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. PedroGamer88
    Apr 17, 2020
    9
    The game remets The original FF, excelente Osts qnd The best playable ver of final fantasys
  2. opdi
    Apr 22, 2020
    0
    Final Fantasy VII Remake is exceedingly mediocre, I would not recommend purchasing it and instead watching a playthrough or waiting for a BIG sale - this goes for fans of the original as well as those who are new to the game.

    The game begins on a very high note, the visuals, voice acting, and general production quality are mostly excellent and remain so throughout the game. Fans of the    Final Fantasy VII Remake is exceedingly mediocre, I would not recommend purchasing it and instead watching a playthrough or waiting for a BIG sale - this goes for fans of the original as well as those who are new to the game.

    The game begins on a very high note, the visuals, voice acting, and general production quality are mostly excellent and remain so throughout the game. Fans of the original will enjoy seeing a few of the great early moments reimagined with modern graphics, and newcomers will be drawn in by the stunning visuals and gripping plot which hits most of the right beats from the original. The combat feels a bit hack-and-slashy, which may be off-putting to FF fans, but it also features an ATB gauge and the ability to pause time to unleash spells and abilities.

    However, after making it through the classic opening sequence, the game quickly reveals the mountain of padding and tedium that will define your coming experience. MMO-style fetch quests with no relevance to the plot, turning screens that you originally ran through in 20 seconds into a 45-minute slog through scripted battles and boring, tedious puzzles, and introducing new original story content that is also entirely irrelevant to the plot and filled with the the exact same padding. Well, that explains why they could only fit about 15% of the original game into a single release and market it as a "complete experience."

    I was honestly willing to endure the padding and did get some enjoyment out of the game. It was awesome to hear the extra banter between party members and expanded dialogue. But the final chapter of the game is an absolute dealbreaker. Without spoiling anything, the only thing I can say is that the writers completely changed the events in the plot to a point where there is no logical way it can progress as it was supposed to. When Square Enix said the story of the remake is "very faithful" to the original, it was simply a bald faced lie. Even on its own, the ending is poorly done and nonsensical, and leaves an extremely bad taste in your mouth. And to top it all off, this chapter COMPLETELY replaces one of my absolute favorite scenes from the original!

    I frankly feel scammed after buying this game. I cannot in good conscience recommend this game to anyone.    … Expand
  3. feland
    Apr 22, 2020
    1
    Pésimo. No se justifica que sea por episodios si viene con relleno tan pobre como las misiones secundarias. Groseros problemas gráficos. Pésimo control de cámara en combate (esencial para batallas en tiempo real). Cambios argumentales ridículos y absurdos. Escenas que dan vergüenza ajena (intro de Roshe por ej). Un engaño el titulo de REMAKE siendo que es un REBOOT. Juego que pasó de tenerPésimo. No se justifica que sea por episodios si viene con relleno tan pobre como las misiones secundarias. Groseros problemas gráficos. Pésimo control de cámara en combate (esencial para batallas en tiempo real). Cambios argumentales ridículos y absurdos. Escenas que dan vergüenza ajena (intro de Roshe por ej). Un engaño el titulo de REMAKE siendo que es un REBOOT. Juego que pasó de tener un tono maduro en su argumento, ahora es infantil y mediocre.

    Me obligué a terminarlo. Así de malo.    … Expand
  4. MattyTime
    Apr 22, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I love what they did with the ending it’s like Twin Peaks season 3 meets JJ Abrams Star Trek...incredible.… Expand
  5. yaqubian
    Apr 22, 2020
    9
    When I had dreamt of a FF7 remake, this is mostly it, at least for part 1. The gameplay is amazing, the visuals, backgrounds and characters are amazing, and the story is mostly amazing, all that to me is a 9 out of 10, but I have some gripes with the game...

    Major gripes: - Changes to the already perfect music, with the new renditions often being in different styles with parts removed    When I had dreamt of a FF7 remake, this is mostly it, at least for part 1. The gameplay is amazing, the visuals, backgrounds and characters are amazing, and the story is mostly amazing, all that to me is a 9 out of 10, but I have some gripes with the game...

    Major gripes:
    - Changes to the already perfect music, with the new renditions often being in different styles with parts removed and added that just don't sound nearly as good, nor do they fit, and anytime I heard the beginning of one of the classic songs, I would get pissed shortly after because of the changes made in it. There are some exceptions, but at least let me choose between the old song renditions and the remake renditions, with any new songs added still in both modes.

    -Time/whisper story aspect, I won't go into further detail so I don't spoil, but this isn't Kingdom Hearts, don't make it like Kingdom Hearts...

