A Concept for Final Fantasy VII Redux.

A Concept for Final Fantasy VII Redux.

 

I have played the two instalments of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy as of 2024 and I do not hesitate to say it is thus far, excepting some very minor flaws which could be easily rectified, the most extraordinary achievement in modern entertainment of this century. I think the level of artistic breadth and detail in it is breathtaking, and that the pre-rendered paintings of the original game are now able to be almost perfectly realised in three-dimensional modelling is a testament to the advances of computer technology. I think the fact that Square Enix chose to release this remake in three parts is greatly to their credit, although at first I thought it was a most mercenary economical decision, the fruit of that decision however has proved me wrong.

   Nevertheless, there is a number of mostly trivial aspects to the game (if this work of art is to be termed as such) which I will record in writing, in the hope that they will be fixed for a final release of the complete game in several years' time. This game, comprising all the parts put together into one cohesive whole, as the original story was intended, I would personally call Final Fantasy VII Redux, but the name is not very important. For commercial reasons I could see it being called Final Fantasy VII Remake Complete Edition or something of that kind. If the various alterations I would suggest were made I would not hesitate in calling the final product a crowning achievement of electronic entertainment, the greatest video game ever made.

 

Emendations to be Made to

THE STORY.

I. The first part of the trilogy was an experiment I realise which, if it had direfully failed, would have put an end to the entire project. Many of the additions made to the story in Midgar were good additions which increased the depth of the tale, however there were a few which were simply ill-advised.

II. The concept of the Whispers was the worst, and I do not think it would be very difficult to remove them altogether from the final version of the game. They were a repetitive and uninteresting element, added I realise to try and emphasise that this was not a mere release of an old game, but they did not enhance the overall story in any way but, on the contrary, increased confusion. They should be removed entirely and all the scenes involving them rewritten.

III. Sephiroth's not leaving a trail of blood in the Shinra building, but only a trail of unidentified and purple slime. I realise the original scene was graphic, but it has stayed with me as one of the most shocking and surprising of twists. This should be restored.

IV. Barrat's being impaled by Sephiroth and somehow returning to life due to the whispers was ludicrous and should be entirely removed, and President Shinra's death was more effective when it was discovered rather than witnessed. All in all, the original game was far superior in generating awe and dread for Sephiroth by leaving a trail of destruction rather than blandly showing him in too many scenes.

V. Jesse, Biggs, and Wedge not dying (or if they died they did not make it sufficiently clear). Final Fantasy VII is remarkable in its unabashed treatment of death, and the Redux version should respect this, as it was largely the result of Hironobu Sakaguchi's grief at the loss of his mother.

VI. The fight with Sephiroth at the end of the Remake portion in Midgar. This fight will be completely unnecessary in the Redux version, and in fact will only spoil the anticipation of finally fighting Sephiroth at the end. I believe almost every admirer of the original game thought this was a ridiculous decision, and people who think otherwise can still play Remake if they wish, but in the context of Redux it could very satisfactorily be removed without a trace. They will reach the end of the road at Midgar and move straight on to the Rebirth part of the trilogy.

VII. Zack Fair's appearances in Remake and Rebirth should be removed altogether as they effectively spoil the plot twist of Cloud's identity. I understand the desire to include him more in the story, but his character is not very interesting and not worth ruining such a remarkable plot twist.

VIII. The greatest loss in the entirety of the remake is that of Fort Condor. The game in a game replacement in Rebirth was wretched as a story, although the game itself was very well done. This was clearly carried over from the Toy Story level in Kingdom Hearts 3. Fort Condor was one of the most interesting stories in the original game, it should be entirely restored for Redux, and the summon Phoenix should not be found through Chadley but should instead be received near the end of the game for completing Fort Condor, as in the original. Whilst I am on the subject of Fort Condor, I noticed in Rebirth that there is a group of youths in the area called the Crow's Nest evidently puffing on what seem to be hookahs, and saying things identifiable with recreational drug use. This is inappropriate.

 

Emendations to be Made to

THE GAME ITSELF.

