Out of curiosity, what would you say is the aspect of the game that you describe as homework? Is it the combat?
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(Spoiler warning for the first quarter of the game!)
The combat’s part of it.
For years I thought I disliked all JRPGs, mostly based on my experience struggling to play Final Fantasy games (which many of my friends loved). As someone with an attention deficit, I struggled to keep in mind all of the game’s different variables: Character levels, weapons and equipment, upgrades, materia, healing items, enemy strengths and weaknesses. I know logically that more variables means more choice, and there are probably a dozen ways to best any particular challenge, but it always felt to me like there was only one right way to proceed and whichever way I chose was going to be wrong.
Starting this game on normal difficulty, I felt the exact same struggle as before, except now it was even worse due to the added pressure of time. I switched to easy difficulty very quickly, but it almost feels like overkill. I just finished my first battle with a summon, which should feel awesome, but it loses some of its effect when I’ve already wiped most of the opponent’s party.
But boring combat is not in and of itself a dealbreaker for me if the world is immersive, the characters are endearing or the story is compelling. But I have some complaints about all three.
The world is beautiful and the design of Midgar with its different levels is brilliant. But all of its detail feels like a facade to me: There just isn’t that much to do. So far, there’s been a darts game, some shops I can go to, and some side quests involving defeating a certain number of a certain type of enemies. Maybe I’m spoiled by the density of interactions in Yakuza or Persona 5 or the openness of Xenoblade Chronicles.
The male characters in this game baffle me so far. Cloud treats everyone around him like dirt, Biggs seems incredibly generic, Wedge is cringe personified, Barrett is a hodge-podge of problematic stereotypes, Roche is unbelievably irritating, and Sephiroth is just Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z.
The story feels oddly unsure of itself, and I don’t remember how much of that was true of the original or is new to this remake. The opening of the game is really strong, but there’s been so much weird dialogue and follow-up about whose fault it was that the explosion was so big, Jessie is sure it was her fault for reasons I don’t really get, there’s some insinuation that the team has been framed by Shinra for it, and it just feels like it makes a very simple but powerful opening (We’re saving the planet, but have we gone too far?) into this muddled thing where it’s less about ethics and more about blasting cap strength. Chapter four just felt like a total detour… it’s a secret mission except almost everyone knows about it, there’s this long and dull motorcycle sequence, there’s a backstory for Jessie that I guess makes her more understandable but also makes her seem more selfish, Wedge puts himself in the line of fire but wait actually it’s just a big joke let’s all make fun of his singed underwear.
I think I am going to keep playing for now because I think the team’s second real mission is a good opportunity for the game to set its course a bit more confidently. But those are the issues I’ve had with it so far.
(P.S. I know @BMO already knows this, but in case anyone else reads this thread: I’m purely describing my own personal experience with the game. Part of why I wanted to play it is that so many really smart, insightful people I respect a lot really, really love it. I’m the dork who really, really likes Sonic Adventure and Epic Mickey, so don’t take my impressions too seriously! 
)
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I understand your feelings. I don’t think they are off the mark. I think my interest in the battle system and in seeing what they’d do with the original story kept me going. I do think the characters gain more depth, definitely more than the original game. But I’ll be honest, I personally don’t think FFVII is the high mark of JRPGs by Square. I think it’s deeply flawed but still interesting despite its flaws. To me FFVII Remake is an interesting meta text that is engaging with a phenomenon of a PS game that even Square wasn’t ready for as much as it’s engaging with that original game directly. So I found it very intriguing to see what they did with established characters and tropes. I also enjoyed their take on the original’s combat. For me FFVII Remake is first and foremost a compelling experiment. And I think it works, for the most part, despite obvious flaws. That said, some of those flaws, like generic characters, is a problem that plagues many a Final Fantasy game, and why the deeper dive into character development found in games like FFXIII and FFXV interest me as much as they do.
I hear your complaint about the lack of things to do in the city. Yakuza has spoiled us, especially Like a Dragon which is itself a metatextual experiment, and one that is exceptional. I think we might be able to expect more along these lines from the next instalment of FFVII Remake. For if they squander the opportunities the Golden Saucer presents, I think I’ll be the first to be disappointed.
Side note, ironically for years I thought I liked JRPGs. Years later I realized I merely enjoyed a handful of SquareSoft and Enix games, and that there is something inherent to their version of the JRPG that I find really enjoyable. Some games are exceptions, for I thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay of Persona 4 Golden despite my other critiques of the game. But I largely bounce off of JRPGs because I think there’s something about their storytelling and mechanics that I don’t enjoy. I keep trying though, because invariably someone else must deliver the combination that I apparently enjoy and that are found in some Square-Enix games.
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That’s very interesting to me, since it’s almost the inverse of my experience, yet the end result is the same… I don’t like most JRPGs, but a handful really endear themselves to me.
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I thought it worth mentioning because that’s the way it seemed to me as well.
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Thank you for the recommendation to keep playing the next few chapters, they seemed a lot better than what came before. Enjoyed the dungeon, the boss and the narrative transition from Chapter 7 to 8.
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The forum spoiler tags are brackets. I’m sorry everything is so disjointed. It’s buried under the gear menu.
[spoiler]spoiler[/spoiler]
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Thanks. I think I knew that and that’s actually more in-line with original markdown code, but the main site uses angled brackets so I am not stuck in the habit of using those instead, lol. Didn’t even think to use square brackets.
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I finished the game! I’ll write a review on Grouvee proper at some point. Still processing how I feel about the whole package… it’d almost be easier to rate individual chapters, the fun level varied quite a bit between them for me!
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I wish I could judge it from your perspective as a relative newcomer. My experience of the game can only ever be one of a game in dialogue with its history which I do think shifts my perspective of the end result.
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I started playing Grandia II this weekend since it won the actual poll, and I can’t believe that I’m already 10 hours in. It’s certainly showing its age but I love the combat system and the story has me hooked. It’s not nearly as visually interesting or as fun to explore as its Dreamcast rival Skies of Arcadia, but I like its gameplay more so far.
I decided to play it on Dreamcast after reading some reviewers say its superior to any later ports, but I have a way of transferring my save if I ever change my mind.
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I absolutely loved FF VII Remake. I’ve never played Grandia or Evolution, but Remake is absolutely something I adore. TWEWY is neat, but I started it two days ago so I can’t make a solid recommendation yet. I can say that the battle system is complex as it keeps throwing tutorials at you the first hour and a half, and it can get overwhelming.
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