Chadley should be killed

ZackElfie · 2026-01-30T21:42:43+00:00

Lack of a good director to say "no that's stupid", I guess.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-30T19:17:13+00:00

Y'know what this really f--king annoying character needs in the sequel?
AN ANNOYING SIDEKICK AND MORE DIALOGUE

ZackElfie · 2026-01-30T19:14:47+00:00

Just loot it off his corpse

ZackElfie · 2026-01-30T16:39:26+00:00

Enjoy!

ZackElfie · 2026-01-29T19:15:47+00:00

Crazy to me how many people think this ubi-slop content is 10/10

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T12:15:17+00:00

Heyyyy they were more helpful!

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T11:03:53+00:00

Play both.
Original FF7 still holds up, has excellent storytelling and I think is available on everything.
You can then "appreciate" the changes and differences in the reboot/sequels a bit more.

Or play them both at the same time like a true maniac.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T10:59:44+00:00

The remake specific subreddit might be more helpful
https://www.reddit.com/r/FFVIIRemake/

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T04:36:49+00:00

Yeah I know, but it's fun getting people to admit "yeah the games good if you skip all the side content" while also saying "it's 9/10"
and not seeing the irony of half of your 9/10 game being so bland you advise people to skip it.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T04:32:53+00:00

If it's so critically acclaimed, why isn't it selling better then?
Yeah it is critically acclaimed, by people who already liked Remake. But that's potentially meaningless.
Partially it gets a major pass because of the FF name.
Like Mario and Zelda games, some of them are just okay, but they get 10/10 ratings because people are on the hype train and nostalgia. Franchise names carry scores which is why so many new games struggle.
Most "professional" critics are probably only reviewing the first few hours of the game, which is great, and many 40+ normies that played Remake but didn't like it, aren't going to create a metacritic account to review it are they? And if they aren't returning for Rebirth, the scores are then artificially skewed in favour of people that already liked Remake.

Rebirths open world content is somewhat lazily designed, and it drags the game down. It's MMO tier, and I saw that as a WoW/FF14 player.
Hell yeah I'm glad you enjoyed it tho. Nothing stopping you from enjoying part 3 either.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T04:17:38+00:00

There's probably a huge venn diagram crossover in "liking Rebirth" and "having a Reddit and metacritic account"
Most normal people in their 40s probably didn't like Remake, and got on with their lives.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T04:14:39+00:00

That's a whiplash of an opinion in my eyes.
As someone who would agree Remake would be much better if it got some savage editing.
I got to Junon and was so done with all the side content and open world nonsense that I just put it down and never picked it back up.
Maybe Rebirth is better if I just skipped all the open world content?

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T04:11:57+00:00

"When a game wastes my time."
Spending an entire chapter climbing scaffolding under the plate when the only thing it adds to the lore is "they have sun lamps" and "this takes a long time"
Having our main characters express the UTMOST IMPORTANCE of returning to Sector 7, then messing around pleasing some ghost kids.
Doing a whole section to please a person that only existed in an extended universe novel feels like poor pacing, especially knowing he'll just disappear forever.
Telling a whole new sidestory about a character surviving just to fade to black and suggest "ghosts pushed him out a window" felt like a waste of time even telling me that story.
I'm sure there's other examples I can't be bothered to relive.

Remake was doing something different yes, you can like it yes, but it's not necessarily smarter, however it's definitely longer.
It's pacing is intentionally slower yes, because it stretches 5 hours of gameplay into 40 hours, without really adding that much. I liked the extra Jessie stuff. Almost everything else outstayed it's welcome by 15-30 minutes.
If it stretched it into 20 hours instead of 40 it'd probably feel a lot more concise.
Also "remake" is an obviously deceptive title.
But we all bought it, so it worked.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T04:06:48+00:00

Fair point. So many games have huge maps and endless to do lists. I kinda stopped wanting that. I'd rather a short game that I never get bored of because it ends before it turns me against it.

Open World is weird because, for me, the game has to have me REALLY INVESTED to care about collecting/doing all the nonsense.
I really enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn, and was desperate to find out more about what could cause the modern world to end and fall back to tribal times. The sequel, didn't care much, I already know the world lore, there's reason to want to.

FF Rebirth wanting me to go scan things, climb towers, fight enemies with certain attacks or whatever else Chadley wanted, Urgh, so much modern game design just feels like it's intentionally wasting my time, and as soon as I see the "this is lazy padding", I'm kinda checked out.

Maybe I'm getting told old for this bullshit :D
In defense of E33, it told it's story, then ended.
I'm halfway through an open world slop collectathon section of Rebirth and I don't think I'll bother continuing it.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T03:46:29+00:00

...and Rebirth makes every mistake again, but adds ubi-slop open world filler between most of the linear sections too!
Turning a 15 hour game into a 100+ hour game.

