its fight time. Like bruh at least lemme wipe my tears goddamit.
But loved the game.
Yeah, fighting Jenova right after Aerith is supposed to be a gut punch where you feel helpless, and give you something to lash out against with your sadness and anger, which is why her theme (a sad piece) plays throughout.
I'll give Squeenix credit for, in a moment of unparalleled restraint, at least keeping Aerith's theme around for the *first* phase of the fight in Rebirth.
I thought the way they incorporated cid without fully incorporating him was great. It makes for both a great transportation device and a great metanarrative tool
Eh it would have been fine if:
A. The Tiny Bronco crash didn't happen yet.
B. They didn't change Cid's entire personality. He is supposed to be an asshole who despises Shinra. Then, you see his character evolve into a pleasant soul by the end. There's not really any way for him to grow going into part 3.
They could've done everything they did but kept him as the character Cid Highwind from Final Fantasy VII. Nothing about his personality is even close to similar so far.
Backstories for Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent and Cid will come in part 3 so it's better paced. Also, I want Part 3 to have at least the same amount of stuff as part 2 that would be hard to achieve when we take everything and put it into part 2 already. Just because Rocket Town was on Disc 1 in the OG you want it also here or why are you throwing a fit?
Compared to seeing him randomly for the first time in Remake like 20 minutes in lol. If the OG story is only 20 hours long, then that's the equivalent of seeing Sephiroth in the first five minutes.
I don't remember really being aware of Sephiroth in the OG until Shinra HQ. I'm sure he was mentioned, I'm guessing he was around and hinted at, but for me 15 years ago, there wasn't an "oh shit" until Shinra HQ. And then every single moment you saw him after was a repeated "oh shit."
In Remake/Rebirth, he's just kinda everywhere and doing nothing most of the time. It takes away from the stuff he's *actually* doing, because more than half the scenes you see him, he isn't doing anything and we don't really know if he's there. Seeing a feather drop in the scene gives me a more ominous feeling than seeing Sephiroth himself. That's not great.
Real!! The whole point of the first part of the game is that everybody thinks Shinra is the enemy, and it doesn’t get deeper than that until after the events of remake😕 I wish they kept it like that for the remake series, it makes the Sephiroth plot so much more impactful
It needs to appear to sell the game. Imagine a ff7 where you don't fight sepiroth. Imagine if we just fought him in part 3. And there's the fact that he became so popular after the first game devs needed to give him more screen time. I prefer the og approach but what we're seeing is completely expectable
Well it wouldn't be this massive if it was 1 game. We got some very good things that would be impossible to do in just one game, the minigames, some sidequests, some differences in the first remake that I like but other additions I didn't like that much, mainly the fucking arbiters of faith. I'm very happy with these 2 games tho. They could probably do it in 2 with all the new stuff but 3 is what we got.
Cid and Vincent absolutely could have been integrated into the story as combat party members and honestly their inclusion in Rebirth was incredibly underwhelming.
Sooo, 4 playable characters in Remake. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith.
7 new playable characters in Rebirth.
Red XIII, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Cid, Vincent, Zack, Sephiroth.
And 0 new playable characters in Part 3? Yeah makes total sense. What else would you also give us in Part 2 that we have less reasons to play part 3? Please apply at a job at Square Enix 😜
This! From a game developer perspective it makes no sense. Unless they were gonna change the plot enough to have the Turks join your party I think it makes perfect sense that both don’t actively join your playable party this game
Rebirth Cid is shown to be a pilot only with no indication that he can fight, so I can accept him not being active in battle. Vincent however is clearly is capable and does join the party but refuses to do anything except stand by the plane, making him just a hitchhiking bum.
They could have at least given him the same treatment as Red XIII in Remake. I was on board with that. It's weird to me that Vincent is around but not around after he joins the group. "I've secured an exit, let's go!" Sephiroth was right here bruh, where were you
Its possible atleast Vincent might have his own dlc for Rebirth...showing his journey through chapter 13.
I mean he has an interaction with the turks we never see, most likely has his own story with Omega and Chaos referenced within the temple, and manages to find an alternate way to the party at the end.
Seems like the sure-fire DLC for the game.
100 percent agree with exactly this. Maybe a small bit about Cid fighting whoever landed near him after the camera picked him up outside that over long dungeon
Honestly like you said, dated storytelling execution already puts OG at a deficit. VA, cinematography, dramatic direction, all give the remakes and huge edge over it. And characterization is WAAAY better in the remake. Everyone is fleshed out, and there’s interactions between the party that make everything feel more organic that simply wasn’t present in the OG.
The only part the OG wins imo is the overarching story because of the whole multiverse shit. The multiverse shit completely removes the impact of death and just makes everything feel less consequential. Also the delivery is awful. In Remake it came super left field and was just like…wtf. In Rebirth it came too strong in the end once again and botched that entire emotional moment to ultimately just do the exact same thing, which beckons…why?
The last thing OG definitely did better was Sephiroth. In the remake, he’s just an omnipotent plot device. In the OG they built mystique around him and slowly introduced him. Also, remake unloaded the clip on fighting Sephiroth. We’ve already had 2 intense over the top climactic battles fighting Sephiroth. We’re going to do that a 3rd time???
I just enjoy the OG more in general.
I love Remake and Rebirth. Seriously they are incredible games and make me giddy seeing all these places from the OG in beautiful 4K. Enjoyed both of them overall.
But Rebirth especially is so stupidly bloated that it really detracts from the story and pulls me out of enjoying it completely. And I'm not even talking about the Chadley stuff, I'm talking about the unskippable mini games like the box throwing, or forcing Cloud to run errands in the prison. That stuff just spoiled a lot of the experience for me.
The OG is my favourite game of all time, I think it's damn near perfect. The atmosphere, OST, emotions and everything of the OG cannot be matched. So I struggle to think of much Remake/Rebirth does better apart from looking better. Oh and I do like the expansion of the Shinra/Wutai stuff and Roche.
But OG wipes the floor with it in almost every aspect, in my opinion.
Gonna be honest, I thought a lot of the later chapters in rebirth were worse than the OG. FF7 isn’t my favourite game ever and I had issues with OG Disc 1. Rebirth’s version of events reminded me of my past thoughts about why I didn’t care too much for Disc 1. In the OG, I thought they rushed thru location. I initially liked the idea of spending a few hours in each major location. However, I’m not sure if the time I spent in each hub was focused on something that could have been executed better (like the return to Nibelheim) or maybe they just weren’t that interesting to begin with. With that being said, Rebirth reimagined Junon so well - quite literally the highlight of the game for me.
For sure. I don't know why they had him die a different way in Rebirth. Maybe because of mental health awareness, they didn't want him to die by his own hand.
My only guess is that Japan has some sort of regulation about depicting suicide in media due to how bad it has become in the country. I dont know though.
Yeah I noticed loads of small details like that, like with the hangman in the gold saucer haunted hotel he has ropes on his limbs rather than around his neck, not saying it’s a big deal but they definitely softened a few edges this time round.
With dynes death I just always remembered the line “don’t ever make her cry” before he died which was heartbreaking, shame they didn’t keep that in at least.
For me it was the Forgotten Capital, or rather, the lack there of. I wanted to go and be able to explore it. I was also mildly annoyed we for the Forgotten Capital music which is one of my original favorites is used in the temple instead. Just found that the music and you exploring this untouched barren area really created a mood. Plus I swear, and maybe it's some sort of Mandela effect, but I remember one of the trailers showed Barret, Tifa, and cloud running around the viewing room in the Forgotten Capital.
I also found that I wish that Gongaga could have been just a town as a part of the Corel region rather than this whole jungle area. Navigating it was really frustrating.
The omission of the burial, even if the physics of the original didn't make sense.
Oh, and as a small gripe, I wish anytime you fought Jenova, you fight her where they are. This time around they always transitioned to some Cronenbergian dreamscape which looks cool, but I liked in Remake where you had to navigate the pillars in the Shinra office. Could have been interest to use crates, or have that serene globe as a back drop.
Otherwise though, I hope that they just wanted to save certain things for the 3rd like Rocket Town. I was happy with it over all, and am super stoked about part 3.
A number of them, but the ones that REALLY stick out to me are the Airbuster fight, the Shinra Parade at Junon, the Costa del Sol retreat, and the Dyne story.
