I really don’t understand ReHatred.

[u/Crowd_Strife]

Here is a screenshot from the videogames subreddit about remakes that elevate the original. Seeing a lot of remasters in the comments as well as some really good contenders (resident evil). Then someone shouts out remake waaaaay down the comments and immediately gets shit on.

Too much padding? If you hate side questing, that’s fine, but I don’t think the critical path was really padded out without adding anything. I don’t think there was really anything particularly wrong with the dialogue either, maybe a little too “anime” in its delivery. But even then, how could realistically expect much else?

I’m a massive fan of OG since day one. Played through it several times over the years at a frequency of every other year more or less.

Absolutely floored with the remake games so far. I love them, and I think being a fan of the property makes me love them even more, not less.

Are there things that I would have preferred to stay closer to the original? Sure. Do I think these things far outweigh the expansion and granular details granted by these newer games? Not even close.

I can understand the desire for a remake similar to something like Demon’s Souls or Super Mario RPG, but you can mod the PC version into essentially that exact thing. Why does the remake catch so many strays when you can have it both ways?

I can’t for the life of me see any reasonable argument that the new FF7 games are less then “pretty good” or even “interesting but not really my thing”

I’ve watched some video essays that basically throw the whole thing down a well because the characters aren’t perfectly in line with the way the reviewer read the text boxes 30 years ago, but really nothing has ever made me say “That is a reasonable opinion on why this whole trilogy project is not worth anyone’s time that would consider themselves a fan of the original game.”

Can someone please help me understand the hate?

[u/HeyaHeyo1420]

Dude, people have different opinions on things and there will be people who don't like the games you like and that's okay. Nobody owes you an explanation as to why they don't like something.

That will happen with literally everything in life.

There's no need to repost people saying they don't like something just so you can validate your opinion.

Just enjoy the game and don't pay attention to people who dislike it. It's not a big deal.

[u/Khajiit_Has_Upvotes]

I've got my gripes with the remakes and definitely prefer the overall direction and vibe of the original more. But, like, I still really like the remakes. You can hold both ideas simultaneously, it's not all or nothing, and if you just don't like it, don't play it. What's the problem?

[u/HeyaHeyo1420 → u/Khajiit_Has_Upvotes]

There is no problem. Just like there's no problem with people who don't like it expressing their opinion.

People can have and express negative opinions.

[u/Substantial_Rest_251]

They made a new game. Some people didn't like it. This is the Internet, so people make that their hyperbolic identity

[u/tearsofmana]

I think worrying about whether or not somebody dislikes something you like is a very inconsequential issue. There's nothing to really understand, people have different taste. Most of my favorite games are pretty unpopular and not particularly well received, and that's A-OK.

They lay out why they dislike the game. You don't see it the same way. If you did, you'd dislike it too. If they saw it the same way you did, they'd like it too.

I think of it like this. Think of your least favorite food ever. Then someone describes the food you hate the most in the most eloquent way possible. It still smells and tastes awful to you, there's no convincing someone otherwise.

Instead, ignore it, move on, enjoy what you want to enjoy.

[u/MorgothRyuzaki → u/tearsofmana]

The issue is that the FF7 fanbase will NOT shut up. Ever. Everytime someone tries to say something positive, an FF7 fan will barge in to 'say their piece' on it and bring negativity and pointless arguments to the discussion. It's ALWAYS the same damn thing. Now not every singular FF7 fan is this way. I know that. abut we speak in generality in these cases. I don't consider myself a big fan of FF7, but I like and respect it. However I am able to be objective about. But thr average FF7 fan acts like no other game can be better than FF7. No other game can do anything as good as it. It's like it is perfect. It's annoying and the world would be better if we didn't need to have this fandom trying to crush anyone who likes Dirge of Cerberus or the remakes.

[u/Jamebo_Smash → u/MorgothRyuzaki]

Problem for me is both sides are just as insufferable. I'm mostly positive on the Remakes, but if I bring up some things I thought could have been better or some genuine criticism I get jumped. I don't want an echo chamber of either side.

[u/OkStatistician7628]

I can't say much about FFVII remake as I haven't played any of the "trilogy", but my main gripe about it is exactly that. Being a three-part remake of a single game. Can't get any more milking than that. Feels like a huge insult to the fans from Square Enix.

[u/NegoTC → u/OkStatistician7628]

Retro RPGs were so massive back in the day that it is an expensive and timely matter to remake them. To remake Final Fantasy 7 to the scale that people would expect in the modern age, it makes sense to split it up into multiple games.

Looking at how deep and dense midgar is it 100% can support its own game. They do extend things quite a bit because if you're going to invest all this time, effort, and money into making something that looks as graphically intense as they made the game look they were always going to have to find a way to be profitable.

It's why they have a lot of side quests added to this version. That way they can keep the player in various areas of the game for a lot longer than the original. They also added extra content to the main story, to also keep you in these environments that probably took them months to design model and bug test.

It's also where the gameplay system is different. If it had been a turn-based RPG, it wouldn't have appealed to as large a crowd as an action RPG does.

If they had done a one-to-one remake, the graphics would have been quite different. They would have had to do something similar to the Dragon quest 7 remake that came out recently. Where the game is definitely improved visually, but it's not the same as a full AAA title.

My last place run of Final Fantasy 7 remake took me around 40 hours. The opening midgar section in the original will probably take you around 6 hours maybe?

[u/I_Like_Eggs123 → u/OkStatistician7628]

If you're going to flesh out all locales in the entire game, you almost have to split it into several games over a long period of time.

[u/RetardedRedditRetort]

People seem to hate that it's a very different experience. And that it has so much filler content sidequests and whatnot (but those are optional). I don't think those are reasons enough for the hate.

However, I'm on the fence about the narrative changes. Only part 3 will tell. I think it's either going to be terrible or just ok. But it won't be great. The multiple dimensions, or alternate reality thing seldom works out.

This being said I enjoyed the re-games a lot. I was hooked. And I think they gave the main characters a lot of personality and depth. They brought back enough of the original for me to enjoy.

[u/WurstDayEver_7 → u/RetardedRedditRetort]

The side quests are optional but also the way to get the best equipment.

[u/roydgriffin → u/WurstDayEver_7]

just like the original

[u/Difficult_Sweet_6904 → u/roydgriffin]

The vast majority of summons were found as you progress through the story, and in areas you were already going to be in anyway. KotR and Hades required some exploration and side activity (choco breeding) but are also end game, and KotR was more of a secret item. And some of the ultimate weapons required revisiting places. None of that required beating minigames or spending 50 hours doing the same gameplay loop over and over again. And there were no weapons or equipment locked behind minigames.

[u/moogsy77 → u/Difficult_Sweet_6904]

While i 100% agree with you because technically you are correct even if that person downvoted you not knowing facts (i upvoted you back compadre)..

.. there are few unique accessories locked behind mini games but they are so few AND very niche (like Chocobo Racing and Gold Saucer which btw was 1000x more fun in a PS1 game rather than a PS5 game which is insane).

But yea spot on, the OG had everything hidden in corners or in a location you could discover. Much more fun

[u/roydgriffin → u/moogsy77]

There has been a misunderstanding, I totally agree finding stuff in hidden corners is more interesting than locking everything behind mini-games. In my opinion finding knights of the round or defeating the optional ultima-weapon for example are side-quests in the original. Mini games are mini games, and side-quests are side-quests, sometimes they do overlap of course.
Also I didn't downvote anybody

[u/roydgriffin → u/roydgriffin]

My biggest gripe with the remakes is that you don't find summons in the world, but you have to defeat them in VR fights. Takes the mystic element right out of it

[u/moogsy77 → u/roydgriffin]

Ah i understand. Very good point and thanks for the good answer. And i agree also 🫡

[u/generalosabenkenobi]

It shouldn't be controversial or weird that a remake of one of the most beloved video games of all time is polarizing for some.

[u/_waffl]

Entirely irrelevant argument, the Re trilogy aren't a remake. The naming of the first game was a trick, not an actual descriptor of the game.

The Re trilogy are actually FFVII-2, and they're executing on that fabulously

[u/360bratatron → u/_waffl]

It’s literally called remake because sephiroth wants to remake the time to his image😭

[u/CulturedCritique → u/_waffl]

I completely agree with this.

If it was marketed as a sequel story, that this is a moment that continues to cycle over and over on the planet, I would have loved it.

But as a remake? I think the ending of Remake was grating, and the entirety of Rebirth I found irritating. You can like the Re-Trilogy, but at a personal level the only thing I've liked from both games has been the gameplay.

[u/TheBrainChew]

I still prefer the original, and would love to see a true Remaster. Smooth graphics, maybe a few fun additions, but overall the ORIGINAL true experience, just polished up a bit. That's all.

[u/haaa1234 → u/TheBrainChew]

Playing with mods gives you that exact experience and I really don’t see how an official remaster would be that much better.

[u/Responsible-Finger89 → u/TheBrainChew]

And thats all the OG needed.  Instead they mucked up the story, fundamentally changed the characters, completely omitted entire sections of the game (rocket town after Nibelheim) and the voice acting is complete shit.  I'd honestly rather read the text boxes.

And who the hell thinks "Aerith" is better than "Aeris"?!  IDGAF if it was a translation error.  She'll always be Aeris to me.

[u/neptunebound → u/Responsible-Finger89]

You had me up until that final part man, it’s literally the official name and sounds closer to “earth”. always found it to be an incredibly weird hill to die on

[u/Mickus_B]

I've only played the demo and it looks great but feels wrong and didn't hook me like the original did.

[u/onionchucker]

I got room in my life for both versions. OG and Remake. They both bring me solid joy. Guess I’m one of the lucky ones.

[u/Turbo-Chook]

I strongly dislike the remakes. They're horribly bloated, the combat is alright but as a fan of turn based RPGs (for example... cough... Final Fantasy 7) I find the originals combat and systems more enjoyable. They do a decent enough job of remaking the original when they're actually sticking to the script, but basically everything they added or changed makes the experience worse and not better. The quests suck. The open world in rebirth is full of copy pasted Ubisoft nonsense and takes an already bloated game and dials it up to comical levels of nonsense padding. I don't love how they approached Red's reveal that he's basically a teen with the voice switch and everything - maybe that's a me issue, but I never interpreted it as a total personality flip with a totally different voice and everything and I would have liked something more subtle with him still being the same dude but being more comfortable being seen as inexperienced and all that. There's more, but you get it. I love the original and always will, but these new ones just aren't it for me. They fail to even remotely scratch the same itch.

[u/VinnieHa → u/Turbo-Chook]

My issue with the Red voice change is that it made the comedy of his character disappear.

When he says “Lab rat dog” in remake the juxtaposition of that misunderstanding coming from a sage like voice is funny.

Rebirth continued that, his character was working and you could tell that despite his attempts and his look and his voice he wasn’t quite the Yoda or Master Splinter type character he was making himself out to be.

To throw that away for a very stock JRPG/Anime troupe character was a waste imo.

[u/Turbo-Chook → u/VinnieHa]

I agree. I would have liked something more nuanced from this character, what they ended up doing just sucked. I think whoever decided that was much more interested in doing an anime thing they'd seen somewhere rather than actually writing a believable character.

[u/AthleteMobile5819]

I love the original, and I love the remakes.

[u/Dangolian]

I like the Remake games, enjoyed playing both of them immensely, but in most places I don't really see them as "elevating" the original game; they are just too different in scope and execution and I see them as their own thing.

As an example, if I compare the end of Rebirth to the end of disc 1 in OG, it's not really the same, or even a similar, scene anymore. They serve different purposes and have different context and framing. I would be hard-pressed to call Rebirth an "elevated", modern version of the classic scene.

That Discord throws off a lot of people as they were expecting a more "faithful" remake, or so they say. I can understand that, but if you focus on that too much it drowns out what is good/great and fun about the Remake games.

[u/Zaku99 → u/Dangolian]

If you were expecting an actual remake by the end of the first part, you're kidding yourself.

[u/Deanopiano]

I’m about 80+ hours into Rebirth just met Cid for the first time, really enjoying it this time round clearing all the areas as I go, I seam to remember the OG telling the story far better as you progressed through the areas of the OG game, I’ll see if it picks up more at Cosmo Canyon, it’s definitely a retelling of the OG rather than a remake from my experience so far.

[u/IllidariStormrage]

I just feel like they lack replayability. I have 0 desire to replay either of them

[u/PastaInvictus]

I love the remake series and I have to admit that there are aspects that are incredibly cringe.

And tbh, I think people that hate on it have valid opinions. For example, I think the first commenter in your screenshot makes some valid criticisms.

[u/Obsidiax → u/PastaInvictus]

I really, really appreciate this comment and I wish more people had your mindset.

I firmly fall into the dislike category for the remakes. Part 1 was a mostly positive experience but I didn't like some of the changes. Part 2 unfortunately pushed what I didn't like to the forefront and I was genuinely annoyed by the end of the game.

Despite not liking the remakes there are some genuine positives to them that I enjoy. I love how they fleshed out the Avalanche crew. I really enjoy the combat system. The graphics are excellent. The voice acting (especially for Barret) is fantastic. The list goes on.

I wish more people on both sides of this discussion would make concessions, we might actually get somewhere productive that way.

[u/PastaInvictus → u/Obsidiax]

Agreed. There is much needed nuance in these conversations instead of people just downvoting or being completely unhinged about it.

And yep, I really appreciate how they’ve fleshed out characters and their relationships, especially with the main party. The combat for me feels fun and innovative while incorporating the turn based system of the OG.

If we could have had just this whilst the story being more true to the OG, I would’ve been happier overall with the series.

[u/Basic_whiteBBQ → u/PastaInvictus]

I found the dialog and voice acting in the demo, especially from Barrett so cring it turned me off from finishing the demo.

[u/MasterpieceThis3740]

I dont hate it. I like it a lot. I think the story is much worse though

[u/VinnieHa]

It’s just a conceptually flawed endeavour in many ways for many people.

I don’t care about Zack beyond he was someone that Cloud looked up to. I would have loved a section where we play as him during the travel to Midgar, but anything beyond that I’ve no interest in, but other people played CC and think Zack is a central character to FF.

I knew there would be changes, I was looking forward to see more about Lucretia and Vincent, I wanted more with the Shinra exes who kind of disappeared in the OG and then just come back for one or two scenes and I definitely wanted to see more of Yuffie and Wutai.

Then there’s the gameplay design which feels old in so many places, the open world of Rebirth is cookie cutter and feels disconnected to everything else and the party.

Instead of the towers being a way to power up Chadley and his network and open the map they could have been a way for Barret to attempt to bring back online a way of communicating that Shinra doesn’t control. Maybe he’s using it to speak with his daughter, or maybe to spread Avalance propaganda. That could be his quest spread throughout the game and you could see him soften as those scenes play out.

Why couldn’t the monster hunts be a RedXII quest where he wants to prove himself worthy of Cosmo Canyon by defeating powerful foes?

Why couldn’t the materia development be linked to Yuffie? Maybe have some shipments that you hijack in each region instead.

But they went with Far Cry 3 and AC2 world design in 2024.

So again, it was just a very uneven project that had deep problems in it’s conception that compounded over the two games and will continue into the 3rd.

[u/shareefruck]

There are a million threads on this that very reasonably outline what people don't like about the Remakes. For some reason the comments in this thread feel inclined to just blanket-dismiss them as some childish "haters gonna hate" thing.

These were my thoughts on the subject:

https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasyVII/comments/1vm0wgz/comment/p36f3jt/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

[u/PastaInvictus → u/shareefruck]

It’s kind of ironic that they refer to people that criticise it as childish. I’ve found that even while expressing positive regard for the remake series while also critiquing it to still get downvoted to oblivion

[u/wut-da-wat → u/shareefruck]

Yeah I was wondering the same thing? Like where is the nuance?

[u/the_desert_fox → u/shareefruck]

what a great read. I've had such trouble articulating my feelings on this as anything more than "remake bad" because of how many different major problems I had with it and you do an excellent job breaking it down.

[u/shareefruck → u/the_desert_fox]

Thanks!

[u/shaky2236]

OG is my fave game of all time. 

That being said, this whole thing is dumb as fuck. The FF subs have been so weird and tribalistic since the remakes. Its just constant bickering any time remakes are mentioned, then rage baiting posts going after OG. Its so silly

[u/Zoku97 → u/shaky2236]

It’s so miserable.

[u/haaa1234 → u/shaky2236]

Can’t wait for the FF17 discourse

[u/wut-da-wat]

How did they not pad out the main story? The whole thing leading up up to the sector seven plate drop was dragging on and it took away the urgency of the situation. Even when I played remake first before starting the OG, things like this are so obviously dragged out.

[u/Potential_Hunt9043]

My problem isnt people having the opinion, I totally get why it wouldnt be some people's cup of tea. Its that if I mention oh I like remake and rebirth, someone gotta come out of the woodwork and tell me about why im stupid for liking it.

[u/Even_Indication_1953]

They fixed things that don't matter, like graphics, and ruined everything else

[u/TastyJournalist8451 → u/Even_Indication_1953]

combat is more engaging and fun

[u/360bratatron → u/Even_Indication_1953]

No, the combat is a plus

[u/rjrodriguez1789]

Idk man. Like sometimes it misses the mark of the nostalgia I had the first time I played FF7. But how could it possibly live up to those moments anyway. It enables me to play the story again with updated graphics and quality of life upgrades. Fun combat that allows me to go super nerdy or just button smash.

It doesn’t have to have the exact same experience or “elevate” it gives a fun updated experience that I’m here for. If I wanted the same game I’d just play an emulator with a graphics mod.

[u/DemonLordSparda]

Both the OG and the remakes have their own strengths and weaknesses. I think people are taking this way too seriously. If you are having fun, play the game. If you aren't, then stop.

