Final Fantasy 7 Remake - A stunning re-imagining

This article is intended for those who either have beaten Final Fantasy 7 Remake or for those who simply do not care. If you have beaten the original and think you’re safe from spoiler, all I will say is you aren’t, and I recommend you avoid reading until you play the game to completion. Think of this as defence/review/think-piece/ramble, as well as a trip down memory lane as I explain my history with Final Fantasy, while trying to argue why I think the FF7 Remake is one of my new favourite games of all time.

One of the more iconic shots of Final Fantasy 7

To say the idea of a remake of Final Fantasy 7 (FF7) has been a long and troubled road to get to where we are now is putting it lightly. Being officially confirmed back in 2015’s E3, the concept of a FF7 Remake had already been on fans minds since the PlayStation 2 showed the world what a Final Fantasy game could look like with Final Fantasy X. What made things worse was in 2005 during that year’s E3, a tech demo for the incoming PlayStation 3 recreated the famous opening of FF7 using the stunning visual capability at time of the PS3. Yet, 15 years on from them we finally have our hands on the first instalment in what is being called the ‘Final Fantasy 7 Remake Project’, an idea that has also been the topic of many debates amongst fans of FF7 as well as those who worried this could begin to set a dangerous precedent for the gaming landscape.

What this mass amount of hype around the remake has cemented for FF7 is that is remains one of the most treasured video games ever made, perhaps one of the most cherished pieces of entertainment/art/media to ever be released. This has been further confirmed with the reception the remake has had amongst fans, both die-hard and casual alike. The Remake has been well received generally, securing an 88/100 on Metacritic based on critic reviews and an 8/10 for user reviews. Yet a quick search on YouTube will show that the audience has become split, as the games now infamous ending has caused outrage, as well as encouraging many to leap to its defence, labelling it as a bold and brave move from the developers, while others consider it a betrayal of the fans.

This first part of the remake takes what was the first 5 hours of the originals 38 hour runtime (according to howlongtobeat.com), and extending it into a standalone 35-40 hour game. What at first sounds like an attempt from Square Enix to milk FF7 for everything it is worth, perhaps capitalising on the nostalgia of its fans lust for the remake, is quickly shot down when you finally put some time into the game, and especially after completion.

At this point I think it is worth quickly explaining my relationship with FF7, as well as the franchise as a whole as to me these are both extremely important in talking about the game. While I do think the game will work for those who have no past experience with the franchise, I would argue that even having a small understanding of the biggest story beats of the original only enhances the experience, rather than diminish it. Having that pre-existing knowledge of FF7 allows you to not only get excited at stunning recreations of some of the most iconic video game scenes of all time (the opening cutscene continues to be goose bump worthy), but it also ensures that when the game does change the trajectory of the story you can spot it. FF7 is a game I have always been aware of throughout my life, as a matter of fact I have owned the game for almost as long as I have been alive.

I was born in 1996, and the game released in 1997, and even despite the gamers in my household have no interest toward the RPG genre, we still bought the game. (For the record I was 1 year old, so this is not exactly clear memories to me.) However, by the time I was of an age to actually understand gaming and what a PlayStation 1 actually was, I would play anything we had in our small collection. Playing FF7 as a 5 year old with my not that much older sister got us about as far as the first boss before quickly hitting a game over and shutting the game down and going back to play Spyro the Dragon. A few years later, we now had a PS2 and due to this being the glory days of Blockbuster, we often rented a PS2 game for the week and one week we rented Final Fantasy X (FFX). The experience was almost identical for our time with FF7, we got to the first boss and didn’t understand how to beat it, (we didn’t understand you could heal, or level up), so we took it back and never touched Final Fantasy again. That was until the Christmas of that same year, a game shaped present lay under the tree, “To Chloe and Kyle, from Santa”. We tore it open and there it was, the game that we despised, Final Fantasy X.

I remember not even pretending to be happy, but alas we didn’t want to disappoint Santa so we tried and tried to make progress in the game and eventually we did, only to get stuck again. Upon reflection I now know we never once tried to level up our characters so the fact we got as far as we did is somewhat impressive. Eventually we used a cheat disc and tore our way through the game as we wanted to at the very least experience the story. After essentially skipping every piece of game-play and just watching the extensive amount of cut-scenes, both me and my sister agreed it was our favourite game ever, (despite not even playing the damn thing). It wouldn’t be until FFX was remastered and released for the PS3 and eventually the PS4 that I finally sat down and decided I would take the time to beat the game for real this time. After 160 hours of total playtime, I had completely finished the game and every piece of side content available, not to brag but I even got the extremely tedious platinum trophy. The reason I explained all that was not just to poke fun at my sheer lack of gaming skill at a young age, but I also think it shows how I approached games as I grew older. Which finally brings us back to FF7, kind of.