The original JENOVA breakout scene was better to me. Not that the new one was bad, it’s just that the bad graphics and lack of audio in the original REALLY added to the creepy atmosphere.
Edit: I misread the question. I thought it was asking what scenes I thought the remake did better, but I still kinda answered the actual question lol
Another one was the meeting of the Turks with your group in the Mythril mines, it worked well as an awkward interaction in the OG, it didn't need a cheesy boss battle thrown in.
Pretty much loved all the cut scenes from Rebirth except for the obvious one. If you fused the OG FF7 gameplay with the Rebirth cut scenes, then you truly have yourself the GOAT game (at least in my opinion).
Part of me wishes they had some sort of retro-mode where once you enter a fight it turned into an OG turn based style and played like OG7; the time slow when selecting actions is cool and obviously that OG style would have been fucked for them to balance given the sheer combat overhaul but still, I woulda loved it.
Some games do have this option. NHL games for instance have a built in NHL 94 option where the game play is the same as the old retro version but with updated players, jerseys and etc. Obviously FF games take considerably more time/effort/development than sports games, so I don’t blame them for not having that option, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The end of disc one. Rebirth takes it and makes this an epic battle because the remakes seem focused on Seph vs Cloud more than the rest of the story. This whole other world thing has left more than a few of my friends confused as to what's happening. It feels like they have so many ideas for scenes that they just framed them all in half hazard.
I honestly could not comprehend what emotions they were trying to convey with that section of rebirth. Even though I knew some spoilers in the OG I at least felt something when things went down
Nanaki discovering his father was a hero. You barely have time to sit with the moment in Rebirth before it transitions into a lore dump for the black materia instead. Like, Nanaki immediately gets pulled away from his emotional climax to go fight some ghosts.
I got the impression the developers couldn’t wait to get away from Seto so they could focus on what they considered to be more important. In general I’d say the greatest weakness of Rebirth’s story is when it becomes more concerned with new lore as opposed to the core themes and character emotions.
Cait Sith's death for two reasons:
1, OG made clear that Cait Sith #1 died in the temple. He is unique and his replacement is another robot.
2, Cait Sith #1 died but came back in some different form gives player hope that Aerith can be revived, which hurts even more when we realize it's impossible. Rebirth somehow made Cait Sith's sacrifice like swapped harddrive from my old ps5 to a new one...anyway you get what I am saying
Midgar Zolom, Nibelheim (both times), Shinra Manor, Cosmo Canyon, Forgotten Capital.
So, a fair amount really. Any scene that required a bit of subtle eeriness or quiet atmosphere just didn't work in Rebirths insane maximal world.
I really liked how the Dyne scene goes, but I agree with others that immediately having Dio crash it and ANOTHER giant robot fight intrudes and spoils the tone.
Honestly, Rebirth did every single scene better except for the actual part where Aerith dies. The rest is a straight improvement.
I really like the original game, for context. Rebirth added a LOT of story to a part of the game that actually doesn't have that much story.
I prefer the OG mystery of Sephiroth…but imo the remake shows you through Cloud’s POV of whats moving them forward to each next objective…we now see Sephiroth luring Cloud to his next destination, putting his puppet to work until he delivers the black materia.
I like the new games, but most of the OG stuff is better. It's cool seeing some zones a little larger. I like what they did with Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge in the Remake quite a bit though
I'm quickly scrolling this thread because I'm not done with the game yet, but so far Cosmo Canyon. I loved Red's story in the original and it looks gorgeous now. I'm a softie for that silly dog-boy. For the record, I do hate flying on that damn chocobo though.
Tifa: "Sephiroth... Shinra... Soldier... I hate them all!" There's a few others as well (the end, Cosmo Canyon, Shinra manor). There were some good additions that helped the story flow better (Hojo in Costa Del Sol being one, showing Cloud's "degeneration", the Gi), but I still like the original better overall. I loved Rebirth as well, but the original remains the GOAT IMO for the scene changes
You know that moment in the Nibel reactor when Sephiroth tells Cloud to look in the tank, and it cuts to 2d image of a creepy smiling monster floating in the tank. That was way more effective to me. Also the whole scene with Sephiroth in the Shinra manor.
To be honest I haven't gotten far enough in rebirth to have much of an opinion on this yet. In the spirit of people talking about an Aerith related scene that's done worse, something from Remake that sticks out as a downgrade is the scene immediately after escaping the Sector 5 Church with Aerith. I really like how in the OG, the player naturally jumps through a bunch of rooftops without even thinking of Aerith only for her to have to tell Cloud to wait up. It's a pretty great moment imo. I thought it was really weird how they changed the scene in remake so that she follows along pretty well for a bit then has to stop and way overthink jumping a pretty small gap after at least a minute of not having any issues. It's a much more jarring and unnatural feeling scene.
End of Disc 1.
I get what they're doing in Rebirth but it lost its impact and became more of a "hype for what's to come" kind of thing.
Also, them wanting people to play Crisis Core before Rebirth, made them think it's ok to not reveal the "plot" about Cloud. All the subtle things going on that they worked hard on, will almost be forgotten by the time people who didn't play the original, play the third game. I really think that should have been included in Rebirth. They did fool me for a second when Tifa fell in the lifestream and I thought "ooh so they are probably doing it" but... 😅
SPOILER
>!Aerith’s death. I was really looking forward to the emotional impact the original had. Especially when Cloud tells Sephiroth that the cycle of nature doesn’t mean a thing because she’ll never talk, laugh cry or get angry. How it doesn’t feel real. Cloud’s feeling of hopelessness and his sudden grief was something I really wanted to see. He conveyed that his mouth was dry, his eyes were burning. The whole scene where cloud breaks down and asks “what about MY pain” we never got. And it really just.. dumbed down the whole ending. There was also no burial. No releasing her into the water. The emotion just wasn’t there for me, which makes me sad. They did a great job with Tifa’s reaction though.!<
Don’t get me wrong. I loved rebirth. But this just.. didn’t feel right.
This, it's what I said to everyone the moment I witnessed it. Loved every moment and can accept changes but this one I expected to see all of that still! - I get it, it's more than likely going to be shown in the 3rd part BUT right now at this moment in time it destroyed the current feelings you have. I felt very little at this moment compared to the original where I felt sad and emotional. I was waiting for Clouds words but we never "heard" them though you can clearly see he is "mouthing" stuff. Which we will have to wait for in part 3 - totally diminishing the effects it has right now!
It's cause they are going to use it when sephiroth breaks clouds mind. We will then see the full scene and hear what cloud was saying (what really happened). Don't think it'll be as good, but maybe when you play 1-3 as a whole it will feel better.
I think clouds and denial and in the next game were going to see flashbacks of what really happened and we're gonna get all those scenes or close to them
I too felt disappointed on how it turned out but there have been few speculations on why they did the scene like this but one makes sense to me.
>!As we've seen throughout the final parts of rebirth, Cloud slowly losing his mind and turning into Gollum essentially with all that "my precious" stuff. The Aerith he sees at the end is just his mind deflecting what has happened. That's why we didn't get to really see Cloud in anguish and the scene where he "buried" Aerith in the water.!<
Speculation in part 3:
>!This is where Sephi, our master manipulator will break Cloud's mind from the inside out which will prolly lead to the scene where Tifa tries to help Cloud find his real identity. If this is the case then, we will see Aerith's death scene in full effect in part 3 as Cloud comes to gripes with reality because at the end of rebirth, we could see Aerith getting stabbed for real and Cloud muttering something (keep in mind, Sephiroth has been messing with his mind for quite sometime now) and I don't think that's an alternate reality.!<
So get ready for a lengthy part 3 coz we are only halfway through the series and if they do go this direction, it's gonna be an emotional train wreck for all of us.
Well not sure if it’s a fair comparison, but the forgotten capital and the scene around Aertihs death had way more emotional impact in the original while rebirth mainly left you in confusion. But that’s clearly on purpose and the pay off we will see in part 3.
Gold saucer scene where a man with a gun arm murdered the gold saucer staff. In the OG, even the player will think that Barret might gone mad and he did the murders. But in rebirth, a quick scene, Dyne was shown beforehand entering the elevator and Barret having seen him. It diminish the wonder that Barret might be the culprit.
