Review cover Final Fantasy VII Remake (PlayStation 4)
Official GBAtemp Review

Product Information:

  • Release Date (NA): April 10, 2020
  • Publisher: Square Enix
  • Genres: Action-RPG

Game Features:

Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative
The long-awaited remake is finally here. After so many years of waiting, fans finally get to experience the beloved Final Fantasy VII, in a completely new form.

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What makes a remake? Simply re-creating a game with better graphics, to make it more appealing to a newer generation? Or releasing a tweaked version of an existing game, perhaps with some added balance and modernized gameplay elements? Remaster, Definitive Edition, Enhanced, Complete, Collection, Remake; we see these subtitles thrown around all the time, when it comes to video games. Sometimes, those newer versions of a game take the beloved content of the originals and "perfect" them, resulting in instant-classics--idealized re-creations of the initial game. Such is the case with games like Resident Evil 2 Remake, Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, or Yakuza Kiwami. 

But what happens when you take that word, "remake", and stretch the term to its absolute limit? That's what Square Enix has done, with Final Fantasy VII: Remake

Released over 20 years ago, Final Fantasy VII was one of the biggest hits on the PlayStation 1, praised by critics and gamers alike for its impressive-at-the-time graphics and engaging story. It went on to win heaping piles of awards from every gaming magazine around in the late 1990s, and is considered to be one of the biggest reasons why JRPG popularity exploded in the west, with many developers citing FFVII as their biggest inspiration when making video games. With the game being held in such high regard--with such reverence--any re-treading would have a difficult time of living up to expectations. Square Enix didn't make things easier on themselves, either, when they announced that Final Fantasy VII would be getting a remake, re-done fully with the latest and greatest graphics...as an action game, split into episodic chunks.

Following massive amounts of apprehension, hype, and delays, we're finally at the point where Final Fantasy VII's remake is available to the public. Is this the reimagining you've been waiting for, or are you disappointed with what you've seen and heard? 

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First off, it's worth going back to the point, that yes, this remake doesn't cover the full story of the original. This is only part one of an undetermined amount of episodes, set for release over an undetermined amount of years. VII Remake covers the content of the first disc of the PlayStation 1 classic, but that's not to say that there isn't a full standalone JRPG experience packed into this re-telling: Final Fantasy VII's first handful of hours have been extended into a 40-hour journey, taking the initial story bits and giving more characterization, lore, and information about everything within Midgar. While it may not exactly follow the source material, the remake does its own fantastic job of making a believable world with a loveable cast of characters. If you're spending dozens of hours with the people within Midgar and the members of AVALANCHE, you'll want to actually enjoy them, and through the extra world-building, you'll actually care about your party members, and even the secondary characters like Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, who now get way more screentime than they did before. While we may not have the full story just yet, I believe the dramatic extension of the original game's first act was for the better, in the long run. 

Gone are the days of the turn-based battle system, as VIIR has decided to eschew that for full-on real-time action combat. While the decision to change the combat so drastically will likely always be seen as controversial, taking the turn-based system and converting it into this new format turned out quite well. The battle system attempts to blend both styles, by allowing you to freely attack enemies with regular attacks that build up your ATB meter. Once you've got it high enough, you're able to use spells, items, or abilities by bringing up the menu, which slows time to a crawl. Not only is it fun to run around swinging a giant sword around and narrowly dodging enemy attacks, being able to slow down time in order to make strategic battle commands keeps the fights engaging. Add in blocking, weapon upgrades, and careful materia use into the equation, and you've got a very competent battle system, and not some run of the mill button-masher. Once you win a fight, things will swap back over to the regular exploration control scheme seamlessly, making encounters feel less tiresome since you don't have to sit through loading screens or transition effects. 

For all the things that VIIR does right, there are still some major missteps. One of the game's biggest draws is the splendor of all the new fanciful graphics and effects, but there are many instances where the PlayStation 4 can't handle the task of loading in all the textures. In motion, you might not notice them, but if you ever slow down to take in the sights of Midgar, you might see a smattering of blurry, pixelated visuals that are clearly supposed to be textured, yet never load in correctly. Other times, you'll be walking around an area only for a texture to realize it needed to have popped in about 10 seconds ago, where suddenly a blurry poster or sign magically becomes higher quality, which can really take you out of the experience. Most of the game's areas have incredible looking places to explore, but when you do find one of those intermittent moments, it feels like someone forgot to do a last quick round of optimization prior to launch.

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Now that Final Fantasy VII is an action game, you're able to control your party members, each of which boasting different movesets, combat styles, and special quirks that you'll need to adjust to. Cloud obviously has a sword and focuses on attacking with it, but characters like Tifa or Barret are entirely different, with one focusing on close-combat martial arts and using physical attack buffs in between dodges, while the other is slow, strong, and has heavy cooldowns on more powerful ranged attacks. You might prefer playing as Aerith instead of Cloud throughout your journey, or maybe you like to spice things up and swap control over your entire party each fight: the game gives you the option to do play however you want, and it definitely keeps each of your many battles varied and exciting. The only disappointment is that Red XIII isn't a playable party member, though he will fight with you, just as a purely AI controlled entity. 

Where the game fails to keep things that exciting and enjoyable, are the boss fights. In an attempt to make these battles even more dramatic than they already are, they've been made into overly drawn-out endeavors that go on far longer than they should. They're certainly fun at first, but nearly all of them wind up wearing out their welcome long before you defeat the boss. 