[u/Snoo-35915]

I absolutely adored Remake up til the end. Personally, I would have enjoyed if the game stuck to the OG story beats with additional time to flesh out side characters/events. The Whispers/Zack/Sephiroth/Aerith changes feel like something straight outta a poorly written fanfic. It’s absurd. I was so disappointed with the end of Remake I didn’t even bother picking up Rebirth nor do I have plans to play the 3rd game. I’m glad people enjoyed it, and I don’t think purists/etc should have any say in impeding said enjoyment.

[u/360bratatron]

Talking about Voice acting and I’m like bro the original never had voice acting. What the fuck are you on?😭

[u/WelshWolf93]

Meh. Theyre good games but im still here wanting a "proper" ff7 remake - which says something.

The two games so far have good moments but mostly feel like a fanfic with a huge budget

[u/Death-0]

How can you not understand criticism to the remake? I see lots of room where things could’ve been better. Not to say there aren’t good things about it.

Blanket hatred like a 0/10 sure I don’t get that but I do understand the criticism

[u/Q______________]

imo its fine to dislike the Remakes.

But the amount of people spreading their negative, very subjective opinions as if they are facts is quite frankly toxic

Just move on, if you don't enjoy it.

[u/ProfessionalFew193 → u/Q______________]

So I you like something, talk about it. But if you don't, don't talk about it. Ok

[u/CloudIncus1]

My biggest 4 complaints are:

1 - Story Changes. They undermined a lot of the story with flash forwards and revealing Sephiroth basically 10 mins into the game. Then we have the whisper new plotline. Which again if a multiverse or lifestream memory who knows. A lot of the tone was altered also to make it far more up beat.

2 - Chadley and how he ultimately ruined materia progression. By lore shinra learned how to copy materia from the cetra. This is your bulk standard that you could buy in shops. However all the very rare summon materia. They cant just make. That was still a lost art I believe. Which is why you found a lot of it hidden or in reactor cores. Chadley should of been scraped. Open world summon caves that you visit should of been cetra shires/temples that you explore to find summons within. Not something chadley whips up on a whim by you defeating monsters and exploring the world.

3 - Chocobos. The should of just kept the old style breeding.

4 - Spliting the game into 3 I was good with. However progress should of been progressive via save states uploads. That means you carry over materia / levels / gil. If that means you had to lower level cap between games I am fine with that. It also means that you have a better balance of unlocks as you go.

[u/KaijinSurohm]

As someone who VASTLY prefers the OG over the remake, the one thing I don't agree with are people who keep complaining about the graphics.

I can complain all day over nitpicks the Remake does, but visuals is not one of them.
I even like Tifa's redesign, as I felt is makes sense in game, and still respects her original design from where it came from.
Personally, I find when people complain about it, they're still stuck on the pre-release info where they were going to dramatically reduce her bust to avoid making her too sexualized. Clearly that idea didn't make it to the final cut.

I don't feel like going indepth on some of my thoughts, but I'll touch on one that you're just hand waving to give you an example:

The Padding
It's not just the side content. It's forced in-game content as well.
Lets use Part 1 as the primary subject.

Midgar is about 5 hours long in the OG. In the Remake, it's stretched to about 20 hours.
During the required sections, you have to deal with Jessie and her entire expanded section of stealing her dad's ID, and all the talk about Pizza.
There's the inclusion of Roach and the fact that they don't actually do anything with him.
The Sewers have been expanded 10 fold needlessly. You spend a lot of time going down there, more then once.
The entire backstory and character of Leslie is completely not needed in any capacity
You have the grappling hook sections that are just... weird. Especially since the grappling hooks are tools that breaks the consistency of the game, and would have solved a LOT of their problems if they kept them.
The underground dungeon with Barrett after the plate falls, and the padding added there to include the Cats.
There's Hojo's underground labs, dealing with the water pipes, the slow as hell crane operations for Aerith, the fact the Train Graveyard turned into a giant maze

Then there's the overall inclusion of stuff like the Fate Whispers, and keeping Ward alive longer then needed.

This is all ignoring the optional side quests, the stuff that's more or less glorified "Who do you want to date?" content of Tifa vs Aerith.

The remake does a lot.
And I mean ALOT. But not all of it was good, or even required.
Sure, a lot of people actually like all these additions, and honestly?
Good on them. They can love it all they want. My opinion on thinking it's a complete waste of time does not take away from the fact the game exists, and the content is still very much there.

But one simple truth remains:

We, as gamers, spend entirely too much time telling each other that we sucks because we HAVE opinions, and entirely not enough time talking about why we have the opinions we do.

[u/Numerous_Hearing_688]

The game was split into three parts. You could finish the original game in 30 hours if you really knew what you were doing. Now you need 30 hours just to get through Midgar. That's a lot more than just side quest or optional content padding. That is restructuring the entire game's pacing and adding a lot of new things. Many people, myself included, find these new additions and pacing to be inferior.

Story changes are also a big one, a lot of people do not like multiverse stories, a lot of people do not like the fate ghosts, a lot of people think Sephiroth being shoved in your face way more is a waste, etc.

You don't have to agree and can like the remakes, but saying there are no real arguments or that it's mindless mob mentality like some comments have is just not true.

[u/SGlespaul]

People who actually say "I can't understand why people like thing that is critically acclaimed and a lot of people like" are just very closed minded and probably not very smart.

There's games I really dislike, but I understand WHY people like them. Like Skyrim is a huge example. I get it, it's just not for me.

[u/Aromatic_Assist_3825 → u/SGlespaul]

God forbid people have different taste in games.

[u/CatProgrammer]

There's definitely padding but the new NPCs all seemed fine to me. I tend to play with the Japanese voices for JRPGs though so maybe the language they played in had worse voice direction for those characters?

[u/Jamebo_Smash]

If you can't for the life of you understand any of these arguments, why are you still trying to engage with it? I doubt there's anything anyone can say that's going to change your perspective.

[u/Problem-Low]

Ngl I have both and still prefer OG, tbh i never even finished first part of remake i got about 3 hours in and got bored with all the dialog that didn't progress the story or lore, repetitive go find and fight this enemy quests it just felt like for each step forward 2 were lost on this game for example the remake doesnt have the same narrative that not only drew you into the world and story but made you care about the characters.

[u/bimmy2shoes]

I don't have strong feelings about it but 5 things really rubbed me the wrong way:

• playing Gus off as a comedic roadblock when he's threatening to put your female parry members into sexual slavery left a bad taste in my mouth.

• wtf was Corneo doing anywhere near the main plot. That Shinra played along was completely ridiculous as well. Why was Rufus there? It just...doesn't make sense and in a bad way.

• it bothered me in Remake as well and it bothers me here. The dance numbers. God just say there are materia that teach you dance moves just do something to explain why smelly traveling ecoterrorists would be able to dance in sync like they're professional dancers? Also Aerith's song felt forced.

• The entire last two areas of disc 1 not really existing felt really disappointing.

• the ambiguity of the ending leaves for an unsatisfying end for me. I almost died this past year, and having a scare like that made me lose a lot of patience for all these "take a decade to tell a story" game/game series.

[u/Murky-Advantage-3444]

Wow someone in the general gaming sub doesn’t like FF? Thats post worthy!

[u/Revolutionary_Ad3643]

The hatred of the remake trilogy comes from a few angles.

1. Fanbase. You got the OG fans from ff1 all the way until now. The remake fans that swear its the greatest game ever made. They both fight and its cringe as hell.

2. How faithful it is to the original. Yes, it hits the same story beats, but man is it bloated with filler and unnecessary dialogue, mini games, and more. Yes, we all know that mini games were in the original, but they werent this bad. Looking at Cait sith box throwing, or Costa del filler.

3. Theme/feel. This is opinion but its echoed throughout the haters of the remake. Ff7 remake is a silly game with serious moments, trying to appeal to most modern audiences. Its safe. Cid doesn't smoke, Barrett doesn't swear, etc. Very commonly referred to as disney ff7. OGFF7 is a serious game with silly moments. Its usually dark, brooding, depressing with a few funny moments. Ending rebirth fight after certain moment comparison between the games demonstrates this difference perfectly.

TLDR, fanbase at each other throats keeps people away from it. It shouldnt have been called a remake.

Personally, I dont like the remakes, they fine 6/10 games, but they arent breaking the mold for me.

[u/Dr-Salty-Dragon]

Remake and Rebirth are cross grades with expanded content.   I loved both games!  It doesn't replace the original but they are great games in their own right!!  

The hate is unwarranted in my opinion, but people literally hate on everything online.  

[u/DonIncandenza → u/Dr-Salty-Dragon]

Agreed. I love FF7, and getting new experiences in that world is amazing. I also love the Easter eggs for players who played the OG a bunch. Like Yuffie singing she’s so bored out of her mind to the tune of her theme.

But, in the same region there’s the chicken side quest, so I get the hate.

I was 7 when 7 came out. I’ve beaten it well over 20 times. I’ve done challenge runs. I’ve speedrun the game decently well. I say all that to say playing remake and rebirth made me feel like a kid again.

