A Reunion Long-Awaited
SPOILER ALERT: Plot details for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Remake follow
It’s hard to trace, when, exactly, fans first started to clamor for a remake of 1997’s Final Fantasy VII. Maybe it was after seeing the characters reappear in 2002's Kingdom Hearts or after seeing the 2005 CGI sequel film Advent Children. By the time of the 2005 PS3 tech demo, however, it had reached a fever pitch. Square had the audacity to remake the entire opening of FFVII to show off the graphical capabilities of the PS3. This, of course, spurred fan speculation, but it was only a tease. In the ensuing years since, Square has probably been asked about the remake more times than Reggie Fils-Aime was asked about Mother 3.
Why did we want a remake of FFVII so badly? After all, there’s nowhere near as much passion for remakes of FFVI or FFIX, both of which have dedicated fanbases. So, why? My guess is that the desire for a remake of FFVII may be rooted in two things: a distaste for the outdated graphics of the original and the long-term unavailability of the game.
The graphics of FFVII were revolutionary for the time. The cutscenes were cinematic in direction and could seamlessly transition into the gameplay. They eschewed the realism of games like Metal Gear Solid, and instead adopted a shonen anime-style look in three dimensions. These graphics, however, immediately looked cartoonish with the release of FFVIII, that boasted of near photo-realistic characters. With each new entry of Final Fantasy pushing the boundaries of technology, FFVII just looked sillier by comparison. We wanted to see all of our favorite moments from FFVII redone like Advent Children or Crisis Core. Something that was a little less embarrassing to look at.
I can still recall the days when finding a used copy of FFVII was quite difficult. Even if you could find a copy at a used game store, it could get to be quite pricey. A remake would give younger gamers an opportunity to play the game for the first time, but we would do so with the best visuals that modern technology had to offer. When the game became more widely available for download on the PSN Store, however, many of us no longer saw a potential remake as the sole means to experience the game.
A remake of FFVII was always something fans thought would never happen. Square had long maintained that a complete remake of FFVII would be impossible, as FFVII producer Yoshinori Kitase once said, “If we were to recreate Final Fantasy VII with the same level of graphical detail as you see in Final Fantasy XIII, we’d imagine that that would take as much as three or four times longer than the three and a half years it has taken to put this Final Fantasy together!” Some of the fans, myself included, never completely believed this, but after having playing through just part one of the remake, I have to admit that Square was right. Part one alone is filled to the brim with so much depth and interaction, that I can hardly imagine them fitting in all the different environments of the original in single release.
By far, the best thing about this remake has been the outpouring of sexy Tifa fanart on social media…but let’s save our thirst for later and get straight to the game.
The FFVII Remake expertly balances nostalgia with innovation. It is faithful to the elements of what made FFVII great while also boldly evolving it for the modern age. In this sense, it eschews the emo retconning of Advent Children, and instead embraces the similarly fresh approach of Crisis Core. I’m glad that Square took chances and didn’t just rehash the exact same game with better graphics. It almost feels like I’m playing an entirely new game. Familiar territory, but still unmarked. The FFVII Remake has three primary points of strength: the graphics, the gameplay, and the story. All of which build upon and in some cases, improve over the original.
As always, Square’s visuals are top notch. Compare and contrast Square’s past re-imaginings of FFVII’s opening scene with the one in the remake, and you will come out with a great appreciation for the amount of detail and color variation permitted by the PS4. FFVII Remake’s graphics succeed in both compelling grandeur and granular detail. Midgar, the city of Mako, is more fully-realized this time around, as if the original version was just a prototype. Whether its Aerith’s Church, Seventh Heaven, or Mako Reactor 5, these places are so completely retooled that you’ll want to just sit back and observe. Some scenes can be breathtaking, such as whenever you look up and see the giant plate blocking out the sky, or when you look down and see the slums crowded below. You’re even free to explore areas that were never as accessible in the original, such as Jessie’s Mom’s house or the interactive Shinra Museum. I had the most fun, though, at the re-vamped Wall Market, which is bustling with life and could be explored for hours. I also liked how some item shops are re-imagined as vending machines, some of which play collectable music tracks.
The gameplay was always going to be an interesting aspect. The battle system of the original was Active Time Battle (ATB), but we all knew that just wouldn’t work in 2020. Games are too action-oriented now, and in a post-Advent Children world, Square couldn’t get away with a more traditional turn-based system. The new system is a perfect mix of FFXII, FFXIII, Kingdom Hearts, and Crisis Core. You don’t have to wait your turn in order to pummel the monsters with basic attacks, and like Kingdom Hearts II, the triangle button allows characters to perform special moves. Cloud goes into “Punisher Mode”, which slows his movement but deals more damage, while Aerith can charge up for the Tempest Spell. These attacks alone won’t be enough to defeat most enemies. For that, you’ll need to use your ATB bars, which charge continuously throughout the battle, but build up with basic attacks. With these charged ATB bars, you can use spells, items, or abilities. My favorite character to use was Tifa, who can chain so many attacks together with speed, and whose Focused Strike ability can also charge her ATB, thus creating a loop. Summoning, though, has slightly been altered. In the original, you could summon whenever you wanted, but it can only be done here in certain, big fights. Like FFXII, the Summons will fight alongside you, though some of their special attacks require ATB. The Remake has also perfected FFXIII’s Stagger, in which your attacks fill up a pressure bar and enemies briefly go into a vulnerable state as soon as that bar is filled.
