Some things are inevitable in this life. Night follows day, water makes you wet, politicians lie, and the fanboys will always be foaming at the mouth for a FF7 remake.
Now, rumours of FF7's potential remake have been floating around for a while. Partially because Square, for a PS3 tech demo, no more, no less, released a remake of the intro movie made with PS3 tech. That's all it was. A tech demo. But they figured they'd use the famous FF7 intro probably because they knew it would attract attention, or just to go "compare this to the original and look how far our tech's come!" Whatever the reason for choosing that particular scene, the point still stands. It was a tech demo, no more a game than Sony's rubber duck demo for the PS2 (which I oddly remember reading about several years ago, I don't know why).
Of course, this planted a seed in the minds of everyone who just CAN'T FUCKING GET OVER FF7. Yes, it was a good game, yes, it's a classic, yes, it was amazing at the time and not a lot compared to it. But here's the fun bit, that was 1997, we're now in 2010. It's 13 years on, and people are still proclaiming it to be the best game ever despite the fact that gaming's moved on and become more sophisticated, both graphically and interactively. FF7, when not viewed through nostalgia goggles, is a flawed mess in comparison to everything that followed it. Sure, it laid the groundwork, but it's SERIOUSLY showing its age now. Just like many PS1 games are. Especially PS1 games released in 1997.
FFXIII's release brought on a ton of people who complained that it was nothing like VII and therefore shit, despite the fact that VIII, IX, X, XI and XII were all completely different to VII too. Just like VII was different to I, II, III, IV, V and VI. That's what the series does. It changes, it evolves. It tells different stories in different universes with different characters and different gameplay mechanics. There's a few links here and there (chocobos, Cid, moogle, cactuars, summons, etc.) but ultimately they're all meant to be different. XIII was different to VII. GOOD. Because I'd hope 13 years on and 6 games later that we'd be seeing something new and different and not just a rehash of an old game.
But yes, my point. These people who can't get over FF7 have now convinced themselves there will be a remake. Even when the head of Square said "no, it won't happen, it would take forever to meet all these demands", the fanboys turned round and said "that's a lie, stop sitting on it, because you know as well as we do that it'll be made" WHAT.
Seriously, if the head of the company says no to your precious little fan project, then accept it won't happen and move on. But of course, they can't get over the game and throw a tantrum until the head of Square finally turns round and says "fine, we'll look into it! GOD! SHUT UP!" like he's done recently.
Well, his actual words were more like "we're aware of the demand, so we've decided we'll look into it", but you know he was thinking my previous statement.
Of course, the fun part of this was that he included the words "we're looking into potential platforms" or something similar, suggesting it won't be the big HD PS3/360 remake everyone's demanding, and that it will in fact be a PSP patch-up job. Seriously, I would bet money on this.
Either way, as much as the fanboys are clamouring and wanking themselves senseless over the mere idea of a remake, you know that if one did happen, they'd hate it. Why? BECAUSE THAT'S HOW FICKLE FF FANBOYS ARE! If it's not exactly like the original, they'll bitch that Square changed it too much and that this is further proof that the Enix merger has killed Squaresoft and they'll NEVER EVER buy a Final Fantasy game EVER again (until the next one comes out). And if it's exactly the same with pretty graphics? They'll bitch that they spent £40 on the same game a second time.
But I have to ask. Do we NEED a FF7 remake? How is it necessary to remake it? If the original is as "perfect" as the fanboys make it out to be, then surely remaking it would be pointless, since the original game can't be improved upon (which would be the point of remaking it). Do you really want to play the same game all over again, but with prettier graphics? Do you really want to fork out full price for a game you already own just because it looks slightly different? Because if that's the case, then why did you bitch so much about how Square apparently spent more time on graphics in FF13 than anything else? Because I see that as slightly stupid. "FF13 looked pretty, but that was all, graphics aren't important" is a stupid complaint next to "I would buy FF7 a second time if it looked like FF13 crossed with Advent Children" because then it's saying you DO care about graphics. Seriously, that argument hurts my head trying to unravel.