From the perspective of someone who's never experienced the original Final Fantasy VII, the remake managed to charm me with its characters and world, giving me an experience that makes me understand just why so many hold FF7 so close to their hearts as a beloved game. Throughout the 40-or-so-hour journey, I was completely enamored with the game, from the interesting story, to the intense combat, making it an easy recommendation for anyone that is interested in jumping into the Final Fantasy series, starting with this remake. Where things start to get a bit more complicated is when you factor returning players into the equation. Some might not be pleased with the fact they have to wait, potentially years, to play through the full experience, while others may be upset by some of the larger changes the remake does in terms of the narrative or the combat style. 

On its own, Final Fantasy VII Remake stands up as a fantastic entry into the series; a beautiful game to behold, and a joy to play. Regardless of your thoughts of it as a remake, as a game, it takes pieces of the groundwork laid by original and creates a full JRPG experience well worth your time. 

Verdict

What We Liked ...
  • Superbly blends both action and turn-based RPG combat elements together
  • Spends more time giving the cast some well-needed characterization
What We Didn't Like ...
  • Low-resolution texture quirks
  • Boss fights are overly drawn out slogfests
9
Gameplay
While the game is no longer a pure turn-based RPG, Square Enix has managed to seamlessly blend action combat and turn-based commands into the new battle system. The intricacies of the game's combat are well-appreciated, in the way that you can level up your weapon abilities, and in how uniquely each character controls from one another.
8
Presentation
In battle, and in many instances, the visuals are impressively detailed, making the game a joy to look at while in motion. But, there's some terrible moments where textures look blurry and almost as if they were ripped right from the PS1 itself, before they pop in and load, at an agonizing pace. (Played on base PS4)
9
Lasting Appeal
Clocking in at around 40 hours, you'll have tons to do, from the main mission, to all the various sidequests dotted around Midgar. FFVIIR has some solid pacing, balancing lengthy story exposition and exciting fights, so you never tire too quickly from either segment.
9.3
out of 10

Overall

The Final Fantasy VII Remake is a beautiful modernization of one of gaming's most beloved RPGs of all time. It preserves what made people fall in love with the game in the first place, while flawlessly bringing other aspects into the modern age.
Pokemon SwSh wasn't a bloodbath over the review score, so hopefully can be rational here too.

Ha.

Haha.
 
Just asking, is the overall score calculated from these three sections (Presentation/Gameplay/Lasting Appeal) or is it a personal verdict?
 
After beating it, I still find the combat fairly clunky myself. Actually doing the damage itself is quite fluid and fun and the way ATB was utilized is nice, but dodging is all but pointless the vast majority of the time (because you're going to get hit regardless where/when you dodge 90% of the time, so you might as well just block instead or tank the hit) and having to constantly swap between characters because your party member's AI is literally fucking useless and just straight up doesn't bother attacking consistently or dodging anything makes it a whole lot less fun for me. Had to revive party members so many time because they just sit there while getting wailed on, not a care in the world, until they up and die because their ATB never fills and I can't be bothered to swap to them cuz I'm busy, y'know, actually fighting stuff with someone else.

I do like a lot of the additions to the general mechanics, though. Being able to upgrade weapons was nice, adding more materia slots to older weapons and being able to give them stat boosts was a good way of adding a kind of customization to gear so it's not just "oh find a new weapon? Time to throw the old one away!" and such.

I also liked a few of the extra world building side stuff they added, giving Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge more personality definitely made their "sacrifice"* feel more like an actual loss rather than "oh those quirky characters we interacted with twice are dead LOL OH WELL LETS GOOOOOOOOOO" like the OG. But then others, like basically all of the "Whispers of Fate" BS (which I won't say more on cuz it's spoiler-y) was fucking dumb, Squeenix should back the fuck up with that whole space-time BS. They also managed to make the Don Corneo sequence infinitely more cringey than it was in the OG game, the dance-off bs in particular reeked of poorly written Cloud fanfic that Squeenix stumbled across and threw in for no reason. Didn't fit with Cloud's character in any way, not that giant burly man orgies or butt stuff with Mokki or whatever his name is fit, either, but at least it wasn't as dumb as a dance-off that Cloud willingly takes part in.


Big agree on the boss fights, basically every single one is dragged out to death expect for the final fight and god is it boring. Hell House and Motor Ball in particular took way too fucking long, and were less "fun" and more "tedious as all fuck". I definitely hope Squeenix cuts future boss battle times in half at the very least.

Also fuck the pro pull-up game :hateit:


*lolornotsquarechangingcanonwhichisdumb
 
Just asking, is the overall score calculated from these three sections (Presentation/Gameplay/Lasting Appeal) or is it a personal verdict?
You can see in the overall tab “(not an average)”. So the final score isn’t entirely derived from them.
 
After beating it, I still find the combat fairly clunky myself. Actually doing the damage itself is quite fluid and fun and the way ATB was utilized is nice, but dodging is all but pointless the vast majority of the time (because you're going to get hit regardless where/when you dodge 90% of the time, so you might as well just block instead or tank the hit) and having to constantly swap between characters because your party member's AI is literally fucking useless and just straight up doesn't bother attacking consistently or dodging anything makes it a whole lot less fun for me. Had to revive party members so many time because they just sit there while getting wailed on, not a care in the world, until they up and die because their ATB never fills and I can't be bothered to swap to them cuz I'm busy, y'know, actually fighting stuff with someone else.

I do like a lot of the additions to the general mechanics, though. Being able to upgrade weapons was nice, adding more materia slots to older weapons and being able to give them stat boosts was a good way of adding a kind of customization to gear so it's not just "oh find a new weapon? Time to throw the old one away!" and such.