The Remake also kept one of the most popular elements of FFVII, which is Materia. Materia contain spells, special abilities, or stat boosts, which can be equipped to your weapons. The more Materia slots your weapon has, the more Materia you can equip. When two Materia slots are connected, you can junction a Blue Materia with any of the others to unlock further powers. For Tifa, I equipped the Fire Materia with the Elemental Materia, so that whenever she did a basic attack, she also did Fire damage. I also equipped the Magnify Materia to Cure, so that when that character used a healing spell, everyone else in the party got the effects. What’s new, however, is the level of customization and variation that can be found with these weapons. Weapons can be upgraded via a leveling system similar to FFX’s Sphere Grid or FFXIII’s Crystarium. All of these elements come together to make the battle system a very cathartic and personal experience.
The highlight of the Remake’s plot was, no doubt, the growth of the supporting characters who were rather forgettable in the original. Johnny, who I don’t think anyone recalls from old game, stands out as welcome comic relief. The rebels of Avalanche also get starring roles. Biggs and Wedge come into their own as plucky, reliable friends, while Jessie is so energetic and sweet that you hardly want to see her go. The new side characters are also fun. Corneo’s three scouts: Chocobo Sam, Madam M, and Andrea Rhodea, are fleshed out into remarkable personalities. Chocobo Sam brings a cowboy sensibility to the game, who has an interesting, though hidden, past. Madam M could give Tifa a run for her money as the most sultry character in the game, though her hand massage scenes are obscenely hilarious. Andrea Rhodea shines during the rehabbed Honeybee Inn, in which he leads a delightful (and rather queer) musical number. Leslie is one of Don Corneo’s henchmen, but is surprisingly charismatic and nuanced.
Of course, the main cast are excellent as well. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Aerith, and Red XIII have the same synergy on the PS4 as they did on the PS1, but their interactions are helped by the advances in graphics and voice acting. Take the scenes where Cloud and Aerith try and fail to give each other high-fives in the underground tunnel. Or the scene when Barret offers Red XIII something of a handshake, and the beast swipes him with his flaming tail. Not to mention that the sexual tension between Cloud and the women around him could be cut with a Buster Sword. The FFVII Remake also makes the politics of the characters much more apparent. Barrett sounds a lot more like a seasoned political ideologue, while Tifa is more conflicted over civilian harm. Shinra is also more sinister, with Scarlet having a crawling servant to use as a footrest. Much of the humor and comedy from the original game is also preserved, such as Cloud needing to disguise himself as a girl or the fight with a giant walking house. Other things, however, are toned down. Hojo no longer wants to mate Aerith with Red XIII, which is probably for the best. The destruction of the first Mako Reactor is also Shinra’s doing, not Avalanche’s. Having your heroes engage in terror tactics in a post-9/11 world might not play as well today as it did in 1997, but by minimizing Avalanche’s role in civilian deaths, they also minimize their internal conflicts and moral ambiguity.
Sephiroth appears a lot more early on the FFVII Remake than he did in the original. I suppose this makes some sense, when you consider that Sephiroth is such an iconic character now, that deliberately hiding his presence wouldn’t have too much of a point. The issue is that gamers who’ve never played FFVII before might not fully grasp the significance of the climatic confrontation. I very much enjoyed the final fight with Sephiroth, which essentially allowed you to play through the climax of Advent Children.
The Whispers were an interesting addition to the game. As many others have commented, they look like Harry Potter’s Dementors. The Whispers act as the will of the Planet to ensure that the plot follows its original course. This is why we get flash forwards of Aerith’s death, the fall of Meteor, and Red XIII with his offspring. I began to worry that Square was showing its hand too early teasing all the money shots, but when you defeat the Whispers, this presumably frees the plot from the constraints of the original, so even these endgame “money shots” are far from fixed. This reverberation leads to a Schrodinger’s Cat moment, where Zack appears to survive the encounter with the Shinra soldiers who originally killed him. He may well still be dead (just due to a different cause) or we might see him pop up in the present day. Zack’s death is pivotal to the development of Cloud’s character, so the implications of this change are steep. It leads to a whole slew of questions: Will Aerith still die? Will Sephiroth still summon the Meteor? Will another character die in place of Aerith as Barrett almost did? Will this change Cloud’s romantic relationships? I am equal parts excited and terrified about the prospects. Square could’ve opened the door for incredible storytelling, or they could’ve needlessly complicated an already convoluted game. Square is just far too finicky to allow for a simple remake of FFVII and it is lamentable that we may never see that until its Japanese copyright expires in 2067. However, this unknown journey may yet bring in great rewards, and I’m eagerly looking forward to what Square has in store.
As a longtime Final Fantasy fan, I’ve been estranged from the series since FFXIII. Playing these games just started to feel more like a chore than a hobby. We had all heard opinions left, right, and center about what was wrong with Final Fantasy and how to fix it, but really, none of us knew. Who would’ve thought that a return to FFVII would be the secret elixir to rekindling our passion? What a great time to be a fan!
