4-10-2020		4-10-2020
	4-10-2020		4-10-2020

It is a tense time. Shinra Power Electric Company has grown into a massive corporation. Through the discovery of Mako use as a means for energy, they have literally begun running the world. The Shinra Company began its expansion of Mako Reactors throughout the world, and that was when they found push back.
Avalanche has become the major pusher in the modern times. From trying to execute President Shinra, now seeking a more profound means of getting the message out there.
Now they are targeting one of the Mako Reactors in the metropolis, and headquarters of Midgar. But....is this what needs to be done? Are they ready for what might unfold afterwards? And lastly.......with the absolute might of Shinra, how do they know what Shinra is planning in the background of it all?



23 years...that is a long time ago. I was 19. Hercules was Disney's latest animated feature. The president was Bill Clinton. It is hard to imagine life back then now. Nintendo was the dominant gaming console with both the NES and SNES both being massive hits.
The rumor of VII actually began shortly after the release of Final Fantasy VI. People forget Final Fantasy VI was the most successful JRPG at the time of release both in Japan and the USA. This was followed shortly with Crono Trigger, which can claim in many places, the greatest JRPG of all time........both were about to get lost in obscurity.
After going back and forth with Nintendo, the then Squaresoft decided to shift their new title to the up and coming PlayStation system. And what happened next changed gaming forever.
Final Fantasy VII was released not only in the USA and Japan.....but all over the world. In a 1 - off, the USA got the better deal with more content. This came to become the trend of "International Version" or "Re-mix" version. The game is quoted on the back as "Quite possibly the greatest game ever made".



I will never go that far personally. But I cannot deny the impact of Final Fantasy VII in the gaming universe, as well as in pop culture. It is a gaming equivalent to Star Wars in film. With the subsequent releases of VIII - XII, Xenogears, and all of the successes of the first decade in the millennium, the now Square-Enix proved a powerhouse of innovation, story, and game play. Although this has been a staple as early as Final Fantasy IV, it was not recognized the world over until Final Fantasy VII.
With the release of Final Fantasy XIII in 2009, things began to slip. Fans got divided like nothing seen before. And then with disasters such as the premature initial release of Final Fantasy XIV, money grabbing schemes like All the Bravest, and a slew of blunders and missteps, Square-Enix was certainly losing ground. It was at this time that Versus XIII was reshuffled and announced as Final Fantasy XV. And as promotion for Final Fantasy XV began to hype up, everyone got the news they had been waiting for for almost 20 years.......Final Fantasy VII was being remade.


With the success of Final Fantasy XV, my hopes for Remake began to finally rise. It was a flawed, but completely enjoyable game. Seemed they managed to get a good game that folks liked a lot out there. But the story was weak. Thankfully VII already has a story line to follow along with.
Kingdom Hearts III released in 2019, and that is where I knew VII Remake was going to be something special. If they combined the efforts of these two titles, knowing the fan base of the game, and cared for it with what I was seeing coming out....I knew it was going to be something to behold.
And then the day came. April 10, 2020. I bought my copy, and came home. Spent two hours getting updates done, and downloading the content of the game. As Rafiki says....It is time!




I have played the game several times in succession. Probably about 12 times now. A good deal to get my screenshots and videos. But the back-to-back repeat playing of a Final Fantasy title has not come to pass since Final Fantasy VIII. I am not even sure where to begin really.

Graphically.....this is indeed the most beautiful game I have ever seen in my time as a gamer going back to 1990. Just so absolutely fucking stunning. Detail, detail, and even more detail. The world of the Midgar slums they created just obliterates my expectations. The characters looks and movements, the scenery, enemies, I cannot find a place where I am disappointed. I will say the graphic loading can be a little glitchy at times. But the renders load literally within seconds. Something I am certain will be a thing of the past in the PS5 generation. And there is a bad repeat of NPC's in areas. But they are still amazingly done. Graphically this game has yet again set a standard of how games are supposed to look. You are almost watching a CG movie....but you control it.



And can we talk? (Thank you Joan Rivers)
The battle system.....like OH MY GOD the battle system! Where...what....I mean how can one describe this battle system without saying fun, epic, engaging, fast paced, spot on, amazing.
Finally, FINALLY someone managed to perfect the blending of a ATB system and action fighting. And that is not even the tip of it. Each character has a certain style of fighting. They can do individual moves and abilities. You actually have to strategize in this game like no other game that has come before in Final Fantasy. You have to swap characters for this and that, while trying to get a spell off, and look Tifa can slam out a Limit Break. It is so much fun playing the battles. It is so much fun. When you truly get the system, and bring out the best of the characters abilities......oh this game is AMAZING to get into the fighting. So action. So fast paced, while being able to slow it down to make battle and item choices.
But this system is not without its minor faults.



