Alright let me preface this whole review by saying that I review games more through a purely subjective and emotional lens. 5 stars isnt really a claim to one of the best games ever made, but an indicator of a game that I consider impactful or special to me personally. If a game resonates with me enough despite some clear flaws I'm more than willing to not dock points off for my own personal ratings. Anyways - lets talk about it.
I played the ps4 version of FF7 remake twice when it came out and I loved it. The original ps1 game also holds a huge place in my heart. I grew up around the world of FF7, whether it was the original game, kingdom hearts stuff, advent children etc. I just loved this world and its characters (despite most of the characterization being handled poorly outside of the original game). I never really cared though because as a kid I was filtering all that other content through the perspective of how I interpreted those characters when they were voiceless roblox lookin dudes. I loved them a lot. So the remake happens and I'm much older and aware of these issues. My main worry was how the characters would be portrayed here. Would it fall in line with the tone of the compilation content where everyone was emotionless and angry, or would they recapture what I always believed them to be from the start? Thank god it was the latter.
FF7 remake is the best these characters have ever looked, sounded, acted, played, so on and so forth. They truly nailed the essence of what made this cast so likable back on the ps1. Some people playing it without that original attachment are even capable of growing attached through this remake alone. It has encouraged a lot of people to revisit the original game which I think is a great thing. I can't praise the voice cast, animation team, artists, and writers enough here - they killed it.
The original narrative is in tact as well. Some have a lot of disdain for FF7 being split into multiple parts, but I love that we have a chance to see midgar in such detail. Only rarely did some moments feel a little drawn out, but I felt like I got a whole game's experience here instead of a slice of a pie that clearly wasn't finished. They paced it well and I may be on the unpopular side of being cool with multiple parts - because without that, so many things would be condensed and lost. I feel like this team really wants to bring every aspect of the original game to modern life and celebrate it as much as possible.
The main issue with FF7 remake is the fact that its so faithful that even the level design still feels straight out of the ps1/ps2 era. Level design is not good here. That isn't a huge deal with JRPGs as long as environments and the narrative are pushing you along, but it is still quite apparent that the levels are pretty linear or corridor ridden. Kind of like final fantasy 13 done correctly if that makes sense. Everything else gameplay wise is flawless though. FF7R has my favorite FF combat system now. It does an insane job of making it feel familiar with the ps1 game and adding a flair of action. The way everything slows down while you choose abilities and combine action inputs is super fun and retains that classic turn based thought process while becoming more action oriented at the same time. Materia is a brilliant system too - no surprise there to those familiar with that system.
This next paragraph is vague on details but I'll give a brief spoiler warning just in case you want to skip this part.
The big controversy with this remake is the fact that it introduces some new elements when compared to the original. The entirety of the original story is still in tact here and you get to see all of it plus more. The way some new elements interfere with the story is offputting though. At first I wasn't sure if I enjoyed the approach, but near the end I honestly found it to be an incredibly smart meta narrative about the nature of video game remakes. It's like a dissection of what developers and consumers want when it comes to them. A lot of people say Nomura tainted this game with his crazy kingdom hearts weirdness but honestly the original game reaches points of insanity that aren't any more grounded than the confusion of KH. (FF7 is just told in a more cohesive way obviously).
What I find exciting about this crazy approach is that we know we are still going to see all the things we want to see from the rest of this world, but we have new theories and story beats to ponder about. Major story beats will remain in tact but we will be able to be surprised by new things instead of watching a checklist of events based on the original take place. I understand those who strictly wanted a 1:1 faithful remake, but personally I find this approach smart and a lot more engaging. I'm so excited that I get to make up theories and be confused about story elements again. Everyone talking about it passionately (positively or negatively) is great! Getting reactions out of people like this is a sign of doing something right - or at least taking a risk because they have a vision.
I'm a good chunk into the ps5 version and it's easily one of the most insane looking games out there right now. I thought the ps4 version was incredible - but my god the ps5 upgrade dramatically improves it. The texture issues on the ps4 are so apparent now, and the 60fps makes everything 5x as gorgeous. It's crazy to be playing a video game where the in game models look better than the original CGi movie from back in the day.
