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. Sinder583
    Apr 16, 2020
    7
    I like the retelling of the story, game felt really short. I did not care for the semi turn based combat system. End game after 30 hours to beat play-threw one. Is just play the game again on hard mode.... with no items allowed...
  2. Deadaim
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    Absolut fantastic, the ending was absolute epic!! Cant wait for the next parts
  3. the-down-of-man
    Apr 15, 2020
    2
    SE and Nomura killed my childhood and my favorite game. I don't wanna play a Kingdom Hearts like, I just want Final Fantasy VII Remake. The game is great 'till the last section, but then... VOMIT.
  4. guiletheguiles
    Apr 16, 2020
    8
    buckle up, this will be very long and emotional.
    First things first: FF7 is my favorite game of all time. The original, to me, is not only the ultimate masterpiece in gaming, but also something that shaped my entire life. With that said, let's go.
    This game is beautiful. Everything in it makes me want to cry! Every detail, sound effect and animation. A lot of heart was put into this    buckle up, this will be very long and emotional.
    First things first: FF7 is my favorite game of all time. The original, to me, is not only the ultimate masterpiece in gaming, but also something that shaped my entire life. With that said, let's go.

    This game is beautiful. Everything in it makes me want to cry! Every detail, sound effect and animation. A lot of heart was put into this project and it shows.
    I absolutely loved the soundtrack. It's a mix between FF7's OST and FFXIII's "modern vibe". It works just fine with the Remake. Every little (and huge) sound in this game is perfect. It oozes high budget.
    The combat is also great. It's not perfect, but it's the natural and positive evolution of FFXV's. It's challenging and rewarding. Pulling off a good ATB combo makes you feel like a badass. The stagger system can make things hard, but once you figure out what to do, it's fine. Overall, this is the best hybrid I can think of between the Classic TBC and the modern one.
    The best parts in this game happens when it follows the original. New additions are great, but nothing beats the story when it gets down to business. Everything was incredibly reimagined and it made me tear up more times than it should. Also, thank god for the mini-games!

    But the game fails sometimes. If in one side, things are beautiful, on the other, things can get ugly.
    There is padding everywhere. Unnecessary filler is spread throughout the whole game. This game could easily go past Midgar, if the devs wanted. And I'm not talking about the sidequests. The quests are super nice! I'm reffering to story bits and gameplay pieces that just feel out of place. Many things feel out of place in this game. Which leads me to my biggest disappointment: They changed the ending.
    I won't spoil things, but basically, Square paved the way to **** with the original story. They might change everything after what they did by the end of the final chapter. Honestly, it breaks my heart. Things just got very convoluted and nonsensical. I was not expecting the EXACT same thing, but I DEFINITELY wasn't expecting whatever happened in the conclusion. I guess I hoped for an upgrade in an already superb story, but what I got was only 70% of that... Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if this was the FULL remake experience.

    In the end, this is an incredible remake. Every Final Fantasy fan should play. Actually, every RPG fan should play it! What it does right, it accomplishes wonders. But what it does wrong... Well, here's to hoping that the second part comes soon and fixes the story for the best, because on the gameplay area, the nailed it.    … Expand
  5. Joe1549
    Apr 16, 2020
    6
    TL;DR: A mixed bag, some really great nostalgic moments combined with a game designer force feeding their own narrative onto a classic game.

    I'm a bit shaken right now, as someone that likes to get lost in fantasy worlds, I've had my share of disappointing endings. It seems there's no escaping it, I can count on one hand the amount of "good" endings I've seen come out of media of all    TL;DR: A mixed bag, some really great nostalgic moments combined with a game designer force feeding their own narrative onto a classic game.

    I'm a bit shaken right now, as someone that likes to get lost in fantasy worlds, I've had my share of disappointing endings. It seems there's no escaping it, I can count on one hand the amount of "good" endings I've seen come out of media of all types whether it be film, television, or video games.

    I should have known when I saw Square's recent line of work that this game would turn into a mess. Luckily, for the most part, it waits until the final act to do so.

    If you played the original Final Fantasy 7, there's no doubt you will overlook a lot of rough stuff early on in the game. You'll stick it out because you are excited to spend time with the characters you love and the settings that you enjoyed. Over time though, the problems will be too much to ignore even for the most loyal of fan.

    The good: Spending time with these iconic characters was a treat. The voice acting was top-notch. The character models were great. There were several moments where I became emotional.

