Welcome to The Seventh Heaven
Introduction
The original Final Fantasy VII started out as a bold claim by Square Soft that they could develop a video game that could be seen in the same light as a blockbuster movie not coming to a cinema near you. Their gamble paid off and Final Fantasy VII was a mega-hit, which not only became part of the pop culture zeitgeist but revitalised the dying JRPG genre in the process.
This review is not about that game. It is about its remake! Final Fantasy VII Remake is a 2020 game developed and published by Square Enix, who in the last few years have had a very complicated relationship with their star franchise. Yet, for the most part, this remake looks and feels on point.
Setting and Plot
Final Fantasy VII Remake takes place in Midgard. A city run by a shady conglomerate called Shinra that plunders the planet of its natural resources, mainly a substance called Mako. Your main character is Cloud Strife (voiced by Steve Burton), the quiet and moody hero with a secret past and a whole lot of hair gel. He is a mercenary hired by an eco-terrorist cell called Avalanche to take down Shinra once and for all.
Final Fantasy VII Remake expands on the first 5 hours of the original game, stretching the content to be around 40 hours in total, and surprisingly keeps its pace throughout its runtime with the exception of chapter 14, which drags a bit.
For the most part, the plot keeps to the same beats as the 90’s classic, but Square’s alterations to their winning formula do come off as thematically inconsistent with the original’s premise. These modifications are especially apparent during the final chapters of the game.
Final Fantasy VII’s themes lean closer to a modern or science fantasy, where the majority of magical powers and problems can be summed up as advancements in technology. On the other hand, the newer themes surrounding spirits and destiny feel out of place in a world where one can buy a spell casting orb from a street vendor.
That is not to say that these changes are bad or anything, as they feel more like a scoop of a different flavour of ice cream added to an already delicious dessert. The problem with flavours is they depend on our tastes, the same goes for these new additions. These thematic reasons are why I can’t see this game as a faithful one-to-one remake and more of a retelling that hits a lot of similar notes.
That said, these changes also spice up the narrative, as even the most informed fans won’t be able to help themselves from swinging on their seats with glee. Square is counting on that 20-year-old knowledge so they can toy with our expectations.
Characters and Performances
I have to admit I am not a fan of Cloud’s awkward lone wolf demeanour. At best, this massive sword-wielding badass lets his actions speak for him. Outside of battle and adventure, Cloud has a dull personality and is clueless when it comes to understanding social cues. He often comes out as uncomfortable, disrespectful, or too silent to those who just met him. The problem with this character is that I know he has a lot of potential to grow but it will not be seen in this game.
Tifa and Barret provide the emotional backbone of the party. I especially love the performance of John Eric Bentley, who portrays Barret, the group leader. His care for his daughter, Marlene, is enough to warm even the coldest of gamers’ hearts.
I was moved by this man’s devotion to his daughter’s safety and happiness. I guess there is no greater force in the world than that of a parent who wants to protect their child.
Tifa (Britt Baron) is Cloud’s childhood friend and the owner of the Seventh Heaven Bar which is located in the slums of Sector Seven. It is a safe house for Avalanche members to meet up, and sometimes she also fights alongside them. However, she does not share their more violent views.
I like her new design, giving her a more athletic and realistically proportionate body. I also have become accustomed to her new wardrobe. The black thigh high socks and sports bra complete the character’s appearance.
Aerith, our little flower girl in the big city, is portrayed by Briana White, who honestly does an excellent job with her happy-go-lucky nature. She even manages to make the word “shit” sound adorable. However, I have noticed something off about the character. It feels almost like she knows a bit too much about what is going on compared to her past incarnation.
Secondary Characters
Outside of our main cast, several supporting characters have also gotten the remake treatment, including the other three members in Barret’s underground cell.
They are a lot more fleshed out than in the original and even get their chapter with Cloud. I love the whole lot of them, especially the explosives expert, Jessie Rasberry (Erica Lindbeck), for her lively, if not thirsty personality.
Of the trio, Wedge is given the most screen time, and while I treasure the character for his courageous deeds and love of cats, his childlike voice ruins the character’s appeal. Matthew Lee Jones’ portrayal of the character makes him sound a bit too immature, especially when comparing with his partner of crime, Biggs (Gideon Emery).
Gameplay and Mechanics
Mechanics
Final Fantasy VII Remake is an action JRPG, where everything happens in real-time, similar to the more recent entries in the series such as Final Fantasy XV.
The aim of the game for most of the battles is to continuously diminish the enemy’s health until it completely depletes and the enemy dies. The best way to do so is by applying pressure on the opponent to build up their stagger gauge. Once the gauge has filled up, the opponent is left stunned and defenceless, giving your party of misfits a small window of opportunity to go nuts and do some extra damage.
Your opponents also have various weaknesses that can be used to your advantage. These chinks in their armour can range from applying extra damage by correctly choosing the right elemental magic such as fire or ice, to conditional status effects like silence or sleep to debilitate your enemy.
