Damage Control’s Impressions of the Final Fantasy VII Remake

I had longstanding reservations about the Final Fantasy VII Remake before going into its demo, the kind several have had with a recreation of one of the biggest video games ever released. This new version is being split into episodes with indications suggesting a significantly expanded story, the first episode focusing entirely on Midgar and perhaps going a little beyond that. But it also made a significant gameplay change in dropping the turn-based battles for a real-time system. Watching it in videos is nice, but it’s always better to go hands-on with these types of experiences. I’m not the only one who felt this way, so it’s good that Square Enix wisely provided this sampling for everyone to play without any silly stipulations.

It was easy to think they’d forgotten about this in the last couple of months. After the demo and its hidden contents were leaked at the beginning of the year, there wasn’t a peep from Square Enix about it. But they were only biding their time following the game’s delay from March 3rd (yes, this week) to April 10th. It was nice of them to have the demo ready for the week it was originally planned to release.

The intro for the demo, and the main game by extension, is similar to the original Final Fantasy VII’s. It starts with a mysterious flower girl wandering through an urban environment (take your pick as to whether you want to call her “Aeris” or “Aerith”), and ends by showing the entire massive megacity. The main purpose is to establish the Midgar location, something more important here considering this will be the only sizable location for this first episode.

The start is also reminiscent of the original FFVII in how it doesn’t take long to start fighting. It’s good that Cloud starts by fighting alone, because it offers time to adjust to the unique battle system. The tempo of battles and the timing of Cloud’s attacks feels similar to Zack’s battles in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, though it (thankfully) lacks the Digital Mind Wave (DMW) reel to determine special actions, attributes, and other bonuses. There are special functions for more powerful attacks mapped to the menu and different buttons, like Cloud’s offense-focused Punisher Mode, along with special attacks and limit breaks. Barret has similar functions after he joins Cloud. The battle flow is considerably better than Final Fantasy XV’s, which were well-intentioned but clumsy.

There are a lot of functions to adjust to, and you’d better damn well know them before the boss battle with the Guard Scorpion in the Mako Reactor. The battle is the first test to see if the player has been really paying attention; mashing the attack button will get your characters killed, and it’s more complicated than not attacking while it’s its tail is up. It’s a longer, more difficult, and more dramatic battle compared to the original FFVII fight against this boss.

Strategies in battles will differ depending on whether the Classic mode is selected, where the characters will auto-attack while the player is free to select from menu options when the option is available. This makes the battles work somewhat similar to Final Fantasy XII’s, serving as a bridge between real-time and turn-based battles. Anyone who misses the turn-based battles might enjoy them, but I personally like to go more hands-on. But the option to have different modes for different preferences is good.

FFVII Remake’s story will be expanded, though the demo’s content doesn’t diverge much from the original game. The biggest difference here is the expanded dialogue, with more options to talk to the members of Avalanche (specifically Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie), and hear banter between the five of them. It’s an opportunity to see how much thirstier Jessie is for Cloud in this version, in an endearing way. The overall design of this section showcases the biggest differences, partly to provide the feel of how it’s indeed a large reactor, and to accommodate the real-time gameplay.

There is one key story change that left me miffed. Instead of Avalanche destroying the reactor themselves and being labeled as terrorists, the actual bomb doesn’t do anywhere near as much damage. President Shinra orders for the remaining reactor to be destroyed, to presumably pin the full crime on Avalanche. It’s not the best change because it makes Avalanche seem more sympathetic, despite how they would have still been branded terrorists for making the attempt.

There are theories suggesting the original game’s bomb did the same, but this wasn’t fully clarified. But I really enjoyed the dynamic of the original game’s Avalanche, a sometimes morally-questionable group determined to do what’s right by extreme measures. While this could remain the case in the main game’s story through other opportunities, this particular scene would have marked a good time to establish that early on.

The FFVII Remake demo is a good appetizer for a potentially enjoyable game, but it will be a long saga. They’ll have far more to cover following the Midgar section, and it could take up to a decade to finish — an optimistic estimate given Square Enix’s development habits. But at least the ride will be fun.

–Geoffrey Barnes

Final Fantasy VII Remake may have been delayed until April, but that didn’t stop Square Enix from dropping the demo on March 2. Considering how quiet the company has been since the demo leaked in early January, I was surprised to see it released. I was initially cold on the idea of Final Fantasy VII Remake during its reveal at E3 2015, but I’ve since warmed up to the game. I tried the demo and ended up enjoying it so much that I played it four times.

