Despite not having played the original, I was still aware of the overall structure and a few important plot points. I also knew that Remake wouldn't be a 1 for 1 remake of the original, and is rather a mix of remake, reboot, and sequel centered around the first 4-5 hours of VII; in that regard, it's perhaps best compared to the Evangelion Rebuild movies. The game's storyline has been extended and another very meta plot thread has been added as well. Essentially, you're not getting Final Fantasy VII, you're getting something completely new.
Now, judging the quality of what you're getting is surprisingly difficult. Starting off with the positives, the presentation is one of the best you'll find in the entire RPG genre. Cutscenes have a movie like quality to them, and in-engine cutscenes are near indistinguishable from the few pre-rendered ones. Character models look incredible, particle effects are beautiful, and the world design is on point as well. Some low resolution textures have made their way into the ps5 version, but they're so rare mentioning them feels like nitpicking.
It's when the beautiful character models start talking that issues arise. The localization is surprisingly weak and suffers from what I can only describe as "dubbed anime syndrome": Lots of gasps, "huh"s, and "you guys". It doesn't help that the story is moving pretty slowly a lot of the time, mostly due to being being stretched out. A couple of nice additions can't hide that a lot of what's here is pure and simple filler. There's a lengthy section set in a sewer system, followed by a abandoned warehouse/junkyard section. Both have to be some of the most boring settings you can put in a video game, and you have to return to the same sewer section a second time later in the game.
I'm also not really fond of the additional story content centered around the whispers. I always found that everything about them was way less interesting than what was going on with the actual plot of the game. They also make the Remake, ironically, a bad starting place for newcomers, as some familiarity with the original's story is necessary to fully understand this meta storyline. I'm more fond of the other, more character focused, extensions. VII has always been beloved for its characters, so spending more time with them and getting to know them better was great.
Less great is the core gameplay loop itself. Ignoring a few inconsequential side quests that take place across slightly more open hubs, the bulk of the game is incredibly linear. In the game's best moments, the presentation and momentum of the story easily covers this up. In its worst moments you're running through a sewer and quickly realize that what you're actually doing is: beat up a few rats, walk down a corridor, climb a ladder, walk down another corridor, beat up a few more rats, climb down a ladder, go down another corridor. It's not just that it's boring, it's also that a lot of those sections take place in generic looking areas. Midgar as a setting offers so much, but too often Cloud and his companions end up on metal walkways or in linear hallways in concrete filled environments.
Combat keeps things from getting too dry, but there's still room for improvement here. The camera struggles occasionally, flying enemies are hard to track, and it's never quite as responsive as you'd want it to be. The amount of particle effects also makes it hard to see what's actually going on. Especially when fighting human bosses, sparks, lightning, and fire effects tend to cover up Cloud and his opponent, making players more or less guess who is currently beating up who. A lot of the enemies also have attacks that freeze or paralyze Cloud and while I can see that this was most likely supposed to encourage switching to other characters, it's not a fun mechanic in my eyes. Combining action gameplay with a tactical ATB like system was a great idea, but especially after playing Final Fantasy XVI the action side just feels lacking.
I know that my review sounds rather negative, but that doesn't mean that I hate Remake. I'm infuriated by it, but not because it's bad, rather because there's so much good here that I hate to see it dragged down by the bad. Most of my criticisms are more or less based on the decision to only remake the Midgar part of the game. Little is resolved here, almost nobody dies (because you're technically only 20% into the story), everything feels stretched and repeated. This game desperately needed to be cut down, and I don't think anyone would complain if the sewer parts were shortened or if Sephiroth had less of his cryptic but ultimately meaningless appearances.
Still, Remake got me hooked. I don't want to play it again any time soon, but I'm not done with Final Fantasy VII. I want to play the original game and once I'm done with that, I also want to play Rebirth. Remake made me fall in love with the characters, and by extension also the universe they inhabit. So even if I never touch Remake again, that's something I'll always be thankful for.
Now, judging the quality of what you're getting is surprisingly difficult. Starting off with the positives, the presentation is one of the best you'll find in the entire RPG genre. Cutscenes have a movie like quality to them, and in-engine cutscenes are near indistinguishable from the few pre-rendered ones. Character models look incredible, particle effects are beautiful, and the world design is on point as well. Some low resolution textures have made their way into the ps5 version, but they're so rare mentioning them feels like nitpicking.
It's when the beautiful character models start talking that issues arise. The localization is surprisingly weak and suffers from what I can only describe as "dubbed anime syndrome": Lots of gasps, "huh"s, and "you guys". It doesn't help that the story is moving pretty slowly a lot of the time, mostly due to being being stretched out. A couple of nice additions can't hide that a lot of what's here is pure and simple filler. There's a lengthy section set in a sewer system, followed by a abandoned warehouse/junkyard section. Both have to be some of the most boring settings you can put in a video game, and you have to return to the same sewer section a second time later in the game.
I'm also not really fond of the additional story content centered around the whispers. I always found that everything about them was way less interesting than what was going on with the actual plot of the game. They also make the Remake, ironically, a bad starting place for newcomers, as some familiarity with the original's story is necessary to fully understand this meta storyline. I'm more fond of the other, more character focused, extensions. VII has always been beloved for its characters, so spending more time with them and getting to know them better was great.
Less great is the core gameplay loop itself. Ignoring a few inconsequential side quests that take place across slightly more open hubs, the bulk of the game is incredibly linear. In the game's best moments, the presentation and momentum of the story easily covers this up. In its worst moments you're running through a sewer and quickly realize that what you're actually doing is: beat up a few rats, walk down a corridor, climb a ladder, walk down another corridor, beat up a few more rats, climb down a ladder, go down another corridor. It's not just that it's boring, it's also that a lot of those sections take place in generic looking areas. Midgar as a setting offers so much, but too often Cloud and his companions end up on metal walkways or in linear hallways in concrete filled environments.
Combat keeps things from getting too dry, but there's still room for improvement here. The camera struggles occasionally, flying enemies are hard to track, and it's never quite as responsive as you'd want it to be. The amount of particle effects also makes it hard to see what's actually going on. Especially when fighting human bosses, sparks, lightning, and fire effects tend to cover up Cloud and his opponent, making players more or less guess who is currently beating up who. A lot of the enemies also have attacks that freeze or paralyze Cloud and while I can see that this was most likely supposed to encourage switching to other characters, it's not a fun mechanic in my eyes. Combining action gameplay with a tactical ATB like system was a great idea, but especially after playing Final Fantasy XVI the action side just feels lacking.
I know that my review sounds rather negative, but that doesn't mean that I hate Remake. I'm infuriated by it, but not because it's bad, rather because there's so much good here that I hate to see it dragged down by the bad. Most of my criticisms are more or less based on the decision to only remake the Midgar part of the game. Little is resolved here, almost nobody dies (because you're technically only 20% into the story), everything feels stretched and repeated. This game desperately needed to be cut down, and I don't think anyone would complain if the sewer parts were shortened or if Sephiroth had less of his cryptic but ultimately meaningless appearances.
Still, Remake got me hooked. I don't want to play it again any time soon, but I'm not done with Final Fantasy VII. I want to play the original game and once I'm done with that, I also want to play Rebirth. Remake made me fall in love with the characters, and by extension also the universe they inhabit. So even if I never touch Remake again, that's something I'll always be thankful for.