FF7 has been released on almost every modern console, and to this day I still have not complete the first disc, let alone the whole game. Don’t get me wrong i’ve gotten close, the furthest I got was the very end of disc 1 before I lost my patience at a section that I won’t go into. The point is, my relationship with FF7 comes from someone who adores a single entry in the franchise, and has merely dabbled in the other entries. Yet, FF7 has always felt like a game close to my heart due to those early memories of the opening scenes, and my couple of play-throughs of the Midgar section in particular. So really, this remake focusing on just the opening Midgar section, allowed me to join in the hype with everyone else, while the rest of the eventual sequels would be full of surprises. Of course I was aware of the major character death at the end of disc 1, it’s so entwined into gaming cannon its hard not to be but if anything I was excited how this famous scene would be handled down the line.

As I expected the game certainly plays into the nostalgia for the 1997 game, with certain scenes being recreated almost shot for shot, it is difficult to not feel emotional throughout much of the major story moments. Where the remake truly shines though is the way it has taken the original games characters and fleshed them out incredibly well with new moments for each of them as well as incredible voice acting all across the board. The original game is quite dialogue heavy, but due to the limitations at the time it all conveyed in text boxes. This isn’t to say the original did a bad job, far from it, yet giving these beloved characters a voice truly brings them to life, they feel grounded in reality and you really grow to love each of them throughout the game. Of course the visual fidelity certainly helps, static background images are now fully rendered 3D worlds for you to explore, filled with people and bursting with atmosphere. The moment Cloud first meet Aerith is handled so well, it shows the developers understand the legacy FF7 has, and is aware that many people who are playing this have already established connections with the world and characters. Which is what brings me on to the games major controversy; the ending.

The iconic Aerith fully realised for the modern age

Like most, I assumed this first game would end with our heroes escaping Midgar, as they set their eyes on the larger world of FF7 ready to continue the adventure. While yes, the end of the remake does have this moment, it is what comes before that has become the focus point of discussions. Throughout the game one of the most obvious deviations from the original comes with the introduction of the ‘whispers’, hooded spirits whose purpose is left a mystery right until the end. Essentially the whispers are the gatekeepers of the original games plot, they appear any time the Remake threatens to deviate from the classic plotline, which becomes much clearer on a second playthrough once the revelations of the ending are in mind. The final moments of the game essentially tell the player that you must destroy fate, and take back your destiny to forge your own path. What once felt like fan service earlier in the game, with Cloud having flashes of Aerith’s death are now understood to not be visions of a future, but memories of what could either be the past or something along the lines of an alternate universe. The Remake is no longer a remake, to me it now comes across as a sequel to the original game. With the game’s iconic villain Sephiroth who has already been defeated in the original game, as well as the spin off feature film Advent Children, now trying to change the course of the original timeline to secure his victory. You can read into this as a huge metaphor for the whippers representing the fans need to have the game remain unchanged, which if so, by forcing the player themselves to take the action and defeat the thing that is keeping this idea in motion is nothing short of genius.

The ending really invites the player to theorise and discuss with other players what they think it all meant, what I have said may all be wrong but that is the fun of it. Not only does this mean the sequels to the remake have a chance to surprise people who are new to the world of FF7, it can now shock the players who know every single moment beat for beat, yet not everyone is happy with that and rightfully so. The game was sold as a Remake, so the fact that some are enraged that they aren’t getting the faithful remake they waited decades for is completely understandable, how you feel about the ending is entirely dependent on your own personal taste. That’s a difficult situation for Square Enix to be in, they marketed the game as a remake as I am sure it would ensure good sales, but if they were to spoil the new direction of the game that would have really taken away from the experience. It really feels like the developers had this idea in mind from the Remake’s inception, and I cannot wait to see what direction they take the series in, my only hope is they stick to their guns and don’t go down the Star Wars Episode 9 route of giving into the backlash.

I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t able to stop thinking about a game like I have with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and this is all without touching upon the game’s incredible gameplay mechanics as well as the astounding soundtrack. The Remake has given me a whole new appreciation for the original, while also creating a new adaptation that only helps to expand that original in new in exciting ways. I understand why people hate the ending of the remake, but for me, this is one of the most exciting and engaging projects I have engaged with in some time.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake manages to be a stunning re-imagining of a classic, while also taking the story in a bold direction that I truly feel must have taken a huge amount of courage from Square Enix to go along with.