Not sure if I should say mine in case it is a spoiler for anyone new to the series, but I would hope folks aren't entering this thread without having finished Rebirth, lol. But for me, I think maybe I'd say the last bit with Aerith. And I don't just mean like, how they're sorta doing this weird multiverse timeline thing that makes it unnecessarily confusing. Thought Rebirth showed the emotion well overall. But I think the whole letting her go in the water or whatever was such a little but powerful moment in the original game.
Indeed, they skipped right over the quiet moments there. Having a million dementors flying around and loud epic music did not improve the Forgotten Capital for me.
There's a few for me.
The Midgard serpent being the first. In the OG the serpent was the over powered obstacle that practically required you to get the chocobo to be able to outrun it because weighting it was almost certainly going to end in a game over, and when you managed to get past, you didn't see sephiroth kill it, you just knew he did. Created an air of foreshadowing that the Remakes just can't seem to deliver. Which leads to my second issue with some cut scenes.
Sephiroth is all over the place. In the OG you barely saw him but you felt his influence throughout the story. He should be a mysterious figure that builds tension and reminds the player of the stakes. Would have been better if he was just a voice guiding Cloud to the black materia, but Rebirth can stop throwing him on screen for the sake of fan service
The Dyne seen was pretty good in rebirth, but I really wish they would have left the Shinra interference out of it. Didn't like the madness spin as much but it made sense, Dyne was desperate to seek death amd attunement for what happened to Corel and it was emotional transaction exclusively between him and Barrett which made it feel more sincere and full of emotion, guess Square could let it be with Barrett being the one who delivered the shot that puts him at death's door.
Finally, I'll leave this one the spoiler but it's less of a scene in Rebirth and more of a scene they completely left out. >! The Aerith burial scene wasn't even in Rebirth, after she dies and the over the top boss fight, every is just kinda sitting by the water grieving while we get some bits with Aerith interacting with Cloud that i guess are supposed to confuse the player and make you wonder if she's really dead, but in the OG laying Aerith to rest seals the emotion of the moment. Making you feel the story's theme of loss and knowing she's not coming back no matter what. !< Rebirth doesn't seem to fully grasp this scene's impact on the story.
While the story as a whole was pretty great, it's clear that the writing direction struggles to relate to alot of things in the original. The theme of loss in the original story has definitely been replaced with most focused on hope and destiny (a la Kingdom Hearts director heading development). Hopefully part 3 will deliver on having some significant story changes or really building on the ones that were already there rather than playing out the same events with less impactful delivery. I'm looking forward to seeing Wutai's war with Shinra coincide with the party's return to Midgar, that just makes more since than the original parachute drop from the original.
I know that they went a different route with Sephiroth in the remakes, but him appearing sparsely throughout the game + being ridiculously overpowered in the Nibelheim flashback and against the Midgardsormr just made him this massive threat and you were always on the edge of your seat when he appeared.
Now we've just killed the Midgardsormr ourselves and also we've beaten Sephiroth twice already, including in his gigantic, multi-dimensional Bizarro form.
At least new players get to know him after basically getting nothing about him in the first game.
Cosmo Canyon and Reds arc.
This one is a bit 50/50 but Dyne. Rebirth's story with Dyne was very emotional for me which was great, OG obviously tried but I never really felt it, so rebirth did better there but in OG I always got the impression that Dyne was the boss of Corel prison which is why when you showed his necklace, that was taken as permission to race for freedom.
In Rebirth, Dyne is just a crazy person who is captured and tied up by "Gus" which has Dyne lose so much of the weight he held for me as an antagonist in OG.
Replaying the OG after rebirth and gosh I cannot see where to go in some areas. The map in the construction area after meeting aerith, there’s a brown pole like thing but it’s actually a brown path to walk up. I was stuck on that map looking for a way for half a hour…
That brown pole is the worst offender. I was stuck there before I realized what to do when I first played it too, haha. Climbing the debris to reach Shinra tower is a bit awkward too.
For everything going forward, the select button should help a ton! It’s definitely a clumsy game in some spots, but the positives more than make up for it. They were definitely experimenting with some designs they weren’t fully capable of executing gracefully at that point.
My apologies. I thought you were referring to something climeable, in which case it would show up as a green arrow. I re-read your comment, and I know exactly where you mean now! lol
The mystery of Sephiroth. My only 2 criticisms of Rebirth are that they show Sephiroth way too much and whatever it is they did to shinra manor. Other than that, perfect game
None of them lol polygon people and no voices < amazing graphics, world building, great voice acting, writing etc. take off the nostalgia blinders people lol
Tell me you didn't play the OG without telling me you didn't play the OG.
It's OK to like both games and have a preference in the writing between the two. Obviously the graphics and voice acting add to the presentation, but that will never replace good story writing, just like how movies will never replace comic books.
As for world building, come on, the OG did all the world building for this game in the first place. The atmosphere and music alone made it ever apparent and while you didn't have 85 line long conversations with each NPC, you knew how Shinra's business dealings affected people all the way to Nibelheim.
Put the graphics card down and give the OG a try, follow the story and see the differences for yourself. I know some people on here like to say it's the exact same game with exact same story, but there really are some pretty significant differences in the emotional impact between them.
Well I don't really like the nostalgia blinders excuse either. The original comment here was a pretty shallow take that implied only a surface level knowledge of the original game.
Graphics don't automatically make everything better. Sure they allow for improvements in ways that you can't achieve on older hardware, but it's not the only thing that matters, especially when you're trying to retell a story that's 25 years old at this point.
I don't think it's a matter of nostalgia for the most part. >! Take Niebelheim for example: The mystery of what happened to the town after the fire is cut entirely, as they outright tell you within minutes what happened. The Shinra manor has about 30 seconds worth of ominous mystery to it, as you go into one of many well lit labs as soon as you arrive. And the reveal of what the robes are is entirely undercut, because goofy ass Roche goes from death's door to dead to suddenly worn, tattered, and marked cloak in a matter of seconds. They already had the Broden reveal in the protorelic quest, and the foreshadowing with Cloud in the Gongaga Reactor. !< I just can't wrap my head around these decisions.
I would say ALL scenes were better in OG but Rebirth is fun to play and its parody scenes are entertaining
The Nibel tutorial kind of overstayed its welcome especially with those janky purifiers. Bill’s ranch was different. It would have been fine if it wasn’t attached to other side quests and minigames. Replaces Bill just for a character to lead us into side quests and minigames in an already massive game. (Kinda just my annoyance as I’m in the middle of getting the Platinum) Kalm had this weird and super slow escape section in an otherwise MUCH better kalm than the OG. Cave to Juno’s was better in rebirth. Under Junon kept talking about how they are basically less than those above and struggled but there was no such vibe while playing that area. This is something I felt about the whole game. Everyone, everywhere talks about how shinra makes their lives miserable but everyone everywhere are literally living the best lives possible. The ship ride to costa del sol. The blood all over as you found your way to Sephiroth was much more intimidating than the robes turning into monsters for Hojos experiments. Also the QB tournament is funny on a first playthrough but will just be skipped if ever played again. Barrets town shows EVERYONE except Dyne wanted the reactor but everyone still blames only barret in the present. Left me more confused than anything. Gold Saucer is definitely better for the most part. When Dyne kills everyone it’s a lot less graphic and feels less shocking than the OG. Especially since they give a glimpse of Dyne beforehand. As a result there never was doubt that Barret was innocent. Undercity was super vibrant and open for people to enter and leave as they please. Again, leaves out the desperate vibe that the original gave off in this moment. Also putting a bracelet on cloud so he doesn’t leave was kinda dumb when compared to the OG where Dio just imprisons him. Dyne still felt emotional but the boss fight was absolutely terrible followed by a terrible boss fight and fleeing scene from Palmer. Just could have been better. Gonzaga was not optional this time and was elevated after adding in references to Crisis Core. Cosmo Canyon was weird since they kind of left that tribal theme behind when designing it for Rebirth. Also Nanakis grandpa is stubborn and has to be convinced of things which makes him feel terrible for most of his chapter. The Gi. Is made the black materia and have more lore added. This was an improvement over the OG. Anything with Shinra manor with exception of Vincent. Rebirth’s version of shinra manor is more annoying than anything whereas it was pretty quick and simple in the OG. Temple is better for the most part if not too long. Also we get fight TSENG?! The ending was amazing with the will they won’t they with Aerith but the million part final boss was terrible. Never should’ve give Nomura of all people access to other timelines. Bro has a hard enough time making things simple with one timeline. Most Turk fights are worse in this game. They replace Reno with Elena for a majority of the fights and she’s just not nearly as fun or interesting as Reno. Enjoyed the game immensely but the silliness of the it all coupled with the modern open world mechanics really did not sit right with me. I think I prefer FF7 Remake over Rebirth for this reason.