I haven’t seriously played Final Fantasy VII since 2004. So when the demo started with a shot of Aerith in the uncaring streets of Midgar, I was immediately in awe. The opening cutscene was gorgeous and I remembered my original wish back in 2008 to have FF7 redone on PSP in the style of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Of course that would be silly to want now in the PS4 era. After the expanded opening with Aerith, the scene changes to the train station with a few SOLDIER guards on patrol. Both are quickly dispatched by members of AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group led by Barret Wallace. (Thankfully in FF7R he doesn’t scream of being a Mr. T clone.) Shortly thereafter, Cloud Strife, a former member of SOLDIER turned-mercenary is up to fight while everyone else slips by the guards.

Normal, classic, and easy are the three difficulty options for combat. Normal plays in real-time with some menu-based combat. There’s even the ability to attack without ever opening the menu. Enemies in this mode hit harder as the focus is on dodging and guarding from attacks to avoid or reduce taking damage. Classic is similar to normal except that movement is mostly handled by the game leaving the focus on selecting commands once the ATB (Active Time Battle) gauge is filled. This mode also doubles as easy. Enemies don’t do nearly as much damage when attacking and the characters have more HP. Regular enemy encounters can be won by mashing the square button without much thought. During my four runs of the demo I played in normal, then tried classic, went back to normal, and tried classic once more. Ultimately, I found normal to be the more engaging way to play, but liked how classic had a more turn-based feel. In the end, the lack of a challenge killed classic for me as an option.

The battle system is a fusion of an action RPG and the ATB system which took some adjustment. Many people compare it to Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy XV. I haven’t played any of those games, so I don’t have a personal point of comparison. FF7R doesn’t feel as action heavy as Monster Hunter: World, but I had more freedom than in Final Fantasy XIII. Once I grasped the system I loved how I was free to attack and dodge enemies while waiting for the ATB bars to fill. Like in older Final Fantasy titles, once those are filled items or spells can be used. Or those actions can used to perform powerful special attacks such as Cloud’s Braver or Barret’s Focused Shot.

 

The bulk of the enemies were easy enough to dispatch although I occasionally wasn’t quick enough to dodge powerful attacks like tossed grenades. I also didn’t bother much with the guard ability. Despite taking significant damage during the fights, I greatly enjoyed the frenetic energy of the battles. That frenetic energy became a source of frustration when it was time face the boss. Suddenly, I found myself struggling to switch back and forth between Cloud and Barret to deal the most effective damage, while trying to heal and avoid attacks. When I wanted to heal, I was annoyed that I had to attack first to fill the ATB gauge as I desperately tried to stay alive. The entire system felt counter-intuitive as I slowly lost control of the fight. Somehow thanks to healing and taking enough damage to trigger several limit breaks, I regained control and won the fight on my first attempt. The entire experience was draining, but not nearly as bad my time with the Digital Mind Wave system in Crisis Core.

After the fight, I had to make it to safety in 20 minutes before the bomb I planted in the mako reactor exploded. While I found myself lost for a few moments in my scramble to make it to safety, I cleared the timer checkpoint with 10 minutes to spare. I sat back and enjoyed the final cutscenes of the demo.

Much of the demo played out like the original opening of the game. I always felt a sense of excitement while playing, as Final Fantasy VII still has one of the most action packed openings of any JRPG. I was definitely frustrated by the boss, but I chalk it up to needing to get used to the game’s battle system rather than the game being unfair or too difficult. It didn’t help that I wanted to press X to roll instead of the circle button thanks to the hundreds of hours I poured into Monster Hunter World.

 

I experienced a small slice of the opening, but I loved the character interactions and being able to play with them and see them for the first time in HD. I love how the acrimonious interactions between Cloud and Barret have been expanded upon, as these two men can barely stand each other. Cloud as the sulking type who cares is enhanced upon nicely. The interactions between Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge are fun too. I chuckled at seeing how infatuated Jessie is with Cloud and Biggs’ jealousy over that fact. The increased interactivity in the mako reactor made me thirst to see more of Midgar and ultimately the world beyond. Some difficulty with the battle system aside, the demo did its job and left me wanting more Final Fantasy VII Remake.

 

–Angela Moseley