ScuzzBlog: Diaries April 2022 Entry 12th April 2022: Post 2: The remake of old gaming classics. The remake of old gaming classics. If you can't come up with a new idea then just recycle some of your old stuff. Seems to be the trend of late. My guess is that developers of films and games assume those that loved the original will flock to see a remake. And those fresh to the classic will enjoy the product for the first time. For me I am not a fan. I recently purchased Final Fantasy VII Remake and Resident Evil 2 Remake for the PS4. I played both these titles in their original format back in the late nineties on the PlayStation 1. I always loved the titles and have the various guides, manuals, magazine walk thro's and even action figures. For me the games fit suits the original design and style whilst recognising with the obvious graphical limitations of the platform. So my heart was in my mouth when I fired up Final Fantasy VII in its revised state. Sadly I was not impressed. Sure the story was rock solid and the main thread was still true to its origins. But in over describing the content with a way more powerful engine it managed to destroy my own preconception and descriptive of the game. The characters were not as I imagined, particularly Aerith. Specific issues relate to combat triggers which if you have played Final Fantasy are core to the game and keep you guessing as to when combat is initiated. In the new game, mobs are simply visible on the ground and there are no triggers that randomly spawn. Next up is the problem with the combat system which simply just doesn't work. You can't have a turn based system running within a real time action event. I am forever being collapsed on by the character menus for them to interact when my main character is just about to inflict a critical blow. Better would have been an ATB filler cycling system as with Lightning Returns. Final Fantasy VII is not the whole story and they have broken it down in parts. This first part takes us up to the falling of the Plate and the rescue of Aerith. Consequently there is a mass of padding and the introduction of mind numbing boring quests. Whilst the graphics were excellent and the descriptive content simply breathtaking they have failed to capture the mood and feel of the original game. What is worse is that some of the characters have become a little annoying and irritating. For me Aerith has none of the calming strengths of the original and it ruins the magic of the game for me. I played the whole game and have rerun many of the chapters. I did so much want this to work, but it has not. The developers would have been better served by creating a new later version of the game focussing all their resources into a modern new game with a new story. As for Final Fantasy VII just make a film like as with Advent Children. I'd watch that. I started to play Resident Evil and immediately ran into the same issues. I have placed that game on pause. I spent way too much time playing Nier Automata and thoroughly enjoyed my time with 2B and 9S. That is a truly original piece of work and should be applauded. I really do hope they never like ever try to make an upgraded version. Just a newer one. Anyhoo I was reading up on what number of games the average gamer buys these days for a given platform and discovered the figure to be as low as nine. If you take the number of games sold and divide by the number of consoles sold you can generate a figure. I have had the PS4 for a little over a month and now have four games. Only a handful more to go ... That may be a struggle finding a fistful that I will play. Probably, Detroit, Hitman, FIFA, Lara, FF15 and maybe GTA or Uncharted. Dunno yet. My fingers and thumbs are all numb and in need of a rest. I swear I will get back to the retro soon. Or not. We'll see. Happy days. The remake of old gaming classics.

If you can only see this CONTENT window
then click the image above for the full site

Last updated 12th April 2022

Chandraise Kingdom

Keep the Faith
scuzzscink 2022