FF7; Square-Enix or The Community

[Hairybudda]

It's a shootout.

FFVII remade. A lot of people have some pretty strong opinions of it, and every discussion always comes out 50/50 over whether it should be remade or not, so don't let this thread sink into a festering pit of flamewars over the subject. Please feel free to start a thread on the matter if you like, and I'll happily participate, but please don't clutter this one up.

Pretend to yourself that the game was being remade, who you would rather have remake it. Now, personally, I'd rather have a community built project over square-enix. Why? Because they'd try to turn it into Advent Children 2, the prequel. This is bad because:

Nostalgia;

I've played this game over and over hundreds of times for that simple fact. The little quirks in the translation, the little hidden scenes and jokes, all of it. It's the main reason I love this game. Square would kill this, the community would embrace this.

New Content;

I don't know about you, but the way I hear dialogue and the voices used to say the aformented dialogue in my head will never be matched by some mediocre actor that has to voice act because he's too ugly to get on TV. New weapons, new areas, new twists to the plot, new enemies, new anything will detract from the original feeling the game pulled off so perfectly.

Advent Children;

Now, you all know as well as I do, Square would tie the game in with AC. Now don't get me wrong, I loved Advent Children because lets face it, it is more FF7. Its like throwing a junkie an ounce bag of cheap Heroin and expecting him not to overdose.

I have more to say however I will save it for when this discussion picks up (If it does, in fact, pick up). Now for my secondary motivation; For the past month I've been playing with the Ogre engine. I have feel enough of it to be able to make something worthwhile of it and I'd like to know how many people here would be capable of reproducing content that would be worthy of a FF7 remake. We're talking content here, I know planty of talented programmers who could handle that end. I'm not looking to re-use anything, I want everything from scratch and yes, it will take a long time, I know that.

What are your opinions? Please try to respond in coherent, clear, and concise English as it'll help the thread flow better.

[__Xzyx987X]

Well, the real question is if you do remake it, how are you going to improve the original? The fact is, at the time it was made FF7 was the most expensive game that had ever been produced. The work that went into the graphics alone was unheard of before. Even if there is a good chance Square-Enix might screw up the remake, they are the only ones with the resources to do it justice. IMO, there is no way a fan remake of FF7 could equal the original, let alone surpass it. Even if the fans are the only ones who still remember what made FF7 great, there just aren't enough of them out there who have the time and skills to devote to such a project. On the other hand, if Square-Enix were to do it at least we'd at least get an extremely pretty looking game that would likely become the kill app for the PS3. And as long as they don't mess with the story or gameplay too much, I don't think they could possibly screw it up that badly.

[Hairybudda]

I'm not going to improve it, I wouldn't dare try. It brings up an interesting thought though, would you not rather Square built a game that made you feel the first time you played FF7 over trying to rebuild it?

Things like this should be left to the community in my opinion.

[JanusX]

Forget remaking it. FF7 was the most overhyped game ever. Remake something worth while like Chrono Trigger or Xenogears.

[Hairybudda]

Originally Posted by JanusX

Forget remaking it. FF7 was the most overhyped game ever. Remake something worth while like Chrono Trigger or Xenogears.

Keep it on-topic please.

Also, take note of what happened to the Chrono remake that made everyone jizz their pants last time.

[__Xzyx987X]

Of course I'd rather have a new game that made me feel like FF7, but in all honesty I don't think Sqaure-Enix is capable of making one. I've been continuously dissapointed with all their games lately. The only games I've played by them that I really enjoyed since FF7 were FF9 and Kingdom Hearts, and even those had their share of flaws. FF8, Chrono Cross, FF10, and FF10-2 on the other hand were just complete crap. I think at this point the only way Square-Enix is even gonna come close to recapturing FF7's magic is with a remake. Of course, I'd love to be proven wrong on that.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by JanusX

Forget remaking it. FF7 was the most overhyped game ever. Remake something worth while like Chrono Trigger or Xenogears.

I don't think that's gonna happen. They've already done sequals for those games, and just look at how that turned out... If you want something that takes you back to Chrono Trigger, there is a game currently being made for the XBOX 360 called Blue Dragon, which is a collaborative project of the key people who put CT together in the first place.

[Hairybudda]

Originally Posted by __Xzyx987X

EDIT:

I don't think that's gonna happen. They've already done sequals for those games, and just look at how that turned out... If you want something that takes you back to Chrono Trigger, there is a game currently being made for the XBOX 360 called Blue Dragon, which is a collaborative project of the key people who put CT together in the first place.

http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/

This is what happens to community remakes. It breaks my god damned heart.

[Valcrist]

I voted cheese-god cuz its more likely.

[Evil_Neko]

Personally I KNOW that square-enix would ruin any kind of remake, it would be an absolute embarasment to the Final Fantasy name (possibley even more so than FFX-2 since people would actually EXPECT it to be good) as you've said they wouldn't be able to help having it as a FF:AC tie-in and thus all the characters would look like the rather rubbish looking (IMO) movie characters, I prefer cloud to have a ball for a hand and no mouth, it's the way it's meant to be having him look like a real person was enough to put me off the movie and thus any remake square-enix would do but that is rather OT so...