Materia and Weaponry
Spells and abilities either can be used through equipping potent magical spheres made of mako called materia or through mastering a specific weapon for a certain amount of time to learn a specific attack. The longer one uses a materia, the more proficient they eventually become with it, as they end up gaining more advanced spells and techniques as long as they have it equipped.
Some materia are special and can be used to summon powerful and majestic entities to fight alongside the party. In this game, the summons all have to at first be enticed by the presence of a strong adversary. Only once their interest is piqued can they join the battle. I find these guys to be overpowered on some occasions and borderline useless in others. Some classics such as Shiva and Ifrit make their appearances along with some unique entries to Final Fantasy VII such as Fat Chocobo.
Characters Gameplay
Each character has their own unique style of gameplay. Cloud can either use his buster sword to apply long-winded swings to attack multiple adversaries or swap to his penetrator mode, where his attacks are a lot more focused and vicious, but they sacrifice his movement speed to execute.
Tifa, on the other hand, is all about speed and is by far my favourite character to play as. Her strikes are quick, making every attack she dishes out feel like they came out of some high action shonen anime. Her attacks are fast and flashy, and while they don’t do as much damage as Cloud’s, she is still excellent at applying pressure and increasing damage inflicted on staggered enemies.
Barret fights well as both the tank and ranged character of the party. However, his style is completely dependent on what weapon he has fitted. Sometimes fights are significantly more challenging because I had Barret equipped with the wrong weapon.
Finally, this leaves Aerith as the last playable character, she is the specialised mage of the party with the highest magical stats, but she appears midway through the game. So, don’t be surprised if you find yourself swapping around your materia to make her feel useful. Her special powers permit her to heal and buff the rest of the party, allowing them to get down for another round!
I was disappointed that Red XIII was not playable during the remake, but I can understand the reasoning since he appears towards the end of the game.
Side Content
If you want side content, Final Fantasy VII Remake is bursting out of the seams with it. As with most JRPGs, there are sidequests that the player must do, but thankfully they don’t ruin pacing much for the actual game except for the aforementioned chapter 14, which just feels slow.
Just like other Final Fantasies in the series, this one would not be complete without its fair share of mini-games. From the bizarrely stressful squatting and pull-up contests between Tifa and Cloud and a group of exceptionally muscular gymnasts to the glamorous dance-off between Cloud and Andrea, owner of the Honeybee Inn, there is a lot to keep players interested outside of the main game.
Then there are the arena challenges, where one or more characters must battle waves of enemies. These arena fights can be quite spectacular and are filled with dangerous opponents to face. One can also take part in these challenges to get some training to take on stronger adversaries down the line.
Speaking of strong foes, once you complete the game, you can select and replay chapters, similar to a new game plus with the inclusion of a Hard mode, which amps up the difficulty of the challenges and monsters. Playing the game on Hard unlocks new arena challenges, which can lead to acquiring new equipment and summon materia as well.
Graphics and Animation
While I am a fan of the Final Fantasy series, I never got the chance to play Final Fantasy VII until much later in my life. Unlike the rest of my friends whose nostalgia goggles made them blind as bats to the game’s primitive graphics, I found the original’s ugly presentation to be too distracting for my liking.
From the very moment I saw Aerith’s eyes delicately open in the remake, mine began to tear up as I could finally appreciate the beauty of this game. For the first time, I got the opportunity to see the gorgeousness behind that one scene, just like my friends did all those years ago.
Compared to the spikey polygons of my youth, which mainly relied on janky miming and speech bubbles to convey emotions, Square Enix’s animation improvements to enhance their characters’ expressions paid off considerably well. Heck, they even managed to synchronise characters’ lips to the language that they are speaking.
Sound and Music
The remake’s heart-pumping score is a brilliant reminder that original melodies composed by Nobuo Uematsu are just as popular as they were way back then. The music was made from the ground up with those melodies kept in mind, and the result was terrific.
The Turks got a significant update to their theme by removing all of the rhythmic clicks and replacing them with cleaner electric guitar chords, setting the mood for a showdown at high noon.
The Old Wall Market’s theme got a techno spin to it, which accurately fits its shady environment. It got completely revamped into a battle theme accompanying the underground arena battles under Sector 6’s sketchy streets.
Some of these songs have lost their flavour over the years and don’t fit the remake’s image of Final Fantasy VII. However, they were still remade and can be listened to with jukeboxes across the city.
Conclusion
Some things stand the test of time, while others get better with it, as with the case of Final Fantasy VII Remake. This remake not only revisits a portion of gaming history but expands on it with hours of new content. It is a game that will surprise both the fans and newcomers with all of its twists and turns to the narrative that will keep you wanting more. However, if you are looking for a faithful remake of the game you might be disappointed.
If you are a fan of JRPGs such as the Persona series, I suggest giving this game a spin. The new combat system is something to get used to if you are a long-time fan, but by the end of it, you feel like you are choreographing Advent Children as the game kicks everything up to dazzling levels of excitement.