    Minor Gripes:
    - Sephiroth is less menacing because of the changes

    - English voices don't fit most characters, nor do I think they were acted well (sorry, some needed better direction), but I switched to Japanese and that solved all problems

    - Farming experience is way too easy at chapter 9+, too much of a breeze and we're only on part 1

    - Lots of open areas, and areas added, but lack of treasure, I'm mostly talking before chapter 9, and I'm not asking for insane rewards, or anything I just want to feel rewarded for exploring, not walk several minutes off the path only to get nothing, FF7 felt much better with that

    I did list a lot of gripes, but everything else really did make up for it, the combat and boss fights especially, and there is honestly no way to accurately express how much the original FF7 has impacted my life, its such a perfect experience and this remake hits very, very close, with some parts being even better and just being able to play Cloud in this way is a dream come true, so thank you, I greatly look forward to the rest if I'm still alive that is (3-6 yrs is a long time, also please remake FF8 after :))    … Expand
  6. kenpy
    Apr 22, 2020
    4
    A massive dissapointment I have to say and sadly the main reason is just one. They decided to make this episodic. Really square enix? like really? The first time I played this game I was like omg this game is amazing.

    - Cool graphics - Amazing Story staying loyal to the classic while also surprising you with extra content and details - Amazing combat system - New sidequests - Great    A massive dissapointment I have to say and sadly the main reason is just one. They decided to make this episodic. Really square enix? like really? The first time I played this game I was like omg this game is amazing.

    - Cool graphics
    - Amazing Story staying loyal to the classic while also surprising you with extra content and details
    - Amazing combat system
    - New sidequests
    - Great Enviroment
    - Awesome music

    Everything was painted in pink until I found out that this amazing game only covers 25% of the game. I felt cheated. I felt like I bought a long demo. I was expecting to find characters like yuffie, vincent, cid, cat-seith and kick sephiroth's ass with a whole new amazing animation for the omnislash but all I got was a "stay put for the part 2" ****

    If they are going to make this episodic. I doubt they will be able to cover the whole thing in part 2, meaning that we are gonna have to wait for part 3 and maybe even 4.

    This makes me believe that they are just a bunch of greedy mofos and they wanna make more money by selling this game in parts. and Its gonna suck even more if they release future episodes for a different console. PS5 is coming soon. So this is gonna be a mess spreaded into multiple consoles and multiple episodes.

    Summary

    Everything is cool except for the fact that is episodic, and no, you won't get to see the whole content in this game    … Expand
  7. Rynon1984
    Apr 22, 2020
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Changes at the end were amazing, doesn’t mean the plot unfolds differently, just that it has the potential to have a different outcome! Loved every moment both new and old… Expand
  8. MrMcPain
    Apr 22, 2020
    9
    tl;dr : The game is amazing and really worth the wait/purchase price!

    Years of waiting, fears and doubts we're blown out of the water for me with the release.... The music, the story, graphics and gameplay are just amazing! Yes it has texture issues... but that doesn't take away from the entire experience... All I can say is that I cannot wait for part 2... Its scary what will happen    tl;dr : The game is amazing and really worth the wait/purchase price!

    Years of waiting, fears and doubts we're blown out of the water for me with the release.... The music, the story, graphics and gameplay are just amazing! Yes it has texture issues... but that doesn't take away from the entire experience... All I can say is that I cannot wait for part 2... Its scary what will happen from here on out after the ending and how this wil tie in to the next parts of this game...

    A must have for me, but perhaps not everybody. Thank you to everyone who made me cry with happiness playing this game and stare with longing whilst the credits rolled past. Thank you.    … Expand
  9. Venn
    Apr 22, 2020
    7
    The game is good, not spectacular, but two weeks after release there's been no patch and the texture issues have forced me to stop until they fix the game as they should have.
  10. Koodle0101
    Apr 22, 2020
    9
    A TON of extremely high highs! Some lows. Nearly perfect but not quite there.

    In short, this game is a wild experience and it's extremely fun to play! The game managed to combine great strategic elements with fast-paced, action-packed, elements to deliver something we've never seen before. At the end of the game you'll be left wanting more enemies and bosses to fight, more of the story,    A TON of extremely high highs! Some lows. Nearly perfect but not quite there.

    In short, this game is a wild experience and it's extremely fun to play! The game managed to combine great strategic elements with fast-paced, action-packed, elements to deliver something we've never seen before. At the end of the game you'll be left wanting more enemies and bosses to fight, more of the story, and more of the overall experience. People who gave this game a bad score is being unreasonable. The game does so many things better than all the other games: amazing characterization, fantastic combat, great lore and story.

    Now with the flaws (not major enough to really dock points) buy they are very evident cannot be ignored:

    - Marketing. Apparently many people thought this was a completed original FF7 game from head to toe. Although I knew this, I can admit that it can be slightly misleading since there are not "parts" or "episodes" on the box. Rather, it only says "Remake" with small captions on the back of the box that explained the game being episodic. I don't personally find this worthy of docking a ton of points since I got over 60 hours out of this game so the value is worth it.

