3/5 ★ – Lazare's review of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

I’ve been waiting a few years for this one to drop, especially because I kinda can’t stand the models of the original FF7. It’s a good remake, especially considering how it’s just the first few hours of the original game expanded into something around ten times the length — definitely an ode to maximalism in game design, if nothing else. I’ve wanted a version of FF7 with the controls of Crisis Core since, like, middle school, and I mostly got what I wanted. I didn’t like the pacing of the game, though — it’s really awkward, considering that it’s faithful to the original in terms of its plot beats, but it’s also a completely different kind of game. This is most obvious in the second reactor mission — which is greatly expanded when compared to the original game — and in the series of sidequests that become available in the different sectors’ settlements, which honestly feel a little railroaded in. The sidequests reminded me of those that are featured i Lightning Returns and FFXV, and I don’t really mean that as a compliment. The writing is also kinda rough. I love the world of FF7, but the world and lore are so massive that the original game and subsequent Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 have a decent bit of trouble fully encapsulating the world while also establishing and developing its characters. It’s also clear to me that the script of the original is far better when it’s presented in text form. The voice acting for this game has been controversial (I half-agree; the VAs for Cloud and Sephiroth specifically both seemed like downgrades from their original VAs), but I feel bad for them since they aren’t given a decent script to work with for the most part. It’s nice to see some expansions on the original story, but not everything worked for me. The stuff that fleshed out AVALANCHE’s side characters was nice; I couldn’t give less of a shit about Don Corneo’s emo twink underling. The whisper plot is interesting, even if it does reek of Kingdom Hearts (which, when it comes to plot structure, is a very bad sign). Still, the game plays great! I just wished there were more to it, but the next installments will definitely take care of that. In some ways, Final Fantasy has never felt so cool. Now do FFVIII next.