Holy shit, just completed a playthrough of just the story, world intel, and sidequests than ran me over 90 hours on Dynamic. This game is a remarkable feat and the open world on this scale with so many JRPG elements like encounters and ships and hidden treasures is unlike anything I’ve experienced in the HD era of RPGs save for parts of Lost Odyssey or Ni No Kuni on the 360 and PS3. If anyone has recs for more open world jrpgs like this please send them my way. The environments in this game feel like they shouldnt be possible, and the cartoony art style with a mix of realism and nomura-isms is really nailed down in this from the characters to the landscapes to the enemies.

With all that said. This is no way anyone should experience FF7 for the first time. This one is strictly for the fans it seems, with meta-narrative piled on(which is unsurprising but not less groan-inducing than it was when Remake introduced it in the ending). I’m withholding all the judgement I can for the finale, especially cause I kind of like the darker and darker tone they seem to be hinting at with all that’s going on with Cloud’s psyche. Since they already gave away so many of the reveals that the original has about Cloud’s path in the original, I’m curious to see where they’ll diverge with that. Regardless, I’m pleasantly surprised that they still went through with Aerith’s murder despite hinting to the contrary, though the way it’s directed as with everything in this game’s direction lacks all subtlety and weight of consequence. I did come to really care for Aerith more than I thought I would with her characterization, but had she not woken up about three times and continued on as a Lifestream ghost I think her death would have still had quite an impact. Once again, I’m still curious what they’ll do with it but it made me roll my eyes a little.

As a fan, and for what it is, there’s so much I was curious to see and happy to see and enjoy. On the otherhand, there are way too many minigames that demolish the pace of this game. (My two roommates both said they saw me playing way more minigames than any actual combat or exploration, and I felt it too). Dyne’s death scene is butchered, Cid’s character is gutted(maybe they had a hard time updating the plot with his wife, but still, this alternative Cid is so nothing). And really, you spliced up a 30 minute Zack scene throughout the entire game to make it feel like a plotline? But there are great additions to Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Vincent that I mostly enjoy.

It’s hard not to feel like they really game this IP the “Hobbit” treatment when it comes to adaptation. They probably shouldn’t have expanded a midpart into a game THIS long and expansive, but it still remains a technical wonder that they pulled it off. Combat is still great, and Gilgamesh is peak, but no way in hell will I invest in hard mode or mastering the piano game to beat this till completion. If you love these specific characters and this world to death and just want to spend time in it, there’s SO MUCH GAME here for you. I would still recommend any friend or young teen to get past the prejudice of turn based combat and play the original via emulation or ports with all the quality of life updates. That atmosphere and pacing can’t be matched.