Final Fantasy VII Remake

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8148 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6,327 out of 8148
  2. Mixed: 727 out of 8148
  3. Negative: 1,094 out of 8148
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  1. DarkChaplain
    Apr 10, 2020
    4
    All Square Enix needed to do was follow the script's core beats, and flesh it out, while fully realizing the setting's world, ambiance and characters. For about half the game, they actually achieve this. It's a joyful, nostalgic trip to Midgar, with Avalanche growing dear to your heart all over again. Tifa and Aerith are stunning in their added depth and interactions with the rest of theAll Square Enix needed to do was follow the script's core beats, and flesh it out, while fully realizing the setting's world, ambiance and characters. For about half the game, they actually achieve this. It's a joyful, nostalgic trip to Midgar, with Avalanche growing dear to your heart all over again. Tifa and Aerith are stunning in their added depth and interactions with the rest of the cast. Infiltrating Don Corneo's abode had me laughing at just how good it was.

    But the further the story progressed, the harder did Nojima and Toriyama deviate from the original's story and developments. From introducing core villains, whose presence was supposed to be felt as a looming dread, without fully unveiling them yet, far too early over additions of fate ghosts to a completely absurd, rewritten ending that pulls everything into question while making it clear that no, this is not a Remake, but a reimagining, a reboot, with the publisher opening the next part up to being whatever they wish it to be (or is easier to produce than a faithful sequel), the so-called Remake is a massive letdown.

    I was ready to adore this game. Cautiously optimistic ever since they announced it, being of the old guard that had been wishing for a faithful remake for a decade before the announcement dropped, I wanted to love it. For a good amount of hours, I actually did. It is a great shame that they decided to abandon the script in favor of Nojima's prime storytelling device (not to spoil things directly, but if you look at a list of games he's written for on Wikipedia, you'll be able to tell what most of them have in common...).

    The real tragedy of this first part of the "remake" really is that they did nearly everything right for so much of the game. From adding sidequests to flesh out the Sector 7 slums and their inhabitants, adding dialogue, making a real show out of the Honey Bee manor, speeding up some tedious parts while allowing further exploration in others. Graphically, the game looks absolutely stunning and I am ready to consider the main cast here to be the definitive versions, the best overall designed and authentic renditions. The music is for the most part incredibly well arranged from the original Uematsu tracks, although the new tracks fall short on a stylistic level. Added characters and comedic relief work in the game's favor at the point they occur, before everything comes tumbling down to crash and burn.

    It left me asking myself whether these changes were intended from the start, or were taken as a get out of jail free option when Square Enix's executives realized just how expensive the full game would turn out being, if they kept the same level of detail and interaction throughout all we remember from the original. It's almost like they put so much of their budget into the first half, they couldn't possibly maintain this scope for future zones, cities, dungeons and the like. Abandoning the original makes sense on some level, considering that, especially when it comes with a sort of justification to do things differently with part 2. The problem is, that none of these full rewrites are good. They're fanfic-level absurdities that fail to grasp what made the original beloved in the first place. It's as if they didn't truly understand why fans wanted a remake, or what they expected of it. Maybe they figured that sales of Kingdom Hearts 3 indicated that people wanted more of that absurd type of modern Square Enix storytelling? I'm grasping at straws here, trying to somehow understand what made this company throw one of their most highly valued and cherished title into the river to drown any future expectations.

    If I had Nojima's timey wimey powers vested within me, I would like to turn back time to the moment that the relevant staff at Square Enix decided to make these fatal decisions, and force them to defy fate. I wished this game nothing but success, but this company has once again managed to disappoint and, in a sense, infuriate. My biggest fear is that the rewrites will tarnish the original's legacy, especially for the newcomer audience that expected to hop into it with no prior experience. To them, it'll feel very disjointed, but probably cool due to the way it looks and plays. They won't be able to grasp what made the original a classic for the ages, however.
    That's a shame.    … Expand
  2. wotakit
    Apr 10, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Most people knew that this wasn't going to be a shot-for-shot replica of the original game which is fine, but the ending to FF7R completely derails from the original to the point where semantics of what a 'remake' is becomes irrelevant. It uses the history and characters of the FF7 universe to start a brand new story on an alternate timeline. Characters that should be dead, no longer are so fundamental motivations and character arcs are out of the window. The next parts will be starting fresh and this should be extremely worrying to anyone who knows Squares recent history. Square no longer has the ability to create new stories that are coherent or interesting. This is why people were excited for a remake of a story that everyone already loved. They couldn't possibly screw this one up and yet they still have.

    Aside from the ending, there are plenty of other negatives too. Filler is a major problem. The side quests are almost all basic filler fetch quests. "Go here, kill x enemies, come back, go somewhere else, repeat." I've seen people defending this saying that you can't create a 30+ hour game without some padding. I don't understand this at all. Either make the game shorter or make the "padding" GOOD content. The game is much more linear than I expected. Almost every single walkable area in the game is a narrow corridor.
    The hybrid combat system is actually pretty good but there are big flaws in the AI. The enemies always agro on the character that the player is controlling and your allies do very little to help or defend themselves. This combination seems to be Squares way of ensuring that you switch characters often but it is so poorly executed and feels forced.
    The camera sucks in combat even with the recommended changes to the settings. You can't see what you're looking at half the time, especially if the enemy is above you.
    There is also a serious texture problem. The worst being looking down to the slums from the plate. I believe that this will be fixed in the day 1 patch though. It needs to be.

    It sucks to give this game such a low score. FF7 is my all time favourite and I really wanted this to succeed. The game gets some things right, and when it does, it absolutely nails them. But sadly there is just far too much crap surrounding it, that i'm left disappointed overall.    … Expand
  3. Raewulf
    Apr 13, 2020
    0
    Think of your favorite game.

    Now, let M. Night Shyamalan rewrite the ending. But it's not really the ending, it's only the first arc, which you paid worth a triple A value. They could have fleshed out the story, but they retcon and spoil significant climactic parts of the complete game. Now, it's a reboot with an alternate timeline. This new generation has a knack for deflecting    Think of your favorite game.

    Now, let M. Night Shyamalan rewrite the ending. But it's not really the ending, it's only the first arc, which you paid worth a triple A value. They could have fleshed out the story, but they retcon and spoil significant climactic parts of the complete game. Now, it's a reboot with an alternate timeline. This new generation has a knack for deflecting criticism and make it out about failures of pleasing everyone. The requests for a remake were clear: same story, modern graphics. They are raised to aim for subversion and radical change. How else can you explain the pattern of remakes for our cherished films and games? They keep buying it. What luck these game developers have! They no longer need to brainstorm a coherent story, just a couple of twists and their own unsolicited spin, graphical overhauls and the approval of Hollywood to release a game. Midgar, a police state, could have easily been a playground for free movement, looting upscale lofts, taking out higher-ups, scaling buildings, and jumping from one roof to the next. No, we get linear scenes, recycled Kingdom Heart characters, and snoozefest sidequests which plague MMORPGs.

    FF7: Refund
    FF7: Retcon
    FF7: Redo

    If your critical review gets enough helpful votes, they take it down. They must be thinking about Square Enix stocks.    … Expand
  4. 0xf8006
    Apr 13, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is the epitome of style over substance.

    For everything this game does well, it gets overshadowed by staggering things that it does wrong. The way SE expanded some characters and gave them more development is then immediately followed by meaningless kill X amount of monsters side quests. Or a sequence involving a reactor that turns a short sequence from the original into a sprawling set piece chased with a new character and a fast paced boss fight that is then followed by a 30 minute sequence of walking to the next city with maybe 2 encounters (see combat for later problems with that) and "character development that could have been established just as well without slamming the brakes on the pacing.

    Visually, the game looks wonderful, I'm not going to argue that. In fact, the game looks so well made, that I believe that a movie called Final Fantasy VII Reimagined would have been a more pleasant experience than this game. I will defend this by also pointing out that every meaningful fight and experience is pushed so hard to be a cinematic experience that they should have just crafted a cinematic experience.

    The sound is not my thing at all, but for the most part is well composed. I don't enjoy jazz or modern takes on old video game music. The music from the original was the first game that spoke to me that music in a video game could be a well made thing. But I get that everything must be made modern lest there be money left on the table. The new compositions by Uematsu are also some of his worst compositions to date, in my opinion, and don't add anything of substance to the game.

    The combat system. Oh boy, here we go. So, the combat system is SE once again trying to redefine a concept that doesn't need redefinition in Square's titles, but not taking the same missteps in formerly Enix made titles. For an example of this, look to every Final Fantasy title since 10, then compare that to every Dragon Quest title since....I suppose, 1. On one side, you have redefining every iteration, sometimes successfully, other times, less so. Then on the other side a series who knows what it is, stays true to that and continues to receive praise and enjoyment from it's fan base. So, true to form, SE decided once again to redefine combat for a Final Fantasy title. And...it works...except when it doesn't. This aspect is the one I had the most concern for up to release. I do not usually enjoy action rpg's so I went into FF7R expecting the story to carry me through a combat system I wasn't a fan of. The combat system is actually fun and enjoyable, but there are caveats. The first caveat is that a battle is either over in milliseconds or is a sweeping epic encounter to last the ages. There is no just middle difficulty battles. The easier battles only draw out the already padded sequences which halt the pacing and the harder battles end up serving as a signpost that there will be much less content of interest past that point.

    The story is where the game completely bottoms out its score for me. I wasn't looking for a 1:1 story of the original, but I didn't want something like this mess either. The original is still highly regarded to this day because it did so much right: character development, sound, gameplay, story-telling (which includes pacing), it even subverted expectations before that was the cool thing to do. So, what could be done with something so perfectly crafted? You can look at the result objectively, see the tiny cracks and flaws that time has shown, subtly repair those imperfections and improve the entire project through minor changes. Instead, we got Nomura. And Nomura does things the Nomura way. This means we get ridiculous over the top villains (but not really, cause friendship will save the day), we got convoluted plot lines designed to span over years and years of content with the pay-off usually amount to too little, too late, and we get his story that he wanted to make. What we got was NOT Final Fantasy 7 Remake, what we got was Final Fantasy 7 Reimagined. Nomura's direction allowed the fundamentals of the game to exist, but not when they would get in the way of the story he felt he needed to change the original in to.

    Final thoughts: Final Fantasy 7 Remake is an overproduced game that will appeal to fan boys in a similar vein that a jingling pair of keys will appeal to an infant. It's shiny and sparkly and new. It lacks any substance or reverence for the original story (not world, there's a difference). This game will sell very well and will pave the road for canon spin-offs spanning multiple consoles and hand-helds and maybe in 15 more years, the final part will come out where Sephiroth and Cloud join forces to prevent Aerith's death at the hands of the watchers because the black materia and the white materia can bring paradise to the planet if they're linked.    … Expand
  5. NullMechanism
    Apr 14, 2020
    2
    This "game" can basically be summed up as padding and filler.

    They took 5-minute "dungeons" from the original Midgar and turned them each into hour-long FF13 hallways. Even worse, they inserted all new "dungeons" (hour-long FF13 hallways) in between story beats where the original FF7 would have just moved on to the next story beat. It doesn't add anything to the story or game world. It    This "game" can basically be summed up as padding and filler.

    They took 5-minute "dungeons" from the original Midgar and turned them each into hour-long FF13 hallways. Even worse, they inserted all new "dungeons" (hour-long FF13 hallways) in between story beats where the original FF7 would have just moved on to the next story beat. It doesn't add anything to the story or game world. It doesn't flesh out the original Midgar. It's not even fun. You just go down some glorified decorated hallways and fight three guys at a time for 30+ hours. This is not fun. This is not a game. This is mindless, joyless, and a chore. I actually had to force myself to finish this awful slog.

    The sidequests do little to break up the monotony--in fact, they amplify it. They are the most soulless, uninteresting MMO quests you can imagine. At some point I just stopped bothering with them because they add noting of value to this game. They are not fun or interesting.

    This isn't Final Fantasy 7. This is Final Fantasy 13 loosely based on Final Fantasy 7. This game does not respect your time. Square Enix claimed that this remake was going to be episodic because the game world was going to be "greatly expanded" and "vast." Midgar is not expanded. It is padded. What happened here is that they decided from day one that they wanted to sell multiple games as "episodes," and then struggled to come up with filler content to stretch Midgar out to 30+ hours. And they couldn't even come up with anything fun. As I said, this is easily the worst video game I ever played in my life.

    This is the most soulless, joyless corporate cash-grab ever created, it is a personal attack against video games as a medium, and it is a crime against humanity.    … Expand
  6. WilliamWesker
    May 1, 2020
    0
    **** game was straight up hot garbage. And Wtf was they trying to do at the end? Not to mention all it was a 100% linear hand holding FF13 reskin, with a partial story that made 0% sense. By just throwing in a few retarded "quests", aka go fetch's that for me, with obvious "crawl" spaces and slow downs to hide loading and add another pointless hour of gameplay. I even did 100% in less than**** game was straight up hot garbage. And Wtf was they trying to do at the end? Not to mention all it was a 100% linear hand holding FF13 reskin, with a partial story that made 0% sense. By just throwing in a few retarded "quests", aka go fetch's that for me, with obvious "crawl" spaces and slow downs to hide loading and add another pointless hour of gameplay. I even did 100% in less than 30h and ended up being one very disappointed gamer. Not even any replay value and i have replayed og FF7 multiple times on almost every system its made for.
    5 years for this trash, really? So, what's next?? Wait for another 5 years, for Part 2.. "The Walk to Junon". Then wait for another 5 years, for Part 3.. "The Golden Saucer", and so on......
    If they wanted to make Part 1 Midgar only, it should of been a fully open world with a **** ton to do, not this hot garbage of a mess. Graphics do not make the game, you lazy SQUARE GRAVE ROBBERS! Games need content.. more than useless filler and a pretty cinematic shell skin!!    … Expand
  7. Spoonfishlee
    Apr 12, 2020
    3
    It's very hard to score this game. Many of the moments in this game had me floored. I loved the combat, although I notice a lot of people are missing the turn based system. The deeper storytelling and acting had me plastered to the screen all the way through. The impossible had happened: an amazing, faithful remake of FF7 had come into existence. It was a couple of hours before the endIt's very hard to score this game. Many of the moments in this game had me floored. I loved the combat, although I notice a lot of people are missing the turn based system. The deeper storytelling and acting had me plastered to the screen all the way through. The impossible had happened: an amazing, faithful remake of FF7 had come into existence. It was a couple of hours before the end where I was completely sold. I expected to escape and ride down the highway into some sort of To Be Continued-screen. My 9 or even 10 score was ready to be dealt out.

