![]() She teams up with a military squadron, led by her old friend Captain Grey Edwards. Aki Ross, a brilliant young scientist, races to find the invaders' secrets, not only to save the planet, but, herself as well, after she was infected by alien particles during an experiment. With human life under the threat of extinction, Dr. In the year 2065, a meteor has crashed onto Earth unleashing millions of alien creatures (Phantoms) that have taken over the planet, decimating field and city alike. Fans familiar with Final Fantasy VII should enjoy numerous moments of unbridled and unashamed nostalgia of revisiting their favorite places and characters under a new light, while newcomers should get just enough of a glimpse as to how and why so many were originally captivated long ago.A scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms. Final Fantasy VII Remake winks hard, blatantly so, at longtime fans, especially by the back half of the game.ĭespite some misgivings about some of the liberties taken, Final Fantasy VII Remake is an admirable foundation to build off of for future entries, especially in terms of its standout combat and some wonderful examples of building on the premises of the original game. By introducing new elements interwoven within and on top of that, the result is a story much more muddied. On one hand, flashbacks and visions hint at past events that new players won't be aware of are presented nearly as they originally were, promising to be later followed up on - only now their elaboration lies behind a future entry that's certainly years away instead of a few hours past the opening segment. I'm not exactly certain how a player completely new to Final Fantasy VII, heading into the Remake with little or no prior knowledge, will effectively parse what's presented here. Unfortunately, at its core, a key premise to the Remake is that it is almost self-aware of its own legacy, and not-so-subtly hints to the player that it knows you know, too (even if you don't). So far, FFVIIR has successfully captured that initial feeling - now, I want to see the rest of the world. Up until that point, the entire story had been contained in Midgar then, all of a sudden, you leave the city and realize just how big the world really is. There's a moment that many players experienced early on in the original game, myself included. It mostly wraps up the initial Shinra story and sets up Sephiroth as the true big bad from there on out. It's not clear when we'll get the next episode - the game ends with the ominous line "the unknown journey will continue" - but the remake ends in a way that's surprisingly satisfying, considering it doesn't tell a complete story. There's even a new narrative thread about destiny that opens up even more questions. While the core moments remain untouched, there are new additions and tweaks that make it worth reexploring even for longtime fans. ![]() Perhaps the most notable thing about FFVIIR is that it makes a game I've played multiple times over the last 23 years into something interesting and new. That the strength of the material still comes through in fits and starts is testament as much to what was designed more than two decades earlier as it is to the remake's interpretation of it. It's not hard to wonder if adapting a larger chunk of the game, allowing the Midgar section to exist without needing to be drawn out so much, would've created something that wasn't paced quite so unevenly. The impact of its best moments, then, is stretched too thin, its pacing skewed by overindulgence and busywork. Still, it's also a game that takes what worked as a condensed introduction to a full story and dilutes it with tens of hours spent meandering around between plot developments, draining them of much excitement in the process. While its story ends with mysteries unsolved and character arcs in limbo, it still manages to stand as one of the most coherent and impactful Final Fantasys in years. When it isn't padding itself out, seemingly just to check the box of being a "full-length" role-playing game, Remake more than makes a case for playing it in addition to-or instead of-the 1997 Final Fantasy VII's opening section. It's a remake whose key scenes enhance the original's drama and audiovisual imagination, capably balancing reverence for what came before with a willingness to reinterpret and introduce new ideas as need be. What's frustrating, in Remake's case, is that so much of the new take on Final Fantasy VII satisfies this requirement. The question any remake must be able to answer is whether it can justify its existence by introducing anything its source material hasn't already offered.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |