Finished this one up just in time for Rebirth. Going to try to keep thoughts short.

I think, at its core, this is a fantastically impressive ARPG / JRPG hybrid that takes a lot of the things that make FF7 so good and adapts them thoughtfully to this new breed of game. It stumbles in places, largely the pacing and padding, but the overall experience is compelling.

Combat
Combat is not my favorite part of this, actually, and I would've preferred a fully turn-based approach - I adore action games and turn-based alike, but this version doesn't end up eclipsing either for me personally. But that said, it more than gets the job done and learning its systems is rewarding. I think my biggest issue overall is just how easy it is to take damage seemingly out of nowhere if you're not guarding all the time. Again, with practice and materia like steadfast block, this becomes less of an issue, but the focus on using ATB for abilities / spells / items lends poorly to "unpausing" and getting tagged for 900 damage from something you barely registered. The game also plays a little coy with giving you the full roster of Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Aerith as well, so you're oftentimes having to juggle a party that doesn't have all its roles accounted for. Materia is perhaps a little too stingily given out - I would've liked to have more than the 1 (2 if you 100% the side content) elemental materia, given how much it feels like it spices up combat. In a similar vein, the stark linearity of this game sorta works to the deficit of gear and weapons since it never really felt to me like I had the opportunity to "build" anything other than just straight numbers.

Story
Storywise, there's a distinct give and take happening here. All the major beats of FF7's first couple hours aren't just hit, they're elevated to incredible heights. The budget and the scale of this game is simply shocking, especially given just how little of the original they're actually working with. To that end, it's clear to me that they wanted to hit a certain length to justify this game's existence - Rebirth and the eventual 3rd release (Requiem?) are clearly easy to spin out into 30+ hour games, but this one? There are more than a few sequences that truly test my patience. The abandoned expressway with Aerith and the crane puzzles, the haunted trainyard with its repetition, and the absolutely atrociously long Jenova lab section all truly bewilder me with their inclusion. One chapter you have a spectacular cinematic sequence with great boss battles and the next you're going up and down ladders for 45 minutes for no real reason. These did wear pretty hard on me and my mental score was dropping, but... that finale is just too damn good. I think there's a 4.5 or even 5 game hiding in here if the 18 chapters were cut down to, say, 14.

Remake?
I understand why some don't love the new path that Remake is taking, but it doesn't bother me - if anything, I really like it. The original game is just as good as ever and very easily accessible. FF7 is really the only FF (outside of 14) that has this expansive a world from a release standpoint. Using the remake to tap into the extended compilation - Crisis Core, Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus - works only in its favor IMO. While I'm not huge on the specific use of the Whispers, the rest is very strong. That final couple minutes with Future? Omnipresent? Alternate? Sephiroth nearly makes it all worth it in the end.

Lows
Sidequests felt largely dull and never really compelled me to do them.
As noted in my God of War 2018 review, I hate 8th generation bullshit. I doubt it will be an issue in Rebirth but please stop making me slowly duck under things and sidle through gaps and hold a button to pull a switch. It feels especially egregious in chapters like the haunted trainyard where you're truly just going around climbing ladders and pressing buttons for an hour. The rest of this game is so good, we really just don't need to indulge this particular brand of game design.

Highlights
The whole first bombing mission - I think I played the initial demo for the PS4 release like 4 times in a row. Stellar stuff.
Hell house - aside from Sephiroth, Rude / Reno, and Rufus, this is probably the best boss in the game.
Leslie Kyle - very cool character introduced out of nowhere
Destiny's Crossroads (Chapter 18)
Load times (I mean... holy shit)
Excellent dub all around
I liked the overly indulgent staircase scene
Do I need to say graphics? These are some of the best character models ever made. Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Barret, Sephiroth, Red XIII, Rufus, Scarlet, Yuffie, Marlene, Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all look phenomenal. Oh yeah, Shiva too.
That end credits song is really good.

Overall, aside from the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde thing that this game has with regard to pacing, I'm thoroughly impressed. It's clear to me that the team at Square are truly passionate about both this new retelling and the original game. They really do care about making it great. To that end, this is a great stepping-off point for the whole Remake trilogy - there are a couple missteps but the foundation is more than solid and they've delivered a very memorable experience. They've given themselves a great first entry in a very long awaited trilogy and I can only assume it will keep improving from here.