    But then it takes a turn. A very hard turn. I tried to buy what it was trying to sell me, but my attachment to the story was quickly dissolving on the screen. After seeing that conclusion, I felt like I could no longer recommend this game to anyone. It's very hard to pick a score, but I think I have to base it on how fatigued and empty I feel whenever I see a thumbnail of the game now.

    I would say I'm a difficult fan to please when it comes to FF7. The original has been the most influential gaming experience of my life, since I played it in -99. I know every line and beat. But I will not be picking up the subsequent releases of this reboot series.

    A lot of new players enjoy it. That's good. But for me, it was a sad waste of an opportunity, and a sad waste of all the earlier phenomenal moments that were based on the source material.    … Expand
  8. oreimo33
    Apr 16, 2020
    0
    I give this game the worst possible score because it essentially scams the consumer by calling itself a remake despite actually being a sequel.

    However, the fact that Square blatantly scams its audience is not not the only thing wrong with this game. The presentation is underwhelming when compared to the real Final Fantasy VII. A good example in this very game is Sephiroth. What made    I give this game the worst possible score because it essentially scams the consumer by calling itself a remake despite actually being a sequel.

    However, the fact that Square blatantly scams its audience is not not the only thing wrong with this game. The presentation is underwhelming when compared to the real Final Fantasy VII. A good example in this very game is Sephiroth. What made him so effective in the original game? Subtlety, a drawn out but distant threat, unclear motives, seeing his power without actually seeing him. What do we get instead? The guy shows up as soon as humanly possible and is talking straight to Cloud. Zero subtlety.

    Furthermore, this game has unholy amounts padding. They took 5-minute dungeons and turned them into hour-long FF13 hallways. The sidequests are uninspired, tedious and cliche.

    It's pretty underwhelming considering it's been in production for 5+ years. It's padded with tedious. The slums are barely expanded, with no upper plate exploration. Most of the areas are empty hallways with pointless alleyways.

    Even visually, it disappoints. It has some of the ugliest in-game graphics we've seen this console generation.There is really no excuse for a AAA product of this magnitude to have this much of a problem loading textures and reusing assets (there is one location that has three NPC clones right next to one another).

    The story, however, is the worst part of this game aside from it being a scam. Even discounting the butchered ending, there's lots of eye-rolling moments and baffling decisions throughout. Lots of classic scenes were cut arbitrarily.

    Combat is too easy and braindead if you enjoy action games and not strategic enough if you enjoy strategy games. It's the worst of both worlds.    … Expand
  9. kstud1
    Apr 11, 2020
    2
    That's right square, milk us for all you can get, let's take a original playstation game which was sold complete and cost $30.00 twenty three years ago and split it into 4 games and sell each for $60.00, great way to treat you fan base.
  10. wihdinheimo
    Dec 6, 2020
    0
    This game sucks. Once you'll finish it there's a twist that absolutely ruins the franchise. If this was developers way of paying homage to the original game, they should all be fired. Square-Enix hasn't been able to write anything coherent since Sakaguchi left the company.

    The ending feels like the adults were done with the script and some kid came in and drew crayons over the last few    This game sucks. Once you'll finish it there's a twist that absolutely ruins the franchise. If this was developers way of paying homage to the original game, they should all be fired. Square-Enix hasn't been able to write anything coherent since Sakaguchi left the company.

    The ending feels like the adults were done with the script and some kid came in and drew crayons over the last few pages.

    The antagonist of the game, Sephiroth is introduced too early which breaks the tension.

    Get your narrative together Nomura, you can't write. Sakaguchi's approach of wholesomeness and creativity is gone with your childish plot twists and the greed of your company shareholders. Square-Enix became the Shinra. The story of this game sucks so hard, that every single employee involved making these decisions should be fired on the spot. Super disappointed.    … Expand
  11. CidVicious87
    Apr 19, 2020
    4
    ###SPOILERS###

    Anybody who gave this game a good score, hasn't finished the game or is so worn down by square enix that they just don't care. While the first 2/3rds of the game made me feel like the good times, before the empire, the last third of the game is a blatant slap in the face to fans of the classic game. I understand it's a remake, and that you need to make it fresh, but to    ###SPOILERS###

    Anybody who gave this game a good score, hasn't finished the game or is so worn down by square enix that they just don't care. While the first 2/3rds of the game made me feel like the good times, before the empire, the last third of the game is a blatant slap in the face to fans of the classic game. I understand it's a remake, and that you need to make it fresh, but to change critical story points and add a half baked notion of fate/destiny to a world where that never existed is disgusting and disrespectful to the classic. This game takes away from the agency of the characters, their trials their sacrifice in order to make something more Nomura like, i.e. bringing Kairi back to life in KH3. Barrett is basically Kairi in this game, he gets stabbed in the chest by Sephiroth, then the fate ghosts bring him back to life, yes their are actual FATE ghosts in the game. Not to mention that the fate ghosts look like giant mummified phallus. I'm sorry if you have to suffer through this game, because if someone with half a brain had kept Nomura from writing this ending then it could have been a classic.

    Also the combat is amazing, till you realized it doesn't evolve at all. Enemies use too much interrupting abilities to actually play the game without hitting r2 to pause. Also they turned it into an mmo where you have to manage aggro, because guess what, your allies' atb bar doesn't fill up on its own. So you will be spending most of combat slamming square to build it up. It's needlessly micro-managey. I hoped they would implement mechanics so that your teammates didn't stand around doing jack while you build your atb, but nope. Basically they took a less refined version of ff12's combat and made it even more useless. Add all up this isn't even a complete game and they have the nerve to charge a full price is the end. The good will earned by 14 and 12 is done. I will not buy a single square enix game again, even the western ips. Thanks guys for being arrogant and disrespectful.    … Expand
  12. Spokker
    Apr 10, 2020
    4
    I'm a 30-something-year-old boomer, first played the original when I was 13 and replayed it off and on since then.

    When I played the initial bombing mission in the Remake, I felt like a kid again. As I progressed in the story, there were moments of great beauty. In some scenes it's everything I've ever wanted, the hairs on my arms standing at full attention. Then those *things* show up    I'm a 30-something-year-old boomer, first played the original when I was 13 and replayed it off and on since then.

    When I played the initial bombing mission in the Remake, I felt like a kid again. As I progressed in the story, there were moments of great beauty. In some scenes it's everything I've ever wanted, the hairs on my arms standing at full attention. Then those *things* show up and are like OOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY and ruin the whole moment. It's like an annoying sibling running in the room and screaming at the top of their lungs to annoy you and you lose your good vibes.

    This game is padded more than Tifa's orthopedic underwear. If your goal is to tickle your nostalgia bone, then you are going to be frustrated when you want to discover the next remade scene, only to find that the game forces you to endure generic RPG quests and busywork in a horrid daytime rendition of the slums.

    I expected to make some compromises. I made peace with the episodic nature of the game. I prepared myself for some modern anime storytelling tropes and the cringe that goes with it. I wasn't expecting a 1:1 recreation. What we got instead was something akin to Kingdom Hearts, anime nonsense that doesn't mean anything.

    FF7 may have been science-fiction fantasy, but it was about something, particularly the Midgar portion. Corporations, environmentalism, class struggles, terrorism and so on. Some of that is in the Remake, but for every moment that captures the heart of the original, there are many more that seem to miss the entire point of the original as ghostly beings swirl around doing who knows what and the characters grimace at them. But not before you find Midgar's lost cats.

    It doesn't make me hopeful for future episodes. One could make the case the original FF7 went off the rails at some point in the end game. The Remake is off the rails within the first hour.    … Expand
  13. nephy
    Apr 24, 2020
    4
    So like most people I thought FF7:R was a remake;usually when remake is implied in the title;it's insinuating that they're remaking assets from the ground up;even though there are plenty of articles to show as sources that SE implied this was a 1:1 remake with a ton of content now padded to the game(the reason why they decided on episodic chapters);however this is not the case. FF7:R is aSo like most people I thought FF7:R was a remake;usually when remake is implied in the title;it's insinuating that they're remaking assets from the ground up;even though there are plenty of articles to show as sources that SE implied this was a 1:1 remake with a ton of content now padded to the game(the reason why they decided on episodic chapters);however this is not the case. FF7:R is a sequel to FF7,advent children, and Crisis Core. It's not necessarily a bad game;as a pseudo-action RPG it's pretty great. You might be wondering why I'm listing it as a "psuedo" action RPG;well one thing this game stays faithful to is how the battle-system works;similar to the original RPG;FF7R treats the player as if they're going through a turn-based combat system(very similar to FF12, or Crisis Core, but not quite). You're able to freely move, and utilize basic attacks, or pick specials without cool-downs(not including limit breakers);however unlike an action RPG your evasion inputs really don't matter unless you're avoiding large AOEs,constantly managing your party, and switching characters to utilize the best method of taking out enemies, or supporting fellow party members;as an action RPG it falls flat,as a spin to classic RPGS though it does a great job with its battle-system. If you're open to a new story I'm sure the game diverging the plot won't be an issue, but if you're expecting a 1:1 remake, or a follow up to the original story via ep.2 you're not going to get it;I'm emphasizing this is a sequel, because of Sephiroth, and because of a returning character from Crisis Core;also because of ghosts that weren't in the original story that now are;if you don't know what I'm talking about;play the game, or don't;maybe look up a walk-through. I understand if SE wanted to not spoil to the audience this would be a sequel, but HONESTLY it's false advertisement, and it's disgusting. All in all the "selling-point" of this "remake" is its gameplay, but it's a step below FFXV(which is saying a lot, because FFXV's combat was already severely flawed", and the materia system works, but that's it;nothing really exceptional going on with the battle-system, or the materia system. This game really just acts like fan-service to those who enjoy action RPGs who could never get into a turn-based game. What a disappointment Square Enix is.… Expand
  14. MinionX
    May 1, 2020
    0
    Final Fantasy 7: Remake is the perfect example of when too much FILLER becomes basically a LORE killer!
    This game is even laughable focused on a generic KINGDOM HEARTS kind of way & I'm not just talking about gameplay.., which is also one of its biggest problems, apart from the fact that for the most of it.. has intermediate sections, in which one has absolutely nothing to do, aside from    Final Fantasy 7: Remake is the perfect example of when too much FILLER becomes basically a LORE killer!
    This game is even laughable focused on a generic KINGDOM HEARTS kind of way & I'm not just talking about gameplay.., which is also one of its biggest problems, apart from the fact that for the most of it.. has intermediate sections, in which one has absolutely nothing to do, aside from side-quests, which have no relevance in the plot of the movie, I mean, game, & that makes it simply ¡¡-BORING-!!    … Expand
  15. Tydeous
    Apr 18, 2020
    3
    I would say it was an 7-9 rating until I hit the final chapter (chapter 18). The immense retcon to the story and the future of the setting was enough to utterly ruin the game's story and the future of the series. I won't be buying a sequel.
  16. tyber16
    Apr 10, 2020
    4
    It's an okay game. The story has many **** filler kingdom hearts part but the game is a decent action-rpg. If you don't know the original than this will be a complete game like a first season of a series.
  17. Psycho0762
    Oct 17, 2020
    0
    this is not a remake this is an abomination not worth $60.00 x4 for each chapter its full of fluff and fetch quests this is kingdom hearts with ff7 characters if this was a song SE would be sued for plagiarism get your money back before the 90 days are up and don't buy. every person that gave it a good review is dishonest or never played the greatest game ever ps1 ff7 i still play ff7this is not a remake this is an abomination not worth $60.00 x4 for each chapter its full of fluff and fetch quests this is kingdom hearts with ff7 characters if this was a song SE would be sued for plagiarism get your money back before the 90 days are up and don't buy. every person that gave it a good review is dishonest or never played the greatest game ever ps1 ff7 i still play ff7 with my ps2 and just got a black chocobos i have been playing ff7 since 1997 when it was originally released in the us and this garbage called a remake is not ff7 only the 1st 2hrs of game play are. then it goes to garbage. SE SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN FOR THIS CRAP THEY JUST CANT LET GO OF KINGDOM HEARTS WHAT DID YOU THINK WE WERE STUPID REALLY ff7 original is one of the greatist games of all times it has laughter, tears it has true omg moments and great stories. some char we fell in love with some we hated with all our hearts and what i wanted as a die hard lover of ff7 is to play it with modern graphics with voices and fall in love with the char all over again with a new visual not some 30hr+ wast of fluff midgar was only 15min into disk 1 and you turn'd it into 30+ of garbage damn you square damn you… Expand
  18. VictorBoomtown
    Apr 11, 2020
    1
    This 'remake' is an insult to those of us who have been waiting 20+ years to finally get to play an updated version of the game. (Which is what everyone wanted.) Suddenly, this game changes the entire plot and **** the bed for any future installments and everyone's praising it for being meta and deep.