Jump fighting is a thing.....but it is so badly done. Cloud and Tifa can launch at enemies. But the swings are bad. If the flying enemy is on the move, they generally miss. This is clearly easily over ridden with spells. But there is a couple of times where you cannot do that well.
And the thing that got me over and over. Getting interrupted in mid cast of a spell, limit break, ability, or item........and not only the action being canceled, but losing the bar to go at it again. These instances were the only reasons I got a game over screen. But aside from these two issues, I just had an absolute blast in battles. It was fun.
Character development. I thought I knew these characters. I have known Cloud and Avalanche since 1997. Knew them through the Compilation, all the way to now. I thought I knew them. Spot on.
The character development of these beloved characters was ramped up to the nine. And then beyond. I got so much more from these characters, than I ever thought I could. Not only the characters in and of themselves, but even their relationship building between them. I cannot gush enough about the characters actions, reactions, and interactions. This going all the way down to the NPC characters, and how they change as things change. Clouds breaking of his emo badass persona over the game. Barret and Marlene....oh Barret and Marline. I believed the relationship of father and daughter before to a point. I think because of the lacking interaction. But this time....Barret and Marline bring so many smiles, and so many tears. Barret’s voice actor alone....shit all the voice actors are the tits. You know how I know these characters are so good? I watched a video of the original, where Tifa and Cloud help put his mind back together. All the dialogue I read, was said in the responding characters voices from Remake. For the first time in 23 years that section brought more than just a twinge of emotion. These voice actors and the characters developed are now THAT DAMN GOOD. I know some folks do not like the subtle changes to this character or that character. And to some extent I can agree.......but when I take Remake as a whole. I can easily understand the need for the slight shifts, and I can get on board because they are just that damn good. Completely engaging, and you easily fall for them.



Even the members of Shinra are so much more than they were before. You can almost see the sleazy, grimy, ugh that oozes from Professor Hojo. The dominance and war mongering of Heidegger.
And just the absolute ruthlessness of President Shinra. Oh and props for the very few times we see Scarlet. Not more than 3 or 4 minutes. But she says and does enough to give you who she is. And finally.....finally I can believe Reeve is so shook up by Shinra's actions, that he is going to dawn the Cait Sith robot later.

One of the other beyond amazing things found in VII Remake.......soundtracks. I cannot honestly think of one soundtrack, both in-game, and on the jukebox I do not like. The remixes and orchestration of the original tracks is mind blowing. It is just so amazing. Without giving it away, in the 3rd phase of a fight in President Shinra's office.....when THAT remix of that music hit, I jumped up screaming and yelling with an excitement I did not think I could get to. The memory of the original track, mixed with how it sounds now....mwaa. I cannot gush enough about the two different soundtracks of the game.
And the jukebox records....can we give them some love. They are absolutely amazing renditions of old and Remake tracks. I have a video on YouTube of nothing but the jukebox tracks for Remake. I love listening to it. My favorites were initially something I was not interested in.
Midgar, Stamp, Stand Up, Scarlet's Theme are just a couple of the tracks I enjoy a lot. But honestly all are fantastic renditions, and great to listen to.

And for the first time I have to go on about the cinematography. I do not know who was in complete charge of this part without a lot of digging, but this is indeed some of the greatest cinematography EVER captured in a game. This can truly be seen when opening a menu, and time slows down. Watch all of the character and enemy movements while the menu is open, and you will surely see what I mean. It is just absolutely amazing to see Tifa performing a uppercut, or Barret going into a move. Even the enemies, such as this one, where Cloud is about to get a face full of Gorger. The cinematography has certainly lent itself into this game being completely on a different level from other titles. And being able to see it in slow motion is astounding.
There was a worry that this game would somehow tarnish my enjoyment of the original 1997 game. I have to say I was not disappointed in any aspect of it. Even the debated stuff, I have a completely different take on, and thus I am perfectly fine with. The points from the original that needed to be hit.....they were smashed into oblivion. We got so much more than the original in those points. I cannot say the debating is bad. It was certainly not on the divisive level of say XIII. This debating is more on what is coming next. What might go down. And all of that. The game did what it set out to do....Make folks talk and anticipate the next installment.

Overall, this game did not disappoint. And in actuality it set my thoughts of the original to a higher level. The original to me is indeed a very flawed masterpiece. Final Fantasy VII Remake has certainly gone leaps and bounds above that in delivering the best possible follow up.
I cannot honestly say this is a game for people unfamiliar with Final Fantasy VII. A whole lot of the things within might be lost on the unversed person. But maybe not. Give it a go if you want to. On its own, it is a fantastic game to go through....even if not all is known about it. But you should certainly at least get some videos on the original before going too far in.