Nibelheim and Kalm were even more frustrating to navigate and I despise when the game forces you to slow down while story set pieces play out (Sephiroths destruction of Clouds hometown and the escape from Kalm). These sequences would've been better served as quick cutscenes.
The Mako vacuum segments as you work your way towards the Mt. Nibel reactor, while short and easy, are also boring and annoying. Feels like the game is going to be bloated with unnecessary shit that only serves to extend the play time more than the quick and breezy nature of Remakes relatively linear sections.
And I'm not a big fan of open world tropes, like crafting mechanics, unlocking map markers (a la Far Cry 3 or Assassin's Creed) and mini-games (such as the Queens Blood card game, which is all I've encountered to this point). I was aware these things would be present, but I hoped (and still do) that the nostalgia of a more realized version of OG VIIs world will carry me thru the aggravating parts.
And maybe it's just my eyesight worsening with age (on the wrong side of 40 at this point), but I prefer the graphics of the PS4 Remake. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like the environments are so busy with extraneous details (even more so than Remake) that it just becomes visual white noise. It's a similar feeling to when you're brain is exhausted and you need sleep, that your ability to focus is diminished and everything seems kind of hazy.
One thing I do find promising with the combat, is the apparent attempts to expand on it. It seems like enemies are more active than before, and you need to pay more attention to blocking, dodging and looking for openings to attack, rather than just laying on the auto-attack until your ability meters fill.
The "folios" Im not sold on yet. I prefer the progression of Remakes upgrades on the individual weapons, but the addition of "synergy" abilities does seem interesting, and a natural progression given that now you can assemble your own party compositions.
Definitely a more demanding system, but time will tell if it's added complexities and nuance is an improvement. I found Remakes system to consistently hit a sweet spot in boss battles that mimicked the hurried nature of OG VIIs ATB system and had a blast with Tifas combo playstyle particularly.
If nothing else, the redone compositions of the OG OST are always a treat that I look forward to.