    The okay: Combat was more than a little frustrating. While it was pretty to look at, ultimately it became an exercise in mashing the square button. Team members do not accrue AP fast enough to be useful in battle, requiring you to constantly switch from team member to team member. Most combat boils down to firing a spell which targets the enemy's weakness then mashing square once they are "staggered". Unfortunately on bosses, you would often stagger just as the boss entered the next phase, thus negating your stagger. There were also other annoyances such as getting interrupted when trying to cast a spell which happened much too frequently.

    The bad: Looking back at the game, there's no doubt there was filler content or "padding". I can count 6 of the 18 chapters that felt like unneeded, stretched out padding levels, that's 1/3 of the game. Even the content that's not "padding" is presented in the same linear style as Final Fantasy 13. Nowhere is the padding more evident than the side-quests which are the lowest-effort side quests I've ever seen in a game. You are tasked with killing rats or finding cats. If you think the quests will get more complex, you are mistaken.

    There's been much discussion of the textures in this game. I must admit as a PC gamer who bought a PS4 just to play this game, I was taken aback at the texture quality throughout the game. I just chalked it up to it being a console game and felt that this is what console gamers had to deal with. However, some of the textures are downright awful and oddly enough are used as set-pieces in certain chapters. You will often see texture pop-in and just overall, some low quality textures throughout the game. To me, this was easiest to ignore as I felt that this could be corrected when the game came to PC.

    If I was going to nitpick I'd say that the NPCs felt out of place, certainly they did not have the look of slum dwellers. I've seen this done much better in other games that even came out of Japan (Yakuza for example).

    The ugly: The ending. The most coherent explanation was that the ending was metaphorically defeating the real life purists who wanted to see FF7 remastered faithfully. It seems that square-enix have given themselves a green light to make broad changes to the game. A bold move when you're selling an episodic game. I can't say that I will pick up part 2 and I was damn excited for part 2, I thought that would be the meat of the game. Now, much like Star Wars, I guess the new Final Fantasy 7 was made for new fans, not us original fans. I'll take a wait-and-see approach, pre-ordering part 2 is laughably out of the picture now.

    This was a wake-up call for me. It caused me to give a hard look to the final fantasy series and made me realize that even though I played 7, 8, 9, and 10, the only one that actually stuck with me was Final Fantasy 7. it almost looks like it was an accident now, an anomaly in the JRPG world. Well no longer, now it gets to join the rest of the JRPGs with it's own nonsensical plot.    … Expand
  6. zycore718
    Apr 16, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Square advertised this game series as the remake that fans had hoped and wished for, and for the most part the first game absolutely delivered on that. Midgar is faithfully reproduced and feels more alive than it’s ever been. The graphics are beautiful and perfectly match the character of the city and the slums. The characters are multi-dimensional, even the background Avalanche trio of Biggs, Wedge and Jessie get more to do and say. The combat is fun and challenging once you get used to the fundamentals and how each character handles. Aside from a few slow bits, too linear places and the admittedly boring sidequests, I had a blast with the first 17 chapters and it was getting me stoked for the future games. I wanted to see Nibelheim, Rocket Town, Wutai, Cosmo Canyon and the rest of the characters experience the same loving treatment given to Midgar in this game. I started to think to myself ‘this is too good to be true’, it was damn-near perfect.

    Well, turns out it was too good to be true. Having finished the game, I now find myself absolutely shellshocked that Square could take such an easy slam-dunk and fumble it at the literal final hurdle. Chapter 18 – the ending chapter - single-handedly brings the entire game down crashing and burning. It’s a baffling, disappointing trainwreck that rips apart the spirit of not only the ORIGINAL game but the first 17 chapters of ITS OWN GAME on top of that. I had several theories about what the floating things that kept popping up during the game were, but I honestly believed all that they were was something to do with the Reunion that is prominent in the story of FFVII. Nope, surprise! They’re mystical time ghosts who preserve ‘destiny’, because we clearly needed that crap from Kingdom Hearts in here – complete with a huge black blob boss. And double surprise! Sephiroth can now travel in space and parallel dimensions like **** Dr Strange. And Zack is somehow also still alive. Meaning that the emotional weight of his death is completely invalidated. I’M NOT EVEN LYING about any of this.

