I think that when people say it looks like AC, it's because of the way the style leans towards photo-realism rather than the typical Japanese cartoon/manga/anime style of the original game, and I have to say I agree.
Personally, I find that worrisome, because while that style works within the narrative of AC (because AC only contains locations and characters that lend themselves to that style) - the original game contains lots of strange characters, locations, enemies, slap-stick humor, and narrative quirks that would be extremely jarring against a photo-realistic style - which means that they'll probably be removed for the sake of cohesion with the new style. And that, IMO, might stop this from being a remake that a lot of the original fans will enjoy.
Now @topic in general -
I am not necessarily against a remake that steps more in the direction of what a lot of people would consider a "reboot" if it had happened it the world of comics etc. - after all, we already have the original, and I am not sure that I need nor necessarily want a remake that's simply an upgraded version of the original (I still can, and still do enjoy the original as is - and play it regularly in either case).
However because it's a remake I am still going to be, consciously or not, comparing it to the original to see how it stands up - and to be honest, that might hamper my experience of it. Also, even if I'm not sure if I want such a remake now, I might end up wanting it once I see how this turns out.
FF7 was, to my mind, essentially a 90's anime in game format. Everything from the art-style, to the story-telling, to the music screams mid-90's
unashamed, unabashed and tacky glory. That's what made the game great to my mind. Non of that posturing Iphone, Tron, skinny-jeans, hipster, PC bullshit that passes for "cool" these days and have been the dominant art-direction in pretty much everything from MTV music videos to prime-time television since the somewhere around the later half of the 00's.
Personally, I am sick and tired of everything looking like it's been produced by the same people - everything looks and feels like it's been set
in a parallel universe that is the result of a fusion of the Matrix, MGS4, Advent Children, and then presented as if it's being marketed by fucking Apple.
FF7 was a game that had drunks shitting in toilets asking for medicine, drug-addicts, bordellos, bright neon-colors, people randomly getting hit by trucks during combat, cross-dressing, slap-fights, and brightly colored chocobos raced through a track that looked like it was designed by a person on a cocktail of crystal meth and LSD. It also poked fun at strange body-types, flirted with portrayals of womanizing characters, depicted smoking and alcohol consumption all willy-nilly, while smashing physically impossible architectural structures from completely different time-periods and countries together at alarming rates.
In short - FF7 didn't give a flying fuck about anything except being this over-the-top, trippy ride through conventional FF thrown through a blender of anime and 90's pop-culture and political issues.
That's what made the game what it was - it also something that probably won't work in the modern market with the new generation of gamers, despite the fact that the removal of if it also probably what will be seen as shitting all over the original fans, and make the game feel nothing like the original.
The optimal FF7 simply can't be made anymore. It was a product of its time, for the people of its time. People who missed it back then, will probably never really get it anyways, and making a remake in a way that is approachable to the new generations will inevitably compromise the entire soul of the game.
So, let's be realistic and call it what it probably is - FF15 in an FF7 coat. It's probably being made in the same engine - it might even share a lot of the assets (I always found it peculiar how so many of the characters in the original Versus 13 trailers looked exactly like members of the
FF7 cast, but that might have been a coincidence).
Sure, that might be a good game in its own right, and I might even enjoy it if I go into it like that. But even just based on this trailer alone I can pretty much guarantee that this isn't going to be much like the original in any regard except for in broad strokes.
I'm still looking forward to it though. Because even in knowing that this isn't going to be "my FF7", it's going to be "a FF7", and to be honest - that's enough at this point.
I've waited what? 18 years for this? People seem to think that if they screw up now, that's unforgivable - but I am the other way around. Given the change in the times, and all the time that has passed since the original release and the impact that has had on both the producers/devs, and the fans of the franchise, they can't really succeed in my opinion.
I expect them to fail somewhat, and I am okay with that because instead of going into it expecting "my FF7", I'll go into it expecting a new FF7 and try to enjoy it for what it is.
It might fail at this as well, but that's the metric I am going to judge it by, and I'll make that judgement when I play it - not before.