This review contains spoilers
A perfect reminder of why the Compilation was a hot mess. It's like everything beyond FF7 exists to dilute and further damage the continuity of the original game. The game is so chock full of nostalgia baiting, trying to pull at your heart strings with its constant sprinkling of 'memberberries. It fails immensly when it attempts to portray anything new.
Genesis, Angeal and Cissnei are some of the dullest and most aimless characters I've seen in a JRPG in a long while. The meandering poetry recitals out of Genesis and motivational Tumblr swagnotes out of Angeal make every cutscene a chore to sit through. it doesn't help that almost all cutscenes get interrupted by monsters popping out of nowhere to attack you, only for Zack to question to himself "Where's Angeal/Genesis/Sephiroth gone?" once you've killed said monster.
Zack's one-note character is actually kind of refreshing and he's an uncomplicated jock who stands out amongst the more pretentious side characters. That said, playing this game as an adult compared to my teenage self, I was frustrated as to how he never questions anything around him. He partakes in a war to kill innocent Wutai soldiers protecting thier land from Shinra's greed, sees his comrades abandoned and embroiled in cover-ups and even gets betrayed by Shinra for the entirety of the final act, only to question none of it. This kind of thing happens in real life to some extent, of course. Real soldiers get indoctrinated all the time. You could say part of the intention of having him question nothing was to show how brainwashed he is by Shinra's propaganda but it's all for nought given the ending.
It all culminates in Zack continuing to praise Shinra even after he's been experimented on for years and his final words are repeating the same old shlock about protecting your SOLDIER honour. Showing more of Zack's naivety and having him recognise how Shinra completely opposed his ideals of becoming a hero would have benefitted the story a ton but it'd rather have Genesis throw endless poetic babble at you instead. Hajime Tabata is just a complete hack who misdirects people with faux-depth in wordy exposition rather than focusing his projects on anything that'd provide genuine complexity.
I should mention that the gameplay is a good improvement over the original. Being able to store your DMVs, skip their associated cutscenes and freely control your materia/items makes things so much more streamlined and fun to play. The side missions are still terribly designed but they're more satisfying to go through compared to the original given the improvements in combat. The handheld nature of everything is still evident in the game design but I'm willing to forgive it given the game is about as long as you want it to be.
Also, my lord, Zack's new nasally voice is awful. Why you would want your protagonist to sound like he makes 7 hour long video essays on why Pokémon sucks now is beyond me.
Genesis, Angeal and Cissnei are some of the dullest and most aimless characters I've seen in a JRPG in a long while. The meandering poetry recitals out of Genesis and motivational Tumblr swagnotes out of Angeal make every cutscene a chore to sit through. it doesn't help that almost all cutscenes get interrupted by monsters popping out of nowhere to attack you, only for Zack to question to himself "Where's Angeal/Genesis/Sephiroth gone?" once you've killed said monster.
Zack's one-note character is actually kind of refreshing and he's an uncomplicated jock who stands out amongst the more pretentious side characters. That said, playing this game as an adult compared to my teenage self, I was frustrated as to how he never questions anything around him. He partakes in a war to kill innocent Wutai soldiers protecting thier land from Shinra's greed, sees his comrades abandoned and embroiled in cover-ups and even gets betrayed by Shinra for the entirety of the final act, only to question none of it. This kind of thing happens in real life to some extent, of course. Real soldiers get indoctrinated all the time. You could say part of the intention of having him question nothing was to show how brainwashed he is by Shinra's propaganda but it's all for nought given the ending.
It all culminates in Zack continuing to praise Shinra even after he's been experimented on for years and his final words are repeating the same old shlock about protecting your SOLDIER honour. Showing more of Zack's naivety and having him recognise how Shinra completely opposed his ideals of becoming a hero would have benefitted the story a ton but it'd rather have Genesis throw endless poetic babble at you instead. Hajime Tabata is just a complete hack who misdirects people with faux-depth in wordy exposition rather than focusing his projects on anything that'd provide genuine complexity.
I should mention that the gameplay is a good improvement over the original. Being able to store your DMVs, skip their associated cutscenes and freely control your materia/items makes things so much more streamlined and fun to play. The side missions are still terribly designed but they're more satisfying to go through compared to the original given the improvements in combat. The handheld nature of everything is still evident in the game design but I'm willing to forgive it given the game is about as long as you want it to be.
Also, my lord, Zack's new nasally voice is awful. Why you would want your protagonist to sound like he makes 7 hour long video essays on why Pokémon sucks now is beyond me.