I. The Crowds. Walking through various towns and streets there is the excellent and very immersive addition of common street talk and dialogue, however it is ridiculous that often several will play at once, and sometimes the same lines can be repeated about five times in as many seconds, and if one waits around at a shop often the same dialogue repeats infinitely; thus an immersive addition becomes the exact opposite, due to faulty programming, one is only reminded that one is in a game. It is a tremendous testament to the artistic power of the team involved that often I forget I am in a game at all, but this is the single most flawed and irritating part of the game, and it could so easily be fixed. Costa del Sol was a very stressful area to walk around, contrary to its original intention as a pleasure resort, for this reason. Lines of dialogue should only be spoken once every few minutes, and some general background crowd noises could replace any awkward pauses, Planescape Torment is a good example of this being achieved in the streets of Sigil, and even Ocarina of Time used natural sound effects better than most modern games to achieve a greater immersion. A bit of peace would be welcome however I think, which brings me to:

II. The Volume. I think it is highly estimable that Square Enix allow the player to adjust different volume levels, but it should not be necessary except for people with certain hearing difficulties. The default values should be the correct ones for most people, but I am afraid they are wildly inaccurate and variable at many points. The main complaint I have is that the music, the beautiful music, is much too loud in many scenes and the volume of the voices is too low. A lot of the time a battle will end, and a cutscene will begin with the battle music still playing at full volume. There are many other examples where this is the case as well, and it is ridiculous. Frankly I am surprised a game tester did not notice it, or even that the programmers concerned did not notice it, it can spoil many moments, and it would be so simple to fix. Finally, there is the matter of the various props found in almost every level. I think these were a worthy addition and give a sense of interaction with the world (though only a small sense) but the sound effects for them are ridiculously loud, and they often loop on repeat which is a strange bug. I am sure both these issues could be easily fixed; why have they not been already? The props also are clearly too light, they need some added weight.

III. The Music. The score of Final Fantasy VII is probably the best of any video game, and it is given full justice in the remake, except that it lacks the cohesion of the original. The new scores are excellent but the original soundtrack with its limited keyboard sounds give an abiding impression of doom and of urgency. Only compare the following two examples.

 

 

   Now I do not suggest the arrangements should be restricted, but I think that some of the original sombreness could be restored without injury. Personally, although I like many of the new musical pieces in the remake, I abhor the dubstep remixes of traditional pieces like the chocobo theme. I accept that is a matter of taste but I do not think that style of music at all appropriate to the world. There could also be some more variation in the field themes, especially if a night and day cycle is introduced as I suggest. Some of the new pieces are not interesting enough. Otherwise, the music is supreme, and the piano additions a brilliant idea, but the jukeboxes at the beginning of the game should not spoil later important pieces in the story but instead play other less vital pieces.

IV. The Dialogue. I was exceedingly surprised to see how well written much of the English language translation was, especially in Rebirth, but that is mainly in the poetic passages. Some of the American slang is frankly out of place in my view, but I speak as an Britisher. I do not mind some American slang, as that was in the original as well, but the slang I most object to is the more modern 'YouTube' slang. Therefore I do not mind 'damn' or 'O.K.' or 'copy' but I do mind 'guys' and 'dude'. However my main complaint about the dialogue is that there is so much missing which was in the original, and I cannot see why. There are many opportunities throughout the game when one's party members are standing around, in the original it was always possible to walk up to them and have some conversation when they were idle, in the remake that is only possible some of the time. I like almost all the new dialogue in the remake, but I think a huge amount could be reincorporated from the original for these moments when characters are standing around. Of course, it is a rule that to keep talking to the characters brings about new dialogue.

V. Chadley, Materia, Vending Machines, and Maghnata Books. I do not care very much for the character of Chadley, although I know he serves a number of useful purposes. I think in the Redux version of this game the amount of dialogue he has could be reduced, as he is clearly a filler character and should be kept in the background. The materia system is somewhat flawed and unwieldy in the remade versions, and should be refined as much as possible, so that there are fewer options as in the original game. It should also be possible to swap materia between characters as in the original. As for the Maghnata Books concept, I do not like it. These books have no explanation in the world, they were not in Midgar, and yet somehow they are found by every vending machine and bench throughout the wilderness. I think it would be much better if there were simply an abilities menu, as in Kingdom Hearts 2, which is unlocked as the character levels up. This would also save time, as the Maghnata Books Sphere Grid imitation is very clumsy and long winded. I also found the ubiquitous appearance of these vending machines in every wood, mountain, temple, and swamp, to hugely break my sense of immersion. There was always the feeling of someone 'being there' in the world before me. It would be better for Tents to actually serve a purpose and be used, and for shops to have a meaning like in the older games, by removing these altogether.