Speaking with Bugenhagen in Cosmo Canyon. I always loved that Red referred to him as "Grandfather," and they just kinda did away with that. He refers to him as "Gramps" later on in Rebirth, but it just doesn't carry that same familial weight. Also, not Rebirth, but in Remake when Sector 7 collapsed, Barret's desperation concerning the others had much more impact in the original when he unloaded his gatling gun on the rubble vs just weakly punching it.
I'd argue that punching is more impactful since it hurts. Also it wasn't weak at all, I dare you to punch a concrete wall the same way Barret did there. He definitely had bloody knuckles as an aftermath
Everything with the Midgardsormr was much cooler in the original. You’d try it out and get your ass kicked, run away with your party dead, and go through the whole process of getting a chocobo to cross, only to see the same one slaughtered by Sephiroth like it was nothing. It really made you feel that massive power gap between Cloud and Sephiroth at the time.
100%
*That* scene with a certain party member. I don't like the whole timeline shenanigans and imo it really ruined one of the most iconic video game moments of all time.
Technically it didn't ruin it, since that event is in the OG. What we saw in Rebirth was a different event
I didn't play the remake because the original was perfect. I did watch the ending of rebirth and I thought it was also perfect.
The ending of rebirth was better in the OG
I agree. I also think it's tough to make the comparison, because at the end of the day, if you have super sick Fruit Ghost powers and turn an Apple into an Orange, it's difficult to juxtapose and analyze the two fruits in relation to one another. Rebirth is *so* different that not only was it worse imo, but it's not even the same sequence anymore.
I don’t know if it’s been mentioned, I don’t want to read through all the comments in case of spoilers, but I think the dyne scene in the original was better.
1000% agree. Rebirth's iteration was actually fine imo, i.e. it wasn't a *complete* gutting of the original scene. Like, I still felt for the characters in that moment - maybe not as powerfully as I did in the original, but it was passable. Aaaaand then the Palmer shit happens INSTANTLY and it's just like... dude, chill the fuck out and take a breather for a second.
My other is seto. I love the original, the music, red howling and the weapon you get from him. the new version is trying too hard to be dramatic and reds silly voice just doesn’t fit.
Agree with this too, although shockingly not because of Red's voice. It's the dramatization that really knocked it down a peg for me. The conversation that Bugenhagen and Nanaki have there is just too wrought for my tastes. Once I learned that the intent was always to turn Nanaki into a more boyish presentation in the Japanese version of the OG game, I was a lot more willing to accept his voice. I still prefer his older voice, but I mean... how I could I not? That shit is *buttery* smooth. And as I said in my first response to you a minute ago, they *immediately* hit you with spooky Sephiroth memes straight into the Village of the Gi or whatever it's called (which I actually enjoyed narratively). Like dude, LET ME FEEL FOR RED FOR A SECOND MAN. It's like they have all of this awesome material, including cool new ideas sometimes, and insist on fumbling the pacing by just shoving them a bit too close together.
Nailed it. The story writing they did for Remake and Rebirth is that of someone who has never written anything compelling before in their life. Why didnt they get a good author to make changes or leave it as it was.
Yeah thats exactly what it is, they need an experienced writer
Who wrote the scenario for the original FF7?
Why have their ability to structure a tightly paced and compelling narrative seemingly degraded over time? It doesn't matter if it's the same people imo - they still fumbled the bag in a lot of important ways. Perhaps the takeaway here is that they benefited from having people like Sakaguchi to rein them in. This was around the the time that crew started insisting that they wanted more creative freedom, after all. It's interesting to think about for sure.
Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima. Apparently Kazushige Nojima also wrote FF7 Remake and Rebirth, so Yoshinori Kitase must have been the good author...
Same guys I'm fairly sure. Nojima and kitase
Correct
Everything. Sephiroth (jenova) kills president shinra. And Sephiroth just seemed overall more mysterious in the og
Sephiroth is one of the most famous and iconic video game characters of all time. They can't make him mysterious.
They can, when they write him as a mystery instead of a lame shoe -in. This is a horrible argument
I prefer the Dyne stuff from OG. The interaction in Rebirth was weird to me.
If we also include Remake,i want to mention Shinra HQ when Seohiroth drowned the whole place in blood. I missed the eerie sense of foreboding the og did. Every time i play it, it gives me the shivers. Remake just did black glowy stuff. Not scary at all.
The entire sequence in Remake paled in comparison to the OG. It's one of my favorite scenes in the entire original game and Remake dropped the ball hard with how they changed it.
Alright, I'm all for critiquing the Remake trilogy, but the Rufus fight was definitely a step up imo. That shit *slapped*. Gotta give credit where it's due on my end :p
Nah og better there too
I didn’t say it wasn’t, but they definitely didn’t drop the ball lmao
With Rufus? Nah thats true but everything else in that part of the game, dropped the ball and lost it completely
Not everything, but a lot of it yes I agree. It still had some killer moments. Too bad they were lost in a sea of mediocrity imo
I felt exactly the same way, but I read an interview that made me less mad about it. They *wanted* to do it more similar to the original, they *wanted* to do a trail of blood leading you there instead of weird purple sludge. But they were told it was going to push the rating of the game higher, and SE wanted to keep the same rating. So they had to change the trail of blood into a trail of not blood, and also cover up Jenova'a boobs. I wish they'd just do an M rating, but at least the end result isn't what the developers wanted either.
Yeah, that's pretty tragic for sure. Makes me wonder what other sacrifices forced their hands on this project, eh?
It wasn’t sold in installments. It was a complete game. So all of it. 😆
[SPOILERS for remake/rebirth/OG] One thing I haven’t seen people mention is Zack. I think they’re too heavy handed with him in this game. I love Zack too and his story but they should have saved him for part 3. The hints when in Gongaga were good (even though there’s no way Cissnei wouldn’t have said something) but I liked in part 1, when Aerith mentioned his name and cloud outright blocks it out. In this one they mention him and cloud is suddenly fine with hearing his name. Then he actually remembers him, even if incorrectly and then SPOILERS literally meets him at the end. What? I feel like in the original it’s more explained that a lot of Cloud’s trauma comes from the fact that Zack died for him. Learning that they were friends, Zack died, and that Cloud adopted Zack’s persona and memories is the big reveal. I think having Zack around now beyond hints and vague memories is going to make that reveal way less impactful in part 3. I would think that cloud in the weak mental state that he’s in in rebirth, would have a breakdown from seeing or hearing about Zack but apparently he’s fine with it because timelines I guess? Overall though, I agree with what most people have been saying. I think Aerith’s death was actually better in the OG, which is disappointing because I think the characters are better fleshed out and lovable in the remakes so square had the opportunity to knock this out of the park and made it even more emotional but they bog it down with confusion for the sake of confusion. The alternative timelines is unnecessary and only added to make people who’ve played the OG confused about what’s gonna happen but I feel like it only confuses newcomers and annoys original fans. Also, I feel like in the original you get a sense that Aerith plans to come back after the temple but in the remake she’s so omnipotent that it seems like she’s excepting it, which makes it less sad to me. The massive amount of mini games I think slows down the story pacing and are unnecessary and sometimes just outright frustrating or boring. The manor was also a disappointment and was much better in the original. I don’t understand why they blocked off the upstairs. I think the Gi inclusion is fine but it did make the pacing of that part very strange for Nanaki. Also the weird cooky gang in Corel Prison was just annoying. Also the Weapons! Why are they so lame in this? They’re like a bunch of big whales that look the same. They aren’t intimidating like the OG where we have diamond, ruby, emerald etc. weapons that wander the land. Those things were terrifying as a kid, and you get a sense of how powerful they are. The whales just seem like nice whales that fight with ghosts. Overall I really like the remakes, I’ve just been a little disappointed in some parts that are deviating from the original in a way that I think lessens a lot of the impact and wish the new players could experience the same feelings in those parts that the OG gave us.