    I'm so sick of the whole "this is good because it subverts your expectations!". It    This 'remake' is an insult to those of us who have been waiting 20+ years to finally get to play an updated version of the game. (Which is what everyone wanted.) Suddenly, this game changes the entire plot and **** the bed for any future installments and everyone's praising it for being meta and deep.

    I'm so sick of the whole "this is good because it subverts your expectations!". It wasn't good when Star Wars did it, and it's not good now.    … Expand
  19. jim-bob
    Apr 17, 2020
    1
    FINAL FANTASY VII "REMAKE" Is an insulting marketing scam directed by a childish egomaniac with no respect for the original game or the fans.
    THIS GAME IS NOT A REMAKE. it's advertising fraud. The core plot & themes have been ripped out and replaced with an idiotic, convoluted trainwreck involving the stupidest ideas ever conceived.
    Time travel, alternate timelines, alternate dimensions,    FINAL FANTASY VII "REMAKE" Is an insulting marketing scam directed by a childish egomaniac with no respect for the original game or the fans.
    THIS GAME IS NOT A REMAKE. it's advertising fraud. The core plot & themes have been ripped out and replaced with an idiotic, convoluted trainwreck involving the stupidest ideas ever conceived.
    Time travel, alternate timelines, alternate dimensions, visions of the future, time travelling ghosts from a future timeline that make the audience lose brain cells every time they appear.
    Profoundly idiotic nonsense that has no place in the story or universe & belongs in the tangled mess that is Kingdom Hearts. The characters aren't even the same. They're alternate characters from an alternate universe/timeline. i'm not joking.

    --THIS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT & HORRIBLE ORIGINAL STORY--
    A direct quote from a Square Enix Gamespot interview
    "in terms of how faithful the remake is to the original Final Fantasy VII, from the perspective of the storyline it is very faithful indeed"
    Square Enix LIED. they have lied to their fans for 5 years straight.
    The game starts off looking similar to FF7 at the intro of the bombing mission for the purpose of deceiving you, then the plot quickly drives off a cliff into poorly written absurdity that bears little to no resemblance to FF7. Cloud is having visions of the future, Aerith and Sephiroth are now from the future, as if this wasn't enough to completely ruin their character development & every great scene they're supposed to have Sephiroth now shows up every 5 minutes ruining the build up he had and his reveal in FF7, there are also time travelling ghosts that show up way too often. they are at the core of the bastardised plot making up the most moronic & badly written scenes in this game. Things get even stupider towards the Shinra building & the ending is just a surreal mess that plays out like a bad fanfiction with terrible implications for the future of the series.

    --TERRIBLE GAMEPLAY PADDING--
    When news released this game would be Midgar only (only the first 10% of the original game) the devs claimed it had to be this way because they had so much content and ideas to expand midgar. However There aren't really any new areas, many of the ones that are there are badly made with garbage low resolution textures and a distinct lack of detail and polish, the game feels more linear than ever and ultimately it's obvious they lied again. this game should only be a few hours long however they've padded it out to 30 hours by using the absolute worst aspects of modern 'cinematic' games & RPGs.
    the combat is mostly fun. not solid... but fun however most of the game is not spent doing combat.
    most of your time is wasted on forced side quests that are long, tedious & uninteresting, Forced walking/slow moving state sections, performing meaningless & monotonous interactions that play long animations (e.g pressing triangle to move an obstacle out of your way, pressing a button and waiting for a machine do it's thing, sliding along a narrow wall)
    There's so much of this. it's spread across the game so as not to anger players too much but all together it's only purpose is to pad out the game by wasting hours of the players time.

    --THIS GAME IS NOT FOR PEOPLE NEW TO FF7--
    it's completely inaccessible to a new audience. if you wanted to experience FF7 for the first time with modern gameplay and graphics, if you wanted to play an actual remake like you were promised.. you can't. This game is not that. it's a completely different plot by nomura that expects that you've played the original Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core for the PSP & watched the FF7 Advent children movie to understand it. (there's references to Dirge of Cerberus too)
    Nomura is a pretentious hack who makes his games unapproachable by demanding way more from the audience then his crappy writing is ever deserving of.

    Never let Nomura direct or write anything ever again. Square Enix have scammed their fans and this is the last time they'll ever see my money.    … Expand
  20. Niftylen
    Apr 11, 2020
    1
    Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, that's how I'd describe my final opinion of this Nomura headed 'REMAKE' of FF7.

    I was ready to give this game a 10/10 and immediately start up a second, hard-mode playthrough of the game as a victory lap of what was 90% one of the most incredible gaming experiences I've ever had. 23 years ago I wasn't even old enough to appreciate the OG    Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, that's how I'd describe my final opinion of this Nomura headed 'REMAKE' of FF7.

    I was ready to give this game a 10/10 and immediately start up a second, hard-mode playthrough of the game as a victory lap of what was 90% one of the most incredible gaming experiences I've ever had.

    23 years ago I wasn't even old enough to appreciate the OG FFVII, though a few years after it's release I did play through it and for myself, and many, many other now 20+ year old gamers, it was etched in my memory as the definitive RPG game and a wonderful, unique story told through arguably the most iconic cast of characters of all time in gaming.

    It's 2020, and the so called 'REMAKE' that seemed like a mythical dream we all had that would never be realised, ala Half-Life 3, is finally here.

    56 hours in and the game reaches an incredible crescendo of nostalgic boss after boss, massive set pieces that were only polygons interpreted into imagined epic scenes back in 1997, are finally fully realised with glorious graphics and sound.

    However, throughout the journey I kept getting a sick feeling in my stomach. These hooded sand-ghosts flying around scenes and influencing the action, I kept trying to interpret this new addition to the narrative, I tried to settle on it just being a device to show the planet trying to direct the heroes on their path, or even Jenova cells deceiving them.

    Something just didn't quite sit right though, they looked, and behaved quite like 'Nobodies' in the KH series, a thought which broke the immersion and brought me back to a reality where Tetsuya Nomura was at the helm.

    I remember how awful the KH series had become, how much of a let down FFXV was, how convoluted and contrived the plots were, and how cringeworthy the FFVII expanded universe had been (perhaps bar some parts of Crisis Core, though a lot of it was very, very 'anime').

    And so, with that sick feeling in my stomach I reached the last few chapter of the game, knowing in the back of my mind that things were about to go off the rails, at least to some extent.

    Suffice to say, things were worse than I could have imagined. I don't need to describe the events of the end of this game, but it was truly, truly disappointing, and actually quite saddening, to see what could have been such a celebration and honouring of an all-time classic be corrupted.

    After the end credits I found myself quite upset if I'm being honest. It's the same sort of feeling that the final season of GOT gave me, or that feeling when a band you love 'sells out' and starts playing cheap, formulaic pop songs.

    There's quite a few thoughts and questions I've been ruminating over, now that I'm starting to digest what's been done in this game.

    Why did they call it 'REMAKE' and not advertise it as a completely new story, or even a sequel (I think the events of the game point towards it being more of the latter)? I think I would have not pre-ordered, and would have set my expectations very differently, had this been the case. I suspect money could be the only reason I feel duped as a fan of the original.

    Who decided that the story should be drastically changed, and indeed be changed by none other than one of the stinkiest, hack-iest tropes of story telling in time-travel and alternative universes? I suspect Nomura had a big hand in this, given his track record on creating absolute messes of narratives in recent game he's been heavily involved in.

    The thought that angers me most is that the original FFVII is a piece of art, it's no longer something should be though of as solely owned by its creators. It's in the hearts of many, many fans, who give the game and story its honoured place as a classic through their fandom and love for it.

    The more and more I think about it, I feel like Nomura and co. have little to no respect for the fans that have given their work this love, and perhaps even harbour some contempt for them wanting to see their childhood imagination and memories of the story realised as they deserve to be.

    There is a certain arrogance to twisting this world and story to their own whim, as if to say that "this is our world, our characters, what you fans think means nothing to us, we can do what we want with them and you can get f**ked if you disagree".

    Perhaps I will come to terms with the fact that there will probably now never be a full and proper remake of this game, keeping the original, impeccable narrative intact, whilst fleshing out the world and characters in a tasteful fashion. The first 90% of this game achieved this goal, just to throw it out in the final hour or so.

    Perhaps I'll let it go one day, and try to enjoy the sequel, though I won't hold my breath given how truly awful the new writing at the end of this game was

    You were so, so close to perfection, but I suspect egos, pay-checks, and influence are too much a factor at Square-Enix.    … Expand
  21. Troxartas
    Apr 12, 2020
    4
    This game has been hyped to death and in the end, its not really worth it. If your a fan of the original then the ending will infuriate you. If you expected them to deliver the whole experience as it was in sequels, they wont. The game play itself is fine, though I would have liked for it to be 100% as it used to be. (because RPG's like that are a dying breed. But it isn't the worst. AsThis game has been hyped to death and in the end, its not really worth it. If your a fan of the original then the ending will infuriate you. If you expected them to deliver the whole experience as it was in sequels, they wont. The game play itself is fine, though I would have liked for it to be 100% as it used to be. (because RPG's like that are a dying breed. But it isn't the worst. As many have already said its combat is a lot like Kingdom Hearts, you will make periodic move choices like casting spells/using items. Graphic wise its good but SE has for a long time imo been making "Well polished turds".
    The Biggest problem is the ending where SE says "F%*ck you" to any fans of the original, who hoped to see the post Midgar sections as they were. Thanks to some out of left field story telling choices, SE give themselves free reign to do whatever the hell they want with the next installment. They now have free license to completely alter a story that was never broken. Nomura's influence seems especially heavy, as many of the retcons and universal resets are the same b.s. that hounded the latest Kingdom hearts entries.
    To sum up, if your looking to relive the old feelings FF7 brought you, Play the original. (its available on damn near everything now) I know many old school fans already pre-ordered the game and SE already has your money, but i would not recommend this game to anyone looking to relive the ff7 experience. At least wait a few months and buy it on sale for 20$, not worth the full price.    … Expand
  22. Samriv
    Apr 12, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The audio/visual presentations top notch. Some texture work is a but pedestrian in some ares, but FFVIIR got the visual part right. Where it steers wrong, is perhaps on the most important category in an RPG: Story telling. The original Story was a harsh, if social relevant one, but this time around some changes are made from the get go to portray the game's cast as more heroic than they actually well. Avalanche is a Geo-Terrorist group and the FFVIIR tries to sugar coat that. Perhaps more egregious of all, is Nomura's penchant for the nonsensical. FFVIIR pulls a stunning 180 degree turn into Kingdom Hearts 2 and beyond territory. A move that renders the original cannon (which was the superior work) meaningless in the end. Truly the game in someways is a slap in the face to the original fervent fanzine.… Expand
  23. kfarnef
    Apr 10, 2020
    3
    An insult to everything Final Fantasy 7 used to represent. This game covers less than 10 percent of the original, that's the reason why we have so many pointless, boring quests and characters nobody wanted, otherwise we would have been able to complete it in less than eight hours or so. Same for the ridiculous cutscenes. The storyline has been mangled so bad that you will need to play theAn insult to everything Final Fantasy 7 used to represent. This game covers less than 10 percent of the original, that's the reason why we have so many pointless, boring quests and characters nobody wanted, otherwise we would have been able to complete it in less than eight hours or so. Same for the ridiculous cutscenes. The storyline has been mangled so bad that you will need to play the original game in order to make a sense of it. No, I don't care about Kingdom Hearts, Advent Children or any of that stuff. I wanted what was promised: Final Fantasy 7 REMAKE, they even wrote it in capital letters. This game is comparable to the prequels AND the sequels of the original Star Wars trilogy with the ewoks teleporting from the future movies just to mock you and your expectations. Is this the future you want for your games? FF-7 episode 1, 2, 3, 4, 80 dollars each and extra DLCs for the plot, secret characters and summons?… Expand
  24. Alternative4
    Apr 30, 2020
    3
    Nomura once again proved he is incapable of writing a decent coherent story and thus decides to bastardize FF7R with space jannies and deus ex machina. This truly sucks because the gameplay, environments, music, graphics, JP voice acting were all Elder Deity tiey. Yet this is all overshadowed by the woefully inadequate writing. Im so incredibly dissatisfied
  25. gamer3421
    Apr 12, 2020
    0
    Square Enix should have titled this game as "Phinal Phantasy VII Phantoms" instead as "Final Fantasy VII Remake"! (This game is neither a Remake nor a Reboot! It's a Reimagination of the original game!)

    "Final Fantasy VII Refund" is an alternative title since original fans of the game will certainly ask for refund because Square Enix is deceivingly selling the game as it being a    Square Enix should have titled this game as "Phinal Phantasy VII Phantoms" instead as "Final Fantasy VII Remake"! (This game is neither a Remake nor a Reboot! It's a Reimagination of the original game!)

    "Final Fantasy VII Refund" is an alternative title since original fans of the game will certainly ask for refund because Square Enix is deceivingly selling the game as it being a "Remake"!

    Basically, this is not even a Final Fantasy game, this is a Kingdom Hearts game! If Square Enix had titled this game as "Final Fantasy VII Kingdom Hearts", I wouldn't even be here rating this game because I simply don't like and don't play Kingdom Hearts games! But since it is being marketed as the remake of the original Final Fantasy VII, and Square Enix is really insulting the original fans of the game by doing so, it is absolutely obvious that this game deserves a 0 rating score!

