Reissued on Wednesday, July 13, 2022: Following the announcement of the PSPlus Extra and Premium lineups in July, this review will be reinstated from the archive. The original text is:
Well, I’m here. It’s finally time to review FINAL FANTASY VII Remake, and it’s surreal. I vividly remember the official announcement at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference, but the trailer still gives a goose bump. But since I actually played, is this a remake of the stone cold role-playing classic we’ve always wanted?
Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to that question. If you’re a big fan of the original FINAL FANTASY VII, this remake will definitely stir up some emotions. You can shake your spine by realizing its iconic character and the memorable city of Midgar in full 3D. In most cases, it’s clear that a lot of love has been put into this project.
However, FINAL FANTASY VII Remake is struggling to meet the enormous expectations placed on it.Easy to say Any The game will collapse in the face of such pressure, but sometimes remakes do not give themselves any benefit. As with FINAL FANTASY XV, some of them can be a bit confusing or go in the wrong direction. It is these moments that prevent FINAL FANTASY VII from returning to the world.
But let’s start with the facts.FINAL FANTASY VII Remake No A complete remake of FINAL FANTASY VII. It covers only the midgar part of the adventure (around the first 8 hours of the original release), but the entire story arc has been significantly expanded. In that sense, this is just the first game in Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY VII remake “series.” The name itself does not indicate this.
For now, I don’t know when the next article will come, but when it comes to its value, I think Remake feels like a complete game. No, it doesn’t cover the entire FINAL FANTASY VII story, but Square Enix has made it feel like it’s unique. It has a start, a middle, and an end, and it takes at least 25-30 hours to do it. 35-40 if you want to see and run everything the release offers.
Things start exactly like the original. An antisocial mercenary, Cloud Strife fights with the eco-warrior organization Avalanche to defeat the corrupt power company Shinra, who is dominated by an iron fist. The inclusive conflict between the avalanche and Shinra that fans remember remains the same, but certain plot points are investigated in much more detail and other entirely new scenarios are incorporated into the existing story. ..
Many of these fresh ideas bring a welcoming nuance to what was once a fairly simple story, but without compromising anything, this is not an exact replica of the 1997 classic. Changes have been made. Ultimately, I find it more interesting for Remake to try something else, but in the coming weeks there will inevitably be certain options that will be central to the hardcore debate.
All these results are clearly familiar retellings, but still somehow surprising. The quality of the cutscenes in the main story is excellent, and although the writing is undeniably cheap, the conversation is affectionate and attractive. The main playable casts (Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Aeris) are all almost perfect, even with anime-style growls and sighs.
Anyway, the storytelling of the whole main campaign is a lot of fun and is very simply underpinned by a particular scene that surprised us. Additional beats are only useful to enrich the experience. SQUARE ENIX could have easily eavesdropped on everything, but for now, the plot feels like it’s been respected. That said, the story probably doesn’t sound very good the first time you use FINAL FANTASY VII. The story relies heavily on nostalgia and may present a character, scene, or concept in a way that looks quite strange if it is completely blind.
Still, it’s one hell of a vehicle. We sometimes find that we are skeptical about the pace of the plot, but the game makes up for the moments pulled out in the last few chapters. The last third or so of the release is clearly the upper cut, which is relentlessly interesting.
Sadly, it’s not just the best Shinrabasting goodness for our pointed-haired heroes. “This is the worst,” said Cloud, who is looking for a lost cat in the slums of Midgar. You’re the right cloud, it’s terrible — so why are we doing this? This is a question I ask myself many times when performing Remake’s little-inspired side quests. The goals of these options are displayed each time the cloud and company arrive at a new settlement, and completing them will give you some neat rewards, such as unusual materia and equipment. Thankfully, there aren’t many tasks to perform. There are only about 20 in the whole game and it usually doesn’t take much time to complete, but it’s pretty wasteful unless it features a cool boss battle.
And this is where FINAL FANTASY VII remakes fail. It features some really mysterious designs. For example, the number of times you have to go through a gap in a wall, crawl under rubble, and slow down. slowly Border your way across the suspended boards of the parody’s wooden border.You climb So many The same ladder. Not all of these forced moves mask the loading screen, right?
