The 'Beefy plays Final Fantasy VII for the first time' Thread

[Beefy]

Thread title is kind of a lie in that I did play the first couple of hours on PC in maybe 1998. I bought it on PSN a few years ago and finally got around to loading it up just now. It is the inferior PAL version rather than NTSC version. Already in the first couple of minutes of play the game has felt sluggish so I might end up buying the US verson and starting again tomorrow.

I hate RPGs and RPG-elements in video games in general hence this series has never appealed but I do seem to remember enjoying the couple of hours play hback in the day and this game has a reputation for being very accessible so we shall see.

I'm going to aim to put in maybe four or five hours a week so this thread will be a slow-burner but I thought there might be some interest in this for you guys.

I've literally played the first five minutes as I type this. My first thought was how good the graphics for the first cut-scene was. My second thought was how horrible the graphics of the actual game are. They were not designed for a 42" LCD screen clearly.

Just had my first fight. I don't know what the buttons are at the moment so I got beaten up a bit. I was expecting to get a turn to hit and then they hit me, etc. That's how South Park works dammit. Instead there's a meter which charges up and then I can attack I think? The whole thing is confusing me. I now have some gil. I don't know what that is.

[Morrison]

yeah, theres a meter that charges up for your characters. once it pings and is full, you can choose the action you want for that member, whether it is to attack a certain enemy physically or with magic, whether to use a summon(you'll get into this later in the game), heal yourself/team mate or use an item of another purpose. while this is going down, the enemies have their own timer which is invisible to you.

gil is the currency of the ff7 world.

[Beefy]

Is there a disadvantage to using magic?

[Beefy]

It's weird playing these PS1 games from when the 'main' button is circle instead of X. Metal Gear Solid is like that too.

[Hlebsfall]

Is there a disadvantage to using magic?


Uses up MP (Magic Points). Some characters are there to be used for magic though, as they have a lot more. So Aeris who you start out with is basically there to be your healer/spellcaster, as her attacks are pretty shit.

[The Beer Monster]

What do you know about the story?

I actually never finished it even after 80 + hours playing it. I'd love to go through it again and actually finish, but I can't see me ever getting round to that.

[Morrison]

Is there a disadvantage to using magic?


Uses up MP (Magic Points). Some characters are there to be used for magic though, as they have a lot more. So Aeris who you start out with is basically there to be your healer/spellcaster, as her attacks are pretty shit.
beyond that, some enemies will have weaknesses to certain kinds of magic, like fire or ice, so at times a magic attack will be better than a standard attack.

[JP]

Great idea for a thread.

I don't think we should give too many hints and tips. Would probably be more entertaining both for Beefy and for us if we watch he detail going through the same journey we all went through, with Beefy seeing and working things out on his own.

Though, that said, there is so much you might miss out on unless you look deep enough or even know it's there. One playable character, for example. My entire first play through, no idea he even existed.

[McBain]

I also hate RPGs...will be surprised if you stick at this but good luck. :yes:

[Badger]

Stick with it Beefy, hope you enjoy it. This was my summer of 2004 and only got it out of Game for a fiver. Took me about 60 hours but beat everything including all the Weapons saved on a memory card somewhere.

I agree with JP though so won't give anyway.

[JP]

Stick with it Beefy, hope you enjoy it. This was my summer of 2004 and only got it out of Game for a fiver. Took me about 60 hours but beat everything including all the Weapons saved on a memory card somewhere.

I agree with JP though so won't give anyway.

Full competition with only 60 hours gameplay?

[Badger]

Full competition with only 60 hours gameplay?

Just realised I looked at the wrong save file....90 hours.

[Alf]

You are about to embark on a wonderful journey.

It's a steep learning curve but it's worth it.

[Badger]

One of my favourite memories playing this game was in university halls when I was playing it with the volume up and student neighbours knocked on my door. Thought they were gonna complain about the noise and they were like "Are you playing FF7?" and I said yes and their response was (includes a game spoiler so for Beefy's sake I will spoiler tag it):

"Cool! Sephiroth was such a bastard for killing Aeris!" :lol:

[G-Fresh]

There is no need to hide the shit. Don't talk about it at all.

