A Realm Reborn Review and first experiences with FFXIV

A year or two ago, I jumped into Final Fantasy XIV for the first time. As my first proper MMORPG experience outside of a small bit of World of Warcraft years back, there was a lot to soak in. Ultimately, whilst I enjoyed my time with it, I didn't make too much progress and ended up not playing too much. Returning just recently however, I played for much longer, not only breaking through and surpassing level 50, but also completing the main A Realm Reborn storyline introduced in the game's overhauled 2.0 version released way back in 2013. Whilst I'm still somewhat overwhelmed at the sheer amount of content, features and systems on offer, I'm much better entwined with how the game works, heightening my enjoyment and enticing me to play more going forward.

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For those curious, I picked the Gladiator class and have since graduated to the Paladin, where I'm learning the ways of the Tank role and all the associated systems and keybinds that go along with it.

I'm playing on console, which means at least for now, I'm using a controller but with such functionality baked in so well, it's honestly become one of the most astonishing aspects of this game. Of course, primarily I'm learning what abilities do, how to build Enmity, where to stand when fighting bosses, what order to apply defence buffs and attack enemies, and more, but simultaneously, I'm getting to grips with how well translated the MMO experience is on controller.

The core of this when it comes to combat or any kind of assigned action is within the Cross Hotbar - a curated hotbar designed for use with controllers. As is the case with all elements of the user interface, it's incredibly customisable with an array of options as to how it looks, where it's placed on your screen, and the amount of actions you can have access to at any time, as well as the order and keybinds they're assigned. This has meant much tweaking around in the settings to achieve a desired setup, but with such complex functionality, it's allowed me to tweak the game's menus and on-screen information to my liking. There's still a lot to understand, but this customisation has helped a lot!

Speaking about the Cross Hotbar specifically, I recently discovered options where you can have even more actions available on demand. For example, normally you have 16 actions accessible - 8 can be selected when holding down L2, and the other half accessible with R2. On top of this, you can also double tap either trigger for another two sets of 8, or hold down one then the other for yet another two sets. This means you have 48 possible actions available more or less anytime you'd like, and if you'd rather just swap to another page of assigned actions, it's as simple as holding R1, then picking one of the 8 options - with 8 pages of 16, that's 128 actions you can essentially rotate through, should you need them.

Furthermore, additional functionality for controllers comes via the touchpad that doubles up as a mouse cursor that can also be pressed to jump between specific on-screen elements quickly. You can enable a analog-stick-controlled mouse cursor if you'd like too.

Outside of those controller functions, there's also a metric ton of other options like being able to pin certain menus to your screen, resize pop-up boxes, close the text chat, turn the larger map menu transparent so you can navigate and still see the game screen at the same time, and so much more.

All in all, even if the game can get confusing with so much going on at times, it works almost flawlessly on controller with only a few minor gripes here and there. It's a very impressive translation of an MMO to a console experience and once I got into the flow of things, I found it fairly intuitive, and I've begun to settle into rhythms for both combat and general world and menu navigation.

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As I knew going in - and what has only been emphasised the more I've played - this game is huge. It's vast, with much to do, tons of items to learn about and understand, quests to complete, activities and bosses to best, and so much more. It's most definitely a longform game, and to alleviate the amount there is to do, I've been trying to take my time and not rush through anything.

To achieve that goal, my current plan has been to try and follow each of the game's post-launch patches, not only playing their respective story quests, but also any side and post-story content and activities before moving on to the next story beats. Right now, I'm still early on in the post-2.0/ARR space, on the quest for the Paladin's Relic weapon and completing other 2.0 dungeons and Trials.

Once I've run through all of that and completed any of the content from A Realm Reborn I'd like to check out, I'll then move on and continue with A Realm Awoken's (AKA patch 2.1) chain of quests and whatever else that release offers. Thanks to the various information online, such as the game's own patch notes and release pages, I'm able to track what was added in each release, letting me follow that more specifically, and see the game's offerings in the order they were released that should let me parse through what was added later or not.

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As for the actual content of A Realm Reborn, I'd heard in a few places that it wasn't as interesting as later expansions, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit and thought the story was fairly engaging - even if I think some of it might've been a bit lost on me. There's something really enjoyable about playing new games like this where you understand them to have a deep history, or even a long-running series of expansions and releases after, and you're seeing the genesis of these characters and locations. You get to see where they start, and you know there's so much more to come. To know their names and origins, and to be the 'Warrior of Light' in many ways at the centre of this journey, it's gotten me more interested to know what's yet to come.

It's also really fun to know that the story was written sort of relating to the big narrative events that occurred at the end of the original FF14's lifecycle, with returning characters and more. Looking back into some of this, it's honestly super impressive how they wrapped up and shut down the original game before building on and referring to it further in the re-launched A Realm Reborn.

That's in part why I want to make sure I'm soaking the game up in a fairly chronological way - so I don't run through the entire story and then have tons of past content to play that all feels disjointed. Maybe that'll change the more I play, but taking my time and knocking things out slowly feels like probably the best way to experience the game, and even if I ignore a few things here and there, I'm hoping this will give me a decent grasp of the game's evolution over time. Of course, Dawntrail releases soon, but I know it's going to be a pretty extended amount of time before I get there, and I'm okay with that, especially when there's so much else I'm curious about.

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There's much I really like about Final Fantasy XIV so far, and it's a game that didn't take me long to see how people could essentially live in this world. It's been satisfying and almost kind of heart-warming when travelling to capitals of various cities in the game and seeing the numerous players stood there, whether AFKing, emoting with nearby players, or running from point-to-point as they go about their business. The world feels alive, and you very easily get the sense of this is a place where thousands of players go hang out with their friends, engage with the game's virtual economy, and more, and I've felt like I too really am an inhabitant of this world.

You can get deeper with it all when you consider the plethora of other systems ongoing too like housing, PVP, the Gold Saucer (!!), and so much more. For as overwhelming as it can be though, it's also been fairly easy to understand that in this world, maybe you don't need to do everything, and maybe it's more about just being yourself and doing whatever is most important to you at any given moment - whatever appeals to you, that's what you should do.

Sure, the story is important and ultimately the main thing everyone should probably do, but everything else is ancillary and optional in a lot of ways. Completionists will of course aim to do as much as they can, but that doesn't have to be you, and when there's so many expressive ways to play or exist in the world, it really is up to you how you play. Perhaps over time that might change, and I'll end up feeling a greater sense of FOMO, but after around 100 hours, it's not really felt like that just yet.

As for those social aspects I mentioned a moment ago, I've already had a few fun experiences, whether that be ending up in conversations with a player who was also new and at the same point in the story as me, or simply asking another nearby player where they got a really cool FF7 Cloud minion that was following them around (spoilers: it was a store purchase I'm going to find hard to resist buying myself, sorry Torgal).

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On the whole, Final Fantasy XIV is a game that's kind of blown me away. There's so much to talk about and I honestly could spend a while running through it all, but I think the biggest aspects that stand out to me are the social systems and overall translation of such a complex, keyboard-and-mouse-oriented game to console and controller. Whilst it may be better played with another control input, I've not felt at much of a disadvantage on controller, and it plays really well.

I've not been able to play FF14 as much since I finished ARR, but it's one I'm thinking about quite a lot still, checking in every couple of days or so. I've got the desire for this to be another game I continue to invest in over time, and so hopefully one day, I'll be caught up to the most recently released patches and expansion, and am able to give a much more overall view on it. For now though, it's been a big surprise, and honestly a blast to play. One of my favourite gaming experiences this year for sure.

Filling the extended gap created by The Final Shape's delay, Destiny 2: Into the Light presents an array of content to bridge the remainder of Season of the Wish into the launch of the upcoming expansion. Granting the requests of many players, this free update finally introduces a true horde mode activity, returns two of the game's best Exotic missions, reprises 12 of the greatest weapons in Destiny 2's history, adds a limited-time raid boss rush, and more.

Onslaught is the main focus, with 10-wave and 50-wave variants - the latter of which has a Legend difficulty option - and takes place across two PVP arenas and the Mothyards patrol zone from the Cosmodrome. Complete with purchasable defences that can each be upgraded, various mechanics, bonus objectives, and boss fights, Onslaught quickly climbs its way to one of the game's stronger activities that feels easily replayable. The concept is fairly simple, but it's also nice to have something that's not mechanically complex, yet still challenging and rewarding all the same.

The draw to keep running this activity is the re-introduction of 12 iconic weapons in Destiny 2's past, many of which have been long requested to return. In their updated versions, not only do they come with a new Into the Light themed paintjob and Origin Trait, they also have some of the beefiest perk combinations to-date. Combined with what Final Shape is bringing, it's feels like quite a bit of power creep, but that also feels right for this particular moment in time.

An element that makes them stand out more is their limited edition 'holofoil' variants that can only be acquired before the release of The Final Shape. These come with a unique aesthetic via an ornament and two perks in each column to choose from, giving you a greater chance of getting a perfect roll, but also potentially reducing the number of weapons you need to keep for the perk combos you'd like, if you get super lucky of course.

Whilst the limited time aspect of these is something that's been debated, especially with such rarity, there was a direct path to each of these, just not a guaranteed god roll. Of course, the FOMO kicks in if you wanted a god roll, meaning you had to grind before the release of The Final Shape.

Whilst the FOMO could be considered a negative, I'd argue the bigger issue is that Bungie doesn't often do this kind of thing. Sure, the limited time and rare nature of them is something that artificially extends playtime, but I've long said rare items like this are healthy for the game. The rarity and unique look is what made them sought after, and rewards like it help you stand out from the crowd. You have this in other ways with certain rewards from high-end content, with gear such as Adept weapons and Raid Exotics, but there's long been space for rare and low drop rate items, and this is arguably one of the best implementations yet.

Personally, I didn't have the time to get a god roll of each - something that will no doubt bother me in the short term - but I'm hopeful we'll see more of this in the future, so that there's chances to get newly released weapons in a rare and limited-time variant. I hope Bungie isn't afraid to continue this, even if there's some pushback.

Alongside Onslaught, Into the Light features Pantheon, a boss-rush activity where you face off against a slew of raid bosses to earn unique emblems and host of raid gear, including Adept weapons and Exotics. With four tiers, each lengthier than the last and culminating in a fight against a different Raid boss, there's a high difficulty ceiling to the top end of this activity that poses a solid challenge for experienced players. Much like the rare variants of the Brave weapons, this is an activity that's important for Destiny to include, and whilst it's going away with the launch of The Final Shape, more high-end content like this is good, and part of what makes Destiny special.

The last few key features of this update are the returning The Whisper and Zero Hour Exotic missions - back with craftable versions of their associated Exotics and reworked secrets - as well as three new PVP maps.

In terms of the Exotic missions, they're honestly some of the best content in the game's history, combining Destiny's best elements to create a memorable and challenging mission. Having them back in the game with updated rewards and secrets is great for preservation, but also fun to have new reasons to return to this content.

