Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PS4
Tested on: PS4
Final Fantasy VII: Remake – Review
It is here, what else is there to say? The original Final Fantasy VII is one of the fan favorites in the franchise, so we are honored to review the remake. If you haven’t heard of the Final Fantasy VII Remake yet, you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years. It’s one of the most hyped, anticipated remakes that got attention, amazement, some delays, and more! So let’s go and see what all this waiting has brought us.
Story
The Final Fantasy VII Remake essentially tells the same story as the original Final Fantasy VII. It all starts with a young mercenary named Cloud who is hired to protect a rebelling group. This group has planned to blow up a reactor in the dystopian city of Midgar, where the planet’s life energy (named Mako) is being pumped up for corporate gains. The evil company of Shinra has a monopoly over this life energy and has plans that the rebels don’t even know about, causing them, as well as Cloud, to spiral down a crazy adventure.
While a lot of the remade game stays tastefully true to the original story that people got to know and love, the story sometimes also sidetracks and makes up new things. By doing so, this version of Final Fantasy VII really allows each and every character to take up a little bit of the spotlight and dramatically put themselves out there in the way that Final Fantasy XV also told its stories. The game has an extensive amount of cutscenes, as well as a lot of in-game conversations and side quests. In a good way, like more parts of this review will conclude, this remake is actually a big fan service game that’s more than a remake. One could say it’s a giant love letter to Final Fantasy VII, but also to a lot of good that came after it.
Graphics
Visually it’s all amazing. The characters come to life while playing, as well as during the cutscenes, making the entire game feel like a cinematic experience. It’s great to see how the imagined world of Final Fantasy VII comes to life with all this detail and lighting going on. It’s the small details that make you say: ‘’wait, I remember this from the original!’’, and the big picture that makes you stand still to admire the view every now and then. The only minor flaw the game has visually is that bigger crowds of NPCs and some backdrops feel a bit lifeless, where they look a bit flattened in their movements and models.
Sound
Final Fantasy is a series that’s also known for its very popular soundtrack. It’s a soundtrack like Square Enix manages to successfully implement in multiple games. Orchestral, big, and because it’s a remaster, in this case also recognizable. Sometimes it’s there in your face, sometimes it’s hidden in the small details. Details such as when Barret, one of the main protagonists, hums the well-known victory tune in celebration of success out of nowhere. The game also allows you to search for records to play on a jukebox when available, making you a collector of the music within the game.
Aside from the music, the main characters (and others) have an amazing voice actor to back them up as well. Combine it all with anime-like flashes, slashes, moans, and cheers, and you know you can rest assured that the quality Final Fantasy VII Remastered will deliver is, once again, top-notch and then some.
Gameplay
The biggest point of critique from those following the remake was that the combat system got an overhaul, making it different from the memories of life-long fans. Originally, FF7 is a turn-based combat RPG. This means that you waited for a bar to fill up for each character, and queued up different combat or supportive actions for each character in your party. As soon as it would be their turn, they would perform those actions. Timing and chance were a big gameplay element because the enemy would also get turns in-between your actions, so you would want to put in your choices as fast as you could. The FF7 remake is different. Just for those nostalgic players the game still has the option to use the old combat system, but the new mechanics are designed like an action-adventure game.
Largely this means the game plays a lot like a more mature Kingdom Hearts game. You will mainly play as Cloud, who has a giant sword, but you can also switch to other members of your party which can come in handy for i.e. ranged attacks where Cloud can’t reach enemies. By running around and smashing the standard attack button you deal damage and build up special actions. These actions you can then use to use an item such as a healing potion, perform a special combat ability, or cast a spell. Choosing each action wisely is a large part of the key to victory in battles as you quickly find yourself running out of actions as you try to keep your health up and deal the correct type of (elemental) damage to an enemy as well.
This all works fine mostly, and it’s an interesting approach that especially in bigger fights will ask some of your patience and wits to get through. Because the original fighting system is still intact as well, it doesn’t really matter which one you prefer, which is a smart move from Square Enix. That being said, only your active character really builds up useable actions the way you would want them to. The others seem to lack the incentive to do their best, making the AI during fights a bit of a bummer. This can be largely fixed though by often switching characters and finding a structure that works for you. When picking an action, the game is slowed down by ninety-nine percent or so, giving you some time to make tactical decisions and watch your characters do their best in slow-motion. Then, there are also the classic Limit Breaks and Summons, all-powerful attacks that are rare and might help you shift your fate to staying alive. It works surprisingly well together, and it’s cool to see how the game got an innovation this way.
For some players though, another minor flaw might be that the game feels really linear where the other Final Fantasy games (VII, VIII) might have given you way more freedom. Also, it really holds your hand in not missing out on any goodies and finding your way through complicated lay-outs. Normally you could build your characters their levels and skills by grinding monsters on vast plains that were there for you to explore, while the remake has the tendency to throw you on a narrow path and make you encounter a lot of monsters that are divided in square rooms that you will come across. Objectively it’s in no way a bad change, but it’s still a pretty big difference that some might not enjoy.
Conclusion
The Final Fantasy VII Remake is great and was worth the wait. Yes, it’s somewhat linear and it’s not exactly the same as the original, but it pours a lot of love for the franchise and such a remarkable job has been done on the story, graphics, and general gameplay, that any minor flaws can be forgotten about, allowing this game to become a memorable addition for new players and fans alike.
Final Fantasy VII: Remake - Review,
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