Something is missing in Rebirth...

Totally relate to this. Rebirth is an incredible game but it's missing the solemness of the original's world. Something which made it endlessly fascinating.

You hit the nail on the head, I even had the same issue with Remake, yes the slums has some criminals and some struggle you see but the people still felt too upbeat overal. When we see Aerith looking back in Rebirth at her time in the slums when her mom died, that was the only time I truly felt it was the FF7 slums, a little girl asking for help and shood away like a pest.

Agree to disagree, I think there is quite a bit of sadness/calm when you go to places like Under Junon, the Desert Prison, etc. The end of the game especially completely sets the tone for loss and grief, as well.

everyone has their different interpretation of media, and its hard to say if they atmosphere of the original was 100% intentional by the developer or the limitation of the technology at the time i,e storage space on the CD's. I remember playing and clearing ff7 about 8 times when it came out and i did'nt interpret the tone like you did. so the remakes really did'nt clash or destroyed tone for me, the one part i do agree with is cosmo canyon :)

Spot on. I wish the devs of the remake team sees this. Maybe they will make a 1 to 1 remake using the assets they used for the remake after they are done with the 3 games.

I feel like Part 3 will improve on this as some crazy stuff happens in disc 2 of the OG. Rebirth expands on what I call the “fun” part of the game, where it introduces these areas and let you explore these areas for the first time and meet goofy characters, but when the crazy stuff happens, the world will turn on its head. Anyone who played the OG will know what I’m referring to and I feel like Part 3 will either fix or improve upon your problem

I totally agree. Sometimes I find it surprising how they don't know how to interpret such basic things.

Maybe they’ll add that lonely feeling to the third game, to really make it feel how lonely it is to have aerith gone…

I feel the cities being vibrant, full of life, and activities juxtaposed against the outside areas which are damn near post apocalyptic is perfect. It shows that not only Shinra but almost everybody doesn't care about the planet anymore. They prefer to stay cooped up in their little utopic pockets of the world. This is the reason Cosmo Canyon is now a tourist trap where only a few are there for the study of planetology. I get what you are saying but that's because the point the game is trying to make went right over your head. Hell after the FF16 the last thing I would want is another depressing world that a have no desire to save in the first place.

Well, to be fair, that is exactly why it is a remake and not a remaster. It is absolutely intentional that the world is more living, instead of that road of depression into despair of the original (disc1). The new tone has something positive to it: we see people we actually fight for and that they are worth fighting for. The original has not much shown in that regard (which was most likely because of the lack of technology at that time), we fight for our group and Marlene, other than that... well there is hardly any interaction

I'm so glad there are more people talking about this. The original FF7 is my favorite game of all time and a huge reason for that is the atmosphere. I saw a picture that just perfectly encapsulates the lack of style of the remake to the original game, it's a side by side comparison of the elevator Cloud takes in the first bombing mission. The difference is so striking that you just have to wonder what was going on in their heads when they made it.

You're so right about these differences. I think this approach towards making everything exciting reflects their attitude towards the trilogy as a whole. They aren't concerned with preserving the tone and imo the soul of the OG but instead "going all out" in every way. My second play through I wasn't very inclined to revisit any location in particular for some reason.. and I think you explained the reason why in this video.

While I agree to a degree, I also think there are many towns or places that WERE sad, or calm. For example in Junon , mount corel, or Gongaga. But I loved the atmosphere in the new game personally. And I felt the music really made a lot of the atmosphere

I dont think a lot of the original would work in today's rebirth. it'd make the game way smaller.

Thank you for this video. Rebirth is without a doubt my GOTY. But Ive been trying to figure out why I still think I prefer Remake in some ways. And you’re completely right it is the atmosphere and the world. The game is too exciting and crazy! Kalm is supposed to be CALM. And it becomes a crazy stealth mission. The boat becomes a festival when its supposed to be a horror movie. Costa del sol feels like a summer party when its supposed to be relaxing. They all look and sound amazing but you’re totally right.

I've seen a few people say this about the perceived somberness of the original FF7. I never got that vibe. At least nothing really felt somber until the City of the Ancients in the original, and then the overall vibe of the game shifted noticeably after Aerith's death. The artistic presentation in the original with the dull lighting and the pre-rendered backgrounds does create a less energetic feel, but that game was limited by the hardware it was running on. The contrast with the lighting in Rebirth with the Unreal engine's quirks is definitely stark, but I do think Rebirth is presented as the FF7 creators originally intended the world to feel. The swamp area, Nibelheim, and to a lesser extent Junon in Rebirth definitely had duller auras that I think you were more or less expecting. And I don't know if that type of lighting and color texture would translate well to the rest of the world in Rebirth. It would probably feel out of place. I think much of what you are pointing out is just fundamentally based on the differences in graphical hardware between the PS1 and today. All of that being said, the somber artistic elements you are looking for will probably be on display more in Remake part 3. The geographic regions of the ice caves, Iceicle Inn, and Northern Crater will definitely have less brightness in the lighting. And potentially Rocket Town will have a duller look depending on how rustic they chose to make it look. Edit - just to add one more important topic to think about, the FF7 community has brought in many more female players to the audience than anyone probably ever thought possible back in 1997. I think many decisions were made in Rebirth to help connect with that female audience. And that includes keeping the overall vibe a little more upbeat than a direct translation of the original's vibe presented in many instances. I personally don't think anything important or vital to FF7 was lost in that translation.

I have to agree as well, I did not play the OG but Remake was much more atmospheric than Rebirth. In a way, I wish we had much more areas to explore in Midgar, since its a very unique city you don't see often in video games. Rebirth on the other hand, the only atmospheric place that I could think of is the zone where Tifa and Cloud grew up and also the city where you have to attend the parade.

I think its a two part question. Did they have enough memory to execute everything they could on original hardware with just the amount of characters alone or did they want to take this in a separate direction? Obviously I can agree with your statement but that ship did it right. This was right after the induction of the new president. The Gold Saucer i feel was better with the juxtaposition of it being next to North Corel. While overall atmosphere in certain locations should have been more intense, i feel certain locations needed a new look to enhance what the original game couldnt do outside of music choice.

Finally someone gets it.

I wonder if the OG FF7 was more affected by the post bubble burst economic slump that Japan experienced in the mid nineties. That would make the juxtaposition of the gold saucer vs everywhere else seem more real. Tokyo Disneyland opened in the 80s so that’s a real world example. That’s also less noticeable and probably seems less relevant in today’s Japan, which will has some economic issues but has adjusted to a new reality since the mid 90s.