Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 4
I sometimes wonder if Square Enix regrets that tech demo from 2005 which teased fans with the potential of a Final Fantasy VII Remake.
The demo was just meant to show off the power of the Crystal Tools Engine but instead it created a movement that would not be stopped. Fans of the classic PS1 RPG got a taste of what a remake could be like, and now the rest is history. The Final Fantasy VII Remake is fully operational and the masses will have their chance to play it this week.
I imagine in that moment and in the years that followed there was some regret on Square Enix’s end; but that tech demo is what started all this, and if the decade plus of fan requests is what was needed to make Final Fantasy VII Remake happen, then there’s nothing for them to be regretful about anymore. The game is an absolute masterpiece and has kicked off a franchise that will be the center of the JRPG world for the foreseeable future.
Note on spoilers: This review will be free of any major plot spoilers but will discuss some aspects of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s plot and gameplay. If you’d like to be 100% blind going in, we suggest not reading any further.
The most important thing that anyone that is reading this review needs to takeaway is that Final Fantasy VII Remake is not a 1:1 retelling of the original game. Anyone who has followed the news over the years is at least somewhat aware of that and that the story as a whole is going to be told across multiple games.
After all, how could this be a full-length game that takes place entirely in the Midgar section in the original if it didn’t have new content? That said, even with that knowledge going in, I was pretty surprised about how everything played out when it was all said and done.
I expected additional dialogue and some new story content, and maybe a few minor-ish changes here and there to pad things out a bit and subvert expectations. That definitely happened, but all of it was cranked up to an 11. Depending on your tolerance to things being at all different, this could be a dream come true or a nightmare. I found it to be somewhere in the middle but definitely towards the side of it being overall a positive and beneficial thing. Allow me to give you a few examples of the stuff that were objectively good.
One aspect of the original story that benefits the most from the changes in the remake is by far the relationship between Aerith and Cloud, and just Aerith’s character development in general.
Aerith feels way more naturally integrated into the story now and some of the most memorable moments in Final Fantasy VII Remake, at least for me, were basically any time Cloud and Aerith were alone. She gets way more screen time and her personality is far more developed now.
She is charming, kind, witty, sarcastic, and that all shines through in Final Fantasy VII Remake in a way that didn’t in the original. Also, the chemistry between Cloud and Aerith is far stronger in the remake.
Many, including myself, felt that the Cloud-Aerith relationship in the original felt forced and rushed, so much so that many people ship Tifa and Cloud instead. I think even the most loyal Team Tifa members, of which I used to be a card carrying member of before playing the remake, should at least revisit their position after playing through the remake.
The Avalanche crew, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge, are treated like major characters and Final Fantasy VII Remake’s laser focus on the Midgar portion of the original affords them a lot more time to shine.
Jessie is a huge flirt, Biggs is a capable right-hand man, and Wedge is a loyal and friendly follower that works twice as hard in order to pull his weight despite not being as naturally gifted as anyone else on the team. When bad things happen to them I actually cared this time around, whereas in the original I had basically forgotten they had existed by the time I reached the end of the game.
There’s also a ton of foreshadowing of what’s to come later in the game, and even in future parts, that wasn’t present in the original. For me at least, this was another example of a change being for the better in Final Fantasy VII Remake. I don’t want to get into the specifics for obvious spoilerific reasons, but new players should feel more blown away and less confused by some of the big twists when they presumably happen down the road.
The writing and voice acting for the characters are improved from previous Final Fantasy games as well. I can’t sit here and tell you that it’s as good as games like Red Dead Redemption 2 or God of War, but it’s definitely the best effort Square Enix has put together in that department, since well, ever. Moments where the writing and voice acting made me feel something positive or emotional far outweighed the cringe, which isn’t something that you can always say about modern numbered Final Fantasy games.
There are lots of side quests and mini-games. They are… mostly pretty good. Filler quests definitely do exist and are frustrating. Generally, though, most of them were interesting enough, and they are worth doing as they lead to some fun hidden scenes that players that try to blast through the story will miss. It’s not a major chore to just suck it up and do them all, and at least some of them will be enjoyable and will add to the immersion of Final Fantasy VII Remake’s beefed-up version of Midgar.