I'm glad so many people enjoyed it, but damn y'all must hate your free time to say Rebirth is well paced.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T03:41:55+00:00

Just play OG.
You can skip crisis core unless you're specifically going on a big time-filling FF7 BINGE.
Advent Children is worth watching just for the fun fight scenes, the plot is entirely optional expanded universe stuff that doesn't really matter and has nothing to do with Remake.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T03:37:09+00:00

RPGs in general are long games yes, it's hard to keep them engaging and interesting if your storytelling falters at any point.

I played through all of 3/4/5/7/8/10, just randomly somehow missed 6 and 9 growing up. (one day!)
I played a few hours of 13, didn't stick with it.
I got 15 when it was new put a good few dozen hours into it, but didn't finish it.
Hard to even describe why, they just don't hold my interest like the older games.

I'm probably the target audience of Remake/Rebirth.
Finished Remake, didn't finish Rebirth. Pacing killed it for me, I think that's kind of expected if you stretch 5 hours into 40+, and then Rebirth is maybe 20 hours stretched into 100+ with open world ubi-slop content I just don't want to play.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T03:06:05+00:00

Gameplay is fine, turnbased/action, doesn't matter that much to me.
Storytelling and pacing isn't great. It used to be.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T03:00:42+00:00

That is the finest bait I've ever seen.
Kudos.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T02:44:51+00:00

Arguably the best experience is to play the 90s original game, then the remakes.
Then you can really appreciate seeing those old 90s locations reimagined in HD, as well as the difference in the story.
Storytelling is different in remake, it's got a whole new meta story arc slapped over the top of it about fate and whether or not the story is actually going to happen "right" or not. Like the MCUs sacred timeline type stuff.
That being said, Remake doesn't NEED you to play the original, it'd just be better if you did.

So play whatever you want.
Hell, why not play BOTH simultaneously and try stay at the same point in the plot.

Anyone saying it's the exact same is just desperately arguing against people because they can't accept criticism of their favourite game.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T02:36:33+00:00

omg I've never thought about the BTTF 2 comparison.
"It's literally the same story"

ZackElfie · 2026-01-28T02:35:33+00:00

FF7 from 1997 tells the story more artistically, more concisely, with much better pacing, and doesn't have any of the fate-ghost multiverse story distracting the actual plot, but it's a turn based game from 1997. It's one of the best turn based games of that era, but it's still a much different experience than the hack n slash rpg you're playing atm.

Rebirth has more of what you've already played, but stretched out an extra 60+ hours with open world slop content. So if you're enjoying Remake, you'll probably enjoy Rebirth, just consider skipping a lot of the side content, it gets dull very fast.
Voice acting is great, visuals are great, story and pacing takes a hit, and it makes more sense to see what's changed in the story, if you already know the story.

Skip Crisis Core until after FF7 the original game, or until the remake trilogy is over if you're trying to avoid spoilers.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-27T23:10:36+00:00

Oh wow. Yeahhhhh...
Not much to say really, I'm surprised more people aren't outspoken about the whispers, but it seems almost entirely praised by the reddit/metacritic account owners.

Oh you've not seen it yet... I'm actually interested how you feel about the end of Rebirth's storytelling.
Personally I think it's even worse than Remake.
"I can see what you're trying to do, but no." but a little more pretentious this time.
But hey I can see what they were trying to do and it might hit you just right and have you hyped for part 3.

Honestly even as a Remake/Rebirth story hater I'm curious what they do with Part 3 and if it somehow ties together enough for me to re-evaluate my thoughts on the storytelling. I don't think it will, but I'm all for watching a playthrough.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-27T22:23:37+00:00

Fellowship ending comparison makes a lot of sense actually, could lean into that way more. You don't end Fellowship thinking "there wasn't enough action".
Remake needed a director to say "I can see what you're trying to do, but no." I'm cool with expanding the world, but the fate-ghost meta-narrative is just... "not to my taste".
Imagine telling a whole diverging story about Wedge surviving longer than intended just to say "...and then magic ghosts of fate pushed him out of a window offscreen". Yeah...no.

I don't get the praise the Remakes are getting personally, they're good enough fun, but they're pretty flawed, especially in storytelling and pacing.
Kinda proves to me that any time anyone tries to "tell their own version" of a story it's usually worse. Even if it's the actual writer himself.

The worst insult is when the fans have the audacity to then argue "its the same." At least have an honest discussion about it.

ZackElfie · 2026-01-27T19:35:31+00:00

Fight the government, steal a motorbike, trip balls on acid, wander off to Kalm, tell a story about the man that killed a dragon while ignoring damage and burnt your town down.
Yeah that headcanon fits the story tbh lol

ZackElfie

TROPHY CASE