    The whole chapter and ending made me bash my head against the wall, and I still lost less braincells than watching it all unfold. I’m struggling to understand what the **** happened. And if your plot is unintelligible to a lot of your audience then I’m sorry, but it’s not a good plot. What was so wrong with the original story that warranted this absurd deviation? Did Nomura and Nojima decide that it wasn’t “”cool”” or “”meta”” enough for the Gen-Zers who’ve never played the 1997 original? We’ll probably never know. But nevertheless, it took my enjoyment of the game and excitement of the future and threw it in the trash. All my hype destroyed in one short hour. I can’t for the life of me understand how the hell they thought that this was the direction those like me who loved Final Fantasy VII wanted to go in. I can’t understand that the same people who gave us the original story that was almost perfect could turn it into such moronic drivel.

    The game was easily a 9/10 before Chapter 18, but that ridiculous ending seriously deserves a 0/10. So I averaged the score to 4/10. It’s frankly saddening. Square shouldn’t have advertised this as a ‘remake’. It’s clearly not. It’s clearly aiming to be a reboot. A reboot that, from the ending of the first part, will end up trumping Advent Children in the stakes of gaudy nonsense. It’s ‘Rebuild of Evangelion’ levels of reboot. I feel cheated, and I was one of the people who DIDN’T want just the original game with HD graphics, and expected there to be some story changes. But I expected those changes to actually ADD to the original story, not take away practically everything it had in favour of lazy, brainless tropes. I’m not gonna stick around for the next games in the series now. I don’t want the rest of Final Fantasy VII Remake if it’s based on the rubbish in Chapter 18. Sorry, Square, but you blew it. I’ll just play the original from now on.    … Expand
  7. Kavr1el
    Apr 16, 2020
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Square Enix took on a very difficult challenge with Final Fantasy VII Remake. It did so brilliantly, but not perfectly. I recommend the game whole-heartedly, though if you are a veteran that wants to play final fantasy VII as it was, play the ps1 title, not this one.

    Let's start with the objective cons, as they are few :
    1 :Textures,
    Some are blurry, some are pixelated. The door texture of Marle's buidling in sector seven, the plate textures, and some junk textures look like placeholders. Not worthy of a published game.
    2: Combat :
    The mp regen is very slow.
    Some attacks you can't block, some you can't dodge (dodge had no i-frames), some you can't possibly mitigate if you're in an animation, it feels like a guessing game, which rewards experience, but includes a bit of frustration. Lots of animation lock.

    As a subjective con, at times the game felt a bit too slow, in moments where you should feel pressured into going fast. It sort of ruins the momentum created by the story and pulls you out of it.

    Now onto the pros:
    It's a very solid game. Everything except some textures is beautiful and polished.
    The combat looks amazing and feels pretty good to play.
    The characters are even better than in the original, as their facial expressions and voice really help give them depth.

    Spoiler part starts now so don't keep reading if you don't want to be spoiled (though it's a minor spoil in my opinion)

    Right, here goes.

    The game is a remake, which means follows the core concept and core plot elements of the original but not to the letter. It's not a port, it's not a remaster, neither is it a reboot, too close to the original, it's a remake, as it says it is.

    The whole game felt good to play, but i wasn't surprised by anything. It felt prectictable, a bit boring maybe, though still very enjoyable. That was until the last chapters.
    The makers of this game had an idea in head all along. That one thing that was completly new and mysterious, was a hint all along.
    Maybe that specific traumatic event sparked this idea, but they decided to make changes feel possible.
    If changes are possible, then everything is not safe, predictable, and boring. It's exciting, it's full of possibilities, it's hopeful.

