Watching the Aerith voice actor play that section, and cry at the end because the message is so beautiful was touching.

lol, I actually didn’t. I knew I was going to play the remake and didn’t know that it basically assumed you had played the original. I looked for a rundown of the story and forgot that’s the thing that was the start of this thread.

So I think I'm done with the game finally. There's three trophies left, but they seem lame and not worth doing. Collect all enemy skills, collect all music CDs, see all the dresses. BORING.

I just spent 45 minutes fighting a house. No story rundown makes that make any sense. (: The whole crowd chanting the victory music was a great touch though.

This might be game of the generation. I kinda wish I had an affinity for the original game. I bet this is real cool for those people.

Did you know you can Stop or put the Hell House to sleep? Lots of bosses are susceptible to sleep, poison, and stop. Don't overlook those spells!

Also, the house was just a regular enemy you fight randomly in the original game. Didn't you read my lets play? :-p

This might be game of the generation. I kinda wish I had an affinity for the original game. I bet this is real cool for those people.

I watched a 45 minute story rundown last night. Is it the Zak/Cloud blending stuff? The video I watched started by explaining the events that happen before the game starts, but I assume those are late game revelations in the actual game, stuff like Cloud not being a SOLDIER and his getting Zak’s memories. So I’m thinking that the remake is sticking true to how that stuff was originally presented, but I don’t know that for sure.

Do they change how anything plays out, or just recontextualize something?

In any case the sort of the original game seems bonkers. I guess I’ll just look it up if something happens that I don’t understand.

I think you'll be fine if you watched a rundown. As long as it covered everything with Zack, Aerith, Sephiroth, Jenova, and most importantly the ending, you should be fine. You might miss 'little' things, but big picture you should be ok.

Do they change how anything plays out, or just recontextualize something?

In any case the sort of the original game seems bonkers. I guess I’ll just look it up if something happens that I don’t understand.

This game rules. I just did the mission for Jessie. The combat finally got challenging, and I’m sure it’s just the beginning.

I'm going through on hard mode now (on chapter 15 of 18), and you have to absolutely master the combat and the boss weaknesses to succeed. You max out at level 50, and even then you aren't overpowered in the least. Each boss is super varied, and I've had to have custom materia loadouts for each. It helps that all the characters are so different and have unique abilities. If you want tips I can give some, but figuring it out is super fun. Hard mode is tougher enemies, no item usage, and MP only recharging between chapters or after specific story points.

I guess I’ll dive into watching or reading the story of the original before I get too much farther.

You can play up until close to the end and still have things make sense. It's the last bit that requires you to have played the original.

I played through the original again before my hard mode playthrough, and doing all the story stuff took me 28 hours at a decent pace that wasn't rushed. If you aren't going to beat any of the superbosses, it's not the longest JRPG by any margin. The PS4 version even has a level booster and a fast forward.

Also, I love the writing and characters so far. It’s really sort of cheesy, but it’s so earnest and endearing that it really works for me. I love Jessie and Wedge.

I guess I’ll dive into watching or reading the story of the original before I get too much farther.

Also yes. All the side jobs suck. But you can skip them.

So, I never played more than an hour or two of the original game. I’ve heard this remake really assumes you have, to the point where it might not really make sense without that context. Can you answer to that Cody? I have no issues reading a synopsis or watching a let’s play of the original, I don’t really care about spoilers.

I’m using the new battle system. I really like it, or at least I see it’s potential. So far I just haven’t had to do much beyond mash square and use the occasional spell. And switch to Barrett all the damn time because he’s too dumb to keep his meter charged.

I think you'll be happy when it comes to hard mode. You really have to learn the intricacies of the control, player abilities, enemy weaknesses, and Materia spec.

On hard mode I forget I am playing what was once a JRPG. It feels like a straight up action game at times.

I finished the main story, and never thought it could be this good. The only real gripes I have are with the pointless side jobs, and the audio mix (the music is too often mixed way too low in cinematics. You have one of the best game scores in history, you should let the music come forward sometimes and do its thing!)

I can say though, that the game is meant to be played by those who have finished the original. It's not a nostalgia thing, and it's hard to explain without spoiling, but if this is your first crack at Final Fantasy 7 you might be confused. It's really smart, and really bold and brilliant I think.

There's a constant struggle between nostolgia and moving forward, so what the game does is quite smart. You have for the first 17/18 chapters a more or less faithful retelling of the original, simply with much more detail with things greatly expanded upon and a few things changed here or there. But that ending. It frees the creators up to do whatever they want now, not shackled by the original. It can move forward into the unknown. I am so excited to continue when the next one comes out.

It's a home run.

And even if it won't be the same for me as someone who hasn't played it, I'm pretty keen to give it a go now.

I can say though, that the game is meant to be played by those who have finished the original. It's not a nostalgia thing, and it's hard to explain without spoiling, but if this is your first crack at Final Fantasy 7 you might be confused. It's really smart, and really bold and brilliant I think.

There's a constant struggle between nostolgia and moving forward, so what the game does is quite smart. You have for the first 17/18 chapters a more or less faithful retelling of the original, simply with much more detail with things greatly expanded upon and a few things changed here or there. But that ending. It frees the creators up to do whatever they want now, not shackled by the original. It can move forward into the unknown. I am so excited to continue when the next one comes out.

It's a home run.

I’m using the new battle system. I really like it, or at least I see it’s potential. So far I just haven’t had to do much beyond mash square and use the occasional spell. And switch to Barrett all the damn time because he’s too dumb to keep his meter charged.

Yeah, you've just seen the intro basically. There's more to it.

When does the game really get going?

It's kind of gradual. There isn't a discrete point where it 'gets going'. It just keeps ramping up.

I played the first two chapters. I made it back to base and met Tifa before I stopped. I liked it, and I plan on playing more soon, but I’m still not fully sold I guess. The combat seems neat, but it’s very brainless so far. I’ve heard that changes once you get deeper in.

Are you on real time, or classic battle? Like the rest of the game, it opens way up gradually. I probably won't try classic mode, because the remake battle system is dope.

I played the first two chapters. I made it back to base and met Tifa before I stopped. I liked it, and I plan on playing more soon, but I’m still not fully sold I guess. The combat seems neat, but it’s very brainless so far. I’ve heard that changes once you get deeper in.

Didn’t help that Joseph Anderson put out a four hour video about The Witcher and I fell into another play through (along with starting Thronebreaker in Switch, which is fantastic).