I wasn't very hyped for this game I'll be honest, I expected part 2 of the "Final Fantasy VII Remake Project" to be linear and pedestrian like the first remake with no world map.
Thankfully my expectations were confidently exceeded, when I got about half way through the Junon region I genuinely wondered if this game would be a 10/10, the density and variety of content is rare to see in most other open world games and JRPGs for that matter.
The combat improves upon Remake with more party members and additions like the Synergy skills, it feels hectic and overwhelming at first but once you lock down 3 party members(Clouds, Tifa and Yuffie for me) you begin to feel like a god staggering enemies and exploiting their weaknesses, the Materia system offers a ton of customization much like the original.
I won't even get deep into the mini games, but Queen's Blood and Frog Fall Guys were the highlights.
In regards to the story, I'd say the side quests add more interactions and depth to the party members, Yuffie and Red XIII in particular feel more prominent here than in the 1997 game. Sephiroth doesn't appear much apart from the opening and ending which is nice because Square completely butchjered him and made him obsessed with Cloud to the point of creepiness.
And about the ending, I didn't really enjoy the final boss gauntlet, it got grating after a while and the game forcing me to use party members I mostly ignored vlike Barret/Cait Sith at certain points was infuriating.
But yeah, 9/10, well done Square for somehow still making great games despite your economic woes
Thankfully my expectations were confidently exceeded, when I got about half way through the Junon region I genuinely wondered if this game would be a 10/10, the density and variety of content is rare to see in most other open world games and JRPGs for that matter.
The combat improves upon Remake with more party members and additions like the Synergy skills, it feels hectic and overwhelming at first but once you lock down 3 party members(Clouds, Tifa and Yuffie for me) you begin to feel like a god staggering enemies and exploiting their weaknesses, the Materia system offers a ton of customization much like the original.
I won't even get deep into the mini games, but Queen's Blood and Frog Fall Guys were the highlights.
In regards to the story, I'd say the side quests add more interactions and depth to the party members, Yuffie and Red XIII in particular feel more prominent here than in the 1997 game. Sephiroth doesn't appear much apart from the opening and ending which is nice because Square completely butchjered him and made him obsessed with Cloud to the point of creepiness.
And about the ending, I didn't really enjoy the final boss gauntlet, it got grating after a while and the game forcing me to use party members I mostly ignored vlike Barret/Cait Sith at certain points was infuriating.
But yeah, 9/10, well done Square for somehow still making great games despite your economic woes