VI. The Levelling. In Final Fantasy VII Redux, my proposed ultimate edition, the levelling of course would have to be changed so that going from level 7 to 89 or 99 should be evenly distributed across the scope of the story. When only the first part was released I think everyone thought it was ridiculous that Cloud could reach level 50 by the end of it, when that was only the first four hours of the original story. I do not think this would be a very difficult alteration to make, but I do think it would enormously improve the entirety of the game, and give a true sense of growth from beginning to end. The equipment would also have to be better distributed, so that the first part in Midgar did not have so many weapons; so too with the magic scaling, the purpose of improving from Fire, to Fira, to Firaga, is supposed to show strength development over time. It should take much longer, therefore, to level up materia in such a long game.

VII. Midgar. As for the first part of the trilogy, set entirely in Midgar, I think it would need to be shortened as much as possible so that it only took about twelve hours at most to complete. There are various parts which I think could be drastically shortened if not cut altogether, so as to make the whole experience more homogeneous. The sewers area was needlessly long, a number of the reactors could be reduced in size or cut altogether, and many of the side-quests were uninteresting and a waste of time. I realise that these were all so much padding for a game which could have been a failure, but I now see that the trilogy is looking to become one of the most extraordinary achievements of the twenty-first century and so I think, in Final Fantasy VII Redux, a lot could be cut from the first part of Midgar that would actually improve the experience and make it seem a lot less long-winded. Removing the whispers would already drastically reduce the time involved. I will also mention that the difficulty of the Remake part of the trilogy, that is, the first part in Midgar, will need to be drastically altered. It was a common complaint about Remake that almost all the enemies had far too much health, and that the fights became boring and dragged on too long. This was especially true of the Hell House and Motor Ball enemies. The difficulty in Rebirth was more or less perfect, and I feel I must add that the combat in these games is exquisite. The most strategic Action R.P.G. system of combat ever devised (aside from the vast overabundance of items through vending machines and too much money). Lastly, I think the Yuffie D.L.C. for Integrade could remain but should be greatly shortened. The Synergy system in the D.L.C. is utterly broken and needs to be replaced by the more balanced system in Rebirth, while a lot of the levels and areas are needlessly long and patently just padding. This interlude could be reduced to a mere three hours without injury, but rather improvement.

VIII. The Main Menu. It is excellent in Rebirth but it is too slow. It needs to be made so that it is not a chore to equip items, and the majority of the text is in a tiny box in the corner which made it difficult for me, at least, to see. Otherwise it is stylish and praiseworthy unlike most modern main menus.

IX. The Graphics. The graphics are breathtaking and splendid. All that needs to be altered is that the Remake sections should be brought to the level of the Rebirth sections so there is no noticeable difference between them. I think this could be fairly easily achieved for such a team. Some of the water puddles do not splash enough and I did notice the absence of surf in tidal waters (something Wind Waker in that early period of computer graphics achieved very easily). Perhaps some 'pop in' and shadow glitches could be fixed as well. Sometimes everything looks a bit too much like clay, which I've noticed with Unreal Engine's baked lighting effects, in Kingdom Hearts III as well for example. One final request I would make however, with all humility, is that there should be an option to see in First Person so that the great beauty of this game may be the more readily appreciated.

