The long awaited Final Fantasy 7 remake that no one actually believed will be ever made came through, and oh boy did it slay all my doubts about this game! Square Enix absolutely dropped the bomb from writing to world design and interaction with said world! I mean, the detail that is in this game is quite spectacular! It is 2020 and oh boy, they were not afraid to use all the technology available here!
At the start of this adventure we get to explore a lot of the areas we saw in the demo but just a lot more of it! The game while not gigantic it is extremely fleshed out with detail! The layout is something I could compare it to Yakuza Kiwami where it is a sort of semi open world, with some restrictions and smaller areas! Environmentally the game has some amazing areas later in the game that just really impress in terms of size and magnitude!
The cramped, lived down almost claustrophobic scenery confounds of downtown, where people are on the street in groups talking about the economic failure, bankruptcy, some complaining about their living situation, while others crying near the wall in loss of hope, with the odd one just plainly puking up in some dark corner after one too many! It really is an example of an amazingly detailed world design, making each individual feel unique and very much alive! Later the amazing oppressed looking industrial facilities really give context to what the civilians were complaining about! It is clear the leadership is not a very democratic one!
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Experiencing this game after playing the original so long ago really is like a pop-up book from your childhood! A nostalgic graphically updated 3D adventure, that previously you only seen in the realm of 2D really is quite breathtaking, and it shows the love and appreciation the devs placed into this game! All environments are fully fleshed out and some are even recognisable from the previous 2D adventure! It really is astonishing to think what the designers managed to achieve with the information they had, and they created these beautiful level designs!
Although beautiful, the level designs can be a little restrictive and narrow. This is more clear on certain levels where the open world feeling is completely taken away as all you have is narrow corridors to navigate with an amazing views in the background that you never really get to explore which definitely as a blow, creating a Deus Ex Human Revolution vibe where you see all these cool stuff but never get to explore it! Thankfully there’s plenty of combat all over the game which makes it just plain fun!
There are not many collectibles here, and hidden items are… not very hidden making them quite easy to find on your first exploration! This means that when you have to backtrack for a sidequest, or an optional task, these areas become bland and plain leaving nothing to do but to run across to get to your destination! When this happens the third or fourth time, it can actually feel repetitive and boring!
Final Fantasy 7 remake made some bold moves here, arguably to expand the game mechanics and make it more commercial for other people to join in! The major changes that got people talking straight away was the combat! Rather than the original turn-based strategic and thought out combat, now it is a real time system! I have to admire Square Enix’s reimagination of that combat system in the modern world! Mid-combat time slows down, making you able to choose weapons, attacks resources etc. then you can plan your attack and execution! The strategically based throughout combat the original had still strikes through as the meat of the system, however it feels more responsive and adrenaline boosting thanks to the real time event, where you are never taken out of the scenario and never lose that feeling of being a badass!
Here you can’t just mash the attack button like in hack and slash games! Game mechanics are put in place to actively discourage this, and play strategically! For example, all enemies have stagger meters. Once these meters are filled they take extra damage and with the right combos, they are more easily taken down. Now the clever thing here is that every enemy staggers in a different and unique way, and it is up to you to experiment and find out all enemy types’ stagger points and weaknesses if you are to defeat them and be effective in combat, especially when faced with a multiple variety of enemies!
The Boss fights are no exception here! All bosses have stagger points, and weak points that can be exploited, however bosses have multiple phases. Each phase comes with it’s own stagger point and defense system! The longer you take to take a boss down, the more challenging will get as the Boss AI adapts to what you do! It really is an engaging system where combat always stays fresh!
There are many weapons in this version Final Fantasy, and team management is extremely flexible! There are ‘materia’ orbs and upgradeable weapons, which are the two main components of damage upgrades! ‘Materia’ orbs can be attached to weapons to give the buffs like magic or cool-down abilities! Weapon upgrades simply make your weapons deal more damage and in some cases, enhance certain combos!
Final Fantasy 7 remake reinvents the original in many ways, however, there was one major concern of mine! The chapterly based release of this game! Now this remake covers the first act of the original 1997 Final Fantasy 7. This for me was a low blow and made me feel like this title will be more like a cash grab more than anything! I was very sceptical, but oh my, all of that has been put to rest I can assure you! Here the first act of the original has been expanded to a full game that took me a little over 43 hours to complete! The game has been filled with hours of character and world building meaning, these re imagined characters are relatable, and loveable, with their own unique quirks and problems, the interaction between the team is amazing and charming, sometimes even heartbreaking! The lore is so fleshed out, more so than in any of the Final Fantasy games, and the music, oh my god the music… Accurately representing each area, with ambient and orchestral soundtracks when the action starts the heavier drum beat sci-fi fantasy rock with a bit of electronic themed ideas added to it, this game really wouldn’t be the same without the score!
The cutscenes are both well produced and well voice acted. Due to the great writing and the engaging robust story I always felt entertained and loved to learn new things about Wedge, Biggs and Jessie. Wallace and Strife having small banter, and Jessie’s complete thirst for Strife was quite up front but all the more fun!
Now it has to be said that Final Fantasy is by no means perfect, and there are a few bothering things about this remake! One being, the filler content! And there is so much of it! Like so, so much of it! One moment you are battling this multi mega ton huge boss in an attempt to push forward with your team of freedom fighters, against the corporate and the next you are helping this kid find their lost kittens… What?
The particle effects in the combat are quite rightly insane, in fact the United Kingdom’s New Years Fireworks are put to shame here! With more colours on the screen than your fully upgraded RGB Gaming PC, the visual feedback from the combat really is satisfying, with bigger particle effects the more combos you carry out the more this visual flare lights up validating your badassery (if that’s even a word).
Character Designs for the main characters are flawless with charming face impressions, and great animation. Cutscenes are vast in size and ambition and it is nailed perfectly. As the story develops characters evolve and cutscenes get a grand focus, and it all comes down to the excellent balance between action, drama, cliche and the climactic final hours of this chapter.
Now it must be mentioned, side characters and random NPCs you can interact with and talk too, did not get this attention, in fact, it is almost as if the game developer looked at them after a few pints and just nodded waiting to go get some more! The contrast of detail between the main characters and the side characters are huge, and not to say the side characters look terrible however because the main ones look so good, it really puts the focus on it!
Also has to be said that some textures, dear me, in some areas look like it came out of a 1st year university project, where experimentation went horribly wrong! It really is a hit and miss as these poor textures are consistent throughout the game in some areas yet in other areas texture work is absolutely phenomenal! Without speculating too much it would be fair to assume that there was a split in task between two teams and one was clearly either more well supervised or just plainly had more experience, as I find it hard to believe it was budgetary restrictions as some rumour has it!
Overall this is a solid remake, and a great JRPG even if you are not familiar with the franchise! It is a ton of fun to play, the characters are well written, the story is robust and well told and the pacing of the game felt right, even when it was slowed down by some of the repetitive quests, overall it was still impactful and it didn’t ruin my experience!
There will be a follow up critique as my reviews are always based on 1 playthrough and from the perspective of the gamer! The critique will cover more technical analysis and more detailed explanation of what I think Final Fantasy 7 as a whole package is!
Final Verdict is 7/10 Pleasant Nostalgic Experience with very cool gameplay features and a solid JRPG adventure!
-NorbsTechnicallyGaming
Another Gaming Journalist 