Final Fantasy VII: Remake Done Right

©Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

    Love it or hate it, Final Fantasy VII is one of the most influential RPGs made. It was representative of a huge shift in style and presentation from the 2D to 3D generations for consoles. As a result of this, it should not come as a surprise that it is one of the most beloved console RPGs out there. Fans had been clamoring for a remake of this game since Sony had presented a tech demo to show off the PlayStation 3. Much to fans' delight, it was officially announced as coming to the PlayStation 4 at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo along with a gorgeous trailer.

     Since then, Square Enix has been pretty tight-lipped on information. The most information we've been able to glean was that the remake is intended to be exactly that: a complete and entire remake from the ground up (rather than a 3D remaster). It's no secret that Square Enix has said that they personally considered FFVII to be a failure and they didn't accomplish what they set out to do. Imagine if they were able to shoot for those goals with the remake? It bodes well for the remake that they are re-imagining it to their original vision coupled with some modernization.

©Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

    Recently, at the PlayStation Experience, we got a little taste of what to expect. A new trailer was released that showed off some more pretty scenes. More importantly, we got a glimpse of the gameplay. Based on the little we saw, it looks like the combat is going to be more like a combination of FF7, FF12 and FF13. It'll likely still be somewhat turn based (using the ATB system), but in a more free-form and active setting. This is only conjecture, of course, but Square Enix did specify that the combat was going to play out more like an action RPG. This has been controversial to some, but I've always taken a very rigid stance on this: if you want the original then play the original. It's called a remake and a re-imagining, not a remaster, for a reason.

     To top it off, Square Enix has recently hinted at the game being released in parts, which could be indicative of it possibly being episodic. This has put some up in arms as well. In a recent interview with Famitsu, it was confirmed that the reason for the ‘episodic’ release is to allow the maximum amount of content. Releasing in one complete package always results in cuts, in the same way a movie needs to be edited and cut. On the other hand, in the same way that a television series can turn cut content into new episodes (thus allowing for a fuller story), an episodic game can allow for much more content to make it into the game. That’s the goal with Final Fantasy VII Remake.

©Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

    Square Enix has had a very long time to plan this out, and it's clear that they're not taking any shortcuts. They're going to do their best to deliver the best product they can to fulfill the vision they feel like the game should always have been. I've never been a big fan of the original, but I'm extremely excited about the prospect of this remake, which speaks very highly of what they’ve presented thus far.

     While we wait for the remake to release (we don't have an official release date yet), the Steam re-release of Final Fantasy VII has just been released for purchase on the PlayStation 4, with trophy support and added features which will help players enjoy the game however they like.

©Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.

    The Final Fantasy VII remake is only officially releasing on the PlayStation 4 thus far. Let's hope this ends up being as good as it looks.

-Teepu (Bowser05)

Official Game Site: http://ffvii-remake.square-enix.com/

Official Famitsu Interview: http://www.famitsu.com/news/201512/07094721.html

Original Teaser Trailer

PSX 2015 Trailer