FF7 Remake's characters are wonderful and so much more fleshed out than before

[Zen]

My favorites by game's end are Barret and Aerith, they benefited the most from the Remake IMO. Aerith got to show off a lot of her character divorced from the perspective of a relationship with Cloud, and we get to see so much more of Barret's personality this time around. SE did Cloud good nailing the awkward tryhard angle facade that he puts up for the first half of FF7, and Tifa has a lot more character this time than just being the childhood love interest that she was in FF7's early game. I'm excited to see how the others are handled in the next installment, particularly Yuffie and Vincent who didn't get a very good focus since they were optional. I haven't even mentioned Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie yet. I really liked that the game lets Cloud interact and get to know the crew, I think this really gave weight to events later on and showed us that he does actually start to care about them.

I also like the changes they made to each main character compared to their OG counterparts. Cloud is more of an aloof asshole in the original game, and while his jerk tendencies are still present, they're more of a mask for his vulnerabilities and a facade for his introversion and emotional/mental struggle against the mako poisoning than just being an ass for the sake of it. Aerith and Tifa are both established members of their local communities and are meaningful to them to boot. Barret is an impassioned leader and scholar. Dude is the first to respond when the Ancients come up in the story, he knows their lore and history. I would say 7R's characters are the definitive versions of themselves. It's actually gotten me questioning what I consider to be the heart of the game and the original, and it might be the characters themselves more than even the story. I mean, besides the OST.

 

[Maximilian]

Good characters can carry a medium with a not-so-great story. The majority of the MCU revolves around this.

 

[BossAttack]

Good characters can carry a medium with a not-so-great story. The majority of the MCU revolves around this.

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FFXV in a nutshell. Good characters carrying a complete mess of a narrative.

 

[AzureFlame]

I was shocked that they manged to make them even better than the original game for me, i was not expecting that from Square Enix.. so please SE write all your future game's characters like this pretty please!

 

[100%TrophyMaster]

I think my favorite part of the remake were the Avalanche members. It just added so much life to each character.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

They felt familiar yet new... it's like meeting your old friends after years of not keeping in touch.

Was very bittersweet experience to fall in love all over again with them :"-)

 

[yurr]

FFXV in a nutshell. Good characters carrying a complete mess of a narrative.

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Naw cousin. You lost me with that one

 

[stryke]

The chemistry between each and every character is a huge step up as well.

 

[NattyBo]

Yeah dude it was fucking awesome. I loved how Aerith came out almost exactly as I imagined her, always tweaking Cloud playfully, but with a serious and melancholy air. The VA nailed it with her.

 

[Deleted member 5596]

FFXV in a nutshell. Good characters carrying a complete mess of a narrative.

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I would say: Good banter can't carry a mess of characters.

FFVIIR party feels like an actual characters. XV feels like a bunch of dudes on a road movie.

 

[Gold Arsene]

Seriously remake has breathed new life into just about all of them.

Though I think my biggest surprise is how much I came to love Biggs and Wedge.

 

[Cloud-Strife]

FFXV in a nutshell. Good characters carrying a complete mess of a narrative.

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I agree that XV has good characters.. the game was not finished near the end and that's the biggest problem with XV.

Also the magic system was a problem. I never liked how they did it.

 

[Deleted member 437]

Good characters can carry a medium with a not-so-great story. The majority of the MCU revolves around this.

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Hey max, are you gonna put up a story theory video or whatever on your youtube channel?

I'd love a edited (or not edited) video about what you thought about the game in general. The combat, characters, what you think the future of ff7 is, what you want to see added/improved, and especially your thoughts on the ending.

 

[Lotus]

They were all so great, Aerith especially, they really nailed how whimsical she was. And I appreciated characters like Jessie being more fleshed out.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

they were great. they really did these characters justice. aeris, barret and cloud especially.

 

[Doctrine Dark]

I loved all of the characters and their interactions with each other. Barrett and Red XIII's in particular was so good despite it being towards the end of the game. The characters like Madam M, Chocobo Sam, and Leslie were also great. SE did a great job.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

Barret's scenes with Marlene are my favorite.

 

[Turin]

For the most part

 

[Portmanteau]

Hey max, are you gonna put up a story theory video or whatever on your youtube channel?

I'd love a edited (or not edited) video about what you thought about the game in general. The combat, characters, what you think the future of ff7 is, what you want to see added/improved, and especially your thoughts on the ending.

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Watch the Easy Allies Spoiler Mode video! You'll get your wish, and it's over two hours long. :)

 

[Kewlmyc]

Yep, they're all great in their own right. I really love with they did with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie.

Only characters that felt flat (other than the quest NPCs) were President Shinra and his cronies (minus Reeves). But they're supposed to be cartoonishly evil at this point in the story.