    "Zelda: Breath of the Wild" world map is estimated to be 60% bigger than "Skyrim" world map, and Nintendo did a spectacular game for Nintendo Switch! Yet, look at what Square Enix is delivering for PS4 after 5+ years of development, an unfinished remake which is only 1/7 part of the original game that covers only the Midgar city part! (This is unbelievable!)

    Square Enix is really not confident about this remake, so they just desperately decided to add Ifrit, Shiva and the original FFVII Ending scenes in the part 1 of the remake in case the part 1 fails to sell and the whole remake project gets stuck in part 1!

    The hate for this remake is already so Big that people will eventually start hating the original Final Fantasy VII game they once used to love!

    Final Fantasy VII (R.I.P _ 1997 - 2020)

    ...    … Expand
  26. PokeBluedude
    Apr 14, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. First 3/4 of the game are truely amazing! I was in complete awe of how right square enix had got this. However the last two chapters basically rewrite the story. And the story means everything to me. They have ruined it in my opinion… Expand
  27. RancidGorbag
    Apr 15, 2020
    3
    Why is Final Fantasy VII so beloved among fans? Because it has such a compelling story and fantastic combat system. The remake falls short on both accounts. The AI was disappointing and it was a pain to have to sort through the menus to use abilities. To call it a remake is misleading. This is a reimagining pioneered by the most infamous director in video game history. It was 30 hours ofWhy is Final Fantasy VII so beloved among fans? Because it has such a compelling story and fantastic combat system. The remake falls short on both accounts. The AI was disappointing and it was a pain to have to sort through the menus to use abilities. To call it a remake is misleading. This is a reimagining pioneered by the most infamous director in video game history. It was 30 hours of Nomura building up the the moment he could tell us that he's going to make this game into whatever he sees fit.… Expand
  28. Shiroguma48
    Apr 15, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It gets a low score for the same reason most people gave it a low score - false advertising. I loved most of it. I thought the redesign of Midgar was excellent if a little over-linear (but the original was linear too). I thought the characters were excellently designed and voiced. I loved the new combat system although there is room for improvement obviously. I knew this was Midgar only and I was on board with that, though I would have preferred the side content to be less ‘fillery’ and more relevant. I was expecting some minor story changes and additions, and no, I wasn’t surprised to see Sephiroth (though I still maintain he didn’t need to be there). I played all the way through 16 of 18 chapters and would have gladly scored the game 8 out of 10 at that point. But then Square inexplicably chose to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and ruin the entire plot with some textbook Nomura fate/destiny/timelinely crap. I just can’t get my head around how they thought they would get away it. They literally lied to their entire fanbase about their intentions for this project. All the while churning out interviews about how important it was to stay true to the original to keep the fans happy etc... Incredibly disappointing. Maybe they will pull something amazing out of the bag. But until then, 2 is all this deceitful production deserves.… Expand
  29. funboby
    Apr 16, 2020
    0
    This is a big f u you to the original FF7 fans. It teases you for 95% and then the ending comes and you realize that everything has been a lie. We've been waiting for a remake since the 2005 ps3 technical demo was release. Now that crunch time is here - Square has decided to dangle a carrot in front of you for 35 hours and watch you chase it, then snatch it away and kick you in the mouthThis is a big f u you to the original FF7 fans. It teases you for 95% and then the ending comes and you realize that everything has been a lie. We've been waiting for a remake since the 2005 ps3 technical demo was release. Now that crunch time is here - Square has decided to dangle a carrot in front of you for 35 hours and watch you chase it, then snatch it away and kick you in the mouth in the last final minutes, brutally reminding you that they will do whatever the hell they want; whatever makes them the most money. The direction they are heading in is disgusting. It was "too hard" for them to make a full remake of this game so they switched it up to some hot garbage at the end to give them an out for all future installments.… Expand
  30. SilentNightmare
    Apr 14, 2020
    4
    I finished the game now and this is what I can say about it:

    + Great Visuals + Great Soundtrack + Good Character Design + Good Voices +/- The combat has its strengths and weaknesses. I hope the next part goes back to the classic turn based battle. - Horrible Fetch Sidequest straight out of some MMO. - Way too linear and narrow "Dungeons". - The padding is very annoying, it    I finished the game now and this is what I can say about it:

    + Great Visuals
    + Great Soundtrack
    + Good Character Design
    + Good Voices

    +/- The combat has its strengths and weaknesses. I hope the next part goes back to the classic turn based battle.

    - Horrible Fetch Sidequest straight out of some MMO.
    - Way too linear and narrow "Dungeons".
    - The padding is very annoying, it doesn't add anything meaningful to this game, only exist to make it longer.
    - Too much Story changes from the original, the ending putt this game from a 6/10 to a 4/10.
    - No hard mode available in first playthrough

    All in all it is a pretty average RPG, buy it on a sale and you can have some fun if you are not a fan of the original.    … Expand
  31. Insomnijack
    Apr 18, 2020
    1
    The ending here was horribly written. A complete mess like kingdom hearts endings that nobody really likes. The good thing to have done was make a proper remake of the game that is extremely loved, the only reason new people would never play the OG ff7 is because its outdated and bad graphics, but they had a golden ticket. An already great story and game and they have the chance toThe ending here was horribly written. A complete mess like kingdom hearts endings that nobody really likes. The good thing to have done was make a proper remake of the game that is extremely loved, the only reason new people would never play the OG ff7 is because its outdated and bad graphics, but they had a golden ticket. An already great story and game and they have the chance to recreate it exactly the way it was but with better graphics and voice and such and make some solid money.

    But no they just had to take a bunch of mushrooms in the final hour of the game and do some extremely poor decisions and totally ruin the entire 3 part series because they are selfish and greedy. They advertised this to be a faithful remake of the original game but in the end they made spoilers about the entire OG ending and said F**K you fanboy we do what we want.

    On a side note Clouds hair has extreme dithering stuttering issues like most Square Enix games but not the other characters? so why make clouds hair such a mess? and some background has worse textures than the original, im not even joking they seriously in a 2020 game created worse textures than a 1997 game, you can see this on some flower and background but its most noticeable when you're climbing high up and look down towars the sectors, its horrible. And not to talk about the mess inside shinra HQ, i was about to get a seizure from all the random dots and stuttering everywhere.

    Im ususally the guy who loves most games and see the good in them and ive talked so positive about kingdom hearts 1-2 and FF14 and the old FF7,9,10 to my girlfriend but after KH3 and this i cant keep optimistic. theyve been having texture issues in most games and the endings are so bad someone should be fired.    … Expand
  32. Lestatman
    Apr 24, 2020
    0
    First of all why did they introduce Sephiroth so early into the game when he's supposed to be this mysterious figure. The side quests where not that interesting but passable and some slight changes to the story early on were ok but then comes the ending which left me staring at the screen with my brain trying to work out did I really see what I just saw. Graphics mean nothing to me it'sFirst of all why did they introduce Sephiroth so early into the game when he's supposed to be this mysterious figure. The side quests where not that interesting but passable and some slight changes to the story early on were ok but then comes the ending which left me staring at the screen with my brain trying to work out did I really see what I just saw. Graphics mean nothing to me it's the heart and soul of a game that interests me especially a game like this and like with RE3 another hugely disappointing "Remake".… Expand
  33. cruellae
    Apr 15, 2020
    2
    This is very much like Game of Thrones, in that a gorgeous setting and brilliant, nuanced story was ruined by the last installment. If you stop playing before you reach the final two bosses of the game, you will be glad you did, particularly if you are a fan of the original Final Fantasy VII.

    What caused the drastic shift? It happens at the exact point where the writers turn away from    This is very much like Game of Thrones, in that a gorgeous setting and brilliant, nuanced story was ruined by the last installment. If you stop playing before you reach the final two bosses of the game, you will be glad you did, particularly if you are a fan of the original Final Fantasy VII.

    What caused the drastic shift? It happens at the exact point where the writers turn away from the existing FFVII story and decide to make up their own stuff. (Unfortunately, they are not as good as the original story writers. And while some high profile devs from the original game are still onboard and in charge, they aren't the ones who wrote the story.)

    If you have not played the original, I would highly recommend doing that first, or you will miss out on a lot.    … Expand
  34. punkpop101
    Apr 10, 2020
    4
    I would seriously question every single 10 review on this page. Some of them said that they respected the original characters and story when in reality they butchered every single one of them with the ending of the game. The game is nowhere near a 10 and for the first time in my life I might say that some 0 scores are justified for this. It doesn't help that the game is Final Fantasy XIIII would seriously question every single 10 review on this page. Some of them said that they respected the original characters and story when in reality they butchered every single one of them with the ending of the game. The game is nowhere near a 10 and for the first time in my life I might say that some 0 scores are justified for this. It doesn't help that the game is Final Fantasy XIII levels of linear and has some of the most boring side quests to ever grace a JRPG title.… Expand
  35. aordozo
    Apr 17, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Until I got to the ending, I was prepared to give this game high praise. After getting a chance to see the ending, it’s clear that square is treating this remake as a game meant to defy the old game and I hate it. It feels like they are giving the finger to the old game’s legacy for the sake of trying something new. That something new is confusing too and leaves serious plot holes. I am sad now that we won’t get a true remake. I wished they just focused on making a new final fantasy instead. I’ll bet money now that we won’t see that key event with aerith down the road.… Expand
  36. Mike85
    Apr 11, 2020
    1
    Alright Square. You get a 1 because the game is quite beautiful and the combat is very enjoyable. But thats it.

    Otherwise, you should be ashamed for letting Nomura go crazy and completely butcher the game's story. You promised us a faithful retelling of the story, and we got a sequel full of Kingdom Hearts-esque ridiculousness. You are liars. Incredibly disappointing.
  37. Omnirealms
    Apr 13, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. They should have called it final fantasy 7 reboot. At least then you would know going in that it wasn't the same story.… Expand
  38. AelBlu
    Apr 13, 2020
    2
    I expected "Remake" to be the title, not a plot point. I went in with an open mind, and gladly accepted the changes that were made to the original story up until chapter 18. This isn't a remake... It's FF7-2, and a reBOOT. You just don't find out until the final hour.
  39. Arctosa
    Apr 10, 2020
    3
    Visually, the game is absolutely stunning, the artistic direction, the character design, everything that involves using your eyes is a thing of beauty, an absolute masterclass.
    Everything else is simply a gigantic mess.
    The soundtrack is overall a mixed bag, some musics have been reorchestrated, with inspiration, and talent, some others have been simply stripped of their souls, and are    Visually, the game is absolutely stunning, the artistic direction, the character design, everything that involves using your eyes is a thing of beauty, an absolute masterclass.
    Everything else is simply a gigantic mess.

    The soundtrack is overall a mixed bag, some musics have been reorchestrated, with inspiration, and talent, some others have been simply stripped of their souls, and are simply unrecognizable. The music of the motorbike scene nearly had me cutting the sound. The voice acting on the other hand is spot-on, but that was expected.
    The battle system is a giant mess, unresponsive, unprecise, unbalanced, the aerial fights are terrible and highlight the numerous camera problems, the materia system simply doesn't work in an action oriented game, or at least not in this case.

    The progression is even worse, and clearly explain why this game make us go through roughly 10% of the original game, because it is filled with uninteresting sidequests, and even most of the main story (yes, the main story got changed A LOT) simply isn't interesting.

    As expected from the Final Fantasy series at this point, a visual experience, nothing more.    … Expand
  40. Pmememan
    Apr 10, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is not a remake. It is not a remaster.

    THIS GAME IS A SEQUEL/SPIN OFF DISGUISED AS A REMAKE, and it's not even a good spin-off.

    What was once a story about loss and environmental awareness is now a story about time travelling ghosts trying to stop a time travelling Sephiroth from changing the timelines.

    Yes, the new story is about Sephiroth (the one from Advent Children) travelling back in time to change the timeline so that he wins. He is followed back in time by ghosts that try to make sure everything happens as it should.

    So while the first few hours are a faithful 1:1 remake, it very quickly changes to this new, Kingdom Hearts tier storyline that has nothing to do with the original

    Sephiroths character has been assassinated by this new story. In the original, he was a mysterious, threatening entity. You rarely saw the guy, you mostly just saw what he did. The impaled midgar zolom, the massacre at Shinra HQ, the nibelheim flashback. He was so intriguing as a villain because he was mysterious. In the new game every hour or so, Sephiroth shows up and does some monologue that has nothing to do with the original story, because as I said, this isn't a remake

    The game then ends with an Advent Children tier cutscene in which Cloud and co are flying around, slicing flying buildings in half, having a one on one duel with Sephiroth in space, fighting a giant flying time travelling monster.

    Um, how are we supposed to go on to the rest of the game after that? The stakes have been set so high at the first part of this multi game series that the pacing is pretty much screwed up forever.

    Also the whole concept of the time ghosts is stupid. Every time something cool is about to happen, they show up and completely ruin the atmosphere. They were effectively just an excuse for Nomura to rewrite the entire story past this first part.

    The gameplay and cinematics are nice, but that's about it.

    Nomura tricked everyone into buying his FF7 fanfic and I can't believe people are falling for it    … Expand
  41. StevenVW
    Apr 11, 2020
    0
    It was shaping up to be amazing, it could have been amazing. I could not wait for the next installment as I played through the game.

