I’ve seen footage of wide open areas in the game, but I don’t know if that footage is misleading or not. The game has a menu-based map, so does that mean each area is small and linear like the bog section in the demo? Or are you able to explore and find new areas on your own? How does the structure of the game compare to the structure of FF7 Remake?
I can only speak to the portions of the game I have played so far ( I just finished Main Mission 13, maybe 5-6 hours in total) but it’s very linear so far. Each area is basically a straight path you follow, I honestly haven’t even found many places where you can diverge from the path just for extra treasure or the like.
It could very well open up more later on like XIII did, but it’s not open at all so far. There is a side quest system that could definitely lend itself to more of an open-world exploration feeling. I only have seen two sidequests that are given to you when that system is first introduced, so I can’t speak as to how common they are yet.
Of what you’ve seen so far, what % of your time with the game is gameplay vs story/cutscene?
30/70 maybe? The pacing has actually felt totally fine, I don’t think there has been any moments where I felt the cutscenes were dragging out too long or dungeon sections went on for too long.
Cutscenes are definitely very prominent so far. I’d say like 70/30 or 60/40 gameplay cutscene. I think there’s more gameplay than cutscene but it’s still a lot of cutscene so far.
Sounds like too much for me, thanks for the report!