5/5 ★ – Jack_Outside_The_Box's review of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a definitive experience from start to finish. I sit here having sunk around 90 hours into the base game and it's INTERmission DLC and I can say without a shadow of a doubt every single second was well invested. It's worth giving a bit of context to my relationship with the Final Fantasy series or more so the lack thereof. I've always been aware of the franchise growing up but I've never had any active engagement with any of the titles up until now. I knew Final Fantasy was a name synonymous with the JRPG genre ever since the late 1980's and it's grown into a massive franchise of main titles and spin-offs that have spanned across nearly every type of console. One title that is adored the most highly out of the Final Fantasy franchise was Final Fantasy 7. Originally released on the PlayStation 1 back in 1997; FF7 stood apart from the rest of it's competition by being the first games to tell a truly cinematic story across four CD-ROM discs; which at the time was unheard of. It utilised as much of the PS1's hardware to tell an epic and large scale story about Cloud Strife and his friends as they sought to save the world from utter destruction at the hands of the evil megacorporation Shinra and Cloud's rival Sephiroth. Audiences and critics were blown away by the title for how much it reinvented not just the JRPG genre, but gaming in general; it is still considered to this day one of the best video game experiences of all time. So taking into account the history of the franchise and my lack of my own history with the original Final Fantasy 7; you could be forgiven for questioning my decision to take leap into this forty year old franchise with the remake of Final Fantasy 7. Weirdly enough though I think the lack of any prior ties to this franchise makes what the Remake achieves all the more impressive to me. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is funnily enough only the first part of the Final Fantasy 7 story. In a bold move it seems Square Enix decided to split this colossal game into it's own separate installments so it could help give much more depth and detail to parts from the original game that never lasted this long. From a personal perspective as a newcomer to the franchise I think it's an inspired choice. To say this game only covers a certain extent of the original games story I was easily satisfied with the length and content of this story. There weren't any moments I felt the storyline wasn't utilising the chapters, characters and settings to it's fullest extent. There's a history to this narrative and I appreciate that from a long-term fan perspective it must also be nice to have elements of the original game given way more attention in this new iteration. The story only being one part of the original game isn't the biggest change this game introduces either. In a move that was definitely received one way or the other, it seems the original narrative of FF7 was not emulated point for point in this iteration. Events happen similar in the loosest of terms but it seems the storyline is taking a chance by going in a brave new direction. This decision isn't' just reflected from a technical stand point either, it's actually a heavy factor in the story with the concept of these characters breaking away from the "correct path" that fate and destiny have established for them. It's one thing to decide you're taking the story in a different direction but to actively incorporate the original fan expectation into the narrative and utilise that as a story telling device; it's such a clever choice. Now I appreciate this is coming from someone who hasn't played the original game and I know there are fans out there who are annoyed by these choices and that's completely fair but I think this is too rare a chance not to take a risk. The original game is still there for you to play if you want that original story but I think it's important to let Square and Tetsuya Nomura take the shot with doing something different. Cinematic storytelling was what the original game broke out with and it's so nice to see it being embodied so beautifully in this game. I've spoken enough about the narrative but it's just as important to talk about these characters. The characters in this game are brilliantly designed both on a visual sense and a narrative sense. It is impossible to not feel a deep and emotional connection to nearly every character in this game. There's so much effort put into making these people feel like an active participant in the world they populate. Whether it's the passionate, hot-headed Barret, quick, hart-hitting Tifa or kind hearted and magical casting Aerith, you feel a personal attachment to these companions not just as gameplay partners but as actual narrative partners. There's so much emotion tied up in everyone's journey throughout the 18 chapters in this game and whenever you're not laughing and cheering along with these characters you'll be crying and empathising with them all the same. My favourite character in the game has to be Sephiroth. I love that the game portrays him as this trauma-inducing spectre who haunts Cloud constantly throughout the game, you feel just how imposing a threat he is even when he's just a figment of Cloud's imagination. Then when he really makes an appearance you feel just as intimidated and as scared as Cloud; it's very rare that a video game villain can leave this much of an impression on me and I cannot wait to see that massive katana wielding badass turn back up in the next game. I've talked enough about the story and characters though let's address the other aspect of the game and that's the gameplay and visuals. I played this game just recently utilising the PS5 firmware, so it ran at a crisp 60fps and at a native 4K resolution and holy moly was this game a treat on the eyes. When you weren't watching the crisp and detailed cutscenes you were exploring a truly realised world filled with colour and scale. Honestly half of my playtime in this game can be attributed to just stopping and taking pictures of the amazing environmental design. It's beautiful 4K visuals that also helped make the combat feel so fluid too. The combat in this game seems to be a mix of both traditional turn-based mechanics in line with an active, button mashing combat style. It feels like a nice compromise for the traditional fans too who prefer that turn based style as half of the gameplay relies on you pausing the transition of the battle to set up commands to attack and weaken your targets. There's honestly such a deep and progressive layer of learning to the combat system in this game that I've come to appreciate on repeated playthroughs. It's such a rewarding since of progression too as you gain materia and equipment which you can level up and help you take on tougher challenges and help form a much more reliable strategy for the trickier fights in the game. Utilising Cloud, Tifa, Barret and Aerith's skills and abilities in each battle helps you define a unique playstyle for each character too. Part of why I love the combat in this game is down to it's boss fights too. These fights feel like a true blend of cinematic transition on top of chaotic and cathartic gameplay. Bosses will have phases and change their playstyle and it invites you as the player to constantly change with them to overcome the odds. These are such smart and well designed fights and I adore how much they feel integrated into the narrative even during their actual fights. Before I finish this review I want to talk about the DLC expansion released for the DLC called INTERmission. Taking place during the events of the main game you play as Yuffie, a Wutai Ninja tasked to infiltrate Shinra HQ in Midgar and steal a top secret materia being worked on. As a additional piece of content I really enjoyed the unique diversion this DLC offered. Yuffie is a vibrant and eccentric character who's charm and quippy nature is infectious and her little story in this DLC works brilliantly to tell a nice character piece which is integrated with the main game's story. I also appreciated how different her playstyle is compared to the main game's cast. She has a nice mix of up close and ranged attacks that offers you quite a lot of flexibility on how to take on situations. All in all INTERmission was a nice bit of extra content to finish the game off on. So taking everything into account, all the time I've sunk into Final Fantasy VII REMAKE fighting, crying and cheering, what are my final thoughts? Well I mean this in all seriousness, Final Fantasy VII REMAKE is hands down one of the best games we could have asked for to cap off the last 10 years of gaming. It takes risks with it's narrative and stands proud in the wake of it's decisions. The storyline is helped along with a strong collection of characters who you just can't help form a strong relationship with. The gameplay is smooth and addictive and gives you such a rewarding sense of progression as you traverse through the chapters and continue to level up. It's a definitive product in every sense and it has done a brilliant job in enticing me to see where the next part of this game leads to.