As for the PVP maps, this has been a long awaited addition, and hopefully will set a new cadence for PVP content releases. Taking place across the three most recently released locations, these maps bring new life to the player versus player sandbox, and seem to have been met by a good response from that community. To me, it's just been nice having new arenas to fight in, and I hope this is part of a continuing PVP focus from Bungie.

Beyond these headlines, there's not much else to discuss in regards to Into the Light outside of a neat chain of side quests where you search for the robo-dog Archie across the game's various destinations, as well as a few other rewards you can earn via Onslaught and related triumphs.

Ultimately, as a free update it's brilliant and has done a great job at revitalising the game and getting people excited for the upcoming expansion. Playercounts have spiked and remained consistent, pre-orders for the expansion appear strong, and sentiment is in a much more positive place, setting The Final Shape up for a solid launch. As we reach its release, it's all up to this expansion to deliver, and we'll see on June 4th how it all pans out. I'm confident, albeit cautiously optimistic as ever with anything Destiny related, but there's hope and that's something there was very much a lack of following Lightfall's launch.

It all comes down to this, and very soon, we'll finally be able to play this long-awaited expansion. Just like the Paul McCartney song said - hope for the future.

Existing as the last season as we know it before the game transitions into its Episodic model, Season of the Wish had the job of paving the way for The Final Shape, whilst effectively continuing on from the previous season, all on top of retaining waning player interest and combating the growing negativity towards Bungie who were hit with a number of layoffs prior to the season's release alongside. This was alongside a delay for the upcoming expansion. It was a tough time back at the launch of the season, and the future felt pretty unclear - in fact, in many ways, it still is. However, with its own seasonal content and in combination with the release of the free Into the Light update, sentiment is back to being on the increase - with solid playercounts to boot.

Speaking specifically about Season of the Wish, the setup for this season pays homage to long-running speculation and theories around the fifteenth wish. In the end, whilst the story doesn't quite hit any massive highs, there are some strong character backstories delved into alongside the core narrative that leads into The Final Shape pretty succinctly. The season alone doesn't really do much outside of the final cutscene, but it's not bad and only really second to the previous season when it comes to ranking.

The true star of Season of the Wish is its headline activity - The Coil. There is also Riven's Lair - a condensed and shorter version of the Coil - but the full-length variant is where it's at, becoming arguably the game's best activity to-date, successfully building on those iterative roguelike elements further with an in-activity currency used to buy a rotating selection of buffs and bonuses. Complete with a bonus room available to those who achieve the highest scores and complete the full run of the activity, it not only showers you in rewards, but also features a solo option and a decent amount of variety to keep runs feeling fresh.

A notable quality of life feature I didn't see really any chatter on for Wish is how it includes a destination into part of the season's focus, going as far as not only updating its associated rewards, but also its activity too. Specifically, I'm referring to the Dreaming City which grants reputation gains for engaging with more or less any aspect of the locale, whether that be a public event, lost sector, material node, or Blind Well run. The updated rewards will of course even drop from the Shattered Throne dungeon too, meaning as a whole, Season of the Wish not only features an entirely new set of weapons and its own set of reprisals, but also an additional updated set, all of which the game is very keen to give out from nearly all of its sources. Taking this approach builds on the design that lets the season feel like it extends across the larger game, and revitalises some of that less played content in the process.

As for new content, there's also new Exotic mission, Starcrossed, that returns us to the Black Garden and explores Riven's past, whilst the new dungeon Warlord's Ruin pushes beyond the bounds of Destiny's existing environments, taking us to a castle overrun with all manner of Darkness-imbued enemies, and a unique boss of a kind we've not seen before. There's also a new weapon type - a rocket-assisted sidearm that has quickly become a fan favourite.

Taking a step back and looking at this season as a whole, it really is yet another one of the game's best to be completely honest. I don't think the story ends up amounting to a whole lot ultimately, but despite a very rocky start, the seasonal content in Year 6 has probably been some of the best and most consistent and innovative to-date. It's hard to predict if this will continue in Year 7, but with the reduced output of three Episodes a year instead of four Seasons a year, considering Bungie seem to be promising a similar amount, it's very possible we're looking at this kind of quality continuing.

Even with all this greatness however, the future and overall state of Bungie is still something that's still difficult to predict, and per previous reporting, it looks like much of how things shake out is reliant on the success of The Final Shape. Thanks to a pretty brilliant marketing cycle, solid player numbers leading up to launch and - what look like - strong pre-orders (sitting at number one on the PS Store for weeks now), things do look positive. All we can do is wait, but as for Year 6 overall, it's been one of the best when it comes to content, even if it lacks the same, consistent narrative quality of Year 4. For now, we look to The Final Shape, and after all the reveals, I'm very much ready to see how this 10-year saga comes to its conclusion, and how the game continues with its new Episodic model.

Bringing the story right back to plot threads much closer to home in terms of core story, Season of the Witch gets right into the beginning of the end for Year 6 of Destiny 2, presenting an intriguing set up and continual experimentation for seasonal activities that make it arguably the best season this year.

Narratively, we're right back at the heart of where it feels like the game's story should've been heading not long after the launch of the Witch Queen. Not only do Savathun and Eris Morn take centre stage as the focus here, it brings in several other key characters too, like Ikora, and features the much more full-on prescence of Xivu Arath, the Hive God of War. Combining this force of characters across the several weeks in an attempt to resurrect Savathun leads to fun overall story that stands as the Lightfall year's best.

Outside of this, the double dose of activities in this release are both brilliant in their own ways. On one hand, you've got the 3-player Savathun's Spire featuring a set of random encounters, and on the other, there's Altars of Summoning, a Prison of Elders/Archon's Forge-like activity that also features a variety of encounters, with customisable difficulty and a slew of differing mechanics. These are both delivered alongside the backbone of a tarot card system that grants one of many buffs to make weapons and abilities more potent. This deckbuilding aspect is fairly simple, yet shows further experimentation with systems and mechanics presented seamlessly in gameplay, and add a deeper level of season-specific customisation and effects into the core power fantasy of the game.

The season culminates with the Imbaru Engine, a puzzle-focused experience that really elevates the ways in which this season punches above its weight. It was impressive to see Bungie introduce something like this because it taps right into the secret aspects of Destiny, something the game has lacked for some time.

Returning to the Whisper and Zero Hour missions as part of Into the Light recently has gotten me thinking about how I don't think all the Exotic mission design quite hits that same quality bar of level design, mystery, and challenge. Imbaru Engine plays with your expectations and lets Destiny breathe as more than just a shooter, and something that lets you spend more time in its environments, figuring out puzzles in a way that feels fitting for what to expect from the character who built the space. These aspects are most often usually seen in raids and dungeons, and while Imbaru Engine is a much more puzzle-focused experience, for a bonus activity on top of the other two activities, it's a neat addition and tied a bow on the season rather nicely.

Much like Season of the Deep though, this release is yet again let down by an unexciting set of weapons. It somewhat rectifies this with the Crota's End Raid reprisal, but it's disappointing the core seasonal rewards are once again lacking quality. Their visual designs are nice though!

Overall, whilst Witch doesn't feature the best activity of the year, I think the complete package makes it not only the best of the year, but arguably one of the best we've seen. It's pulling from the best parts of Destiny's story, presenting activities that are fun, experimental, and replayable, and still managing to tuck a few secrets away that lead to one of the year's most memorable reveals that set the stage for the following season perfectly.

Before its launch, I was pretty bullish with my theories and speculation as to the quality of Season of the Deep. Following Lightfall's launch, it was generally assumed that Lightfall was ostensibly filler, and with all the information provided, I had come to - what I believed to be - an airtight theory that this season would begin to right the wrongs and set the game up for a strong Final Shape reveal that would be preceded by two strong seasonal releases. In hindsight, I don't think I was entirely wrong, however I was speaking more in regards to the narrative which still ultimately took a bit to get going.

When it comes to theming, activity design, and overall cohesion, Season of the Deep actually does a lot right. Whilst Salvage was a vastly lacking 6-player arena activity, Deep Dives was the game's first real attempt at incorporating roguelite mechanics, design that would continue into the following two seasons. In its first attempt, Deep Dives are some of the game's strongest content to-date, with a fun, secret Exotic mission baked in as well. This is on top of a brilliant dungeon in Ghosts of the Deep which has some of the game's best environments.

All of this contains new underwater gameplay too which, whilst simplistic, isan interesting angle that shows Bungie experimenting. Much of the community seemed opposed to it, and whilst there's some fair criticism, this is one of the only times the game's core movement and traversal has been shaken up. I think its inclusion in the dungeon is worth the experimentation too, since it flips Destiny's usual power fantasy on its head. Usually, I'd see this as a negative, but it's a temporary inclusion here that doesn't outstay its welcome. Whilst Ghosts of the Deep from a solo perspective runs into the same issues as other dungeons, it's otherwise probably one of my favourites in the game, and I was in genuine awe at the environments on a first run.

In terms of core seasonal content, there's also the introduction of Fishing. Again, it's relatively simplistic, but good to see Bungie trying yet another new idea. Even if there's not much to it and I'm not sure it quite gels with the kind of game Destiny is, it does build a little on the MMO aspects, and adds to the various ways in which Season of the Deep breathes new life into the core gameplay loops and activity design we've experienced prior to this. I'm not sure how far they could take fishing were they to invest into it further, but it's a funny distraction that aligned nicely with the seasonal theme.

I don't think Season of the Deep is mind-blowing, but it's certainly a well-needed shakeup for what is typically expected from seasonal content. Introducing passive effects you can choose from in each Deep Dive encounter to help you combat the increasing difficulty really goes a long way in just making the experience of that particular activity a little bit different from the norm.

Even if the season's conclusion leads nicely into the following release with some big reveals and solid character development alongside it, it still took several weeks to get there. It's definitely a step up from Season of Defiance though, and great to see Bungie exploring new ideas.

Launching alongside the Year 6 expansion, Lightfall, Season of Defiance is where some of the core game's story continues, meaning it had a pretty uphill battle to steer the narrative in a positive direction. Whilst its core content offerings are solid - with a particularly decent Exotic mission - it's ultimately underwhelming, especially from a story perspective where it makes some odd choices that feel out of left field and hollow in their execution. It's almost as disappointing as Lightfall in its writing, yet it managed to at least remain more compelling and relevant due the state of the world set up at the end of the previous year.

In terms of what's new on the activity front, another slew of Battlegrounds doesn't bring anything super exciting to the game, though they feature a good number of new environments across Cabal ships and Pyramid structures. There's also a pretty unique angle on an Arthurian legend in the form of a new Exotic weapon and mission, with its own challenging encounters and unlockable secrets and items. The secrets here in fact build up and point towards a more curious narrative the game seems to have been working on setting up for post-Final Shape, though there's still nothing sizeable of note that stands out in it all.

It's one of the game's weaker seasonal releases no doubt, and together with Lightfall, left the game feeling in a rather weakened state. There were some neat quality of life changes to how seasons and their rewards are dished out, but they're only amongst a small amount of impactful good this seasonal release has, making the wait for what was to come all the more difficult.

