This article contains some spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Remake. They’re marked in the article, but be advised that certain plot deviations are discussed in detail.
The Final Fantasy VII Remake is fantastic in many ways, and disappointing in a select few. While some of the padding is extraneous and the ending raises some concerns for future Remake entries, the excellent gameplay, engrossing additions to the story, gorgeous visuals, and unbeatable soundtrack make Remake a must-play for JRPG fans of all kinds.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Developer: Square Enix
Price: $60
Platforms: PS4 (reviewed)
MonsterVine was provided with a PS4 code for review
It’s hard to fathom that I’m writing about Final Fantasy VII Remake, as it’s the game that I never thought would come. The original Final Fantasy VII is my favorite game of all time and has been since I was a kid. After seeing the infamous PS3 tech demo of the opening mission, watching Advent Children over and over, and recreating battles in Dissidia too many times, I thought I had gotten as close as possible to experiencing Final Fantasy VII in HD. But here it is, and while it’s not perfect, I’m pretty damn happy with Remake.
The story of Remake follows that of the original game with an estimated 85% accuracy. As Cloud Strife, ex-SOLDIER First Class (or is he?,) you’re hired by the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE to blow up a Mako reactor. These reactors are used by the Shinra Electric Company to power the city of Midgar, even though they know that extracting Mako from the planet will destroy it. Though Cloud is only interested in the money at first, a series of events leads to Cloud going up against Shinra alongside his childhood friend Tifa, local florist Aerith, AVALANCHE leader Barrett, and Shinra experiment Red XIII.
Obviously that’s a very basic summary of a much more complicated game, especially since Remake only covers the Midgar portion of the original game. To supplement this, a great deal of extra story content is added throughout Midgar. While some of it felt like a bit of a timewaster (clearing out rats and doing favors for Sector 7 citizens,) most of the new content really builds on the already incredible world of Final Fantasy VII. Getting to hang out with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie makes the “Plate-drop” scene far more tragic, especially after learning about Jessie’s backstory. Learning that there are various branches of AVALANCHE makes the team feel more legit, as does the smart twist of having Shinra spread propaganda saying that AVALANCHE is backed by Wutai.
There are also a lot of small character moments slipped into cutscenes and non-combat gameplay sections that help to flesh out the main characters in ways the original game couldn’t. Cloud and Barrett’s budding friendship feels natural due to the many moments of razzing and conversation between the two throughout the game. Tifa is concerned about how willing Cloud is to kill harmless enemies, but she slowly brings the “old Cloud” back out through various side-missions and dialogues. So many tiny moments occur throughout the entirety of Remake, and they’re one of my favorite additions to the entire game.
“From the main AVALANCHE group to every conniving Shinra executive (and Reeve, bless him,) I can see the unforgettable blocky PS1 models in each of these insanely detailed updated character designs.“
There are a few changes that have me concerned about future entries though, especially once you reach Remake’s ending. (Reminder: This section contains spoilers for the end of Remake.) The presence of Whispers throughout the game (the hooded ghostly figures) feels out of place, especially once you learn about their purpose. Since their goal is to stop destiny from being altered, it brings a lot of strange questions about the story to the table; questions that are only multiplied by the last few hours of the game.
Battling Sephiroth and a variety of Heartless-esque figures in an otherworldly void was already a strange way to end the first part, but the implication that the future and past have both changed as a result of Cloud’s actions is concerning. As Sephiroth rambled about destiny and existence, it felt as though I was playing a Kingdom Hearts spin-off rather than a Final Fantasy VII Remake. Don’t get me wrong, I love Kingdom Hearts for what it is and I admire the team’s willingness to try new things in the story with many of the aforementioned additions. I’m not inherently against the weird meta-driven story exploration on display here, it’s just that time travel doesn’t feel right in Final Fantasy VII, especially since it hasn’t existed in any way before. This is especially true when you start retconning character deaths.
The biggest concern to come from this, for me, is the implication that Zack has now survived the battle against Shinra’s troops, as this undoes Zack’s tragic character and essentially all of Cloud’s incredible development in later parts of the game. Even worse, I got the sense that the game hinted at the possibility of Aerith surviving her iconic death as well. Aerith has always been an excellent character, but removing her heart-breaking death for the sake of trying something new (in a remake) just feels completely wrong. The confusing survival of Biggs adds to this, as it seems the developers are more than willing to let characters live on what seems like a whim.
To be fair, this could all be swept away at the beginning of Part 2 of Remake as a Jenova/Mako hallucination or Sephiroth messing with the party using knowledge gained from his time in the Lifestream. Even if it isn’t, it could lead to an excellent story of its own. But as things stand, I’m very concerned– especially if Zack and Cloud lose their original stories, which has always been my favorite part of the plot. (Spoilers end here.)
“There’s so much to do with Materia that I was constantly updating every character’s loadout– not out of obligation, but because I wanted to experiment.“
The gameplay of Remake is all-around excellent, from the incredibly smooth combat to the meticulously-detailed Materia system. Gone are the days of random encounters and transition screens, as Remake’s battles seamlessly begin and end without stopping the game. In combat, you can perform as many standard attacks as you want, while using skills and magic requires ATB bars that charge up over time. This strikes me as the perfect fusion of the original game’s ATB combat and Final Fantasy XV’s more active combat, with a dash of Final Fantasy XIII’s Stagger mechanics. I never got tired of battles throughout the 40 hours of time I plugged into the main game and side-quests, as the freedom of movement combined with the vastly different playstyles of each playable character kept me on my toes the whole time.
The Materia system works perfectly with Remake’s combat, as leveling Materia up and spreading your abilities across your team can provide you with an endless amount of customization. You can use linked Materia slots in your weapon to give your regular attacks elemental damage, or to lessen the impact of status ailments like Poison and Sleep. You can set Materia that makes your teammates heal you when your health drops, or you set Materia that provides stat boosts upon level-up. There’s so much to do with Materia that I was constantly updating every character’s loadout– not out of obligation, but because I wanted to experiment.
Remake is a gorgeous game, as it takes plenty of fondly-remembered settings and characters and brings them to the modern-day without losing an inch of their visual charm. From the main AVALANCHE group to every conniving Shinra executive (and Reeve, bless him,) I can see the unforgettable blocky PS1 models in each of these insanely detailed updated character designs. The environments are breath-taking on their own, and I would often stare up at the Plate in awe of how perfect it looks. Throw in Square Enix’s standard gorgeous particle effects, and you have a visual masterpiece in Remake.
The soundtrack of Remake is nothing short of beautiful. Some of the most iconic tracks have various different remixes, with the various versions of “Those Who Fight” and the main theme of Final Fantasy VII sticking out as absolute masterpieces. I was enthusiastic about collecting music records throughout the game just because I wanted to hear more covers of classic themes, and not once did they ever disappoint. The voice acting is another highlight of the game, and though I still miss the classic actors we’ve had since Kingdom Hearts, the new cast gives Cloud, Tifa, and the rest of the crew new life in Remake.
The Final Word
Though a couple of story beats seem stretched or concerning, Final Fantasy VII Remake is an overall fantastic game that does justice to the original with its grand gameplay, thoughtful additions to the story, and beautiful music and visuals. I’m hoping that further parts stay a bit more on track when it comes to the main story beats, but I’m still very excited to see what else this new Midgar has to offer.
MonsterVine Review Score: 4.5 out of 5 – Great
