So with the game out, a lot of folks having beaten it or are still going through it, and because it is a pretty important game for gaming in particular, figured we could have a thread to just talk about whatever. What we liked, what we didn't, the controversial ending, what we hope to see in the future, etc...
I already wrote about my view in the challenge thread, but the short version is that I absolutely adored the game, it's fantastic, best Final Fantasy game I've played in many years (Since at least FFX), and as a JRPG, probably one of the better ones I've played in awhile alongside Xenoblade Chronicles 2 back in 2017. Visually great even with some of the minor texture issues, they greatly expanded the dialogue and character interaction, making them better than they ever were, the gameplay is probably the best Square has done when looking at Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts, and I think the story is very faithful, even with the new additions and changes that show up by the end.
For me, in terms of my status with FF7 in general, I consider myself a fan, just not a serious one, I've not played the spin off games and I haven't replayed the original game much since the PS1 days, but I still remember a lot about the story and characters and watched Advent Children, so I'm not hardcore "FF7 is the best game ever!", but I have a reasonable grasp on the game and I love the setting and characters, even more so now than then.
And to get to right to the point, I loved the games ending. I'm not someone that could probably ever be called a "purist" about anything (Game wise that is, I think it's abhorrent what Disney is doing with their remakes lol), I love seeing new takes on old things. It doesn't always work, but to me they took something that could have just been a standard beat for beat remake, and are seemingly turning it into something that is both remake and sequel at the same time. I think the point of what they did was so they had the freedom to bring in more of the expanded canon they've built up for FF7 and to do brand new stuff with the world. It's a lot of the original creators getting a second chance to do something far bigger than what they originally made and to me that is absolutely exciting. Like now rather than just waiting for the next part I know every turn and twist for or the story already being done in just the one game, things could be so different now that we are dealing with stuff like alternate timelines.
I still feel like the next part will still hit all the base notes the story is supposed to hit, it'll just possibly have different paths and maybe some different endings. Heck, the stuff with Zack makes me feel like in one timeline we'll do stuff with the regular cast, and then at points we'll get time playing Zack in his new scenario and we see how that goes and how it possibly leads up to the timelines interconnecting towards the end perhaps. Not knowing what is gonna happen is again very exciting. It could certainly fail, it could lean far too hard into crazy Kingdom Hearts level nonsense (I don't think this ending is on that level, it makes way more sense than most of KH does, and it's honestly not that crazily far-fetched with what happens in FF7 normally in regards to like the connection of characters, all the magical life stream stuff, etc...)
So what are your folks takes on it? What were your favorite moments? I'll just say, the Honey Bee Inn scene, my jaw was on the floor, it was so ridiculously wondrous and crazy that it was actually happening lol