    I'm looking forward to the next one, maybe on the PS5 ?    … Expand
  8. easterfields
    Apr 13, 2020
    3
    I'm 15 hours into FF7R and I actually hate this game. This is sad. The original Final Fantasy 7 was a HUGE part of my childhood. It was magical, immersive, engaging and fun. All the things this abomination is NOT. FF7R is frustrating, nonsensical, repetitive and anger inducing. There's some good aspects such as the voice acting and storytelling, but a bulk of the rest such as the subparI'm 15 hours into FF7R and I actually hate this game. This is sad. The original Final Fantasy 7 was a HUGE part of my childhood. It was magical, immersive, engaging and fun. All the things this abomination is NOT. FF7R is frustrating, nonsensical, repetitive and anger inducing. There's some good aspects such as the voice acting and storytelling, but a bulk of the rest such as the subpar graphics (the textures are Xbox era quality no joke), ridiculous level design, tasks that make hemorrhoid removal seem appealing, and a soundtrack that was so overbearing, loud, obnoxious and repetitive that I actually muted the the game, tank this modern retelling of a classic. It also makes it painfully obvious, that this story just does not hold up well in today's day and age. Even as a remake released in 2020, it feels dated. And for my final beef with FF7R, since when does a beloved classic RPG deserve to get re-envisioned as a button masher???… Expand
  9. GastonBaynes
    Apr 16, 2020
    0
    Just to say that, we, as fans of the original Final Fantasy VII game, we must create a petition that demands Square Enix to change the "Final Fantasy VII Remake" title to something else because the game is undoubtedly not a remake. 0 goes for the false advertisement.
  10. Iammanolo510
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    Got what I expected and more out of the game. Amazing start to what is going to be an amazing story. I truly hope SquareEnix add a beautiful open world experience like no other when the time comes.
  11. madak17
    Apr 16, 2020
    7
    This is not a remake. It's frankly a little insulting to call it that. Without getting into spoilers, there are *steep* departures in the story. And frankly, they are not good. Even beyond that, in order to make Midgar into a 30 hour game, the story was padded heavily, which very negatively impacted the pacing.

    I found the changes in the music to be negative as well. The themes are    This is not a remake. It's frankly a little insulting to call it that. Without getting into spoilers, there are *steep* departures in the story. And frankly, they are not good. Even beyond that, in order to make Midgar into a 30 hour game, the story was padded heavily, which very negatively impacted the pacing.

    I found the changes in the music to be negative as well. The themes are still there, but in some cases are now muddled with more noise. The boss theme, the motorcycle theme, and Sephiroth's theme are the most impacted.

    The slums of Midgar are also far brighter than I think they should be as well. For a place that supposed to be filled with smog and overshadowed by giant plates, it looks quite sunny. The slums at night are gorgeous however.

    I will say the combat is an improvement. I'm a bit sad that there are no stat changes when you equip materia now (e.g. you can't highly boost mp and magic stats just by loading up a character with magic-type materia), but overall I'm pretty happy with it.

    Overall, as a lifelong fan of the original, while the game was fun, I have to say that the story changes are a huge disappointment and I'm not at all excited for the next installment.    … Expand
  12. shubbledubbledi
    Apr 16, 2020
    3
    To call this a Remake is almost false advertising. The final few hours of this game are a giant FU to every player of the original and amount to what can only be called a complete reboot of the game, with a heavy dose of the Nomura/Nojima narrative nonsense combination as the cherry on top.

    This game ends on such a poor note that I have no choice but to heavily mark it down. Up to the    To call this a Remake is almost false advertising. The final few hours of this game are a giant FU to every player of the original and amount to what can only be called a complete reboot of the game, with a heavy dose of the Nomura/Nojima narrative nonsense combination as the cherry on top.

    This game ends on such a poor note that I have no choice but to heavily mark it down. Up to the final few hours the game wasn't perfect, and many of the additions or changes were questionable, but many additions were also quite enjoyable and it did not diverge majorly from the original (with some notable exceptions).
    Where the sequels to this game go from here is anyone's guess, but it certainly won't be Final Fantasy 7 anymore.    … Expand
  13. Pozzo
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    The gane is absolutely awesome.

    From the remixed tracks, to the presentation and the characters. Everything fits and builds the ultimate FF7 experience.

    I'm glad it's Midgar only, so that we can have a full game to flesh out the setting in a way not possible before.
  14. GosuTomTom
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    WOW. I'm a die hard fan of the original, dreamed for 20 years about this game to be released, and it's everything I hoped it to be. Having a blast is a droplet in the ocean of my satisfaction. Can't wait to play part 2 !!!
  15. Kingofparis
    Apr 16, 2020
    0
    Tetsuya, stop, please. This is some kingdom hearts level **** in this game
    And the ending...
  16. RuffioLostBoy
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    Absolutely amazing experience. I think this is the best combat system Final Fantasy has ever had, bar none. The graphics are amazing, the the character development for main and side characters was impeccable, and the sound track? It's absolutely brilliant! The story pretty much follows along the same lines as the original game, but expands, builds upon, and in some cases changes things toAbsolutely amazing experience. I think this is the best combat system Final Fantasy has ever had, bar none. The graphics are amazing, the the character development for main and side characters was impeccable, and the sound track? It's absolutely brilliant! The story pretty much follows along the same lines as the original game, but expands, builds upon, and in some cases changes things to make it overall a more enjoyable experience.