[Badger]

Will talk about something a bit safer. Black Mages spin on the boss music is awesome. :yes:

[Beefy]

What do you know about the story?


I know that someone dies and I'm 99% certain I know who (it is a fairly well known popular culture reference). I know that there's some racing side-game in there which you can do a lot of grinding on. That's literally it. Thinking back I think I played about eight hours last time but I've forgotten everything.



I don't think we should give too many hints and tips. Would probably be more entertaining both for Beefy and for us if we watch he detail going through the same journey we all went through, with Beefy seeing and working things out on his own.


Absolutely. I'm not asking for too much in the way of game direction, although if there's something that I simply have to see then please tell me. That said I don't have a manual for the game and I get easily frustrated with RPG games assuming a basic level of knowledge around 'leveling up' and other fundamental pieces of gameplay mechanics which I do not have so therefore any high level tips will be appreciated and will probably lessen the chances of me jacking this in after six hours.

I had $20 credit sitting on my US PSN account for a few years so I bought the US version of the game. Figured if I'm going to be putting 50+ hours into a game then I might as well play the game as it was intended to be played as I know the PAL slowdown is there and it will bug me otherwise (ignorance is bliss). I suspect that my saved game won't work so I'll need to start again tonight.

My first impressions were quite positive though. I'm quite looking forward to getting my teeth into this.

[The Beer Monster]

It's such a long time since I played this. I don't think I ever really understood how to equip all the stuff properly.

[Reech]

I know that someone dies and I'm 99% certain I know who (it is a fairly well known popular culture reference). I know that there's some racing side-game in there which you can do a lot of grinding on. That's literally it. Thinking back I think I played about eight hours last time but I've forgotten everything.



Absolutely. I'm not asking for too much in the way of game direction, although if there's something that I simply have to see then please tell me. That said I don't have a manual for the game and I get easily frustrated with RPG games assuming a basic level of knowledge around 'leveling up' and other fundamental pieces of gameplay mechanics which I do not have so therefore any high level tips will be appreciated and will probably lessen the chances of me jacking this in after six hours.

I had $20 credit sitting on my US PSN account for a few years so I bought the US version of the game. Figured if I'm going to be putting 50+ hours into a game then I might as well play the game as it was intended to be played as I know the PAL slowdown is there and it will bug me otherwise (ignorance is bliss). I suspect that my saved game won't work so I'll need to start again tonight.

My first impressions were quite positive though. I'm quite looking forward to getting my teeth into this.

Hint: There's a fight early on with a big robot. You get a notice/suggestion to "attack when it's tail is up".

This is a mistake. Do NOT attack when it's tail is up. Bloody translators.

[Alf]

I was going to mention that, but the thought of Beefy spending 4 hours trying to kill the first boss tickled me.

[Reech]

Cruel.

Trying to think of other hints that are useful without a manual.

Isn't there a run button? I think it's X (if O is confirm). That could be handy for you. Oh, you need to learn which character has certain strengths based on classic RPG tropes. I.e. which is the best mage/tank/fighter and keeping a nice balanced team.

[Badger]

Hint: There's a fight early on with a big robot. You get a notice/suggestion to "attack when it's tail is up".

This is a mistake. Do NOT attack when it's tail is up. Bloody translators.

:lol:

And "This guy are sick."

[Beefy]

There is definitely a run button. I'm planning on starting again tonight and will get through 17% more in the first hour than I did on Sunday now!

[Badger]

Reech is right, X is run and O is confirm. It was supposed to be the other way round I believe but it got screwed up in the design.

[Reech]

Yeah, it'd have come out before Sony (and the console industry) really started pushing platform certification requirements across all their games.

These exist so that all our console experiences are the same. Example, all Playstation games should use X for menu confirmation and O for cancel or Start should bring up the in-game pause menu. Nowadays, there's a shit ton of them for each console covering a multitude of things.

[Beefy]

So I started again. And then I died. Didn't get away from the reactor in time before it exploded, I think I left someone behind and the game wouldn't let me advance without them. And I hadn't saved so now got to play the first bit for a third time!

[Beefy]

I also wasted all my health potions trying to resuscitate Barrett after I got him killed. Probably for the best that I restart

[Reech]

Potions heal, Phoenix Downs revive.