    - Bad and/or slow texture bugs on day 1 launch. It's something that is noticeable and does take away immersion a little. Game still plays fine and I haven't experience crashes or anything serious.

    - Aerial combat is a annoying. Luckily you don't fight too many aerial enemies but when you do the battle always feel extremely drawn out because you cannot get to the enemy and when you do the can only hit them a few times before falling. Aerial combat also potentiates the camera issue.

    - Camera issues. It's not horrible per se, rather, it's somewhat inconvenient? Even with the lock-on system I've used skilled in the opposite direction or miss a combo entirely just because of the way the camera is. You sort of have to constantly move it yourself. Many areas are too cramped or small and the camera is literally at your character's head and can barely see anything. Overall this can easily be fixed and i's more of an inconvenience than a deal-breaker.

    - Lastly is the pacing. Trust me, you'll be able to tell which part is pure 100% filler or padding. Some parts feel inorganically drawn out and overly long or no reason.

    Overall these are all technical issues that can be fixed. The core of the game: the story, combat, graphics, and characters are ALL fkin amazing. I'm on to getting Platinum while waiting for the next chapters.    … Expand
  11. JONTHECRITIC
    Apr 22, 2020
    9
    I loved the game, it was visually amazing, the game chapters were extensive which helped to really establish the character development and the relationship between cloud and the party. The battle system was fluid, the music was nostalgic with a twist, the fights were challenging.The only few complaints i haveare that some of the dialogue is long, drawn out, and not skippable makingI loved the game, it was visually amazing, the game chapters were extensive which helped to really establish the character development and the relationship between cloud and the party. The battle system was fluid, the music was nostalgic with a twist, the fights were challenging.The only few complaints i haveare that some of the dialogue is long, drawn out, and not skippable making revisting chapters to collect whatever you missed tedious. There are some parts that are confusing but this is installment 1 of ??? So i figure that as the other installments come out things will make more sense.… Expand
  12. Lumiad
    Apr 22, 2020
    9
    Art is great, Game play is a vast improvement to the FF15 battle system, music is really good,Ending is controversial but i'm optimistic about the future installments.

    The only draw back i had with the game is some of the dialog can almost reach kingdom hearts level cringe. However its not prominent enough to tank my experience with this game.
  13. JroRo
    Apr 22, 2020
    7
    Pros:
    - Graphics: Character models and cut scenes look like a 2020 AAA release should.
    - Gameplay: I experienced only one glitch in my 40 hour playthrough at the time of this review (crawling through the vents in the Shinra Tower, I would get stuck when looking down into the offices). - Combat: Combat was a mixed bag. It was enjoyable but I wish they would adjust how aggro works.    Pros:
    - Graphics: Character models and cut scenes look like a 2020 AAA release should.
    - Gameplay: I experienced only one glitch in my 40 hour playthrough at the time of this review (crawling through the vents in the Shinra Tower, I would get stuck when looking down into the offices).
    - Combat: Combat was a mixed bag. It was enjoyable but I wish they would adjust how aggro works. Enemies will almost immediately switch to target whoever you're controlling. However animations work and look great, and the combat is easy to coordinate and follow.
    - 8/10 parts of the story are amazing. Barret crying after the collapse was incredible - he felt like a real person.

    Cons:
    - Graphics: Super low resolution textures can be seen everywhere. To make matters worse Nomura tried to make light of it while acknowledging it by stating "Sorry everyone. The slums are so poor they couldn't afford better textures. Maybe next time." That's a pretty lousy excuse for a AAA game.
    - In Game Healing: You have to heal out of combat in the most tedious way. Even holding L1 you have to go through each individual animation to heal. You spend quite a bit of time healing in this game. It should've been made somewhat faster outside of combat.
    - The second time you mount your motorcycle while leaving Shinra Tower, the "boss" mechanics are cumbersome. Nomura likes vehicle battles (Kingdom Hearts Gummi Ship)
    - Chadley is incredibly awkward and forced into the game. A child is forging materia while appearing everywhere throughout the game? Ok - it's a FF game. But he doesn't feel fleshed out or like he belongs. It was a character built to support a game mechanic and I wasn't really a fan.
    - The game was incredibly linear. Too Linear. I would be exploring paths and suddenly be unable to turn around or blocked off with immersion breaking cancel signs.
    - 9/10 if you see a bench you're about to have a boss battle. I thought this was too on the nose considering you can save the game - at any time. This con in particular is a nitpick of mine, so it doesn't factor into my score.

    The biggest con:
    I understand the love and hate for this game. It was mostly well executed and well made. However fans had been pushing for 2 decades for essentially a remaster, rather than a retelling by Nomura which is why this happened at all. They feel betrayed because this was marketed it as a remake. Had it been more forthright that this was a retelling with major plot alterations to come I think more people would have been much more accepting and likely waited to purchase. Or just a different title so that people knew they were getting 100% Nomura.

