Featuring suped-up visuals and superior optimization, the PS5-era re-release of Final Fantasy VII Remake is a great game.
I always considered this entry to be the start of FF's complete revitalization in the modern era. Following this game, we also had the post-patch content rollout for Shadowbringers in FF14 (greatest era for this game), FF16 (a fantastic narrative experience), the Endwalker expansion for FF14, and most recently, this game's sequel, FF7Rebirth. It wasn't a flawless beginning to this recent stream of high-quality releases, though. While I love this game for how it re-presents the amazing city of Midgar, there are a lot of things that are... frustrating to say the least.
I will start with the successes of this game first, though. The most obvious one that comes to mind immediately is this game's artstyle. While Intergrade on the PS5 still has some questionable areas of low-textures and frequent blurriness on performance mode, FF7R is a stunning video game from an art direction standpoint. Arguably the best in the series.
How this game takes the original 1997 classic and translates it into a 3D space is jaw-droppingly awe-inspiring. FF7Remake is a testament to what diligent adherence to art direction can do for video games, and as such, it is one of the most visually memorable games of its generation, and arguably of all time.
The game also did a superb job at its alternate story. While it can be a bit of a head-scratcher near its conclusion, I heavily appreciate the writing team's decision to NOT make this series of remakes carbon-copy replicas of the OG's story. With the twist this series is spinning on its classic story, we can be ensured that every new game in this series will have new twists and turns to experience. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I will say nothing about what actually occurs in this game. But for what its worth, this game's balancing act between retaining classic elements of its story (base character themes, memorable characters from the original, trace elements of the original story) and new elements is carried out very well.
The one area I have in disagreement with a lot of players, however, is this game's combat. Call me an old-timer, but I truly do think that OG FF7's ATB combat system in junction with its materia system was the most fun FF has ever been. The semi-realtime combat focus of this title, while rewarding in some areas, can lead to a very quickly fatiguing gameplay loop.
Since Remake takes place solely in Midgar, concessions to pacing had to be made to ensure that this game was long enough to justify its asking price of a full-retail experience. The game averages around 35-40 hours, which is nearly as much as the original, but unfortunately a lot of those hours involves incredibly padded-out stretches of combat that are absolutely egregious. If you know, you know. Instead of making Remake an open experience where Cloud and company can explore the vast world of Midgar, the bulk of this game lies in combat encounters taking forever because enemies either have too much health, or they can stagger you way too easily.
The amount of times I had to deal with enemies who stunlock you into canceling your moves with little to no telegraphing aside from a red hovering text (that lasts too short) was very, very disheartening to experience in a video game whose presentation I absolutely fell in love with.
But the translation of the materia system into this game was masterful. Even with an action-combat focus, the customizability of this game's characters is still a thing of beauty. With the right know-how, you can turn barret from a DPS-dealing tank to the healer of the group. And as surface-level as these RPG elements can be, they're still satisfying to mess with. In a lot of JRPGs, your stats are decided for you (cough cough, Persona...). But in FF7Remake, you get to choose which party member is good at what.
But yeah, overall, FF7 Remake is a great game that could have been better had certain aspects of its design been tweaked. While containing one of gaming's very best world design, interesting materia mechanics, and a fresh spin on a classic narrative, the choices made to frequency of combat encounters, enemy health, enemy attacks, and quest design make FF7 Remake frustrating at key points.
I highly recommend you play or watch a playthrough of FF7 OG before playing this. There's so much to enjoy with this game with intense prior knowledge of its original counterpart.
8/10
I always considered this entry to be the start of FF's complete revitalization in the modern era. Following this game, we also had the post-patch content rollout for Shadowbringers in FF14 (greatest era for this game), FF16 (a fantastic narrative experience), the Endwalker expansion for FF14, and most recently, this game's sequel, FF7Rebirth. It wasn't a flawless beginning to this recent stream of high-quality releases, though. While I love this game for how it re-presents the amazing city of Midgar, there are a lot of things that are... frustrating to say the least.
I will start with the successes of this game first, though. The most obvious one that comes to mind immediately is this game's artstyle. While Intergrade on the PS5 still has some questionable areas of low-textures and frequent blurriness on performance mode, FF7R is a stunning video game from an art direction standpoint. Arguably the best in the series.
How this game takes the original 1997 classic and translates it into a 3D space is jaw-droppingly awe-inspiring. FF7Remake is a testament to what diligent adherence to art direction can do for video games, and as such, it is one of the most visually memorable games of its generation, and arguably of all time.
The game also did a superb job at its alternate story. While it can be a bit of a head-scratcher near its conclusion, I heavily appreciate the writing team's decision to NOT make this series of remakes carbon-copy replicas of the OG's story. With the twist this series is spinning on its classic story, we can be ensured that every new game in this series will have new twists and turns to experience. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I will say nothing about what actually occurs in this game. But for what its worth, this game's balancing act between retaining classic elements of its story (base character themes, memorable characters from the original, trace elements of the original story) and new elements is carried out very well.
The one area I have in disagreement with a lot of players, however, is this game's combat. Call me an old-timer, but I truly do think that OG FF7's ATB combat system in junction with its materia system was the most fun FF has ever been. The semi-realtime combat focus of this title, while rewarding in some areas, can lead to a very quickly fatiguing gameplay loop.
Since Remake takes place solely in Midgar, concessions to pacing had to be made to ensure that this game was long enough to justify its asking price of a full-retail experience. The game averages around 35-40 hours, which is nearly as much as the original, but unfortunately a lot of those hours involves incredibly padded-out stretches of combat that are absolutely egregious. If you know, you know. Instead of making Remake an open experience where Cloud and company can explore the vast world of Midgar, the bulk of this game lies in combat encounters taking forever because enemies either have too much health, or they can stagger you way too easily.
The amount of times I had to deal with enemies who stunlock you into canceling your moves with little to no telegraphing aside from a red hovering text (that lasts too short) was very, very disheartening to experience in a video game whose presentation I absolutely fell in love with.
But the translation of the materia system into this game was masterful. Even with an action-combat focus, the customizability of this game's characters is still a thing of beauty. With the right know-how, you can turn barret from a DPS-dealing tank to the healer of the group. And as surface-level as these RPG elements can be, they're still satisfying to mess with. In a lot of JRPGs, your stats are decided for you (cough cough, Persona...). But in FF7Remake, you get to choose which party member is good at what.
But yeah, overall, FF7 Remake is a great game that could have been better had certain aspects of its design been tweaked. While containing one of gaming's very best world design, interesting materia mechanics, and a fresh spin on a classic narrative, the choices made to frequency of combat encounters, enemy health, enemy attacks, and quest design make FF7 Remake frustrating at key points.
I highly recommend you play or watch a playthrough of FF7 OG before playing this. There's so much to enjoy with this game with intense prior knowledge of its original counterpart.
8/10