5 Concerns About the Final Fantasy VII Remake Announcement
It finally happened. Square Enix have dropped us the bombshell of the decade – Final Fantasy VII is being remade for the PS4 with a sleek graphical makeover. Fans have been shouting, wailing, begging SE to do it for years and their prayers have finally been answered. Now don’t get us wrong – we're just as excited to finally get confirmation on this as the next guy, but ever since the announcement was made and we got a glimpse of what the game is intended to look, we’ve had certain… concerns. Of course, considering how large the FF fanbase is, and how beloved a game FFVII is, it goes without saying that not everyone will be satisfied with the final outcome. Here are some things we feel may happen in this remake that will make most fans angry.
5. The game will play differently
The gaming industry has undergone substantial changes over the years. What was acceptable by the gaming public at large in 1997 when FFVII originally came out may not be as hotly anticipated nowadays. Turn-based combat is one such element that used to sit pretty well with everyone back in the day, but now attracts so much scrutiny that we really think SE might be thinking of changing the combat in Final Fantasy VII. Many fans of the original adore the old school ATB system, but if the company decides pandering to the nostalgia of long-time fans is not enough, they will probably opt to attract a new crowd using a system that is considered much less dated. So, it’s likely that we’ll get an action RPG much like the upcoming FFXV or the recently released Type-0 HD. Other options include real-time/turn-based hybrids like FFXIII. Though at this point only time will tell what changes will be made to the gameplay, if any. Hopefully, we’ll at least get to play around with the materia system, even if in the end it turns out the only character we get to directly control is Cloud. Speaking of changes…
4. You know the tone won’t be the same
As many EoFFers have already pointed out, Final Fantasy VII had its fair share of bizarre scenes. And we remember them fondly – all the weird squats we made Cloud do, the infamous Honeybee Inn sidequest, and even Barret and Tifa’s hilarious banter when climbing the Shinra building. Now let’s try to remember Advent Children. It was nothing but dead, gray, joyless brooding. It appears as if at a certain point the creators just forgot that on top of having a story that’s trying to be more serious and deep, Final Fantasy VII was really quirky and fun. It's very likely that the tone we got served in that movie and other entries in the dreaded Compilation is what the creators might stick to for this remake. Now that we're at Advent Children…
3. The characters will be unrecognizable
In the film, Cloud is emotionally stunted due to the trauma he has endured in the meantime between the game and the sequel. It may be presented with all the subtlety of a brick to the face, but it is nonetheless justified. However, Cloud’s personality retains the same depressive symptoms both in Crisis Core and Dissidia, which makes absolutely no sense. Remember that cocky ex-SOLDIER asshole who was in it all just for the money? And how in the past he was a bit dorky but still incredibly determined guy who practically killed Sephiroth despite holding no potential whatsoever? Yeah, all things considered, Cloud was pretty badass. But that’s not how he is remembered by SE, and I am really concerned that this broody Cloud from the Compilation is what we’ll be getting in the remake. If only that was the worst influence from the Compilation we could get…
2. You know they’re going to tie into the Compilation, and oh boy, is it a mess…
We usually don’t talk about the Compilation, and for good reason. Not only is it responsible for the drastic tone shift mentioned earlier, but the amount of retcons in this expansion of the FFVII universe is staggering. Final Fantasy VII was self-contained and that made it great. Sure, there was a deep backstory to the world and the characters that had the potential to be expanded but it was still not really necessary to expand on it. Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus have introduced some of the worst twists to that universe – the goddess of the planet (who doesn’t really make sense in the context of FFVII), the Deepground (makes even less sense) and Genesis. While the former two may be considered a mixed bag, Genesis and his poetry are universally loathed by the fanbase. But in the context of the FFVII universe, all of these elements are now considered canon, for better or worse. Then again, we may be getting ahead of ourselves, complaining about things that in the end may never even happen because…
1. The Final Fantasy VII remake will take forever to come out
If the troubled development of FFXV has taught us anything, it’s that a cool concept trailer with a promise of more still to come and not much else doesn’t really bode well for the game’s expected development period. Square Enix doesn’t seem to have caught on. So far, Final Fantasy XV has been in development for almost ten years, changed directors and numbers. Not only is the trailer barely a hint of what is in development now, just like with Versus, both projects were initially directed by Tetsuya Nomura who, bless his soul, is a tad too meticulous when it comes to polishing his babies. Then again, maybe the reason FFXV was stuck in development hell for so long is because Final Fantasy VII was being developed at the same time and we’ll get to play it sooner than we expect? Only time will tell.
So what worries you most about the announcement of Final Fantasy VII on PS4? Let us know in the comments!
