act two: what it is to feel a game

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything and that's for several reasons. Mainly, I've been busy staying in touch with the people I love and working two jobs, not to mention I have hobbies and whatnot. But in more significant news, one of the head honchos over at Square-Enix advised us gamers to download Final Fantasy VII from the Playstation Network and keep busy playing that...for now. Obviously a Final Fantasy VII remake has been sought after since like...three years after the freakin' game originally released for the Playstation, and more and more hype began to saturate the masses as Advent Children, Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, and Before Crisis came out, now the New Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Playstations and complete editions of Advent Children...well I digress.

I have always been right in the front lines chanting that I want a Final Fantasy VII remake...and until I really thought about it earlier today, that's always been one of the dreams that I had hoped Square-Enix would unveil. See, I've realized something about games, or anything in general. I've realized that certain games, I will use games for my example considering that's my main focus, convey very, very, very particular feelings, emotionally, to gamers. Everything from the subtle music quality to the color pallettes used throughout the game all build this emotional vibe. Some things are so discrete that we can't even outwardly convey them. Creating a remake of Final Fantasy VII, even given they decided to literally just regenerate all the old settings, music, and whatnot, would still not have the absolute feeling, that I got when I first played as Cloud as he hopped out of a train and aided AVALANCHE in their first trek to blow up a Mako reactor.

I love games for that, they represent a certain time in life when they were important to the developers or gamers. Like whenever I play Heavenly Sword or Uncharted, I get taken back to when I got my Playstation 3 in the fall and it's just an exhilerating feeling.

I'm still digressing, heh. Moving on! I think I'd almost be just as satisfied with a sequel to Final Fantasy VII, not that I want that...at all, trust me. But I just won't have the same feelings I get playing the original even with it's terrible looking gameplay graphics. Honestly, that's probably the only part that dated horribly. But see, given a game's faults, or aging difficulties, it still captures, or atleast captured a certain feeling at the time when you played it. Even games that appear to be devoid of any real emotional attachment can induce similar responses, such as Uncharted, which is more of an action game than anything else.

Beyond the less complex ideas that, "Dark colors create a more melancholic experience." or "Upbeat soundtracks keep a fast-paced feel." there are underlying factors that take place without you or I to identify them by. Events, settings, and music that speak to some of us in certain ways that can't be duplicated and by enhancing them, you might lose the true sensation it gave in the beginning. Actually, I think a huge factor in how we feel the games we play is in the introduction of new settings, characters, and events. You may have seen an action sequence before, but you've never seen one under these conditions. Though it is a stretch, I do believe we, or at least I, attribute games in their entirety to feelings dependent on where I am in my life, who I'm with, and every other aspect of my life. It's another way to escape our real world. Kind of empathize with a character or just let a game completely envelope you. Let it be the thing you talk about with your coworkers for the next few days. Isn't that another great part about games?

I suppose I could be the only one who devotes this much time in identifying these hidden feelings. Maybe I'm that emo kid in the corner who swears nobody understands him. Haha, but I feel that I'm not the only one. No wait, I can't be the only one...if you could focus your attention to the right please, bingo!

In conclusion, I've realized that maybe I just don't want a remake, it may not benefit me in any way. I suppose it'd be relatively cool to witness some of the cooler or more dramatic moments in HD with a 32" LCD television. But would it really regenerate the feelings I have for the original? Not a chance in hell. Regardless of what Square-Enix does, the result will still, inevitably, remain the same: I will either fork over sixty hard-earned dollars to them in the event they make it, or I will dole out that same amount of cash for something else they create...in the end, they win.