 

[zswordsman]

Yup. They really fleshed out Jessie and Aerith a lot. Aerith's sassy attitude is awesome. Clouds personality too, he's a nerd that tries to act hard, it suits him at this stage of the story.
I'm looking forward to how Red develops and seeing Yuffie and Vincent.

 

[BossAttack]

I would say: Good banter can't carry a mess of characters.

FFVIIR party feels like an actual characters. XV feels like a bunch of dudes on a road movie.

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Gonna disagree on that one, HARD. I never played OG FF7, so what I was given in the remake hardly endeared me to the cast. I hardly know anything about them. By the end of XV, those were my bois, as stupid as they were.

 

[TitanicFall]

I don't really see it. They got more dialog yes, but much more fleshed out? That's a stretch. The only people you get much more from this time around are the NPCs. The main cast you learn very little about in a 30 hr game, and that's because most of their back stories and motivations weren't revealed in the original game until after you left Midgard which took around 5 hours to get through.

 

[Jiggy]

It's the benefit of spending 35 hours in Midgar instead of like, 8. You get to flesh out the characters and relationships way more. I loved watching Cloud and Barrett's bromance develop over the course of the game.

 

[silva1991]

I can't stress enough how much I love those characters in the remake especially toward the end. They made me care for Aerith ten times more than the original ever did.

Red also was incredibly charming.

 

[Lump]

Nomura can toss a hundred metric Shyamalans at the plot and it'll still be fun to watch when the characters are done right.

 

[crimzonflame]

Tifa will always be my number #1 but I admit that Aerith stole the show in the remake. Barrett, Aerith and the Turks were my favourites in this. Hope Tifa gets time to shine in the next one.

 

[Noctis]

I would say: Good banter can't carry a mess of characters.

FFVIIR party feels like an actual characters. XV feels like a bunch of dudes on a road movie.

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While I think FFXV is a POS, the road trip aspect is what the game is about so idk how is that a con.

 

[Resilient]

You're kidding right?

The characters in FF7r are merely puppets in a play for Nomuras new contrived plot. They have no drive or motivation of their own. They exist purely as a set piece for the new plot shenanigans seeing as all their stakes are now set to 0...

 

[Deleted member 5596]

While I think FFXV is a POS, the road trip aspect is what the game is about so idk how is that a con.

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In terms of offering good character development. It was so bad that they had to separate them as a group and be added as DLC.
Is sad that the only good actual scene is the optional one you get with Prompto on the rooftop. (and the ending)

Gonna disagree on that one, HARD. I never played OG FF7, so what I was given in the remake hardly endeared me to the cast. I hardly know anything about them. By the end of XV, those were my bois, as stupid as they were.

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Well if the first season of the show, so to speak. Jack from season one is not the same character as in the last episode of Lost.

That said, Barret alone had more character development that some of the XV cast in the whole game.

 

[Noctis]

You're kidding right?

The characters in FF7r are merely puppets in a play for Nomuras new contrived plot. They have no drive or motivation of their own. They exist purely as a set piece for the new plot shenanigans seeing as all their stakes are now set to 0...

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cmon now

 

[Hikari]

I feel like they all got it the best but in the end if I had to pick one it is definitely Aerith. I just love her so much in this remake. Tifa had her good moments too though!

I can point out so many Tifa and Aerith scenes I loved too.... this game gave me everything I love until the end but i'm definitely still neutral on the ending right now

 

[microtransaction]

*Cries in RE3Remake*

 

[Hybrid Rainbow]

Good characters can carry a medium with a not-so-great story. The majority of the MCU revolves around this.

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Alright you, those are fighting words.

 

[Nakenorm]

Yeah it's crazy how much I love these goofs. Madly excited to see what they'll do with the rest of the cast.

 

[BossAttack]

Well if the first season of the show, so to speak. Jack from season one is not the same character as in the last episode of Lost.

That said, Barret alone had more character development that some of the XV cast in the whole game.

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The difference is I knew who Jack was at the end of the first season and cared for him. Hell, I knew who he was after the first episode. I know nothing about FF7 characters by the end of remake.

 

[Maximilian]

Nomura can toss a hundred metric Shyamalans at the plot and it'll still be fun to watch when the characters are done right.

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It's really crazy how the final 5% of the game twists what people felt about the entire experience. I've had convos with friends that don't know what they feel about the game or where it's going, but remind them that the large majority of FFVIIR had amazing visuals, great characters and top notch combat. They immediately realize how much the ending soured a lot of that.

It's the big reason why I don't agree with the devs in making an ending like this. For as many of us that enjoy the craziness and speculation theorycrafting, there's just as many who need solidity. Feels like SE fans have been really burned by previous FF titles and KH over the past many years, where there's now a lack of trust even if the majority of the product was high quality.

 

[Aly]

Yep. Barret, Aerith, and Red in particular were emu favorites by the end.

 

[MatildaMuggins]

SE has gotten pretty good at writing characters since the XIII debacle.