    If you're a fan of the original with an open mind, this is the game for you. If you're a purist that just wants turn based FF7 with nice, pretty, modern graphics and audio, then I am afraid I have some bad news.    … Expand
  17. darxiv
    Apr 16, 2020
    9
    If you are a purist of FFVII you can simply choose not to play this game. If you always wanted more from Final Fantasy VII and to experience more of the world, then your time has come. This is a fantastic remake that adds to the lore, world, and battle system.

    Loving every moment of this game.
  18. xencosti
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    I loved the original back in the day and I love the Remake even more! The extra bits of story, change of tempo to certain scenes and aspects, and even the story revisions all make this game amazing. After playing through and beating it I can say this: Normal mode is a good for players wanting to build skill. You need to mind mechanics. Classic and easy mode are there for players to enjoyI loved the original back in the day and I love the Remake even more! The extra bits of story, change of tempo to certain scenes and aspects, and even the story revisions all make this game amazing. After playing through and beating it I can say this: Normal mode is a good for players wanting to build skill. You need to mind mechanics. Classic and easy mode are there for players to enjoy the story and worry less about the battles. Finishing the game lets you go back and chapter select so beating the game on easy then raising the difficulty is also an option.… Expand
  19. calibur66
    Apr 16, 2020
    9
    This game is comes with a caveat, that is, if you are looking for a 1:1 recreation of the original game and hoping not a single thing will change, you are going to be disappointed, but I also think this is the wrong way to think about remakes, personally.

    Outside of that point, this game is an audible, visual and game-play delight. It has so many faithful and loving recreations of    This game is comes with a caveat, that is, if you are looking for a 1:1 recreation of the original game and hoping not a single thing will change, you are going to be disappointed, but I also think this is the wrong way to think about remakes, personally.

    Outside of that point, this game is an audible, visual and game-play delight.

    It has so many faithful and loving recreations of locations, enemies and characters with only a few characters having major changes to them, usually for the better. The combat is a great mixture of modern final fantasy and the original ATB system, that allows for some great combo-ing that results in some truly awesome "explosions" of damage when your whole team executes moves simultaneously.

    The only major point that people have legitimate feelings of contention towards is the changes in story, which mostly stem from personal opinions instead of genuinely factual improving or Damaging of the original story. For me personally, these changes were neither for the better or worse, they clearly were put there to specifically NOT destroy the original and instead offer a narrative that's both nostalgic for fans as well as giving them something that isn't note for note the same thing again, whilst also not spoiling story beats for the new people, though it will likely be slightly less impactful for newcomers as there is a definite focus on giving fans their service.

    I have to address the BIZARRE argument (From an admittedly small minority) that the game has no subtlety and that all emotional weight has been removed from 'ruined' moments such as Cloud and Aerith's first meeting:

    This is just wrong. While you may personally enjoy the original versions more for whatever reason, but between the cinematography, (mostly) great voice acting/dialogue and absolutely magical soundtrack, there is no way you can argue such a false notion as a lack of emotion or subtlety.

