So I've been playing this recently...

[Tobias]

What really? Daaaang. I gotta say my expectations were pretty high since the general trend line had been

1: good
2: really great
3: not as good as 2 but still great
4: had been hoping would be better then 2.

still, ima buy it day 1

[Mattias]

Same here. Actually the pre-order is apparently up already last I heard, so if you want a bunch of early game healing stuff there's that.

[weeblord]

still havent bought 3. im waiting for switch because its easier for me to power through a game im not that invested in on a handheld.

i watched the china dude stream 4 when it came out and oh boy that game has really mastered the sacred art of falcom padding, plus i hated what they did with Osborne.

[Mattias]

As in making him sympathetic? Or making him the actual villain rather than just the asshole indirectly making problem he was in 1&2?

[weeblord]

i didnt like his motives, his master plan or his backstory. I thought it was way too out there and pretty poor and i guess even cowardly writing.

i loved him as the the shady scheming politician who outplayed everyone and was ever since Sky 2 playing 4D political chess behind the scenes, the

cs3 spoiler

curse stuff

was really really lame.

[Mattias]

So basically everything CS3 and beyond.

Yeah, some of the writing choices in the later half of that game are...questionable at best.

[Benderesco]

Playing E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy. I should have expected something WEIRD from a shooter beloved by the RPG Codex, but this is still quite unlike anything I have ever played.

[Imperial]

All of this quarantine time has given me an opportunity to burn through my back log.

Pyre: Wonderful art design and colorful cast of characters set in a desolate fantasy world as they play a basketball-like game to win their freedom. I feel like I am watching someone else's fever dream. I love it. Supergiant develops a bunch of games with a very unique flavor that may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I still recommend them for the sheer novelty.

Dark Souls Remastered: You know what this is. I will forever love all things Dark Souls, but it does make me wonder why I dropped the money on this. I could have just played the original. Still, it's fun to finally do a Pyromancer run after playing through the original first as a balanced sword-and-shield warrior and then a big, high-Strength, two-handed caveman kind of build.

Bloodborne: Oh, hey, more FromSoft. Who would have thought? After rolling a Strength character last time, I decided to go full Arcane. The Tonitrus and the Holy Moonlight Sword have been putting in work. I know the big gimmick of an Arcane build is how powerful Hunter Tools like the Executioner's Gloves become, but my trick weapons are already mulching everything so effectively that I don't see the point in using the Tools anymore. Arcane starts slow but it ramps up fast.

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Just arrived in Wall Market, and this game continues to impress. The game fleshes out the supporting characters and the slum life so effectively, and the expanded sub-quests don't feel like filler even though a lot of them definitely are. The new combat system is so slick. Tifa gets special mention for that crazy, combo-chaining style of hers.

Other games on my to play list: Persona 5, Metal Gear Solid V, Planescape: Torment, Nier Automata round two. And those are just the games I currently own. I have Ghost of Tsushima on preorder, and I am eyeing the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes.

[SpoonyViking]

So what's changed (if anything) from the original FF7 to the remake? In terms of plot and characters, I mean.

[RoydGolden]

MAJOR spoilers for game's ending

For one thing, there's a totally out of left-field ending where Sephiroth from an alternate timeline shows up and gives Cloud the chance to go back in time and prevent Zack's death. No idea where they're going with that.

[Imperial]

Hey, Royd

That's a pretty big spoiler to drop on someone who probably hasn't touched the game yet. Yeah, you put it in spoiler tags, but I generally find it's in better taste to let a game breathe for at least a month before you drop endgame spoilers on a new player like that.

So what's changed (if anything) from the original FF7 to the remake? In terms of plot and characters, I mean.

I'm about 90% of the way through the game, and it's mostly been pretty faithful. The gang's all here, and they really come alive.

There is a ton of expansion. Nothing characters like Barrett's AVALANCHE buddies not named Tifa get way more characterization, and the slums get fleshed out in a huge way with all of the NPC chatter and many, many side quests. They even kept in the crossdressing sequence to get into Don Corneo's, but it has an extra layer of weird (in a good way) with Cloud jumping through some hoops to gain the confidence of Corneo's lieutenants. That's kind of this game in a nutshell: Take what the fans loved and do more of that.

