After almost 95 hours of over 100 hours of FF7 Remake gameplay, I am finally almost done with the whole game. Finished the game in normal mode, cleared it again in hard mode, cleared the secret boss, now I only have one more manuscript to collect. collected the final manuscript and 100% of the trophies available.
Here is honest my review of FF7 Remake. Spoilers included.
Nostalgia
Having played this game in 1997 on my PS1, I was super excited to see an updated visual of the JRPG I loved.
Everything about Midgar seemed so familiar and so so detailed. I liked the Wall Market section with the karaoke bars and the cabaret.
The way the story went was everything I was expecting. However, something was different and I was wondering if they were just trying to make the story more interesting by adding in the Whispers. Little did I know that they were to play a very big part in this first episode.
Sephiroth is introduced very early in this game, after 23 years he’s not really a surprise anymore. So the developers really had to crack their heads on how to appease the original players and the new players.
I chose to play the game in Japanese with English subtitles, while almost everyone else on Youtube seems to be playing in English. The body language of the characters fit the Japanese voices, especially for the female characters. Kawaii and cute are really 2 different things.
Battles
Playing in normal mode is recommended. Want reduced enemy damage? Go to easy mode.
If you want to take it even slower during the battles then use classic mode, where all you have to do is use abilities and spells while the CPU helps you attack, block, dodge and hiding from huge hitting enemy attacks.
HARD mode is the killer. Available only after you have completed the game.
In hard mode, your choice of materia and skill will play a very big part, that’s why its hard mode… duh. You will need to know what materia will give you an edge in the upcoming battle, you will need to decide when to dive in for an attack or when to stay far a way for safety.
To have the feeling of achievement, you need to clear hard mode.
What I will be doing now is to play the game in Classic mode, equipped with a fully upgraded Buster Sword. Then enjoy the graphics, story and action without the stress of battle.
Game Development
I have seen Youtubers bitching about how the game is tedious, the developers are lazy and just pad the game just to increase play time. I think the criticism is too harsh and some people are expecting it to be almost fully open world like Assassin’s Creed. They argue that the developers should have more should be put into this single game.
Content wise, honestly I enjoyed just running around, doing the side quests, hanging around Midgar longer that I did in 1997. Isn’t that what most JRPGs do?
Graphically if you were to look into the details, I think this is really the top for PS4 right now. You can see the materia glowing in your weapon during cutscenes. Even if some seemed pre rendered, they made an effort to have your current weapon be shown in it.
Even the mouth movement in Japanese looks so good when they are talking. Tell me how all that doesn’t take up game data.
Quick Tips
Weapons : Your weapons will be fully upgraded when get all the points after you collect all the manuscripts (Hard mode), otherwise choose the trait you think is the most important when upgrading.
Be careful with the materia slot upgrades, some add slots and some just combine the slots. Add slots to use more materia, combine slots if you want to link your materia.
Materia and equipment : Defence is sometimes the best offence, equip the correct materia and equipment, you won’t have any problems with monsters like Malboro.
Find out what attacks the enemy dishes out and change your materia accordingly before the big battle.
For the fight with the secret boss, equip yourself with fire elemental defence and you’ll be coasting through the last 2 fights.
Character switching : Some enemies track the character you are controlling, so it is good to swap around to make them turn and chase after another character, thus keep the previously under attack character alive.
That said, the CPU can dodge and block attacks better than you, however they won’t know how to activate blocking counterattacks.
Summons : Never used them during end game, haha. But you can summon them just for fun.
What’s next?
At the end of the game, the developers threw everything that we knew about FF7 OUT THE WINDOW. Am I disappointed? Not at all, this way I get to play another Final Fantasy game with FF7 characters!
I seriously hope the next episode comes soon.
Verdict
I feel that this is actually a MOVIE or TV SHOW where you need to play sometimes and not die if you want to see what’s coming next.
Story wise, the nostalgia in the first episode and the anticipation of what might come next, makes it all worth it.
Battle system and gameplay wise, I think they have done a good job. Fights are easy to understand but the strategy for hard mode bosses, you will need time to master (Or you can just shortcut to Youtube and see how other people destroy the bosses and learn from there)
Would I recommend this game? A DEFINITE YES, unless you’re an anal millenial who expects way too much and talk like you are able to create a better game.
