I'd argue that Remake is very much still influenced by Advent Children, since everything in REMAKE has to be BIG AND EXPLOSIVE and EVERYONE DOES ANIME FLIPS ALL OF THE TIME. It doesn't go off the rails because it's based on a source material--until it isn't.
@planetfunksquad: Yeah I know what Rebuild is, and while I won't go into the whole "I trust Hideko Anno far more than I do anyone at Square Enix," Rebuild are like two hour films. That's completely different from playing a 30 hour video game Especially that first film which cuts a lot of the fat from the series and streamlines it for newcomers while also being just different enough for veterans to enjoy. That's...not really what REMAKE does, and it's a different context anyways. Considering people are relatively mixed on the final two chapters anyways, it's a damned if you do damned if you don't situation: So just say fuck it and make those changes apparent from the get-go, instead of wasting my time with fluff.
@shingro:Of course I have proof. It's called Advent Children, and every other FF7 side story game It's called whatever nonsense that they were trying to do with the Fabula Nova Crystallis nonsense, and turning FFXIII into a trilogy of other nonsense games. It's XV's expanding into a whole multimedia project consisting of anime and a cgi film that apparently I needed to watch in order to understand what the hell was going on + all the DLC that eventually got cut. And I don't have to talk about Kingdom Hearts do I?
My point is that this is what Square Enix does and I'd say it went a long way at degrading the franchise in many people's eyes. And when the first things they talked about was making REMAKE episodic--yeah it just seemed like business as usual. So no I don't really buy that splitting the games up into several full priced games was done for anything other than financial reasons.
@shingro: I've never bought the idea that this game needed to be multiple games, especially when REMAKE mostly consists of linear corridors. Don't get me wrong, the game is absolutely gorgeous, but I don't buy that REMAKE had to be solely Midgar because the game is just "too big." That's corporate nonsense--they did because it meant they could make more money splitting up FF7 into a "trilogy." And they found a reason to justify it: time-travel/alternate universe shenanigans. Which yeah, That's "Kingdom Hearts" bullshit right there.
And the plot twist only works if you have some prior knowledge of the original game anyways, so I'd argue that there was really no reason to make gamers play through the first act of the game if the objective was to blow the whole narrative up--they should have done it a lot sooner. Because it'd actually lend some agency and stakes because it would be actively fucking with expectations. Instead I was just frustrated because the many diversions were just filler that didn't really add anything to the overall plot. It was a superficial way to make sure the first act of VII could stretch into a 30-40 hour game.
@planetfunksquad: But that's kinda my point. The ghosts don't really impact the story because the story goes as planned. Especially since the gang both see and interact with the ghosts several times throughout the story--and do nothing at all about it.
I would be far more interested if REMAKE actively went about deconstructing its own narrative throughout the game to signify Sephiroth messing with destiny rather than wait till the end to drop an exposition dump. Basically, it feels like REMAKE plays it mostly safe.
@someoneproud: I can't even say I dislike Roche because he matters so little to the overall plot. He's a throwaway boss, that you'd think would provide some level of input about Cloud or his time in SOLDIER. But nope. Just a single boss fight, and then a "I'll see in the sequel!!!"
It's change for the sake of change solely meant to bloat the first act of FFVII. Nothing more.
Here's the thing. I don't think it's as simple as "IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE CHANGES THAN IT MEANS THAT YOU JUST WANT IT TO STAY THE SAME." Which, no I don't think that's really the case.
People are trying to add this metacontextual reading to the ending, that it's SE making REMAKE about the nature of remakes and how we gotta be willing to break free of the chains of "destiny" and accept a brand new future--except I just spent 30 hours of the game going through what is essentially a faithful recreation of the first act of the original game. Yeah, the game has plenty of filler in an attempt to extend the storyline--but that's all it is. Filler designed to turn what was essentially only the first act of a full-length RPg into its own game. It really isn't until the final act of REMAKE that the game attempts to dramatically change the storyline and even then, it just gives us a load of questions that serve solely to further bloat an already plot-filled game just to justify a sequel.
And on paper, I would be fine with that--except that I don't trust Square Enix to make good on the very questions they raise, because they're historical not good at these high concept plot lines. XIII is boring nonsense, XV was literally not even done when they pushed it out opting for DLC in order to "shape" the world, and Kingdom Hearts is infamous for its bloat and putting out sequels and spin-offs on a variety of consoles that are all still canon to the overall story. I think there are plenty of reasons to remain hesitant on how SE goes from here on out.
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