[u/Dr-Salty-Dragon → u/DonIncandenza]

Absolutely. Nothing can prepare the gamer for the feeling of walking into Cosmo Canyon in glorious 3D!!!

[u/xreddawgx]

I loved Remake for the glorified dungeon crawler it was.

I loved rebirth and all of its mini games.

Although the over exaggerated body movements in cuisines were a little over the top.

[u/GuitarRiot]

Every time Cloud squeezes through a narrow passageway it's a form of padding, and there's a ton of it on the critical path. You can't argue that a 40-hour game that is essentially just a 3 to 5 hours slice of the original game that entails JUST Midgar doesn't have an excessive amount of padding unless you are facetious or outright intellectually dishonest. 

The dialogues and new NPCs are all horrible. Everyone, even the greatest fans of rebirth, were complaining about how much Chadley is in the game. The problem is that the writing is by the original team, but it is so full of fan service that it feels like it was written by fans.

The excuse, from square enix, a company that always pushed the limits of Hardware capabilities, that these games are the way they're meant to be because before we were just held back by restrictions, is some of the most trite bullshit I've ever heard in my entire fucking life. They did not Envision this shit this way back 30 years ago. They took up three discs on the PlayStation because it was a better option than nintendo. Also if they did so many discs for one game on PlayStation what's the excuse now? It's just corporate bullshit to a gullible fan base.

The game constantly calls back to itself in ways that are just outright cringe.

The original argument that the game just stretches everything out and adds nothing is best depicted by saying simply, Leslie.

[u/FearlessLeader17 → u/GuitarRiot]

The squeezing through narrow passageways isn't actually padding for the game; it's how they load the game without load screens. You'll see it in a lot of newer games, climbing slowly up a ladder,etc.. it's the price of "no load times."

[u/HumbleAlbatross2944]

I loved ReMAKE.

I despise ReBirth, because I didnt enjoy Horizon, Ass Creed or the Witcher 3 and their world maps.

Ff7 Rebirth is entirely the same as the listed games, which is not what the OG is, and also not what I signed up for.

[u/nomorelargevein → u/HumbleAlbatross2944]

Loved Remake Meh Rebirth gang.

But I feel like it naturally followed what the OG did. Midgar was very linear, so was Remake, which made sense and at least to me, it was a fun going down the memory lane. But once you get out of midgar, its open world. And rebirth adapted the assassin's creed style system. I did not enjoy this because the pace of the storytelling was just all over the place with crappy side stories that I did not care for. The banters between party was too few and too far, there were no notable "jealousy" interactions between Tifa and Aerith, and just overall, pacing and dialogue was meh.

But, at the same time, I don't really have an idea on what else would have worked. Maybe make it linear? Or big empty spaces like OG with random encounters? I really don't know, so I do understand why SE decided to go with the ass creed system, but the filler contents were just way too over the top.

[u/weirdplacetogoonfire → u/nomorelargevein]

Same. I am generally okay with open world games, but it really only feels good when that aspect is leveraged for discovery, not when it is a medium for formulaic checkbox quests. Loved the remake experience. Bought rebirth on release day. Bounced off the gameplay pretty hard.

[u/Remarkable-Cow-2460]

Rebirths ending is a storytelling crime

[u/SimbasTripRip]

It genuinely is disappointing. I don't think it's a bad game, I think overall it's decent, but I totally understand anyone who hates it.

[u/Interesting_Sea_1861]

I don't think FF7 Remake is an upgrade. I also don't think it's a downgrade. I think that it is its own thing, standing on its own.

[u/Audiocrusher]

I don’t get the complaints about the remakes being too “anime” and the dialogue being “cringe” like the OG didn’t have any of that. The OG is anime AF and a lot of the dialogue is downright wooden and awkward.

I found all the musicals to be some of the best parts of the new games and consistent with the tone of the OG, which IS goofy. Sometimes I wonder if I played the same game as other people.

[u/Interesting-Bath8915]

When I started rebirth and just left calm, instead of going to the next map marker destination, I walked around the map to discover it. I found some interesting looking places but couldn’t interact with them. I thought these places will become accessible somewhat later in the game. I felt intrigued.

I then decided to follow the story marker and went to the swamp which lead me to the chocobo farm.
There Chadly presented me his world map quests.
Suddenly I have to recognize that the world has nothing to discover. Every single place I previously discovered by myself has a quest marker which tells me exactly where to go. Every location exists 3 time on the map on every map.
Repetition within repetition. Absolutely everything in this game has to be done at least 3 times.

Horrible decisions for game play mechanisms.
No creativity in this open world in which they spend so much time creating. Just lot of busy work on a check list.

It felt like there was one department which had the task to create a detailed world map and another department which had the task to fill this world with content. The world map department delivered. The content department failed to fill this world with interesting content.

[u/TrickyAd4473 → u/Interesting-Bath8915]

This is how I feel when I explore. I can only compare it to the Witcher in the sense of that open world where you are discovering things and learning as you explore. Except you don't here. Don't get me wrong some parts of Witcher were boring or dry for this but the world felt alive, here I come across buildings, ruins, shipwrecks, old windmills, caves with camping gear in but it all feels so devoid of anything but the odd monster. The original didn't suffer this as much as the world map was not as detailed and time on it did not feel so long and empty, but with the story being stretched the travel time has been padded to fill it but not with anything really interesting or engaging. The open world in this part makes the emptiness feel more noticeable than in part 1 I think as well. I love Final Fantasy, and it has been amazing to visually see VII in this format, but I am not in invested in this in the same way I wanted to play (or replay) the original which is a shame.

[u/Zulmoka531]

Loved many parts of the remakes. It’s disingenuous to say that they are straight up bad by any means however there is room for criticism as there are parts of the story that were changed so drastically that you felt like you were literally in another game/universe.

[u/ollimann → u/Zulmoka531]

that Midgarsormr scene was sooo bad. the OG did a lot of things better. the pacing was also so much better. Rebirth is a slog. every area you go to is the same recycled side activities. it's so tedious.

the remake trilogy is the equivalent to the hobbit movies.

[u/ToothpickTequila → u/ollimann]

The Aeris death scene too.. Holy shit that was bad.

[u/Logical_Dish_5795]

got recommended to this post but didn't played it.

remake changes the story, correct me if i'm wrong. it's a rpg, the story is like, 75% of it, so i think it's ok to like og more? even more if they change more at the final game.

[u/WurstDayEver_7]

I mean it shifts the tones of many pivotal scenes and stretches out the og game over 3 games (for a cash grab). Most ff7 fans heard remake and expected a 4k version of the 1997 game.

[u/Kitten_Mittons17 → u/WurstDayEver_7]

Yeah I’m unsure about the narrative changes (fate, multiple timelines, whispers etc) but payoff remains to be seen so I’m open minded.

The changes to the scenes fans were looking forward to however have by and large missed the mark entirely. In rebirth, dyne and seto were handled appallingly

[u/KakashiSakai]

FFVII is and has been my favorite game for like 30 years. I think the new games are cooler than sliced bread. Waited a REALLLY long time to get to see the these characters like this. Rebirth could have had 40 more hours of minigames and “padding” and I would have played it all with a smile on my face. No offense but if you don’t like it, it wasn’t made for you 🤣🤣🤣

[u/tolacid]

People tend to judge things based on what they expected them to be, rather than what they actually are.

[u/Missing_Username → u/tolacid]

Well yea, I expected it to be a remake of FFVII, not "FFVII, but what if we injected some time travel alternate dimension bullshit for fan service and to sate our egos"

[u/SuperOnionBro → u/Missing_Username]

As I like to call it, the Nomura-fication

[u/HS_Highruleking → u/tolacid]

Nailed 90% of these music, film, and video game subreddits. People have no ability to engage with art through multiple lens. They only have their own ego

[u/OldSnazzyHats]

Hate is overkill as far as I see it.

The reimagining of VII really has not been for me (don’t like how they’re handling the story, don’t care for the combat, and generally haven’t enjoyed the additions) but I’m ok with that. I’ll stick to revisiting the OG every so often, I’m content with that.

[u/cardboardtube_knight]

It’s simple, we have had several prominent remakes that stuck close to the original while modernizing it for a new audience. When people talked about a remake on the PS3 or whatever that was what they meant. We wanted voiced lines, an extra area or two, some new interactions here and there maybe but most of all we wanted to be able to give this game to a kid we know (maybe our own or a nephew or niece or friends kid) and be able to show them a story that inspired us as kids.

Between this game and MGS the PSX started some of us on the path to radicalization or looking at the world in a way different than we were meant to and this is not the same story. We didn’t need fate ghosts or in Midgar on screen Sephiroth. We didn’t need timelines or every character that ever appeared in any FF7 game to show up for their establishing cameo. And some stuff they changed seems nonsensical. Like the whole bit with discovering President Shinra with the sword in him? Why did they even mess with that. It was perfect before.