[Morrison]

yeah, what reech said. once a party member 'dies,' they cant be healed with potions or cure magic. they'll first need to be revived using an item called a phoenix down or through revive magic once you acquire that.

i also dont think you need to be worried about others when trying to run from the reactor. are you aware that you can run from the random battle encounters and dont need to fight through to the end of each of them?

[Beefy]

I think I'd read that somewhere. One of the characters (Jessie?) was stuck getting away from the blast and you have to free her. I hadn't done that the first time around

[Reech]

Quick thoughts from work. (Also, now I really want to replay FF7 but I need to get Witcher done).

Materia.

It's a bit like modular building blocks. Different colours are different types of materia.

Green is basic magic (such as Cure, Fire, etc)
Blue is support (linked to other materia for effects such as All, Counter)
Yellow (I think) is a command which gives you an extra combat ability (such as Steal)
Purple (I think) is just a standalone one (like Counter Attack (which may do a physical counter attack)
Red is summons (special magic that summons a beast for big damages)

If you like a Cure and All materia linked, then you cast Cure on Everyone. Same with Fire + All, you'll cast Fire on all enemies. If you have Counter + Fire, when you're attacked, you'll Counter Attack with Fire.

I try and make sure everyone has at least Cure/Revive so they can be used if needed but your magic users should be loaded up with all the strong magics for their normal combat usage.

Elementals

There's a rock, paper, scissors-esque element system going on. Fire attacks are strong against Ice, Water is strong against Fire blah blah blah. The materia you have on your weapon/armour slots affect this also in a passive way. I.e. Cloud's sword attacks can be boosted slightly by having a Fire materia on them when he's attacking Ice creatures. There's also negatives for having the wrong type on too.

[Morrison]

Quick thoughts from work. (Also, now I really want to replay FF7 but I need to get Witcher done).

Materia.

It's a bit like modular building blocks. Different colours are different types of materia.

Green is basic magic (such as Cure, Fire, etc)
Blue is support (linked to other materia for effects such as All, Counter)
Yellow (I think) is a command which gives you an extra combat ability (such as Steal)
Purple (I think) is just a standalone one (like Counter Attack (which may do a physical counter attack)
Red is summons (special magic that summons a beast for big damages)

If you like a Cure and All materia linked, then you cast Cure on Everyone. Same with Fire + All, you'll cast Fire on all enemies. If you have Counter + Fire, when you're attacked, you'll Counter Attack with Fire.

I try and make sure everyone has at least Cure/Revive so they can be used if needed but your magic users should be loaded up with all the strong magics for their normal combat usage.

Elementals

There's a rock, paper, scissors-esque element system going on. Fire attacks are strong against Ice, Water is strong against Fire blah blah blah. The materia you have on your weapon/armour slots affect this also in a passive way. I.e. Cloud's sword attacks can be boosted slightly by having a Fire materia on them when he's attacking Ice creatures. There's also negatives for having the wrong type on too.
all very useful information, but would also like to give beefy a heads up and say dont try and digest this post right now. it'll be a little while into the game before materia really becomes integral and most of this starts factoring in. you'll pick some up along the way early on, but it wont be a overwhelming part of the gameplay yet.

[Reech]

Sorry, I just had to get it off my chest before I forgot as I woke up with all this information in my head.

[Badger]

Also a tip for the Shinra Building when you get there, take the stairs to the 60th floor rather than busting in the main entrance. You avoid random battles and pick up an Elixir.

[Atty]

Got the iOS version of this as I can't do much else over the next month and immediately broke my save by accidentally discovering this new feature.

http://www.ign.com/wikis/final-fantasy-vii/Max_Stats

Stopping random encounters is huge, but maxing out all the stats is just cheap. Rather have the option to stop random and a setting where you massively increase EXP from battles so you can level when you want but not just be an unbeatable god from the start.

[Badger]

Stopping random encounters is pussy, plus if you're stuck then just run.

[G-Fresh]

Yeah fuck that shit.

[Atty]

Stopping random encounters is pussy, plus if you're stuck then just run.

It definitely is, but in an iOS game, it obviously has advantages.