Anyway, you don’t want FINAL FANTASY VII remake because it’s not shy and straight. The few outdoor environments are literally just the corridors you run into. There are no battles, cutscenes or interactivity. Keep pressing the stick until something is triggered. For the sake of clarity, most of the games aren’t like this — usually there are some branch paths with treasure chests, and combat encounters are pretty common — but the difference in level design quality is offensive. There is a possibility.
When it comes to quality, Remake has some of the best visuals on the PlayStation 4. Well, at least at some point in the main story. For example, the first bombing right after the game starts is great. Exploring sector 5 slums is less common. For some reason, Remake has a serious problem with environmental textures. You may not notice it because you’re casually jogging in the area, but it’s very difficult to miss a problem when chatting with a character you can’t play or sitting in a cutscene.
The texture is so bad that I honestly thought it was due to some kind of bug. But no, this is the look of the game. On both PS4 Pro and 4K TV, the surface may look terrible, as if it wasn’t loaded properly. We’re talking about PS2 level fidelity here, but that’s annoying. Again, remakes are a very linear adventure, so it’s hard to imagine what this would look like when the PS4 boasts so many gorgeous open world games. is. You can expect a patch to be applied to this issue.
Fortunately, in FINAL FANTASY VII Remake, many of its (almost) small flaws are forgotten when in the heat of battle. Its combat system combines free movement and one-button combos with pause menus and tactical commands. At first, it can take some time to wrap your head around how everything works, but when you click it, it becomes magical. In a way, this feels like an evolution of FINAL FANTASY’s trademark Active Time Battle system. Allows players to have more direct control over the party while maintaining the strategic advantages possible in turn-based combat.
When a competent AI processes an ally, you can control one character at a time and use the cross key to switch freely. Each combatant has its own unique sensibilities. Cloud is agile, but his giant sword bears the burden of blocking and countering incoming hits. Barrett is slow, but catastrophic in range thanks to his gun arm. Tifa is very fast, but she needs to chain unique attacks in order to do the most damage. It’s easy for everyone to understand, but there’s a surprising amount of depth when it comes to mastering the potential of each party member.
Combat is arguably one of the greatest strengths of remakes. Hitting weaknesses with elemental spells, quitting the last second heel, and staggering enemies at the perfect time are very satisfying, and in the best encounters in the game, everything comes together. Introducing an excellent system. Especially the boss battle is outstanding. They offer stunning sights and fierce tactical combat over and over again.
In fact, remakes are quite tricky. There are many encounters that require attention and a good understanding of many tools at your disposal, but you can always switch to “easy” if you run into problems. There is also a mysteriously named “classic” mode. In this mode, when you issue a command, the party moves and automatically performs a basic attack. Curiously, however, “Classic” doesn’t stick to the default difficulty. Instead, it reduces the difficulty to “easy”. This is a bit disappointing for those who want a more turn-based feel but don’t want to reduce the overall challenge. More options would be nice.
Connecting battles is a character’s progress, which is also a highlight. FINAL FANTASY VII’s stunning materia system still remains, allowing you to fully customize your party’s abilities. Materia Orbs can be found throughout the game and can be slotted in gear to provide status boosts or give your character access to magic. The remake also allows some materia to change the set action. For example, you can use “Deadly Dodge” to wipe out melee attacks after performing a role. Playing with materia and trying out powerful combinations is still a great pleasure.
And there is a whole new weapon upgrade system. In the remake, each character gets some weapons with their own strengths and weaknesses. Some weapons facilitate physical attacks, and upgrades increase their strength. Others are focusing on materia-based upgrades and can put additional orbs in slots. The bottom line is that this new system gives you the freedom to create your own party. You can turn the cloud into a gangster’s main wizard with the right sword. Or you can speed up until you see Tifa’s onslaught endlessly. The upgrade tree isn’t large, but it still has a significant impact on how you play and can quickly become addicted as soon as it branches.
Final Fantasy VII Remake combat and the systems that support it bring the whole experience together. Especially when chasing side quests, especially if the quality of the main story isn’t enough. But there’s another component that acts as an adhesive, the soundtrack. In short, the remake music is great. Many of the original themes and songs are here, but they are all beautifully and beautifully reworked.