Also I don't think they could resist "enhancing" the game with new (crapper) battle system, new (crapper) scenes, new (crapper) characters and worse of all they would "add" to the story! Well I say the story is worse of all, the worst part comes down to a coin-toss between whether they would ruin the the game more by changing the story or ruin the game by giving the characters awful voice acting! They wouldn't be able to resist giving the characters voices and since I have seen only 2 shows in my years of watching anime and NO games in my even more years of gaming that have EVER managed half decent dub of anything we can guarantee that the english version would be for many of us unplayable and the japanese version only usable by those who speak the language.

OTOH, a fan made project might be able to do a lot more in terms of keeping the origional game as it was intended I doubt they would have the resources to do it well, to even make it worthwhile doing without changig much you would have to be changing something and only thing that is worth it is visuals, the problem being that FFVII was massive and to do the game again would mean remaking EVERYTHING in fancy 3D and it would have to actually look good as well, all that work would take ages and, as was the case with Chrono, S-E would likely shut-down anyone who tried it seriously. In saying that though, if it could be done, and done well, it would be great.

in short;
fan made remake - probably won't happen
S-E remake - hope it doesn't happen!

[Hairybudda]

Originally Posted by Evil_Neko

Personally I KNOW that square-enix would ruin any kind of
fan made remake - probably won't happen

It could be done, we just need someone with serious organisational skills and talented people.

[Syrealle]

Despite your enthusiasm, I would vote for Square-Enix.

First, the Video Game industry has grown rapidly since the release of Ps2, and Xbox. This means many gamers haven't played the PSX classics, because they lack incentive when they are surrounded by games that are capable of much, much more. An FF7 remake would have to compare with the quality of games that gamers expect and demand in video games that are being released today. This means the remake would need a big budget, and also be highly distributed ( Both of which a community release could not offer. )

Second, because of the hype already surrounding the original FF7, the game would definately be a big seller - regardless of whether it was as good as the original, or far worse( The marketing job is half done ). This would potentially bring in a lot of funds for Square-Enix. I like Square games, and would love to see them bring out some more high budget games, so it would be nice to see them make a bundle on a remake.

Third, I'm lactose intolerant, and an Atheist.

[refraction]

I voted Square-Enix, altho id rather Enix wasnt involved. Final Fantasy games seemed to plummet in enjoyment ever since they came on to the scene, FFX was the last decent Final Fantasy made.

[Clements]

I'd anticipate a FFIII (NES) remake more than FF7, simply because it was never released in English, has not had a remake and is much older. Of course, this remake is already in the works in full 3D on the DS.

[cloudvii]

Well, I vopted Square-Enix. But like refraction, I don't want to see any Enix staff in. Well, I don't know why do ppl want to remake FF7 anyway. Yes sure it's my favourite game of all time, but Square made everything they wanted to do in already. You can't add anything at all but more polygonal characters. Unlike games like "Chrono trigger", Which I'd like to see it with FMVs and a "Chrono Cross" graphics effort, if not more.

Really FF3 need to be remade, then they really shoulds top remaking. Start making sequels to Chrono saga and Parasite Eve.

But I like your enthusiasm, budda.

[Talbain]

FFVII was a terrible game when it was released. No amount of tweaking will change that fact.

[Exodus]

love it or hate it, FF7 was revolutionary in the rpg industry, which is why its regarded so highly. personally, i rate is a "good one" because it is a lot more serious than most games from japanese origin and graphically, it was top-notch.

as for the question? let the people with all the money and experience do it: Square (without enix).

[Modem1]

I vote for Square. Besides Final Fantasy VIII, they haven't let me down.

[Shogun of Truth]

I vote Square-Enix and one else.

[Quatro]

well I don't have any knowledge of any FF community (well I didn't even other looking for one) and if there would be a community proposal, it would be very hard since there would be A LOT of people contributing ideas and stuff and it would be hard to filter them... even if they were able to trim down, it will always depend on the R&D team if they could make these ideas come to life and if the R&D team can't come out with the exact one, the community will blame the team and everything will be screwed up even more... its easier said than done.

Well I don't really anticipate a remake for FFVII, maybe another chapter pehaps but if there would be something like that, I'll just have to leave it to Square...

[Talbain]

Originally Posted by Exodus

love it or hate it, FF7 was revolutionary in the rpg industry, which is why its regarded so highly. personally, i rate is a "good one" because it is a lot more serious than most games from japanese origin and graphically, it was top-notch.

as for the question? let the people with all the money and experience do it: Square (without enix).

Revolutionary? It was a story about an angsty teenager. That's never been done. They killed off a main character? That's never happened either. Please, do tell, what exactly was revolutionary about it? It had 3 CDs? Even the gameplay and music were badly copied from every other Final Fantasy.