    I am ok with Nomura changing the story to add world building and to flesh out and realize characters more. Making slice of life scenes all of which weren't originally there. What I am not a fan of is taking an established property and claiming that this game that stands on the original story success is good because of the Nomura brand changes in the final 2 chapters. People are applauding those 8/10s of the game. The fans that are upset likely feel upset because every single story Nomura has ever touched coincidentally has the lowest overall metacritic scores in the entire franchise and for good reason. He is a notoriously convoluted story teller made glaringly apparent by the objectively poor story telling over the course of KH1 through KH3 - that isn't even debatable. Newcomers and some old fans are fine with the changes he made at the end because it's so minor in the grand scheme only in the first installment that it seems fresh. It is likely not going to be minor come future installments now that Nomura and the team can point to this ending as rationale for whatever they may have in mind. This is the setup for potentially massive changes so Nomura can tell "his" story. Fans didn't want Nomura's story, they wanted the FF7 story expanded and brought to life on modern consoles.

    I am still excited to see where these installments go. But I will be waiting much longer after release of the future installments to see if this all holds true. Fate ghosts/seeing the future/negating on screen deaths - those are typically hallmarks of poor writing. So I guess we'll see.    … Expand
  14. 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..!! *
  15. NobleDrunkard
    Apr 22, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I rate this game a 7/10.

    For decades fans of the original were clamoring for a "remake" lifted to greater heights by the next generation of consoles. A great story, characters, world building, and all the elements needed were already there. Unfortunately, Tetsuya Nomura at the helm proved all of our worst fears true and his notoriously convoluted story telling was allowed to poison the remake in a fashion reminiscent of Kingdom Hearts - a giant "heartless" type boss, plot device ghosts, and a retcon nobody wanted.

    The remake uses "Whispers" and "Arbiters of Fate" to establish that the events of the previous game are the direction that the remake is supposed to head in. This whisper element presented in the form of ghostlike creatures becomes more and more prominent as you head towards the climax. Up until Shinra tower it is a minor plot device that drives player actions to follow a similar chain of events to the original.

    Upon reaching the top of Shinra tower the entire story takes a massive swing into nonsense. Barret is stabbed through the chest and "saved" by these ghosts because it "wasn't meant to be". Followed shortly after by the worst boss battle of the game on the bridge in a boss battle with barely passible motorcycle combat mechanics. Ending in a boss battle with all aerial opponents which are a massive annoyance to fight throughout game. Whereby the player is seen defeating "fate." An element never present in the original game but all but directly stating that Nomura can now do "whatever they want" with the future installments. Then you fight "Sephiroth" or more accurately along the original story you fight what you think is Sephiroth.

    I am deeply apprehensive of Nomura using these whispers or now lack thereof in lieu of a well thought out and compelling story to give the team carte blanche to do whatever they want to change the remaining installments to an almost entirely different story now that "fate" has been broken. Fleshing out the characters, expanding the world building, and introducing some minor changes wouldn't have required an overt statement of altering fate. This was intentionally done to allow them to make massive changes to the story in the future installments - changes which will certainly be convoluted nonsense if Nomuras history is any indication.

    Minor issues:
    - Healing outside of combat is incredibly tedious. You have to individually cycle through each heal animation from items or spells. You cannot perform this action in the menu. You must watch each individual heal. This takes so much time in a game where you're healing all the time.
    - Player control is yanked away frequently to enforce an incredibly linear gameplay experience. A "cancel" sign will appear to force you to walk in certain directions. There were multiple times where I was watching more than playing - though this is mostly an issue upon reaching Shinra tower.
    - Side quests are a mixed bag. In order to “get you to want to play” the side quests most of the items you’ll actually want are the rewards (gear and materia) for somewhat tedious tasks. Some are quite enjoyable. However this manifests very awkwardly through a character named Chadley that “creates” materia and summons and he does not fit in whatsoever. Chadley is very obviously forced into the game and stands out painfully. Do not put such an awkward and poorly thought character in the future games, please.    … Expand
  16. afleetingdream
    Apr 22, 2020
    8
    I am one of those people that wished they stuck with the original material and didn’t deviate that far from the original story. Since this is only the first part of the remake series, we don’t really know how the whole story will unfold. To me, the deviations just make plot holes that ruin character development, themes, and create a mess of confusion.

    Positives - music, animations,    I am one of those people that wished they stuck with the original material and didn’t deviate that far from the original story. Since this is only the first part of the remake series, we don’t really know how the whole story will unfold. To me, the deviations just make plot holes that ruin character development, themes, and create a mess of confusion.