    Don't skip out on this game unless you genuinely have no interest in Final fantasy or RPGs. Whether you only care about the story, or only care about the combat, both are more than good enough to be worth the price and the amount of content available overall is far surpassing the price tag of the game, that's if something like game length is a key point for you.    … Expand
  20. Shu_or
    Apr 16, 2020
    7
    I loved the game and game play but that last chapter felt like they took something great and turned it into fan fiction, I'm hopeful but very worried about the fate of future FF7 games to come.
  21. Kenmei
    Apr 16, 2020
    9
    With the hype surrounding this game second only to the return of Jesus, FF VII Remake had such lofty expectations that there was no way it was ever going to fulfill them. However the game comes about as close as I could have expected it too. I first want to say that people who expect this to be the whole game remade need to rethink how they view this game. They really should have addedWith the hype surrounding this game second only to the return of Jesus, FF VII Remake had such lofty expectations that there was no way it was ever going to fulfill them. However the game comes about as close as I could have expected it too. I first want to say that people who expect this to be the whole game remade need to rethink how they view this game. They really should have added some sort of Part 1 subtitle to this so people know that this isn't the full game.
    What this game gets right, gets those things extremely right. The level of detail and atmosphere here is astounding. I don't think I've ever seen some of the attention to detail presented here in any other game ever made. The staff treated each character and setting with extreme care. It really shows in how the characters interact with each other and the environment around them. As well as the subtle nods to old fans of the series with the various flash-forward sequences that show what the player knows happens after Midgar ends and the rest of the game begins. The new content is also very well done and, while some of it can feel a bit prolonged at times, it all fits into the story very well as well as gives some of the characters from the original game, who may not have been given the time to develop as a character, their own time to shine here. If this is going to be the level set for all of the following games, then the amount of detail here will be staggering.
    However not everything here works well in the long run. The combat can be hit or miss, especially during the final portions of the game where it expects you to be able to read each enemy like the back of your hand if you want to survive. Especially on the hardest difficulties. The combat in general is a mixed bag. On one hand I like how it all fits together and flows at times, and on the other it can be extremely frustrating when you get 1 shot by an enemy you cant see on screen while at max health. It can feel very cheap at times. Also the voice acting can be a bit wonky at times. 95% of the time, all the VO's are great and each character is very well realized throughout the story. But certain characters, like Tifa and Aerith, will deliver some very deadpan and unenthusiastic lines during high pressure situations. It's a fairly minor thing, and doesn't happen a lot, but happens enough to make it noticeable and can take you out of scene.
    As I said before, this game was never going to live up to the massive amounts of hype that came with it. But it does a very good job at coming close. And out of the about 40 hours it'll take to complete this game, not including going back to do the trophies or side quests you will miss along the way, I never felt like I was just trying to grind through it. This is something I can recommend for new and old players alike as it feels like a brand new experience and one that I'm excited to see what they do with in the future.    … Expand
  22. klkevinkl
    Apr 16, 2020
    3
    The biggest problem of the game is its inability to decide whether it's an action game or an RPG. The combination ends up feeling like someone lazily cobbled the two together without a concern about how it worked. The main feature is circled around using enemy weaknesses to pressure them, then stagger, and finally damage/kill them. The problem with this is that enemies have super armorThe biggest problem of the game is its inability to decide whether it's an action game or an RPG. The combination ends up feeling like someone lazily cobbled the two together without a concern about how it worked. The main feature is circled around using enemy weaknesses to pressure them, then stagger, and finally damage/kill them. The problem with this is that enemies have super armor and do not flinch until you can pressure or stagger them. Bosses will change patterns several times over a fight and make it harder to do this each time with the occasional instant kill in their final form. Melee characters also have a hard time hitting the mobile aerial units because they were not designed for that. This is especially noticeable for someone with short reach like Tifa who sometimes fails to hit them even if they are right in front of the target in the air.

    Item uses (not allowed in hard mode by the way) and spells are limited by the ATB bar which you get two charges of. Some skills require one, others require two. There is a special skill to get three bars for a fight, but you will rarely have the opportunity to use it, making it a waste. This is different from previous games, but they probably wanted to make magic and items more meaningful compared to their other games. But by doing so, it ends up making a lot of other things in the game like materia linking kind of useless.

    The game's story is okay, but the end is rushed. There's a ton of good voice acting too. The problem comes towards the end when a lot of things are not explained and all of Cloud's headaches and freak outs throughout the game are visions that we do not actually see until near the end of the game. This is fairly important, yet we the player as Cloud never actually see them until the end.

    Overall, this feels like a halfway experiment between incorporating the old more turn based elements of the RPG genre with the elements that are normally only found in action games. If they decide to make a sequel, they should just abandon the older RPG elements in favor of the action elements they are already favoring to make it better rather than try to keep elements they clearly have no interested in just for the sake of nostalgia.    … Expand
  23. kleeptomaniac
    Apr 16, 2020
    3
    I enjoyed 90% percent of this game, until the ending happened and the writers decided they weren't making a remake anymore. Why did a remake people have been waiting for, for decades have to be ruined because of the writers massive ego.

    I wanted the original story of FF7 remade, not an alternate take or reimagining.
    **** you Nomura.
  24. amanduh
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    The original Final Fantasy VII is my favorite video game of ALL time. I have invested numerous hours into the original and have been awaiting this remake since its announcement in 2015. To say this game exceeded my expectations is an understatement. The score was beautifully done, the characters stayed true to their distinctive personalities, and the environments were nothing short ofThe original Final Fantasy VII is my favorite video game of ALL time. I have invested numerous hours into the original and have been awaiting this remake since its announcement in 2015. To say this game exceeded my expectations is an understatement. The score was beautifully done, the characters stayed true to their distinctive personalities, and the environments were nothing short of stunning. This game IS a Remake, meaning it isn't EXACTLY the same, but I am absolutely so excited to see where they take the story from here. It's going to be a journey well worth taking.… Expand
  25. DanePhillips34
    Apr 16, 2020
    0
    First of all, I'm a big fan of the original Final Fantasy VII game. I don't have time to play games nowadays so I really wanted to buy this remake for my son, but after reading the reviews from this website, I will definitely not.

