Chris King gives a newcomer’s perspective to the teaser of Square Enix’s long-awaited RPG…
It’s impossible to be a fan of video games and not hear about the high regard with which seemingly everyone seems to hold Final Fantasy VII in. That said, it was never a game I played and so passed me by like many other games of those earlier generations. With the demo for the remake out, I thought I’d take a look and see if this stacks up as something just anyone can pick up and play.
Before diving into how the game plays, it is worth mentioning that this well and truly is a remake. The combat system has radically changed from the original, voice acting has been improved and dialogue added, and visually this game is now stunning. The opening visuals to the close of the demo take your breath away, it’s like playing through a piece of art. What the developers have managed here, visually, is something truly special. Even if it wasn’t a remake, this game looks better than pretty much anything available right now.
This helps to create a really unique and interesting world. Whilst the parallels with modern activists such as Extinction Rebellion are not necessarily intentional, they feel timely as Cloud and the little band of do-gooders who have hired him infiltrate an “evil” corporation to destroy a reactor. Once the reactor is destroyed, by its owner rather than the player character, that’s where the demo ends and as a completely fresh player I have no idea where this story is going to go but it’s something I desperately want to explore.
Having left me on a tantalising cliffhanger, it’s worth mentioning that I also want to come back to learn more about our characters. Jessie is cool and fun, the perfect foil to the almost cliched strong and silent Cloud. Even Barrett with his giant, mini-gun arm is weirdly believable. What could have easily grated and been annoying, was actually rather fun and I can’t wait to see more of him. Cloud is perhaps the most uninteresting, with not a lot of dialogue and a mercenary “I don’t care” persona, but I am guessing it will fade over time and we will see the real Cloud beneath that.
So far, so good. The only thing that is a little jarring for newcomers is how the game plays. Having only ever picked up Final Fantasy XII, which was entirely turn based, I was hoping for a similar affair here. Here you do have to be aware of health, have special moves and abilities you can use alongside your regular attacks and so on, but it isn’t turn based. Instead it happens at the same time as you hitting, blocking, dodging and doing everything else you would normally do in a standard fighting game.
As someone who has never experienced this style of play before, it is a little strange at first and I wouldn’t say that I fully got used to it by the end of the demo. That said, classic mode does allow you to basically play without having to block and dodge, meaning that you can take your time a bit more and manage what is at first a slightly overwhelming amount of information and choices to make, all whilst fighting a giant metal monster, dogs, turrets, humans and everything else the game can throw at you.
The boss fight was also a tad frustrating, with missile attacks seemingly being impossible to dodge, it took away that sense of satisfaction upon beating the boss and instead gave me a sense of resignation. It might be that this is a one-off and the other boss fights are more enjoyable, but this meant for me the demo ended on a rather flat note as opposed to an inspiring high.
Yet, Final Fantasy VII is shaping up to be a masterpiece and most of the problems I have with it come from inexperience rather than any faults of the game. If you are a newcomer I would recommend starting on a lower difficulty, rather than normal like me, until you can wrap your head around the controls. The tutorials are really useful and excellent at describing what you need to do, it’s just transferring that to your hands that might be the difficult part. Wrap your head round that and Final Fantasy VII could be the game that everyone promised it to be, with huge and epic set pieces, fun dialogue, interesting characters and a world you won’t want to leave.
By Chris King
Feature image credit: Square Enix