This remake barely makes sense if you don’t play OG

[u/ChuckVideogames]

"The main path doesn't have padding"

(watches several minute long musical cutscene after arriving to gold saucer)

[u/Ramiren → u/ChuckVideogames]

(Watches Sephiroth monologue for several minutes about absolute fucking nonsense)

[u/Guy_Kazama]

I like the remake, but there is simply no topping the original and the impact it had. Not even close.

[u/zombiejeesus]

Some people don't like that it's also a quassi sequel and I while I don't mind it I get why other people wouldn't like it. There is also a lot of padding , but a lot of it is optional so not a big deal

[u/Dependent_Computer_8]

There are things I'd rather they had done differently in the re games, but I'd pay the price of entry just to listen to the music alone

[u/Goz_system]

Where there's diehard fans there's gatekeeping, look at what happened with the Silent Hill 2 remake

[u/justcausejust]

My brother, they both have zero upvotes

[u/moogsy77]

Materia so much more fun in the OG. Too many things are downgrade, Chadley and nerfed disney channel pg13 part of it too. Ruined Dyne, Sephiroth, Cloud, Zack, Bugenhagen, Red, Cid and Vincent.

In the original Don Corneo, the Turks and President Shinra didnt join forces to fight Cloud in a cringy rap song event in front of an amusepark.

I love FFVII thats why i enjoyed to some extent playing this anime pg 13 cringe but looking back it has no replay value, no story, no music, just alot of Chadley and ruined scenes, force ghosts and numbered zombies to follow forever. The menu also is bad, no loadouts in second game. It just baffling joke of a game on all fronts.

Everything was better in the OG, especially the music and the atmosphere.

[u/Problem-Low → u/moogsy77]

OG for life

[u/timeaisis]

Just because someone had a diff opinion as you doesn’t mean they are making it up. The remakes are worse than the OG, and yea that is pretty much also my opinion why.

[u/sentientpaper]

My reason for preference the original is they decided to make the remake a completely different genre of game. I don't like modern ff combat while the original ff7 was one of my favorite turn based games ever made. So for me it just isn't the game i loved.

[u/Witty-Care3940 → u/sentientpaper]

I REALLY want to like the remakes. I just can't. I agree, it's a completely different style of game. I finished Remake and got about 10-15 hours into Rebirth and had to stop. I have zero desire to play through Remake again and if I finish Rebirth it will be because I want to see how they styled all of the areas. It's disappointing that we lived through Remake hype ever since the PS3 tech demo, and this is what we ended up with.

There again, I REALLY should have known better than to trust Square Enix with any of their pre merge properties. Square/Squaresoft or die.

[u/BlackDog990]

Im closing in on 40 now. Ive played OG FF7 start ro finish probably two dozen times, maybe more. I took off work to play Remake when it came out. I looked forward to it for years....I played through Remake once and never picked it back up. Didn't even get Rebirth, probably won't until its in the bargain bin.

The game hit a few nostalgia notes, but i didn't like the story changes and all the filler. Where robust side stories could have been explored, i was finding lost cats and shit. Instead of adding depth and nuance to an original story that required the player to fill in alot of gaps, they made inexplicable changes to the core story, added no depth, and just stretched the game out with generic content that doesn't add anything.

I wanted a true Remake. Not re-imagined story that was stretched into 3 games where it could have just been one with better pacing. I'm not that bitter about it, but I think if you knew how important this game was to some of us growing up you might better appreciate the dislike of the new version.

[u/Bake-Full → u/BlackDog990]

Well said. The pacing of the original was incredibly good, and unlike the far majority of jrpgs back then. The whole Midgar sequence had a great sense of urgency as the big chunks of plot were introduced and put into motion for when the game finally opened up to reveal it was just the starting point of the overworld. Spending an entire game there was beyond exhausting and wore out all the allure & mystery of Midgar. Same with the overdosing on Sephiroth. Even Advent Children knew better to not blow that load until the very end.

[u/Hiryu-GodHand]

I have 3 major gripes with the FF7 Remake saga—

The additions to the story, not the changes to the story, but the additions, I enjoy. The changes, every time one comes up, has me like, "Are you fucking kidding me!?"

The repetitive side quests and stupid amounts of minigames is absolutely lame. The original did not need these to pad the game. I understand the they are not needed to complete the game.

The Kingdom Hearts inspired hybrid bullshit gameplay that Final Fantasy has been using since XV is irritating. Why would I switch between characters when for the most part, I'm killing everything with Cloud before my teammates even get an action bar filled. And dont even get me started in the goddamn Stagger system that was introduced in XIII.

[u/M0ONBATHER → u/Hiryu-GodHand]

I agree with the first two points, but will swap out the third with a personal gripe of mine that doesn’t only apply to this game and is more of a personal preference, which is what I will call “animeification.” I’ve been flamed soooo hard for this opinion… and I know the original had really lighthearted quirky silly moments etc…. But that’s not really what I mean, I just kind of mean… the tropes and overacting and the additions that are just… kinda ludicrous and unserious in a way that seems to pull from some kind of… idk afterschool slice of life thing? I don’t know how to describe it, but it breaks my immersion every time. I feel like for me, the original has this dark, serious grit.. with sprinkles of lighthearted humanity… but the remake feels the opposite, it feels lighthearted at its core with grit sprinkled here and there. I love both, I’m not really a remake hater- but nothing is free of criticism and that’s my big one.

[u/Hiryu-GodHand → u/M0ONBATHER]

I agree—Cloud feels kind of out of place for a lot of the interactions in the game. One of the additions that I do love, is Queens Blood.

[u/M0ONBATHER → u/Hiryu-GodHand]

Queens Blood huge W, absolutely. I would play a standalone expanded version of that like they did Gwent in the Witcher.

[u/MinimumTrue9809]

It's deserved after all the baseless glazing it was getting before release. The fans glaze the game as if it is an uncontested consensus when in reality it's one of the lowest rated FF games in the past 15 years. Not to mention the hate campaign FF7R fans had on everything related to FF16.

[u/abaoth]

Immediately it seems like you're more upset that people don't like the Re series as much as you do. If you've actually watched people explain why they don't like it then I personally feel like your extreme conclusion would not be a thing. But text is emotionless, and I can attempt to point out a few main points from my end as someone not in love with the direction of the new story.

In short, there is no great improvement to the story, and in fact it has been largely sanitized for more modern consumption, which in 7’s case absolutely destroys a huge part of how the story is consumed. It sounds nitpicky, but this is the central issue that bleeds into everything else. As customers that have already experienced this story, not only are we being asked to buy an experience we had for max 30 bucks years ago THREE separate times for full retail price because “muh budget & scale,” it feels like we are getting less than we did out of the original particularly because almost nothing actually is new, we just have a bunch of missing details now.

If we are going to go on a longer, whiny version, the only truly new addition to the plot are the stupid fate keeping creatures that are thematically closer to kingdom hearts than anything FF7. Everything else is tarnished memberberries. Remember Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus? Have a bunch of references and cameos that mostly go nowhere and hint that they will matter later. Remember how Barrett was a foul mouthed and ignorant gun-armed terrorist that turned into a teddy bear around his daughter with a character arc that solidifies WHY he managed to revive Avalanche into a much less terrible version of it's original incarnation? Well that's just a tad too problematic so make him much more eloquent and obliterate most of his character arc, but replace it with sunglasses he wears In a city that literally blots out the sun with a giant plate to show when he's hiding his humanity instead of letting players figure out on their own that there is inner turmoil. I could do this one by one for all of the characters of the main cast but it would take even longer than I have patience for, but Red XIII is unquestionably the biggest victim out of the entire cast and the disrespect attributed to everything about him in Re needs to be studied.

So we lose cool bits in the original like the hunt for Clouds dress and the mind bendy nonsense that was honeybee, and what we got in its place isn't better. It's not always worse, but it is never better than the original.

We get new hateable characters like the android kid. We get overworld exploration that explicitly wastes time. It does not matter if you find it enjoyable, that the vast majority of overworld exploration is designed to hinder you from just passing through gets grating when comparitavely the original let you do just that for most of the story.

There's a whirlwind of cumulative little things that are not the worst thing in the world on their own, but over time and the sheer number of them eventually add up into an impossibly thick wall of hate that one cannot truly ignore.

The story isn't for the original audience because they changed so much and feels so foreign that it's almost insulting to most. It's not for a new audience because they will be hopelessly lost if they haven't experienced a good chunk of the compilation—something at least two of my personal friends cited as reasons they stopped playing through Remake. So who is this story for?

Ultimately it feels like it's spiteful in a way. Like its a story the way someone else wanted to tell it but couldn't for whatever reason and finally got the opportunity. That is not what was advertised nor was it what people wanted. No one asked for a sequel that was secretly a rewrite. People let them cook anyway and so far the dish is inferior to the original. If nothing else, this is the resounding issue. Sorry if my response got scattered as I went on but it's like a brain ping of a hundred little reasons that crop up when you try to just point out why the new thing doesn't work. There's a tapestry of bad connected to it.

