Even towns and central hubs have this very claustrophobic feel to their level design, and as a result exploring is oftentimes a complete chore. Almost every area in the game is made up of repetitive, linear, narrow corridors. They’re optional, but that doesn’t take away from how lazy they feel while playing. This sucks because I normally love sidequests in RPGs, but here they feel like mindless fluff that doesn’t do anything to enhance the overall experience. These missions are clearly there to pad out the game’s length, which already has serious pacing issues to begin with (more on that later). The sidequests are almost universally bland, boring filler, delivered by equally bland and shallow NPCs who look extremely out of place artistically and graphically. Seeing all my favorite characters, as well as the city of Midgar, rendered in such detail was an incredible moment of nostalgic bliss for me. The beginning of FF7R does a brilliant job of replicating the original’s opening. Are they freedom fighters or terrorists (the answer obviously being “yes”)? This was barely touched on in the original, but in a post 9/11 world, this extra bit of nuance is very welcome. I really enjoyed how the writers explored the inherent moral ambiguity of Avalanche. The expanded character development for Jessie is great, and makes her a much more complex and well rounded individual than she was in the original game. The materia system and weapon skill trees are a blast, and add a decent amount of depth to the gameplay. With nary a hitch in performance, it’s also a technical marvel, and shows what is possible even on dated hardware. The graphics and aesthetics are absolutely stunning. When it’s firing on all cylinders, it’s a good time, especially when playing as Tifa, who is a complete badass in FF7R’s many combat scenarios. The core combat mechanics are a lot of fun, and brilliantly mix realtime action with turn based-esque abilities. Admittedly, it is a bit “anime” for my tastes, but the original’s aesthetics and tone borrow heavily from anime, so I can see why they went this direction. Aerith is perhaps a bit ditzier than before, but she’s a good foil for Tifa. Cloud is as socially awkward as ever, Tifa is still the ultimate girl next door, and Barret is the gruff talking, Shinra hating extremist we all know and love. The writers and voice actors absolutely nailed the main protagonists. Acknowledging this, I went into FF7R with a mix of skepticism and guarded optimism. With that being said, I completely understand why the developers would wish to make a remake their own. Remakes in any medium are - creatively speaking - extremely risky, especially when you’re remaking a juggernaut of pop culture like FF7. To be completely fair to the developers, there’s absolutely no way a remake was ever going to live up to everyone’s expectations. Which is why writing this review for the FF7 Remake (FF7R) hurts so much. My tastes may have shifted toward Western computer based RPGs, but the original FF7 is still a crucial part of my gaming experience, and will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s been over 20 years since I first played FF7, but to this day RPGs are still my absolute favorite genre. I’m pretty sure my deep-seated mistrust of corporations began here, with a videogame starring a spiky haired blonde with a comically massive sword. To say this game had a huge impact on me would be a vast understatement. Of course, in hindsight that’s a bit hyperbolic, but I’m not the only one who felt that way at the time, and as a result FF7’s reputation has reached near mythic status over the years. When FF7 released in 1997 it felt like videogames had finally “matured”, finding the nexus between art and technology. It completely blew me away, captivating me with its story, art, music, and mechanics. The original Final Fantasy VII was my very first RPG. I tagged them where I thought appropriate, but if you think I missed any, please let me know! WARNING: Incoming MAJOR SPOILERS for both Final Fantasy VII Remake (FF7R) and OG Final Fantasy VII (FF7). Please use flair to display what games you’re currently playing, not a punch line, username, tag, URL, or signature. New, mobile-friendly spoilers can be posted using the following formatting: Want to play online in a dead gaming community? We expect you to know these rules before making a post. Please click here to see our current rules. We no longer maintain our posting rules in Old Reddit. Join our Discord Join our Steam Group Posting Rules Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases. A gaming sub free from the hype and over saturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game.
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