advent children impressions

[semiconscious]

finally watched it yesterday, been listening to the game soundtrack today, & all i can say is ffvii was/is indeed an amazingly rich, unique, enjoyable, & timeless gaming experience, & i'm damned glad i played it...

it was great seeing everyone again, & amazing how many memories it stirred - i'd been in no rush to see it, what with visions of squeenix simply cashing in, but as an homage to both the game's creators & fans, i'm amazed at how beautifully it's done & how well it works, far beyond anything i could've hoped for...


sorry, just had to gush a little. thanks, squeenix...

[metallicorphan]

yeah ,loved it....as ff7 and 9 are the only one i have finished

it was waaay much better than spirits within

i'll be getting the 2 disc dvd next week

[stiffler]

So this must be the "loved it" camp.  You can read what the "meh" folks think about it here in the original Off-Topic thread.

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

Mark me as meh.  I personally thought the 20-minute FF7 recap was better than the movie.  That thing really lays the smack down on individuals who would say console RPGs (or FF7 in particular) can't have well-done, meaningful stories.

Tifa was hot as sex, though.

[The Grue]

I just finished watching it.  Some of the voice acting was pretty bad, but overall, I enjoyed it a great deal.  Great to see all the old characters and I nearly laughed when the the level up music played after Tifa's first fight.

[metallicorphan]

lol,yeah i remember that part,i have only seen the japanese language version so i cant comment yet on the voice acting..............i doubt this gets a 'yes' for an answer,but is it anyone famous providing the english voices?..........'spirits within',if i remember rightly had a few 'stars'.or at least..known people

[GGMark]

there are a few, most of which I didnt know.  Mena Suvari is Aerith though..  WHile people complained, she really doesnt have much to say.

[EddieA]

The voice actors were a mix of film/TV actors and well-known game/animation voice actors, and I thought they were great overall.  I absolutely loved the movie - amazing both technically and artistically.  They nailed both the fights and the quiet, emotional scenes.

[Sparhawk]

Mark me as meh.  I personally thought the 20-minute FF7 recap was better than the movie.  That thing really lays the smack down on individuals who would say console RPGs (or FF7 in particular) can't have well-done, meaningful stories.

Tifa was hot as sex, though.

Those same individuals play Ultima I all the time and jackoff to tubgirl. Really, move on and play something new and different you basement ghoul. (talking to the imaginary basement dwelling elitist)

Tifa was definitely hot.

I enjoyed FF7: AC but it is one of those movies that will ultimately confuse the hell out of anyone who has not played FF7.  

God I am so hungover, fucking work, why do I HAVE to be here?

[mikeg]

Sign me up as confused.  I have not played a single FF game nor do I know anything about a single thing.  Being somewhat intelligent I was able to get the jest of what was going on, ofcourse, but I found it definitely a tribute to the fans of the game and not a movie for the masses.

The fight scenes were ridiculously over the top and I loved em.  I will use my copy as trading fodder at one of my local game stores no doubt cuz I won't watch it again like I thought I might, but it was enjoyable.

[semiconscious]

should've mentioned i went with the japanese w/subtitles, & i thought the voice-acting was very, very good (especially reno & rude, who, weirdly, reminded me of the travolta & jackson characters from pulp fiction)...

[GGMark]

i think that Reno and Rude were better done in the Japanese version.  That was really my only complaint about the voice over.

[Farscry]

The movie was lacking any significant presence of Cid, the single greatest FF character ever.  I have to say, the voice actor for the English dub did a great job of hitting Cid's attitude.  That pleased me to no end.    I just wish that "the gang" had featured more in the film; I enjoyed it but felt that making it the "Cloud and Tifa movie" rather weakened it a bit from what it could've been.

I loved all the little moments that were nods to the game but weren't dwelling upon trying to rehash the scenes from the game.  I didn't as much care for the several moments that kept getting rehashed from the game (meteor approaching the planet in particular; how many times did they show that again?  Once or twice would've been enough... felt like several times more than that).

And, it may sound odd, but:

Spoiler for Hiden:

I expected the film to show and involve Aeris at some point, but it just seemed like she was used too many times, watering down the emotional impact of her involvement with the story.

I very much enjoyed it, much more than I expected to.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I think the CGI work was top shelf, but the storyline was lacking any clear direction.  I still enjoyed it as a gentle reminder of just how much I enjoyed FF7.

[MerianMoriarty]

yeah, farscry, i definitely agree.  that particular aspect of the movie was spoiled by that person's frequent appearance.

i definitely agree that rude and reno were better in the japanese version (the american voice for reno sounded too whiny, when reno's really just a rude and somewhat lazy punk).  also, i felt like kadaj's voice seemed a little too old for him (maybe that's just me; in the japanese version his voice/mannerisms struck me as those of a 13-15 year-old, but in the american version he seems closer to 17-ish).

and yes, advent children was always meant as something for ffvii fans (in other words, most of japan).  square wasn't at all concerned about such a thing being a problem since ffvii is (still) the most successful final fantasy of all time.

the voice actors are a mish-mash of famous actors and famous voice actors -- there's mena suvari, rachael leigh cook, christy carlson romano, and crispin freeman, but also beau billingslea (most famous as Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop), steve blum (who's done v/a for pretty much everything, but is most famous as Spike Spiegal from Cowboy Bebop), and george newbern (superman in the newer Justice League cartoons).  so...i'd have to say, yeah, there's tons of famous people in the movie. *shrug*  still, i really prefer the japanese version -- the voice actors are better as a whole, and the script (what there is of it besides fights...^_^;;...) loses a lot in translation.