The next argument is that it would introduce a newer generation of gamers to FF7 who never played the original back in the day. This argument falls apart when you realise that FF7's been re-released for PSN. No, it has. Go look. It's £7 to play the original game, when a remake would be £40-50 for the same game with an Advent Children filter. Hmmm...tough choice.
This of course is the argument I'll accept for remakes/re-releases of FFs 1-6, since the releases of those were all over the place, and didn't have nearly the kind of audience as FF7 and beyond have enjoyed, not to mention the fact that Europe never had any of them and America missed out on 2, 3 and 5, so releasing those again makes sense, especially since FF7 took off like it did. I have FF6 for the PS1 and FF3 for the DS, therefore proving I welcome those remakes (largely because, being in the PAL territories, they're the only way I can play them).
This one I don't. It sold like hotcakes, it was a MASSIVE hit in Japan, America AND Europe. Because it's constantly referred back to as the game that really put the series on the map, most people who came to the series later have gone back and tracked it down, and now it's release on PSN (which was heavily advertised all over the network) means that there are very few people who HAVEN'T played the game. So therefore the idea of remaking the game for those who haven't is laughable.
The only argument for a remake I can just about accept is that they could rejig the plot a little to better accomodate the events of Advent Children and the Compilation, ie. referring back to events mentioned in the prequels, and foreshadowing events in AC. This I can see as a feasible reason, but then again, if that's the best you can come up with, then really, I'm not convinced.
I don't want a FF7 remake to be honest. If one comes out, it's very unlikely I'll buy it, because I have the original, so if I want to play it again, I'll just play that (and my current Let's Play of a dated-looking PS1 game shows that I still enjoy the oldies once in a while, so its lack of HD graphics is a non-issue for me). It's not even my favourite FF. It's my 5th favourite, behind IX, X-2, XIII and VIII. It sits pretty much squarely in the middle of my preference. I don't hate it, but I don't worship it like others do either. It's OK. Not great by today's standards, but still a classic based on the enjoyment I got out of it back in the day.
But ignoring my own personal preference, let me explain why a FF7 remake is a bad idea for those who desperately want one. When FF7 came out, it was great. It cemented itself as a classic, captured the imaginations of millions of people worldwide. It showed what the PS1 was capable of (although 8 and 9 took that even further), it had an engrossing (if flawed) storyline, and the gameplay was the right level of complex. Many people do have fond memories of the game, and it's easy to see why.
This is the main reason, it seems, that people want this to happen. They remember the joy the game gave them back in the day, and with age they've become cynical and jaded about everything new and just wish they could relive the feelings they had back then by playing an up-to-date version of the game that gave them those feelings.
But that's the problem. Your memories of how great the game was back in the day can never be lived up to again. You play a remake of FF7, you're not going to get the same feelings you did back then. You'll know the plot, you'll know how to beat every boss, you'll know how to do all the sidequests. The discovery of all these things was what made the game originally so much fun to play. Sure, playing the original game now can bring back memories of the time you originally played it, but playing a remake won't. I can vouch for this. Tomb Raider Anniversary, while fun, doesn't give me quite the same nostalgic feeling that playing the original still does, even though they are essentially the same game. It will be the same with a FF7 remake.
All the fanboys will ever get out of a remake is disappointment that the game isn't quite like it was. The game's a classic for a reason, let's just leave it be. Let it continue to be a classic. If you want to experience it all again, I'm sure you still have your copy lying around somewhere. Give it a whirl. Or failing that, get it on PSN (the amount of times I've mentioned this sounds like I work for Sony/Square and trying to push the release - by the way, FF8's up too). What's more, doing this would allow Square to make some new games, rather than using up time and resources making the same game all over again.
We don't need a FF7 remake. End of.
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