[General Discussion] FFVII Compilation Thread

When has SE ever done that? A better question would be if they dubbed over Gactk's vocal songs.

I left the torrent on while I slept, but it's only at 25%. Damn seeders. Hopefully it'll pick up today.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Seeders finally picked up, so it'll be ready in about 3 hours. I'll get to try it tommorow and give any impressions afterwards.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I gave the game a good 2 hours of playtime. I have some impressions to share, but the short version is that there's good and there's bad, but whether there's more good or more bad depends on whether you value style over substance.

The first thing I noticed is that this game is LOUD. On my Home Theater, my whole room was booming as soon as the intro played, and I had my volume set lower than normal. As far as surround sound goes, this game certainly delivers.

Next up is the FMV. It's important for me to stress to you that this is some of the best FMV you'll see yet for PS2 (and once again it comes from Square), because the opening alone will help determine if you should bother with the game or not; if you're an FFVII fan (and especially if you recently watched AC), the opening almost serves as a sneak peek at a PS3 FFVII: The setting of Midgar and Kalm are rendered with perfect accuracy (although I don't recall seeing any hovercrafts like the one Yuffie uses), and the animation is nearly equal to AC's (which is why I hereby refer to this game as "Advent Children 1.5").

The opening also shows how dark and brutal this new entry is; it's a bit unnerving to see the townspeople celebrate with a catchy folk dance only to be mercilessly gunned down by the new enemies; women scream in horror, children are carried off by dog creatures. I don't envy the NPCs of FFVII's world (between having a plate crash down on their heads, blasted to bits by Weapons, Midgar having its power drained, a huge Meteor, and just recently three punk remnants and a big ass dragon, you have to wonder just how much of the world's population is left). The Tsviet members are also pretty creepy so far, having much simpler goals than Sephiroth or Kadaj; to murder every living human in the most brutal and painful way possible. Or at least that's how it looks right now.

The normal cutscenes are also worth watching, with Vincent taking a few cues from Cloud and leaping a hundred feet in the air, dodging a ton of missles and explosions, and making room to show off with menacing cape flutters and some revolver tricks. The draw with Vincent is that even though he's the token soft-speaking loner, he's not heartless (an early scene with Reeve proves just that, with shockingly humorous results). In some ways he's less angsty than Cloud; Cloud constantly worries about how his life will play out, while Vincent seems content the way things are going for him.

But I will concur with everyone else that the actual gameplay doesn't deliver. Oh, there is some fun to be had, if only to run around with a PS2 Vincent model while gunning down enemy soldiers (and saving cute kids with moogle dolls), and there aren't any broken gameplay elements (aside from the fact that far too few objects can be destroyed, and there's plenty of places Vincent should be able to reach with his double jump, but doesn't).

The thing is, on paper the gameplay elements are awesome; saving citizens from being brutally gunned down, hiding from snipers during a rainy setting, taking on a mutant helicicopter from hell, assisting WRO members to clear out the enemies (and for once, they give you supplies WITHOUT charging you), gunning down wildlife in a mounted gun in a speeding van. It's all exciting in cutscenes, but the problem is they simply don't give you enough to play with; the cutscenes have Vincent doing all these stylish moves, but the actual game doesn't have you perform any of them. If they had made him more agile, give the game more of an adrenaline rush, things would've turned out better.

So chalk this up to a case of aesthetics over gameplay; if you're an FFVII fan who wants to see more interaction with Vincent, Yuffie, and Reeve, this should be a no-brainer. The small bits of info you learn here add extra layers to the FFVII universe. Examples include learning how low in rank Reeve was, the timeline given to the events in the original game ("Meteorfall"), the original members now referred to as "Jenova War Heroes", and that Vincent's claw is bulletproof (I knew it), and that's just for starters.

Also, I once again fall victim to incorrect pronounciations. I always thought Lucrecia was pronounced "Loo Cree She Ah", but instead it's "Loo Cretsia". Also, Heidegger, which I said as "Hey Dehger (like digger but with an e)" is actually spoken much faster (like Witticker).

