In 2005 Square Enix showed off their powerful new Crystal Tools engine which would be used by several of their key titles moving forward and an effort to show off the potential power of the Playstation 3 console ahead of its 2006 launch. Square would use footage of what looked like a completely reworked version of timeless classic Final Fantasy VII. This would get heads turning in believing that a possible retail version of a full on remake was on the way. Though Square would initially deny these claims in reality consideration for the remake had begun for years with development officially starting in 2014 with an official reveal at E3 2015. With a mere five weeks from launch the demo of the much anticipated revamp of Final Fantasy VII is now available for players to try and it’s damn good for newcomers and long time fans alike.

Final Fantasy VII is a 2020 remake of the game of the same name, it is developed and published by Square Enix and Part 1 will be released worldwide on April 10, 2020 as a timed Playstation 4 exclusive. A demo is currently available on PlayStation Network for free.

Editor’s Note: This preview for Final Fantasy VII Remake is from the perspective of a first time player (meaning I haven’t played the original). Minor to major spoilers for Final Fantasy VII may be present within this preview.

All my life I’ve been surrounding by discussions of how fantastic not only the Final Fantasy series was in general, but specifically the seventh entry into the franchise; Final Fantasy VII. Featuring lead characters such as the protagonists Cloud Strife, Tifa, Aerith, and antagonist Sephiroth among others it’s easy to see how one could get so effortlessly attached to such a late installment of the ever growing franchise. While I personally didn’t really get much into JRPGs or Final Fantasy as a whole until the release of Kingdom Hearts and more so Final Fantasy XV (a personal favorite video game of mine) I can say that the remake is to me with the small amount of time I’ve spent with it starting to feel like what it was for others over twenty years ago when it first came out in 1997. 

THE GOOD: I’m probably going to mention this game a lot as it’s my first real experience into the base Final Fantasy series, but I’m playing Final Fantasy VII Remake coming from a year or so removed from my many, many, many hours spent pumped into Final Fantasy XV. You’d think with the remake’s combat scheme taking inspiration from the former the latter would be a bit easier to muster right? WRONG! Final Fantasy VII Remake is quick to let new players know that something similar isn’t exactly as so. Granted this doesn’t mean the game is like some grand Dark Souls or Bloodborne level of difficulty in terms of mastering it’s combat and controls and there’s hints to help you gain some confidence in the controls, but that doesn’t exactly mean that you’ll get a hang of it at the speed the game expects of you. And that’s more than ok. When it comes to classics being reworked from start to finish I don’t want my hand held. I want to feel challenged and I want to be tested on whether or not I can think on my feet and overcome this enemy or if I have to go back to the drawing board and rework my strategy against that enemy that kills me over and over again. Though I haven’t necessarily died in the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo when it came to the end game boss I definitely struggled in strategy and quick thinking. You have your basic attacks, magic, abilities, and limit group attacks to get one over on enemies so you can understand my lack of confidence in getting a hang of things during a boss fight and such. There’s also special modes for even more powerful attacks.

I’m not too familiar with the story of Final Fantasy VII (for obvious reasons), but from what I’ve gathered from the demo Cloud is a soldier for hire and is working with a group led by muscle head Barret who can apparently feel the energy of the planet which has been depleting due to a corporation’s industrial influence expanding throughout the planet killing a lot of the plant life or Mako in this case (please don’t yell at me in the comments if I’m wrong, or do whatever). A simple enough story with a cool message behind it you can easily get behind. Protect the green my dudes.

THE BAD: Difficulty spikes from a control perspective which is fine. The game doesn’t exactly hold your hand, but it doesn’t exactly take it easy on you if you’ve never experienced the more modern Final Fantasy titles such as the previously mentioned XV which the remake seems more modeled after as far as combat and menus go. I’d highly recommend spending some time with that one if you’re a fellow newcomer looking to get in on Remake. Even with the pop up hints throughout the playthrough I found myself scrambling during the demo’s end game boss. This was likely due to some incompetence on my part, but when you have to think on the fly between attacking, defending, and using magic while taking huge damage and wondering how Barret is doing it can be a little much.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: At some point I’m going to have to get my hands on the original Final Fantasy VII (maybe after I’m done with Remake?). I like what little I’ve seen from this world so far and if the final game grabs an even bigger investment from me I may finally become a fully fledged Final Fantasy fan.