    Untill I reached the end and they decide to put the game's head on the chopping block and lob it's head off completely. Totally discarded the original, completely overboard, this is simply not final fantasy VII at all, but a lackluster Kindom Hearts type    It was shaping up to be amazing, it could have been amazing. I could not wait for the next installment as I played through the game.

    Untill I reached the end and they decide to put the game's head on the chopping block and lob it's head off completely. Totally discarded the original, completely overboard, this is simply not final fantasy VII at all, but a lackluster Kindom Hearts type game that hijacked all the characters and some IP from FF VII.    … Expand
  42. Ekard999
    Apr 13, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. They ruined this game by turning it into a time travel story with time wraiths everywhere. The game is infested with them at every story point. They are like roaches. Se lied out their ass about a faithful reproduction. The combat is horrible and the textures are bad and the reuse of Npc models is cringe along with robotic unemotional voice acting. The ghosts ruin it though. This is not a remake it is a sequel with time travel. Se lied and used nostalgia to sell this scam.… Expand
  43. Raidann
    Apr 15, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What they have done to the ending of this game is an absolute travesty, I can't believe they would actually mess with the story this bad.
    People NEED to know before they buy it, I went in thinking it was going to be a true remake, I'm ok with changing some things, but you find out it's actually a sequel.. except you're replaying the story again with fate/time cops/ghosts trying to keep things the same.. You fight Sephiroth and a time giant at the end of the game ffs.. wtf have they done    … Expand
  44. greatduckguru
    Apr 12, 2020
    4
    They took something wonderful and just **** on it. It's the director of the game that really failed this. When the game is pushing for faster hyped up action it slows down. When you want to explore it drives you in a linear fashion. It is really just final fantasy XIII all over again. All the added content that they put in to what normally takes a player just a couple hours to beat itThey took something wonderful and just **** on it. It's the director of the game that really failed this. When the game is pushing for faster hyped up action it slows down. When you want to explore it drives you in a linear fashion. It is really just final fantasy XIII all over again. All the added content that they put in to what normally takes a player just a couple hours to beat it feels like they put filler in with no real substance to pad it out to 40 hours which if you do the math isn't insane level of filler… Expand
  45. Lukea108
    Apr 11, 2020
    3
    Overall it's a fun game, great music with fun combat and brilliant characters just like the original. Unfortunately this game pads out the midgar section of this grand story to an exhaustively long length.. With later installments of the ff7 story this is the part of the remake series i highly doubt i will replay sadly.

    Honestly disappointed that i felt as if i was forcing myself    Overall it's a fun game, great music with fun combat and brilliant characters just like the original. Unfortunately this game pads out the midgar section of this grand story to an exhaustively long length.. With later installments of the ff7 story this is the part of the remake series i highly doubt i will replay sadly.

    Honestly disappointed that i felt as if i was forcing myself through what felt like hollow and unnecessary chapters of the game to get to that main story beats.    … Expand
  46. Gravvy85
    Apr 11, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As an avid fan of the original awaiting a faithful remake I was sadly disappointed while some points were great and they did well expanding on the world and the side characters but some of their changes to combat and the materia system made it a bit jarring to play as I realised the ramifications of that system and that my favorite combinations and some of my favorite attacks/materia wont make it into the game. Then to get sucker punched with the ending where they basically completely rewrote the story and are trying to turn it into a Kingdom Hearts spin off **** thing just made me sick to my stomach.… Expand
  47. Sir_Ligma
    Apr 10, 2020
    3
    Game feels stretched to keep the story within Midgar, personally I didn't like the combat but I'm more of a fan of the turn based. After waiting so long I really wanted to love the game but after finishing it I cant say I would ever play it again.
  48. OriginalFF7fan
    Apr 29, 2020
    0
    Don’t be fooled by the 10/10 copypasted bot-reviews from 1-rating-1-review-random-google-image-avatar ‘reviewers’ with names like ‘GIANTMONKEYBUTT’.

    Instead, ask yourself: When you played the original Midgar segment, did you think ‘Wow, this could only be better if it were 6 times longer and all that extra length was devoted to running down Manhunt-ripped drab concrete hallways doing    Don’t be fooled by the 10/10 copypasted bot-reviews from 1-rating-1-review-random-google-image-avatar ‘reviewers’ with names like ‘GIANTMONKEYBUTT’.

    Instead, ask yourself: When you played the original Midgar segment, did you think ‘Wow, this could only be better if it were 6 times longer and all that extra length was devoted to running down Manhunt-ripped drab concrete hallways doing grindy Korean MMO-tier fetch quests?’ Of course you didn’t. But SE’s marketing department sure wants to think you did. This is the most soulless, poorly-written piece of filth which SE has yet to excrete. It’s time we accept that Nomura is a hack and that the original FF7 was a perfect storm that isn’t happening again.

    In addition to being padded as all hell so they can break in into installments and charge you for the game 10 times over, this isn’t a remake. This is a sequel about writing over the original plot with the most pretentious pseudo-intellectual fanfiction in existence:

    - Everything you loved about the original game has been retconned. Everyone's canon personalities have been overwritten with anime-archetypes. Aerith is now a random-pixie-dream girl who's so cliche-riddled, it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn Nomura had the TV Tropes page open when he wrote her cringeworthy 'dialogue'.

    - Shinra have actually been given LESS depth (ERR: Div by 0) to the point where they make Captain Planet’s villains look complex and subtle.

    - Twists for the sake of twists a la The Last Jedi.

    - Horrible ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEAL archetypes occupy most of the extra length.

    - Open mockery of fans of the original game for ACTUALLY wanting the remake we were promised. (I’m not joking. They literally insult their own original game’s fanbase as a plot point.)

    - Buggy as hell.

    - Attempts to retcon in Dirge of Cerberus. Did you like Dirge of Cerberus? Because this game has more in common with that than the original FF7.

    - Looks horrible because SE outsourced the development of the 3D assets to a sweatshop in Malaysia. The few models SE made themselves and the outsourced NPC models are jarringly mismatched. Also, the environments look like PSP textures.

    - The new retconned ending is literally so terrible that SE is threatening to sue youtubers who post it out of fear it will hurt their sales.

    The new ‘retconned’ plot literally reads like something Nomura scrawled on the back of a pizza box while huffing Nos in the dumpster outside Kojima’s. If you’re a fan of the original, DO NOT buy this.    … Expand
  49. SirFortinbras
    May 1, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ghosts? No thanks.

    An unnecessary addition to the storyline that actively goes out of its way to infest the rest of the narrative, and because of the total lack of payoff (and childish sequence of final battles), it just spoils the rest of the game retroactively as well.    … Expand
  50. NashEquil
    Apr 20, 2020
    1
    Final Fantasy VII REMAKE is a sad, delusional, fragmented, shell of the original. They took one of the greatest stories in console history, chopped it up, and added 30 hours of boring, slogging, pointless gameplay. For new players, the story will make absolutely no sense. For veterans, you will instantly realize they destroyed everything there was to love. Nobody wanted this.
    R.I.P. FFVII 2020
  51. Cwarner
    Apr 10, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I fell like i should have seen this coming. For the first hour or so, i was sold. If i put it down after two hours in, i'd have rated it a 10.

    The story just derails so quickly. I don't know exactly when it happened or at what point, but i just realized i was bored to death. After the first mako reactor blows up, its like a completely different game. A little added content is always appreciated, always helps flesh the story out, but this game quickly hits the point where it loses sight of the original story completely and ends up going down mindlessly boring tangents.

    Then, at one point, it hit me and i remembered having read something a while back about how Square Enix planned on putting this out in episodes. Suddenly, it all made sense; all the mindless padding, the drawn out cutscenes, needless dialogue and slow animations. They have done literally everything they can to draw this installment out while adding nothing of real substance to the experience. It's all just to pad the little bit of plot they chopped out so they can extend it into a long, grueling cash in.

    The worst part is, i could have probably stomached it, maybe, if they intended to make it a two part deal, but now I'm hearing three episodes? four? FIVE? At $60 a whack! Not only is this practice a horrific trend in the industry, costly for the average gamer, but it also completely drains the overall experience of enjoyment. Nothing like playing through a fifth of the story and waiting four months to a year for the next chapter to come out to help you lose interest entirely.

    If you're going to prey on my nostalgia, at least do it right.

    I have a feeling this one will be on sale quick, so maybe just wait until then. Better yet, wait a year or so until the 'Complete Edition' comes out, and at least then you'll get the whole game and only get stung for full price once, not to mention pick up all the overpriced dlc they no doubt have planned for this title.    … Expand
  52. James_Jimmy
    Apr 13, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Alternate timeline where Zack is alive? Zack's death is literally the catalyst for Cloud's character in the majority of FFVII and now there's an alternate reality where he's alive? Sephiroth travels back in time to change date? This is not a Remake. This is spitting on anything Sakaguchi and team had built all these years ago. It's false advertising and a travesty. Send a message to Square Enix and do not buy this mess.… Expand
  53. kemutsemu
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    In the process of getting a refund. A little after it became apparent that Nomura was pulling a Kingdom Hearts with it, I lost all interest.

    If you want to play Final Fantasy 7, go play Final Fantasy 7. If you want a broad-strokes replication of the first 5 hours of Final Fantasy 7, but with multiverse shenanigans that strongly imply that the most impactful moments of the original will be    In the process of getting a refund. A little after it became apparent that Nomura was pulling a Kingdom Hearts with it, I lost all interest.

    If you want to play Final Fantasy 7, go play Final Fantasy 7. If you want a broad-strokes replication of the first 5 hours of Final Fantasy 7, but with multiverse shenanigans that strongly imply that the most impactful moments of the original will be undone in future entries, play this.    … Expand
  54. SinsOfChaos
    Apr 10, 2020
    4
    Final fantasy 7 is not a remake for fans, it's a remake for Square Enix's pockets and we can see that through the decision to make a single game into 3-4 games. They wanted to squeeze as much as they could from their consumers and this first installment is a proof of that.

    This first installment could've easily been an 8 to hours long game, it didn't need to be this long. It's basically a    Final fantasy 7 is not a remake for fans, it's a remake for Square Enix's pockets and we can see that through the decision to make a single game into 3-4 games. They wanted to squeeze as much as they could from their consumers and this first installment is a proof of that.

    This first installment could've easily been an 8 to hours long game, it didn't need to be this long. It's basically a series of repetitive mundane activities that you do for the sake of prolonging the game without bringing any substance or development to the story. The little story we have in this installment is interesting, some people might like the major changes to the story and others who are nostalgic might not.

    As for combat, they are using ff15's combat system which I personally hated. Movement in combat feels almost robotic, camera movement is annoying and characters sometimes just stand there and do nothing when you're not controlling them.

    I do feel that if they would've just made the whole game, worry more about giving fans who have supported the company for years and years what they deserve instead of thinking of how they can abuse them, it would've been a great game. It doesn't need all these unnecessary content that brings absolutely nothing to the player, it needs to engage people, to make sure that we are having fun at every step of the way. This is not a final fantasy game, this is just another software SE created to fill their pockets like every console and mobile projects in the recent years.    … Expand
  55. ToguroYounger
    Apr 22, 2020
    0
    The formula of this CASH-GRAB is far too simplistic:

    * Kingdom Hearts + Fantasy Fantasy 15 + Harry Potter = Final Fantasy 7: REBOOT *

    * That's right! This CASH-GRAB is definitely not a REMAKE, so I advise you to invest your MONEY in something that is at least worth it, since this CASH-GRAB is not..!! *
  56. Tdg3
    Apr 17, 2020
    0
    Completely unfaithful to the original game. So much has been changed that this cannot be considered a ff7 remake, and should not have been advertised as one. This game is not what I wanted. I cannot stand the **** final fantasy xv style of combat.
  57. Keindel
    Apr 28, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The beginning is just amazing but when the game is about to end it becomes the Nomura **** with Kingdom Hearst stupidity, please remove Nomura… Expand
  58. Alpha17x
    Apr 12, 2020
    2
    This game suffers from a severe technical issue on the PS4 Slim in which it will frequently false-trigger a data corruption error when no corruption has actually occurred. A true data-corruption error crashes the game entirely but in FF7 Remake the game will continue to run behind the error. The only reason you have to stop playing is that closing the error message forces closure of theThis game suffers from a severe technical issue on the PS4 Slim in which it will frequently false-trigger a data corruption error when no corruption has actually occurred. A true data-corruption error crashes the game entirely but in FF7 Remake the game will continue to run behind the error. The only reason you have to stop playing is that closing the error message forces closure of the game.