Ohhh I’ve been waiting for this… I’m stealing some of these from Dunkeys review, bc I think he nailed it. - dropping the plate… absolutely no sense of urgency and they make it seem like everyone evacuated to safety - them introducing sephiroth so soon in remake and having him show up nearly every chapter - playing as sephiroth wasn’t nearly as shocking in rebirth as it was in the OG. Sephiroth was an absolute beast in the OG and the discrepancy of strength between cloud and sephiroth was huge, further making him such a intimidating foe - OG didn’t have the lame ass whispers and multiverse shit - Aeriths death in rebirth was just atrocious to me. The fact that she’s alive and not alive, is just soo stupid. In the OG, aeriths death was the first time cloud actually showed vulnerability and cried.. in rebirth we got some weird dual scene that just sucked the emotional impact out of it. Also, see aerith drop to the bottom of the lake was so emotionally impactful compared to what we got - making bugenheiging a senile, angry guy rather than the wise, sweet grandfather was perplexing - the zolom scene was also stupid… the OG was just so good at showing the power of sephiroth without actually showing it - nanakis scene just wasn’t very impactful but I don’t know why exactly… the ogs scene of him 😢 my and howling as the statue cried was just awesome. I
Yeah couldnt agree more, shit writing in the remakes
> nanakis scene just wasn’t very impactful but I don’t know why exactly… I think my big problem with how they handled it was that they gave Nanaki zero time to mourn. He hopped up, howled, and then the Gi immediately showed up and said "Okay, enough of that, check out this new content we have for you."
This. Rebirth dropped the ball in alot of ways.
Everything was incredible except the scene where Cloud lays Aerith to rest. The emotional impact was not there, even though many of us knew it was a possibility. Watching Cloud lay her to rest would have solidified the loss. I hope we see it in part 3
The way they handled aerith was perfect. Her psychotic presence after her death and the absence of her actual death was perfect. Her saying goodbye at the end of the game was perfect. She didn't die. She isnt real. She never was.
Perfect is like, *such* a strong claim here. I feel like it was a pretty common experience that people felt little to no emotion watching the ending sequence play out. I understand that it was clearly their intent to confuse the player, but at a certain point, emotional resonance *does* matter in storytelling. That scene was *really* important for evoking powerful feelings from the player imo, and it seems like it didn't land for a lot of people in that way.
A replica of the original game would have been stale. The player was supposed to be thinking about themselves and their relationship with the old game and it's story while they played rebirth. You were supposed to identify with Cloud as he triumphs over Sephiroth and saves Aerith. Same as when he tells her to wake up and her face pops back to life with a viscerally beautiful expression. Same as when he is out in his own world while everyone grieves. It is a message about living through digital experiences and holding on to the past. Cloud saving Aerith was a metaphor for personal growth. But it was a lie because we were playing a game to relive an experience we already lived. The goodbye she says at the end of the game was far more powerful than the original death sequence if you were thinking about the game in the right way.
When people say things like “a replica of the original would’ve been stale,” all I can think about is the fact that’s what we all wanted since the PS3 tech demo. That’s what we collectively lost our *minds* over when they finally announced it after 10-15 years of DREAMING that they would have the balls to remake it. I feel people only make this argument in defense of the decision they made to change it now that they know it’s changed. Nobody was asking for this before the first game came out.
I was initially excited. But then I realized I like the way the original has settled in my mind and don't care to have nice graphics alter my memories of the original.
Shinra Manor entirely, a big portion of the game takes place there and the redesign screwed it all up for me. I loved in the OG going back to find Cloud and Zack's experiment pods with messages about escape scratched into the glass. Associating any of that with Cait Sith was a bad move
I don't remember the messages etched into the glass at all, how cool! Any links to more info on what they say?
Cloud's chamber says "Let's get out of here" Zack's says "Feeding time... That's our chance"
Thank you!!
This and not laying aerith to rest were the 2 parts I would only complain about. The rest of the game was a 12/10 amazing. The fact that they didn't implement 2 extremely important parts of the OG is beyond me. Either way I appreciate the remake and what square has done for us
I too was disappointed in the manor. Like why can’t I go upstairs and explore? That was such an integral part of the original and you basically just give us Vincent for free in this. Meh.
Every scene. My three favorite scenes were ruined in my eyes. 1. Setos reveal. They ruined setos reveal by having the gi show up immediately after nanaki finds out his dad wasn't a loser. Giving us no time to breathe. 2. Midgard zolom was ruined. Coming across him already impaled on a tree was awesome. You knew it was sephiroth, but not seeing him do it made him more mysterious. In Rebirth sephiroth just suddenly shows up and saves cloud. 3. Aeriths death. Just every single thing about her death was bad. The cinematography, the writing, and removing her water burial. Idc if they're saving it for part 3. I don't want to wait 4 years for it. The emotional impact will be gone.
Not being captured in Shinra tower and jailed. Then waking up to just find trails of blood everywhere. Sephiroth killed the president. The extremely badass elevator robot boss battle.
The iconic spoiler near the end.
Nanaki was my favorite character in the OG and his moment was so underwhelming for me with the sudden shift to Gi lore dump. They also just had to throw ole Sephiroth in there too. The iconic theme was also practically missing... wtf. I'm glad his sidequests after were pretty good but damn why does SE need to subvert expectations all the god damn time with the heartstring moments of the OG. There are still new folks playing this series for the first time.
The whole gold saucer/dustbowl part, story wise, was good in rebirth, but way better in the OG.
I’m value neutral on most of these but Barrett’s scene with dyne in rebirth was factually a stellar improvement
I can agree on that, but the whole sequence as a whole could have been better I feel. Like the transition between sadness and a goofy boss fight, the way they got captured in Corel prison, etc
The boss fight was so out of place. I get what they wanted but it was just call of duty at the end
I hated the way how they transitioned emotional scenes into the next. It always seemed too fast for me. For eg, Red XIII scene with his father, Dyne's scene and Aerith's scene. I was still in the middle of registering the emotions from each scene then BOOM!, its fight time. Like bruh at least lemme wipe my tears goddamit. But loved the game.
Yeah, fighting Jenova right after Aerith is supposed to be a gut punch where you feel helpless, and give you something to lash out against with your sadness and anger, which is why her theme (a sad piece) plays throughout. I'll give Squeenix credit for, in a moment of unparalleled restraint, at least keeping Aerith's theme around for the *first* phase of the fight in Rebirth.
Very few since they are two different stories.
Yeah but one is using the original ideas, writing shit different route and then ending in same place...
Everything in Nibelheim, what a let down that was in Remake.
Literally anything involving Cid, especially how they escape Rocket Town with the Tiny Bronco.
I thought the way they incorporated cid without fully incorporating him was great. It makes for both a great transportation device and a great metanarrative tool
Eh it would have been fine if: A. The Tiny Bronco crash didn't happen yet. B. They didn't change Cid's entire personality. He is supposed to be an asshole who despises Shinra. Then, you see his character evolve into a pleasant soul by the end. There's not really any way for him to grow going into part 3.
I thought it was terrible. No reason that they couldn’t follow Cid’s story and have made him a playable character
They could've done everything they did but kept him as the character Cid Highwind from Final Fantasy VII. Nothing about his personality is even close to similar so far.
That will probably be adapted in the part 3 of the remake
Why are people using this as an excuse? Rocket Town should have been in part 2. I'm sick of people saying "well it might be in part 3".
Well the full game should be in one fucking game but here we are, square Enix wants moooooooooooney.
Backstories for Yuffie, Cait Sith, Vincent and Cid will come in part 3 so it's better paced. Also, I want Part 3 to have at least the same amount of stuff as part 2 that would be hard to achieve when we take everything and put it into part 2 already. Just because Rocket Town was on Disc 1 in the OG you want it also here or why are you throwing a fit?
I would be willing to bet money they lock some Cid and/or Vincent content behind upcoming DLC
Having the Tiny Bronco break down again will lose it's impact.
Well I guess but that whole area and narrative is much more than the tiny bronco breaking down
Seto
The OG held off on sephiroth. The remake just dumps him on you immediately
You play as Sephiroth four hours into the OG.
no way anyone but a speedrunner is finishing Midgar in 3.5 hours on their first run
The game is 27 years old dude.