I also liked a few of the extra world building side stuff they added, giving Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge more personality definitely made their "sacrifice"* feel more like an actual loss rather than "oh those quirky characters we interacted with twice are dead LOL OH WELL LETS GOOOOOOOOOO" like the OG. But then others, like basically all of the "Whispers of Fate" BS (which I won't say more on cuz it's spoiler-y) was fucking dumb, Squeenix should back the fuck up with that whole space-time BS. They also managed to make the Don Corneo sequence infinitely more cringey than it was in the OG game, the dance-off bs in particular reeked of poorly written Cloud fanfic that Squeenix stumbled across and threw in for no reason. Didn't fit with Cloud's character in any way, not that giant burly man orgies or butt stuff with Mokki or whatever his name is fit, either, but at least it wasn't as dumb as a dance-off that Cloud willingly takes part in.


Big agree on the boss fights, basically every single one is dragged out to death expect for the final fight and god is it boring. Hell House and Motor Ball in particular took way too fucking long, and were less "fun" and more "tedious as all fuck". I definitely hope Squeenix cuts future boss battle times in half at the very least.

Also fuck the pro pull-up game :hateit:


*lolornotsquarechangingcanonwhichisdumb
Isn't saying Jessie, Biggs, And Wedge sacrifice spoiler?

I don't get the whole point of the whisperer other then padding to make the game longer.
 
Having played through the original FF7 many many times, I can firmly say this game does not replace the original. I'll probably still prefer playing the original with HD packs and whatnot. But this game is still a lot of fun. It's just closer to a re-imagining than a re-make. Nothing wrong with that, had a lot of fun.

Some annoying bits (that dancing game which relied on visuals with constantly changing camera angels was just plain annoying and bad), but generally was a lot of fun. I personally like button mashers a lot, and that's kind of what this was, just a little bit of strategy thrown in...so kind of like the original in that regard lol. The "classic" mode bots made poor decisions, so I had to take over most of the time anyway, so it wasn't as "classic" as it was implying. but this is definitely what kingdom hearts 3 should have played like.

But I agree, as a stand-alone game, it's loads of fun. Good review.
 
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I thought this game was like a 4/10

A bunch of filler, misses the vibe of the original game, bad voice acting, the wall market looks awful, it introduces a bunch of elements and characters that never reappear again in the game, and a bunch of the darker undertones of midgar and the wall market have been completely replaced with dance sequences, cheery music, and just stupid shit.

Not to mention the entire game is midgar, while only 5% of Disk One is Midgar in the original. It makes me think they will not give Junon, Wutai, or the North Crater as much attention as they should get in favor of Midgar.
 
hav to disagree with the boss battles - i wouldnt even call them long and if they are to some then tht should be a good thing as it shows you all the different moves it has to offer and you can learn better when to defend and attack and when you kno how to fight it you dont mind how long it is as yr focused on killing it in a way wher you dont use up much potions and the like - ther not gonna program a boss tht you can hack and slash in a few mins as tht would be total borefest - plus it takes a huge amount of time coming up with these ideas for a boss fights and square want to show it off and i feel im getting my moneys worth - the game is still top class to play but still has its faults though some of the tunes and sound effects were better and mor memorable in the original and when cloud walks at a slow pace im sure tht could of been avoided -but you hav gave it a very good score so thumbs up for tht
 
NAH TURN BASED BATTLES NAH FILLERS STORY TIME TRAVELLING BULLSHIT GAME 0/10..........

Honestly though the game seems to be really awesome but I'm not inlined to play it until at least part 2 comes out. I am honestly curious how they will handle the parts in the future, but right now i am glad that they part 1 well.
 
Can't understand why people wanna wait it's just so stupid lol just play the bloody game as next part could be years away and when all of it is finished and you hav it all you may hav FF fatigue after 50 hours and want a break from starting part 2 lol
 
Can't understand why people wanna wait it's just so stupid lol just play the bloody game as next part could be years away and when all of it is finished and you hav it all you may hav FF fatigue after 50 hours and want a break from starting part 2 lol

hmm i get your point , one of the other reasons may be the steap price. 60 bucks where i live is a lot
 
Yr getting yr money worth thts for sure but if tht is an issue fair enough or buy it then trade it in
 
The OG game is 20+ years old, pretty sure it's not much of a spoiler :rolleyes:
Why be so sarcastic? There were people born after 97, barely in their teens and younger, or people that never played this game when it first came out. Age of the game doesn't matter. And that part you mentioned isn't as famous and well know as some other well know parts in the game that have been spoiled.
 
Why be so sarcastic? There were people born after 97, barely in their teens and younger, or people that never played this game when it first came out. Age of the game doesn't matter. And that part you mentioned isn't as famous and well know as some other well know parts in the game that have been spoiled.
Yes, and FF7 has also been re-released at least 4 times since 1997 on multiple platforms, with the latest literally a year ago. I would guess, being one of the most popular RPGs of all time, most people who care have probably played it already.
 
Yes, and FF7 has also been re-released at least 4 times since 1997 on multiple platforms, with the latest literally a year ago. I would guess, being one of the most popular RPGs of all time, most people who care have probably played it already.
I played and finished the original game so not much of a spoiler for me. However, there are people that never played the original, and only started playing FF7R, so in a way, this is a spoiler.
 
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"Boss fights are overly drawn out slogfests"
-FF7 Classic bossfights were too when you didn't know what to do/how best to optimize.