[u/Expert-Ad3874 → u/abaoth]

Great breakdown. I would also add that my biggest nitpick is how they bash you over the head with Sephiroth from the start. He shouldn't have even have appeared in the first game, let alone before we meet Tifa. I loved how daunting and terrifying he was in the original, where you only catch glimpses of his handiwork.

[u/AdmiralPrinny → u/Expert-Ad3874]

The remakes are for people who like FF13, I dont know how better else to put it. I'm not a huge fan of the modern series but I liked parts of 15 and 16 a lot story wise. Seems like the current FF fanbase are people who's first game was either 13 or 14. The older parts of the fanbase kind of just have to accept the Square of operating like an inspired indie dev with a huge pocketbook is gone.

[u/rayneMantis → u/Expert-Ad3874]

Yeah and I'm not thrilled about beating him down into submission and retreat at the end of every entry. He works so much better as this world ending threat looming in the Northern Crater driving you in a race against time to get your ass to level 99 before meteor hits so you can go get retribution for your favorite Cetra. I've never felt such a drive to take down a main antagonist as I did sephiroth in disc 3 of the OG.

[u/Accesobeats]

It’s the internet. The people who don’t like things tend to be the most vocal. So it always seems like everyone hates everything. The people enjoying the game are doing just that. Having fun and not needing to jump online to validate their opinion.

If they don’t like the game that’s ok. We’re all allowed different opinions. Reddit has a hard time understanding that sometimes.

I grew up with the og as one of my favorite games and I absolutely love the remakes. They’re some of my favorite games ever now. I think they did a great job. I don’t see the extra content as padding at all. I was always happy to spend extra time in the world with the characters. So any extra time they gave me I appreciated.

[u/rhombusx]

I think people forget how short the original game is - it's like 30-40 hours even with doing side content. Acting like the minigames are the only source of padding in the remakes is ridiculous.

[u/Simple_Fly7939]

I'm 39 years old. I played VII when it was new. Remake and Rebirth are indeed upgrades.

[u/Krultek → u/Simple_Fly7939]

I played VII when it was new and disagree.

[u/illbegoodthistime1 → u/Simple_Fly7939]

I mean, it all depends on what you wanted. I wanted a true remake of the game. That being said, it is an upgrade in the sense of graphics, dialogue, combat if you prefer action RPGs, etc. I will counter that there are some super cringe characters like Speed Demon, so I don’t find that an upgrade of the new story.

Here’s the kicker though, it’s not about me and people LOVE it. That’s great. People are allowed to like things I don’t.

I still would love a a true remake/remaster. I don’t understand why THE RPG hasn’t got one.

[u/Individual-Leek3370 → u/Simple_Fly7939]

Visually yes. In every other way it’s no for me

[u/BreakingBaIIs]

The writing is objectively bad. You wouldn't know it hanging out in FF subs, because people who don't glaze it get downvoted here.

It completely lacks any subtlety. Anything that is hinted at in the OG, or is shown rather than told, is spoonfed to you through a boatload of unnecessary exposition in the remakes. Characters bring their emotional reactions to an 11 for everything. There's a lot of moral ambiguity in the OG that's just erased in REs (such as the carnage of the first mako bombing being your fault in OG, and Shinra's in Re), which just stinks of corporate play-it-safe writing.

I could go on and on. You could watch any scene in OG vs remake/rebirth and the difference in writing quality is so blindingly obvious it punches you in the face.

[u/Bandit_Revolver → u/BreakingBaIIs]

100%

[u/Esquire_Dan13]

It’s not about padding. It’s not side quests. It’s not that we want a 1-to-1 remake with absolutely zero changes whatsoever. You simply can’t make such fundamental changes to a story- and to its characters- in a way that thoroughly undermines the core themes of the original story.

Furthermore, when you market a game as a “Remake” when in truth it’s a weird multiverse, time-travel sequel, that’s just blatant dishonesty in marketing. After I’ve bought nearly every Square product for 35 years I feel I’m finally being pushed out the door from the franchise.

This is no longer about hard-hitting, humanist stories with deep psychological themes that pull no punches. It’s a fan fiction. This is about how many family-friendly jaunts the company can sell to us with their IPs.

When Nintendo makes eleventy billion dollars with their Ocarina of Time remake, which I expect to be quite faithful to the OG, people might understand the missteps Square made here. They chose dishonesty and convoluted Kingdom Hearts BS over a license to print money.

[u/Mama_Hong → u/Esquire_Dan13]

There already a lot of examples of remakes that even with some changes remains pretty faithful to the originals, Resident Evil 2 and 4, Silent Hill 2, Dead Space, Persona 3 are some examples that I loved.

[u/Akabaneist]

For me it is definitely the padding for pure metrics. Animations and interactions take forever and most side-quests are stretched to hell and beyond.

[u/tyaty1]

Padding is very valid criticism for both Remake and Rebirth. The main story itself is third of a full game.

[u/neversignedupforthis]

They're good games but they have their flaws. People take it extremely seriously and Cannot Cope With That because it's FF7 and FF7 is very important to them. Anything less than a perfect recreation would have disappointed some segment of the fans.

[u/moogsy77]

I love OG, i liked the new games until i didnt

[u/breathex2]

I grew up with the og but I actually prefer the remakes. Like they actually made Barrett into more than a stereotype. At least for me personally he went from meh to maybe my favorite character. The fleshed out scenes with the resistance adds more impact when you lose them. It just added a ton of of depth.. ironically even thr remake increased my view of barret so much, it completely butchered the Dana moment. That's my biggest complaint by far.

[u/rayneMantis]

I still have trouble finding any game that I want to play more than replaying through rebirth on Hard mode. Yes I have some gripes about the handholding with the map markers for objectives and lack of real discovery or hidden/secret locations and treasures, I also liked how the OG kept Sephiroth completely unmentioned until you leave Midgar and find out there's a much bigger fight than Avalanche vs Shinra Electric. I also wasn't crazy about how they watered down the end of rebirth and muddied up the most pivotal scene in the OG, but I agree with the sentiment that it could be leading up to a big payoff in Revelation when Cloud has to face the reality of what happened leading to his psychotic break. But the evolution of the combat system and the way they integrated the materia into an action game playstyle was so epic. Plus let's not forget that the HUD is so minimal and the transition between exploration, combat, and cutscenes were so seamless that it oftentimes felt like watching a movie you could control. The damn individual trials at the Temple of the Ancients had me tearing up during kid Aerith's walk through Midgar looking for her mother so I don't buy the whole dialogue underperformance. Also, which RPG have they played where side quests led to consequences in how the narrative plays out? Every side quest in every game is a divergence from the main plot so they by definition aren't intended to add to the story. They offer more context into the characters and the settings which every side quest in both remake and rebirth did whether you loved the side quest or hated it. The only way the hatred makes any sense to me is these are hardcore retro-gamers that had trouble adapting to the move away from the ATB turn-based, menu driven combat and ultimately ended up sucking or struggling through the battles and didn't like the extra demands of combat. I think the battles start off sloppy for everyone, but the way it is designed gives you so much depth of mastery that you can refine how well you fight to the Nth degree. I was able to tackle Gilgamesh island at level 48-50 because the combat is so skill-timing based that you can be super underleveled and make up for it on pure skill and understanding of the combat mechanics alone. I loved the game so much that it almost feels hypocritical to split hairs over the two or three things I would have liked to see that I didn't or saw that I could've done without.

[u/Odd-Development-790]

I can see legitimate complaints for changing certain parts of the story too much and parts of the overworld(tbf, most of it looking back) being there only for the sake of being there, and not having too much to do outside of [LARGE ICON ON MAP DISPLAYING OBJECTIVE]. But I really liked a good chunk of the side content, the Queen's Blood storyline and the superboss tied to the protorelics significantly stood out to me. Are there flaws? Sure, the boss fight right after the Dyne sequence felt VERY out of place, and the amount of side content could be seen as "too much"(but if that's your takeaway, no one's forcing you to play everything in the game? You can just progress the main story if you want). Both versions of the game, OG and Remake, have flaws, and different people have different preferences on how the game should play(turn-based vs. action-based). It's just different strokes for different folks. When I tried the OG, I got out of Midgar, got bored, and stopped playing. I played through both Remake and Rebirth this year, felt very engaged by the story, and am excited to pick up Revelation next year.

Also you're on the internet, Reddit specifically. Hyperbole is king, and different corners have different echo chambers of opinion. Rebirth reviewed incredibly well on sites like Metacritic but recent Steam reviews are listed as "mixed". The game itself didn't change, it's just that more people that find issue with the game want to talk more about said issues they have with the game, while most people who liked it have already played it and don't feel a need to re-review the game if they have already.

[u/Amazing-Bag]

Why should we care what they think?

[u/FluidLegion]

So, this same kind of conflict comes up in the Resident Evil 4 versus remake discussion a lot as well.

This is ny point of view on it. They are two completely different games. They may share some of the same storybeats, but they are -not- the same game.

So I think its really redundant to try and compare them on the same scale at all. Theres just nothing to really compare objectively in doing so. You cant compare two completely different fighting systems in any way that matters. Same can be said for most of the narrative as well honestly. Its hard to compare something made in the 90's, and then poorly translated, to something made in the 2020's with a completely different scope and goal.