Been playing the iOS FF6—fantastic. They did a near perfect amount of updating. Sprites have never looked better.

[RuneEdge]

The FF6 sprites look weird on iOS. All they did was make them bigger and blurry, without adding any extra detail.

[Atty]

You look weird.

[RuneEdge]

http://i.imgur.com/vPfazQJ.jpg

Weird.

[Badger]

My mate had that last one as his facebook profile pic for a while. :lol:

[Psycho666Soldier]

Did Beefy ever get any farther into this? I'm interested to see his reactions to the actual meat of the game.

[Simon]

Did Beefy ever get any farther into this? I'm interested to see his reactions to the actual meat of the game.

TBH I always felt like the game lost a little of its character once you leave Midgar. I know why the world map was needed, but the depth and personality of the city made it quite an intense, claustrophobic experience.

[Psycho666Soldier]

I kinda get what you mean. The feeling of Midgar just has this aura about it that makes it feel particularly unique. But I feel like the journey is still really great. The main problem with the rest of the world is none of the cities come close to the size of Midgar. But places like Junon, Gold Saucer, Cosmo Canyon, Wutai, and the City of the Ancients maintain an atmosphere that keeps you drawn in. For me, at least.

[Simon]

Oh yeah don't get me wrong the rest of it is still amazing, it's my favourite non-sport game ever by a mile. I just think the detail that went into Midgar, plus the sheer scale and depth, made it feel like a real, breathing city which existed outside of whichever bit you happened to be in at the time. I loved clocking back in with the people at the gym, and the house that you stayed in with Tifa's family. Whereas the other towns and cities on the world map felt a little more isolated and less detailed. They were still great, but Midgar was just a beautiful achievement. In a way I sort of associate it with GTA, the way it really felt like the environment existed whether you were there or not, with recognisable characters with their own motivations. That's what really dragged you into the story for me.

[Atty]

Midgar is the section I fear most in the remake. I can see them making it all a bunch of flippy nonsense.

[RuneEdge]

Didnt know where else to post this, but anyway...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWoGd93LaA0

:panic:

[Reech]

So, do I get angry about the combat change? Or do I just buy the remaster, the remake and all versions of it until the end of time?

[Atty]

So, do I get angry about the combat change? Or do I just buy the remaster, the remake and all versions of it until the end of time?

That's what I'll do. Err... That's what I've done so far. Still haven't touched the iOS version, but I damn well bought it.

We all knew the combat change was coming, even if we tried to convince ourselves otherwise. Showing it in a trailer before the game even has a date is actually really smart. If they had just done cinemas for all the trailers and then people buy the game to find Vanille and Hope instead of Jailbait and Tits McGee in the party, it would be a sad day.

Slightly unrelated, on Black Friday I saw Type 0 HD and X/X-2 HD for 20 dollars a piece so I got them because that's what I do. Should I be scared to play Type 0? Is it just PTSD from all the 13s in the back of my head messing with me? I also have the feeling that I'll like X-2 a lot more now than when it came out. Not sure why, but I have that feeling.

[Peter Griffin]

Jailbait?

[The_Mike]

Jailbait?

Yuffie, I assume.

Trailer looks not bad. I think I only saw two flips.

[Peter Griffin]

Ahh right... Just downloading 7 on my ps4 now,got trophies and everything :hyper:

[RuneEdge]

So, do I get angry about the combat change?

The combat change is obviously the #1 gripe for most fans right now. But to be honest, I just cant picture a turn based ATB system working today with these visuals and graphics. The game is finally being remade with the intention of bringing in new fans along with the old. I think the change had to be done.

I havent played Final Fantasy 12 or Crisis Core all the way through, but the combat system felt good in those games. It was new in the sense that you had that freedom to move around, but also some what kept the old school feel of having to select commands via the menu. I think this new game will work.

[Psycho666Soldier]

That's what I'll do. Err... That's what I've done so far. Still haven't touched the iOS version, but I damn well bought it.

We all knew the combat change was coming, even if we tried to convince ourselves otherwise. Showing it in a trailer before the game even has a date is actually really smart. If they had just done cinemas for all the trailers and then people buy the game to find Vanille and Hope instead of Jailbait and Tits McGee in the party, it would be a sad day.