Of course, everything feels like a slogfest unless you're good at the game.
(Boss fight video).

This person just maims through many bosses, Zero Damage.

Of course, there's a supposedly more notorious boss for being a drawn out slog - still not as bad if you know what you're doing:


Overall the first complaint I can't comment on, but the 2nd con is just coming from inexperience it seems. The average player trying to faceroll buttons will find a slogfest, I will fully admit. But that's on them for treating it as any generic button masher in a way. Try to beat FF7 Classic with only the "Attack" skill, or while not matching weaknesses to the bosses, find how big of a slog it is then.
 
The moment when you fire all your limits on a boss to do massive damage, just to get interrupted by a cutscene and realize they did nothing.

Very good review, I agree with most of it.
 
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Am on chapter 17 really enjoyed the game and been super thorough with it but I don't like the Shinra building sections they are boring so far.
I think it's best action/turn combat they've ever made.
 
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I played and finished the original game so not much of a spoiler for me. However, there are people that never played the original, and only started playing FF7R, so in a way, this is a spoiler.
That makes 2 of us. I'll let Tom Bombadildo reflect on the damage he caused.

Am on chapter 17 really enjoyed the game and been super thorough with it but I don't like the Shinra building sections they are boring so far.
I think it's best action/turn combat they've ever made.
Chapter 17 was my favorite part. The graphics on that was amazing, great lighting and hdr effect. Gorgeous to look at. I really like how the story was told at a slower pace, and style it was told, it was really cool. I don't want to get into to much detail because I don't want to type spoilers. Don't wanna end up like another Tom Bombadildo.
 
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Yes, and FF7 has also been re-released at least 4 times since 1997 on multiple platforms, with the latest literally a year ago. I would guess, being one of the most popular RPGs of all time, most people who care have probably played it already.

Don't spoil the part where Aerith and Cloud do skooma
 
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Anyone see the theory that FFX and FF7 are the same world past and future?
The kid Al-bhed scientist in FFX/X-2 is called Shinra, everyone already knows this as an FFX easter egg, but then why put him in a staff picture in FF7R:

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He is dead centre, still wearing his mask.
Farplane = Lifestream (Mako).

Chapter 17 was my favorite part. The graphics on that was amazing, great lighting and hdr effect. Gorgeous to look at. I really like how the story was told at a slower pace, and style it was told, it was really cool. I don't want to get into to much detail because I don't want to type spoilers. Don't wanna end up like another Tom Bombadildo.

Sorry I meant chap 16, so tedious. Am on 17 now and hope to finish the game today.
 
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That makes 2 of us. I'll let Tom Bombadildo reflect on the damage he caused.


Chapter 17 was my favorite part. The graphics on that was amazing, great lighting and hdr effect. Gorgeous to look at. I really like how the story was told at a slower pace, and style it was told, it was really cool. I don't want to get into to much detail because I don't want to type spoilers. Don't wanna end up like another Tom Bombadildo.
But did you know that Aerith d- *gets attacked by Whispers*
 
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Go play the demo it's hardly turn based
I Might Just Do that as i didn't even try it ...........................i must admit im probably the only dude here that hates JRPG's ......... Or FF the only FF i ever finished was Crisis Core On PSP years ago ............... Turn Based RPG's just aint my thang .. my brother loves em .... its his fault !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
sounds good
never got to play the original due to being a nintendo kid (I've heard the original is available digitally on basically anything but come on I ain't paying for a 20-year-old ps1 game in its original form)
pity that squeenix is refusing to put this on switch due to "technical limitations" when it's arguably easier to put a game on switch than it is to put it on ps4 or xb1 and have to deal with unnecessarily high resolutions that people will whine about if they don't support
 
Plasmaster09 why so against paying for a 20 yr old game you do come out with some crap lol with tht attitude you don't deserve to play the remake either
 
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sounds good
never got to play the original due to being a nintendo kid (I've heard the original is available digitally on basically anything but come on I ain't paying for a 20-year-old ps1 game in its original form)
pity that squeenix is refusing to put this on switch due to "technical limitations" when it's arguably easier to put a game on switch than it is to put it on ps4 or xb1 and have to deal with unnecessarily high resolutions that people will whine about if they don't support
This is nothing like the original. There is a lot of overlap, but these games are incredibly different experiences. So play this game for sure, it's fun. But it's a very very different experience to the original.
 
This is nothing like the original. There is a lot of overlap, but these games are incredibly different experiences. So play this game for sure, it's fun. But it's a very very different experience to the original.
I'm still a Nintendo person.
I don't have a PS4, so I'm out of luck because of Squeenix's Sony exclusivity obsession when it comes to Final Fantasy.
 
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I'm still a Nintendo person.
I don't have a PS4, so I'm out of luck because of Squeenix's Sony exclusivity obsession when it comes to Final Fantasy.
Ooooo! In that case , FF7, 8, and 9 are on switch, and they go on sale often enough. I nabbed mine for 8 apiece i think.

Each one has the "go 3x speed" and "max health/battle stuff" cheats baked into the game itself, making it wayyyy more enjoyable to play through. I'd recommend these. FF9 continues to suck hours and hours out of my life.
 
Ooooo! In that case , FF7, 8, and 9 are on switch, and they go on sale often enough. I nabbed mine for 8 apiece i think.