I tried replaying X afterwards and realised that... all the characters are unlikable and the voice acting is horrific. Killed my motivation to play further. These are the kinds of games that need remaking. Just can't put up with bad localisation these days.

 

[giancarlo123x]

*Cries in RE3Remake*

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Funny thing is that game also had amazing characters. Everyone was great

 

[Khanimus]

I mean I actually give a shit about Final Fantasy 7 now. By a game made by modern Square Enix.

I'd call that a fucking feat.

 

[VeggieBurger]

yea i'm playing the original ff7 for the first time after playing the remake, and while i'm enjoying getting more info about each character's backstory (i'm at the Canyon where Red is from) I find the cast more engaging in the remake. I can get a better sense of the type of character each party member is better in the remake even with less plot info, if that makes sense

 

[Chumunga64]

FFXV in a nutshell. Good characters carrying a complete mess of a narrative.

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yup, miss those idiots

 

[Linus815]

FFXV in a nutshell. Good characters carrying a complete mess of a narrative.

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too right. I've completed the game and literally not understood half the stuff that happened narratively because i guess i didnt watch the movie/anime/whatever beforehand, plus the game has such haphazard storytelling....

but god damn if i didnt having major feels by the end - such a lovable squad of dummies

 

[Kuro]

Playing the game a second time you notice a lot of subtleties in the characters that I'm excited to see expanded upon in pt 2.

Also inb4 someone complains about Tifa having Japanese body language and mannerisms.

Stretching out the plot had its issues and I'm sure some people new to the series came away a bit confused but as a long time fan they did a mostly great job.

The ending is what it is and I'm cautiously optimistic about the future.

 

[Vito]

You're kidding right?

The characters in FF7r are merely puppets in a play for Nomuras new contrived plot. They have no drive or motivation of their own. They exist purely as a set piece for the new plot shenanigans seeing as all their stakes are now set to 0...

Click to shrink...

 

[giancarlo123x]

You're kidding right?

The characters in FF7r are merely puppets in a play for Nomuras new contrived plot. They have no drive or motivation of their own. They exist purely as a set piece for the new plot shenanigans seeing as all their stakes are now set to 0...

Click to shrink...

The characters in the remake are 10x better than in the original.

 

[Deleted member 4353]

SE has gotten pretty good at writing characters since the XIII debacle.

I tried replaying X afterwards and realised that... all the characters are unlikable and the voice acting is horrific. Killed my motivation to play further. These are the kinds of games that need remaking. Just can't put up with bad localisation these days.

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I mean I know where all high on FF7 Remake but this is the worst post ive seen in a while. FFX has fantastic characters and I dont know if we played the same game at all. In fact this might be the first post ive ever seen saying FFX has unlikable characters. To each his own I guess.

 

[BreakAtmo]

It's really crazy how the final 5% of the game twists what people felt about the entire experience. I've had convos with friends that don't know what they feel about the game or where it's going, but remind them that the large majority of FFVIIR had amazing visuals, great characters and top notch combat. They immediately realize how much the ending soured a lot of that.

It's the big reason why I don't agree with the devs in making an ending like this. For as many of us that enjoy the craziness and speculation theorycrafting, there's just as many who need solidity. Feels like SE fans have been really burned by previous FF titles and KH over the past many years, where there's now a lack of trust even if the majority of the product was high quality.

Click to shrink...

I genuinely feel people may be massively overestimating just how different the following parts will be, at least in the immediate sense. FFVIIR's final scene is fundamentally exactly the same as how the original Midgar prologue ended, and we know they're not going to do stuff like cutting classic locations or characters (especially not when some have already been referenced or even shown). The pasts of the characters are also set in stone. So we're still getting the same characters, the same world, the same mission, and at least part of the same plot, combined with exciting uncertainty and newness.

It's still possible they'll fuck it all up, but after playing truth what we've gotten I'm sure that the saga is going to be a hell of a thing no matter what. And that's not even getting into what next-gen tech could give us. Imagine Cloud's mental issues being portrayed in real-time, with the environments warping and changing and suddenly being on fire as you turn the camera around, confusing and disorienting you and really putting you into Cloud's head.

 

[mugurumakensei]

I don't really see it. They got more dialog yes, but much more fleshed out? That's a stretch. The only people you get much more from this time around are the NPCs. The main cast you learn very little about in a 30 hr game, and that's because most of their back stories and motivations weren't revealed in the original game until after you left Midgard which took around 5 hours to get through.

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backstory and motivation are not the only part of fleshing our a character. Characterization / how the character behaves and reacts to the vents is also an important part of fleshing out the character. In the original, you never really got much context on why Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie would follow Barret. You never really learned about the larger avalanche organization and Barrett's groups role in it. The main cast never really get time to react to events in the original story. Voice Acting and much improved cinematography also allow for more expressive scenes that can be conveyed without adding additional dialogue.