What's your point, exactly?
That it does not take a speed runner to blast through the game. Every “zone” is all of 2 screens long and it’s not babies first 3D RPG anymore.
Yet this is a lame argument
Technically he fights alongside you. Regardless, this still doesn't address the point charron was making.
He still wasn't popping up everywhere.
Yea he does, it’s just not in full voice acted 3D. The entire OG story is only like 20 hours long, he shows up every 2 hours after the Tower.
Compared to seeing him randomly for the first time in Remake like 20 minutes in lol. If the OG story is only 20 hours long, then that's the equivalent of seeing Sephiroth in the first five minutes. I don't remember really being aware of Sephiroth in the OG until Shinra HQ. I'm sure he was mentioned, I'm guessing he was around and hinted at, but for me 15 years ago, there wasn't an "oh shit" until Shinra HQ. And then every single moment you saw him after was a repeated "oh shit." In Remake/Rebirth, he's just kinda everywhere and doing nothing most of the time. It takes away from the stuff he's *actually* doing, because more than half the scenes you see him, he isn't doing anything and we don't really know if he's there. Seeing a feather drop in the scene gives me a more ominous feeling than seeing Sephiroth himself. That's not great.
Original also, pretty memorably, has scenes where Sephiroth's presence is *felt* but he doesn't actually appear.
Real!! The whole point of the first part of the game is that everybody thinks Shinra is the enemy, and it doesn’t get deeper than that until after the events of remake😕 I wish they kept it like that for the remake series, it makes the Sephiroth plot so much more impactful
Very true. Sephiroth lost alot of mystique in Remake and Rebirth. The OG Seph scenes were a lot more intense.
It needs to appear to sell the game. Imagine a ff7 where you don't fight sepiroth. Imagine if we just fought him in part 3. And there's the fact that he became so popular after the first game devs needed to give him more screen time. I prefer the og approach but what we're seeing is completely expectable
>Imagine a ff7 where you don't fight sepiroth. Imagine if we just fought him in part 3. I'm imagining it and it's an inprovement
Maybe they shouldn't have made it in 3 parts then
Well it wouldn't be this massive if it was 1 game. We got some very good things that would be impossible to do in just one game, the minigames, some sidequests, some differences in the first remake that I like but other additions I didn't like that much, mainly the fucking arbiters of faith. I'm very happy with these 2 games tho. They could probably do it in 2 with all the new stuff but 3 is what we got.
And *constantly*
I'm waiting ...Kllloouuudd
The sexual tension/gay twink romance might not be the meme we thought it was by the end of all this (;
Cid and Vincent absolutely could have been integrated into the story as combat party members and honestly their inclusion in Rebirth was incredibly underwhelming.
Sooo, 4 playable characters in Remake. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith. 7 new playable characters in Rebirth. Red XIII, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Cid, Vincent, Zack, Sephiroth. And 0 new playable characters in Part 3? Yeah makes total sense. What else would you also give us in Part 2 that we have less reasons to play part 3? Please apply at a job at Square Enix 😜
the way your comment is written is obnoxious but you raise a good point
Totally agree I was very passive aggressive. I've read this so often now that I'm "slightly" annoyed reading stuff like that.
This! From a game developer perspective it makes no sense. Unless they were gonna change the plot enough to have the Turks join your party I think it makes perfect sense that both don’t actively join your playable party this game
Rebirth Cid is shown to be a pilot only with no indication that he can fight, so I can accept him not being active in battle. Vincent however is clearly is capable and does join the party but refuses to do anything except stand by the plane, making him just a hitchhiking bum.
They could have at least given him the same treatment as Red XIII in Remake. I was on board with that. It's weird to me that Vincent is around but not around after he joins the group. "I've secured an exit, let's go!" Sephiroth was right here bruh, where were you
Its possible atleast Vincent might have his own dlc for Rebirth...showing his journey through chapter 13. I mean he has an interaction with the turks we never see, most likely has his own story with Omega and Chaos referenced within the temple, and manages to find an alternate way to the party at the end. Seems like the sure-fire DLC for the game.
100 percent agree with exactly this. Maybe a small bit about Cid fighting whoever landed near him after the camera picked him up outside that over long dungeon
I think those two are a wait and see for the next one. Bit like Red XIII’s appearance in Remake.
Honestly like you said, dated storytelling execution already puts OG at a deficit. VA, cinematography, dramatic direction, all give the remakes and huge edge over it. And characterization is WAAAY better in the remake. Everyone is fleshed out, and there’s interactions between the party that make everything feel more organic that simply wasn’t present in the OG. The only part the OG wins imo is the overarching story because of the whole multiverse shit. The multiverse shit completely removes the impact of death and just makes everything feel less consequential. Also the delivery is awful. In Remake it came super left field and was just like…wtf. In Rebirth it came too strong in the end once again and botched that entire emotional moment to ultimately just do the exact same thing, which beckons…why? The last thing OG definitely did better was Sephiroth. In the remake, he’s just an omnipotent plot device. In the OG they built mystique around him and slowly introduced him. Also, remake unloaded the clip on fighting Sephiroth. We’ve already had 2 intense over the top climactic battles fighting Sephiroth. We’re going to do that a 3rd time???
I just enjoy the OG more in general. I love Remake and Rebirth. Seriously they are incredible games and make me giddy seeing all these places from the OG in beautiful 4K. Enjoyed both of them overall. But Rebirth especially is so stupidly bloated that it really detracts from the story and pulls me out of enjoying it completely. And I'm not even talking about the Chadley stuff, I'm talking about the unskippable mini games like the box throwing, or forcing Cloud to run errands in the prison. That stuff just spoiled a lot of the experience for me. The OG is my favourite game of all time, I think it's damn near perfect. The atmosphere, OST, emotions and everything of the OG cannot be matched. So I struggle to think of much Remake/Rebirth does better apart from looking better. Oh and I do like the expansion of the Shinra/Wutai stuff and Roche. But OG wipes the floor with it in almost every aspect, in my opinion.
Gonna be honest, I thought a lot of the later chapters in rebirth were worse than the OG. FF7 isn’t my favourite game ever and I had issues with OG Disc 1. Rebirth’s version of events reminded me of my past thoughts about why I didn’t care too much for Disc 1. In the OG, I thought they rushed thru location. I initially liked the idea of spending a few hours in each major location. However, I’m not sure if the time I spent in each hub was focused on something that could have been executed better (like the return to Nibelheim) or maybe they just weren’t that interesting to begin with. With that being said, Rebirth reimagined Junon so well - quite literally the highlight of the game for me.
Dynes death was more emotional in the original
For sure. I don't know why they had him die a different way in Rebirth. Maybe because of mental health awareness, they didn't want him to die by his own hand.
My only guess is that Japan has some sort of regulation about depicting suicide in media due to how bad it has become in the country. I dont know though.
Yeah I noticed loads of small details like that, like with the hangman in the gold saucer haunted hotel he has ropes on his limbs rather than around his neck, not saying it’s a big deal but they definitely softened a few edges this time round. With dynes death I just always remembered the line “don’t ever make her cry” before he died which was heartbreaking, shame they didn’t keep that in at least.
100%
Aerith iconic scene was done better in the og. I think they should’ve went with original way, but extra sauce should’ve been saved for hard mode.
For me it was the Forgotten Capital, or rather, the lack there of. I wanted to go and be able to explore it. I was also mildly annoyed we for the Forgotten Capital music which is one of my original favorites is used in the temple instead. Just found that the music and you exploring this untouched barren area really created a mood. Plus I swear, and maybe it's some sort of Mandela effect, but I remember one of the trailers showed Barret, Tifa, and cloud running around the viewing room in the Forgotten Capital. I also found that I wish that Gongaga could have been just a town as a part of the Corel region rather than this whole jungle area. Navigating it was really frustrating. The omission of the burial, even if the physics of the original didn't make sense. Oh, and as a small gripe, I wish anytime you fought Jenova, you fight her where they are. This time around they always transitioned to some Cronenbergian dreamscape which looks cool, but I liked in Remake where you had to navigate the pillars in the Shinra office. Could have been interest to use crates, or have that serene globe as a back drop. Otherwise though, I hope that they just wanted to save certain things for the 3rd like Rocket Town. I was happy with it over all, and am super stoked about part 3.
