It's 1.15 am again and I'm now 23 hours deep into Final Fantasy VII Remake. I am loving it. Having been imagining what a "remake" of this game would look like pretty much ever since the original was current, I can say with confidence that this isn't what I expected — but I am very glad they did what they did.
It kind of baffles me a bit that some people are getting genuinely furious about Square Enix "not respecting the source material" due to the changes and additions to the story, but I can't get on board with that argument. What we have here is a considerably more fleshed out exploration of what was an interesting but rather brief part of the original. It has some nice foreshadowing for what is to come — which, of course, people who knew the original will be ready for — as well as some unexpected elements.
I particularly like how you feel a much better sense of "context" of Midgar itself in terms of how things connect together. It would have been cool to spend a bit more time topside, but FFVII's story was always about the slums and the fact that those living atop the plates were the great untouchables, living a life of luxury while everyone beneath struggled to get by.
The Wall Market sequence was a particular highlight. I was delighted to see that they very much did everything you expect from Wall Market in Final Fantasy VII a wonderful amount of justice, and the additional characters who helped push things along were fantastic. The Honey Bee Inn sequence is a bit different from what it once was, but the new one is a lot of fun and entirely in keeping with the tone of things.
As I said before: this is a new game that just happens to hit a bunch of the same story beats as Final Fantasy VII. It is not the original Final Fantasy VII. And thus it should be enjoyed and experienced on its own merits… which are considerable.
Anyway. Enough blabbering on, I need to get some sleep. Hope you've all had a good Easter weekend!
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