This was an interesting experience to see if you can ever really get too much FF7. Nomura was definitely cooking something in here, and it had a flavor very unique to his style from the story to the new characters and worldbuilding.
Zack was a very cool character and this game definitely shot him way up for me more. Given how much original FF7 talks about his and Cloud’s dynamic and bond I really loved seeing those two in action together. I really didn’t expect Zack to be as much of a goofus as he was, especially at the beginning of the game. Seeing him come into his own was very cool. It’s kinda neat seeing how Angeal was to him, and then later how he was to Cloud. And to me that makes Cloud’s arc even more interesting retroactively. Both of those two feel even more so human after that. In addition, it was neat to be able to expand on some of the side characters that we hadn’t seen a ton of as well, especially Sephiroth. Seeing a more human side of him made me resonate with him a bit harder and showed his internal conflict leading up to the events of the original game in quite an interesting way.
However, for the other characters that were new to the game, I don’t feel so much the same. As much of a mentor figure to Zack that Angeal was, I can’t say I was very heavily invested in his character. The same can be said for Genesis too. I don’t think their buildup was very compelling and I’m not a fan of how they were used in the overall narrative. Gotta say this game overall doesn’t add much to the story of FF7 other than building up pre existing characters more (Except for Cisseni she was cool).
The gameplay loop was pretty basic; given this was a remaster, not a remake, of a mid-2000s PSP game I wasn’t expecting too much from that. But even so, the whole design of the game was just kinda…there. A lot of the levels felt very short and/or repetitive, and the whole mission structure would have been a total snoozefest if the combat wasn’t surprisingly fun. I had heard this was made into more so of an action game and that did not leave me disappointed. Zack was a very fun character to play as and really carried the missions for me. I’m glad this game is a thing because I really couldn’t imagine going back and playing the original if the combat had been very basic.
Some other minor quirks I have with this game are that I don’t think the voice acting is that great and the fact that this had no chapter select is very irritating, but I’ve already spent so much time talking about other things that there’s not really a need to go into too much detail.
I definitely am glad, not just that I played it, but that I got this game in before Rebirth. Expanding on the lore of FF7 definitely made me even more excited to see what Nomura has planned.
Zack was a very cool character and this game definitely shot him way up for me more. Given how much original FF7 talks about his and Cloud’s dynamic and bond I really loved seeing those two in action together. I really didn’t expect Zack to be as much of a goofus as he was, especially at the beginning of the game. Seeing him come into his own was very cool. It’s kinda neat seeing how Angeal was to him, and then later how he was to Cloud. And to me that makes Cloud’s arc even more interesting retroactively. Both of those two feel even more so human after that. In addition, it was neat to be able to expand on some of the side characters that we hadn’t seen a ton of as well, especially Sephiroth. Seeing a more human side of him made me resonate with him a bit harder and showed his internal conflict leading up to the events of the original game in quite an interesting way.
However, for the other characters that were new to the game, I don’t feel so much the same. As much of a mentor figure to Zack that Angeal was, I can’t say I was very heavily invested in his character. The same can be said for Genesis too. I don’t think their buildup was very compelling and I’m not a fan of how they were used in the overall narrative. Gotta say this game overall doesn’t add much to the story of FF7 other than building up pre existing characters more (Except for Cisseni she was cool).
The gameplay loop was pretty basic; given this was a remaster, not a remake, of a mid-2000s PSP game I wasn’t expecting too much from that. But even so, the whole design of the game was just kinda…there. A lot of the levels felt very short and/or repetitive, and the whole mission structure would have been a total snoozefest if the combat wasn’t surprisingly fun. I had heard this was made into more so of an action game and that did not leave me disappointed. Zack was a very fun character to play as and really carried the missions for me. I’m glad this game is a thing because I really couldn’t imagine going back and playing the original if the combat had been very basic.
Some other minor quirks I have with this game are that I don’t think the voice acting is that great and the fact that this had no chapter select is very irritating, but I’ve already spent so much time talking about other things that there’s not really a need to go into too much detail.
I definitely am glad, not just that I played it, but that I got this game in before Rebirth. Expanding on the lore of FF7 definitely made me even more excited to see what Nomura has planned.