    Positives - music, animations, voice acting, visuals, cinematic camera work, dialogue, setting, character development, combat/gameplay, weapon upgrade system, materia system, humor/charm, lighting.
    Negatives -
    Long Boss Battles, Some Bosses alone take like 20 minutes or more.
    Sound Design, Several times I was expecting a big thud or a noise from setting down a coffee mug and I didn’t hear anything. Like right in the beginning when Jessie kicks the Shinra guard, I would expect a big sound from the impact but there’s hardly anything. To me, a game with a big epic theme should have a big epic sound design pallet. It’s thematically inconsistent with me.
    Combat Interruptions,
    Few dialogue choices,
    Awkward player/camera movement at times, The game does the thing where it forces the camera in a certain direction and you to walk towards it in order to progress the plot. A lot of the times it’s just annoying.
    Sidequests,
    Lots of Filler,
    Last Dungeon and Graveyard Dungeon,
    The main Theme seems forced at the end,
    Censoring - game avoids anything graphic. No blood, no dead bodies. Not that visually horrifying.
    Dull/Boring sidequests
    Motorcycle minigame is too long
    Loss - The consequences of certain events are irrelevant.

    For people that like the story additions and changes, I can understand them giving this game a 10/10. But for me, I’m so torn by it and just want to ignore the changes. FF7 is something I have always cherished, and this is not what I had in mind, or ever wanted. If the major story deviations weren’t there, I would give this game a 10/10, but as it is, I’ll give it an 8/10.    … Expand
  17. Madziaczka90
    Apr 22, 2020
    10
    The Best game I played in my life. Genius, heartouching story ans characters. I am constantly thinking while playing: story please do not finish yet, please be just a bit longer. Love it!!!
  18. Drugowich
    Apr 22, 2020
    10
    I just can't believe that are so many negative reviews here.
    If you are aware that the game is not the entire story of the original FF7, but the first episode (and for that I give the credits for those who complained about it, since Square-Enix should make it more clear in the title). This is as close as a perfect remake can get.
    This was by far the best experience I had in games for    I just can't believe that are so many negative reviews here.
    If you are aware that the game is not the entire story of the original FF7, but the first episode (and for that I give the credits for those who complained about it, since Square-Enix should make it more clear in the title). This is as close as a perfect remake can get.

    This was by far the best experience I had in games for years. And I've found the additions to story excellent, gave us a fresh air and a lot of surprises without compromising the main story.

    I just hope the next episode don't take too long to launch.    … Expand
  19. wolfmanHack
    Apr 22, 2020
    3
    The success this game may be achieving is basically the result of a good marketing operation, nothing more.
    They built a massive hype about it over time through interviews, previews and **** so that fans would become more and more excited, but if you look at it as it is, this game is actually very poor.
    I can somehow understand people rating this so high, because I really wanted to    The success this game may be achieving is basically the result of a good marketing operation, nothing more.
    They built a massive hype about it over time through interviews, previews and **** so that fans would become more and more excited, but if you look at it as it is, this game is actually very poor.

    I can somehow understand people rating this so high, because I really wanted to love this game as I loved the real FF7 playing it 23 years ago.
    Yet to truth is... this is not FF7. It just don't look, sound or feel like FF7 in anyway.

    I'm sure real fans of the original get what I'm saying. All the sense of mistery, of haunting, melancholy and beauty of life expressed by the original have been replaced with... well... flashy visuals. That's pretty much it. They basically sold the very soul of the game to buy an empty good looking body.

    The trick here is: all the good you may be experiencing playing this remake belongs to the nostalgia; thus belongs to the original.
    Visually they actually made a good job to reproduce every place as we remember it. But, when the nostalgia effect ends, nothing remains and you will begin to see the game for what it is: a PROLOGUE to the original story, diluted with some generic and meaningless content which simply does not belong to FF7.

    But, let's split it up a bit. The following are huge mistakes which alone would be enough to ruin the game at once; and we have all of them:

    1. THE EPISODIC CHOICE
    You don't split an RPG in episodes. Ever. You completely destroy the sense of continuity, you reset the tension built until the moment you interrupt an episode, you break the story, you fail to deliver a sense of greatness and massive world; and most of all you lose one of the core concepts of an rpg, that is character building.
    What's the point of even level, equip and customize characters if they go to oblivion at the end of the episode? The character state at the beginning of the next episode will be just reset to some standard point, thus they will not be MY characters. Can you tell how possibly bad is that in this archetype?

    2. SUBQUESTS AND PADDING CONTENT
    What do you get if you merge a lot of water with good wine? Better wine? I think not. More likely more wine, but with a horrible taste.
    That's basically what they did here. They interrupted the storytelling several times to make the player do some generic meaningless quest.
    Well, side quests don't belong here, they belong to open world games. For a reason.
    And reason is, you have a world to explore and what you want to do in this world is up to you.
    You just can ignore them, or some of them, and still have a massive world to explore.
    This is not the case. There's no reason to pause a thrilling story from being told, well... unless you don't have much of a story to tell, having cut it. (see point 1)

    3. MAJOR STORY CHANGES
    This one is pretty obvious. You don't want to change the story everyone remembers to something different. On top of that you put in it elements from the original showed as "future visions". Why would you that? Fans will get upset because they were asking to re-experience the story like they remembered; new players just won't understand it in the first place, not knowing the original story.
    Furthermore, you don't do this in a game you call remake. This is just not what people expect, at a point that feels scam-like, misleading and insulting.