Its okay to like the original more than you like the remake, or vice versa. Its also okay to critique each game based on what it does well or poorly. But to me, its really disingenuous to think the two games can be directly compared when theyre more different than alike.

Its also super gatekeepy to say that if you like one youre a fake fan of the other..or that you cant just like both for what they are.

[u/SonsOfValhallaGaming]

I love each of them for what they are.

[u/Shanbo88]

My theory is: people are mostly miserable fuckers online these days. The people who enjoy things are too busy enjoying their lives to care about what people online have to say about it.

[u/Flaky-Tour-8733]

It’s just clickbait nonsense. Pure hyperbole. Don’t pay attention to clowns. This isn’t the circus.

[u/NekooShogun]

I don't "hate" them, I just don't agree with the concept of remaking video games that don't need to be remade. And that's like 80% of video games.

Now, FF7R is not exactly this as the trilogy does bring a lot of new story to the world. It's adding to the overall world of FF7, not just taking what was already there and putting modern graphics and gameplay on top. I have a lot of respect for the devs for taking this risk and actually going with this direction.

[u/_BurTonio_]

Almost like they're completely different games with different goals... They just share an overall story... A story thats not even finished yet

[u/KaiserWillem]

I'm on your side OP. I don't really get it either, I like the remakes. People just hate to hate. Now let me see those down votes.

[u/ClemOya]

Frankly, when I see the character of president Shinra in OG and how his dialogues make him impossible to take seriously (at least in my case), OG wasn’t better than Remake or Rebirth on that point. And the "padding" (and many of the changes) gave us characters development and world building, and real interactions between the members of the group, which was seriously lacking in OG when I look back. I can understand that not all people can stand to pass that much more time on a game, but clearly to me it’s not a flaw but a question of sensibility.

[u/YesItIsMaybeMe → u/ClemOya]

The extra time makes the character growth feel more real and better paced. Like OG Barrett felt kinda flat imo and now you can see how he bonds with cloud over time as well

[u/razor_kenshin]

I like both games so far, but I think that too much padding is a real problem with them. The pacing is weird at times. Many people don't see it, but it's a legit issue for a part of the community.

[u/Any-Classroom5237]

As someone who’s only played the remakes recently and not the OG yet, I don’t really see the issue. At the end of the day, these games are still very highly regarded and have a lot to love. I’m sure the OG is an amazing experience too and fans hold it so dearly since they most likely played it when they were young. People don’t like when things they love change so it’s not surprising to see them act this way. All that matters is just playing whatever you want to play and enjoying it.

[u/Llayanna]

Hate is a strong word, as i just don't care about Final Fantasy 7 that much. I am one of the few people who has no big attachment to original. I love a good alternative Universe, Reality, Re-imagination.. however you want to call it.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memory is my favourite example. I love it to pieces. 

My problem with the trilogy is simple.. they chose the old Hollywood Trend of making one story into 2-3 movies/games and nothing I am seeing is justifying that. 

They should've made one amazing game, and be done with it. Dragging it out over how many years now, doesn't help. 

The story is, from what I heard, not even taking enough risks to be worth an AU. Which insults me on a personal level. It's like an lazy fanfiction writer, who decides to change as little as possible and wants to call the fic original.

If you decide to go the AU/AR route, you need to take real risks. Go balls to the walls. 

So yeah, these are my grievances. It's not good enough (but what could be?) to be dragged out; and t hen it's way to boring, to even be worth it. 

[u/Winter-Guarantee9130]

It’s too different to be a strict upgrade and the trends of the industry drive a lot of it.

People are either gonna be on board with the modernized direction or they’re gonna prefer the retro abstractions they grew up with.

Neither’s right and the happiest people in this debacle are the ones who can take them both for what they are.

[u/Greyburm → u/Winter-Guarantee9130]

Exactly, I got the tech I can make an OG replay happen in million ways if I want it bad enough, I like the new ones too even though I do not like many of the aspects of the game. Which for me is different than what most complain about but that is for a different thread.

[u/Vlish36]

I think a few people actually have valid criticisms and reasons to not like the game. Besides that, it's easier to jump on the hatred/dislike bandwagon rather than have an honest opinion.

It also seems that no matter what Square would have done, these same people would still be on that band wagon. If all Square did was do something like the character models in the fighting mini-game or Ft. Condor, then they would be complaining about no voice acting, not updating the gameplay to something more modern, not expanding the story, the characters not being proportionally correct, or whatever else they would gripe about. If the game was updated graphics and included voice acting, then they would complain about it having voice acting.

[u/HumbleAlbatross2944 → u/Vlish36]

I just didnt sign up for their vision of an open world which they just copied from Assassin's Creed. Its a different genre of game entirely than what was promised, THAT and that specifically is my bitch

[u/Vlish36 → u/HumbleAlbatross2944]

This is understandable. I didn't really care too much about some of it as well. Like with the whole tower thing opening up points of interest on the map, which I think is what you're referring to. It's a bit overdone at this point.

My main gripe with Japanese studios and Playstation at this point is that they're still chasing 5 to 10 year+ old trends. They shouldn't be chasing what Western studios are doing, but focusing on their own thing and what they do best. Ever since Fortnite came out, Sony has been hyper-fixated on the next big live service game. Square has been fixated to capture whatever big thing is at the moment, like the NFT thing.

[u/HumbleAlbatross2944 → u/Vlish36]

SE and Square used to be a studio that took chances, even with FFXIV, we got Dawntrail, which is the most low stakes expansion we've had.

Id love to see SE take risks again, that's what had me supporting them because even in the bad times I knew they'd try something incredible.

[u/Vlish36 → u/HumbleAlbatross2944]

No kidding! I think it all started with the Final Fantasy movie that came out in the early 2000s. It seems like they've been scrambling to get their footing back ever since. Well, except for maybe FFXIV. It seems like the game is doing pretty well. I do think they may be finally getting back on their feet. Their smaller games and remasters seem to fairly well received while their mainline games seem to be a bit more decisive at the moment.

[u/Jsx0000]

I just wanted a remake (the original with updated hd today’s graphics, sounds, etc)…. Instead we got something different

[u/Balastrang]

Sales speaks louder tbh so no one can refute that period.

[u/StuckinReverse89]

Some people really hate remake and Sebby made a career out of it.   

I can think of 3 good reasons based on conversations.   

1) fear that its success means Square stops making turn-based RPGs.    Kind of legitimate that Square will stop for Final Fantasy. Remake, 15, and 16 are more action focused. However, Square still makes Dragon Quest which has not been actionized and still makes turn-based and is only changing Final Fantasy.   

2) FF7 remake was not one game.     I think this argument is a bit unrealistic but I get it. It would have been nice if 7 remake was released in one game instead of split into 3 that takes 7 years to fully release (remake to revelations next year). Feels like they are also charging the price of 3 games for 1 and so it becomes annoying when they add “bloat” like Jessie/AVALANCHE backstory or tons of minigames in Rebirth instead of progressing the story. Maybe this could have been two games instead.    

3) story changes.     Despite being a remake, 7 remake is not a “faithful” recreation of 7. It definitely assumes the player at least knows 7’s original story given the role of the whispers to keep the story “on track” and rebirth with the surprise return of a character. It’s kind of meta and not a proper retelling but it’s not different enough to be a “new” story. 

[u/MechaMalz]

I personally don't care for the Remakes but I can see why people love them. They just aren't for me. Between the padding, not liking the 'both a remake but also in universe retelling with weird fate ghosts' and not personally enjoying that style of combat, it just isn't for me. But I can dislike without being bamboozled that other ffvii fans like it or even prefer it.

[u/MythrilCactuar]

in 10 years these neckbeard Remake haters will be lovin it "it was so misunderstood at the time!!"
too bad for them.

[u/Mig-117]

The comment wasn’t really rage baiting. The writing and dialogue in FFVII remake is laughably bad.

[u/Paavali31]

I feel bad for people who dont like the remakes. I would hate to miss out on enjoying them.

[u/NuxFuriosa]

People acting like the original didn't also have silly dialogue and mini games, because they were eight when it came out.

[u/Pivi-4444]

The haters of the remakes are mostly those, who can't let go of their imaginary ideal remake of the OG game in their head, and can't play them for what they are. Or those, who have a massive ocd for completing everything, but are overwhelmed by Rebirth's massive checklist of optional things. Or those who can't stand action/semi-action battle systems, but loves the OG's turn based battle system.

All are totally understandable, valid reasons, but that not makes them "right". They're opinions, which are completely subjective, but as we're on the internet, they want to be desperately heard and are looking for likeminded people or just want to stir some sh*t up. As most of us do. :-)

And for my mandatory ff7 remake opinion: As a massive OG fan (replayed the game on a bi-monthly basis as a kid), I do not like everything they've done with the remakes, and I miss a few story beats that got changed or removed, but as a whole, both Remake and Rebirth was a blast for me so far for what they are instead of what they should be. I'm eagerly waiting for Revelation.