    It's pretty clear that this remake is a scam, not full game (Midgar part only?), action game (No thanks), and worst part, story drastically changed. So    First of all, I'm a big fan of the original Final Fantasy VII game. I don't have time to play games nowadays so I really wanted to buy this remake for my son, but after reading the reviews from this website, I will definitely not.

    It's pretty clear that this remake is a scam, not full game (Midgar part only?), action game (No thanks), and worst part, story drastically changed.

    So basically, Squaresoft is selling a new Final Fantasy VII action game with a new story that covers only Midgar part as a "Remake"? (Fraudscam at its best.)    … Expand
  26. kevinmason09
    Apr 15, 2020
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a loong time fan of the original Final Fantasy 7, and the promise of a "faithful recreation" of the original game, I find myself bewildered and disappointed at the direction they are choosing to go with this series. Alternate time realities? Suggesting that Zack is in fact alive, and that the narrative will no longer follow the plot of the original has me so utterly disinterested in the future. I don't understand where this even came from. Why deviate from such a beloved narrative? Go write your fanfic Square, I hope this makes you guys happy to stamp out the hopes and dreams of long time fans of the original. This was supposed to be something very special for a devoted base of fans that are the reason you even decided to do a remake in the first place. It's sad to see how you dishonor that legacy.… Expand
  27. lyekay1
    Apr 16, 2020
    0
    First loot boxes, now games are being split in episodes where you have to pay? Nah this aint it, sorry Square bot you lost me as a fan. I'm tired of this man, rather wait and release a full game then do this. I've been a fan since the PS1 days.
  28. blaket81
    Apr 16, 2020
    10
    I want to give this game a poor rating, because there are so many things I don't like about it. I was 16 when the original came out, I have loved it for 23 years. This game is so different from the original, and I am very mad about that.

    The combat in this game is extremely fun, but the difficulty is all over the place. There are random difficulty spikes. I was constantly switching    I want to give this game a poor rating, because there are so many things I don't like about it. I was 16 when the original came out, I have loved it for 23 years. This game is so different from the original, and I am very mad about that.

    The combat in this game is extremely fun, but the difficulty is all over the place. There are random difficulty spikes. I was constantly switching back and forth from easy to normal difficulty the whole time. One enemy would be a challenge but fun and the next would be downright impossible where I make absolutely no dent in their health, then the next enemy or boss would just be a fun challenge again.

    Aside from the combat, the story is not as close to the original as I would have liked. The further I got in the game the more i resented the filler in between the sequences I adore from the original. Then came that ending! One thing to me is certain, I cannot think of this as FF7 remake anymore. It is much more like FF7 reboot now, which I do NOT like.

    So why am I still giving this game a 10? For two reasons, first is to make up for trolls. Second reason I'm giving it a 10 is because what did I do when I finished this game? I immediately started it over again. No matter how much I want to dislike this game I don't. I've let my anger over the differences settle, and now that I know what to expect from the game I will probably enjoy it more the 2nd time around.    … Expand
  29. Oluckyasian24
    Apr 16, 2020
    3
    If you are looking for a turn base strategy/tactical game that challenges you to think - this aint it. Aside from beautiful graphics, everything else is lacking. This is an action game playing on people nostalgia for a cash grab. Sure it makes for a great movie - but do you want to pay $180+ to watch a movie you already know the ending to? Huge disappointment... if its not broken - dontIf you are looking for a turn base strategy/tactical game that challenges you to think - this aint it. Aside from beautiful graphics, everything else is lacking. This is an action game playing on people nostalgia for a cash grab. Sure it makes for a great movie - but do you want to pay $180+ to watch a movie you already know the ending to? Huge disappointment... if its not broken - dont fix it. No one will remember this game a few years from now. All the memorable soundtrack are original ones; the side quests are literally like WoW classic and the gameplay is button mashing galore with barely any strategy involved. You can run through the entire game using a few types of materia, difficulty is non existent. Over hyped big time… Expand
  30. 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
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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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