[MerianMoriarty]

and who the hell says "dilly-dally shilly-shally" in this day and age??? i haven't heard that expression since my great-great-grandmother died!  :shock:

[EddieA]

I don't really get the comments about Aerith.  The movie's main theme is Cloud looking for forgiveness for not being able to save her from Sephiroth, so he would naturally think of her often.  Even so, her total screen time was probably less than a minute or two in 3 short scenes, so how could that be too much?

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

The movie was lacking any significant presence of Cid, the single greatest FF character ever.

Pfff, Cid was tacked on to FF7.  It's all about Cait Sith.  Man I was pissed that Cait Sith didn't do much more than ride on Red XIII's back.  Where the hell was his big white doll-thing?

And also... what are we supposed to assume happened to Rude and Reno in Advent Children?  It goes from a funny scene of them trying to climb a wall and slipping/falling, to...

Spoiler for Hiden:

..inexplicably holding these huge bombs in the hope of blowing two of the Sephiroth clones up, kamikaze-style??  So did they die, or what?

[metallicorphan]

ooh ooh ,lol,i forgot to ask you guys who have bought the 2 disc DVD

on our version it says that there is a sneak peek at the new FF7 game on disc 2

presuming you have the same special features...and me not buying it until next week some time

can someone tell me what game this is?

is it that dirge of cerebus vincent game?....is it confimation of the new updated FF7..that they said was just a tech demo when we saw that brand spanking new opening???

or is it something else????

thx

[EddieA]

They have videos of Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, and Crisis Core for the PSP.  Other than the (possibly) new information that Crisis Core will center on Cloud and Zack, there was nothing new.  However, Square Enix has a big surprise announcement for E3, which is most likely either the FF7 remake/sequel or FF13.

[GGMark]

wasnt the FFVII thing supposed to really jhust be the same game with updated graphics?

[metallicorphan]

They have videos of Dirge of Cerberus, Before Crisis, and Crisis Core for the PSP.  Other than the (possibly) new information that Crisis Core will center on Cloud and Zack, there was nothing new.  However, Square Enix has a big surprise announcement for E3, which is most likely either the FF7 remake/sequel or FF13.

if it is a 'suprise' announcement....my bet would be on final fantasy 7 remake....as 13 is a dead cert...isnt it?

and why do they say that there would be a suprise?.....not much of a suprise when they tell us


and the tech demo of final fantasy 7,was the old opening.....made to look much better(although...i have seen better...only at the end can you see how good it is)and to show of the power of ps3


see the demo here(if it still works)

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/rpg/finalfantasyvii/media.html?sid=6124987&mode=gameplay&autoplay=6124987

proberbly be a looooooong download as well

actually if you just watch it,it downloads quite quick

the cloud here looks a lot like the cloud in advent children

[Gratch]

I won't go into all my impressions, as I wrote damn near a thesis on it when I was the Japanese version.  In short, I really enjoyed it but realize that it definately had it's strengths (graphics, fight choreography) and weaknesses (story and character development).  I was a bit surprised by Mrs. Gratch's reaction.  She had watched me play some of the game, but has never actually played a FF game (or any console game, for that matter).  She really enjoyed it, and actually watched it a second time while I was at work on Saturday.  She made the comment that she really liked the main characters (Cloud, Tifa, & Kadaj), but everyone else felt tacked on just for the sake of giving them face time.  I tend to agree.

I'm a bit surprised that people seemed to expect anything other than 90 minutes of blatant fan service from this movie.

[Kevin Grey]

if it is a 'suprise' announcement....my bet would be on final fantasy 7 remake....as 13 is a dead cert...isnt it?

The surprise would actually be that it was announced at E3.  IIRC, FF's are almost always first announced in Japan.  And while FF13 is a certainty, we know nothing about it including the platform (could possibly even be PS2 if it's been in development long enough) and release date.

[EddieA]

I'm assuming Sony wants to make a big E3 PS3 splash, so they've gotten SE to debut FF13 or FF7-2 at E3 rather than in Japan.  I guess we'll know next Tuesday at their pre-E3 press conference.

[metallicorphan]

i hope they say that more final fantasy games are bound for 360

[MerianMoriarty]

i'm somewhat confused about the game releases; my japanese friends told me Before Crisis was a cell phone game, but i think if it's translated it should become a psp release, is that right?  ^_^;;;; that would make sense, i suppose.


and Cid is awesome.  he's a superhero, did you know that?  Profanity Man!  (yet he mysteriously swears a lot less in english....and in the movie....)

[metallicorphan]

i finally got the original DVD,after having it on bootleg...just watched it...and by God...vincent has big feet...LOL