Yeah, Cloud is best option. Tifa gets atb so fast it's ridiculous. She's my sexy Elemental Punching Machine

 

In that case Cloud... although after I get their level 2 limit breaks from the arena I never used anything else because they do decent damage and build an absurd amount of stagger bar. Except Aerith she keeps her party heal because that's at a premium in the remake. Expand is certainly no All after all.

 

Yeah I thought the exact same thing re Aerith. It depends how good her barrier is I guess? You get LB so infrequently that tested is a bit annoying though.

Not having to spend ATB to heal when you're taking heavy damage seems too good though.

 

Man, climbing the tower is fucking epic. Killer OST, amazing backdrop. Just look at this shot.

 

That and the 'dream' sequence where

Spoiler

Aerith tells you not to fall in love with her

are the highlights of this game for me. Proper storytelling for old and new players alike.

 

My copy is still downloading (70 hour download...) but while that's ongoing I'm trying to get a (spoiler-free) sense of how much you need to play with a guide vs. how much you're free to just wing it.

My main concern is missable items. I'm not talking stuff like a hidden potion here and there, I mean stuff like powerful weapons, equipment, materia, and summons that you can permanently miss if you don't do something at the right time. For example, in my first play through of Final Fantasy X I screwed myself by not getting all the Destruction Sphere items in the Temples, after which those temples were guarded by the incredibly powerful Dark Aeons, which basically precluded me from getting Anima. Had to restart the game after I had already racked up 45 hours.

So I'm keen to avoid that in FF7R. Are there important missable items of that sort? You know the type: unless you speak to a certain character and give a certain answer in the first ten minutes of the game, you lose access to the most powerful summon. That type of thing.

 

I was the same. I've finished the game.

Do the missions identified by a green exclamation/question mark as they appear - don't think you'll have a chance to come back to them later.

The thing is, you will have that chance but it'll be post-ending. After you finish the game it opens up a chapter selection option where your end-game character can play the chapters again to recollect anything missed. Edit: This isn't a spoiler, it's offered as a tip during the loading screens.

I explored every nook and cranny to avoid that very scenario and managed to hit most marks.

 

Yeah, what Joe said. Sidequests are chapter dependent and can't be done in other chapters, but the game is very generous with telling you about points of no return in those chapters (which are more "hub and explore" compared to the "dungeon" ones), as well as making no later sidequest unlocks dependent on anything done in earlier chapters (there's some minor dialogue choice stuff and one trophy requires navigating these choices, as well as one chapter having different quests depending on choices made in that chapter specifically, but yeah, nothing major, and we can walk you through it if need be). Explore everything and you'll be fine, just know in advance there's going to be that moment of "oh wait there's a locked door I can't open" anxiety that's either resolved later in the chapter's main plot or just in another chapter revisit. Hell, at multiple points the game will even have the characters comment if you're about to miss an item or materia you can get, including the only really "missable" Summon materia, so you're good there.

As for specifics, it's the weapons that are the big deal here, since they give new skills to learn, and even then if you just check every store and progress through the game you'll get most (and ones you miss in earlier chapters even show up in a store lategame). The biggest ones you might miss are, without spoiling too much, one of Aerith's (Use Steal on the Chapter 11 boss; it's the only weapon you have to steal, some other bosses have accessories instead and you can check with Assess), and Barret's last one (pay 10k gil to an NPC in Chapter 16 when they ask). The rest are given for progressing the plot or sidequests, some are in stores, some are in purple chests. Everyone has six weapons, and the last ones are in Chapter 16/17. That's it, no guide required, nothing FFX-level crazy (or FFXII's fuckin' "if you open this one chest two hours in you can't get the most powerful weapon which spawns through RNG fifty hours later" shit, heh). Enjoy!

EDIT: @Arthellion Yeah I'd recommend some familiarity with the original, because the game does assume it's been twenty years and you at least know some of the broader strokes through pop cultural osmosis, and also to appreciate the "Wow they really adapted that?!" of it all (and some of the "are they doing that differently or am I crazy?"). And 'cause it's a solid experience, played or watched.

 

Should one play/watch FF7 the original before playing this one if they have not?

 

Look they don't have to, which is part of the charm of the FFVII: Remake. It's accessible to old and new players alike.

However, I did play the original back in '98 and fell in love with the story. It's not in small part responsible for the epic nonsense I try and write today. So I may be viewing it through a lens of corrupted nostalgia.

I believe the PS4 Final Fantasy VII: Remake can be enjoyed by an audience never exposed to the original game or Advent Children, and stand on its own, but there's a depth to the experience in having played the original game that I'm not certain can be achieved without waiting 20 years for the remake.

That sounds elitist, I know, but then... that's why they made this new game in the first place.

 

Totally fair and I would say it's accurate. I definitely am interested in the game, but its one of those things that hearing people talk about it, I know I won't enjoy it as much as someone who played the original when it came out. I don't have those memories to compare to.

Thanks for the response

 

I will say I think if you have the opportunity and about 40 hours of game time to spare, this PS4 version is well worth the investment.

The appeal to a new generation of fans should be encouraged. It's a helluva story.

 

It's certainly... a story

 

Not embracing the... updates?

 

So um...this is basically a yes or no question and I don't want details, but

Spoiler

I just glanced at the list of weapons and only saw four characters. This game is supposed to cover all of Midgar as I understand it, so did they just cut Red XIII out of the story or something? Or does he just not use weapons?

 

Spoiler

Red XIII joins the party but as a non-playable support character. He fights and heals outside our the player's control.... sort of - it's both yes and no. He's there.

 

OK then, just asking. Though, I'm sure I would have heard the uproar about it by now if the opposite had been the case.

 

An Octopath Traveller style FFVI remake would be incredible.

 

Actually, I think you should play it fresh and experience the story firsthand for yourself. Knowing what's going to happen does put a bit of a damper on the overall suspense.

If you feel like you need some context for the game, you could always play/watch Crisis Core first. It WILL spoil some of the better reveals in 7, like Cloud and Sephi's backstory, and from a gamer purist point of view this is basically heresy. That said, I've heard plenty of people say they started with Crisis Core and still really enjoyed 7 due to all the tie-ins. Basically 7 became less of a mystery-box and more of a continuation of one giant 3-part saga about Shinra chicanery contained in CC > 7 > Advent Children.

 

Not gonna lie, I despised all of chapter 12 so much that it has really soured me on the game.