Voice acting is the usual good stuff (Blum is perfect for Vincent), but I'm still wondering if Christie Romano or her KHII replacement is voicing Yuffie.

Also, it's pretty neat/amusing to walk around Edge after seeing the movie. All the little easter eggs you might've missed in the film are shown in plain view when you wander around. The constant Loveless posters featuring an obviously recognizable character give me the impression that Square is spelling out the next FFVII entry. 8/16 has to mean something.

FELIPE NO

I concur; if the game was released 10 or 20 bucks cheaper (which they did for Drakengard), it would've been fine. If they only added some extra moves and more enemies it would've been more fun to actually play. I'm just greatful there's an event viewer (hopefully it'll collect non-CG cutscenes too).

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If you're only two hours in and you've rated it as such, I think you'll up your score a tad after playing a bit further. It wasn't until after the WRO Headquarters battle that I really got into it.

Funny you mention that, as I'm told that the story eventually reaches a new level of absurdity, and not the good kind. I'll have to make it to the end to decide for myself, but so far the story is plausable enough; it shouldn't be a surprise that Shinra would have some extra experiments running around that guys like Rufus wouldn't know about. And the little teaser that suggest that

Spoiler:

maybe Lucrecia had a hand in Vincent's experiment

is also intriguing.

Also, the POV flashback with Hojo just rocked (love the voice they gave him).

The only thing that bugs me is that even though Edge was attacked, there's no mention at all about Cloud and Tifa. I know they show up later, but you'd think Vincent and the others would be worried. On that note, it's a bit silly how Reeve is depending on Vincent alone to save the day. Where the heck is everyone else? Shouldn't Cait Sith be leveled up sufficiently to do some magic damage (even if he was useless)?

And why is Azul so freaking huge?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

That's just stupid. How long does it take to write something like this?

"What about Cloud and Tifa."

"Don't worry, they managed to escape just in time."

"I see."

It isn't pointless dialogue just because you assume nothing bad happened to them, it just shows that the characters all watch out for one another.

By the way, Shelke is currently my favorite new character. Her story, and her connection to another character makes for interesting drama. In fact, I hope she survives past this game and becomes a regular for the series. Azul is pretty cool too, if only for his imposing size and the biggest goddamn gun since Vulcan Raven.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Except you and IMDB are wrong; Yuffie wasn't played by Romano in KH2. I'm still unsure who's playing her in this game, since the two actresses sound so identical. I do hope that they just pick someone and stick with her from now on.

That said, Yuffie sure has grown after 3 years. Of all the characters, she's shown the most aging. It might be hard to recognize her in the next few entries, depending how far they'll take the series chronologically.

pain ala yuffie <3

Wow, the body count is huge in this one.

Spoiler:

Watching what Deep Ground is doing with the captured townspeople, feeding them to Omegais pretty brutal, especially since there are children involved.

These villains are just merciless. I know Square would've never gone for it, but I really wish this game had an M rating. It just gets a bit silly after a while to see frequent headshots with no blood involved. The story and atmosphere is already darker than any entry in the FF series, so an M rating would've really enhanced the tone.

I am seriously enjoying the flashbacks with Vincent and Lucrecia (and a certain doctor...). It's like the brief Vincent flashbacks from the original game, retooled and with all the missing parts filled in. I can't wait to see what they're going with it, but I really hope my longterm theory pans out. The results would be spectacular if they did.

Spoiler:

that Hojo is not Sephiroth's biological father. Which can only mean....

And don't bother replying to that, as I won't read it til I finish the game.

I like how the Shinra mansion has all the rooms from the original game (Vincent's coffin, the operating table, the spiral stairs). At least Square gets points for accuracy.

I think I might end up liking Vincent over Cloud. He's just as angsty, but he never whines about it. In fact he's practically humble and sarcastic about his situation.

Also, they better tell you how Cait Sith is prounounced, and it better not be anything other than the obvious (Kate Sith).

There's nowhere I can't reach.

