FF7 is my all-time favorite game. I play the game through basically annually, so not as hardcore as some people around here, but my love for the game is great. I have played Dirge of Cerberus and watched Advent Children, and was disappointed by both. Over time, I have grown to hate all FF7 compilation material. I have a special dislike for the Kingdom Hearts appearances of Cloud, which I blame for the source of "emo Cloud", where he is mopey and edgy, which is a complete departure from the original.
You guys remember Sephiroth?
With my FF7 background out of the way, I went into FF7 remake with low expectations. I expected the game to follow the story beats of the original, but with a few new additions here and there. I knew it was likely going to be worse than the original, but as long as they didn't F up a few key moments, I would be fine.
Key moments from Midgar to not F up:
- WallMarket Sequence
Really cements the lawlessness and shadiness of the lower-plate life. Everything needed to be dingy, dank, repugnant, slimy, etc.
Wallmarket music is replaced with carnival music that sounds more fitting for the gold saucer. Nothing is dingy or slimy at all, everything is very glam and fabulous. I consider this the first major f up.
- Death of avalanche members and sector 7 plate dropping
The death of all the avalanche members are not only heartbreaking, but also establish Shinra as a super power that Cloud and crew cannot take down with some losses along the way.
Since none of the characters die in the end and Wedge doesn't even die to begin with, I consider this the first major f up.
- Shinra HQ massacre by Sephiroth
Establishes not only that Sephiroth is evil, but an unstoppable force that utterly destroyed the world's super power when Cloud and crew could not. It was an awesome and horrifying mystery so be let out of the prison cell only to see everyone had been slaughtered. One of my favorite moments in the whole game, let alone the Midgar section. This is completely cut from the game so I consider it the third, final, and most egregious f up.
You guys like Sephiroth, don't you?
Gameplay: Playing through the game was not bad, actually. The combat was worse than turn-based in my opinion, but good enough I still enjoyed it. The biggest fatal flaw, IMO, is the boss fights. As good of a spectacle as they are, the pacing is severely hampered by the in-combat cutscenes. Each boss has around 3-4 cutscenes that interrupt the flow of battle. Even worse, they put a hard cap on damage (you cannot drive a boss's health down past the 75% in a single attack, the game makes the cutscene play out first). Trying to get a boss's stagger meter up? Better do it before the arbitrary in-battle cutscene that resets it. Manage to get that stagger? Don't waste a big attack on it or you'll reach the health cap and waste it. You naturally want to save a limit break for when a boss staggers for massive damage, but the game goes out of its way to make sure that rarely happens or is borderline useless when you manage to pull it off.
Sephiroth is pretty cool.
New minor story additions: the new additions to the story were pretty good leading up to the end of the game. Visiting Jessie's family's house was nice, and would have made the Avalance group dying off all the more impactful.
Minigames: were fun and done pretty well, IMO.
Why do I keep mentioning Sephiroth?
Sidequests: complete garbage. Fetch quests and monster-slaying quests with no imagination, thought, or care put into them. Complete filler garbage.
Voice acting: for the main cast was really well done except Zack and Aerith, whose respective voices felt amateurish and out of place. Voice acting for NPCs and side characters ranged from mediocre to complete trash.
Well you like when I bring up Sephiroth, don't you?
Dialogue and writing: dialogue between main party members was actually pretty good and faithful to the original characters leading up to Shinra HQ. Writing was generally good because it followed the beats of the original story. That is until the end. One big complaint though, Sephiroth is shoved in your face and shows up all the time with no reason or justification, destroying any interest or mystique the original set up for him. Square Enix knows you love him, they don't know why though. But here is again! You like it don't you? You filthy little fanboy...
Ending of the game: Nomura unleashed. Double-dose injection of Kingdom Hearts and Advent Children out of left field into the end. Completely unjustified "EPIC!!!" set pieces and unimaginative plot twists. Alternate timelines, retconning every meaningful death, obliterating all storytelling techniques, etc. Watch any video analysis from the youtube channel Resonant Arc (I recommend the following:
https://youtu.be/YDF5GorOauY and
https://youtu.be/B7t0E-OsN3I and
https://youtu.be/A9JZrZ7VROs ) and watch in amazement and disbelief that all story-telling magic of the original is disregarded in the remake. All setups and payoffs are cut, and Nomura-isms are inserted.
In summary:
If you have no experience in the FF franchise and have yet to play any FF games, this game is a mediocre action and adventure that is as likely to make you a fan as it is to validate your current skepticism of Japanese-styled RPGs. 7/10
If you like the FF13 franchise and all the time-travel/alternate timeline bullshit, and you internally orgasm with every Kingdom Hearts plot twist and big heartless baddy, you will probably love this game. If you every wanted to play the Sephiroth fight scene from Advent Children, this game randomly has that too. Plus a copy of the fight scene from the end of the original. In space! 10/10
If, however, you are only a fan of the original because of the expert way it told its story, and the methods it used to set up characters and plot twists with payoffs that borderlined on magic, then stay away from this game. It is not a remake, it should have been labeled FF7 Nomura's Final Mix 432/83 Days in a Week 1.5 Edition. 5/10
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