Editorial | The beauty of the Final Fantasy VII: Remake.

 

By Sam Coles:

People often forget how long fans have been asking for a Final Fantasy VII remake, it stems as far back to the PS3 era when Square Enix showed off that beautiful tech demo for the PS3 but said they had no intention of making it a game. Fast forward to E3 2015 they announced it on Sony’s stage, and after that complete silence until E3 2019 where it then finally released on PS4 in 2020. What we got is something special and beautiful, and truly is one of my favourite games of the PS4 era. I just want to go over the beauty of the Final Fantasy VII Remake, and what makes it special.

Let’s start off the story and don’t worry there are no spoilers, but to be honest if you are playing this game more than likely you have played the original but I digress. It starts off as normal like in the original where we see Cloud looking broody on top of a train, before jumping off and proceeding to a reactor core to blow it up.

However things take a diversion as he starts to see these weird ghostly figures, this is where you find out that this is not the same story. However it does stick to similar story beats of the original, what I like is that Final Fantasy VII Remake fleshes Cloud and Tifa’s past and relationship out more, Tifa in general has more of a personality in this game and you can’t help but love her.

Not only that they flesh out Jessie too in this game which if you are familiar with the original game, she dies at the start of the game but they keep her alive as another love interest for Cloud. It’s different as she can come across as irritating at times, but she grew on me as I progressed through the story as I got to know her more.

Now onto the gameplay which is very good, I remember when they announced that the game was going to take more of an action focus; a lot of old school fans had a bit of trepidation to say the least. However when the game came out there is more depth than you think, the combat is weighty and you feel every swing, every punch and every shot. You have to think on your toes and prioritise certain targets, because otherwise you will die. This game is rather challenging in certain segments especially with boss fights, I’m looking at you Hell House in the arena slums which took me a while to get through.

It is challenging yes, but it is extremely rewarding coupled with the intense music and sound design. The combat fuels you with excitement with the classic battle music fully orchestrated, which is another beautiful aspect of this game the music. The music has been beautifully recreated with a full orchestra, with epic battle music to the more sombre and emotional moments with beautiful piano pieces. The new version of Tifa’s theme is beautiful, and as pathetic as this sounds got me a bit emotional.

The presentation is absolutely gorgeous! Square Enix have done an excellent job with bringing Midgar into the modern era, the character models look absolutely stunning they look as they were intended, instead of looking like monstrosities where a Lego man procreated with various Playmobil figures. The world of Midgar feels more alive, with the seedy slums filled with criminals and low lives to Aerith’s calm and relaxing garden. It feels modern yet familiar, like you are putting on a nice, old and comfortable sweater as you escape the reality.

Overall I love the beauty of the Final Fantasy VII: Remake, it’s a great retelling of the classic story while adding in new aspects, the graphics are beautiful and the combat is engaging and challenging. This is a great version of the game and I can’t wait to play more of it.