I adored Final Fantasy VII Remake more than, frankly, any AAA game since the PlayStation 2, and a lot of that was in its looseness with itself; its willingness to be light and fun and exuberant and goofy. There's plenty of that here, and this little chapter served as a pleasant reminder of how charming this version of Midgar and its characters are; honestly this comes off more than anything as "hey don't you miss this game? why not give it another run?" and the notion is tempting! I was surprised to find that while FF7R's "kingdom hearts bullshit" was charming and self-critical (coming off as a meta-level awareness of Nomura's broader influence in the aftermath of FF7, and providing a venue for introspection about FF7's own overblown cultural heft), the introduction of Dirge of Cerberus material and its accompanying melodrama is somewhat exhausting. The resolution of Yuffie's plot feels rushed and unearned, and the segue back into the main plot is perfunctory and self-defeating; a glimpse at a much more compelling melodrama waiting just over the horizon. Plot quibbles aside here, FF7R remains one of the smartest AAA games in recent memory, and the Sonon/Yuffie pairing is basically an elaborate excuse to further press into Final Fantasy XIII's combat system's raison d'être, simulating the platonic ideal of watching an action anime. It's neat! Further stripping out the player growth mechanics only highlighted how woefully little wiggle room there is in the base game, foregrounding for me the hopes that FF7R2 will have an open field with some kind of encounters mechanism. FF7R might be an incredible AAA game but it is, tragically, not really a JRPG in any meaningful way.