Following up on the previous expansion, Echoes of the Fallen, The Rising Tide offers up a more extensive DLC that features a larger breadth of content in terms of story, quests, and abilities. Whilst it's most definitely longer however, it ultimately is still relatively short which was admittedly somewhat of a disappointment considering I had anticipated it going on for a little longer, but there's no denying that what's here is still solid, particularly when it comes to boss fights and new abilities.

First up, the main headline of the release is the introduction of the Eikon Leviathan, complete with its own boss fight that's equally as demanding, exciting, and all kinds of brilliant, just like the base game's Eikon battles. As for the gameplay implications regarding the new abilities acquired in this release, they offer a more robust and wider selection of attacks thanks to its Eikonic Feat, with some fun new cooldown-based abilities to equip too. There's also a bit of expansion beyond this when it comes to your gear and abilities in a few neat ways too.

However, whilst Echoes of the Fallen began a trend I believed suggested more buildcrafting options to come, I still feel like the game struggles to introduce truly new and varied ways to play, and rarely do the game's array of abilities present use cases that makes them enticing to equip other than their impressive visuals and baseline damage and Will damage statistics.

That means - besides the more demanding upfront combat challenge various bosses and enemies pose in The Rising Tide - you're generally fighting in quite similar ways to before, and the game doesn't suddenly get you thinking about combat in different ways beyond those core abilities you equip.

Of course, it would be a tall order to have expected an entire combat or buildcrafting-focused overhaul in such a short amount of time, however I did find myself wanting more depth to really get me theorising about what builds or styles of play I could employ. Though I did learn about NG+ having higher tiers of accessories with improved effects - as well as weapons and armour - which does make a replay more enticing to me, especially when many of the accessories in FFXVI are rather boring as far as I'm concerned. Thankfully, across both Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide, some of those issues are addressed but as mentioned, it's still not completely changing the dynamic of the game.

Despite all that though, I still very much enjoy the combat of this game, and with this DLC's increase in difficulty along with the new endgame 'Kairos Gate' mode, there's a lot more dynamic and difficult gameplay that keeps you on your toes. The end result is that the gameplay of this release ends up being some of the best in the game thanks to the increased difficulty, particularly noticeable in boss fights. While I did like all of the bosses in the base game, the higher challenge presented here does yield positive results, much like those in Echoes of the Fallen.

The king of all these fights that tops the expansion off is of course the Eikon battle against Leviathan that manages to reach similar heights as those in the base game, with its own array of themed spectacle and visuals.

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As for the story, I wasn't massively enthralled by this new tale but there's still some interesting ideas and moments, and the setting and lore of the new locale were fun to see. I am a little surprised there weren't more general narrative implications considering some of the hype from the devs around 'what happens when Clive has access to all Eikons'. There is still something, just not ultimately anything that really changes or affects the narrative. Though there are some implications that could be drawn from it, just there's no real acknowledgement of it, at least as far as I've seen.

In regards to the new location of Mysidia itself, it was very nice to get away from the dreadful pink sky and colour tones of the main world that most definitely outstayed their welcome by the end of the original game. When you're in Mysidia, it's much more pleasant, with blue skies and lush jungles.

The beauty of this new region shines in large part due to the game's continuously strong graphical presentation. Even if it's a shame the game rarely ever sticks at 60fps, I never found this much of an issue and it did feel generally more consistent than the base game.

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Beyond the story, there are also various other aspects to note, such as the multiple side quests, endgame 'Kairos Gate' mode, and several items and accessories to acquire.

The side quests have some nice tidbits about Mysidia and its people, but ultimately still aren't anything to write home about - though they do include a few fun bosses to fight, with an epilogue that serves as a perfect segue back into the final part of the game's main narrative.

Beyond that, shop vendors across the game have a few new Accessories and a long list of new Orchestrion rolls to acquire for the Hideaway which now makes me want to grind out a bunch more Gil to once again fully fill out what is a essentially now-doubled collection of tracks.

The main highlight of the post-story content is the Kairos Gate, a bonus roguelike mode where you face multiple waves of enemies and bosses, earning points to be spent on a variety of boosts and bonuses to improve your stats and score, all with various rewards for both first-time clearance and repeat runs. By earning more points within each 'circle', you get more points to spend on bonuses that'll give you an easier time on future floors. Even if you don't fancy checking out this mode, the interaction with the Arete Stone that precedes this is definitely worth checking out.

At the time of writing, I've not managed to best this completely yet, getting my ass handed to me at around the halfway mark on my first run, but it proved to be a fun challenge, and the rewards are actually more exciting than I had anticipated which is cool.

On the whole, it's a solid bonus addition that rounds this DLC off nicely. I think I initially would've liked to have seen something more extensive than just 20 waves - more on the level of DMC's Bloody Palace, for example, with up to 100 or so waves - but even in its current form, it felt like a solid length of time you could spend here. It's also decent for farming Gil, so that's a bonus.

As for one last critique, it's a bit of a shame that there are no more costumes to unlock. I hadn't really expected it, but it does seem odd to have added literally just one alternate outfit for each character randomly in an update last year, and then never utilise the feature again.

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Overall then, The Rising Tide is a decent enough DLC that isn't completely mind-blowing for the game holistically, doesn't change the flawed status of the base game, and I really do wish they had pushed harder to deepen what's on offer and make the expansion feel a little more transformative for the game. However, taken for what it is though, it's more FFXVI, which is admittedly hard to complain about honestly, especially when it's delivering some of the game's best boss fights and ability sets, along with a new endgame challenge.

Flawed or not, it's a solid DLC that does take a stab at some of the criticisms from launch, and it's a release that has reinvigorated my desire to experience a more challenging playthrough via Final Fantasy Mode. This has only become even more true as I learned more about the upgraded Accessories you can acquire on that difficulty, so my hope is that it makes the gear game a little more engaging than it otherwise is.

Alongside a bunch of new items to acquire with Gil and a replayable endgame mode, no matter my critiques and even if I wish there was more overall, I still had a great time with this DLC, and it's sure to appeal to anyone who wanted more after beating the base game. For as flawed as it is, I still love FFXVI and for as much as I wish it had done better, this DLC expands a game I otherwise love and made returning to the game a joy.

Thoughts on Completion

Still processing it all, but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is an absolutely wild ride.

A fantastic follow-up to Remake, a remarkable second part in this remake trilogy of the original FF7, and I genuinely believe it's one of the greatest video games of all time. In just a few months, across the original, Remake, Crisis Core, and now Rebirth, the whole set of games in the FF7 series have become some of my favourites of all time - with the original and Rebirth being particular standouts.

I was constantly in awe playing Rebirth at just how creative and inventive the game is, and it's truly mind-boggling how they pulled off such a well-paced, perfectly-designed game, especially one that lasted me over 100 hours. There are some issues I could note, but we're talking minor critiques that are either just preference, or others that are essentially forgivable considering the scale and quality of everything else. It's difficult not to call the game perfect even if yes, you could argue otherwise.

I also want to call out how much of an actual sequel this feels like too. Not only does it right essentially all of the wrongs of the previous game, it also does a bunch of new stuff, all of which is often high quality and relentlessly good. The game feels like a direct sequel in all the right ways, whilst throwing in a vast number of new ideas and evolutions that make it feel like a very new game at the same time. Its scale and expansiveness is one of the biggest factors in achieving this, and it nails the feeling of going from Remake's mostly corridor-like level design to a varied world that feels lived in, alive, and completely fresh, full of iconic locations and memorable characters.

Furthermore, the pacing and connectivity of the game is much improved this time around - any time there's a moment that begins to outstay its welcome, the game usually course-corrects fairly quickly to do something different. This happens at the right moment several times, and there's only really a couple of areas that feel a bit unnecessary or weirdly designed.

I have some ideas how they might be able to keep this up in part 3 (looking at you, Highwind), but even still, topping this game is going to be one hell of a challenge. Nevertheless, with such a massive jump from Remake, who even knows what they've got cooking over there!

So yeah, FF7 Rebirth is incredible. There's so much to say about the game, but I think it's gonna take some time before I fully formulate all those thoughts honestly. The short of the long is that this likely will be my 2024 game of the year.

It's also PS5's best game, and as far as I'm concerned, one of the best videogames to-date, filled with so much heart, care, and deep love that endlessly permeates throughout every aspect. It's endlessly brilliant, and one of the most enjoyable and exciting video game experiences I've ever had, sitting amongst some of my other favourite titles like Uncharted 4, the original FF7, and last year's Final Fantasy XVI (yeah, apparently I'm a big Final Fantasy fan now).

It's gonna be a long wait for part 3!

Impressions after 30 hours (Chapters 1-3 complete)

Going above and beyond to right any wrongs and evolve far beyond its predecessor, after about 30 hours and only around a quarter of the way through the story – there’s a lot to do(!) – Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a game brimming with variety, depth and evolutions that go so far, they're actually a bit overwhelming. Despite that however, the quality of the offerings thus far is hard to ignore, and for only four-or-so years of development time, this is a title that is continuously leaving me in awe with nearly every passing hour of playtime.

There's a lot to be said about just how much this game shakes everything up. It's most definitely a sequel through and through, and probably the strongest and most evolved one I've seen in quite a long time. For as different as the game feels, it retains the core essence of Remake, now packaged in a sprawling open world setting that's nailing the map size, biome changes, and all the content contained therein. Rebirth sports a far-improved level design that suits the narrative progression of the title whilst delivering plenty to go out and do, all of which is of a high quality and variety, so far without feeling throwaway or mundane.

Some side content is light on story – in particular, the small checklist-style activities dotted around the map – however, many others are deeper and more involved than that. Whether that's introducing a fun mini-game, unique mechanic, or extra lore about the world or a set of characters, all of it feels rewarding in a multitude of ways, and very much worth completing.

Often it's also building on Remake and the current state of the world here in Rebirth. I heard somewhere that the developers said the side quests were improved upon from the previous game, and they certainly weren't wrong. They’re so good in fact, they might be some of the most inventive and fun I've seen in any game to-date. Despite the time investment thus far, the game continues to surprise and delight on the regular.

If I had one critique, it would probably be in regards to how the game has so much, it can actually feel a bit overwhelming. Throwing you into the deep end much faster than Remake, there are a lot of systems and features offloaded very fast, and that can be a bit much at first, especially when nearly every returning system is different and there's a bunch of new ones too. I'm also finding certain aspects of items not the most clear or effective – for example, an ability that says it ‘imbues’ attacks with an element that has a visual change to denote it, yet doesn’t seem to register consistently on enemies weak to said element. Maybe it is applying bonus damage, but further testing is needed to figure this one out.

These are very minor gripes however, and they're pretty easy to ignore because the rest of the game has been so good. The RPG systems are more complex, combat is deeper, more fluid and dynamic, and as far as I can tell, pretty much every issue Remake had is not present here. There's basically nothing I can really point to as a negative right now, and in many ways, this is feeling about as close as you can get to a perfect game. It’s a title that honours the legacy of the original, and video games as a whole with an extensively-diversified set of content that’s constantly surprising, executed in a way that only video games can do.