Each one has the "go 3x speed" and "max health/battle stuff" cheats baked into the game itself, making it wayyyy more enjoyable to play through. I'd recommend these. FF9 continues to suck hours and hours out of my life.
eh idk
probably just gonna skip (or emulate lol) and end up getting the remake if squeenix ever gets their head out of sony's ass
 
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Nothing to do with obsession they cater for machines tht hav the power to do ther projects - if you want FF then email nintendo and say giv us some fkin power so square can giv us FF
 
I'm not sure about this game. I loved the original one. I havent played it in 20 years, but I really played it a lot. Had the top chocobo you can have and everything else ^^. I'm just really amazed than no tests says : "oh ok, it's only a third or a quarter of the game". And me, wanting to play ff7 again, is like, they added things to the midgard section, to make it feel like a full game, but am I the only one bothered by that ? if at least they had the honesty of calling it ff7 remake 1/4 (as in first of 4 episodes), may be, but I cant help but think of hype, whem I see that everyone settle for less.

Not meant as a troll. oh and question to everyone who finished that game. Do they hint at a sequel ? a little ? a lot ?
 
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Love the game's mechanics, visuals and audio. The game is really good for the most part and the team should be proud of it. There's some really bad texturing but my main gripe is once again the completely unnecessary changes to the narrative. I wouldn't mind some small things for the sake of expanding the story to fill time, I know it's necessary to offset the cost of building the big set pieces. There are plot elements from the original early game which were underutilized and are done better here; like the black robed men and Cloud's visions now including Sephiroth leading him around by the nose. But the big changes reek of Nomura's hackery and are altering the fundamentals of the story and I can't abide this. Giving him creative control has led the entire franchise down a bad path, but that's a rant for another time.
 
Beat this last week.... bit of a mixed bag to say the least - I liked a lot of what they did, but it's overly padded out, and clearly unfinished - just check out the texture (and pop-in) in the slum sector for example - looks like a fukkin PS2 game! :lol: (and half the time still looks like that when those textures finally load)
Focusing this episode of the game entirely on Midgar was a big downfall - I couldn't wait to get out of there in the original game, and that was after 6 or so hours ....40 hours of it here?! Read someone mention how boring the Shinra building section was though - go back and play the original, it wasn't much better there...
Liked the new ending - allows a bit of deviation going forward. Fleshing out the characters was hit and miss to put it lightly, some worked, others... well it never was FFVI in that regard, and it shows even more now. Boss fights-length/battle system? Enh, different to the original - kept things interesting. Nothing really good or bad to say from me there.

Worth the wait n hype? Hell no. Just gets an 'OK' from me - worth a play, but hardly GOTY material.
 
mighty muffy you say couldnt wait to get out of midgar original game but when first pld it how would you kno what was coming next so again just bullshit talk lol and anyone who cares what some textures look like are just picking unnecessary holes considering the overall presentation of the game-seems to me you hav just lost interest in games
 
mighty muffy you say couldnt wait to get out of midgar original game but when first pld it how would you kno what was coming next so again just bullshit talk lol
Because "it gets better once you get out of midgar" was the phrase (didn't really use the term meme back then but today it would have been recognised as such) uttered up and down the land, in magazines, on teletext, in proto message boards, to say nothing of many people probably playing it with a guide to see what comes next. If you had gone round a mate's house and seen them playing all the late game cool shit they might also have told you that you have to wait until you get out of midgar.

This in addition to mightymuffy being in PAL country so most likely played it on a PAL setup when Japan, and more importantly at the time then the US, already had it for months, to say nothing of it taking a little while to properly pop in the UK.

I know they were dim and distant times but there was such a thing as a game culture before the internet properly took off.
 
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clearly unfinished - just check out the texture (and pop-in) in the slum sector for example - looks like a fukkin PS2 game! :lol:

I think this is the guy who invents memories of playing the game instead of giving an honest point of view. Seems familiar, but the other guy resolved his fake identity.
 
Remake is pretty darn good overall I think, some of the boss fights do drag on more than I'd want them to, especially the Airbuster fight, but other than that :P
 
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Remake is pretty darn good overall I think, some of the boss fights do drag on more than I'd want them to, especially the Airbuster fight, but other than that :P

Most all of the boss fights can drag on, if you have not ironed out a definite strategy or come to understand the weaknesses/exploits. I think this game borrows from the MMORPG experience of FFXIV and boss fights for replay-ability and strategy refinement processes. However, instead of punishing the player with death, the player is punished with a looong battle--sipping on potions.
 
Infiltrating Shinra HQ was one of my favourite parts of the original game. The feel of that segment, being able to explore this cool building, interact with Shinra personnel, meet the Shinra executives and the fight with Rufus in particular really filled me with a sense of satisfaction. Everything about the company is cool. I was all about Shinra and the Turks when I was younger because of this and the events that take place in Junon.
 
mighty muffy you say couldnt wait to get out of midgar original game but when first pld it how would you kno what was coming next so again just bullshit talk lol and anyone who cares what some textures look like are just picking unnecessary holes considering the overall presentation of the game-seems to me you hav just lost interest in games
.....people can play games more than once you know....:lol: - Not only did I complete it multiple times back in the PS1 days, but have done since via emulation, etc. On subsequent plays I can't wait to get out of Midgar then, happy now? ....Really wasn't thinking I'd have to spell that one out for yous....:lol:

And the texture quality is glaringly bad (and slow to 'pop in' too) in many areas - please don't tell me I have to spell that one out for you and this tabzer character too....:P
EDIT - Youtube - Digital Foundry actually has an article showing what I mean, have a look!
EDIT - FAST: pretty much bang on the mark by the way! I actually got the US PS1 version on import (£55, from an import shop in Leeds - remember it well, even though it was pushing 25 years back!) before the PAL version got released.... Ah the joys of paying over the odds (£55 was actually really good) for importing SFC/US SNES/early PS1 games - kids these days don't know they're born etc etc....!
 