    One SSHD and one SSD, both passing all diagnostics with flying colors, 3 reinstalls, two database rebuilds. The game is amazing but I can't recommend buying it at this time.    … Expand
  59. Bloodbane2099
    Apr 13, 2020
    4
    Besides a beautiful graphics engine Final Fantasy 7 remake fails to impress gameplay wise on almost all fronts,im a Huge Final Fantasy 7 fan i must have played through the original more times then i can count which is why its sad to say this game is such a huge disappointment,essentially they took a tiny portion of the original the first 5 to 6 hours or so which was a terrible idea toBesides a beautiful graphics engine Final Fantasy 7 remake fails to impress gameplay wise on almost all fronts,im a Huge Final Fantasy 7 fan i must have played through the original more times then i can count which is why its sad to say this game is such a huge disappointment,essentially they took a tiny portion of the original the first 5 to 6 hours or so which was a terrible idea to begin with and made a long over dull and sadly not very fun to play re imaging of those first 5 to 6 hours,most aspects are padded to extreme levels to the point of just wanting to get it over with, chapters 5,6,and 7 are all a consecutive dungeon which devolves into running around hitting switches here and there and trying to get the matieria they tease you with that's just out of reach because of silly and just plain bad dungeon design,during combat the camera will often swing around wildly things will hit you off screen that you can not see because the camera is cropped so close to the character your using at the moment i swear there giving you a proctology exam,often times enemy attack animations will essentially stun lock you and the damage becomes unavoidable as well,the enemy's also seem to just gang up on the character your using at the time,they will actually stop attacking the AI controlled party members and make a B line for you alone,not to mention the AI controlled party members have abyssmil coding and will mindlessly attack what ever. in short combat is kind of a train wreck but with patches could be fixed,its a damn shame to see this happen but it is what it is,despite some beautiful graphics and some interesting music remixes, sadly poor retelling of the original midgard opening and dull boring and often times uninteresting gameplay will reserve this remake to only the most diehard of diehard Final Fantasy 7 fans =(… Expand
  60. onetrickwolf
    Apr 15, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Would probably wait until all the parts are out and it's on PC or a newer system. The story is kind of a mess with some major retconning that tries to tie it into the not great sequels and prequels and then on top of that they add a very convoluted "Kingdom Hearts-level" multiple dimension story to explain why the story might diverge from the original. I don't mind if they diverged the story, but I found the way they did it to be extremely lazy, not interesting, and confusing.

    That being said, the visuals are great and it's really neat seeing some of the old graphics recreated and some characters and areas expanded on. But since that's all the game really has going for it, I will probably just wait until all the parts are out and released for the newer systems at a higher quality.    … Expand
  61. Teddy_Shinobi_9
    Apr 16, 2020
    4
    Did not expect the main story line to take such a KH3 like drastic turn. Not looking forward to the next part and will not buy it until I know what the whole story is.
  62. songforyou0313
    Jul 25, 2021
    4
    Everything is perfect except the story.
    The new concept could be pretty interesting but Square Enix only can write ****
    Tetsuya Nomura must be proud of FFXV and KH3. He really doesn't know the story sucks. FFVII RE is like a part of KH universe.
    Let's see how he will destroy FFVII totally in part 2.
  63. Elfyth
    Apr 14, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am very disappointed wtih Squer Enix. They took a diamond which was the FF7 and transformed to a charcoal. Apart that the whole scenario is for kids of 10 years old the biggest disappoint is that there is not an open world. FF7 without beeing an open world it is not FF7 not even a remake .… Expand
  64. kuehnau
    Sep 27, 2022
    3
    The original Final Fantasy 7 was the whole reason why I even bought a Sony Playstation to begin with. I worked a paper route at the time and I was making about $75.00 a month.

    Maybe it was the fact I had to work so hard to even buy the game that it holds such fond memories? So, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, where do I begin..? Well, it's not what I expected. A lot of the dialog feels weird    The original Final Fantasy 7 was the whole reason why I even bought a Sony Playstation to begin with. I worked a paper route at the time and I was making about $75.00 a month.

    Maybe it was the fact I had to work so hard to even buy the game that it holds such fond memories?

    So, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, where do I begin..? Well, it's not what I expected. A lot of the dialog feels weird or off. Characters will say things that seem incredibly awkward or misplaced. Barrett seems like they changed him in to a full blown psychopath Greenpeace terrorist. And I get it, Avalanche were basically terrorists at the time, but Barret just seems so over the top it isn't funny.
    Then I remember that this first installment of the game only goes up until the point you actually leave Midgar. The developers said they wanted to tell a bigger, wider story. I don't know if I feel inclined to believe that. The slums in Midgar are just terrible mazes of hallways with little pockets of open spaces, all of the environments in this area all look the same and it gets to the point traveling without the mini map is actually almost impossible.

    Adding to that is the fact there are areas you just can't go to. They are either literally locked off, or the game will simply force you to turn around and tell you to get bent. There's a ton of optional quests that are either fetch quests or combat quests. And they are placed so far apart they have you running to opposite fringes of the slums to complete them. The developers must have realized that their design of the slums were awful, because they added options to automatically go back to a quest giver after you complete your tasks.

    So far none of these quests feel meaningful in any capacity. Go kill some rats, go find my cats, go talk to this NPC. These quests and the characters that are involved with them are almost instantly forgotten by me. This doesn't feel like it's expanding the story or the world in a thoughtful way. This feels like padding tacked on as an excuse not to present the whole story in a single installment.

    I sometimes wonder if it's because Final Fantasy 7 came on so many disks that the developers felt inclined to drag the entire story out or if it was sheer greed motivating them, stretching the series out as far as they could to milk it as long as possible. I feel inclined to believe it's the later. People need to remember Final Fantasy 7 wasn't actually all that long, the extra disks that came with the original game were there mostly to hold all the CGI elements, not the major contents of the game itself. T
    he combat system is what it is. It feels clunky and oddly paced to me. They included a optional mode called classic mode that makes an attempt at emulating the classic combat feeling of the original game while still using their own combat system, almost as if the developers realized people weren't going to like their new combat system.

    Bottom line is this, the game feels badly paced, a lot of the additional story telling feels forgettable, the dialog is weird and the combat is clunky. After waiting so long for a remake of Final Fantasy, this isn't what I was expecting and it's not really what I wanted.

    I am probably not going to buy any of the other games, I am unsure if I am going to even keep buying Square Enix games, they've really went down hill.    … Expand
  65. AVAVT
    Apr 15, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game was okay - normal albeit a bit boring up until the last portion where you climb the Shinra tower, at which point it go straight downward until it reach borderline disgusting.

    I have a feeling the last several chapters was done rushed to meet deadlines because the quality of everything suddenly dropped significantly.

    1. Story got really messed up, dialogues are cliché as heck, probably the writer ran out of time and just insert whichever line first come to their head.

    Game is totally not for newcomer, because unless you already played the original FF7, you will have absolutely no idea who the white haired guy the party is ganging up against is, and what he has done to deserve such treatment.

    2. A game freeze bug that most people get by just play normally. I lost 5 hours of gameplay because I was stuck permanently immediately after a grinding spot. The whole game is only 3X hours, and poof, 5 hours gone just like that.

    3. The gameplay is just badly designed.

    Because Enix likes action games, they try to "improve" the original ATB system into a "more active turn based combat". What they got was a worse version of classic Hack'n'slash.

    - Most of the Materia in game are garbage, just space-filler to make it looks like there's a lot of new and old Materia. You won't even have the interest to mix-match Materia in your equipment like the original, because there's no real "combo" to use.

    - As a new addition, they give you a "talent build" equivalent system, which is named "weapon upgrade".

    Sounds fun, but in reality what it mean is you will spend most of the time choosing between "+10 atk talent that cost 16 sp" versus "+3 attack talent that cost 5 sp" in 6 different swords x 4 characters. And you will likely choose the latest weapon anyway, except for Barret if you want to keep playing ranged (which is OP as heck)

    Probably the playtesters voiced that problem as well, so they add an "auto upgrade" feature, which you will turn on for all of your weapons if you are smart.

    This weapon upgrade is prime example of a complex system with 0 depth.

    The design only get worse into the late game. I have this thought the entire game that with 4 PCs and a party of only 3 people, how will they resolve the Materia/Equipment management issue at endgame? Turns out they don't. They ran out of time. They just add a square button DURING cutscene that you have to hold if you want to change equipment. If you forgot, good luck fighting with naked Barret.

    The late game fights feel like they never went through 2nd design iteration. in the last several fight you basically have 5 seconds to smash buttons, and then interrupted by another cutscene animation, and repeat for half an hour.

    The game could have been decent. Fighting was boring, but at least the story was good. But the last portion show so much disrespect for the player.

    SE obviously just want to get this cash-grab done with asap to fund other projects. When they said they delayed release to "get a better game", they probably didn't even have a running game by then. The delay was so they can compile the first version that could actually run.    … Expand
  66. Honkhonkler
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    As a remake of ff7, this game fails entirely, because it is a sequel. They lied about what the game is in order to sell more pre-order and many people got duped.
  67. kremator
    Apr 13, 2020
    1
    Boring, it seems that all old titles that were remastered / remade are done by lazy people.
  68. Maxentirunos
    Apr 10, 2020
    3
    I created this account just to be able to put my review. I can't believe how much people gobble giving this game 10 and 9 but you can see that the negative review are actually more prevalent in the 'useful' view of the silent majority.

    First thing first, an argument that have been made that need to be debunked right now. This game cannot be judge as a standalone game. If it could, it    I created this account just to be able to put my review. I can't believe how much people gobble giving this game 10 and 9 but you can see that the negative review are actually more prevalent in the 'useful' view of the silent majority.

    First thing first, an argument that have been made that need to be debunked right now. This game cannot be judge as a standalone game. If it could, it would be named FFXVI, episode 1, and would have received a solid 7 or even 8 from me. But it's not, his name is FF7 remake, and was marketed as a remake of FF7, a game existing for more than 20 years, that millions of people played and still have a massive community of players and modders. Giving a review while ignoring the original game and without comparison is absolutely disingenuous. Now, let's go over the review

    Graphics 9/10
    This is, without a doubt, the greatest strength of FF7RE. From the modern look of characters to the modernization of the 240p backgrounds of original FF7, the game is gorgeous. The engine and photo-realism are stunning, to the point that my only way sometime to separate actual cinematics from pre-scripted in game events was when Cloud sword and other characters weapon goes back to default. Without this detail, I wouldn't have been able to see the differences.
    More over, the facial expression of the characters give life to the emotions the original FF7 was lacking into transmitting to us. Where the original polygon had only one facial expression and the polygons of Barret had to do a pirouette with the polygons of Marlene to try to transmit the familial love between the two, a 10 seconds scene of Barret and Marlene give way more information about how soft Barret actually is. Of course the voice acting play as much but will be mentioned later in musics and ambiance.
    I can also now see how Hojo can be the actual father of Sephiroth and the kind of guy that attract beautiful women when he take a day off at Costa del Sol instead of the creepy crawly scientist that should give his father card to Vincent.
    My only negative about this is that the engine generic asset taken directly from FF15 give me once in a while a sore eye when I see them.

    Gameplay 4/10
    This is, with the story, the most divisive point concerning the remake. If this game was a standalone, I would give a 6 or 7. It's a direct follow up in the evolution of rpg combat system square have in his FF since the beginning. From turn-based, to ATB based, to going more and more toward action rpg akin to a beat them all.
    But it's not a standalone, it's a remake, was marketed as a remake, and must be judged as such. What me and most of the fans of FF7 i was talking with on the FF7.fr forum were expected was a return to the source, a modernized version of the original atb system, a tactical turn-based rpg where you heavily prepare your party to face opposition in a turned base system. Instead we got FF15 combat system moderately modified with a skin applied over. One of my friend sentence resumed very well the situation : I like FF7, FF12 13 15 and kingdom heart too. But if I want to play an action rpg, I play FF15 and KH, not FF7. I am not launching a play of FF7 for that.
    Some people will say there is a turn-based mode but it's only workable with grunts and basics enemies, not bosses, because of what I am going to describe.
    The game work on a mix between a beat them all with apparent numbers and an action rpg. You control one character at a time that are the main target of enemies. While you are doing basic actions like attacking, moving and dodging, an atb bar load letting you use actions like objects, special attacks and magic in exchange for one or two atb bars. The system seems effective and simple, enjoyable to play. But here begin the problems:
    Most ATB actions have a long build up that is constantly cut by enemies attacks, making you miss that action, from specials attacks to basics magics and items. Some of you seems to think this is a good thing, forcing you to learn enemy pattern to know when you can and cannot use these actions... I am sorry, when did I begin to play Dark soul in my FF ?
    More over, You must switch between characters in battle to make them do any other actions than the basics given above. The IA don't do these by default and there isn't any way to set that... Are you kidding me? This kind of feature exist in FF since FF12 with the gambit system, since 2006, almost 15 years, or even 2002 if you take other Square games like the original KH.
    Even worse, the concept of player character being main target id done as a way to balance the game but the IA is absolute dumb in the move and dodge part. It constantly put the characters in the way of the most harmful attacks and begin a game of trying to make them survive said attacks instead of a fight.
    Outside of fight gameplay, the outside of it is padded with useless side quests that can all be resumed by 'go found the slightly more stronger monster.'    … Expand
  69. AerithSkies
    Apr 12, 2020
    1
    This is not a Remake. It's a travesty.
    Most reviews are from people who did not finish the game. The ending, and the upcoming games, are an insult to fans. Do yourself a favour and ignore this game exists. It looks nice, it does many things right, but it **** everything up and spits in the face of the lore.
  70. Danni5659
    Apr 13, 2020
    3
    I hope J.K.Rawling sues over copyright infringement. A mild update in graphics doesn't overcome the destruction of a perfect story.
  71. SuineUzumaki
    Apr 13, 2020
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I am a huge Final Fantasy fan. I have played the original Final Fantasy VII and was completely open minded to whatever direction the new dev team wanted. I was so prepared and ready to give this game a 10/10. But as you can tell by my score, I was let down. And this is all just my opinion, if you enjoyed the game I am happy that you were able to, I unfortunately was unable to. Also, spoilers ahead so be warned!

    To start off, I'll state what was good about the game. The character designs are amazing. I fell in love with the new updated looks. The game can be absolutely enjoyable. I would say that 30-40% of the game is nearly perfect. Anytime the game focused on the main beats of the story, the game was a blast to play. Playing the Don Corneo beats, going to Wall Market (experiencing Honey Bee), fighting Reno and Rude, etc. All of it was wonderful. The combat can be rather enjoyable and challenging, which is always good to have. They fleshed out the characters a lot more than the original and at points made them feel more relate-able than the original. Cloud and Tifa's relationship is more well-rounded, Barret was toned down a little (could have been more well-rounded in my opinion), Tifa and Aerith's friendship is brought to light. Even Biggs, Wedge and Jessie are more thought out. But as I stated before that's roughly 30-40% of the game. The rest of it was absolutely a disappointment.