We'll see how it all shakes out as I play more, but for now, it's been a blast, and I've been very much looking forward to playing more every single day.

Pretty early on, the PSP energy emanating from Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion is strong. Whether it's the animations, style of dialogue, or overall game feel, the era it's from is very noticeable, and that inherently makes it an interesting title to play and dissect. Whilst this release was touted as a remaster, it actually ebbs and flows somewhere between remaster and remake, with so much of a visual overhaul that lets it stand very closely to its mainline older brother, Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Telling the backstory of SOLDIER First Class operative, Zack, this is a unique title. Whilst at times a little odd and perhaps not as compelling as the Final Fantasy VII original or its first remake part, it's no doubt brilliant, with a slew of unique ideas that make it one that feels great to have access to on current hardware.

It’s worth stating that I unfortunately never had the chance to play the original Crisis Core, meaning this is my first time experiencing the game and its narrative. It means that I won't have the most comprehensive comparison to the OG. However, I have played FF7 original, and Remake - and am very much looking forward to Rebirth - so I was pretty up to snuff on the narrative, world, and involved characters going into this. There’s ultimately a lot to unpack, and with the context of where the series is heading, it has interesting placement as to when you should play it based on which titles you've experienced.

For example, without spoiling anything, if you've played the entirety of the original FF7, Crisis Core is one you can play to deepen your knowledge of what came before that. However, if you've only played Remake, Crisis Core is best saved until after you play the original or - depending on what we learn in Rebirth - after that. Weirdly enough, this is a series that the more you invest into, the more there is that's worth checking out, with the original game being the core title that'll set you up for a solid experience across all the others.



Learning more about the state of the world and its characters before the beginning of FF7 really adds some nice texture to those other titles, and with Zack especially, lets you understand his story and how he ends up where he does. On that note, let’s delve into the story and plot of Crisis Core.

Developing and expanding on what we know of the world of Final Fantasy VII, I ultimately found the narrative here to be intriguing, even if a little convoluted. This story on the whole is the genesis - no pun intended - of the main FF7 game and whilst its events lead into that title, it also has its own elements to explore too.

Much of the narrative revolves around a point in time whereby there’s a rebellion launched against Shinra during the height of Wutai's war on the company, and Zack's thrown head-first into this as he works his way through the SOLDIER ranks. Likely due to the length of time I played this game over, as well as spending a lot of time running through its side missions, not much of the core throughline really stuck with me.

I liked the continuous theme of the 'LOVELESS' play that antagonist Genesis is immersed in, and how that relates to the core story and how it all plays out, however it wasn’t till I doubled back and watched a recap that I understood more about the character’s intentions. In the end, I didn’t find it as compelling as the main FF7 game, though there are several notable events that play out that formulate solid groundwork for the following chronological title.

Furthermore, there are plenty of great character interactions and moments that provide a deeper insight into each character’s backstory. These all add greater texture and value to this series. For example, learning of Zack and Cloud's origins, exploring Shinra before things truly got out of hand as we see in the OG, and having a grander picture of how Sephiroth was set on the path he eventually walks is all brilliant, and one of this game's strengths when it comes to writing.

Not only does it make the possibilities of FF7 Rebirth even more tantalising, it adds further weight to this universe and its inhabitants and makes you see how deep the history of it all goes. It only ends up enhancing the experience of other titles, and by its conclusion, it ends up feeling quite essential. Though again, wait till you've played FF7 OG before jumping in - you'll likely appreciate it more that way.



On the gameplay front, Crisis Core Reunion borrows certain elements and game feel from the Remake games, but retains core elements from the original - such as the MP and AP gauges, the Digital Mind Wave (DMW) system, and Limit Breaks. Whilst the game has less immediate depth in combat than Remake, there's still a lot I liked about how it’s all handled here. Its relative simplicity of course makes total sense for a handheld title, but once you get further into the game and start messing around with changing gear and increasing stats, you get to see the game's more systemic depth via Materia and statistics that can lead to various menu tweaking, especially with features like Materia Fusion, and how each Materia can be used and levelled just like in FF7.

Unlike the original, Materia can also be socketed and upgraded with permanent stat boosts, meaning it's not just about the core function and level of said Materia, but about the bonus passive effects they can provide to your entire build when equipped.

There’s a cap to several of the stats, but after reaching a certain point and acquiring specific pieces of gear, you can actually break through the damage ceiling and those caps, letting you beef up Zack's stats and gear so much that makes the higher difficulty side missions and encounters much more feasible. I'm curious to see how this would play out on New Game+, but in my 90%+ mission completion state, it's been fun discovering these items and seeing what combinations I can come up with.

Thanks to multiple types and levels for Materia, plus the Fusion system, there's a lot to tap into here, and a ton of builds you could feasibly put together. Though later on, it does perhaps feel like the few 'Genji' Accessories are the ones you probably want more than others, up to that point - and still after then for Materia - there's a lot of variety with a slew of systems that are incredibly well designed in ways that get you thinking about how they could all be put to use.



It has a bit of a grindy side to it too that I found particularly appealing because rewards and challenges weren’t just hand-outs and actually required a bit of investment ahead of time. There's a reason to re-run some of the missions if you’re looking for a particular resource or just want to farm items and resources that can apply big stat boosts to your favourite Materia. Having this, as well as a high ceiling for difficulty, gets you investing into all of these systems, evaluating the foes you’re going up against, and what tools and equipment you can throw on to survive and best them in battle.

There's a lot of solid depth here that adds extensive replay value, especially if you're aiming to 100% it, or even just replaying on NG+ or Hard for example. Mission variety is a little sparse especially with the lack of environments and layouts, but if like me, you're really into the systems side, that's almost an aspect that can be ignored to an extent, even if it is still a valid critique.

Theorising what these systems could be like on a grander scale, with a more open world and wider variety of missions and endgame content is a tantalising prospect and one that I hope we may see to an extent in either Rebirth or the third part of the remake trilogy. At minimum, seeing Materia Fusion brought forward and expanded upon would be cool to see as there's something truly brilliant about that system, and it’s brimming with potential, especially with the ever-expanding array of Materia the remake games are introducing.



Speaking more to that grindy, RNG aspect, some of that seeps into combat via the DMW system, a slot-machine-like roulette wheel that rotates through various numbers and character images to provide buffs and bonuses to you mid-combat. Whether it be refills and overflows to your various health, magic, or ability point gauges, or granting you a Summon or Limit Break, there are a lot of ways this system enhances combat, adding a unique spin that feels right in line with the gameplay loop and extensive backend systems across Materia and statistics.

I can understand why some wouldn't like this system since it's not intentional and all RNG-based, making it difficult to predict or feasibly work towards any of the bonuses but I honestly really liked its implementation and the layer of randomness it provides. Ultimately, whilst there are chance-weighting Materia that makes a specific Limit Break more likely to pop up, you're not really building into this system since your primary goal on the buildcrafting side lies within your core skill set.

Whilst the DMW was no doubt useful on many occasions with its stat boosts and delivery of Limit Breaks, I never felt like it was carrying me, nor was I losing battles because it wasn’t providing a specific buff. Sure, it kept me well-stocked on health and magic, and many times I had overflowing stats, but that didn't break the flow of the game, nor did I ever feel like I was waiting around for a good pull - it all just happened seamlessly and was additive to the experience, and core stat-boosting and buildcrafting was still the most important aspect for those tougher missions.

After around 40 hours of play, I grew to enjoy this system a lot, and whilst I wouldn't necessarily advocate for it to be in the other titles, elements like the character-themed Limit Breaks, or the impressive Summon cutscenes are fun features that I enjoyed quite a bit. Shoutout to the Bahamut, and even crazier Bahamut Zero cutscenes in particular, but they all provide immense spectacle worth watching. The other Limit Break scenes are fun too, and it's cool to inject some of those other character's personalities into the abilities even if they're not there fighting alongside you.

The thematic implications are intriguing too, with the idea of emotions and how Zack's feelings increase the chance of certain Limits activating. This element does get played upon a little at various points in the story depending on the preceding events, and one moment emphasises this greater than all the others to drive home a particular narrative beat. In doing so, there’s a fair bit of impact this system has beyond simply just a RNG slot machine.



Whether it's just the nature of this originally being a PSP game, or that it has a lot of intrinsic systems that demand replayability and stat tweaking, there's a lot of coziness and nostalgia I found within Crisis Core. Even though I've spent over half of my playtime trying to complete all of its side missions and grab all the missable items for the Platinum trophy - a task that has no doubt been a little mundane - I can't deny the enjoyment I've had. It let me really dig deep into all the game's systems and showcased how far it all goes which only makes the prospect of replaying it or diving into NG+ all the more enticing.

I appreciate the differences this game has compared to the original FF7 and Remake that lets it maintain its own style. With all these games overall in fact, it’s nice to have various different types of gameplay that build on the games’ core concept from numerous angles. Having that on top of a story that itself differentiates itself allows Crisis Core to stand alongside those aforementioned titles, becoming itself a key piece of the FF7 puzzle.

To retain that core identity from its PSP origins is something I liked a lot, and even with a graphical overhaul that comes close to a full remake, it stays true to the 2007 original. It reminded me of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in a number of ways, most specifically its mission structure, and I sense that’s in part where some of the nostalgia I sense comes from too.



As a final note, I want to give a shoutout to the Mail system. Whilst I typically don't read all text logs in a game, the length of these and the way in which they're delivered in Crisis Core was perfect, building on its story and themes really well. I especially enjoyed the fan clubs you could join, and seeing how characters like Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth are regarded so highly by the citizens of Midgar, so much so that they have entire clubs devoted to them, gushing about how amazing they are, and sharing random facts about them.

In many ways, it’s a bit like an in-universe gossip magazine or something, seeing these people lose their minds over these figures that are only really known to them at face value. That is to say, the Midgar citizens clearly don't know the darker backstory of existence and mission that each of these characters have, and these fan club perceptions present a fun little angle that only adds texture to the world and its populace, making it feel all the more believable.



Crisis Core Reunion was a game that I wanted to play near when it was released because, since it was a PSP game and a prequel, it felt like a nice jumping off point. That never actually happened however, and with the recommendations of others pointing me towards playing the original FF7 before Remake, that's where I eventually went. Playing through both of those and watching Advent Children, and then jumping into Crisis Core, I'm about as ready as I can be for Rebirth.

Seeing this extra chapter that provides so much insight into some of the franchise's most notable characters and lore only has me more intrigued based on what we know about the next remake chapter.

In itself, Crisis Core is a really fantastic title, and whilst its narrative may not have been quite as compelling as the other FF7 titles, it still has many great moments and certainly upholds high quality of writing for its characters. With an expansive gameplay loop and content that – even if a little mundane at times – showcases a ton of depth and potential, it got me thinking about and tinkering with my items and gear to find the best option in various situations, and makes a New Game + run something I'd like to pursue in the future.

