While Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was widely acclaimed upon its release earlier this year, the title attracted some criticism for its pacing, among other things. The free-roaming, open-world nature of the title, combined with the original game’s story structure and pacing, led to an unusual pacing for big narrative and character moments. AND Renaissance injects a good dose of his own erratic madness into the proceedings, which only adds more confusion.
Of course this worked well for the second installment, not detracting Renaissancebrilliant comments. FF7 Rebirth remains one of the best JRPGs of 2024 (with some healthy competition from the fantastic Metaphor: ReFantazio), and just like its predecessor, Redois contributing to the monolithic legacy of the original Final Fantasy 7. Renaissance can get away with many of his antics due to being the middle act of the story. The upcoming confirmed final installment of the trilogy should close the book on the story of the remake saga, however, it would be wise to avoid Renaissancethe errors.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth doesn’t always have time to breathe
Narrative pacing is a big problem in revival
Renaissance It’s a great game, but your pacing is inconsistent at best. Key story and narrative moments can be spaced so far apart that the connective tissue between them can be forgotten (leading to reduced impact) or become too close together, often almost becoming narrative noise.
It wasn’t just walking from one side to the other. By turning the core part of the story into a full, modern, open-world AAA title, the intended atmosphere of many of the original’s areas and locations was also lost, with some of the Renaissanceregions too big for their own good. While some have survived unscathed and transformed again (like the underrated Gongaga region), others, like the desert area, were too crowded and busy to maintain the original tone and the purpose it served in the structure or rhythm of the story.
To be fair, the decisions that Renaissance does work for this game in particular. While there are several moments and sequences (both major and minor) that have changed from the original, the changes are almost always to further what this particular game is about, which is allowing players to become attached to this world and these characters on their own. own. rhythm. But that’s exactly what it did Renaissance work only works for Renaissance. Trying to apply this same adaptation and narrative style to the next game would be inadvisable.
Final Fantasy 7’s pacing has always been erratic
Rebirth adapts an already lukewarm arc
To be fair Renaissance (and for Square Enix, which suffered a lot from the pace at which Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Renaissance equally), a large part of the rhythm problems that generate criticism are inherent to the Final Fantasy 7. In the end, It’s not like the original game was a model of steady pacing and tonal consistency. Even in 1997, Final Fantasy 7The pacing was all over the place, even when compared to previous titles in the series or genre. His intermediate act – in fact, the one that Renaissance is based – it was especially slow and meandering with little to no urgency, before things picked up again in the final act.
That final act is what the last game of the Redo the trilogy will be based. As a result, many of the pacing problems inherent to the story will no longer be a problem with that title. Of course, that doesn’t stop Square from tinkering with the story’s pacing and structure anyway – after all, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a 30+ hour expanded version of the original game’s introduction, which took 3 to 5 hours to complete. Square accomplished this by adding a lot to the story, consequently creating pacing problems where none existed. This exact trend is what the studio needs to try to avoid in the next title.
How FF7 Part 3 Remake May Let Emotions Linger
It is important that Part 3 manages to hit its crucial emotional and narrative beats – after all, if it doesn’t, it will not only harm the story of this game, but also the two previous games. See the BioWare controversy Mass Effect 3 finishing – If the culmination of a story is divisive, it is seen as a reflection on the entire story up to that point. As a result, it would be wise for Square to keep at least some of its excess tendencies in check with this title.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean that Square should completely abstain from the eccentricity and craziness it contains. Final Fantasy 7 Remake and especially Renaissance com, especially since it has become such a well-established and beloved part of the remake trilogy. Moments like the Queen’s Blood tournament or Wall Market have become fan favorites and are an indelible part of this story and these characters. Square shouldn’t shy away from adding these moments or expanding the world and characters – but you need to find a balance.
Consider Cid in the original Final Fantasy 7; its story is absolutely something that needs to be handled with a deft touch, given some of the subjects it deals with and the sensitivity with which it needs to be handled. Tonal whip of the type that Renaissance this would detract from Cid’s story and also make it harder for players to sympathize with a very central figure in this chapter.
Or consider how many rapid story developments happen at the end of FiFinal Fantasy 7all of this Redo Part 3 will have to retain, while also having new story content addressing and resolving the new plot threads that Redo introduced trilogy. Even though it’s as long as Japanese RPGs tend to be now, it feels like a very crowded and cramped story at best. Square Enix would do well to play its narrative cards relatively straight and not overcomplicate things on top of the already complex narrative that Redo and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have at this moment.