Re: 494 - Final Fantasy VII Remake / Intergrade
Posted: September 30th, 2021, 8:45 pm
I have very mixed feelings about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Since the original is my favorite game of all time, the announcement of a remake filled me with equal parts excitement and dread. For years, the internet has been filled with rumors and requests for a remake of the original. This only made worse by Sony and Square Enix with their tech demo for the PS3, demonstrating what a Final Fantasy 7 remake would look like on the console if they ever decided to make one, and by the announcement of Final Fantasy 7 coming to the PS4 via a port of the PC port. By the time they final got around to announcing an actual remake, my expectations of what a Final Fantasy 7 remake should be were impossibly high. I new the remake could never live up to what I wanted, and for the most part I was right, although I did my best to minimize my expectations prior to release. There were some pleasant surprises though. I think the voice-over cast did a pretty good job at making the characters sound the way I believed they would sound. The voice actors for Barrett (John Eirc Bentley) and Wedge (Matt Jones) were a couple of standouts to me. The environments looked great, although I think the overall level design is pretty weak. There isn’t a real sense of exploration throughout most of the levels. There are a few exceptions though, the journey to Aerith’s hometown is really nice and I think Wall Market is fantastic. But a lot of the other areas feel bland. Graphically though, they all look amazing. Enemy design is another area that I think the remake does well. The developers fully embraced the weird aspects of enemy design that the series is known for, and end up creating some awesome looking creatures; Hell House was probably my favorite. The music was probably my favorite part of the remake. The composers do an amazing job at using several of the classic motifs from the original in new ways, without feeling repetitive. The size of soundtrack alone is impressive enough, if you haven’t checked it out, you should, it is loaded with quality compositions.
I wasn’t a fan of the combat system, but I can see why they created what they did. There are probably a countless number of internet forums and discussions over what a Final Fantasy 7 Remake combat system should be, with those arguing for the removal of the turn based combat and those arguing to the contrary. Square Enix ended up taking the path of least resistance and tried to appease both sides by merging both an action game and ATB turn-based system. This just didn’t work for me. While I think the system they created is competent enough, I don’t think it does anything all that well. Both distinct parts are mediocre at best. The action elements aren’t really all that complex, it just devolves into button mashing, and as a result, the ATB system it is supposed to support suffers because of it. I would have preferred the developers pick a side and create an excellent system to support that decision.
The biggest grievance I have against Final Fantasy 7 Remake, are some of the changes to the story. Before I dive into this, I want to say that not all of the changes are unwelcome. The expansion to Jesse and Cloud’s relationship is done wonderfully, and some of the expanded dialog in-between certain areas is done very well. Cloud escorting Aerith back to her home after the church is a great example of this. Unfortunately, there are changes that alter some of the themes that were present in the original. Making Shinra responsible for the bombings of reactor number 1 does not make any sense from story perspective. Shinra uses the bombing of the reactor to justify extreme actions against Avalanche. In the original, these actions were taken because of Shinra’s inability stop Avalanche, but what is there to stop if Avalanche are too incompetent to actually cause worthwhile damage? And if Shinra had the ability to initiate an explosion on a whim, why not do it while the members of Avalanche were in the reactor? Shinra literally lets the members of Avalanche survive the explosion of the reactor so he can justify dropping an entire portion of a city on top of them to kill them later. This is not only out of character for someone that is all about money, it minimizes some of the internal conflicts the main characters have about their justifications for the devastation they cause.
Then there is the inclusion of the weird, time travelling Sephiroth meta-narrative and the changes it makes to the story. When I finished the game, I was so disappointed with the story changes that I immediately picked up my phone and began browsing internet forums looking for justification for all the furious anger I felt about the game. And I found plenty of it. But while browsing, I came across a post that put something in a different perspective for me, and I’m a bit disappointed in myself that I was so caught up in my own disappointment that I didn’t realize it. Basically, this poster said, that for the first time since the game released, we get to play through Final Fantasy 7 and not know what happens. We get to experience Final Fantasy 7 for the first time again, and while I think I would have preferred a faithful remake, I must admit I am a little excited for this new experience.
I wasn’t a fan of the combat system, but I can see why they created what they did. There are probably a countless number of internet forums and discussions over what a Final Fantasy 7 Remake combat system should be, with those arguing for the removal of the turn based combat and those arguing to the contrary. Square Enix ended up taking the path of least resistance and tried to appease both sides by merging both an action game and ATB turn-based system. This just didn’t work for me. While I think the system they created is competent enough, I don’t think it does anything all that well. Both distinct parts are mediocre at best. The action elements aren’t really all that complex, it just devolves into button mashing, and as a result, the ATB system it is supposed to support suffers because of it. I would have preferred the developers pick a side and create an excellent system to support that decision.
The biggest grievance I have against Final Fantasy 7 Remake, are some of the changes to the story. Before I dive into this, I want to say that not all of the changes are unwelcome. The expansion to Jesse and Cloud’s relationship is done wonderfully, and some of the expanded dialog in-between certain areas is done very well. Cloud escorting Aerith back to her home after the church is a great example of this. Unfortunately, there are changes that alter some of the themes that were present in the original. Making Shinra responsible for the bombings of reactor number 1 does not make any sense from story perspective. Shinra uses the bombing of the reactor to justify extreme actions against Avalanche. In the original, these actions were taken because of Shinra’s inability stop Avalanche, but what is there to stop if Avalanche are too incompetent to actually cause worthwhile damage? And if Shinra had the ability to initiate an explosion on a whim, why not do it while the members of Avalanche were in the reactor? Shinra literally lets the members of Avalanche survive the explosion of the reactor so he can justify dropping an entire portion of a city on top of them to kill them later. This is not only out of character for someone that is all about money, it minimizes some of the internal conflicts the main characters have about their justifications for the devastation they cause.
Then there is the inclusion of the weird, time travelling Sephiroth meta-narrative and the changes it makes to the story. When I finished the game, I was so disappointed with the story changes that I immediately picked up my phone and began browsing internet forums looking for justification for all the furious anger I felt about the game. And I found plenty of it. But while browsing, I came across a post that put something in a different perspective for me, and I’m a bit disappointed in myself that I was so caught up in my own disappointment that I didn’t realize it. Basically, this poster said, that for the first time since the game released, we get to play through Final Fantasy 7 and not know what happens. We get to experience Final Fantasy 7 for the first time again, and while I think I would have preferred a faithful remake, I must admit I am a little excited for this new experience.