For now though, I'm going to clean up the last few missions I need and then hopefully net the Platinum. After that, it's pretty much going to be straight into Rebirth. Just like I said in my FF7 Remake review, echoing the words of one Barret Wallace, there really is no getting off this train.

Slotting into the main story nicely, Episode INTERmission is a nice bite-sized addition to Final Fantasy VII Remake that adds further context to the character of Yuffie with a solid story that ends up being more about the characters than the core plot itself. I felt like I was missing some context for some of the later game stuff, but there’s still a great dynamic that plays out between Yuffie and accompanying character Sonon, on a quest to obtain the Ultimate Materia.

Combat-wise, it follows the fundamentals of the base game, with Yuffie having access to an array of abilities and functionality that makes her play very differently to any character in Remake. Not only that, but her playstyle lets her take on enemies from afar, with access to close-and-long-range attacks, fixing one of the issues with Remake’s combat. Not only that, but whilst you don’t get to play as Sonon yourself, he can still be commanded and called upon for ‘Synergy’ moves – a feature that we know is essentially the genesis of more to come in the next game.

It all works well, and with Yuffie’s moveset and the synergistic attacks that can be executed between her and Sonon let the moment-to-moment gameplay feel refreshed, in a way that’s fairly substantial and in-depth for a DLC. To sell this even more, all of the encounters and combat as a whole is very polished with some fun bosses too, resulting in a pretty high quality release.

That’s applicable to a lot of the content on offer here, with additional insight and character involvement and a sequence of events that slot in nicely to complement the main game. There’s also a whole host of minigames, including Fort Condor, a board game you can play with various NPCs that’s surprisingly fleshed out. It’s complex enough that it’d almost be worth its own full game, and I’m hopeful that it’ll return in Rebirth because I’d love to see it on a grander scale with more units to collect and more opponents to face. I spent a good couple of hours with it, and honestly really liked what they did here – it's more extensive than any of the main game's minigames, and I actually see it as a bit of a hidden gem of this DLC. Very fun.


As for criticisms, at certain points in this release, there’s some weird level design that felt a little confusing and led to me running round in circles for a while. That, and the final boss has a particularly egregious unskippable cutscene midway through that made dying and having to restart more punishing than it probably should've been.

Overall though, INTERmission is a solid piece of DLC. It’s not mind-blowing and the plot isn’t too deep, but for what it is, it’s rather enjoyable and a pretty extensive slice of content that could last you a decent 6-8 hours doing all its side content.

Best of all – and without saying too much – it features a really fun epilogue that was much more extensive than I had expected, setting up Yuffie for her journey to come, and adding more to where the overall story will be heading next. For me, this added much greater value to this DLC and made it feel a lot more directly connected to what’s to come. I wouldn’t call it essential, but if you care about the story, or are just wanting more FF7 tidbits to chew on until Rebirth, it’s most definitely something you should check out.

Compared to the few hours I played of Final Fantasy VII Remake back in 2022 – before I played the original game – this full playthrough I recently did for the first time had a much different impact. The way the game opens, the remixed soundtrack and its iconic cues and themes from the original, it wasn't difficult to see it's all very familiar and faithful right from the getgo. This feeling ebbs and flows throughout, with many callbacks and reprised moments alongside several new parts too.

By the end, I could see that whilst it certainly had condensed the original's opening Midgar sections into one entire game, there was also a lot of new going on that helps justify its length. The end result is a game that's brilliant at its highest moments, and a considerable step down at its lowest, sporting a few flaws throughout. However, with what this game sets out to accomplish, I can easily say that it strongly succeeds in recreating and revitalising the Midgar segments from the original title in a number of ways.

Not to get too bogged down in graphics, but I do want to say at the top that visually speaking, the art style and presentation of FFVII Remake is striking to say the least. Some areas aren’t as good as others, but I was often in awe of the various locations the game takes you through, thanks to their fantastic lighting and great attention to detail. The character models of the main cast here are the true stars of the show, realising the crew from 1997 in fantastic detail, complete with glorious animation that lets all of them be presented authentically. I especially loved Aerith's very bubbly and endearing attitude, whilst Cloud's introversion and Barret's comedy and passion are equally as perfect, as is the caring and loyal Tifa. I'm genuinely fascinated by how the characters look in this game, and even back in 2022, I knew that were a Jak and Daxter remake ever a possibility, this would be the way to do it.

As for the game itself, the story setup is essentially identical to the original, and all the same cast are here too. Since the entire game is set in Midgar, following the original's opening segment at Mako Reactor 1, there's a lot more time and focus given to the Avalanche crew and the events that take up the second half of this game. It does this, all while maintaining essentially all of the key moments from the original - which I reviewed last month. Some are altered, others extended, and a select few gone completely, but in hindsight, there's very little that feels missing, and it's a damn good recreation of all those events without being a straight 1-1, or totally trying to rewrite every aspect.

Remake’s pacing isn't as good as the original, but there's also a lot more depth to characters, and much of what's added rarely feels shoehorned in, making those additions feel like they fit in well. However, there most certainly are some questionable sections that I'm still left wondering as to why they were included. One in particular involves giant mech hands you have to move to be able to pass through an area, but controlling these mechanical hands is so sluggish and really drags the pacing of the game down. There were still some good moments here – and some banging music – that helped alleviate some of the issues, but it’s still largely one of the slowest moments of the game.

For the most part though, the new content is fairly solid – even if it results in longer gaps between core events, it usually connects them pretty well, and I was shocked but impressed at just how many iconic elements they kept from the original. Even if things are moved around, they’re usually presented exceptionally well that make them feel all the more surprising when revealed.

On the whole, this recreation of the story is handled rather well, going the extra mile too, with its own twists and elements that seem like they'll go on to be relevant in the following titles, leading to plenty of theorising in the meantime.

What it leads to is that this first part in the remake trilogy acts as more of an extension to the original rather than pretending to be the definitive way to experience it. Not only does that show respect to the original, making it hold even greater value and importance to these newer titles, the choices in writing here are a fun way to make the story intriguing on a deeper level for those who have already played the original, who want to explore Midgar and its inhabitants further, whilst still presenting the general point A-B for those entirely new.

I’ll readily admit that certain new elements were at first confusing to me, but with theories in mind, I've come to appreciate them and where it seems directors Tetsuya Nomura and Naoki Hamaguchi are taking this remake trilogy. It's all quite a fascinating study, and I've only grown to appreciate – what seems like – the narrative intention more since I finished it.



In terms of how Midgar has been recreated in Remake, there's a lot of brilliant callbacks with intricately rebuilt spaces that are often very close to the original, and essentially 1-1 in many cases. There's also a lot of expansion here too which often affects how the story plays out — similar to what I was saying earlier, some events fit in and feel like a natural extension, whereas others pad the game a bit too much. It's all good having new elements, but when they feel disjointed or mess with the flow of the game, you have to ask as to the reasoning behind their inclusion.

This actually happens around just over halfway through, during a segment that’s leading up to one of the most important plot points. Whilst it has some touching character moments, its particular placement and how the cutscenes spliced in are building up what comes next, on top of the mini-narrative that plays out led to me questioning its inclusion since it felt so disconnected from the main events. It’s difficult to anticipate the upcoming major event when the here and now is off on a largely-irrelevant tangent.

This section doesn’t add any genuine urgency, and it's only really the character development here that adds proper weight. Even if it is fairly compelling in its own way, its placement is an odd one to say the least, and it ends up doing a disservice to both the mini-narrative it weaves in and the moments that follow, and that’s a shame because the execution of what follows is handled exceptionally well, and is no doubt one of the best bits of the whole game.

Whilst we’re on the topic of pacing, the game also has a high number of ‘squeeze-throughs’, an inclusion I'm very much used to as a fan of several first party PlayStation games, but they seemed in abundance here and often really slowed the game down. They may be there to load the next area, but you don't get more obvious than Remake's consistent inclusion of them that might be some of the most annoying usage I’ve seen in any game.



Another area that's seen more or less a complete overhaul is combat. Retaining a few elements from the original, Final Fantasy VII Remake is bold, making its set of four party members all playable. Each with their own weapons, abilities, upgrades and moveset, each character feels almost as well-thought-out as Cloud. This not only stops the game from becoming too repetitive – especially when in a full party of 3 – but also gets you thinking about combat in different ways, particularly as you figure out enemy weaknesses and understanding how to fill their Stagger gauge. This actually felt like a learning process throughout my first playthrough, and I was still learning new things even towards the end of the game.

One aspect I’m mixed on is the necessity of the 'Assess' Materia that has to be equipped to a weapon/armour slot to be used. It doesn't get in the way too much, but since it's so useful – and the fact that it's only helpful once per enemy with it saving their info after each use – it felt like I always had to have it equipped, which then meant one Materia slot was always in use by it. Maybe it could be considered a difficulty-focused item I suppose, letting players choose if they want to learn enemy weaknesses themselves, or just have the game tell them, but when you’re mid-battle and have had it swapped out, you’re then stuck in the decision of do you want to restart the fight just to equip it, or just hope the enemy shows up again at some later point.

Ultimately it's not a huge issue, but for something that feels so essential, I almost feel like it should be baked in as part of your general moveset somehow. Maybe it’s just a carryover from the original, but the difference is, in the original it made sense as the game never saves enemy weaknesses in a menu (as far as I know), so it's in a bit of a strange design space here in Remake.



Another aspect I wasn't super into was the weapon upgrading. Whilst it was cool to level up and have points to put into weapons, it was difficult to track what upgrades were on which weapons, as well as know where points should be placed, and how to really employ those weapons and upgrades in combat. The game doesn't make a note of this anywhere but the upgrade screen, so you can't even compare your weapons in the equipment screen or effectively build each one differently in a way that’s visible at a glance. Whilst there’s some depth here, this system ended up feeling hollow, better off left up to the game's automated upgrade function rather than something to properly delve into and learn inside and out.

As for combat on the whole though, its moment-to-moment gameplay is a blast, and only grew on me the deeper I understood its systems and characters, the weaknesses of enemies, and the evolved Materia system.

For those unaware, the combat system here essentially has you attacking enemies with each character’s main and special attacks – mapped to square and triangle respectively – to build up ‘ATB Charges’, which you then expend to execute various commands, spells, and abilities.

When you first get started it does feel a bit simplistic, and later in the game it can feel like you’re constantly in the menu which can disrupt the flow of combat, but on the whole, when you have a full party of three, there’s a lot of fun that can be had with this combat and it has a nice tactical edge that has you weighing up what abilities and spells to use, and when – Assess Materia depending.


The biggest flaw in combat is probably aerial combat, where some encounters didn't play too well depending on the party makeup you’re stuck with at any given point. With no dedicated jump button, if enemies are in the air and outside of the playspace, when stuck with melee-based characters, there’s nothing you can do besides coax them back in or wait for your ATB gauge to fill up and fire off a spell. These particular instances are very, very rare – maybe only like one or two encounters in the whole game – but it never felt great to have enemies be inaccessible like this.

When you have either Aerith or Barret with you, the pain is lessened thanks to their ranged attacks and it is nice to have a reason to swap to them during these moments, but when they’re not around – or incapacitated – ranged and aerial combat is where battles become tedious and the flaws of this combat system are laid to bare. Considering it took me about 50-or-so hours to near-100% this game however, you’re looking at a very minor selection of encounters all things considered.



Since this is part one of three in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, something you’ll notice playing this game is that it doesn’t reach the full open expanse of what happens beyond the walls of Midgar in the original. That narrative and level design approach remains true here in Remake where it’s all quite linear with only a few areas that you can truly wander around in and explore. Furthermore, there's a limitation to how and when you travel around the world, and there’s only one particular point in the game that lets you move around freely.

This wasn’t a huge problem, but there is some concern when you’re several hours in and see items in unreachable locations – you’re left to just assume you will return at some point, even without any clear indication of that in the moment. Generally, I appreciate the dedication to embodying the linear-style opening of the original, but having the way to complete old side quests and collect missed items be via a chapter select unlocked after beating the game can feel a bit weird even if it makes sense with the narrative in mind.

Due to this, it also means having to retread some of the slowest sections of the game to net various trophies and objectives. To me, there’s some smoothing out that could’ve been done here, but it’s a minor gripe ultimately, and I liked the game enough to redo these sections and even now I still want to play it, so that probably says more than my criticism here itself.

It also ties Hard Mode in as a New Game Plus only mode that loops in the chapter select too, and whilst I wasn’t sure at first on this approach, it actually works out nicely, letting you make progress in hard mode, and if you want to go increase your level, acquire a trophy, or grab something on Easy or Normal and then return to try again, that’s an option available to you. The game also handily tracks what missions you’ve beaten on Hard mode and it has its own additional rewards to earn as well, wrapping its implementation up rather neatly.


Outside of the main story, there’s also various bits of side content, with a fair bit to do. Whilst it has several slower, less-interesting side quests, it also has a few fun mini-games that again help Remake really stay true to the original game. Not just that, but it expands and adds to this pool with a multitude of its own standout moments and side characters – shoutout to Wall Market and the Honeybee Inn specifically.

On the side, there are also bonus challenge-like objectives you can work through with a character called Chadley who will develop new Materia as you complete these various tasks. They’re all relatively simple, but add a nice little checklist aspect to the game. Beyond that, there are also various arena challenges that can be engaged with, all with their own rewards. All-in-all, they’re a solid bit of variety that add further density to the game’s side content.

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When looking at my review holistically, there’s a fair number of criticisms here across several aspects of the game. Whilst I stand by them, I also can’t overstate how strong of a remake this is. They took what is probably the shortest section of the original and turned it into an entire game. There is for sure pacing issues and some needless padding at times, but it’s all in service of a title that gets so much else right. And when it gets it right, it does so nearly always without faltering, executing on the game’s biggest moments and making them as standout, if not moreso than they were in the original.

That said though, is it better than the original? Of course not, but it’s the first of three parts in the remake project, meaning it’s barely scratched the surface of the original’s most iconic moments. It’d be impossible for one part alone to be better than the whole of the original, especially considering just how good that 1997 release is.

From here into Rebirth however, the potential of this new reimagining is anything but underwhelming, with exceptional quality on the cards for the next two entries. Whilst they too may not end up as inherently ‘better’ than the original, it doesn’t mean they can’t be brilliant and surprise and delight in their own myriad of ways just like Remake does here. After playing the original and now Remake, and seeing a very limited set of trailers for Rebirth – that I’m intentionally doing my best to avoid for the sake of spoilers – I see just how tantalising the next two parts are to speculate and marinate on. It’s clear I’m well and truly in on this ride at this point – after all, there ain't no gettin’ offa this train!

By the last 10 or so hours of my playthrough, the overall quality of Final Fantasy VII had cemented itself already. It was clear even early on in fact that this is a special game, one that I completely understand the reverence of and how revolutionary it must've been when it was released back in 1997. It's not just about that though because even now - in 2024 - this has easily gone down as one of the best games I've ever played.

In the past, I think I'd have been pretty unsure about the idea of playing not just a PS1 game, but a PS1 JRPG. This is generally because, whilst I played several PS1 games when I was younger, I associate a strong sense of clunkiness with that gen, and the PS2 is where I generally feel most comfortable going back to. It's not a graphical issue, it’s that design decisions and how some games functioned from that era can be a bit hit and miss. The same can be said for certain PS2 titles in all fairness, but it’s also the point where I feel like a lot of games started to iron out those elements, or at least having more accessibility through various means.

However, whilst I still stand by that – coming to the realisation that the PS1 library is really one I should look into more – both the original Metal Gear Solid I reviewed a couple months back and now Final Fantasy VII, have each been excellent in their own ways, providing me with insight and context I didn’t previously have.

For FFVII in particular, this is especially true unveiling a game I now consider among some of my favourites. That’s emphasised by the fact that, even after moving onto part one of its remake trilogy released in 2020, I'm still thinking about replaying and working towards the Platinum trophy. It’s a very cozy game too, making it easy to jump into whenever, and the prospect of loading it up on a handheld like the Switch is a tantalising one indeed.

Before getting into the meat of this review, it's worth noting I played this on PS4, giving me access to the X3 speed function, an option to constantly regen HP, MP, and Limit Break gauges, as well as a toggle for random encounters. I used each of these interchangeably, often just to speed through certain aspects of the game - whether that be farming for Gil in the overworld, or quickly backtracking through an area I’d ran through already. There are some exceptions to this depending on the situation, but generally I still invested and experimented with the various systems and mechanics throughout. That aforementioned replay would be fun to delve into these further.

Additionally, I also used a guide or two to check certain objectives along with a map of location names to help direct me on the right path. The game’s pretty good at giving pointers in this area though.

Even if I was dabbling in the use of those features at various points, I still racked up a good 40-50 hours, exploring the world, completing some side content, recruiting party members, on top of progressing through the story. It's very clear though that even after that time investment, there is still much I didn't check out, and a lot of extra things I could partake in, whether in my pre-final boss save, or on a second playthrough.

That's one of the ways I'd describe Final Fantasy VII - it's a rather dense game, rich with attention to detail and flourishing in quality through every aspect. It's full of ideas and for a PS1 game, is fascinating and remarkable in its design and delivery.

If we're speaking about the story, FF7's tale is an exciting one, full of emotion, intrigue, humour, and keeps you on your toes from start to finish. It's all delivered with text-based dialogue without a single voice line. Instead, it’s up to the text, animation, and music to do the talking. It's a stark contrast to many games now, including FF7's own remake that resorts fully to voiced dialogue, but yet this approach from 1997 still manages to have a strong impact and delivery that kept me invested the whole way.

In fact, it's interesting to note just how much of FF7 I've remembered and can recall, and I've wondered if that's to do with the presentation - where you're reading the story, and being a lot more attentive to what's going on, rather than just listening. The dialogue happens in stages, so you can generally take your time reading it, bar a few scripted sequences that have text automatically appear and disappear as a scene plays out.

The same is true for the level design though, where even areas I didn’t spend much time in, I still remember their layout and how they looked, allowing the remake to conjure up various memories and callbacks. Maybe it is just because I only played it a month ago, but I’d bet that it does also have to do with the game’s strong presentation – brilliant pre-rendered backgrounds, a fitting musical score, and a 2D style that’s more focused and deliberate all collaborate to achieve this effect, one that 3D games might have a harder time reaching due to their interconnected design.

While I’m here, I’ve got to call out this game’s fantastic soundtrack that is about as iconic and standout as the locations you go to, each one setting the scene masterfully. There's something to be said about the orchestral blaring we get in so many games nowadays compared to the more intricate, quirky, and - at times - simpler melodies accompanying titles from older generations.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of newer soundtracks too across various games like Final Fantasy XV, Uncharted, Splinter Cell etc. but I also find there's so much brilliance in a bunch of OSTs from older games. Titles like Super Mario 64, Ratchet & Clank, and Final Fantasy VII here, each have plenty of tracks that score locales and moments so well, they're a large part of what makes a level as memorable.

It's this combination of elements that elevates FF7 so high for me, particularly from an experiential and presentation standpoint. This is without even mentioning the gameplay components across combat, exploration, the overworld, Materia system (!), progression and party members and more. Where to start I don't even know!



Combat in FF7 is turn-based, with this particular title utilising the ATB - short for Active-Time Battle – approach. Whilst the core of it is effectively turn-based, it's not quite as simple as that. During battles, a gauge fills up for each party member, and when full, they are able to attack, use magic or an item etc. This results in fights being more dynamic and puts the pressure on to make a decision quickly. You can pause the game to consider your options of course, but there's no decision or choices to be made there - instead, it's all going to play out with the decisions and moves you make in those moments during ATBs.

The flow and available options of actions carried out by party members is your standard fare, but a good amount of the core fundamentals are built upon two key systems - Materia and Limit Breaks.

Materia is the more complex one, so I'll get to that in a moment, but the short of the long with Limit Breaks is that they are effectively moves you can carry out that deal a bunch of damage or apply status effects to teammates/enemies. There are varying levels and variants to these moves that can be unlocked through usage and world exploration, but these are often the moves you're building up to in combat once the 'Limit' gauge has filled. They can, if used correctly, turn the tide of battle in your favour. Along with the various Summons you can call upon mid-fight, they each come with a sick animation as your character carries out whatever power move you’ve selected. Even if it’s a PS1 game, the presentation of these still delivers quite a hefty amount of satisfaction when you get to use them.

As for Materia, there's quite a bit going on here, and it's one of the best systems I've seen in a game when it comes to buildcrafting and progression since it intertwines the two, all whilst intersecting as a reward found through quests, exploration, and more. Even after how long I played, there’s a lot to unpack and tweak with this system, and it’s designed in such a way that gets your mind going about the possible combinations you could put together for increasing DPS or boosting a character’s support potential.

For those unfamiliar, Materia are orbs of crystallised Mako – an element key to the lore and story of FF7 – that each have various perks, magic, and abilities you can socket into weapons and armour that unlock extra options in combat. Depending on the style of socket, you can also combine the effects of specific types of Materia, deepening the way they can be used. For example, combining the 'All' Materia allows other magic-based Materia to be applied to all enemies or allies on the field, rather than just one.

As you complete battles, you earn AP, an XP-like point system that is applied to all equipped Materia. When enough AP is acquired, Materia can level up, unlocking further benefits or higher tiers of power. This not only lets you figure out a playstyle and have various avenues and use cases within it, but also provides a growing sense of progression. It also adds more value in backtracking or running around the overworld to grind AP, alongside the usual character XP and Gil currency.

As the game ramps up in difficulty, your stats and level become more important, and so this alongside exploration, dungeons, or side quests makes it all the more worth investing into. That's on top of greater rewards to find like the max-level Limit Breaks and new party members that can be found the further you get.

This Materia system combined with FF7's overall structure really makes it feel like you can take control and personalise the game in your own way. There's of course the main story, but with such a vast world and rewarding narrative and gameplay aspects, you can begin to forge your own path, and make your own decisions on what you feel like doing. On the whole, the game is rarely restrictive, letting you take the reins and direct the journey yourself.