You really get a sense of what the characters are fighting for, what's at stake, and what made the VII cast so memorable.

The new game feels like a love letter to the original.

I have a few small complaints, like thrusting Sephiroth down the player's throat with Cloud's freak out visions early and often instead of slowly building him up, but I suppose that's the price of VII being so well-known these days. The makers probably felt they had to put one of the most iconic characters front and center. But it takes on an even stranger dimension when the game hasn't really explained who Sephiroth is supposed to be yet. There's also a Cait Sith cameo that won't mean anything to you unless you already know who that is. And so on.

It's like the makers expect the player to know everything about these characters, but new players will probably feel lost. How can you get excited for these parts if you have no context for them?

Granted, I have heard it goes way off the rails in the very last sequence, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

And even if the game does shit the bed in the final act, at least the gameplay itself is a blast and a half. So fun. So smooth. I am already dying to play episode 2.

[RoydGolden]

Hey, Royd

That's a pretty big spoiler to drop on someone who probably hasn't touched the game yet. Yeah, you put it in spoiler tags, but I generally find it's in better taste to let a game breathe for at least a month before you drop endgame spoilers on a new player like that.

I mean, Spoony literally asked what changed in terms of plot and characters. That's pretty much unavoidably spoileriffic. If you want to experience the game fresh you shouldn't ask for details about the plot, at least that's what I figured. I'll try to be more careful giving such answers in the future though.

[SpoonyViking]

For what it's worth, I'm fine with getting these kinds of spoilers unless I specifically ask for no spoilers, but Imperial has a good point.

Also, episode TWO?! What a rip-off!

Also, holy crap those spoilers.

- - - Updated - - -

Last but not least, thanks for answering, you two!

[Imperial]

There are ways of answering that question without serving up a critical spoiler on a silver platter like that.

Imagine asking someone about Star Wars, and you flat out say Vader is Luke's father. Instead, you could say there's more to Vader than scary enforcer, or you could say Obi-Wan didn't give Luke the full story about his father. Still indicating there is something more going on without completely spilling the beans. Think of it as spilling some of the beans while still leaving some in the can.

What I'm really trying to say is that I would delete that post if I were in your shoes.

Also, episode TWO?! What a rip-off!

Oh, yeah, had you not heard?

VII Remake is going to be episodic. This installment covers the Midgar section of the original.

No word on how many parts the saga will be in total or when part two drops. I am sure there will be a "Complete Collection" that bundles all of the releases and DLC packs at some point. I told myself I wouldn't fall for Square's shenanigans, but here we are.

[RoydGolden]

There are ways of answering that question without serving up a critical spoiler on a silver platter like that.

Imagine asking someone about Star Wars, and you flat out say Vader is Luke's father. Instead, you could say there's more to Vader than scary enforcer, or you could say Obi-Wan didn't give Luke the full story about his father. Still indicating there is something more going on without completely spilling the beans. Think of it as spilling some of the beans while still leaving some in the can.

What I'm really trying to say is that I would delete that post if I were in your shoes.

You make a fair point. I didn't delete my post, but I did rewrite it to clarify how the big the spoiler is from the outset. Sorry if I caused any problems.

[LegalLoliLover]

Trying to look up stuff for Mary Skelter 2 keeps getting me results for Mary Skelter Nightmares.

[Tobias]

Oh man. So after enjoying cold steel I went back and for the first time started playing it’s prequel series which I only just learned about.

trails in the sky seems like a blast but I keep getting vertigo because of hearing terms and seeing effects used in very different ways

[Benderesco]

Oh man. So after enjoying cold steel I went back and for the first time started playing it’s prequel series which I only just learned about.

trails in the sky seems like a blast but I keep getting vertigo because of hearing terms and seeing effects used in very different ways

You're in for quite a ride. I've always felt TiTS (heh) is far better than ToCS.

[weeblord]

agreed aggressively, I love sky and crossbell a lot but think cold steel is pretty kusoge

[Nikiri]

i've been playing digimon world, because i never finished it (i was too dumb as a kid, and got irritated when i found out about lifespan when i was a teenager)