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I don't know why so many people think Barret is a different voice actor than the one in AC. It's the same guy, I confirmed it in the credits of DoC: Beau Billingslea (played Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop and has done a ton more acting work).

Thank God. It was retarded when they didn't reuse him for Helmer in XS, it'd be equally stupid to change him with Barret. Can you confirm which girl played Yuffie?

Also, a part of me really wants to just blaze through the game, because I'm really curious about all this Gackt business that people are really whining about (especially in Penny Arcade). Is the story behind his character so ridiculous that it deserves all this forum ire, or is it just pointless haters whining just because he's played by Gackt?

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However, wasn't there supposed to be a live-action Gackt cameo? I thought they filmed him and made him look CG-ish to act as one of the characters in the game?

I was wondering the same thing, but I guess we should be thankful they didn't do that.

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How many times must we hear this woman whine and say "I'm so sorry."

Seconded. Whatever she did, it had better be worth all those apologies.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I definetely felt a big apocalyptic vibe in this game like in Evangelion; like I said before, the bodycount is huge in this game, and between this, the original game, and AC (though I don't think too many people died in that one, since most of the chaos was in the center of Edge), I wonder how many NPCs are left standing. Hopefully the series won't end the way Eva did though.

It does seem to be a trend for Nomura to rip off a lot of ideas from animes. The Tsviets are basically the Gung-Ho Guns (Trigun), and Organization XIII is an almost exact match of the Sins from Full Metal Alchemist.

And while I'm still debating whether it's a good idea to end the series forever with at least one more game, or if they can still milk things for a bit longer, I didn't want Dirge to be the final game; it just didn't feel right with Vincent ending things off. The series began with Cloud, and it should end with Cloud. Also as an RPG.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Square has mentioned before that there is a definite "end" to the series, so I don't think it'll just continue on needlessly.

I find it awesome that you get to see the inside of the Shera. It's a cool ship, and one NPC's dialogue hints that maybe

Spoiler:

it might have come from FFX's timeline. The guy refers to it as "ancient technology" that was uncovered, and it was already established that FFX takes place centuries before FFVII. Imagine the kind of mindfuck if it turned out the Shera was made out of one of the ships in FFX or FFX-2

I'm glad they confirmed (or re-established) that Cait Sith is a robot, and that there are plenty of spares of him. I wonder where he gets his AI from, since he's moving and acting independantly from Reeve.

And regarding "Cait Sith no. 6"

Spoiler:

Just a guess here, but....

no. 1: Died when he offered to stay behind and finish the puzzle in Temple in the Ancients.

no. 2: replaces no. 1 after the puzzle death.

no. 3: joins the group during the final battle. I think he even made a mention of this, but something was likely lost in the translation.

no. 4: the Cait in Advent Children.

no. 5: the one in the beginning of DoC. Dies when Necro makes him vanish.

no. 6: the newest one.

It's a bit annoying how the NPCs alternate between saying "Shinra" and "Sheenra". Also, I wish they could have found a bigger role for Johnny Yong Bosh. I like how he uses his Renten voice for that one dorky guard.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I swear, Square is becoming a natural in rendering slick war scenes. The FMV involving a full scale war (airships! missles! hoverpads! yuffie!) should've been saved for AC.

The awesomeness doesn't end there. The path to Midgar is a perfect recreation of FFVII's geography. Everything from the train graveyard leading up to the Shinra building makes things eerily nostalgic (even weirder since Vincent never treaded in any of these locations).

It makes me sad how they got every single thing right except for the actual gameplay. This game needed a context sensitve button bad (KH2).

Also, they better make Playarts figures for Shelke and Nero. Seriously.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The music is great stuff, no doubt, and leaves me quite excited for what FFXIII might bring. But I do wish they used some of the existing FFVII songs. Yuffie's new theme is cute, but it can't replace the original.

I found one G file (I'm in deepground at the moment), but I don't know how tough the other two will be to find. I don't know where they're going with this, but I'm more than intrigued to find out.

Spoiler:

So we got a whole alphabet of super soldiers, with Sephiroth as "S" and this guy as "G"? That's going to suck hard for Cloud and the others if they have to fight A-Z

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You're right though SOLDIER, getting to the Shinra building was like a wave of nostalgia. Dirge is great for that. Good times.

