REMADE TO LAST
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For the first time in a long time I finish a
Final Fantasy-game wanting more. It feels kind of bittersweet. One part of the reason is that, as all fans already know, the Final Fantasy VII Remake does not conclude
the story of the original Final Fantasy VII. Many of the spectacular sights are still unseen, and some plot developments are still ahead of us. We have a long way - more than three quarters - to go, and I assume the developer, Square Enix, will try to wrap it up as a trilogy, or
possibly quadrilogy.
Another big part of the success is how all the production values work with the writing to shape an opera of amity and love. It's uplifting to see such disparate characters bonding in the face of an insurmountable threat. The remake is paced almost like the season of a TV-series, ending with a good cliffhanger that promises bigger things to come. Watching the end credits roll for this first
part reminds me of the emptiness I felt after each entry of
Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings-trilogy. I can't wait to see
what's next.
It's been roughly sixteen years since I first crossed paths with the original. That's long enough for me to forget most of the plot details. From what I can recall, this remake both deepens and expands upon what the
original established, but is very careful about not veering too far from its
roots. The updated visuals are gorgeous, particularly the stunning, more
realistic character models with expressive faces. But aside from that, the new
fluid camera highlights details in the redesigned world I'd never considered
before.
For instance, I'd never pondered how oppressive the city of Midgar really is. Just tilt the
camera slightly upwards and you'll see what I mean. Imagine living in the
slums of a city that covers most of the skybox with gigantic platforms,
blotting out the sun. Every nitty-gritty detail around you makes life hard to
bear; the complete lack of greenery, the monsters in the junkyard and the
rickety buildings that seem put together by trickle-down debris. If it's an
eyesore, well, then that's exactly the point.
Even the combat pays tribute to its roots and expands upon them. When I played
old JRPG:s with turned-based fighting, like the original
Final Fantasy VII (released in 1997), I tried to visualize how the
battles really played out in my mind. In no way did I believe the characters actually stood firm
in line, awaiting their turn to act.
This remake evolves them into real-time action brawls - very challenging ones
to boot - that eerily brings to mind my awkward imaginations. You now have
direct control over every character, blocking and dodgerolling out of the
way to find an opening in the enemy's guard. This runs the risk of eliminating most tactical thinking, but by pausing the battle you may issue orders and
ponder what to do next. Combat in a Final Fantasy game has rarely felt
this fulfilling.
For the most part, it takes similar liberties with the story, which feels like
an elaboration of what was already in place. Some of the prolonged runtime is dedicated to characters expressing more of their personalities through
added cutscenes or in-engine banter. Whether funny, tragic or exciting,
the added nuances makes every character arc more organic than instrumental.
Even parts of the originally undeveloped supporting cast is given their due,
but - with one or maybe two exceptions - do not measure up to the high bar set
by the main quartet.
Whether you're familiar with Final Fantasy VII or not, you should know this
remake takes place entirely within the city of Midgar, a futuristic city
towering to the skies. The workers live in poverty far beneath the secluded
elite. The city is powered by Mako, a sort of planetary lifeblood that's
supposed to provide clean and limitless energy. But some people have heard the
planet's cries of pain, and decided to do something about it. Environmentalism
wasn't new in 1997, but far from the mainstream movement it's become today.
In this charmingly naive take on mature affairs, you control a few members of
Avalanche, a band of merry eco-terrorists dead set on disrupting the affairs
of a corrupt power company. As the game begins you're already well on your way
towards blowing up one of their reactors. Although you can control anyone in
the party during combat, the story revolves around Cloud Strife (voiced
by Cody Christian), an ex-soldier and mercenary with a chip on
his shoulder. He's hired to deal with any resistance leading up to their goal.
A bit obnoxious and antagonistic at first, he hesitantly blossoms as soon as
he reunites with his childhood friend Tifa Lockhart (Britt Baron).