    There are so many issues that I have so I will do my best to cover all of my issues here:

    - The music is downright hard to hear. I have seen some comments on how the music doesn't compare and to be honest, I agree. It is lackluster in comparison to the original.

    - Jessie is completely written as a desperate thirsty lady who cannot wait to get into Cloud’s pants. It is a shame that they drove her character from being attracted to Cloud to being downright almost begging him to have sex with her. If anything, it made me hate her character and made me not care about her at all.

    - The textures in this game are horrendous. I do not know what the issue is. I cannot tell if they did not render the right textures into the game or if they have an issue of textures changing from long to short distance. For example, Cloud’s apartment doors, walls, windows, the bricks on the Leaf House, etc. It reminds me of Sonic ’06 which makes me so sad that I have to compare it to that.

    - I have to remind myself that Materia is even a thing in this game as it feels like it was an after thought. It’s there for nostalgia and nothing else.

    - Sephiroth comes into this game way too early and for no real reason. He shows up all the time for no real purpose to the story. Sephiroth only shows up so early here simply to tease the fanboys and fangirls. It has no plot relevance at all.

    - The script. I was 100% prepared for there to be changes in the story and would have welcomed them as long as they made sense to the overarching theme, plot, characters, and so on. If I am being honest, my original time spent in Midgar was maybe 6 hours, 10 hours at most if I am being generous. In my opinion, the original Midgar script felt fleshed out. It was the inciting incident, it banned the group together and got me prepared to fight Sephiroth and save the world. But that is just not the case here. It is completely dulled out and flushed out to a microscopic amount that it is extremely boring. The sense of urgency for example in many key moments is completely gone simply because we need to spend a full chapter and two boss fights in a train graveyard for no reason. As a player it was infuriating. The story is so hard to find through the mountain of quests, dulled out chapters, crazy long dungeons, and way too many unnecessary boss fights. 50% of this story can be cut out and it would be for the better. It feels as if this was only fluffed out to hide the fact they did not have the open world map or mechanics figured out yet. And I can't even talk about the ridiculous additions near the end, it was awful.

    - There are issues with the combat despite the fact I said they can be thrilling and fun at times. First off, the camera does not follow your target if you are locked onto them which can be extremely frustrating. Secondly, the ATB is infuriating at times. Charging abilities is totally alright, in fact the Summon and Limit Breaks are done well in this game. But the fact that enemies have home-seeking abilities that hit you while you are using an ATB to use an item or spell and then knock you out of it taking your ATB with it, is so frustrating. It makes the system feel as if it is based on luck. Aerith’s AI is wonky and does not do anything unless you control her, at least in my experience. You can get stun-locked so easily and it is extremely frustrating. The dodge system barely works, running around acts as a better dodge.

    Overall, it was amazing during the story and boring when it wasn't.    … Expand
  72. epodes
    Apr 14, 2020
    1
    The fanboyism is real. Square Enix is milking this to oblivion. Who would pay $60 dollars for one third of a game?
  73. kaindourden
    Apr 15, 2020
    1
    SquareEnix lied to us, they to all FF7's fan. They betrayed their words to stay "faithful to the original game story". They baited us with shiny images and graphics and musics, which, indeed, were excellent.
    But they were hiding the truth to us all... They baited us and we all fell for their lies...
    I'm saying that because everything was good, VERY good, until the last 2 chapters that    SquareEnix lied to us, they to all FF7's fan. They betrayed their words to stay "faithful to the original game story". They baited us with shiny images and graphics and musics, which, indeed, were excellent.
    But they were hiding the truth to us all... They baited us and we all fell for their lies...
    I'm saying that because everything was good, VERY good, until the last 2 chapters that DESTROY, annihilate, the original game's story. It takes it, piss, **** and spit on it and throw it to garbage before our confused eyes that don't want to belove what they're seeing.
    They slaughter the original game story with bull**** "fate" and "let's change the future" bull****.

    They did everything nearly perfect! From awesome chapter 1, to chapter 2, to chapter 3,4, 5... EVERYTHING was awesome! Then... then... some idi0ts decide to reboot everything from a certain point near the end of the game and transform the original FF7's story everyone beloved and cherish into a monstruosity mix of Kingdom heart HEART & "fAte and DeSTInY" shenanigans!

    Also, people supposed to die are living! Hurray! Lets **** on every major story's element! Barrett's deep story is basically throw to garbage...

    F- you SquareEnix, you ruined it all... Just 2 chapters... Just 2 GODD@MN chapter rushed with stupid non-sense kingdom heart-like bullsh!t that has nothing to do with the original game. Just 2 godd@mn chapters written by an absolute and total @utist(s) who don't give 2 sh!t about respecting the original game's story and its fans... Just 2 chapters to turn what could have been the best game of the last decade into a complete SH!T...    … Expand
  74. DevAtStation
    Apr 16, 2020
    4
    The parts of the game that were taken from the original most of them remain good. ALL THE NEW PARTS, specially the dementors from Harry Potter, ruin this game.
  75. Shazzaabi
    Apr 17, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After finishing the game I almost wish I hadn't bought it. Some of the best scenes have been replaced by ridiculous alternatives and the atmosphere from the original game is lost. All we wanted was ff vii with todays graphics. Not a **** replacement… Expand
  76. Jibril935
    Apr 20, 2020
    1
    Amazing visuals, great music, overall a good game. However it’ was falsely advertised as a faithful retelling of the story, and it doesn’t, it completely changes the story. this isn’t FF7, more like Alternate Final Fantasy 7, what would have happened if none of the important things actually happened.
  77. Hyperbole86
    Apr 21, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Despite the number above I really liked the game. Its actually a strong B+ however given how many glowing reviews there are I don't want Square enix to get the wrong impression and think they re-captured lightening in a bottle. Amazing game. Loved every second of it until the end. I know they want to give us a new experience but they really don't need to. The updated audio and graphics, side stories and the intricate environment IS the new thing. It's ok. The story can be the same exact story. Just look at the facebook or reddit game threads, it is what the fans actually want. The story is literally already perfect, it can't be more perfect, changing it can only make it worse and lead to fan rage/less sales. So please do us all a favor and just remake the original game going forward. Please don't reboot the game, no one wants that. I'm glad you kill the big whisper at the end because I never want to hear about fate, crossroads, or see another dementor again. Also other constructive feedback, let a character stay dead, it cheapens the stakes if everyone comes back. Finally stop with Zack. Cloud is the protagonist not Zack. Zack is like superman great but conceptionally boring. What makes Cloud a million times better is that there is nothing innately special about him. Hes just a kid with some mild altruistic traits who crushes on the girl next door and through a series of traumatic events and some Jenova cells/Mako later becomes the hero we all know and love. The fans love Cloud BECAUSE he is a flawed character, let the protagonist be flawed. It's ok. His flaws give him the strength to be the hero. So let Zack die, like the one dimensional plot device he is. You got it right the first time. You don't need to change it. Please for the sake follow up parts, remake not reboot.… Expand
  78. holdenmph
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    So disappointed by this game... they COMPLETELY missed the mark on overall tone/atmosphere. It's extremely cheesy and does not feel like FF7 at all to me. Not to mention all the pointless but consequential changes they made to the story. BIG sigh on this one such a shame
  79. JardelX1
    Apr 14, 2020
    0
    This is not a Remake, even a Reboot, it's like a fan-fiction. It's sad but a true Remake never gonna happen.
  80. BilliePamplin
    Apr 11, 2020
    0
    SquareEnix is so incompetent that they couldn't even make Red XIII a playable character even though this remake covers only the Midgar part of the original game. After 10 years or more of development, what kind of joke is this, SquareEnix? Hah?
  81. Lavie
    Apr 14, 2020
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Un mal juego para nuevos y antiguos jugadores. Una revisión que no hace justicia al gran juego del que viene. El juego más lineal que recuerdo en años. Cierto que el original la parte de Midgar es lineal, pero dura 4 horas de las 50 totales. Este juegos es lineal en su máxima expresión. Pasillos de 3 metros de ancho y 50 de largo que conectan con más pasillos. Cero exploración, con ninguna parte nueva, no como prometieron. Mazmorras pasilleras y largas, con batallas excesivamente alargadas. Algunos jefes mueren por desgaste, echando 45 minutos en algunos de ellos. Alargando el juego lo máximo que pueden. En términos de historia es horrendo, es un cúmulo de presentación de personajes que no llevan a ninguna parte. Rompen el ritmo en situaciones clave. "El pilar va a caer, es el momento perfecto de meter tres mazmorras seguidas super largas, total prisa para avisar a nuestros amigos ninguna."
    Y bueno, quitemos hierro al asunto de generar una tensión o que los actos tienen consecuencias. El factor crudeza de tirar todo el sector, sepultado a todos los personajes que allí estaban desaparece. Sobreviven todos, vaya a ser que nos pongamos tristes con la muerte de npcs sin vida. De uno de los juegos más oscuros y tristes de la historia a uno más del montón family friendly. No entro en el final de la historia porque no merece ni la pena. Espero que no entremos en el juego de esta compañía y dejemos de comprar sus juegos.    … Expand
  82. Willsimm1986
    Apr 14, 2020
    0
    Remember FF13? Yeah, that, but only 1/5 the actual game. It's so up it's own butt about looking pretty and redconning original story that I will be refusing to buy any more of these money grabs. Square is dead in my eyes.
  83. RayfordWidener
    Apr 12, 2020
    0
    Unfortunately, I can't recommend this game to anyone because it is a total disrespect to the original game.
  84. trens45
    Apr 17, 2020
    0
    I wonder, why didn't Tetsuya Nomura include Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck and Pluto in this new Kingdom Hearts game? Wouldn't that be an awesome Reinvention? Now if you excuse me, I'm going to play the original Final Fantasy VII game, again.
  85. QueenSith
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    When we were asking for a remake of FF VII we didn't mean what S-E has done. This is not a remake. The game is incomplete, the combat system is very poor. Trying to keep the turn-based system and adding action at the same time doesn't work. All the action part is unnecessary.

    I would undersand the division if they had created a big open world full of interesting content from Midgar    When we were asking for a remake of FF VII we didn't mean what S-E has done. This is not a remake. The game is incomplete, the combat system is very poor. Trying to keep the turn-based system and adding action at the same time doesn't work. All the action part is unnecessary.

    I would undersand the division if they had created a big open world full of interesting content from Midgar (even though it wouldn't be as faithful to the original game), but it's not the case. The city is completely limited and linear, and the added content lacks quality. It was added just to hide that the game is really short, but it's too simple and boring.

    The filler of the story is just a Nomura invention. He should has never laid a hand on this development.    … Expand
  86. rawrbearclaws
    Apr 10, 2020
    3
    Update; after completing this I'm knocking my review score lower to 3/10.

    Not terrible but certainly not as impressive as I thought it would be. SE seems to have resurrected a lot of mistakes from previous installments; they seemed really close to getting things right after FFXV. This plays kinda like a VII spin-off rather than a remake. As other reviewers have said; it seems kinda    Update; after completing this I'm knocking my review score lower to 3/10.

    Not terrible but certainly not as impressive as I thought it would be.

    SE seems to have resurrected a lot of mistakes from previous installments; they seemed really close to getting things right after FFXV.

    This plays kinda like a VII spin-off rather than a remake. As other reviewers have said; it seems kinda padded rather than expansive.

    Midgar is not very "open". The environments do well to represent scale in most places and are also often relatively reminiscent of the original PSX BG art. However at the same time they feel quite claustral, meandering, cardboard-like and bland. The familiar XIII corridor syndrome is alive and kicking, just not as horrifically.

    The end-result was a sort of "guided tour" of Midgar, environments that didn't cohesively fit together to make up the city in a physical sense. It seems at odds with the larger Midgar that Square were going for.

    From the get-go the opening cinematics show the hustle and bustle of Midgar's streets. That's just not there; instead it's a hollow shell with limited exploration; it feels like a movie studio back-lot to me at least.

    It does do a fair amount right and there's some fantastic portions of the game; mainly chapter nine - however it's wildly inconsistent. It feels like every other chapter drops the ball. A fair amount of the dialogue sounded like it was written to fill gaps and, to me at least, drama lacked impact more often than not.

    It also seemed to bounce from realising the original game perfectly at some points; other times it felt like a generic RPG with a VII skin - then there was an odd touch of Kingdom Hearts. A few tropes such as ghosts (akin to heartless), melodramatic side-characters and KH-like level design in places made it seem like it was having an identity crisis. Some might enjoy this aspect of KHness but for me, it felt out of place and unwelcome.

    I have enjoyed it insofar it's been satisfying to play most of the time. Though I grew frustrated the more I played and by the end I was angry with the cheap changes they made - it was a bit like the Game of Thrones finale; yet worse in that it screwed up beyond forgiveness in its final moments. Chances are many fans will enjoy this game more than I did and I am a little jelly of that. If you played it and liked it then I'm happy for you.

    I still think Square could have done better though; I'm hoping successive parts are stronger and more consistent. I'd like to see meaningful side-quests that don't feel like an after-thought, story execution that doesn't seem oddly paced or padded with 'much ado about nothing' moments and consistent environments that don't feel like I'm on a movie-studio back-lot tour with "this way" signs. However the main thing is the extent to which the story has been sodomized - it's too late now and all I can do is my best to ignore Nomura's terrible edits.

