The Case Against a Final Fantasy VII Remake
It’s been a few weeks since the Final Fantasy VII remake was announced at E3 and the gaming world is still buzzing. Several of the original creators are back on board, attempting to make a better version of what is arguably already the best game ever, bringing it to a new audience that might not have experienced this classic. Unfortunately, I don’t quite share that enthusiasm. Instead, I’m sat here dreading the next wave of information, set for this winter.
The problem here isn’t Final Fantasy VII. While I’m not one of the many who consider it the best game ever, I still love the game. I always describe it as a game that does nothing badly – the characters are likeable and develop throughout, the storyline is nuanced and progresses well, the soundtrack provides an incredible atmosphere and the graphics… Well, the graphics are the reason we need a remake. There are some key factors within FF7 that make it such an amazing game, though; while it’s great to talk about the plot and the aesthetics, it’s the gameplay that really makes it stand out. The Materia system offered phenomenal levels of customisation, while enemies and bosses were varied, really testing the players’ ability to adapt. Lastly, the sense of scale within FF7 was instrumental in the feel of the game: players spent several hours escaping Midgar, only to find that they’d explored a tiny section of just one continent out of three – this promise of potential left players excited to progress and made every new location feel like a great accomplishment. This wouldn’t be possible, however, without the random battles, which are often subject to both ridicule and praise. If distances between locations were large and full of enemies, the game would consist of too much time between areas and not enough progression, while distances being short – and therefore containing few enemies – would destroy that sense of scale.
This is, quite notably, one of the major problems that recent Final Fantasy games have struggled with. Final Fantasy XIII, the main-series FF with the lowest user rating on MetaCritic, came under heavy fire for being too linear, with a lack of towns and cities contributing to the monotonous feel of the game. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XII, with the second-lowest user rating, had an expansive open world that didn’t captivate at all: the towns were bland and boring, while plains and dungeons felt uninspired, often being too similar to each other and, as a result, forgettable – can you remember which one was the Lhusu Mines and which one was the Henne Mines? Both games also struggle with pacing, with players often wondering when the story will progress or forgetting why they’re meant to be saving the world and who from – another aspect that FF7 hit with precision.
With Tetsuya Nomura stating in interviews that he wants to update the game for a modern audience, it’s looking more and more likely that the FF7 remake will look closer to more recent FFs than it does the original. Strange, then, that one of the most critically-acclaimed RPGs in recent years is the one that is closest to their old fare: Bravely Default. This game demonstrated that there is still demand for the ‘classic’ JRPG, despite the direction Nomura and Square Enix are moving in.
This isn’t to say that every change is bad, of course. The Steam version of FF7 has already made several much-needed changes: the most clear example is the script, with the original having some lines that were memorable for the wrong reasons – “This guy are sick” – but other changes include Magic Defence working as intended and the overworld models being given mouths… even if that didn’t quite work out as planned. If the Final Fantasy VII remake were to add voice-acting, that would be perfectly reasonable – it’s something that could end badly, but it isn’t a game-breaking issue if it does . Having characters move around the screen during combat, as in Final Fantasy X-2, would be good, but any more than that and Square Enix risk pushing away already-disillusioned fans.
Personally speaking, I would love for the Final Fantasy VII remake to be incredible. It’s a game that I still come back to regularly, thanks to the incredible amount of content and the variety the battle system allows for. That’s exactly the reason I’m worried about it. With Square Enix’s – and, in particular, Tetsuya Nomura’s – recent record, I can’t see the changes being anything but bad. I desperately want them to prove me wrong, but I’m not going to hold out hope.
[GARD]