I have never been more excited in my life for this game than for anything else. I am a HUGE fan of Final Fantasy and more so a die-hard fan of Final Fantasy VII. With that being said I NEEDED to review the Remake of my all-time favorite game.
I grew up playing Final Fantasy thanks to my older sister, I would watch her play games and help her sometimes by reading the guide or pointing out things that she may have missed, etc, etc. I watched her play Final Fantasy VII and immediately fell in love with it, I can’t remember what made me immediately catch on to it, perhaps it was the turn-based battle system, perhaps it the cool graphics (back then) the summons, the characters, maybe even the story (I’m not even sure if I really understood the story back then but NOW I do)
Until I
was given a chance to play it myself and when I got my hands on it I was obsessed.
I played for hours and I mean 6+ hours, my little mind absorbed all it. The story, the gameplay, the characters…
Oh the characters…I
am a HUGE fan of Sephiroth, antagonist be dammed.
Final Fantasy VII was originally released in September 1997 on the Playstation/Playstation One, this was the moment that Final Fantasy had taken a different take on their character models, more 3D to put it simply, clunky but 3D as well as updated CG, summons, magic, etc. Final Fantasy VII & Final Fantasy VII Remake was developed and published by Square Enix, a company that has flourished in Japan and around the world but Square Enix is known for more than just Final Fantasy they have published and developed games such as Romancing Saga, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest and more!
Now this was my first Final Fantasy the story was riveting and mind-blowing (there were some questionable parts in the game, but I digress)
Back when
SquareEnix showed the technical trailer for FFVII Remake back in 2005 for the PS3 I have
been patiently but anxiously waiting for the new and improved Final Fantasy VII.
It was a
Remake.
When I
learned of it being a remake I became worried, worried that they would change
what made Final Fantasy VII what it was. I need to know what were they changing,
the characters? The story? The integral events that had people in tears?! I had
a mini-crisis but eventually convinced myself that this would be the perfect
time to remake the game and include the events that happened in the games that
came after the release of FFVII such as Before Crisis and Crisis Core. Also not
to mention that the game was released nearly twenty-three years ago it makes
sense.
With that
being said, I have to always convince myself that this was a remake and
approach the game with an open mind.
However, with
Final Fantasy VII Remake we only were given Part One of the game, yes, Part One,
and I still have my reservations of the game being released in installments. Will
we have to pay for that? Will it be free for those who own it??
I have questions I need answered, like twenty or so questions, SE, pls.
On to the
review, I will try not to be too biased :)
Story:
For the most part or part one of FFVII Remake sticks to the main events that take place in the original FFVII but with a twist. In some of the scenes, what we were unable to see in the original we are now able to see in the remake. One poignant change about the story and that universe in FFVIIR is the fact that the people are AWARE of what Shinra is doing, they know what Mako is, they know how Shinra is ruining the planet, there's lore. Remake's story is providing us with background, how people feel, how the world became to be.
It makes the game even more captivating than what it already was.
We see how people feel
about actions taken by teammates, we see how Cloud is affected by his memories,
we see the destruction of the reactors, WE SEE ALL OF THAT. In addition to the added
scenes, there is tons of character development, characters that I didn’t care
about I suddenly have a burning urge to protect these characters, wondering
what would happen to them.
Gameplay:
Right off
the bat I was worried about how this would play and had war flashbacks to FFXV’s
gameplay, more so the battle system. Bluntly put I was overwhelmed by the
battle system but how smoothly the gameplay was in FFVIIR. The transitioning in
the styles of the characters, the mid-battle pauses to use items was so well
done, it was near perfect in my books. Of course, there were some snags with
aiming, camera angles but there’s no perfect how bias I am with FFVII.
With the way that RPGS are heading it was only natural for SE to update the battle system and how the game is played, it could definitely be said that SE took what they put into FFXV and even FFXIII and refined it even more.
One thing I like to remind myself and others is that all Final Fantasys are experiments for the upcoming FF title.
Art/Graphics:
I AM
STUNNED! The character designs are SO WELL DONE! Everyone is beautiful I
caught myself falling in love with characters I didn’t even give a second
glance the environments are so well done too! I was captivated by the new environments
such as Sector Five, the trek through the ruins, meeting Aerith, etc. I didn't care too much for Rufus Shinra nor did I care about Reeve but WOW DO I CARE NOW!
Although
there were some points in the game where there was some degradation in the scenery.
There were some points where you can see it’s an image instead of a seamless transition
from the game to a photo. Fortunately, there weren't many points in the game where that happened, I did see that some of the textures were a bit weird but nothing that would completely ruin the game.
Would I recommend this game? Of course!
All in All, I recommend the game even without my biases I would definitely recommend this action RPG for those who have played and for those who have never played a Final Fantasy before. It's taken a game that was released nearly twenty-three years ago, updated the character models, story, gameplay, and graphics.
I believe it is more refined for the reintroduction of action RPGs with the release of Final Fantasy XV, as for RPGs, Final Fantasy VII in specific I think it is a step in the right direction granted the game isn't complete BUT the amount of story and gameplay for part one is on par with the first disc of the original FFVII story.
HOWEVER, if you are one of those people that want a complete game ( I will admit I am one of those people too) you can wait for the complete game but it may take a couple of years before that happens.
If you've played it I would love to hear your thoughts!
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