.....people can play games more than once you know....:lol: - Not only did I complete it multiple times back in the PS1 days, but have done since via emulation, etc. On subsequent plays I can't wait to get out of Midgar then, happy now? ....Really wasn't thinking I'd have to spell that one out for yous....:lol:

And the texture quality is glaringly bad (and slow to 'pop in' too) in many areas - please don't tell me I have to spell that one out for you and this tabzer character too....:P
EDIT - Youtube - Digital Foundry actually has an article showing what I mean, have a look!
If yr concentrating on textures and the like yr extremely sad - Yr supposed to play the game not look at the texture of a wall lol and I think you are just saying you hate midgar because yr not tht keen on the remake and you don't even say why you dislike it - ther really is no difference to the game yr still doing all the same stuff and midgar had great atmosphere
 
All I can say about this game is that I immediately got the original and installed the Omnislash Mod to wash away the disgust I had over it.
People asked for the remade original and never once asked for all the new BS SE thew at this "remake" to sell.
Instead of wasting all those years making new shit to justify this version of a game, they could have released enough of the original and up to a later point instead of Midgar only.

Sure, gameplay wasn't half bad but I still (and suspect every single one that played both) would still prefer the old gameplay over this one.
 
If yr concentrating on textures and the like yr extremely sad - Yr supposed to play the game not look at the texture of a wall lol and I think you are just saying you hate midgar because yr not tht keen on the remake and you don't even say why you dislike it - ther really is no difference to the game yr still doing all the same stuff and midgar had great atmosphere
Just wow....:lol: I'm wondering if you could change your location from the UK to somewhere else on here? You're kind of embarrassing the rest of us brits with comments like these....

You want a fukkin essay explaining my decision on the game (which I said is a 'mixed bag' not a 'crock of shit' like you're claiming I said)? Clearly I liked it less than you did. Same appears to be the case with other members. Get over it. You enjoyed it though? Good for you...

As for the textures - well perhaps I'm being harsh..? On a AAA title years in the making, hyped up beyond all measure, and only featuring a portion of the material from the original game? Hmmm...... but the same happened with the Xbox 360 version of Skyrim - horrible textures either not loading, or popping in late. That was fixed with an update, and hopefully the same will happen here too. Thankfully in your case it appears you've got glaucoma or summat and they've passed you by, not detracting from the 'great atmosphere' - good for you again then! ;)
 
does all tht texture and pop up bolox affect the gameplay no it didnt - no i dont want an essay if yr gonna say you dislike midgar then least make a sentence especially as you put it you spent 6 hours ther otherwise yr just waffling
 
@Chary As much I'm enjoying the game and the story shines, I have to say some overly exaggeration of characters kinda puts it down for me at time. Stuff like all main and some secondary female characters are instantly in a forced crush with Cloud while his initial reaction to everyone is being bluntly buttholish. Putting Cloud dancing like that tells me they totally failed to understand the character. Then moments like Heidegger refusing a report like he did, totally unfits any realism of a person in his position. All this stuff would be forgivable in a cartoonized game, but if they are trying to go with realistic looking characters it kinda takes them to the uncanny valley, alongside unrealistic exaggerated expressions like the very vocal Cloud's 'hums' and sights.

Then other stuff in the background like nobody in the character design area seemed to have any experience on how children behave or react or how people react in a catastrophe or terrorist attack (and since the original game, unfortunately, there have been many documented real life examples).

I feel that instead of reading the original characters and rethink them in the situations for a proper remake, they took a caricature of themselves and only put effort in pleasing the weird crush and horniness of some fans. Which saddens me in the age of Game of Thrones and Red Dead Redemption 2, where pop culture characters have matured well enough to be believable and appropriately complex.
 
@Chary As much I'm enjoying the game and the story shines, I have to say some overly exaggeration of characters kinda puts it down for me at time. Stuff like all main and some secondary female characters are instantly in a forced crush with Cloud while his initial reaction to everyone is being bluntly buttholish. Putting Cloud dancing like that tells me they totally failed to understand the character. Then moments like Heidegger refusing a report like he did, totally unfits any realism of a person in his position. All this stuff would be forgivable in a cartoonized game, but if they are trying to go with realistic looking characters it kinda takes them to the uncanny valley, alongside unrealistic exaggerated expressions like the very vocal Cloud's 'hums' and sights.

Then other stuff in the background like nobody in the character design area seemed to have any experience on how children behave or react or how people react in a catastrophe or terrorist attack (and since the original game, unfortunately, there have been many documented real life examples).

I feel that instead of reading the original characters and rethink them in the situations for a proper remake, they took a caricature of themselves and only put effort in pleasing the weird crush and horniness of some fans. Which saddens me in the age of Game of Thrones and Red Dead Redemption 2, where pop culture characters have matured well enough to be believable and appropriately complex.
Barrets balls do not shrink when it's cold. I hope they patch that as soon as possible!
 
I have finished the Remake last weekend - total play time for my first Playthrough: 39 hours and 30 minutes.
I have waited for this remake ever since the first techdemo for the PS3 was shown - that was almost 15 years ago.
FF7 has a special place in my heart, it was the very first JRPG that I played. I met one of my best friends in school because of Final Fantasy 7 - we loved talking about the game, brainstorming how Aertith could have been saved, talking about rumors...good times.
I have put over 100 hours into the original game, which most of the time spent in maxing out everything and playing the minigames in the Gold Saucer.

