By: Tyler Miller
In the middle of the night one month out from release, Square Enix decided to finally drop the demo for Final Fantasy VII Remake for the masses to get their hands on. After having just finished playing it myself, here are my thoughts summed up in one word: amazing!
I’m not a longstanding fan of the original game, since I only just played it for the first time last year. Even still, I loved the original and feel like it’s definitely one of the best games I’ve played. That’s part of why I’ve been so excited to play the remake. To experience that original game in a brand new way. I’ve been pretty high on the game so far based on all the footage that we’ve gotten to see, but you never know just how good something actually is until you get to play it yourself. This game certainly hasn’t disappointed so far. What the demo consists of is the very opening of the game: the iconic bombing mission. It’s short just like in the original, so there isn’t much to go off of, but what’s here gives me a good idea as to just what the remake is aiming to do overall.
First and foremost is the most controversial change, that being the story. The FFVII Remake we’ll be getting next month isn’t the full version of the original game. Instead, it’s only covering the Midgar portion of the game, but adding a number of new things to the story. That can be seen a bit here in the demo. Things such as quick remarks between Cloud and Jessie after Barrett goes off on a tirade against the Shinra company, or how Barrett sees Cloud all calm and collected as they make their way out of the reactor and tries to do the same for himself show that even in small moments, Square is trying to add something to the characters that wasn’t present before. Then there are bigger things such as a more overt reference to antagonist Sephiroth that I don’t recall being in the first game during the bombing mission. Diehard fans that are hoping for a one-to-one recreation of the original’s story might be disappointed, but as someone that loved the original and is excited to see it honored, yet adapted in a slightly different way, these changes go a long way.
The remake’s other controversial change is the combat. As everyone should know by now, the game forgoes the turn-based combat of the original in favor of a more action-oriented combat system that blends Final Fantasy XV with the tactical nature of the original FFVII. Just as I expected, it works really well and is actually a lot of fun to use. While there is some button mashing involved, it’s not mindless combat. In order to use your different abilities and items, you have to fill your ATB gauge. This is done through either attacking or just on its own. Keeping track of your ATB gauges to know when to use abilities and when you need to go on the offensive is key to success in fights. And when you have more than one person to control, there are a number of factors to take into account, such as who has abilities that can hit an enemy’s elemental weakness, who needs to be healed, and so much more.
That’s why it’s nice that you can slow down time with Tactical Mode if you need a moment to breathe and assess the situation you’re in before you make your move. I found myself using it throughout the Scorpion Sentinel boss fight at the end of the demo because there were multiple things I needed to do and I needed a moment to see what I could do before I ended up dead as a doornail at the bottom of the mako reactor. I can only imagine just how complex combat encounters will get once you have a full party of three characters, each with their own materia and abilities.
Another quick note is that the music is fantastic. The way that the music has been updated for the game is beautiful and I’m so excited to hear the rest of the score. I have the deluxe edition preordered, so I’ll be getting the soundtrack as a disc for me to listen to over and over again during my daily commute.
I debated not playing this demo because of how close it is to the game’s release, but I’m happy that I did. Not only did it solidify in my mind that this is a game that I’m going to greatly enjoy, but it has me dying for more. If the rest of the game can live up to this demo then this is certainly going to be a contender for Game of the Year. I wish that the demo didn’t end where it did, but now I’m just that much more eager to play the full game when it finally comes out next month.
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