I love this game, man. I think it's doing something really special and I cant wait to spend the next several years awaiting future installments. It's gonna be an awesome journey (if they don't fuck it up at least, but I have a lot of faith in them right now. I think they know what they're doing)
I played the ps4 version of FF7 remake twice when it came out and I loved it. The original ps1 game also holds a huge place in my heart. I grew up around the world of FF7, whether it was the original game, kingdom hearts stuff, advent children etc. I just loved this world and its characters (despite most of the characterization being handled poorly outside of the original game). I never really cared though because as a kid I was filtering all that other content through the perspective of how I interpreted those characters when they were voiceless roblox lookin dudes. I loved them a lot. So the remake happens and I'm much older and aware of these issues. My main worry was how the characters would be portrayed here. Would it fall in line with the tone of the compilation content where everyone was emotionless and angry, or would they recapture what I always believed them to be from the start? Thank god it was the latter.
FF7 remake is the best these characters have ever looked, sounded, acted, played, so on and so forth. They truly nailed the essence of what made this cast so likable back on the ps1. Some people playing it without that original attachment are even capable of growing attached through this remake alone. It has encouraged a lot of people to revisit the original game which I think is a great thing. I can't praise the voice cast, animation team, artists, and writers enough here - they killed it.
The original narrative is in tact as well. Some have a lot of disdain for FF7 being split into multiple parts, but I love that we have a chance to see midgar in such detail. Only rarely did some moments feel a little drawn out, but I felt like I got a whole game's experience here instead of a slice of a pie that clearly wasn't finished. They paced it well and I may be on the unpopular side of being cool with multiple parts - because without that, so many things would be condensed and lost. I feel like this team really wants to bring every aspect of the original game to modern life and celebrate it as much as possible.
The main issue with FF7 remake is the fact that its so faithful that even the level design still feels straight out of the ps1/ps2 era. Level design is not good here. That isn't a huge deal with JRPGs as long as environments and the narrative are pushing you along, but it is still quite apparent that the levels are pretty linear or corridor ridden. Kind of like final fantasy 13 done correctly if that makes sense. Everything else gameplay wise is flawless though. FF7R has my favorite FF combat system now. It does an insane job of making it feel familiar with the ps1 game and adding a flair of action. The way everything slows down while you choose abilities and combine action inputs is super fun and retains that classic turn based thought process while becoming more action oriented at the same time. Materia is a brilliant system too - no surprise there to those familiar with that system.
This next paragraph is vague on details but I'll give a brief spoiler warning just in case you want to skip this part.
The big controversy with this remake is the fact that it introduces some new elements when compared to the original. The entirety of the original story is still in tact here and you get to see all of it plus more. The way some new elements interfere with the story is offputting though. At first I wasn't sure if I enjoyed the approach, but near the end I honestly found it to be an incredibly smart meta narrative about the nature of video game remakes. It's like a dissection of what developers and consumers want when it comes to them. A lot of people say Nomura tainted this game with his crazy kingdom hearts weirdness but honestly the original game reaches points of insanity that aren't any more grounded than the confusion of KH. (FF7 is just told in a more cohesive way obviously).
What I find exciting about this crazy approach is that we know we are still going to see all the things we want to see from the rest of this world, but we have new theories and story beats to ponder about. Major story beats will remain in tact but we will be able to be surprised by new things instead of watching a checklist of events based on the original take place. I understand those who strictly wanted a 1:1 faithful remake, but personally I find this approach smart and a lot more engaging. I'm so excited that I get to make up theories and be confused about story elements again. Everyone talking about it passionately (positively or negatively) is great! Getting reactions out of people like this is a sign of doing something right - or at least taking a risk because they have a vision.
I'm a good chunk into the ps5 version and it's easily one of the most insane looking games out there right now. I thought the ps4 version was incredible - but my god the ps5 upgrade dramatically improves it. The texture issues on the ps4 are so apparent now, and the 60fps makes everything 5x as gorgeous. It's crazy to be playing a video game where the in game models look better than the original CGi movie from back in the day.
I love this game, man. I think it's doing something really special and I cant wait to spend the next several years awaiting future installments. It's gonna be an awesome journey (if they don't fuck it up at least, but I have a lot of faith in them right now. I think they know what they're doing)