I might be slightly biased because of that.

I legit cried when the remake was announced, while at the same time I was scared of what might come.

How much would SE change the story? Would I be happy with it? What will they do about the combat system? Do they kkep the Cross-Dressing scene?

After having played through the game I am very happy with what SE has delivered. Every corner of the game is a loveletter to the once greatest JRPG of all times, it is unbelieveable how much detail SE put into the remake.
Of course the game is not perfect - which game is perfect anyways?

So with that out of the way, here is my opinion about the combat, the technical presentation, the story and the ending of the game (story parts in spoiler tags)

Combat: I liked it. I even liked it a lot. But it has it's flaws:
  • The most anoying part about combat was camera control, especially against flying enemies, or when you are pushed into a corner. On multiple occasions I got hit from attacks I could not see because of the camera. This mostly happens when you use the Lock-On camera though, and was especially painfull against flying enemies (camera is to close to your active party member in my opinion).
  • AI of your other Party Members. It was OK most of the time, but on some occasions the AI did not know what to do. The worst was one fight were it was possible to die from one hit. And what did the AI do? Die multiple times to it. Other than that the AI could have been a bit more aggressive, especially since you are dependent on them attacking the enemy to fill the ATB gauge. Defense from the AI was good though, I noticed that they priorized mitigating damage when you were for example holding the defense button.
  • Dodge Roll feels completely useless. It was fine in FF7 Crisis Core, I am used to it because of the Souls games, but somehow in the remake I got hit by nearly everything and never figured out the timing to successfully dodge an attack.
Technical presentation: I am very impressed with what SE delivered:
  • First and foremost: Nearly rock solid 30fps all the way through the game, even on a slim model PS4. Looking at other games and how "well" they run on the PS4 base model I have to applaud SE for their optimization on both platforms.
  • Texture Popin was a problem that I noticed, but it was no deal breaker for me. On a few occasions the low resolution textures were very obvious though. I can understand that it breaks the immersion of the game, but this might be the limit on what the PS4 can deliver?
  • This one is hard to explain but the Audio was somehow dependent on the position of the camera and not on the position of your character and his ears. Example: During some cutscenes with camera shifts the voice of people talking changed between my left and my right ear, depending on where the camera was pointing at, instead of beeing dependent on which direction my character is looking. Was mildly irritating and made some conversations hard to understand.
  • The Soundtrack is near perfection, only the original motorbike music is better than the remix in my opinion.
Story: I mostly liked the changes SE did to the story. But some changes were a bit surprising for me, and I am not sure how I feel about them.

  • Some mebers of Avalanche seem to survive from now. Interested in how they will further develop the characters, but it was very surprising for me to see Biggs in the ending, still alive and not killed by the downfall of the plate.
  • Some additions to the Story did feel not well explained. The underground research facility for example, or what the "Nameless" enemies are that seem to come from the research facility (failed experiments from Hojo most likely?)
  • I hate the sewers part, even in the original. Guess how much I liked having to visit the sewers a second time...

The ending:

After having thought about it for some time I do like the ending after ending after all, especially on the "meta" level.
My interpretation of the ending and the whispers: The whispers represent the fans of the old game, the fate that they want unchanged is the story of the original game. Everytime the story does alternate too much from the original the Whispers try to push the heroes into the right direction (e.g. Cloud might come to late to the falling Plate, Barret getting stabbed and beeing saved by a whisper).
Having to battle the heroes "fate" at the end leaves room for speculation. Will SE go as far to "save" Aerith? Will she survive the game, thus changing fate forever?

I am not sure how I would feel about such drastic changes. In my eyes Aerith has to die, somehow, somewhere, during the Story of the game. Maybe she will sacrifice herself at the end? Only SE knows for now, or does not know for now, because the story unfolding is yet unwritten...

With everything said and done I did enjoy every minute of the game.
As a fan of the original, even if you are scared of the changes, you should give the game a chance.

For fans of action based JRPGs that like a deep Story with interesting, believeable characters this is also a must have in my opinion.

9/10 Points.
 
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Barret was always this way. It's a pretty faithful rendition of his character.

The thing, as I said is that if you are remaking a game to look more realistic, the characters and their relationships between them need the same treatment, else they get stuck in the uncanny valley. Barret was fine enough in the old poligonal game perhaps, or perhaps not.

Honestly enough, he seems to me a wasted opportunity. The original game hinted he was possibly gay or bi at least and he tries to hide it. Here they could have explored the angle of a strong black figure dealing with that internal struggle, yet they didn't even seem to consider it.

Then again, it feels like the game lost its nerve. The original game wasn't afraid to present issues like prostitution and sexual orientation. Might seem tamed by today's standards, but this was in 1997, when videogames were still much on their infancy still and society was much more tabooed still. In that regard, FF VII Remake seems like a step back. People complain about the gratuitus use o sex on games and tv or movies, but here, specially on sector 6 slums, where they could have used it in a meaningful way, if they wanted. Yet, it's all painted away in fearful depictions and annoying giggles like it was written by school kids.

Even Cloud's relationships. The original game allowed you to make choices to build up to a date. I believe you could make choices towards Tifa, Aeris, Yuffi and Barret. It's one of those things that I think it needed much work to make it realistic in the remake, but since these relationships could have been ,made possible and organic. Instead they opted for arousing their targeted male player by every female character just getting an instant crush on cloud and moving on. Aerith gets totally into Cloud in the day they met, worse than that, instantly, as this was normal.
 
