For us, Final Fantasy VII was the defining game of the PlayStation’s hefty roster and for some incredibly jammy reason developers, Square, are going to remake the whole kitten kaboodle in the shimmering cape of 8th generation gaming might. It was a massive title back in the day for a whole lot of reasons, not least of all the fact that it was the first in the series to have 3D graphics and the first to get a European release, and there’s definitely going to be a lot of gamers out there that look back on this as one of their first forays into serious gaming.
The remake was announced by Square Enix at E3 2015, giving us a very fleeting glimpse of what to expect with the teaser trailer below. It may not reveal all that much in terms of the actual gameplay, but it does tells us more than enough to get excited about the title and with a few other snippets released by game director Tetsuya Nomura it sounds like there’s a lot to look forward to.
Release date
The official FF7 remake release date hasn’t been confirmed for sure as of yet, but we’ll be very surprised if it lands before 2017, considering the fact that it was only announced at E3 2015. Final Fantasy XV was announced years ago, but it’s only just about to land in 2016, which should give you a good idea about how much time and effort Square Enix put into perfecting their games. This will undoubtedly be the case for remake unless they’ve managed to do even more of the development of the game than we thought prior to the official announcement.
At the moment, we’ve only had confirmation that the game will be coming to PlayStation 4 first, which means it’s not going to be an exclusive title. This could mean anything from it being released at the same time on PC, Xbox ONE as on the PS4, but with the latter getting an early beta access, to the gaming getting a staggered release schedule that favours the Sony console in the first instance.
Story
While the story is going to be fundamentally the same as the original, we do know that it will also be developed even further than the 1997 title, so we’re looking forward to seeing a host of new cut scenes and plot developments in the final game. It will be built around the battle between the young hero, Cloud Strife, and the formidable power of the politically controlling Shinra Inc., which has been using the planet’s Mako energy to power their overwhelming force.
It’s one of few games that has a strong connection to the environmental concerns we have for our own planet and the political and corporate powers that oversee it. It’s going to be very interesting seeing it updated with modern day graphics, storytelling and cut scene dynamics.
Gameplay
The legendary RPG was built on the brilliant platform of the turn-based active time battle system, but with Final Fantasy XV doing away with it in favour of a fluid attack system, the big question if whether or not the VII remake will retain its previous approach or move with the times. For us, we’d be happier with the true experience of the old battle system, safe in the knowledge that we’ll get to try the continuous action of XV next year anyway.
Square Enix will be announcing more details in Christmas 2015, so hopefully that will give us a much better idea of what to expect from the game when it finally arrives. There are a lot of unanswered questions with so much innovative, but equally outdated gameplay variants in the original game, ranging from the unconventional mapping approach to some of the 3D action scenes, like Cloud’s snowboarding in one of the mini-games.
There were a lot of incredible baddies and bosses to face in the game and they’re inevitably going to be a big part in the remake, giving us another chance to face down the likes of the the Guard Scorpion, the mad Professor Hojo and Sephiroth himself. Equally, magical powers that come from Materia, orbs of Mako energy, were a key ingredient in the gameplay of the original game, so collecting these and powering up weapons and armour will be another key ingredient to the return of the game in its shiny, 8th generation face-lift and update.
Graphics
If the initial graphics in the announce video below are anything to go by – and you’d hope they are – we’re in for a beautifully rendered remake of one of the greatest games in history. You’ve also got to look at the potential of Final Fantasy XV to see just how good the Final Fantasy VII remake graphics should turn out looking.
First impressions
In general, we’re pretty excited about the prospect of this game, especially how it’s going to evolve with the game. “Not just a remake” appears to be the term the guys are Square Enix are most heard saying when talking about the release, so it could be that we get a whole new experience with its roots in the impressive history of its predecessor. Hopefully, it’ll go multi-platform not too long after the game’s release. Check out the reveal trailer below to see how it is shaping up for yourself.