    One big concern - which I think many are wondering - is that this is a very small portion of the original game and that makes me wonder just how many parts it will be divided in to. As each part will likely be a full-priced game I'm hoping they don't repeat these same mistakes in the next parts and don't give us a good-yet-inconsistent expanded chunk of the original each time, five times over. I'm really hoping part two is twice as big for that reason.

    On a side note, I've seen many comments about the soundtrack... I actually quite liked it myself. It didn't do some tracks justice but for the most part it was fun to listen to.    … Expand
  87. Revakun
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It worst than the horrible re3remake, the "classic" mode it's a joke (just watch how the game play itself), the Times travel excuse that ruined the story, and also this game is not complete (please, adding these stupid sidequests to increase artificially the lenght it doesnt do it a good game). Sorry Capcom, but on the worst competition remake, square enix wons you.… Expand
  88. socorobo
    Apr 11, 2020
    3
    FF7 Remake is both good and original. Unfortunately, the parts that are good aren't original and the parts that are original aren't good. When the game does what it was intended to do - remake the original FF7 - it's a great experience. Those parts have clearly been done with a lot of love and attention to detail. However, the Remake is not content to be just a remake. It feels it needs toFF7 Remake is both good and original. Unfortunately, the parts that are good aren't original and the parts that are original aren't good. When the game does what it was intended to do - remake the original FF7 - it's a great experience. Those parts have clearly been done with a lot of love and attention to detail. However, the Remake is not content to be just a remake. It feels it needs to improve upon the original with a completely new spin on the story. So the audience is inflicted with an entirely new plot that grows more and more absurd as the game progresses.

    Classic scenes from the original are ruined, new scenes added are conspicuously terrible - almost every new substantial addition is bad. There are two FF7 Remakes co-existing in this game. FF7 Remake is a straight up remake. It's great, it's nearly perfect. FF7 ReMAKE is an attempt to one-up the original game with new story additions and additional content drawing heavily from the FF7 'Extended Universe'. All of the ReMAKE, without exception, is awful and cheapens the original game. It's all of the worst tendencies of modern Squeenix - nonexistent characterisation, floaty and pointless anime duels, adolescent edginess and a complete lack of humanity.

    Nobody would remember the games in the FF7 Compilation if they weren't associated with the original game. They're terrible. The FF7 Compilation games are tiny parasites feeding on the mighty whale corpse that is the original FF7.

    It's a testament to how good FF7 is that it can inspire this sort of emotion 20 years later, and in the moments where the game hews closely to the original - even enhancing it - it's a fantastic experience. But the new additions are so bad, and so disrespectful to the original to which its indebted, that it hurts all the more because you can see how good the game could have been.    … Expand
  89. PegLoza
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    The crazy part about this remake is people are praising the game saying that it's a damn near perfect recreation of the original. I just don't get it, I just completed the game yesterday and I was VERY disappointed. They changed so damn much of the story.
  90. Fuknomura66
    Apr 13, 2020
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I find it so strange this game has such a high rating by both critics and users when I and anyone I know who has played/cleared it is disappointed. The parts that stayed true to the original are done so well and are amazing but typical of current Square to add terrible new story into something that worked so well over 20 years ago. A few examples of this are having the dementors from Harry Potter show up as a plot device and ruin moments that were so good in the original. Robbing players of Cloud and Aeris first encounters. Another is overly using Sephiroth. He is meant to be this very powerful fighter rumoured to have died and in the original you're curious and wanting answere about him but in the remake he's shown non stop. Even at the end they just cannot help themselves by making the last boss of all ff7 after a long journey build happen before leaving Midgar (and a jenova fight...)ruining any reason to give a **** This is like remaking Star wars original trilogy and in the first half hour of the film having luke beat vader in a fight. Why would you give a **** after that? Then adding confusing elements of timelines. It could have been so good. … Expand
  91. ulukinatme
    May 5, 2020
    2
    After waiting 23 years for a decent remake, I'm sad to this this thing is a disappointment. The combat is so incredibly awful, it's just clunky and isn't enjoyable. It's built for kids that get bored unless they're pushing the Square button 10,000 times a fight. Regular attacks only serve to build ATB for meaningful actions, so you're forced to mash Square over and over which is tediousAfter waiting 23 years for a decent remake, I'm sad to this this thing is a disappointment. The combat is so incredibly awful, it's just clunky and isn't enjoyable. It's built for kids that get bored unless they're pushing the Square button 10,000 times a fight. Regular attacks only serve to build ATB for meaningful actions, so you're forced to mash Square over and over which is tedious and in no way actually fun. The AI is useless for any character you're currently not controlling. They basically stand there and do nothing or super light damage until you decide to assign an action to them. I almost find it hard to believe Square Enix spent 5 years on this thing and they couldn't just implement the original combat style in that period of time (Don't get me started on "Classic" mode, it's a sad mix of the new standard and the old, bugs and all). It's obvious SE has catered to a younger generation and they've given long time fans the finger.
    I really wanted to give this thing a 0, but the graphics and music lived up to the expectations at least. The voice acting was good in most cases too, although Aerith is now unbearable to listen to, she just comes off as annoying unfortunately, so VA took a hit. Side quests are a hit and miss, did they really have to break this game into multiple sections so I could chase cats and play darts? Other than the Biggs/Jessie/Wedge mission there really wasn't anything worthwhile that was added in terms of story.
    There just isn't enough content in this title to call it a full game, shame on Square for misleading fans and breaking up a perfect story for extra dollars. What a horrible way to treat your fans, but I've come to expect that in recent years given their Gatcha games and sad titles. Dragon Quest 11 is the only decent thing they've released lately.    … Expand
  92. Yuuko
    Apr 12, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Amazing gameplay, absolutely great characters and music, but this game fails to be an actual REMAKE. Instead you get weird ghosts, time travel and whole lot of stuff that weren't in the orginal. Now it's just another confusing KH, but marketed, as FFVII RE.

    This game was clearly promoted as a faithful remake only to ruin it all in the end. You really think this is okay?

    Definitely NOT a 10/10 game if you actually care for the story of FFVII OG.    … Expand
  93. Whiteout
    Apr 24, 2020
    1
    As a fan of the original, it was the best game ever until chapter 18 happened.
    The intro, the feeling of bursting into the reactors living again this incredible story, the fight with the Airbuster, knowing you Avalanche mates better (Jessie!), meeting Aerith and walking on the rooftops with her, Wall Market, the Shinra Building, how some regular enemies from the original became bosses.
    I    As a fan of the original, it was the best game ever until chapter 18 happened.
    The intro, the feeling of bursting into the reactors living again this incredible story, the fight with the Airbuster, knowing you Avalanche mates better (Jessie!), meeting Aerith and walking on the rooftops with her, Wall Market, the Shinra Building, how some regular enemies from the original became bosses.
    I even liked some of the new content (a lot of fanservice and some filler but ok).
    But THAT final twist completely destroyed the love, FF7R could have follwed the original script and ended up being the best game ever, but no.
    Also, I'll never accept the fact that the game is censored; Tifa changes (while her Dissidia NT counterpart is perfect), Don Corneo picking only Cloud...

    No I'm not gonna buy part 2, and other SE games that involve Nomura and the Ethics Department.    … Expand
  94. Eldunari
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    Not a remake, more like FF7-2. Square fooled us into believe this was a true remake.
  95. zackdotsh
    Apr 10, 2020
    0
    I remember being 12 and getting FF7 for Christmas. I kept telling myself "This doesn't feel like Final Fantasy." I kept pushing though until I got out of Midgar and then suddenly the game opened up. I was thrilled and it became a game that will always be in my memory. It was even better FF6 and Chrono Trigger but this remake was never for me.

    I was OK with the ATB system being removed    I remember being 12 and getting FF7 for Christmas. I kept telling myself "This doesn't feel like Final Fantasy." I kept pushing though until I got out of Midgar and then suddenly the game opened up. I was thrilled and it became a game that will always be in my memory. It was even better FF6 and Chrono Trigger but this remake was never for me.

    I was OK with the ATB system being removed because everyone said it was archaic. I actually like the new combat. The reason I give this a 1 is because I'm getting 10% of the game I thought I was buying.    … Expand
  96. westparker
    Apr 10, 2020
    2
    This remake is not what I expected as a fan of the original game. From the beginning the urgency and excitement of the opening bombing mission is absent and is a sign to things to come, with the entire Midgar section padded out in the most disappointing fashion, with new tedious missions, and remarkably, massive changes to the story that show us that this is not a remake, but a totallyThis remake is not what I expected as a fan of the original game. From the beginning the urgency and excitement of the opening bombing mission is absent and is a sign to things to come, with the entire Midgar section padded out in the most disappointing fashion, with new tedious missions, and remarkably, massive changes to the story that show us that this is not a remake, but a totally different game altogether. The characters and the setting might look familiar, but this is not Final Fantasy VII. The story is different, the pacing is different, the characters act different. And not in a good way.… Expand
  97. kexga
    Apr 18, 2020
    0
    if only it wasn't for that end... It is not a remake, misleading advertising. the first 90% of the game is a 9,5/10, but the last hour it's a kingdom hearts game, it doesn't make any sense and now they are free to change everything they want. The last sentence before the credits is: THE UNKNOWN JOURNEY WILL CONTINUE. I don't want that because the sold it as a remake not as a spin off. Iif only it wasn't for that end... It is not a remake, misleading advertising. the first 90% of the game is a 9,5/10, but the last hour it's a kingdom hearts game, it doesn't make any sense and now they are free to change everything they want. The last sentence before the credits is: THE UNKNOWN JOURNEY WILL CONTINUE. I don't want that because the sold it as a remake not as a spin off. I hope square change that end and they do a true ramake of FFVII. SO PLS SQUARE ENIX, just change that end and be true to the original game in the following episodes :(… Expand
  98. pstationgamer
    Apr 21, 2020
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I pre-ordered this game with anticipation for months before its release. This game was beautifully made with its stunning graphics and incredibly fun combat system; you can tell they put a lot of time and money into this game. I played the original and this game was incredibly nostalgic. However, the persistent awkward anime moments/scenes would constantly derail my interest in characters and plot at times. I wasn't completely surprised by this (since it is a Square Enix game) and I was able to get over it for the most part, however, to my COMPLETE DISMAY, the original story was changed due to ghosts and time travel? Lol. What made FF7 original so amazing was it's captivating story, which now, unfortunately with time travel and time travel ghosts (wtf??), is trash. Sephiroth was not introduced well in this game. Zack was also introduced too soon. Building characters and their backstories up is what made the game so special in the first place. I wouldn't be opposed to changing the story, but if you're gonna do it, BE CREATIVE. I'll never be pre-ordering from, or may not play the future games of this series or company again.......until maybe when it goes on sale for $19.99.

    PS. the original soundtrack was 10000x doper than this version. Game needs a new director.    … Expand
  99. AsboXFlemzo
    Apr 10, 2020
    3
    Well it's a reboot not a remake so for false advertising it loses 1 point. Second point lost is the poor story that has replaced to original in this reboot. Third point is lost because the combat isn't as good as the old turn based formula. Oh its at 7 already. The time line ghost broke me out of the story completely so - 1. The terrible fan fik ending which destroys the plot of the gameWell it's a reboot not a remake so for false advertising it loses 1 point. Second point lost is the poor story that has replaced to original in this reboot. Third point is lost because the combat isn't as good as the old turn based formula. Oh its at 7 already. The time line ghost broke me out of the story completely so - 1. The terrible fan fik ending which destroys the plot of the game - 1 so we're at 5, the music being worse than a game made 20 years ago lol. How is that possible 4. H
    I find it hard to believe a team who has a job of making a remake of a game given 5 years could have spent time on a mission to find 3 cats, yet couldn't d finish the rest of the game. So I give it a 3 for the 3 cats that took all the time and development d t of the rest of the game.    … Expand
  100. wblanc
    Apr 15, 2020
    4
    There is ton of things that don't work or are absurd. Why not have a TOTAL game for exemple ? Why change the history ? Why so lack of soul ? Why so many casual things ? Why "happy potter ghost" and "Sephiroth apparition" ? Why why why ? This history is damn good, there is nothing to change and you FAILED it, your damn ego.
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Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best PS4 Game of 2020
5
#5 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2020
4
#4 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 126 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 116 out of 126
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 126
  3. Negative: 0 out of 126
  1. GameMAG
    Sep 14, 2020
    90
    Final Fantasy VII Remake is the game we've been waiting for from Square Enix for so long. Atmospheric, interesting and exciting all your attention modern jRPG with an interesting story and spectacular battles. To achieve the ideal, the project only needs more even graphics and all the content from the original release. If you were waiting for a turn-based classic with new graphics you will most likely be disappointed, since the game has changed a lot. Everyone else is happy with the release of the first really powerful single-player release from the internal Square Enix studio for many years. Especially after the failure of Final Fantasy XV.
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  2. Riot Pixels
    Aug 20, 2020
    80
    A good remake of the introductory part of the cult-favorite Final Fantasy VII. It improves on the original game in almost all aspects, yet lacks in scale and drops the ball at the very end.
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  3. Finger Guns
    Aug 10, 2020
    90
    What matters is still intact, and that’s the heart and soul of one of the greatest stories in video game history. It’s a return to form that has felt a long time in coming, and what’s even better is that there’s still at least two more games of this quality to come...They can’t mess this up, can they?
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