Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo

(Just a heads up, there are some light spoilers ahead)

So, we’re going to take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to discuss this early look at the Final Fantasy VII remake.  I wasn’t expecting this, and it wasn’t very long, but I wanted to give my thoughts on the demo before the official game arrives next month.  This is going to be one of the rare times where my most anticipated games and the industry’s most anticipated games will match up.

The demo is short, it only lasted about an hour.  It features the opening cinematic and the first attack on the No. 1 reactor.  As everyone knows by now, this will be the first in a series of remakes of the initial game.  It will take the party up through the end of Midgar.  That was about 10 hours in the original game, but will need to cover a full 40 plus hours here.  As such, there will certainly be added story elements and extended sections.  It looks like the opening segment will be one such section, as it lasted only about 15 minutes in the original.

First, I think the demo did quite a bit to temper my expectations.  That isn’t to say it was bad, far from it.  But it was a serious reminder that this game isn’t going to be an RPG.  I already knew that, but it really hit home after playing this.  I don’t know what I was expecting.  Of course, we all know JRPGs aren’t profitable anymore, right?  Everything has to be an FPS or a 3rd person action game, because that’s what people play.  It’s not like the original Final Fantasy VII introduced the RPG genre to a whole new segment of gamers who only played tournament fighters and 2D platformers and became extremely popular and profitable.  Ugh.  This would have been a real opportunity for an RPG not filled with doe eyed chibis, but alas it isn’t to be.  Guess it will be back to the old school after this.

Even on “classic” mode, the bottom line is you are playing a standard, run-of-the-mill 3rd person action game.  That’s a bit frustrating, but I will say this, its at least a well done run-of-the-mill action game.  Controlling Cloud and Barrett felt fluid, the controls were responsive and their attacks seemed to be reasonably effective.  All the familiar enemies, Shinra soldiers, sweepers, guard hounds and ray guns, are there and the game forces you to find different ways of taking them out.  Cloud could take his sword to most of the foes, but Barrett’s gun arm was required to take out distant enemies.  Both characters also had access to magic, which could be cast by bringing up the menus mid combat.  Each character also had a range of special skills, some based on their old limit breaks and others that were entirely new.  I don’t know if you will start the actual game with these skills, but it was a decent showcase here.

I did have a little bit of a problem with the camera.  I found it to be very loose and it seemed to have a bit of a problem following Cloud when he dodged or rolled.  It was kind of similar to Horizon: Zero Dawn.  It made it difficult to see where attacks were coming from and while it wasn’t a problem with the basic enemies in the demo, I feel like its going to be an issue against stronger foes.  The menus were hard to see and the HUDs were very small.  I would sometimes forget to look at the tiny little box with my HP in the corner between battles, which again, would very likely have gotten me killed in the actual game.  The overall menu system is okay though and its fairly self explanatory.  

Speaking of Horizon: Zero Dawn, the battle with the guard scorpion felt far more like an encounter with one of its machines than it did anything from the Final Fantasy universe.  I really wasn’t a fan of having to pop its weak spot, destroy its legs, shoot it when it jumped on the wall, etc.  I especially cringed when I had to take cover behind the fallen debris.  I hate cover based mechanics with an absolute passion, especially in 3rd person action based games. They are an absolute dealbreaker. However, it doesn’t seem like its going to be a major factor here.  Having to duck behind something to avoid an attack in the course of the action is okay, but making it a full fledged mechanic that’s an integral part of the game would be an absolute problem.

At the end of the day though, Final Fantasy VII is as much about storyline, character development and atmosphere as it is about gameplay.  It was never a problem for me, but some people just can’t find that with the original game anymore, mainly due to the super blocky characters.  That won’t be a problem anymore.  The re-make is absolutely stunning. The train station and the inside of the reactor look almost as if they could be real world locations.  There are so many details that make these places feel lived in, like you could just take your local train and find your way into a Mako reactor.  Words don’t really do it justice, this might be the best looking game I’ve ever seen.  

The characters also look great.  Gone are the handless, blocky models of the original.  The remake characters look like real people, the details on their face, hair and clothes are unmatched.  Every little detail, from the way their hair moves to how they hold their weapons was considered in the design.  Aerith especially looks great.  Animation was pretty smooth, but I found the character movements to sometimes be a bit spastic and unnatural.  This was most prevalent when Barrett gives his monologue about saving the planet, he looks like someone who can’t act trying to act angry.  It isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, but it sticks out with all the other details being so tight.  But that’s a minor gripe, this game looks straight up beautiful.

My last complaint is story related and pertains to the brief appearance by President Shinra and Heideger.  You see the two men watching your group as you move on the reactor, which is totally fine.  The problem comes after the bomb you plant on the reactor explodes.  The president activates some sort of mechanism, causing the guard rays to start shooting uncontrollably, finishing the job and completely destroying the reactor.  

The issue here is that it completely changes one of the major themes of the game.  One of the underlying themes surrounding Avalanche in the original is the whole “no true good guys” dynamic.  Sure, they are saving the planet, but at what cost?  The scene later in the game, where Reeve straight up asks Barrett if he knew how many people died when the reactor blew up, a question to which Barrett can’t give a straight answer, was an impactful moment and one of the things that broke the storyline from the Good/Evil dichotomy that permeated just about any story driven game of the time.  This takes much of the blame off Avalanche and pushes the story back into more trope-y territory.  I hope that isn’t a recurring theme with the remake.  

It may seem like I disliked the demo, but I actually thoroughly enjoyed it.  It’s just that I have very, very high expectations for this remake, and I am certain I’m not the only one.  Even though my expectations have been tempered a bit, it doesn’t change the fact that I have been waiting for this game a long time.  Even with all the flaws I outlined, and the whole, “breaking the game into three parts” thing sucks, April 10 can’t get here fast enough.