Precisely this -- I don't remember anyone complaining that the FS2020 install size was too large, even if its install size was the butt of a few good-natured jokes. They've solved a problem that didn't exist and in doing so have turned FS into an always online internet-connected live service instead of a game. I'm not touching this game with a 40 foot aileron until an offline mode of some quality exists.
n1ck_n4m3
joined 7 months ago
User reviews are suspect.
This is one of the reasons I'm glad that Steam started cracking down on reviews that were just some stupid ASCII art and reviews that were just one big joke -- neither of them help people understand whether a game is good and there's just so much of that trash in the reviews. It's a small change but so far it's been positive.
I think it's stupid as hell for Square to have not released this on PC at the same time as they did on PS5, locking to a single console is a poor choice especially when that console is as expensive as the PS5 is and has as few exclusives as the PS5 does.
With that in mind though, "a single game" is somewhat of a misnomer. The original FF7 took about 40 hours to play from start to finish, and about 80 hours if you wanted to really 100% everything. FF7 Remake took about 40 hours to play from start to finish, and about 80 hours if you want to really 100% everything.
Is the root of your concern that you're paying too much for too little gameplay? Considering rebirth takes about 50-60 hours to beat and ~80-100 hours to 100%, I don't understand the criticism.
If the answer is that you expected over 100 hours of base gameplay for $70, the problem isn't with Square-Enix, imo. That's before taking however long the 3rd game takes to beat into account, as well (which according to the devs is going to be at minimum the same length as rebirth -- bringing it to over 150 hours of base gameplay for the trilogy.) I think expecting 150 hours of base gameplay in a single purchase for a story-driven JRPG is unrealistic. The only JRPGs that come close would be Disgaea and Persona 5 Royal, and I'd argue that the production costs on both of those are significantly lower because of their art style and the way that story is presented in both.
That said, on flip side, the joy of these games eventually coming out on PC means if you wait long enough, you'll be able to get all 3 and DLC for like $50 total, so there are options for everyone.
Sure, but it had an offline mode and had a base level globe that was downloaded when the game was installed that you could use immediately and didn't require live cloud connectivity in order for basic functionality to work. Additionally, it allowed you to pre-download large chunks of high detailed land for offline use as well.