    Again, this is not FF7. You cannot simply put a logo, characters and skins onto a generic empty game and hope it will become what you are trying to shape. Things just don't work this way, it's not something that a decent company in gaming industry would EVER do.

    Things are, this game is out since 2 weeks, so people is understandably still excited about it, but it will be easily forgotten in few months.
    The reason we are all talking so much about this remake is the glorious game the original still represents after 23 years.
    And 23 years VS few months gives a very accurate idea of the difference between the two.    … Expand
  20. DG7490
    Apr 22, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ahhhhh ! So close but yet so far....graphics are great for the most part, with some eyeball watering bad textures that look like they leaped across from the original 97 version that need to be patched out. The battle system is decent, and pretty fun and the summons have great animations. Voice acting is good and the sound is epic in parts.
    ...then the issues start to creep in ! Most people who fell in love with the original would have been jumping like a teenager again as you progress through the story until you realise early on that its trying to fill out its content, dragging its arse across the floor like a dog with worms. Slowing you down and squeezing you between gaps to literally pad out the game to hit the golden 30hr mark ..its starts to change key elements of the story, but you can live with it..what you cant get over is the childish surreal nonsense Nojima adds to this so called REMAKE. Adding **** characters, twisting the plot until it reaches its climax and totally ****s on the original..different timeline, characters that should be dead are alive and the biggest elephant in the room revealed..'its too expensive to make the full game in this fashion'...so it lures you in with a faithful first section of the game then they change the whole thing at the end and leaves the door open for Square Ennix to do whatever the hell it wants going forward with a bull**** Kingdom Hearts twist that a two year old could have made up. Its akin to the last installment of Star Wars, lures you in with old characters then totally destroys the originals lore and great story telling...if that pissed you off, then be prepared for a REMATCH with this REMAKE...it gets lots right, and some parts are magic, but it just seems like an elaborate ruse to get your hard earned cash before they recreate the whole story with the next parts of this multi faceted release the way they want. I hope to god Im wrong, but its got all the hallmarks of trying to please everyone and ending up not knowing where the hell its going !    … Expand
  21. awokengenius
    Apr 22, 2020
    9
    *never played the original* the game was great the whole way through up until the last half of the final chapter. Then I was confused af. Though after playing through the entire game again on hard mode I began to appreciate the story more. The game is mostly carried by the combat and the great characters, story isn't bad but I don't think they did enough to explain some things to new*never played the original* the game was great the whole way through up until the last half of the final chapter. Then I was confused af. Though after playing through the entire game again on hard mode I began to appreciate the story more. The game is mostly carried by the combat and the great characters, story isn't bad but I don't think they did enough to explain some things to new players before the end. But! The final half of the last chapter still felt really epic and if that was what they were going for, then they nailed that. So despite me being confused it was fun and I was kinda blown away.

    My other complaint is that there is nothing to do now, I've got the plat and every item etc. An extra dungeon or an endless wave challenge might have kept me busy for awhile. If anything the game told me to play the OG and I'm definitely here for the next installment, once again the characters are soo good I love them. The boss fights were top notch, music is a 10/10.    … Expand
  22. Vmac19
    Apr 22, 2020
    5
    Honestly it was beautifully made and really well done. All the way up to chatper 17 was amazing. It was the ending that was bad. It was literally 2 hours of nothing but a crap tone or pointless bosses and subbosses. They changed the ending to the original which alone isn't so bad. It's just felt rushed and half assed. felt like that just ran out of time and said screw it.
  23. CandyCoin
    Apr 22, 2020
    0
    This is not a remake of FFVII; this is a prequel to Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus. It DEFECATES on everything good about the original game.

    Contrary to what paid reviewers will claim, this game is not ‘expanded’, it is ‘padded’. It’s padded and drawn out to a downright idiotic extent: 3-minute short segments in the original game have been turned into hour-long copypasted    This is not a remake of FFVII; this is a prequel to Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus. It DEFECATES on everything good about the original game.

    Contrary to what paid reviewers will claim, this game is not ‘expanded’, it is ‘padded’. It’s padded and drawn out to a downright idiotic extent: 3-minute short segments in the original game have been turned into hour-long copypasted FFXIII-hallways. You walk down a poorly-rendered linear hallway and fight the same three guys for 30 hours, broken up by god-awful cutscenes that openly mock you for caring about the original plot. This is the game.