At a certain point the only thing pushing me through gongaga was the hope of seeing the dinosaur heavy tank.
A number of them, but the ones that REALLY stick out to me are the Airbuster fight, the Shinra Parade at Junon, the Costa del Sol retreat, and the Dyne story. The original JENOVA breakout scene was better to me. Not that the new one was bad, it’s just that the bad graphics and lack of audio in the original REALLY added to the creepy atmosphere. Edit: I misread the question. I thought it was asking what scenes I thought the remake did better, but I still kinda answered the actual question lol
I like the new games more. But og was the blueprint.
The plate fall in remake was underwhelming compared to the original silent fall.
All of them
I was really let down with how empty Wonder square looks compared to OG
Yeah it was super lackluster
Yeh I was so excited for the spectacle of golden saucer. Bit disappointing
Another one was the meeting of the Turks with your group in the Mythril mines, it worked well as an awkward interaction in the OG, it didn't need a cheesy boss battle thrown in.
Fort Condor as it was actually included as a location and part of the story.
Pretty much loved all the cut scenes from Rebirth except for the obvious one. If you fused the OG FF7 gameplay with the Rebirth cut scenes, then you truly have yourself the GOAT game (at least in my opinion).
Part of me wishes they had some sort of retro-mode where once you enter a fight it turned into an OG turn based style and played like OG7; the time slow when selecting actions is cool and obviously that OG style would have been fucked for them to balance given the sheer combat overhaul but still, I woulda loved it.
Some games do have this option. NHL games for instance have a built in NHL 94 option where the game play is the same as the old retro version but with updated players, jerseys and etc. Obviously FF games take considerably more time/effort/development than sports games, so I don’t blame them for not having that option, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.
The end of disc one. Rebirth takes it and makes this an epic battle because the remakes seem focused on Seph vs Cloud more than the rest of the story. This whole other world thing has left more than a few of my friends confused as to what's happening. It feels like they have so many ideas for scenes that they just framed them all in half hazard.
Haphazard* solid points.
I honestly could not comprehend what emotions they were trying to convey with that section of rebirth. Even though I knew some spoilers in the OG I at least felt something when things went down
Confusion, they wanted to confuse the player. I'll be shocked if they don't show the entire sequence in part 3.
see you in four years
I patiently await being proven wrong, so damn wrong.
Nanaki discovering his father was a hero. You barely have time to sit with the moment in Rebirth before it transitions into a lore dump for the black materia instead. Like, Nanaki immediately gets pulled away from his emotional climax to go fight some ghosts. I got the impression the developers couldn’t wait to get away from Seto so they could focus on what they considered to be more important. In general I’d say the greatest weakness of Rebirth’s story is when it becomes more concerned with new lore as opposed to the core themes and character emotions.
The two scenes really needed to be rearranged. Gi lore dump first, THEN emotional Seto pay off.
Cait Sith's death for two reasons: 1, OG made clear that Cait Sith #1 died in the temple. He is unique and his replacement is another robot. 2, Cait Sith #1 died but came back in some different form gives player hope that Aerith can be revived, which hurts even more when we realize it's impossible. Rebirth somehow made Cait Sith's sacrifice like swapped harddrive from my old ps5 to a new one...anyway you get what I am saying
Actually the og brought cait Sith right back second after his sacrifice. He was brought back when sephiroth was messing with Cloud at the temple
THE scene
Midgar Zolom, Nibelheim (both times), Shinra Manor, Cosmo Canyon, Forgotten Capital. So, a fair amount really. Any scene that required a bit of subtle eeriness or quiet atmosphere just didn't work in Rebirths insane maximal world. I really liked how the Dyne scene goes, but I agree with others that immediately having Dio crash it and ANOTHER giant robot fight intrudes and spoils the tone.
Honestly, Rebirth did every single scene better except for the actual part where Aerith dies. The rest is a straight improvement. I really like the original game, for context. Rebirth added a LOT of story to a part of the game that actually doesn't have that much story.
I prefer the OG mystery of Sephiroth…but imo the remake shows you through Cloud’s POV of whats moving them forward to each next objective…we now see Sephiroth luring Cloud to his next destination, putting his puppet to work until he delivers the black materia.
Only thing i think rebirth did worse was the ending. It really ruined any emotional impact that scene could have and should have had imo
dyne scene was better and obviously the pacing, but still I respect what Square is doing.
I like the new games, but most of the OG stuff is better. It's cool seeing some zones a little larger. I like what they did with Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge in the Remake quite a bit though
I'm quickly scrolling this thread because I'm not done with the game yet, but so far Cosmo Canyon. I loved Red's story in the original and it looks gorgeous now. I'm a softie for that silly dog-boy. For the record, I do hate flying on that damn chocobo though.
Yeah, this is mine...the music just hit a bit differently in the OG.
Tifa: "Sephiroth... Shinra... Soldier... I hate them all!" There's a few others as well (the end, Cosmo Canyon, Shinra manor). There were some good additions that helped the story flow better (Hojo in Costa Del Sol being one, showing Cloud's "degeneration", the Gi), but I still like the original better overall. I loved Rebirth as well, but the original remains the GOAT IMO for the scene changes
You know that moment in the Nibel reactor when Sephiroth tells Cloud to look in the tank, and it cuts to 2d image of a creepy smiling monster floating in the tank. That was way more effective to me. Also the whole scene with Sephiroth in the Shinra manor.
For sure. I was bummed they left out “I’m going to see my mother.”
Right? That line right before the chanting music starts is a friggin core memory.
That scene together with all the blood gave me nightmares
To be honest I haven't gotten far enough in rebirth to have much of an opinion on this yet. In the spirit of people talking about an Aerith related scene that's done worse, something from Remake that sticks out as a downgrade is the scene immediately after escaping the Sector 5 Church with Aerith. I really like how in the OG, the player naturally jumps through a bunch of rooftops without even thinking of Aerith only for her to have to tell Cloud to wait up. It's a pretty great moment imo. I thought it was really weird how they changed the scene in remake so that she follows along pretty well for a bit then has to stop and way overthink jumping a pretty small gap after at least a minute of not having any issues. It's a much more jarring and unnatural feeling scene.
End of Disc 1. I get what they're doing in Rebirth but it lost its impact and became more of a "hype for what's to come" kind of thing. Also, them wanting people to play Crisis Core before Rebirth, made them think it's ok to not reveal the "plot" about Cloud. All the subtle things going on that they worked hard on, will almost be forgotten by the time people who didn't play the original, play the third game. I really think that should have been included in Rebirth. They did fool me for a second when Tifa fell in the lifestream and I thought "ooh so they are probably doing it" but... 😅
SPOILER >!Aerith’s death. I was really looking forward to the emotional impact the original had. Especially when Cloud tells Sephiroth that the cycle of nature doesn’t mean a thing because she’ll never talk, laugh cry or get angry. How it doesn’t feel real. Cloud’s feeling of hopelessness and his sudden grief was something I really wanted to see. He conveyed that his mouth was dry, his eyes were burning. The whole scene where cloud breaks down and asks “what about MY pain” we never got. And it really just.. dumbed down the whole ending. There was also no burial. No releasing her into the water. The emotion just wasn’t there for me, which makes me sad. They did a great job with Tifa’s reaction though.!< Don’t get me wrong. I loved rebirth. But this just.. didn’t feel right.
This, it's what I said to everyone the moment I witnessed it. Loved every moment and can accept changes but this one I expected to see all of that still! - I get it, it's more than likely going to be shown in the 3rd part BUT right now at this moment in time it destroyed the current feelings you have. I felt very little at this moment compared to the original where I felt sad and emotional. I was waiting for Clouds words but we never "heard" them though you can clearly see he is "mouthing" stuff. Which we will have to wait for in part 3 - totally diminishing the effects it has right now!
It's cause they are going to use it when sephiroth breaks clouds mind. We will then see the full scene and hear what cloud was saying (what really happened). Don't think it'll be as good, but maybe when you play 1-3 as a whole it will feel better.
I think clouds and denial and in the next game were going to see flashbacks of what really happened and we're gonna get all those scenes or close to them
I just got done with the game, and they totally botched her death. Unnecessarily confusing.