Quirks alone don't make or break a character. There's a lot more to Barret in both this and the original game beyond his mannerisms and aggression. You see throughout the story how much Barret cares about Avalanche and Marlene, and his dedication to the cause. When everyone else seems like they might be breaking down after the reactor 7 bombing, he has to be the pillar of strength that reassures them that what they're doing is right. The deep dive into Barret's character and history does not come until the party reaches Corel, which is obviously not going to happen now due to where the remake ends.

It probably wasn't considered because it's not a thing that was ever in the game. I don't really know where your notion of the gay/bi Barret comes from. I'd love to hear how you rationalize that though.

The original game treats sexual themes as jokes. Nobody cared about the "Big Bro" transvestite in the gym that became "Jules" in the remake on any level beyond that. The inn itself is a brothel rather than a stageshow but no actual sex or reference to sex ever takes place. Every choice leads to a joke at Cloud's expense. The remake tackles these now-sensitive issues in a vastly more mature manner by playing them completely straight. Which is exactly how it should be done if you want to normalize these concepts culturally.

As for the girls and their infatuation with Cloud, it actually is normal. Tifa has an established reason to be this way inclined, and Aeris also has a "type" established by her history and why she should be attracted to him. Romantic relationships are extremely simple and driven by physicality, it's really not all that unusual to feel an instant attraction that you subsequently build upon.
 
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just ordered my physical copy today. This is the third game I ever bought in a full price (I usually waited until the price drops).

I have an impression this game is an improvement from Kingdom hearts and Final fantasy XV battle system.

I am amazed that Barret is like 100x times hotter than the original.
 
I love the game so far. It's gorgeous in 4K with HDR turned on. I never thought in a million years we'd have a game that looks as good, if not better, than FF7 Advent Children. (Watched that today, and it still holds up for the most-part.) It even feels like they ripped the Cloud and Tifa models from it, tweaked them a bit, and put them in the game. The graphics are staggeringly good, especially if you've got an SSD in your PS4 replacing your HDD. (It helps avoid "the low-res texture quirks", as Chary put in her review.)
 
B
"ps4 exclusive"
goddamnit I hope they release it on pc in the near future
 
I love the game so far. It's gorgeous in 4K with HDR turned on. I never thought in a million years we'd have a game that looks as good, if not better, than FF7 Advent Children. (Watched that today, and it still holds up for the most-part.) It even feels like they ripped the Cloud and Tifa models from it, tweaked them a bit, and put them in the game. The graphics are staggeringly good, especially if you've got an SSD in your PS4 replacing your HDD. (It helps avoid "the low-res texture quirks", as Chary put in her review.)
It's not actual 4k. Can't wait for PC release for actual 4k & 60fps, it can improve and look much sharper and run smoother then what we have now, amazing as that sounds, it already looks good now at less then 4k and at 30fps.

They improved the graphics alot from the 2015 reveal, the above video I uploaded. One of the best looking FF games. Can't wait for a big open world in part 2, like what FF15 had, but with FF7 story line and Character's. Combat is way better then FF15. It's fast pace and fluid. FF15 feels sluggish by comparison.

I agree HDR is excellent. One of the best I seen in a game. Especially in dark areas with lots of black detail, it gives lots of contrast between the bright spots. Like the opening sequence and Shinra building. Same with a certain market place area at night, with lots of neon lights. Best looking areas in the game.
 
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D
Anyone see the theory that FFX and FF7 are the same world past and future?
The kid Al-bhed scientist in FFX/X-2 is called Shinra, everyone already knows this as an FFX easter egg, but then why put him in a staff picture in FF7R:

a9eae0657e999d95df2219ed826fcb4c.png


He is dead centre, still wearing his mask.
Farplane = Lifestream (Mako).



Sorry I meant chap 16, so tedious. Am on 17 now and hope to finish the game today.
Yoshinori Kitase actually confirms this at 04:16.
 
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What was the point of Roche? I hope we never see him again

Agree with the boss fights - too drawn out.
I also hated how the developers held Cloud on a leash and made it perfectly clear with a big warning sign that he is forbidden from exploring.
I hope that in Part 2 we are free to go wherever we want and when we want.
 
I was sure he was going to turn up again for the final motorcycle segment, but nothing... Just disappears without a trace. What an odd fellow.
 
Megabug I think yr one of those players who just wants to win in a few hits hack and slash style without thought - the battles aren't to drawn out and if you play a turn based game I'm pretty sure most of you kno bosses can play the same or even much longer - you should appreciate what work has been in the boss fights with all ther different moves they offer plus gets you fighting mor efficiently when to swap yr characters
 
Megabug I think yr one of those players who just wants to win in a few hits hack and slash style without thought - the battles aren't to drawn out and if you play a turn based game I'm pretty sure most of you kno bosses can play the same or even much longer - you should appreciate what work has been in the boss fights with all ther different moves they offer plus gets you fighting mor efficiently when to swap yr characters

I don't know why you keep replying to people who you don't agree with.
I won't dignify your response with a further response - furthermore don't analyse me please

End of Discussion
 
It doesn't matter how hard you defend his game, Nomura isn't going to sleep with you, bro. Give it up.
 
Review cover
Product Information:
  • Release Date (NA): April 10, 2020
  • Publisher: Square Enix
  • Genres: Action-RPG
Game Features:
Single player
Local Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Co-operative

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