Let’s be real for a second. Remaking a masterpiece is a suicide mission. When Square Enix finally stopped trolling everyone and announced they were actually doing it, the hype was frankly terrifying. Everyone wanted that 1997 magic back. But they didn’t just give us a 1:1 upscale of a PlayStation classic. No, Final Fantasy VII Remake went in a direction that still has people arguing in Reddit threads at 3:00 AM.
It's been years since it dropped, and we’re now well into the trilogy with Rebirth, but the first installment is where the foundation was laid. It’s weird. It’s beautiful. Sometimes it’s a bit of a slog. But mostly? It’s a fascinating experiment in how to handle nostalgia without being a slave to it.
The Midgar Problem: How Do You Turn Six Hours Into Forty?
In the original game, Midgar was a sprint. You blew up a reactor, met a flower girl, fell through a roof, and hit the road. It was a prologue. In Final Fantasy VII Remake, Midgar is the entire game. Honestly, when I first heard that, I thought Square Enix was just stretching things thin to make more money.
They kinda were. But they also weren't.
By slowing everything down, we actually got to see the sectors. We saw the poverty, the Shinra propaganda, and the way people just... lived. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge actually became characters instead of just names on a script who die to make you sad. You spend time in Jessie’s mom's house. You see the guilt. It makes the eventual collapse of the Sector 7 plate feel like a genuine tragedy rather than a plot point.
However, this expansion came with a cost. The "padding" is real. Do you remember the sun lamps? Or the repetitive side quests in Sector 5 where you're basically a glorified errand boy? Those moments feel like the game is breathing through a straw. You’re stuck in these corridors for hours, and while the art design is top-tier, the pacing takes a massive hit. You go from a high-octane motorcycle chase to... moving some crates with a robotic arm. It’s jarring.
Combat That Actually Works (For Once)
Square Enix has been struggling to find a "gold standard" for combat since the turn-based era ended. Final Fantasy XV was a bit of a mess—mostly just holding one button and warping around. But Final Fantasy VII Remake nailed it.
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It’s a hybrid. You have the real-time movement and dodging, but the heart of it is the ATB (Active Time Battle) bar. You can't just hack and slash your way through a boss like the Air Buster. If you try, you’ll die. Period. You have to pause time—or slow it down to a crawl—and make tactical choices.
- Cloud is your heavy hitter. Punisher mode is essentially a parry machine.
- Tifa is the stagger queen. Her Unbridled Strength mechanic is how you actually see those big damage numbers.
- Aerith is a glass cannon. If you aren't using her wards, you're playing her wrong.
- Barret is the tank. He's there when you need to soak up damage while everyone else heals.
Switching between them isn't just a gimmick; it’s a requirement. The game forces you to think about elemental weaknesses and "pressure" states. It feels like a modern version of what our brains thought the original combat felt like back in the 90s. It’s tactile. It’s crunchy. When you finally stagger a boss and unleash a Limit Break, it feels earned.
Those Whispers and the "Remake" Lie
Here is where things get spicy. If you haven't finished the game, look away.
The title is a bit of a meta-joke. It’s not just a "remake" of a game; it’s about the characters literally trying to "remake" their destiny. Those weird ghost things? The Whispers? They are basically the "Plot Police." Their entire job is to make sure the events of the original 1997 game happen exactly as they are supposed to.
When Cloud tries to kill Reno too early? The Whispers stop him. When Aerith is about to say something she shouldn't know? They swarm her.
Director Tetsuya Nomura and Producer Yoshinori Kitase essentially made a game about their own fans. The Whispers represent the purists who don't want anything to change. By the end of the game, when you literally fight and "kill" fate, Square Enix is telling us: "The rules are gone. Anything can happen now."
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This is why people got so mad. Some people just wanted to see Sephiroth in 4K. They didn't want a multi-dimensional meta-commentary on the nature of sequels. Personally? I think it’s brilliant. It’s the only way to make the story surprising again for people who have played the original fifty times. If Aerith's fate is no longer set in stone, there is actual tension.
Why the Graphics Still Hold Up (Mostly)
Let's talk about the door. You know the one. That low-res, muddy texture on the door to Cloud’s apartment that looked like it belonged on a Nintendo 64.
That became a huge meme. But look past the occasional texture pop-in and the game is a visual powerhouse. The character models are some of the best in the industry. The way the light hits Cloud's Buster Sword or the facial animations during the quieter moments in the church—it’s stunning. Square Enix utilized Unreal Engine 4 to its absolute limit here.
The sound design is even better. The way the music transitions seamlessly from "exploration" versions to "battle" versions of the same track is some of the best sound engineering I’ve ever heard. Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki did the impossible by rearranging Nobuo Uematsu’s legendary score without ruining the soul of it.
Is It Worth Playing Now?
If you're coming into this late, you're actually in a better spot. You can jump straight from Final Fantasy VII Remake into the Intermission DLC (the Yuffie chapters) and then right into Rebirth.
The game isn't perfect. The side quests are mediocre at best. The underground laboratory section feels like it goes on for three years. And yeah, the ending is a total "what the hell" moment that requires you to go read a wiki page if you aren't deep in the lore.
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But the "vibe" is immaculate. The chemistry between the cast is the best it’s ever been. Seeing Cloud go from a cold, "not my problem" mercenary to a dork who actually cares about his friends is a great arc. The game treats its world with a level of reverence that you just don't see often.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Playthrough
If you’re diving in for the first time or doing a Hard Mode run to prep for the sequels, keep these things in mind.
Don't ignore the Materia combos. A lot of people just slot in whatever. Don't do that. Pair Magnify with Healing or Haste early on. It changes the entire flow of the game. Also, Elemental materia on your armor can make certain bosses (like Reno or Hoog) literally heal you instead of hurting you.
Assess everything. Seriously. Use the Assess materia on every single enemy. Not only does it give you the tactical data you need to win, but it’s required to unlock the best stuff from Chadley. You want those summons. You want that Bahamut.
Learn to block. In most action games, you want to dodge. In this game, dodging doesn't have a lot of I-frames (invincibility frames). You’re often better off switching to Cloud’s Punisher mode and just holding R1. You’ll take less damage and build ATB faster through counters.
Focus on the weapon abilities. Each new sword or staff you find has a unique ability. Use it until you "learn" it permanently. Some of the best moves in the game are found on weapons with lower base stats. You can always go back to the Buster Sword later—the game actually encourages it by letting you upgrade any weapon to be viable at end-game levels.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a weird, ambitious, frustrating, and glorious game. It's a love letter that occasionally goes off the rails, but it’s one of the few triple-A titles that actually feels like it has a soul. Whether you love or hate the ending, you can't deny that it made people care about Midgar all over again.
Now go deal with those sun lamps. You’ve got a plate to save.