I can't believe they got the Shinra Mansion down perfectly. I was going by memory while moving around, and all the rooms were exactly where they were supposed to be. Vincen't coffin on one place, the spiral staircase on the next. It almost kills any reason to remake FFVII now.

FELIPE NO

......This is what everyone's been bitching about?

Spoiler:

Hojo making a copy of his brain data and dumping it on one of his experiments?

Seriously, that's it? All this talk about the story being absurd, I was expecting something way out there.

Spoiler:

The Joker did the same damn thing in Batman Beyond. It makes more sense for Hojo, the same psycho genius who created Sephiroth and a bunch of other experiments to leave a copy of his brain behind than it would for the freaking JOKER to do the same. And I didn't hear anyone bitch when Joker did it.

So tired of purists whining about "wah wah square is butchering a classic." What exactly were you expecting in a game where Vincent is the lead?

Spoiler:

If AC has a reunion with Cloud and his greatest enemy, it's only obvious they'd do the same thing with Vincent and his.

Well I haven't finished the game yet. I'm up to the final battle. The image of

Spoiler:

a giant Omega Weapon hovering above the ruins of Midgar

is going to stay permanently etched into my brain from now on.

Also,

Spoiler:

the Lucrecia flashback was just nutty. I was hoping with all that buildup we'd get confirmation that Vincent was Sephiroth's father, but I was left in the cold with another wave of damn apologies. Come on, dammit, break the fourth wall.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Southjag

Spoiler:

I thought Sephiroth was the love-child of Hojo and Lucrecia. In fact, it even says so in the timeline poster that came with the strategy guide...

Exactly. That's why it would be a twist. A good one, too.

I finished the game. I don't want to make any final impressions until I see that Gackt clip (might just download a save file with all the extras), but I am very, very happy that

Spoiler:

Shelke survived. Now make her the new third female character for FFVII-2.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

BC could come first if NA gets a decent enough cellphone this year that can run it, since the dialogue is apparently fully translated. There's been so little news on CC, who knows when that one will be finished.

I'm fully convinced that if they go for another spinoff, Tifa is the most likely character for the next lead. Even if you don't factor in those hundreds of Loveless posters, she's the only character left with a somewhat incomplete story (Zangan's wherabouts, how she met Barret, and her contiuing relationship with Cloud. Unless you consider that last part to be Cloud's story, but I digress). Plus Barret would make a good secondary character, since their pre-FFVII stories interlap at one point.

I'm all for it, but then

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If they make any more spin-offs, they better give Tifa a new outfit. It's a crime to cover up those jugs with that kinda leather vest.

I wonder if the majority of NA fanboys can possibly take it seriously.

I don't really want to watch the G clip on Youtube quality, so I'll just follow Gamefaqs and collect the other 2 reports.

And does anyone know where I can get some FMV screenshots? I'm looking for pics of

Spoiler:

Omega hovering above Midgar

Why is Gackt's music actually good.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Unless you mean Before Crisis, I don't think they made any other cellphone games for FFVII (there's one for FFXIII).

As for other spin-offs besides BC and CC, nothing's been confirmed other than the statement that there will be "10 more years" of FFVII material.

The rest is all based on the little hints they drop off in the existing spinoffs. G's story may extend beyond Crisis Core (I really need to watch that clip); "Case of Denzel" (part of an official novel along with "Case of Tifa") takes place one year after DoC, in which Reeve makes mention that WRO is now an army and is currently at war; Then there's the remake, which at this point is obviously inevitable, since even Square won't stop talking about it, and the "final" story that will apparently wrap everything up forever and ever.

Basically, no one knows how many more spinoffs/remakes/sequels there will be. I guess the easy answer is "as long as they keep making money." But honestly, it doesn't bother me at all, because so far they have yet to do anything that screws with original continuity. DoC did a far better job of fleshing out Vincent than the original game could ever do. If it was something like FFX-2's hokey story about past lives and possesed dresses (!) I would understand, but so far the story decisions with FFVII have remained within the realm of possibility, as far as continuity goes.

