Final Fantasy VII: Remake (2020)
"Re-imagining of Final Fantasy VII (1997). A former soldier joins an eco-terrorist group in a mission against the electric power company he used to work for in order to protect the planet and all who reside on it."
Final Fantasy VII: Remake was undeniably gorgeous. The new character models were stunning. The CGI graphics and the animation, also stunning. The lighting, the texture, the details - just on pointe. You can see the pores of their skin, the threads of their clothes, and the nicks on their weapons. And I don't know how else to explain it, but the design teams really put a lot of effort into the world design. Midgar felt alive and real with the design alone, and same could be said with the characters.
The remake was very true to the original in a sense that it was basically the same, just a lot more in between. The opening train scene, 7th Heaven, Cloud falling on Aerith's flower bed, the Corneo experience, the sequence going up the tower when the plate was about to fall - main sequences like that were all there like in the original. Those moments really paved great nostalgia to the long time fans.
What's crazy is that FF7RM is only 1/5 of the original Final Fantasy 7 game. This game really expanded it's story and world building, and seriously made a 40 our experience of what was originally, like, 2 hours. This gave us more time to get to know not only the main characters, but also others like Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and Marlene. We also got more insight on what was happening behind the scenes in Shinra, which wasn't in the original.
While the expansion was great, this also led to a real drawn out experience. The pacing in some chapters was great while other chapters were unbearably slow and full of too many side quests. Also, because Sephiroth didn't originally have a presence in this part of the original all that much, they threw him around and inserted him into the narrative of the Midgar sequence. Sure the final boss was fun, but Sephiroth honestly felt out of place this entire game.
Something that Square Enix seems to always do right is music and voice acting. Cody Christian as Cloud, Briana White as Aerith, Britt Baron as Tifa, John Eric Bentley a King Barrett - fabulous voice acting from all of them. All the other supporting cast was voiced good, as well as all the additional voices. And hearing original music by legend Nobuo Uematso, remastered and fully orchestrated was worthy of a chef's kiss. Stunning and beautiful renditions of the most iconic songs in video game history!
Something that really sets the world a part from many other games is the interactive world and NPCs. It's always the little details that go along way, and in this case, make the world feel so alive. It seems that every NPC had a literal voice, and sometimes even stories or a personality. While too many side quests can be a yawn, they still serve a purpose of interacting with the citizens of Midgar, thus expanding both knowledge and empathy compared to the original.
As a fan of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, and someone who dislikes the pacing of turn based combat, this new gameplay style of FF7RM is a very welcome evolution. The switching between characters is smooth and purposeful. You still use a tactical mindset during battle similar to turn based with the luxury of free roam combat, which I love. There are more than enough battles and boss fights to go around, so there's always a sense of action. Not to mention particle effects and battle quotes add to the hype of the battles.
2020 was a bad year. But at least we had Final Fantasy VII: Remake, which was certainly game of the year. Not only did this game end at what is basically the beginning of the original, so much is left in question as to how the further remake installments are gonna go. The fan theories make it more confusing as it's subtly (and directly) implied that the remake takes place in some sort of alternate timeline or parallel dimension. So while it mostly seemed the same, it's unclear how much of the future story events will continue to be the same of the original 1997 release. I have no idea, and I honestly don't care. I'm just ready for the next chapter!
My Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