Slightly unrelated, on Black Friday I saw Type 0 HD and X/X-2 HD for 20 dollars a piece so I got them because that's what I do. Should I be scared to play Type 0? Is it just PTSD from all the 13s in the back of my head messing with me? I also have the feeling that I'll like X-2 a lot more now than when it came out. Not sure why, but I have that feeling.

Did Type 0 come with the FFXV demo? That's the only thing worth playing.

The remake footage looks pretty good. Seems they're doing Midgar and the storyline justice. More importantly, the battle system looks more similar to FFXII as opposed to XIII, which I appreciate. All I hope for is the materia system being relatively left intact.

[The_Mike]

The remake footage looks pretty good. Seems they're doing Midgar and the storyline justice. More importantly, the battle system looks more similar to FFXII as opposed to XIII, which I appreciate. All I hope for is the materia system being relatively left intact.

My thoughts exactly. I actually really liked the FFXII system, and I wouldn't mind something similar being used in a remake of VII.

[Reech]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/12/07/psx-2015-final-fantasy-7-remake-will-be-a-multi-part-series?abthid=5664e811a57531c20e00000b

They just announced it's also episodic.... so, even more reason to be "angry on the internet". Sigh. Be interesting to see what it's like when it's out, but my excitement level has completely plummeted now.

[Psycho666Soldier]

I understand being upset about the episodic release, but I think it's silly to be angry about the change to combat.

[Jenova]

Well me being the Final Fantasy nut that I am, I can give you a quick walkthrough and some tips, the story is fairly linear to a certain point, I won't spoil it for you:

- The first few battles are not that tough, use potions to restore hit points as you have no curative magic at this point.
- For the first boss fight, DO NOT attack when the boss' tail is up because his counterattack will wipe out your characters in three turns.
- Each character has a bar that fills up over times when they are attacked by an enemy, this is their Limit Break bar. When it fills completely, the character can unleash a special attack that does at least twice the damage of a normal attack.
- Most characters have 7 Limit Breaks that are divided into 4 levels. These can be leveled up by either how many times it has been used or how many enemies you kill with it. The level 4 Limit Break requires a special item for each character and can only be learned after both level 3 limit breaks are learned.
- Use save points when you can.
- Materia is classified into five groups: Magic (Green), Supportive (Blue), Independent (Purple), Command (Yellow) and Summon (Red). Supportive works when paired with Magic and some Command orbs. Summons are the most difficult to obtain, you'll see what I mean if you want to try to obtain the Knights of the Round summon.
- Use elemental magic (Fire, Ice, Bolt) against enemies that have a weakness to it. Fire works best against Ice elementals and vice-versa. Bolt works best against mechanical enemies.
- It would be best to buy at least two of most materia orbs (Restore, Life, Time, Poisona are a must, at least for me). Saves a lot of time than switching spells between characters.
- Make sure you level up each character at a constant rate and make sure they are outfitted with the most current gear. It would be costly to use a character who hasn't fought in a while with crap gear in a boss battle.


There's a whole lot more but I let you find out.

[The_Mike]

Episodic? Nah, they can fuck off then.

That's Square for you, they finally managed to fuck up just doing Final Fantasy VII again.

[Morrison]

what exactly is wrong with it being episodic?

[Badger]

The article says it's split into parts and the original game was split into three discs, so it may just be along the same lines except with the discs being released one at a time.

[The_Mike]

The article says it's split into parts and the original game was split into three discs, so it may just be along the same lines except with the discs being released one at a time.

The article says that each part will be around the size of a full game (I'm guessing the original) but from different perspectives. So my guess is they're going to be expanding the whole story and telling different bits from the perspectives of different characters. I'm just not interested in having to buy and slog through multiple games to get the experience I was looking for.

[Matthew]

just play the old one then

[Morrison]

The article says that each part will be around the size of a full game (I'm guessing the original) but from different perspectives. So my guess is they're going to be expanding the whole story and telling different bits from the perspectives of different characters. I'm just not interested in having to buy and slog through multiple games to get the experience I was looking for.

oh man, what cunts, releasing multiple full length games you might have to play. or maybe wait for the reviews and figure out which sounds suitable for your crudmudgeoness and go from there.