    The replacement ‘plot’ is Premature Ejaculation – the Video Game. You never leave Midgar, yet Sephiroth, Cait Sith, bits of the Nibelheim flashback, and Aerith’s death are all flashed in front of you (again – this is a sequel, not a remake, so you can already ‘remember’ these things) in paper-thin attempts to keep to invested in the Korean-MMO-tier grind that makes up 99% of the playtime.
    This game is not fun to play. It is a chore. It is grind. There is objectively NOTHING fun in this game.

    It.
    Is.
    Bad.

    The plot reads like it was written by a bipolar 7-year old. The art is soulless and rushed (Square Enix outsourced development of 3D assets to a sweatshop in Malaysia) and the environment textures look like they were designed in the PS1-era. Literally everything reeks of design-by-committee – from the Tifa’s floating suspenders that they were too lazy to readjust after shrinking her breasts to the reintroduction of Dirge of Cerberus enemies to retconning Nibellheim as a desert outpost. The ending is so mind-numbingly stupid that, at time of writing, Square Enix is literally threatening to sue people for talking about it for fear it will hurt their sales.

    This is the most shameless cash-grab in the history of videogaming and to purchase it is to get scammed.    … Expand
  24. nzivvo
    Apr 22, 2020
    8
    Positives
    + 80% of the story and recreation was perfect and out of this world.
    + The graphics and visuals on the main story missions were unreal + The new gameplay was a great combo of button bashing, turn based, and strategy. + The weapon upgrade and levelling mechanics + Character design, scripts and voiceovers + Mini games Negatives - The delivery of the 2 most key    Positives
    + 80% of the story and recreation was perfect and out of this world.
    + The graphics and visuals on the main story missions were unreal
    + The new gameplay was a great combo of button bashing, turn based, and strategy.
    + The weapon upgrade and levelling mechanics
    + Character design, scripts and voiceovers
    + Mini games

    Negatives
    - The delivery of the 2 most key scenes/chapters in the story (S7 plate and Shinra HQ) was poor, felt messy and didn't give the emotion the original events did. Cinematics need to be improved going forward.
    - Content - This isn't quite worthy of a 'full RPG' status, especially by Square Enix standards. Revisiting locations, fighting same bosses twice, and a good handful of poor side quests are obvious attempts at 'filling out' the game to sell as a full price title.
    - Summons are now too rare and obtained in battle by pure luck - this has removed their strategic importance as they can't be planned or relied upon.    … Expand
  25. crazycowboy
    Apr 22, 2020
    10
    I enjoyed this game more than any final fantasy game since FF9, and I've been a lifelong fan of FF and played them all. I started a metacritic account just to rate this game. Would give it around a 9-9.5/10, but rounded up because anyone giving this game less than an 8 is just trolling.
  26. Rkodev1
    Apr 22, 2020
    10
    Svajonė išpildyta, gavau mėgstamiausia vaikystės žaidimą. Grafika neriali, istorija nuostabi, nėra ką pridurti.
  27. BigBullet
    Apr 22, 2020
    3
    The Good
    -The combat isn’t half bad. The tactical menu is pretty cool and lets you plan + execute your strategy nicely.
    -There’s some nice banter and dialogue between the characters in some scenes which I thought was neat. -The music can be a bit too much at times but other than that it’s mostly good. The Bad -LOTS of padding which ruins the pacing throughout the game. -While the combat    The Good
    -The combat isn’t half bad. The tactical menu is pretty cool and lets you plan + execute your strategy nicely.
    -There’s some nice banter and dialogue between the characters in some scenes which I thought was neat.
    -The music can be a bit too much at times but other than that it’s mostly good.

    The Bad
    -LOTS of padding which ruins the pacing throughout the game.
    -While the combat is alright, some parts bother me. For example, it’s easy to have your attack interrupted. I wish summons were a bit cooler as well. -Inconsistent graphics. Some textures look good, while others look absolutely terrible. The Ugly
    -Anything involving the ghosts, time traveling, or alternate universes. I have no idea why they thought introducing all of that crap into the game was a good idea. The last sections of the game go off the rails HARD and basically cements that this game really isn’t a remake but a sequel which is really messed up if you ask me. Overall the game has some good stuff, but it’s ultimately soured by all of the terrible stuff.    … Expand
  28. Beniviper
    Apr 21, 2020
    10
    Incredible game. Should definitely get your hands on it even if you dont particularly are a FF fan like me. FF7 Story and combat style are just on point; The materia system, weapons diversity, limit breaks, summons - The plot is great, characters are unique, ect. Only good things to say about this game. A MUST TRY (AT LEAST)
  29. weskergamer
    Apr 21, 2020
    9
    Another GOTY contender for this year, i really enjoyed i never played the original so i didn't care much about the changes in the story but i didn't like the final chapter, it was a KH final battle completely unnecessary, i hope that even if i didn't play the original i would prefer to experience the original story and not a new one. But nonetheless i loved the gameplay, the music was oneAnother GOTY contender for this year, i really enjoyed i never played the original so i didn't care much about the changes in the story but i didn't like the final chapter, it was a KH final battle completely unnecessary, i hope that even if i didn't play the original i would prefer to experience the original story and not a new one. But nonetheless i loved the gameplay, the music was one of the best this generation, and the graphics were outstanding. I fell in love with Tifa's abs tbh… Expand
  30. Wrofir
    Apr 21, 2020
    8
    FF7 was the first JRPG I ever beat, and was one of the PS1 JRPG's that introduced me to the genre.
    So I have very fond memories of it, and I knew there was no chance Square Enix would remake it as is.
    The Remake is easily one of their best games in recent memory and apart from a very upsetting ending, I really enjoyed most of my time with it. The combat system is a great take on the    FF7 was the first JRPG I ever beat, and was one of the PS1 JRPG's that introduced me to the genre.
    So I have very fond memories of it, and I knew there was no chance Square Enix would remake it as is.

