Playing Final Fantasy 7: Remake feels like watching a show that everyone else loved and finished years ago, but you’ve only just finally gotten around to watching. You’ve heard the hype, were sceptical, but have finally relented and gone deep into the backlog. Thankfully, it turns out everyone else was right all along. FF7 is a quirky and fun adventure and can be played in the comfort that you know they haven’t screwed up the ending.
This game takes place entirely within a single city called Midgaard run by the Shinra Electric Power Company. Midgaard is a weird place. It’s lives in a captivating space between science fiction and fantasy. There is a dystopian corporate police state making giant mechs sitting alongside demons inhabiting random essences everywhere in the world. It doesn’t make sense, but it revels in it. In this way it feels distinctly Japanese. Rather than trying to shoehorn in some logical explanation for why this weirdness exists, it just does. For example there is a small goblin-like thing with a kitchen knife that slowly and relentlessly walks towards you and kills you in one hit in one battle only… They never appear again. But at the time it felt like it made complete sense. Embrace it I say! The game is quirky and intriguing, not whacky and goofy. It keeps a consistent tone and theme throughout which makes the fantastical world feel familiar and lived in. You can see why this game resonated with a generation of teenage boys back in the day.
This vibe carries over to the characters. There are way more than you would think reasonable to fit within a 30 hour game. Somehow they have managed to make these each distinct with their own identity though. There is nearly every stereotype you can imagine and they are generally either blatantly good (the school teacher who has a passion for dancing at the bumblebee inn) or bad (the craven crime lord who may be abusing potential wives). If you can’t tell which side they are on, they’re probably background world filler. If Last of Us is filled with moral ambiguities and depth and become an HBO classic that runs for a tight two seasons, FF7 gets the Vampire Diaries treatment. Characters going back years that get sillier every time they get revived with some magical artefact.
Combat is a combination of real-time with some tactical special move/spell use in a partly turn-based layer on top. Battles can actually be pretty difficult and different enemies require distinct strategies. There is no single way you can play that you can dominate with as so often happens towards the endgame of RPGs. The player needs to change how they play as they progress to adapt to characters in their team coming and going and to different bosses that counter various builds. Some of the battles do go on for a bit (I think the demon house took 20 minutes), but most battles feel just right. They are cinematic, but you pull through, just… However you know if you weren’t paying attention the game would knock your arse back to Sector 7.
Like any good first season, it wraps up the obvious story conflicts (Shinra and the corporate clowns) and reveals the deeper, truer evils towards the end (Sephiroth vs a literal embodiment of destiny trying to destroy the planet). It also has a nice montage of all your friends you helped at the end. This is a classic move that always feels nice.
It’s not all great though. There are some extended slow walking segments that feel painful to play as Cloud leisurely strolls at a subhumanly slow pace through some set pieces. I didn’t even do the optional 58 floor stair climb that took this to a farcical level.
It also sat in a weird halfway spot between open world and constraining linear. It was on the verge of breaking out into an open world game, but seems to have caught itself just in time and threw in a 10 minute cutscene and a corridor section to atone for its sins. This is a shame. The open world sections were fun and where some of the best world building happens. Thankfully, the sequel seems to go all in on the open world and sounds all the better for it.
Music is great. Like genre defining great. Every setting, character and plot point has their own song (there are over 150 songs in the Spotify album). But they’re well constructed and don’t just feel like noise. FF7 is one of those game soundtracks that they plan at the orchestra with a live concert. Fans and their poor partners try to convince themselves it is culture. You can see why though.
https://open.spotify.com/track/7f7oXoIr89fvT2VVgfmbkp?si=fRDbjJDLTq6HgPvz6ZK6Qw&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A4zv8L6EVSRuUDQ3JTrbbhn – This song only plays for the squat/pull up minigame. One of the most stressful experiences in the entire game.
https://open.spotify.com/track/5NVAEe63Mgy7FBsHphOMrV?si=VUnezvsURlmDxuVaNtoQJg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A4zv8L6EVSRuUDQ3JTrbbhn – There are several variants to the Wall St Markets theme depending on where you are specifically in it. This one is for the Chocobo (a chicken horse thing) cowboy ranch part.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3AmsvBoWXzSjgLUkY3LmvV?si=N9lca88vQca3Ad1C63dxTg&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A4zv8L6EVSRuUDQ3JTrbbhn – One of the most iconic riffs ever.
Overall, it was a tightly choreographed, enjoyable romp that just didn’t quite hit its potential. I was an Xbox boy and therefore always a skeptic of Final Fantasy, but I can see why people rave on about it. I’m glad I got to experience it in this improved remake. Bring on Round 2!
Rating: 6/7 panic attacks by Cloud with everyone else just standing around awkwardly
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