Final Fantasy VII Remake Review

Final Fantasy VII Remake
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Reviewed on: PlayStation 4
Available on: PlayStation 4

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From the moment Final Fantasy VII was used to demo the graphics capability of the PlayStation 3, long-time fans of the game, which was originally released in 1997 on the PlayStation, were determined to see it remade with all the modern bells and whistles the PlayStation 3 had to offer. That demo was nearly fifteen years ago, though, and now after almost two full generations of video games and hardware, Final Fantasy VII fans have finally gotten the remake we’ve been wanting.

Well. Sort of.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is just a small portion of the original game- one that doesn’t even leave its Midgar setting. Despite Square Enix taking a more unconventional, episodic route with this iconic game, Final Fantasy VII Remake (for the most part) hits its traditional, narrative beats, sees the return of classic characters, and is jam-packed with content, seeing as how my personal completion of the game clocked in at around forty-five hours. While there are plenty of creative liberties taken with the story, especially near the end of the game, Final Fantasy VII Remake still holds up as a title that can be appreciated and enjoyed by original fans of the game, as well as newcomers.

In the months leading up to the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix began to showcase the new combat system and gameplay, both of which were built from the ground up. The shots of Cloud killing his enemies in quick succession might have looked intense in Square’s gameplay videos, but it isn’t until you experience the game for yourself that you truly understand just how exhilarating and how unique this new style of combat is throughout the entire game.

Gone are the days of Final Fantasy VII’s rigid, turn-based style of combat. Instead, we have a robust system that is more loose, offers an impressive amount of freedom, and one that can be easily adjusted to a player’s style as the game progresses. Enemies that roam the world can be seen from a short distance, and once battle is engaged, the character who you’ve selected as the leader of your party immediately becomes playable, unless a particular character is traveling solo at that moment. Once battle is engaged, your display of commands- Abilities, Spells, and Items- are neatly available on the left-hand side of the screen and offer a variety of options for players to use in battle.

How and when you use those Abilities and Spells is entirely up to you, with any smartly-played combination capable of winning the fight for your entire party; and the great thing about Final Fantasy VII Remake’s combat is that its level of freedom doesn’t sacrifice the need for a solid strategy. If anything, the sheer amount of freedom forces you to be even more strategic.

During combat, players can freely switch between the characters that are in their party, with each character offering their own unique abilities and strengths. In the heat of the battle, it’s up to players to quickly decide the character that’s needed and which of their skills or weapons can be most effective. When choosing a method of attack from the Commands Bar, time doesn’t stop, but it does slow significantly, which offers just enough time for you to get your bearings while still thinking about your next move.

Take enough damage during battle, and the limit gauge in the display on the right-hand side of the screen will fill enough for your characters to unleash a powerful attack. As you make progress in the game and acquire Skill Points (SP), this can be used to upgrade weapons.

Similar to the original game, Materia is at the heart Final Fantasy VII Remake’s mechanics and combat progression. The various orbs of Materia can be acquired throughout Midgar- either found in chests, purchased from vending machines, or given to Cloud by a researcher named Chadley; and any orb can all be applied to either weapons or accessories, and leveled up for a much stronger impact during battle.

Because there are so many varieties of Materia, the choices of which ones to equip on a particular character were a bit overwhelming during certain battles. Looking back on my time with Final Fantasy VII Remake, I got the most use out of my Magic Materia, due to my primarily offensive style of gameplay. However, it wasn’t without trial and error and several lost battles that I finally found a style that was right for me…and realized that some Materia (I’m mostly looking at you, Barrier) was doing absolutely nothing for me.

There’s also a bit of a weird learning curve for Final Fantasy VII Remake’s combat system, one that I think puts new players and fans of the original game on an even playing field. Because the game’s new style of combat is so open and detailed, Square Enix overcompensates for this in the very beginning of the game by bombarding you with tutorials, tips on how to play, and what each selection in the menu means. I’m a big fan of “less is more” when firing up a new game, especially when some of the tips and tutorials err of the side of breaking what should be an immersive experience. The tutorials in Final Fantasy VII Remake aren’t unnecessary, per se, but it was definitely a lot to take in for the first hour or so.

At the start of the game and for the first several chapters afterward, the world of Final Fantasy VII Remake seems sprawling, especially for those first hours I spent in Sector 7 and in the Wall Market of Sector 6, taking on new quests, talking to NPCs, and simply exploring. It’s through exploration that you realize the game has an excellent environmental design. From the winding streets of the Sector slums, to the sleek and futuristic-looking floors of the Shinra headquarters, the game is brimming with things to discover and marvel at, with some important items being easily missable if you don’t take a moment to check out your new surroundings.

There comes a point in the game, though, where the narrative and, by default, the world becomes heavily linear and begins to feel much smaller than in the first half of the game. Part of that is due to events that take place in the story, certainly, but as the game progresses, you reach several “points of no return”, where you’re only allowed to go as far as the narrative of that particular chapter allows. In my play through, the game taking on a more linear approach impacted my ability to sufficiently level up Cloud and gain sufficient Skill Points to make my weapon stronger, making me feel extremely ill-prepared for the final chapter.

During my play through, there came a point where I wished I could go back and do more. I entered the final part of the game on level 34, which I think is pretty standard for any normal progression through the game, but I’d definitely recommend being a few, or more, levels higher. My biggest suggestion to those who haven’t played yet, would be to take full advantage of Don Corneo’s coliseum in Wall Market before entering the latter parts of the game.

Final Fantasy VII Remake isn’t without its share of glitches. In one instance, when I selected Tifa’s Dolphin Flurry Limit ability, she froze and I had to quickly switch back to Cloud. I also encountered a pretty damaging glitch during Chapter 11, which I wrote about in detail here. During the Chapter 11 Ghoul fight, the battle abruptly shifted to a cutscene, and afterward I couldn’t move any farther than the confined space my characters were trapped in. Multiple times I returned to the title screen and tried to restart, but the game would simply load the glitch. Had I not been manually saving my progress periodically, I would have lost a large chunk of my nearly twenty hours of gameplay at the time.

My game also suffered from several, strange lighting issues, as seen in the picture of Cloud above. In many instances, which I mostly noticed when Cloud emerged from buildings, the background of the world would appear completely whitened out, looking almost like the early stages of concept art.

Thankfully, the glitches and the lighting didn’t negatively impact my overall experience with Final Fantasy VII Remake- although it might have, had the glitch in Chapter 11 set me back more than two hours. I enjoyed playing through this fresh, new take on such an iconic game, and there are some great story moments in it, re-imagined for a modern era of games, that made me remember why I loved the original in the first place.

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Final Thoughts:

Final Final Fantasy VII Remake is an excellent reimagining of the original game, one that can be appreciated by fans both old and new. Classic characters have been re-designed with care and even more depth, and the fresh combat system offers a variety of freedom, while still allowing players to think strategically.