She's a fit and feisty bar owner in the Sector 7 slums with a soft spot for
Cloud, who struggles to express that the feeling's mutual. Another party
member - everyone's favorite big, badass brute - is Barret Wallace (John Eric Bentley), who is the impassioned leader of your Avalanche cell. The fourth and final
member joins later, a florist girl named Aerith Gainsborough (Briana White). She has a mysterious past, and inspires Cloud to embrace the plight of
Avalanche as something more than just a job.
The original's importance to the early Sony Playstation success
story is hard to overstate. This update, released at the tail end of the PS4
life cycle, won't feel as significant. In terms of quality, however, it
essentially turns the original into LEGO Final Fantasy. Without sacrificing
much of the charm, it adds tons of immersion and atmosphere. It treats each
character more profoundly, making it into a story potentially more heartfelt
than even the original. The writing and directing is surprisingly good and
restrained, even though it fails to avoid certain memeable pitfalls, like an
abundance of anime grunts and people asking one another: "You okay?"
Long sections of the game progress with more urgency than most JRPG:s, making
the game step out of its comfort zone to instead deliver long stretches of
action-heavy thrillrides. For once, I never stopped to grind for character
levels, unless you count the optional sidequests in settlements.
These side missions feel a bit lacklustre, as you essentially play
uninteresting short story vignettes that end up in run-of-the-mill combat
encounters. The intrusion of most mini-games feel equally dull.
Yakuza this is not, and exploration off the beaten path often feels
like a letdown, although I was pleasantly surprised to find a perfectly
serviceable dart board in Tifa's bar.
Calmer offshoots like these exist for restocking purposes and more in-depth
character bonding. Then the action ramps up with long, exhausting runs towards
a pressing matter, invariably culminating in a tough boss battle. This gives
the drama a cinematic feel, well-staged and paced, and it never lets you off
the hook until the dust settles. For the most part, the storytellers are in
complete control of their audience.
The combat is a genuine delight, and a series highpoint. Some of the harder
boss fights are crazy trials of endurance, like the arena fight against an
animated house. I had a great time perfecting strategies by switching from one
character to the next, chaining different staggering abilites together. Each
and every character contribute in a very specific way. The ones you don't
control auto-attack and try to stay alive, but to unleash their potential
you need to take direct control.
The game perfectly balances the enemy
difficulty with your level progress, and whenever I got defeated, I had
plenty of tweaking opportunities to exact revenge. Simply put, the game provides you with many fun upgrade mechanics. The materia
system remains the ace in the hole, allowing you to allot unique abilities and
spells into equipment slots to spice up combat. These then slowly evolve into
more powerful versions the longer you keep them equipped. The weapons can also
be tweaked with stat boosts to further specify each character's role in the
team.
Fans might express disappointment in that we don't get the full story, but
just consider what we get instead. The remake goes above and beyond the
original regarding character, environments and plot details. Final Fantasy VII
was always held aloft as a moving storyline told through the viewpoint of a
few endearing characters. This is the foundation Square Enix expands upon,
elevating the emotions futher by beautifully orchestrated renditions of
Nobuo Uematsu's old melodies. And the city of Midgar has never felt so up close
and personal, bringing us closer to the action.
My previous experiences with Final Fantasy stories tell me they tend to go
overboard sooner or later, and yet, Square Enix often pulls it
together. Thanks to the episodic format, this game ends before that happens. I've always held the studio aloft as masters of melodrama, which is a
backhanded compliment. I know melodrama is often scorned, but I mean it with some degree of genuine admiration. It can be effective, and as operatic as these
stories get, the music is often so good that it guides our emotions to the
right place. And when it works - sometimes against our better judgment - it
does wonders for the experience.
Final Fantasy VII Remake ranks as a prime example of Square Enix getting most
of their facets together to deliver an awe-inspiring piece of entertainment. I
would've been fine settling with the original and moving on, but now that
the remake is here, I cannot wait to play the rest. And after this, God only
knows if I'll be able to return to the LEGO-characters, random encounters and
weird logics of '97.
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