This is not the first Final Fantasy review done on this website. The last review was Final Fantasy XVI, and I thought it is a hidden gem. So, I won’t bore you with the history lesson about Final Fantasy so far. I will mention that Final Fantasy VII sold over 14.4 million copies worldwide. This review is going to focus on the remake of Final Fantasy VII, hence the name “Final Fantasy VII Remake.” It’s important to mention, that while I’ve played Final Fantasy VII, this review is going to assume that you are a casual, assume that you’ve never played Final Fantasy VII or any of the iterations of Final Fantasy VII. When going into Final Fantasy VII Remake, I want you to understand that I’m going in as a casual, no preconceived notions. Nothing.

Square Enix initially released Final Fantasy VII Remake for PlayStation 4, shortly afterwards for PlayStation 5, and PC. There are rumors of a Xbox Series port, but I don’t think we’ll see it. I’ll leave the review here (on this blog/website) in case it does.

We clear? Good, let’s get started with this review…

Technology

Technically, this is not a section, but nonetheless I need to talk about it. Because a lot of people are sleeping on it. Technically, Final Fantasy VII Remake is not a “cross-gen” game. Oh, no. No, no, and no.

Alright, Final Fantasy VII Remake by itself runs pretty well on PlayStation 4. But, the large issue is that Final Fantasy VII Remake comes in two full discs. If you installed Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 4, you’re going to install 100+ GB of files. From here, the game plays pretty well, but the game doesn’t technically run at 60fps locked. It runs with dips in framerates here and there. The way the frames move, you’d feel like it’s playing at 50 frames with slight ghosting. However, if you want to play the real Final Fantasy VII Remake, you need to buy the PlayStation 5 version – which is not in circulation currently. It sold pretty poorly, because of the way it was released. The PlayStation 5 version is actually known as “Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade.” (Same goes for PC version. If you do a search for Final Fantasy, it’s the first result for “Final Fantasy VII Remake,” but I used “Final Fantasy,” and that’s what it brings up for me.)

That said, if you want to play PlayStation 5 version, you’ll need to look for it. On the PlayStation (5) store, search “Final Fantasy” and a bunch of Final Fantasy games will come up. That includes Final Fantasy VII Remake. Go to the Final Fantasy VII Remake listing, and make sure it has the PlayStation 5 icon on it. DO. NOT. DOWNLOAD. YET. Look for 3 dots button, it should bring up “View Product,” it will now bring you to the following screen…

Now, that you are here, look for the 3 dots again, and click on it. It will bring the menu that you see before you. There are many options. One of them is the “Final Fantasy VII Remake Upgrade for PS4 owners.” Click on that, start downloading, and the filesize should come out to 81.73 GB. That is a lot smaller than the PS4 version. Now, this doesn’t mean you ditch the PS4 “play disc.” No. You’re gonna use that disc to play the PS5 version. That is a beautiful upgrade path. I don’t know why many developers are not using this path. Most “cross-gen” games are basically the disc itself, and the redeemable code. So, basically, you’re buying two games.

So, that is what this review is going to be based on. This is the full review of Final Fantasy VII Remake on PlayStation 5.

Gameplay

Alright, before we talk about gameplay, I’m gonna do a contrasting description of what you’re playing. So, in Final Fantasy XVI, you are playing as Clive throughout the whole game, but you have A.I. characters playing alongside you. From time to time, you’ll play as Clive, alone. In Final Fantasy VII Remake, you have A.I. characters. The main character of Final Fantasy VII Remake is Cloud, and that will permeate throughout the whole game. However, in Final Fantasy VII Remake, you get to control the A.I. characters in addition to Cloud. Sometimes, you’ll play as Barret, sometimes you’ll play as Aerith, sometimes you’ll play as Tifa, sometimes others like Red XIII. The original Final Fantasy VII game was a turn-based Role Playing Game (RPG), so the developers of FF7 Remake tried to merge that idea, with an action game. Just so it happens, Square Enix experimented with a game series called “Kingdom Hearts” to arrive at this juncture of merging the ideas of RPG’s with Action-oriented gameplay. The game sanitizes you to understand how they want you to play Final Fantasy VII Remake, by forming or “grooming” your ideas as to how gameplay is played. Early on, your battles are “easy,” but progressively it gets harder and harder, as you learn to switch characters as needed.

Do not think that Final Fantasy VII Remake is purely an action game, no – it is a pure action-RPG, where they merge the ideas of action games, hack n’ slash, with Role Playing Game ideals where you would be able to upgrade your player character(s). You can even upgrade your weapons, your equipment, and the Materia (marbles with powers, magic, and abilities). You can combine your attacks, with your weapons, your equipments, your Materia(s), skills, magic, abilities, and combos all together. You can earn summons to use on the battlefield. Magic even counters their magic, too. Fire against ice. That sort of thing. Each character has a weakness.