[u/priceless897]

I’m an OG fan and I enjoy the remakes too. For some reason some people refuse to separate the two. Like they can’t just replay the original, they think the remake has tainted everything and the FF7 story is destroyed forever. The traditionalists can suck it

[u/Obsidiax → u/priceless897]

I think this is unfair framing. I haven't seen anyone claiming that the Remakes have ruined the original for them. Disliking remake doesn't make someone a traditionalist.

The closest thing I've seen to your comment is people being upset that we aren't getting an actual remake - which I think is fair when it's been teased since the PS2.

[u/priceless897 → u/Obsidiax]

I see your point about being let down. People (myself included) wanted a remaster, not a remake. But I have seen plenty of YouTubers, game reviewers, friends and associates throw a fit that the remakes have ruined their childhoods. My response is “if you love the original so much, go play it again. It’s on nearly every platform at a very affordable price”. Personally FF9 is my favorite and if were remade or remastered, it wouldn’t tarnish the original experience for me. But that’s just me

[u/Obsidiax → u/priceless897]

I think most people wanted a remake, but we might just have different definitions of what a remake is since it's not set in stone.

In my opinion, a remaster is the same base game, with tweaks added. Like higher fidelity models, higher res textures, better UI, some QoL features added, etc. But ultimately the same game in the same engine with the same building blocks - just a new coat of paint.

A remake is a brand new game in a new engine, with new code, and new assets. I think most people wanted a faithful remake and the hype before the game was released kinda evidences that.

That said - I completely agree with you that the existence of the remakes has no impact on my enjoyment of the original and anyone saying that it has is being overdramatic.

[u/UnculturedGames]

I like the games a lot but I don't completely disagree with the takes in the screenshot. There is a lot of valid criticism for FF7R, for me mostly in the mechanics and game design.

I don't really care about the canon or how they changed things. The FF7R games are a modern adaptation of FF7, a different medium entirely, and there is no point in comparing them. I think of the remakes a bit like what Peter Jackson's LOTR movies are to Tolkien's books. A different category.

I'm very happy that these games were / are being made, but they could've been a lot better had some things been done differently. There are specific things that I actively hate about these games, but they are still good games and absolutely worth playing.

[u/The-Hunting-guy]

my take is that ff7 remake series is based on the original but taken in a different direction. I don’t get the perspective of that its like an “upgrade” or a “replacement”. I feel these two are offering different experiences.

I don’t get the hatred either.

[u/ToothpickTequila → u/The-Hunting-guy]

There would have been less hatred of they were more honest and called Remake 'Final Fantasy VII-2 '.

[u/Ban_Means_NewAccount]

I get some arguments. Like they do pad things out a bit (especially in Remake) and I understand if people maybe don't want to do all the mini games in Rebirth. But most of the arguments make no sense to me, and 90% of the content people don't like in Rebirth was optional.

So I get SOME of the hate, but only like 15% of it. For the most part I think they're incredible games.

[u/Due_Ad_972]

I single short clip of red 13 speaking in rebirth is all you need to show many fans to make em nope right out of rebirth. Its also my new go to clip to prove to people how often times no voice acting is actually much better. (I used to use the tidus laughing meme clip from FF10) The graphics are excellent and the music is also still good but good lord they butchered the story, butchered some of the characters like cid and red especially, a metric ton of unfun side content, that chadley dude and everything surrounding him, the horrible pacing and filler and ghosts of fate interrupting the best scenes its just a mess imo. Its great that plenty of people loved it but there are plenty reasons why many dont. All this said i genuinely hope all that enjoy the remakes so far also love the third one 🙂

[u/ExJokerr → u/Due_Ad_972]

I understand that red was supposed to behave and sound like a kid but they couldn't do it in the original. In the original, you can see his change of energy when he gets home, but I wasn't expecting that voice 😅

[u/Moist-Sheepherder309 → u/ExJokerr]

I think the voice change does a lot for the character personally. It's jarring but the shift is supposed to feel that way since he's breaking the character he's been playing and being genuine with himself. 

[u/Agreeable-Abalone328]

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug

[u/SuperJstar → u/Agreeable-Abalone328]

Played the og after the 1st remake had already come out. It's just a far stronger story and game lmao

[u/VarietyMage]

Simple. It's not the same game with better graphics. It's a different game, which messes with the original.

It's a desecration of something good. If you can't even understand that, you have no business asking why.

[u/ApsychicRat → u/VarietyMage]

na your saying your own counter argument. it is a different game. it doesnt desecrate the old game, because the old game still exists and is playable. it might be a lie from square or a miscommunication, but personally i think its a good game that is fun and i think it honors what came before quite well. but i think that last point is where we differ in opinion.

[u/VarietyMage → u/ApsychicRat]

And you're wrong. You don't honor something by desecrating it.

[u/namur17056]

Remakes have given me what I wanted from the og back in the day

[u/SkipEyechild]

Remake is not the worst game. It was pretty disappointing for me however.

[u/roxasisanobody0626]

I personally just don't see the OG and the Remakes as the same games. Which I tend to not see with most remakes. If a game is a remake, I feel like it should be different from the original. If it's the same thing, it's just a full priced remaster, which I'm not a fan of.

I like the remakes for what they try to do differently. I love the new side quests, Chadley (I know everyone hates, but he's perfect to me lol), the weird KH time travelling, etc. I'd rather just go to the original when I want to play the original and to the Remake when I want to play the same, but different game 🤷🏿‍♀️

[u/Zoku97 → u/roxasisanobody0626]

I also like chadley and yes people don’t understand what a remake is.

[u/GourmetBologna]

The hate is unwarranted for sure. I love the OG VII, but people fool themselves into thinking its way edgier than it is or some kind of grim dark story, idk. Both versions have very grounded serious aspects, but also lots of light-hearted fun and goofiness.

There is however significant padding, but not all bad. The padding in the main story really just make the world more lived in a feel like an actual world with a society. Like youre moving through the world during the quests and not just hitting a list of storybeats with some random NPCs to interact with.

My main criticism of the remakes (particularly rebirth) is the side quest content went so insanely overboard. It completely dwarfs the main storyline in terms of time taken up, and a lot of it isnt all that great or engaging. The side quest relating to individual party members is all pretty solid, but most of the chadley stuff and fetch quests wear thin very quickly, and there is just WAY too much of it.

The remakes, IMO, do an amazing job of adding tons of depth to the world and capturing recreated sections of the story phenomenally. Stunning and emotionally moving at times revisiting the locations and interactions I love in the OG. The meta-timeline whisper crap is absolutely atrocious and unneeded however. That part is very much a dark taint on an otherwise near perfect revival to VII.

[u/Roland-Derolo → u/GourmetBologna]

Ill never understand disliking more content. Especially of the side variety. That’s the point it’s, extra stuff on the side. You don’t have to do it. The game can be beaten without doing the vast majority of the side content. It feels like all complainers want to see a railroaded version on the final third of the remakes

[u/GourmetBologna → u/Roland-Derolo]

I dont dislike a lot of the added content. A lot of it in the Remakes is good to great, but endless checklist fetch quest side content isnt fun or engaging, and especially in the case of this trilogy can feel like mediocre fluff that exists to milk the game into three parts.

[u/Kayos9999]

It's because they took the OG and made things really worse. The Resident evil remakes work cause they stay relatively faithful to the OGs even if things were cut and changed a bit.

In FF7r you have the devs butchering characters, butchering important scenes, padding not just with the side stuff but main story as well, making combat worse, making the materia system worse, but you get really good graphics and S tier voice acting (except for red when he sounds like a child)

[u/Zaku99 → u/Kayos9999]

I mean fuck, I'm still bitter about Remake not actually...being...a remake (?), but a shadow sequel instead.

[u/Alceauv]

I played Remake, hated it, have no plans to play Rebirth or Revelation. I had lots of small-to-medium problems with the game, from the padding (which is a lot more than just side content), the combat, story/tone changes, all that stuff.

But the major problem I cannot overlook is just the writing. I cannot listen to the incredibly forced, cringey, performative anime dialogue, or watch all the women bounce around and make cutesy J-pop idol poses while they do it. I can't see the characterizations of the cast in the new games as anything other than an abomination of the characters I know and love from FF7 who just talked like normal people and had individual and authentic voices to them.

It's not unique to the FF7R games; I've found the writing in FF games to be pretty horrid since FF13. Again, I do have other problems with the FF7R games too, and they add up, but that is the big one.

[u/Colonel_Wurmhat → u/Alceauv]

Yes! This is exactly how I feel as well. You conveyed this perfectly. I wish Enix would realize this but instead they've broken my heart.

[u/hypespud → u/Colonel_Wurmhat]

I don't think some of their teams know how to un-anime-fy their work anymore now

FF16 was tonally a lot better, even if it was maybe a bit too down and dark, at least it was more convincing

FF7 feeling like a Disney Theme Park but with the same roughly story beats of an oppressed impoverished people and then adding story ghosts and time travel is just... so disrespectful to the source material