What's brilliant is that time and time again, there's such great attention to detail, with the people you encounter reacting to the state of the world as it progresses. Even random NPCs you wouldn't usually think twice to re-engage with, they'll often have something new to say following a new event in the world.

This trend continues throughout, and is even present in FF7R with various events and characters showing up multiple times or referencing earlier moments that I thought were trivial, yet there they were again, returning later with something new to say, or a little added flavour to a later point in the game. This goes a long way to adding texture and layers to the world that makes it feel worth exploring every inch of it because you never know what you might find or who you might come across. Whether it's a random event, side quest, or NPC dialogue, FF7 enhances its world and narrative by weaving it all together with excellence, and it feels like everyone is along with you for the journey. There's no better place where this happens than with your party and the core characters and crew.



FF7's starring cast now ranks in the upper echelon of video game characters for me, each with not only unique designs, but also strong personalities that makes each one disparate and interesting to speak to. I've noticed this continues in the remake too, and even if there's more backstory and grounded elements added to them, they still retain those core identities that make them so great in the original.

There's honestly not a single character I dislike in FF7, and whether they were with or against you, they each have a strong place in the narrative. A special shoutout goes to the Turks, who have some of the greatest chemistry I've seen, communicated fantastically through simply just text. This is a group that was a joy to see in action, and I especially love their banter, and the way in which they intersect with Cloud and co. throughout the game. Also once again, the music helps to further execute on their comical identities.

FF7 comes from an era where games were arguably more playful, not feeling the need to always remain grounded and super serious to still be able to tell a solemn and believable story with emotional moments. It’s always refreshing to see and nice to have a game be able to walk that line between the two whilst still being engaging and fun throughout.

While it may be fictional, there's so much depth given to this world and its characters that it's hard not to be swept up in it. Even if the first part of the remake trilogy offers fully-voiced dialogue, an expanded world and more character depth, it's a nice complement to the original game and is enjoyable in its own right, but the original still provides an immersive world on its own. There's just so much intricacy to it, even beyond the walls of Midgar.

When you eventually leave Midgar, you enter the game's overworld. I've never really played a game with an overworld like this outside of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands – and I'll be honest, I wasn't sold on it there – but that's a totally different game with its own gameplay loop that's very, very different to FF7. Here though, I'm seeing the full breadth of a JRPG come to life with an overworld that's fun and fast to move around.

It's not as dense and detailed as the core areas and locales you'll visit by reaching their respective landmarks on this overworld, but it doesn't need to. Rather than bloating an open world full of nothing, VII provides quick and effortless transport from one place to another, with secrets scattered throughout that you'll find hidden away the more and more you play and explore.

Sure, an open world can have its own benefits and use cases, but FF7 flaunts what design can be like with a fairly simplistic world map filled with memorable and iconic, diverse destinations, rather than a needlessly-large world broken up and connected by a bunch of filler.

There are still random events and encounters that pop up as you explore, but on the whole it exists primarily to move between locations, and it doesn't waste your time in doing so. And of course, if you're playing these most recent ports of FF7, you can always turn off those random encounters or up the game speed to focus purely on the journey, two neat QoL touches.



Genuinely I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this game, and I'm completely in awe of how expansive this game is. It's heading towards its 30th birthday, and it's such a fantastic game well worth your time. Not to reduce the discussion to simply a number, but as I was playing, I kept thinking to myself that when I score the game here on Backloggd, a 4.5/5 would be too low. It's not just that there's really nothing I could criticise in any meaningful capacity, it's more just about what this game does well, and the overall cohesion of its plot, world, gameplay, music, and more. It's put together with such finesse and excessive talent, featuring so much evolving variety, I found myself constantly enthralled for the entire journey in a game that's nothing less than perfect.

I was recommended to play this before FF7 Remake, and I'm so glad I did. Not only is it just great to experience the source material, but it also provides context to see how Remake has chosen to build or evolve that. I'll save my full thoughts on that for a deeper FF7R review at a later date, but I can't stress enough that if you have any interest in the FF7 remakes, you have to play this first. Give it a go, lean into those handy features or use a guide if it helps, but seeing the origin point of 7 is something I'd highly recommend. It's already heightened my enjoyment of Remake a lot, even if it means I know where the story is going – with points in-between feeling a bit like padding at times – but even so, that game has still surprised and impressed several times so far.

Whilst I'm now very much in for Remake and Rebirth, the urge to play the original is still there, and I think from here on out, I'm always going to have a soft spot for the OG title. No doubt a revolutionary release at the time, Final Fantasy VII is one hell of a video game even today, and is now among some of my favourite games of all time.

Prelude
I hadn't planned to write about RE6 until I'd finished the game, but early on I had so many thoughts, both positive and negative, I ended up writing some impressions. I didn't end up posting them on here, but they generally hold true even after beating Leon's campaign, so I've updated what I said and added to it with lots of other thoughts and analysis. If I complete the other campaigns, I might return to add a few extra thoughts on those in their own sections below this review too.


Leon Campaign & RE6 Critique

For anyone who read my RE5 review, you'll know that the action-oriented direction Resident Evil took between 4 and 6 was one that I personally liked. Whilst 4 had more of a balance between action and horror, 5 and especially 6 make their intent very clear. That meant that 6 was one I was rather curious about and after going through 5, I was anticipating it quite a bit to be honest.

In the first few hours however, I've both been disappointed and surprised by the many ups and downs I've encountered. Whilst its over the top action and narrative is something I'm really enjoying, besides a few fun movement and gameplay options, much of the gameplay can feel unpolished and underwhelming, even if there are moments where it shines - such as with its satisfying dodge movement and melee takedowns and finishers.

I've played all of the RE games on a mix of easy and normal difficulties, sometimes higher, and for RE6 I chose normal. Very quickly however, I was considering knocking it down to easy, just so I could hopefully enjoy the game more as an action game, one that lets me focus purely on the power fantasy, without having to worry about running out of ammo, needing health items, or worrying about the enemy AI being as ignorant to bullets or have them kill me whilst I'm stuck watching the animation play out of me being revived - something that happened a good three or four times.

I really didn't want to adjust the difficulty if I'm honest, but some of the encounters can be genuinely frustrating and janky to get through, and many of them do not flow as well as they did in RE4 or 5 when overwhelmed with a ton of enemies. Not only that, but it seemed so many encounters had endlessly-spawning enemies that often were difficult to spot due to how dark so much of Leon's campaign is. There's no on-demand torch or anything so you're left with arguably the worst-lit locations in the entire series.

Whether it's the core movement that always has you running and one of those weird camera-locked sprint systems, a combination of frustratingly-designed enemies thrown at you, or the lacking feedback in combat where guns rarely ever feel strong or have any semblance of impact, the simple act of playing RE6 has unfortunately become a big point of my criticism with the game. It definitely ebbs and flows because whilst it's never truly perfect, it can be fun on several occasions, especially when you're properly able to execute dodges and avoid enemy attacks, before return firing and popping a head or two. In fact, there are some really neat ideas going on here, and the over the top action focus I really appreciate, particularly how it's not just narrative dressing, but actually a conscious decision that carries across to game design aspects like the new dodge abilities.

To be quite frank, the dodging might actually be my favourite aspect of this game and rarely does it ever not feel cool to net a near-miss on an enemy attack or slide under their projectile before following it up with a one-two punch or shotgun blast to the face. It's fairly robust with some nice intricacies too, letting you pull off some slick moves. Beyond that, not only can you dodge various ranged and melee attacks with well-timed movements, it also allows you to remain in position after a roll, letting you continue firing at enemies whilst laying on your back, with some extra mobility options like a quick backwards reverse or sideway-roll. There's a real commitment to ridiculous action with this system and you never don't feel cool when using it.

For the most part, it flows pretty well too even if I felt like hitboxes weren't always the most consistent. Besides that though, if there was just a bit more polish on other parts of this game when it comes to flow, enemy density and design, and how combat feels, this could've easily been one of the most fun third person shooters out there. It's not just doing the traditional cover-based shooting - though that does return from 5 - it's embracing the overall game's tone and letting it flourish further.

Looking beyond the movement and dodge systems, there are several other criticisms I have too, such as how movement is interrupted every time you swap weapons, or how the simple act of swapping weapons is now a horizontal scroll-list rather than a customisable D-Pad mapping because why not - weird given RE5's was basically spot-on in this approach. Admittedly the inventory management implementation in this entry is arguably one of the worst in the series, so it's no doubt a symptom of a larger misdirection in that space.

To be completely honest, that aspect of the game is basically non-existant. There's the inclusion of a traditional storage limit for your inventory, which makes sense for the more calculated design of other RE titles, but when this game is so action-focused and the inventory management is now less important and in a weirdly-shaken-up user interface, it feels like an unnecessary inclusion. I don't understand why they didn't just let you have weapons have ammo capacity caps and a single slot for every item. This is especially true when Leon's campaign doesn't actually have many items to collect - probably about 11 or 12 (?) - yet ammo can be carried across multiple stacks.

In amongst this, there's a weirdly different approach to how herbs and healing items are treated in this game. Each complete with their own animation each time you use one, there's an extra step and reworked health system that's no awful, but I just add it to the list of 'why was this changed?' Unlike in prior titles where you'd just use, or combine then use a herb from the menu and be granted health instantly, you now have to add it to a 'health tablet' slot, and each one heals one block of your health, which is now a bar consisting of 6 blocks. Combine two green herbs, that'll give you three health tablets, and combine three green herbs or a green and a red, and you'll be given 6 health tablets. Healing sprays are back, but these are relegated to a scroll-list like weapons are, but accessed by using up and down on the D-Pad rather than left and right.

This whole reinvention of the health and healing system is so baffling to me, and totally antithetical to the otherwise-steamlined action gameplay. I have absolutely no idea why this nor the inventory system were reimagined in these ways, and it just complicates the whole system. I already think it's weird in other RE titles why you can't reload ammo off the ground into your weapon, or combine a herb directly into another even whilst at capacity, but the changes made make a near-perfect system one that's needlessly clunk and convoluted.

Another change I don't understand is how there are no weapon or health upgrades in this game, but instead you're limited to earning Skill Points you spend on various Skills that can be unlocked and upgraded. Three of these are then selected and equipped into a loadout that you can then swap in and out more or less whenever you feel like it in gameplay. It's a strangely grindy system too that feels oddly extrinsic. My guess is they wanted something game-wide that would apply to all campaigns rather than making you re-unlock and re-upgrade stuff you already have in each campaign.

I can understand the approach looking at it from that perspective, but it feels a little too detached from the experience, and I feel like RE has long been a series that lets you add your own personal touch to it, whether that's how you manage your inventory, the weapons you favour, or the general playstyle you go for. With many of its decisions, RE6 robs the player of a lot of that freedom, and I think it speaks to how the game as a whole - whilst for sure much more expansive in terms of content - also feels like a much smaller game. I don't dislike that from a linear level/story perspective - RE5 has a very similar approach - but there's just so much needless reinvention and commitment to new systems that, even if the game is very action-focused, it also has lost so many of its core systems in the process and doesn't even stick the landing in doing so. It ends up being confused as to what kind of game it actually wants to be.