[The_Mike]

I will. They obviously haven't taken the old one away, it's just amazingly Squaresoft of them to manage to announce what people wanted for years and years then still not do what they actually wanted.

[Badger]

I'm a FFVII die-hard so I'll be pre-ordering. Very intrigued to see how they'll expand the characters stories, plus the footage I've seen so far looks amazing.

[Reech]

Finally beaten Ruby and Emerald weapon on the PS4 version they released.

I'm only a few trophies away from the Platinum now. Just need to level up to 99 and somehow earn 99m gil. Think I'll knock that on the head this week at some point.

I kinda wish it had an endless dungeon for when you're level 70+ higher to give you something to do on the grind.

[Peter Griffin]

Yeh I'm at level 65 at the moment, as you say getting to level 99 and 99 million gil is going to be the big problem, also I am wank at that bike game at gold saucer so going to take a while to get that trophy

[Reech]

I did it second time, thankfully.

I'm just grinding the sunken airplane and it's quite boring as I'm trying to level up All materia at the same time (each is worth 1.4m to sell).

[Ozanne]

There's a remastered version for the PS4? Not sure how I missed it, what's it like and how much?

[Peter Griffin]

It's just a port of the pc version with trophies. It's 8 quid if memory serves me right.

[The Rogerer]

It has the fast forward and invicibility/unlimited limit break option. That's a weird thing that makes the game viable for some people, and completely trivialises it. One way of dealing with the problem of having such an old game, but it's a strange way to revisit.

[Atty]

Finally beaten Ruby and Emerald weapon on the PS4 version they released.

I'm only a few trophies away from the Platinum now. Just need to level up to 99 and somehow earn 99m gil. Think I'll knock that on the head this week at some point.

I kinda wish it had an endless dungeon for when you're level 70+ higher to give you something to do on the grind.

Of all the times I've played through 7, getting to level 99 has never been a problem. 99 million gil is just dickish, though.

Sunken ship is the best place. I always keep stealing the tomes (forget what they're called in FF7/too much Dragon Age lately) where you can boost various stats, so it gets crazy as I level. It's how I make Vincent a silly little God. I'm always very high on boosting speed, but the fast forward thing may negate that a bit.

[Psycho666Soldier]

I never bothered with sources for the simple fact you don't really need them if you grind as much as I did in that game. Last time I played through, I got to Lv. 20-25 in the first reactor before fighting the Guard Scorpion and kept at that pace for the rest of the game. It was asinine. I could crush pretty much every boss in a matter of 4 or 5 regular attacks. That's without using magic or limit breaks. I left the first reactor with Ice 2 and Bolt 2 already.

[Atty]

But I'm a psychotic when it comes to attributes in games. Much more so than levels, I just find ways to grind up attributes. I wasn't always this way.

[Reech]

Nah, figured out the best place to level up is the swamps in the Northern Crater. Throw an Elixir at a Magic Pot and you get a shit ton of XP when you kill it.

I'm all done with FF7 now. Platinum and an itch scratched.

[Peter Griffin]

Northern Crater?

[Reech]

Northern Cave/Crater.

Basically, you're on the road to final boss. There's a swamp area which you can get to by choosing left and then up at the 2 branching points on the route.

[Peter Griffin]

Can you visit from the world map or do I have to wait till the end of the game?

[Psycho666Soldier]

Can you visit from the world map or do I have to wait till the end of the game?

It's only available at the end game.

[Reech]

Yeah, it's right at the end. How far you now Griff?

[Peter Griffin]

Just got the shinra sub in that annoying sub game. I just can't see how im going to get 999,999,999 gil :nono:

[Reech]

Just got the shinra sub in that annoying sub game. I just can't see how im going to get 999,999,999 gil :nono:

Don't sell any weapons/armour with triple/double growth. Keep them.

Then load them up with All materia (can be bought from Bone Village (if you haven't got there yet)), and you sell them for 1.4 million each once you master them. The XP levelling area I found also had made AP points too (magic pots again).

It wasn't as much as a grind as I expected tbh.