So yeah, I hope the next game(s) can be just as fun to play as they are to watch.

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I think most people feel like that when they hear something they like by him. I didn't think I should like his music when I began to listen to it. If you want any stuff by him, throw me a PM.

Well I don't know if I want to suddenly start downloading albums from the guy, I'm just saying I liked the two songs he made for this game, especially Longing (except for the weird overture with the haunted house effects).

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Well, there's no way to tell if the relationship was literal or not. I don't think it matters much in the end, there was a creepy homosexual vibe going on.

Hmm....

Spoiler:

I find the reference awesome, myself.

And I saw the Gackt video. While the live segment was both cheesy and cool at the same time, I am intrigued at what they have planned for the character. I was buying the whole "insanely powerful super soldier v.2" up until the Dracularoth accent. But it's going to make for one hell of a future boss fight, that's for sure.

Spoiler:

I just hope when he mentioned "brother", he didn't mean Sephiroth. Because you know, that wouldn't make much sense. Or would it? He's a prototype, so I dunno.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

....Should've known. Go to hell, Square Enix, you greedy sons of bitches. You make me sick.

*spits on the floor, goes to reserve blu ray edition*

Most amazing jew boots

I'm not really that surprised. Companies double dip and even triple dip their movies all the time. I'm not sure why I'm particularly irritated that Square is doing it with their movie.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Which is the reason why I'm leary over this; when it comes to re-releases, SE either adds a minimal amount of content, or stuffs the living hell out of it (KH2). I won't consider a Blu Ray version of AC justified unless there's at least an extra 30 minutes added, and they would have to be story-related bits (the fights are long enough; they're spectacular, but they don't need to be longer).

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They've got pictures, too. Although I'm not sure if they "belong" to GF.

I guess they don't, because I can't see them.

FELIPE NO

If he can slice up entire buildings in half, he's certainly strong enough to keep Cloud's skinny ass in the air. The real disbelief is how Cloud's shoulder can support the blade from tearing right through his skin.

The changes better be more significant than cosmetic (dirt on Loz's shoulder, oh wow), or this is just purely a quick-cash release.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Saw the link at GAF, but I'm working now so I can't see it yet. Just glad the game wasn't cancelled (and ported to PS2 instead); this might be the title to breathe life back into the PSP.

Also, there's news that Playarts may create more figures under a new banner "Compilation of FFVII". This could mean we'll finally get the AC figures we always wanted (Kadaj) along with characters from other compilation titles (Shelke!).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

.....dammit, I was happier not knowing anything about this. Now I can't wait for it to come out. I like how it has better graphics than DoC. The music was a pleasant surprise too (and seems to emulate the modern rock music used in Last Order).

It also looks like there's going to be a reason for Sephiroth having one wing aside from "hey let's give the final boss some biblical final form. It'll totally look cool."

But please, enough with the cockteasing Square. You know what we want.

"Ae-ri-su!"

Cute.

Spoiler:

Tifa better be in this too.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Fear not. I'm uploading an .avi file. Give it 20 minutes.

EDIT: There you go.

http://rapidshare.com/files/6128414/...video.avi.html

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Is that the same as the version coming to Blu Ray, or an additional whoring of the DVD edition?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I know that nearly ever notable DVD release tends to create a Deluxe/Director's Cut/Extended Edition, adding more extras and stuff to encourage a second purchase, but....I can't help but feel disgusted about this one. Considering the extra 8 months NA had to wait just for the standard release, I was hoping Square/Sony would've shown a little compassion and translated just a couple of the extras (LO, namely) instead of purposely witholding it so they could release an LE months later.

As it stands, I'm refraining from purchasing this. I'll wait for the Blu Ray Extended Edition (and I really hope they aren't slimey enough to keep Last Order and the other extras away from THAT release as well, just to keep it exclusive to the LE DVD).

Any word on the new figures that were promised a bit back?

I was speaking idiomatically.