Another lacking area, one returning from RE5, is the companion AI that felt incredibly hit and miss during Leon's campaign, and in the opening hour of Chris'. Even if they were still eliminating various hostiles, the system isn't as tight or responsive, particularly when giving commands. Not only that, but the downed and revive systems are so cumbersome, it only extends this game's reeking stench of lacking polish. So many times my companion would ignore commands when I needed them to respond immediately, and other times when it comes to reviving, I'd be killed during the revive animation - a time where I have no control over my character whatsoever.

So yeah, Resident Evil 6 is most definitely a flawed game, however I want to give a shoutout to the story, not because it's anything mind-blowing - nor does it at all have a compelling villain - but tonally I really liked it. There's something so fitting about having an RE title where most of the key characters come together in a time where the Raccoon City incident was relatively minor by comparison. The stakes are much higher here, big things are going down, and there's a lack of uncertainty to the state of the world. It feels like the kind of stakes you'd expect from a final game in the series, and in a lot of ways, it makes Resident Evil 7 that bit more brilliant as a result because it's so lowkey and focused on one specific location. Of course, that's very much like RE1, but also a brilliant approach to rebooting the series and follow up 6's explosive crescendo.

If anything, playing through RE6 has only made me hopeful that if Capcom get to remaking this, they're only going to polish up all of these low points with refinement from top to bottom, yet whilst keeping the core essence of what this game is. Sure, it's very linear - much like 5 - but it totally makes sense for the story as far as I'm concerned. People will argue it's not Resident Evil, but when you're dealing with bioterrorists, zombies, and all kinds of weird experiments and monsters, why can't the game go crazy with a huge outbreak? Why can't the world be in such turmoil that it demands the gameplay be more action-oriented?

To me, I think this approach makes a ton of sense and I believe Resident Evil is a series that can and should experiment like that.

With that said, when each character's campaign is supposed to have different gameplay style and approach - which after playing Chris' chapter 1, is certainly true to an extent - it is a bit strange why they didn't lean into the survival horror more with Leon. Besides the beginning, end and the impressive set pieces throughout, it does feel like Leon's campaign should've probably been a little more skewed towards survival horror so that you can diversify the styles a bit further. Of course, I'm saying this before finishing Chris' and Jake's campaigns but especially thematically, considering the callbacks Leon's campaign has to his previous games, it does feel like he should've had a more traditional RE approach, more than the action third person shooter it essentially became. More time refining this campaign and the systems connected to it and I reckon you could still land a satisfying RE experience, even if the other two campaigns are still more outlandish and over the top.

For now though, that's all I've got to say on RE6. It's both a game I really like but also found pretty underwhelming at the same time. It's flawed to say the least, but despite my criticisms, the focus on it apparently being bad for its action focus - much like I mentioned in my RE5 review - I think is a bit narrow-minded and disregarding the potential of the series. That's not to say survival horror should never be relevant because that is the core essence of the series, and it's odd for Leon's campaign to more or less completely avoid that by a pretty wide margin. Not just that, but the game doesn't always give itself time to breathe, moving you through areas so fast there's basically no exploration in this one, and the second half of the game especially seems like it flies by.

When it comes to the story though, I really can't understate how much I like the overall setup and stakes of this game, and from what I've seen of Chris' campaign, there's some cool stuff going on there with flashbacks and some fun character development to experience too. The general setting, pacing of twists and turns, set pieces, and narrative beats in Leon's campaign alone are some of the game's standout aspects as far as I'm concerned. It's certainly not perfect, particularly when they have one of the least compelling villains in the entire series - a true letdown considering the direction of this story. Maybe this is fleshed out in the other campaigns, but since Leon's story sort of headlines the game, they're not a character who feels suitable considering the scale the game.

Ultimately, I'm very much in the love/hate space with Resident Evil 6. On one hand, I'd argue it's easily the series' weakest game, yet on the other, there's so much here I really do like that has me hoping for a true remake one day. There's enough room here to really curate Leon's campaign into something very survival horror - akin to 4 overall, but one that takes you through a thematically-similar journey seen across RE2 and 4. When it comes to Chris though, I think there's definitely room for something more full-on action, giving you a power fantasy trip in a way that Resident Evil doesn't always provide.

Fleshing those intentions out and giving more time to the various locations you visit and characters you encounter, I think, would help take this game to the next level. I'd like to think a remake of 5 and 6 will rework the story to figure out a more fitting villain for this game as there's one particular character who I feel like would be the perfect antagonist to go along with this game's overall tone and stakes.

We'll see if that happens, but for now, I'll see about checking out Chris' campaign further and report back if there's anything further I feel I want to share on this game. Short of the long though is that I both really like and don't like many aspects of this game, and at least going by Leon's campaign, it wasn't quite given the love and attention it deserves. Hopefully that's what a remake can rectify. I can only hope.


Chris Campaign & Skill Point system analysis

Giving the game a bit of a positive boost, Chris' campaign I actually found generally more enjoyable to play. Whilst I'd argue Leon's narrative threads have more interesting hooks, the character development and focus of Chris' story is one that's actually pretty engaging. It's some of the more focused character development seen in the overall series I'd say.

When it comes to runtime, it took me a similar time to Leon's with a conclusion that's equally as over the top in its own way. It also has a more varied set of locales, one of which is part of a flashback serving good purpose of backstory for Chris in particular. Whilst the core objective is never extremely gripping and the level design - much like in Leon's campaign - leaves much to be desired, there's still a good bit of enjoyment to be had when playing as Chris with a good number of set pieces sprinkled throughout.

On that note, Chris' campaign is very loud and a has entirely become a full-on third person shooter. However, here it seems like Capcom were clearly more in-tune with that focus for this campaign, leading to more interesting and well-balanced encounters that never really felt unfair or overly punishing. I ran out of ammo on a few occasions similar to Leon's campaign, and in all but one of them I was able to still continue and escape, really driving home that its design and difficulty scaling felt just about right.

Enemy designs were a lot better too, again with several varying unit types, a couple of which stood out thanks to either interesting visual design and/or combat mechanics. That's on top of what felt like greater feedback in combat, making gunplay feel a bit more impactful and responsive too. Not only that, but many of the enemies are more susceptible and open to melee attacks, making finishers and parries much more common. I also felt like I was successfully dodging a lot more too, likely due to less melee-based enemies and more room to play around in. It all lets this campaign play much better than Leon's.

So it's safe to say I liked Chris' campaign more, however the game still suffers from many of the same issues since it's still RE6. One of the most egregious I really started to take notice of here was the Skill Point system. I already wasn't keen on it, but I didn't quite take note of just how bad it is.

In RE4, 5, and 8, when you eliminate enemies, you receive a mix of ammo, health items, and money. All of these tied into core game systems you'd interact with as part of your playthrough, and they're all very intrinsic to the experience. Whilst RE5 began a shift away from RE4's in-world merchant to an in-between-chapters shop where you'd spend your hard-earned looted cash, RE6 continues the in-between-chapters trend, but further ruins the system via its gameplay implementation.

I already spoke in the main review above how it's an extrinsic feature that feels disconnected, but I didn't mention how the acquisition method of skill points tramples all over the fundamental gameplay loop of Resident Evil, and is no doubt a large contributor to this game's poor design.

What I mean by this is how skill points are a potential drop from enemies and bosses, and also found in crates much like other ammo and items. This sounds fine on paper, but as soon as you realise that this now often gets in the way of resources you may be in much greater a need of in a given moment, you can see how this often completely floors a huge part of not only the balance of the game, but also the core survival gameplay.

This really stood out to me in the final boss fight in Chris' campaign where during one attempt, I had no ammo left with several remaining crates dropping skill points. The items drip-fed to me after that were not only rare as to when they'd drop, but also often primarily skill point drops rather than herbs or ammo. What this leads to is an already unlikely-to-finish scenario now exacerbated, all whilst the devs at Capcom sit back and laugh at their miraculous design that forgoes any sense of logic or coherent design philosophy, as I run around in circles endlessly hoping for an ammo drop. Even RE5, a game that launched on a new generation, introduced co-op, and similarly has a much more action focus still manages to retain these core fundamentals. Even if they're not perfect either, they're a far cry from the bewildering and baffling approach on show here and I'm left wondering what the hell happened during the development of this game. Why was so much reinvention in progress when already building out four campaigns?

Again, I understand the skill point system from a game-wide upgrade standpoint, but really this could've still been handled far better than it was, especially when an extrinsic feature is being so intrusively harmful to the core gameplay loop.

Anyway, that's my next rant about Resident Evil 6 done, a game that I really wanted to like but that’s becoming more and more difficult as time goes on. I still had a decent time with Chris' campaign, and I think its character-focused story is a nice one to see inside of Resident Evil. It embraces the military camaraderie tone well and lets us see Chris in a more-human light that solidifies him as a more believable character and one who I like even more now.


Jake's Campaign & Final Thoughts

After finishing Jake's campaign, I think I've pretty much hit the end of the road with RE6. Whilst his campaign was decent enough in its own right - again with several fun moments and set pieces - I just found myself bored and wanting to play less and less the more progress I made.

I enjoyed seeing how each of the campaigns came together narratively, and whilst Ada's campaign I am somewhat curious about based on her connection to the overarching narrative in this one, I'm also not sold on it. That's honestly not just because of my existing thoughts on the game, but also that I didn't really like Ada's characterisation in this one and her actions seem so unjustified. RE4's remake is still fresh in my mind - though I don't remember the remake being much different from the original in regards to Ada - so her actions in RE6 just don't really make sense. I'm sure her campaign provides insight into that, but she's so strange in this one, I don't really feel convinced to check it out, even if just for the story.

It's honestly a real shame since I was looking forward to this one, and whilst it has this weirdly appealing side, I'm getting a strong sense of Dark Souls 2 and Devil May Cry 2 energy from it. That is to say, it is not a game I hold in high regard whatsoever. Even if there are aspects or moments that stand out, I largely found myself looking forward to being done with the game by the end.

It's burnt me out so much that it makes me appreciate and miss all the other more-traditional games more. In weighing them up, I think I definitely do think these games got progressively worse, with RE4 being the series high point and it all being downhill until 7.

If RE6 is to be remade one day, I think there are a lot of great elements to be salvaged for a pretty expansive RE title, but they've really got a lot to do to upgrade this game, hone its edges and perfect the design. Until that day, I think I'm unlikely to revisit RE6, perhaps outside of Mercenaries, trying co-op at some point and maybe Ada's campaign, but that's about it.

Really am genuinely disappointed with this one - confused even - at how dull I ended up finding it, even if it's mostly enjoyable to see how all the stories play out and link up. For now though, I think it's time for me to jump ship and check out something else - and man am I looking forward to it!