Final fantasy 7 remake demo is out now!

[Vodacixi]

Hiku said:

Vodacixi said:

Basically, when they fail to behave they way they should. Barret shoots to aerial enemies. Cloud takes care of ground ones. But many times, they decide to do the opposite... and they obviously fail. And that sometimes affects my control of the situation, because maybe I'm shooting distant enemies with Barret and Cloud instead to keep the enemies on the ground at bay while I'm doing my thing, decides to let them gang up on me. I know, I can just take control over Cloud and try to kill the warriors, but then the flying robots shoot at me from the distance because Barret may no target them. Is like a vicious circle xD

My problem is basically with the quality of the AI, not with the fact that the party has independence. If they are independent and they use it in an ok way, I'm good. As I said, I like the mix between real time action and being able to control every charcater while they can also do their thing (to a certain degree). I like the combat mechanics. I just have problems with the AI behaviour.

As for healing... I think it's all about how the game has changed. In 1997, it was a turn based game. The characters would only act if you input commands on them. Think of it like a chess game (relatively speaking). They were only "alive" when I use them. Now in 2020 said characters act on their own. They walk, they shoot, the block, they take cover. It feels natural and I like it. And that's why it feels weird to me seeing these characters, who can act on their own, not react to the a situation of death danger. I get that they are trying to recreate the sensation of control of the original game, but to me it just feels weird that Barret is almost dying and he does nothing to improve this situation. Is not about need: I never was in a situation in the demo were I died because the AI didn't heal me. It's just about coherence. They didn't act on their own then, so me ordering them to heal felt natural. Now they move on their own, so it feels weird to tell them to do so.

You may be thinking: "Well, then why doesn't bother you telling them to cast magic and abilities? Just like healing, it should be "natural" for them to do so". To that... I don't know. I just know that I'm happy with being able to control magic, items and such... but bothered by the healing thing. Go figure xD

I see.
So is it fair to say that it's more of a "feeling" than a technical issue?

I can understand that, because this combat system is very unlike any other that I've experience. But that may also be why it can take longer to get used to.
I think the way we think of things can also impact the way we feel about them.

Maybe we shouldn't think of it from the perspective of it being their responsibility to target the right enemy. I was thinking of how you described it as "behave they way they should".
Perhaps the only thing they should be expected to do is manage the ATB gauge. And anything else that comes with it is just a potential bonus.

So for the enemies one character can't reach, just like in classic FF, it's up to us to target the enemy with the appropriate character. Though this makes me wonder if the A.I. will stay on the target you chose for them, or if they can switch by themselves. I'm going to test this later.

What the characters actually can do by themselves is very limited. They can't even perform the equivalent of normal attacks from Final Fantasy 7. Those are now the Abilities that cost ATB, which we still do ourselves. But the new type of weaker ATB filling attacks also do damage, so I think it's easy to get the sense that the character should also do this or that because of it.

But when I went at it with a different mindset, it felt like it clicked with me in a different way.
I don't love the combat system yet, but I do like it so far, and it might be the best way to let us fully control characters as much as possible in an action based combat system.

The healing stuff? Sure. I think I said from the beginning I wasn't sure if this is how it's supposed to work. I ended up thinking it shouldn't work like that... but yeah, it's mostly a feeling.

I agree: I've never experienced a combat system like this one. I doubt there is something similar out there. Mostly because traditional turn based JRPG series have either sticked to their classic battle systems (like Dragon Quest) or evolved into something more action orientated (Final Fantasy XV). FF VII Remake tries to retain the classic feeling of controlling your characters while at the same time giving them certain freedom of action and movement in order to keep consistance with the real time action. And as I said: I like this, but If I were the one to make the game... I would have given the party members just a tad more of freedom. Just a tiny little bit more. That... and a better lock on system. Sometimes it gets difficult to change between targets when performing the basic attacks.

I still don't agree with the AI though. As I said, if I'm controlling X character and using him in order to exploit the weakness he is designed to exploit and at that moment I'm exposed to any other enemy that comes in to attack me... and the AI doesn't do anything to avoid that from happening... I don't think that's how it should be. If I'm shooting flying targets, I can't defend myself from the ground enemies. If I attack the ground enemies, I'm vulnerable to the flying enemies. If I were alone, it would be up to me to do the job. But If I have allies, it's logical to think that they should help me. Not get in the way. I get it: in order for them to do the most useful actions I have to take control of them. And then again: I like that. But I think it is to be expected a certain degree of competence while on their own. Or at the very least, that they don't make my job harder. This is not a "feeling". In this case, I strongly believe that the AI is flawed.

Anyway... talking about how we want control over our characters makes me wonder if they needed to change the battle system at all. I'll try classic mode when I'm out of work and then I'll say more about it.