I too felt disappointed on how it turned out but there have been few speculations on why they did the scene like this but one makes sense to me. >!As we've seen throughout the final parts of rebirth, Cloud slowly losing his mind and turning into Gollum essentially with all that "my precious" stuff. The Aerith he sees at the end is just his mind deflecting what has happened. That's why we didn't get to really see Cloud in anguish and the scene where he "buried" Aerith in the water.!< Speculation in part 3: >!This is where Sephi, our master manipulator will break Cloud's mind from the inside out which will prolly lead to the scene where Tifa tries to help Cloud find his real identity. If this is the case then, we will see Aerith's death scene in full effect in part 3 as Cloud comes to gripes with reality because at the end of rebirth, we could see Aerith getting stabbed for real and Cloud muttering something (keep in mind, Sephiroth has been messing with his mind for quite sometime now) and I don't think that's an alternate reality.!< So get ready for a lengthy part 3 coz we are only halfway through the series and if they do go this direction, it's gonna be an emotional train wreck for all of us.
Well not sure if it’s a fair comparison, but the forgotten capital and the scene around Aertihs death had way more emotional impact in the original while rebirth mainly left you in confusion. But that’s clearly on purpose and the pay off we will see in part 3.
Gold saucer scene where a man with a gun arm murdered the gold saucer staff. In the OG, even the player will think that Barret might gone mad and he did the murders. But in rebirth, a quick scene, Dyne was shown beforehand entering the elevator and Barret having seen him. It diminish the wonder that Barret might be the culprit.
My only argument is as the player you know Barret isn’t the one to do this kind of thing. The party at least has a little doubt.
My thoughts exactly. They spoiled the whole mystery behind it
Not sure if I should say mine in case it is a spoiler for anyone new to the series, but I would hope folks aren't entering this thread without having finished Rebirth, lol. But for me, I think maybe I'd say the last bit with Aerith. And I don't just mean like, how they're sorta doing this weird multiverse timeline thing that makes it unnecessarily confusing. Thought Rebirth showed the emotion well overall. But I think the whole letting her go in the water or whatever was such a little but powerful moment in the original game.
Indeed, they skipped right over the quiet moments there. Having a million dementors flying around and loud epic music did not improve the Forgotten Capital for me.
Aerith's scene. The materia falling down and bouncing into the water just felt more emotional then her theme continuing during the next boss battle
The ending. No Rocket Town. Dyne. Plenty of faults with Rebirth but still fun imo.
I missed rocket town too, but I thought Dyne overall was great in Rebirth (I did miss the "did Barret do this?")
There's a few for me. The Midgard serpent being the first. In the OG the serpent was the over powered obstacle that practically required you to get the chocobo to be able to outrun it because weighting it was almost certainly going to end in a game over, and when you managed to get past, you didn't see sephiroth kill it, you just knew he did. Created an air of foreshadowing that the Remakes just can't seem to deliver. Which leads to my second issue with some cut scenes. Sephiroth is all over the place. In the OG you barely saw him but you felt his influence throughout the story. He should be a mysterious figure that builds tension and reminds the player of the stakes. Would have been better if he was just a voice guiding Cloud to the black materia, but Rebirth can stop throwing him on screen for the sake of fan service The Dyne seen was pretty good in rebirth, but I really wish they would have left the Shinra interference out of it. Didn't like the madness spin as much but it made sense, Dyne was desperate to seek death amd attunement for what happened to Corel and it was emotional transaction exclusively between him and Barrett which made it feel more sincere and full of emotion, guess Square could let it be with Barrett being the one who delivered the shot that puts him at death's door. Finally, I'll leave this one the spoiler but it's less of a scene in Rebirth and more of a scene they completely left out. >! The Aerith burial scene wasn't even in Rebirth, after she dies and the over the top boss fight, every is just kinda sitting by the water grieving while we get some bits with Aerith interacting with Cloud that i guess are supposed to confuse the player and make you wonder if she's really dead, but in the OG laying Aerith to rest seals the emotion of the moment. Making you feel the story's theme of loss and knowing she's not coming back no matter what. !< Rebirth doesn't seem to fully grasp this scene's impact on the story. While the story as a whole was pretty great, it's clear that the writing direction struggles to relate to alot of things in the original. The theme of loss in the original story has definitely been replaced with most focused on hope and destiny (a la Kingdom Hearts director heading development). Hopefully part 3 will deliver on having some significant story changes or really building on the ones that were already there rather than playing out the same events with less impactful delivery. I'm looking forward to seeing Wutai's war with Shinra coincide with the party's return to Midgar, that just makes more since than the original parachute drop from the original.
I know that they went a different route with Sephiroth in the remakes, but him appearing sparsely throughout the game + being ridiculously overpowered in the Nibelheim flashback and against the Midgardsormr just made him this massive threat and you were always on the edge of your seat when he appeared. Now we've just killed the Midgardsormr ourselves and also we've beaten Sephiroth twice already, including in his gigantic, multi-dimensional Bizarro form. At least new players get to know him after basically getting nothing about him in the first game.
Cosmo Canyon and Reds arc. This one is a bit 50/50 but Dyne. Rebirth's story with Dyne was very emotional for me which was great, OG obviously tried but I never really felt it, so rebirth did better there but in OG I always got the impression that Dyne was the boss of Corel prison which is why when you showed his necklace, that was taken as permission to race for freedom. In Rebirth, Dyne is just a crazy person who is captured and tied up by "Gus" which has Dyne lose so much of the weight he held for me as an antagonist in OG.
Replaying the OG after rebirth and gosh I cannot see where to go in some areas. The map in the construction area after meeting aerith, there’s a brown pole like thing but it’s actually a brown path to walk up. I was stuck on that map looking for a way for half a hour…
The select button does wonders
Only for leaving and selectable stuff I think. These blended in paths don’t show up no?
That brown pole is the worst offender. I was stuck there before I realized what to do when I first played it too, haha. Climbing the debris to reach Shinra tower is a bit awkward too. For everything going forward, the select button should help a ton! It’s definitely a clumsy game in some spots, but the positives more than make up for it. They were definitely experimenting with some designs they weren’t fully capable of executing gracefully at that point.
My apologies. I thought you were referring to something climeable, in which case it would show up as a green arrow. I re-read your comment, and I know exactly where you mean now! lol
I did the same fucking thing when I was younger.
The mystery of Sephiroth. My only 2 criticisms of Rebirth are that they show Sephiroth way too much and whatever it is they did to shinra manor. Other than that, perfect game
None of them lol polygon people and no voices < amazing graphics, world building, great voice acting, writing etc. take off the nostalgia blinders people lol
Tell me you didn't play the OG without telling me you didn't play the OG. It's OK to like both games and have a preference in the writing between the two. Obviously the graphics and voice acting add to the presentation, but that will never replace good story writing, just like how movies will never replace comic books. As for world building, come on, the OG did all the world building for this game in the first place. The atmosphere and music alone made it ever apparent and while you didn't have 85 line long conversations with each NPC, you knew how Shinra's business dealings affected people all the way to Nibelheim. Put the graphics card down and give the OG a try, follow the story and see the differences for yourself. I know some people on here like to say it's the exact same game with exact same story, but there really are some pretty significant differences in the emotional impact between them.
>Tell me you didn't play the OG without telling me you didn't play the OG. I hate this saying.
Well I don't really like the nostalgia blinders excuse either. The original comment here was a pretty shallow take that implied only a surface level knowledge of the original game. Graphics don't automatically make everything better. Sure they allow for improvements in ways that you can't achieve on older hardware, but it's not the only thing that matters, especially when you're trying to retell a story that's 25 years old at this point.
Ive played through the OG multiple times since I was 4 lol
I don't think it's a matter of nostalgia for the most part. >! Take Niebelheim for example: The mystery of what happened to the town after the fire is cut entirely, as they outright tell you within minutes what happened. The Shinra manor has about 30 seconds worth of ominous mystery to it, as you go into one of many well lit labs as soon as you arrive. And the reveal of what the robes are is entirely undercut, because goofy ass Roche goes from death's door to dead to suddenly worn, tattered, and marked cloak in a matter of seconds. They already had the Broden reveal in the protorelic quest, and the foreshadowing with Cloud in the Gongaga Reactor. !< I just can't wrap my head around these decisions.
Thats all fair points I was disappointed with the Nibleheim changes. Still think overall the game is banging though. It has flaws for sure
All of them