Level design seemed like a step up from what I played (not a high bar given how terrible this aspect was in the first game). But this retains the same problems with the moment to moment movement and combat feel that the first game had. For a game about the lightsaber fantasy it simply just does not feel good to play and swing your lightsaber around. There's too many good games out there and I know I'm probably wasting my time given how I've felt about this series so far so I dropped it like 8 hours in.

A game that I respect more than I actually enjoy. I understand it's influence and I love some of the other content this universe has produced (Remake is incredible). But man this game has been completely decimated by the passage of time. Most of the time, when I play an seminal classic, I find that they've aged well and are fun even in the context of modern gaming (SOTN is an example of a game that came out the same year and hasn't aged a day), but FF7 is unfortunately an exception for me. The gameplay is too slow and easy, the movement feels awkward, the visuals and presentation are really unappealing (this is coming from someone who loves plenty of uglier games), and the UI and menus are simply awful.

Despite my mixed feelings on this game, it's very easy to see why it's such a beloved classic. The worldbuilding, story, music, variety, and characters are all good even today. While I think Square Enix's take on remaking this game has had an excellent start and much more ambitious than anyone could have imagined. I do hope that one day we get another take of this game that sticks closer to the original vision while smoothing out the rough edges I mentioned, since Remake is so fundamentally different from the original experience.

Story, characters and dialogue were a noticeable step down from the first game. But the improvements in combat, variety, side content, exploration, and level design were enough to offset the story downgrade (which for the record, is still quite good, just not nearly as tight or consistent as the writing of the first game, which I consider one of the better stories in AAA gaming). The new Valhalla DLC (which is completely free) really tied this game up nicely for me, offering a more satisfying ending than the somewhat flabby and rushed final act of the base game, and managed to adapt the game's excellent combat framework into a genuinely fun and replayable roguelite mode that can easily last you 10+ hours.

Overall, if you ask me if 2018 or Ragnarok was better? I don't know, 2018's excellent storytelling and direction probably made it more memorable, and it probably would have been my answer if you asked me a year ago. But after playing the DLC I'm basically split 50/50 now.