Let’s start by just saying that the Final Fantasy series has been struggling to keep up with the times for at least the last twenty years, and that Square Enix’s approach for this “remake” trilogy stands out as their most successful attempt yet. Despite drawing on familiar material, they’ve managed to capture the same sense of scale and diversity of the classic games, delivering not only the most refined ATB-led combat experience to date, but also a plethora of minigames, side quests, areas to explore, and even temporary changes and additions in the gameplay dynamics to go along the story or the character you are focusing on. While some elements may feel obsolete and reminiscent of Ubisoft's open-world titles (like activating towers and mechanically uncovering points of interest), they're counterbalanced by the remarkable variety of engaging activities. Some players might even find themselves overwhelmed by the abundance of content this time around. Additionally, the length of individual sections, which occasionally dragged in "Remake," has been significantly tightened.
The pacing really depends on how much of a completionist you are. f you aim to simply explore the main environments and complete side quests, it won't demand an excessive amount of time compared to the average open-world action RPG. However, pursuing all achievements presents a different challenge altogether. This choice alone can transform the experience into a real nightmare. Completing all side quests, uncovering all points of interest, and, particularly, mastering all minigames will require not only considerable patience but also a minimum of 130 hours. Following that, you'll have an additional 20 hours to tackle a hard mode replay (manageable) and possibly a dozen more hours to conquer the combat simulator's "brutal" and "legendary" challenges (impossible). I found myself throwing in the towel halfway through the brutal challenges, as they proved nearly insurmountable regardless of my build, including cheese tactics. I wish I had known this before “wasting” 160 hours on all other objectives…
Unless you are planning to spend 200 hours perfecting your combat style and leveling up all materia, I highly recommend you only enjoy the main campaign and freely explore the open maps without worrying too much about the degree of completion. Otherwise, the things you initially liked about the game will all turn into extreme turn-offs.
The narrative largely stays true to the original, with a few additions enriching the main plot or establishing intriguing connections between events. For instance, the roles of the Gi tribe and Wutai have been reimagined to integrate into the overarching storyline. However, much like in "Remake," I still think the multiverse was the last thing we needed, especially at a time when all entertainment is seemingly obsessed by it. While it introduces a handful of new ideas to complement the familiar FF7 narrative, potential complications could arise in future installments. We will see.
The overarching narrative and occasional dramatic moments generally hit the mark, but the comedic relief felt a little off. While I am aware that the original was just as goofy… experiencing it in fully acted cutscenes with actual voice actors somehow makes it feel remarkably cringeworthy and redundant, comparing the experience to a not particularly well-directed anime. However, I have to say that the English localization has much better dialogue writing than its Japanese counterpart, despite the inevitable liberties taken in translation. It’s an issue common to most Japanese videogames, but the writing and direction are really the biggest issues making them decades behind international AAA titles like “Baldur’s Gate 3” or “The Last of Us”.
The pacing really depends on how much of a completionist you are. f you aim to simply explore the main environments and complete side quests, it won't demand an excessive amount of time compared to the average open-world action RPG. However, pursuing all achievements presents a different challenge altogether. This choice alone can transform the experience into a real nightmare. Completing all side quests, uncovering all points of interest, and, particularly, mastering all minigames will require not only considerable patience but also a minimum of 130 hours. Following that, you'll have an additional 20 hours to tackle a hard mode replay (manageable) and possibly a dozen more hours to conquer the combat simulator's "brutal" and "legendary" challenges (impossible). I found myself throwing in the towel halfway through the brutal challenges, as they proved nearly insurmountable regardless of my build, including cheese tactics. I wish I had known this before “wasting” 160 hours on all other objectives…
Unless you are planning to spend 200 hours perfecting your combat style and leveling up all materia, I highly recommend you only enjoy the main campaign and freely explore the open maps without worrying too much about the degree of completion. Otherwise, the things you initially liked about the game will all turn into extreme turn-offs.
The narrative largely stays true to the original, with a few additions enriching the main plot or establishing intriguing connections between events. For instance, the roles of the Gi tribe and Wutai have been reimagined to integrate into the overarching storyline. However, much like in "Remake," I still think the multiverse was the last thing we needed, especially at a time when all entertainment is seemingly obsessed by it. While it introduces a handful of new ideas to complement the familiar FF7 narrative, potential complications could arise in future installments. We will see.
The overarching narrative and occasional dramatic moments generally hit the mark, but the comedic relief felt a little off. While I am aware that the original was just as goofy… experiencing it in fully acted cutscenes with actual voice actors somehow makes it feel remarkably cringeworthy and redundant, comparing the experience to a not particularly well-directed anime. However, I have to say that the English localization has much better dialogue writing than its Japanese counterpart, despite the inevitable liberties taken in translation. It’s an issue common to most Japanese videogames, but the writing and direction are really the biggest issues making them decades behind international AAA titles like “Baldur’s Gate 3” or “The Last of Us”.