    The Remake is easily one of their best games in recent memory and apart from a very upsetting ending, I really enjoyed most of my time with it.

    The combat system is a great take on the A-RPG genre, with a basic attack button that charges your ATB bar, that you then spend on Spells, Abilities, and Items. This adds a unique challenge and you don't want to be caught with low HP and no ATB. You can block and dodge, but both of those actions are sketchy in their execution. The dodge has no invulnerability frames, and the block only works against some moves... And some moves just seem to eat through either one.

    One issue I haven't seen any review mention so far is how the enemies don't play fair. They seem to have infinite MP (thus the ability to cast spells as many times as they want) and don't even seem to have an ATB bar either, as I've seen them spam moves over and over. I noticed it early on, but later in the game it becomes a blatant crutch that the AI relies on to be challenging. Considering that the original game had fair fights, I can't say I'm too thrilled about it. Barret originally had a move to specifically eat MP, which was a legit strategy against certain bosses and harder enemies, now totally gone as enemies don't even have that stat to worry about.

    The story sometimes follows the original perfectly, word for word even, so it was clear they did their research, and at its best I was happily reliving my childhood seeing these characters interact. Most of the new content and dialogue is good as well, and apart from the ridiculous usage of autistic anime sighs/groans, is fairly natural too.

    The original Midgar section, which acted as the games defacto tutorial, took about 3 hours to beat, and this game extends that to beyond 30, so you'd imagine they added a ton of new content. They did and didn't. You'll find some totally new quests and of course a litany of generic fetch quests as side missions, but the new story beats are usually good. That said though, the developers took several areas from the original and extended them, sometimes to upwards of an hour.
    This isn't always bad, I enjoyed seeing the extended train graveyard, but for the most part the 'extended areas' are a slew of similar encounters, mundane puzzles, and copy-paste level design. While it didn't ruin my experience, some of these areas grew very tiresome.

    The game is excessively linear as well, you never get to travel off the beaten path, and while you do get to see some beautiful sights, most of the game takes place in the least polished area of the game, the slums.
    The slums have issues, from low resolution textures, to NPC's repeating their spoken lines over and over, to meaningless side quests, and so-on. I had no interest in exploring the side content because it felt like they chose the worst area of the game to open up. Meanwhile the upper plate areas are lovingly crafted with insane attention to detail, but are 1-off areas you never visit again.

    My joy for this remake was a rollercoaster ride of positive experiences hampered only a few times by frustrating encounters or padded areas, but the ending was probably my absolute least favorite moment and has me worried about the rest of the series.

    I don't want to spoil major story beats, but I can't really avoid it... You fight literal destiny or literal meta commentary, depending on how you want to look at it. This entire final segment just bombshells the game out of nowhere, makes absolutely no sense, adds nothing of value to the story or lore, and I'm sure stirred up the exact controversy Square Enix wanted. It's important to consider that this is literally the beginning of our heroes journey here, and we've already killed destiny? It's so random and offputting to me. The game was throwing out our antagonist left and right too, ignoring the originals subtlety and slow build of mystery, instead opting for a "HEY THIS IS THE BAD GUY, OKAY?! THIS DUDE YOU KEEP SEEING IS THE BAD GUY, RIGHT HERE, YEAH. HIM. THAT GUY"
    The ending is a slap in the face in contrast to the original subtlety, which if you didn't know, Sephiroth, our antagonist, had only been hinted at and barely seen in passing by the point the remake decides to end at.

    I'm conflicted. It's a good game, no doubt, with a few flaws that did hamper my experience, and an ending that straight triggered me, but if the future of this series is to revive the original, with a few changes, I'm still game. I enjoyed my ride through Midgar, and if they can remake most of the towns and areas to the same level of detail, I'll have a good time.    … Expand
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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

All reviews »
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?
    Read full review
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