X. The Combat. It is already almost perfect, but I have some small suggestions. The shortcut menus brought up by holding L1 on the PlayStation consoles could be made so that holding down L1 and then pressing Up or Down on the D-Pad would bring up all the other abilities in the menu, so that it is not always necessary to go into the command menu. When L1 is not held down, Up and Down would return to their functions of changing party members. The lock-on system is however extremely poor. Because the right analogue stick is used to change the target of the lock-on this means that one cannot move the camera during it. The clear solution to this problem is that the Left and Right buttons on the D-Pad should be used to change the target of the lock-on so the right analogue stick can still be used. There also needs to be a proper jump button, in combat and in traversal, as in Kingdom Hearts, and aerial combat should be subject to gravity (that is, the
characters should actually fall down after a while, requiring use of magic or aerial characters). Also, Tifa and Aerith are too slow and weak, Yuffie's star annoys me (where does it go when she throws it), and the Limit breaks are too restricted behind synergy abilities. They should be unlocked (with levelling) and presented as a choice, as in the original.

 

XI. Day and Night and Weather. In the open areas of the game, where the main purpose is exploration and combat, I think an active day and night cycle, as well as weather effects such as rain, would provide some variety. I accept that sometimes a period of night can be more annoying than anything else and therefore I think the ratio of time between day and night should be 5:1. The night should not be a blanket darkness, so that it is impossible to see, but it would be very pleasing to observe the world sometimes in darkness and sometimes in rain.

   For all those areas where there is a specific motif however, such as the continuous sunset of the Cosmo Canyon area, the cycles could be frozen. I think it would simply lend a little immersion and variety to have time and weather cycles at least sometimes during the game.

XII. Exploration. Some inspiration might be taken from Ocarina of Time in that, without drastically changing the map at all, there could be a number of hidden areas behind breakable walls in which are found money, materials, rare items, and optional characters. I was delighted to notice in Rebirth that there was some ledge climbing similar to that in the Tomb Raider games. I think these could be improved so that the characters move more quickly, and so that there is an element of challenge to them; but this is a small point. However, in general, there does need too be a much better traversal of the world. There needs to be much better traversal of the world. The Gongaga region in particular is a nightmare to explore and the maps are slow, cumbersome, and uninformative.

XIII. The Difficulty. All difficulty modes should be available from the beginning. It is not a reward but a punishment to force players to play a game twice in order to play it at the correct difficulty. Generally I would say the normal difficulty is slightly too easy and the hard difficulty is slightly too hard. The former could be rectified not by increasing the enemies' health (which leads to tedious battles) but by increasing the amount of damage they inflict. The latter could be resolved by making healing more frequently possible.

XIV. Filler. There is a lot of filler or padding to drag out the length of these instalments, such as the moogle toadstools and the many party games in Costa Del Sol. If these are not to be removed I think they should be at least made optional, so that it is not necessary to go through them in order to progress in the story. Some of these diversions reduce the emotive power of the story's overall theme. There is also a lot of what might be called camp or histrionic behaviour in these remakes, which had a presence in the original as well, such as in the Honeybee Inn, but I think that it borders on the excessive at times and can be embarrassing.

XV. Character Designs. I understand that there is a combination of themes in Final Fantasy VII. The cyberpunk theme for the Shinra towns, the steampunk theme for other towns, and a cowboy western theme for much of the wilderness, as well as numerous other themes and styles. In my humble opinion, the cowboy western theme is taken too far in the remakes. It seems every other new character introduced seems to doff a cowboy hat, and it does not fit in very well with the world. Perhaps some of this could be toned down in Redux if not removed altogether. There are also many modern examples of 2020s fashion which simply do not mingle very well with the designs of the original--Kyrie. Not to say they are all bad however, but they could be improved with a modicum of work.

XVI. The Animations. These are not quite to the standard of the graphics, though they are still very good. There is a certain lack of fluidity or natural movement from one into the other. The very worst example of this is in any common interaction with an object, be it opening a treasure chest or using a dispenser of some description, instead of the character walking into place the whole body is forced as though by gravity to the correct spot. I think this would be a complex problem to fix, but I think it should be fixed as it is very jarring. Also, a number of the animations are quite needlessly slow. Moving in between walls would not be half so irksome if the characters did not move three times slower than they ought. Meanwhile some of the traversal leads to ungainly moments, where a character will be clipping or unnaturally moving from one angle to another. I think the solution to this would be to have a radius of detection so that these moments were automatically avoided.