Difficulty

Much like Final Fantasy XVI, Final Fantasy VII Remake starts off slow, tries to sanitize you into learning how to play FF7 Remake. I played on normal, I’m an average player, but most casuals will either choose easy or normal if they’re feeling bold. Either way, the game starts off “easy” but as you level up, and progress further into FF7 Remake. However, Final Fantasy VII Remake is linear. I’m sorry, Square Enix, but it’s true, Final Fantasy VII Remake is pretty linear. It has a poor pacing issue, that doesn’t climax until at least level 15 through 20, where bosses start to get tougher. Once you’ve arrived to Shinra’s headquarters, things start to pick up, and you’ll need to use all of your attacks, skills, defensive and offensive maneuvers.

Story

Final Fantasy VII Remake’s story starts off with a bang from the get-go, but the bigger storyline comes into view 5 chapters into FF7 Remake. There is not one story, there are about 3 storylines that starts off, and it grows from there. Cloud is this mercenary that slowly, but surely falls in love with Tifa, and then, later Aerith. But, Tifa is sort-of dating, is a mom to Marlene, and/or married to Barret. Aerith is more-or-less a soulmate to Cloud. But Cloud acts like he’s not interested in either Tifa or Aerith. Later on, you meet Red XIII who is an experiment of Shinra. You meet Roche in the middle of at least Chapter 5, but you never see him again in this story arc. Then you meet more characters, and it all climaxes at Shinra’s headquarters where you’ll learn about the experiments, and the corruption of Midgar, corruption of the slums, and the deep-seated politics of Shinra. The final battles centers around Sephiroth, crescendos to the last minute.

Controls

For the most part, Final Fantasy VII Remake controls like a basic action-RPG, but has a deep battle system. Every time you change your equipment and/or weapons, your combos are different, your stance is different. There are two buttons for attacks, there’s one for switching characters, there’s one button for changing stances, there’s 4 buttons for selecting items/abilities like a traditional RPG. The controls feels good once you wrap your head around the concepts, wrap your head around the controls. I’ll go deeper in user interface.

Graphics

Final Fantasy VII Remake’s graphics is where the game shines the most. If you’ve been watching Final Fantasy films up until now, you’d know what to expect from Final Fantasy. The original Final Fantasy VII used pre-rendered CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) for storytelling. From a technical standpoint, the CGI was more recorded like a Full-Motion Video (FMV). Nowadays, Video Games has in-game engine cutscenes, and for the most part, the game presents the story from the in-game engine. For the most part, they look almost like CGI, so they don’t care how it looks. And they shouldn’t, because in my opinion, Final Fantasy VII Remake got close enough to Final Fantasy VII’s CGI visuals. The only CGI used in FF7 Remake are the ones that show off graphical prowess. You’ll see this during the escape from upper slums in Midgar. The second one is the final scene of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

User Interface

For the most part, the User Interface (UI) is simple, yet a bit complex. As stated in controls section, the User Interface allows for freedom into customizing your characters. You can upgrade your characters via upgrading your character’s weapon(s), you can upgrade your magic or abilities by slotting something called Materia. As I said before, Materia is a sort of marble that holds power, magic, or abilities. The weapon menu doesn’t apparently show the changes in-game. You’d have to slot your weapons into your character so the changes are apparent in the battlefield of FF7 Remake. So, when you slot in your weapon to your character, your character’s moves are different than the one you previously used. Tifa for example will have the most apparent movesets per new equipment. This is her gloves. It allows her to move in such a way that is different from the last moveset.

Music & Sound

Music and sound is another place where Final Fantasy VII Remake shines. Final Fantasy VII Remake has some of the most epic musical score, especially towards the end. The musical score starts out slow, but it does pick up. The sounds are loud, and is supported by the musical score. All I gotta say for this spot: Protip is crank that volume up to almost maximum, if you’re able. If you have surround sound? All the better. Fantastic music, and sounds.

Fantastic.

Replay Value

Final Fantasy VII Remake is not technically an “Open World” game, but rather an “Open Quadrant” game. Final Fantasy VII Remake has pacing issues, because it’s more of a linear game, than this “Open Quadrant” game. Now, don’t get me wrong, there are “Open Quadrant” spots, but there isn’t much backtracking, or “go here” missions like Final Fantasy XVI. There’s some side missions, but they are secluded to the “Open Quadrant” locations – for example, in the slums, you can do missions in the area, and they are like real life missions. You go here, you go there, you do this, you do that… you talk to people, so on and on. There is replay value, to be sure, but the issue is that there is a bit of a pacing issue. The only saving grace for Final Fantasy VII Remake is the world that it inhabits. Graphics are great, and it supports the world around you in Final Fantasy VII Remake. It all comes together in this beautiful game.

Carlos’ Verdict

Final Fantasy VII Remake is a gem that generated a lot of hype before release, and likewise got consumed by many people. Every part of the game clicks together to make the game look like a movie and/or film. Everything from controls, music, gameplay, story, and most importantly, graphics make Final Fantasy VII Remake the “dream” game. What knocks Final Fantasy VII Remake from being a game scored 85, and it’s simple: The replay value is sorely lacking, the fact that it’s linear knocks it down a bit more. There are about 3 large issues: Replay Value is low because of the size of “Open Quadrant.” Pacing is a bit poor, and the linear progression in gameplay into story. To be fair, there is a “sequel” in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is actually the second disc in the original “Final Fantasy VII” game. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth isn’t a traditional sequel, it’s the second disc.

Rating: 75/100