Coates
(for Reunion R06z)
This project began as a completely self-imposed class challenge for Final Fantasy VII within the vanilla framework of The Reunion -- a player would simply consult a document which specified what characters could and could not do in the game, but the game files themselves remained as in vanilla Reunion. While we have since been able to edit game files so that most of the restrictions in this class challenge are handled by the game engine, a few restrictions must still be handled by the user -- such restrictions are spelled out in the Detailed Guide and the Quick Start Guide.
Over time, we have also found reasons (or excuses!) to make further changes to the game, including (but not limited to): character growth, new spells, new materia, new items, new Enemy Skills, new weapons, and tweaks to existing items, weapons, armours, accessories, spells, summons, materia, enemy loot, and field loot. So while this is a class challenge at its core, it's grown into a bit more along the way.
This is not a hardcore difficulty mod -- indeed, the difficulty is intended to be close to that of vanilla FF7. Certain end game content -- Ruby Weapon, Emerald Weapon, and the Battle Arena -- may prove quite a bit more difficult due to the various restrictions placed on what characters can and cannot equip.
DOWNLOAD CURRENT VERSION: v1.02 (10 February 2024)
A HUGE thanks to postscriptthree for significant hext file help ahead of v1.00, and for fixing some menu item behavior for v1.01!
Shout out to Qhimm user Nikkolas for spotting a game breaking bug in v1.00!
Special thanks to Sega Chief for providing a solution to this bug for version 1.01!
Special thanks to petfriendamy for some hext code for version 1.02!
See the changelog for full details on what's new/tweaked for version 1.02!
Coates is currently compatible only with The Reunion, but we may expand compatibility in the future!
The Quick Start Guide is almost spoiler-free for those who want to explore on their own, but contains essential information for game play.
The Detailed Guide contains many spoilers. Consider yourself warned!
The Detailed Guide does not contain a walkthrough. With any luck, we'll put one of those together in the near future.
Quick Highlights (as of version 1.02. Some spoilers follow!)
CLASSES: Each character is given a class which corresponds (roughly) to one or more classes from other FF titles. Each class comes with its own set of restrictions on available armours, accessories, materia, and commands (both in and out of battle).
Cloud: Mystic Knight (Property Attack & Property Defense)
Barrett: Knight (Strong Constitution & Defense, Covers Allies, Piercing Guns, Basic Healing)
Tifa: Monk (Multiple Hits, Counterattacks, Some Status Defense, Limited Self Healing)
Aerith: Sage (All Magic & Summons, Strong Magic & Magic Defense)
Red XIII: Red Mage (Competent Fighter, Most Black Magic, All White Magic, Double Magic)
Yuffie: Thief/Ninja (Strong Agility, Stealing, Morphing, Throwing, Double Item)
Cait Sith: Blue Mage (Enemy Skills, Manipulation)
Vincent: Black Mage/Summoner (All Black Magic & Summons, Double Summon)
Cid: Tactician (Status Attack & Status Defense, HP Absorb)
ADJUSTED GROWTH
Characters will grow in ways which should complement their classes.
Each character begins the game with flat bonuses applied to key statistics according to their classes.
Generally speaking, maximum values for statistics are lower overall with respect to vanilla game.
Characters should use Limit Breaks more often and gain access to Limit Breaks more quickly than in the vanilla game.
EQUIPMENT ADJUSTMENTS
Adjusted materia slots for weapons and armours.
All weapons now feature at least normal materia growth.
Barrett's weapons ignore defence and all but one are now long range.
Ultimate Weapons no longer use special damage formulae.
Secret Relic Weapons for curious explorers.
A few weapons, including Ultimate Weapons, feature increased attack power.
Most weapons have had their hidden statistics bonuses halved.
Weapons only apply bonuses to a character's skill statistics.
Most armours have had their hidden statistics bonuses halved.
All armours now feature at least normal materia growth.
Most accessories feature reduced bonuses to statistics.
ITEMS
Ethers now restore less MP.
Sources replaced by six new healing items: Potion+, High Potion+, Mega Potion, Mega Potion+, High Ether, Dry Ether
Two new explosive items have been introduced: Nail Bomb & Pipe Bomb
BLACK & WHITE MAGIC: Casting black & white magic is now, in general, more expensive relative to maximum MP.
This challenge features eight main Properties: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth, Wind, Water, Poison, Gravity.
Each of these Properties has three tiers of spells available.
New high-tier Black Magic spells: Scourge & Scathe
SUMMONS: Calling summons is now, in general, more expensive relative to maximum MP.
Minor changes have been made to Chocobo, Odin, Kujata, Typhon.
ENEMY SKILLS: Using Enemy Skills is now, in general, more expensive relative to maximum MP.
Magic Hammer returns less MP.
New Property-based Enemy Skills: Whiteout, Temblor, Mistral, Blight, Lasers, Cacophony
New Non-Property-based Enemy Skills: Stare, Lv2 Bad Breath
New Defensive & Curative Enemy Skills: Bulwark, Tonic Shower, Divine Zephyr
Enemy Skill distribution has been adjusted for balance. Some enemy attacks adjusted accordingly.
MATERIA
Many materia carry new or different spells relative to vanilla FF7.
AP adjustments have been made to several materia.
New Plus materia: Strength Plus, Vitality Plus, Intellect Plus
Materia bonuses & penalties (when equipped) have, in general, been reduced to encourage Materia use.
Spoilers may abound in the example images below. Some images feature nonstandard character names. Pictures also feature SYW textures, Kaldarasha models, and Orichalcon's Vanilla Theme Upscaled Interface (VTUI).
