This review contains spoilers
Really interesting reimagining of the original game. I personally liked the new twist on the story. The characters were all super fun too- I really liked all the party dynamics, and it was cool to see the original members of Avalanche get fleshed out and have a bit more screen time. The environments were really well-done as well, they succeeded in making Midgar feel absolutely massive. Combat felt really smooth, it's a turn-based system disguised as real-time because if you don't time your attacks well you will get fucked. The materia system rules, I really love that amount of customization depth.
The main flaw here is the pacing. I like how they integrated the side quests, because there's no way in hell I'm doing any side quests in an old FF game. However, the pacing was kind of weird as a result, with the main party members encouraging Cloud to go do random shit after discussing how dire the main storyline was. I had fun with them at first, but I ignored the last batch because I was not interested in them at all. I feel like the Chocobo fast travel system is a relic of the old game that they could have reworked, but by the time that was even an option I had stopped giving a shit about side quests to go set it up or use it. I also feel like the last few chapters were really drawn out, particularly Hojo's lab. Lastly, I wish there was more party customization and less of the gimmick where they took away characters all the time. Multiple times I was stuck without healing materia because the game would split the party or remove Tifa or Aerith without warning, and the only reason I had a chance at beating Sephiroth was because I equipped it on Cloud. Not getting to use Aerith at all at the end kind of sucked, and Red XIII not being playable kind of faked me out with how far away the ending was. I enjoyed most of the dialogue but there were times where I came to appreciate how pithy the original was.
Overall I enjoyed this a lot. The middle portion of the game is some of the most fun I've had in an RPG, but I'm hoping these flaws are at least addressed in Rebirth, whenever I get around to it.
The main flaw here is the pacing. I like how they integrated the side quests, because there's no way in hell I'm doing any side quests in an old FF game. However, the pacing was kind of weird as a result, with the main party members encouraging Cloud to go do random shit after discussing how dire the main storyline was. I had fun with them at first, but I ignored the last batch because I was not interested in them at all. I feel like the Chocobo fast travel system is a relic of the old game that they could have reworked, but by the time that was even an option I had stopped giving a shit about side quests to go set it up or use it. I also feel like the last few chapters were really drawn out, particularly Hojo's lab. Lastly, I wish there was more party customization and less of the gimmick where they took away characters all the time. Multiple times I was stuck without healing materia because the game would split the party or remove Tifa or Aerith without warning, and the only reason I had a chance at beating Sephiroth was because I equipped it on Cloud. Not getting to use Aerith at all at the end kind of sucked, and Red XIII not being playable kind of faked me out with how far away the ending was. I enjoyed most of the dialogue but there were times where I came to appreciate how pithy the original was.
Overall I enjoyed this a lot. The middle portion of the game is some of the most fun I've had in an RPG, but I'm hoping these flaws are at least addressed in Rebirth, whenever I get around to it.