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Last minute about Final Fantasy VII Remake

This Friday, January 31, just over two months for the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix has released a new trailer for the first chapter, taking advantage to present the main theme of the game. "Hollow" has been composed for the occasion by Nobuo Uematsu and features the voice of Yosh (from the Japanese rock band Survive Said The Prophet).

As for the trailer itself, which you can see above, have been revealed multiple details about this first chapter: locations, situations well known to all and important characters we had not seen to date. One of the most important revelations, to finally see the appearance and voice of Red XIII, one of the most important side. Some luxury Shinra antagonists have also been revealed, such as Scarlett, Palmer or Reeve -which seems to have more prominence than in the original game- and the scientist Hojo, one of the most important characters in Final Fantasy VII.

Although it had already been revealed months ago that the part of the Bee Tavern would be respected (and Aeris or Tifa had been shown dressed for the occasion), we have finally been able to see Cloud and its transformation to sneak into the mansion of Don Corneo, one of the most iconic moments of the original game. We have also been able to see for the first time the impressive invocation Leviathan and something unexpected, a confrontation of the protagonists with Jenova, the evil of alien origin that threatens the planet.

Final Fantasy VII: From the PS3 technical demo to the 2020 remake

The idea of ​​remaking Final Fantasy VII and updating it visually is not a precisely recent idea, far from it. For over 15 years the idea has been flying over the industry; Would you end up pressing the red Square Enix button if necessary? The possibility was most commented, mainly, during the generation of PS3, when the Final Fantasy saga was going through quite dark moments.

The truth is Final Fantasy VII is not a game that has aged especially well visually over the years; In fact it has done much worse than the eighth and ninth installment of the saga, also appeared on PlayStation. With FFVII Squaresoft took the saga for the first time to 3D environments in a completely new and unknown hardware that would later learn to exploit much more.

Nevertheless, the possibility of a remake of Final Fantasy VII is born more of the company itself that of the desire of the fans of the saga. Squaresoft opened the thunder box alone back in 2005, in full E3, with a technical demo of Final Fantasy VII for the future PS3 in which the well-known introduction of the game in Midgar was remade with the graphic power of the new console of Sony All this, many years before we entered this era full of remakes and remastering of video games. The emergence of that technical demo It was the coal that put the imagination of the players to work.

Nevertheless, it took almost a decade for Square Enix to decide to press the button and give the green light to the project with capital letters, its "all or nothing". It was at E3 2015 (also at the PlayStation conference) when the company unveiled its intentions with a brief teaser and it has taken almost five more years for Final Fantasy VII Remake to come true (this April) in the PS4 of the players. Of course, for now it will only be possible to enjoy its first chapter.

Release by episodes: In April we return to Midgar

If you don't know anything about the game so far, the first thing you should know is that Square Enix is ​​going to release Final Fantasy VII Remake for episodes. That is to say expand the original 1997 experience in several releases and what we will receive next April focuses exclusively on the initial part of Midgar. That the launch will be episodic is official information, which we don't know is how many episodes there will be in total (it is speculated that it will be divided into three, maximum four) nor the launch schedule for Square Enix.

Logically, a continuous flow of news from the company is expected once the first episode reaches the market, so it would not be far fetched to have information about the second part, in which Square Enix already works(E3 2020?), Of which there is no known year of release or consoles. Will it come exclusively to PS5 or will PS4 players be taken into account?

The universe of Final Fantasy VII will expand like never before

Rivers of ink have run since the announcement that Final Fantasy VII Remake would arrive in episodic format. Why split the experience into pieces? How long will each episode last? The truth is that Square Enix has stepped out to explain that His intention is to expand the universe of Final Fantasy VII expanding the adventures of Cloud and company. We will stop more along the way, with much more content, more time to explore much more developed locations and missions to do than in the original game, which tiptoed through some scenarios.

The possibilities of expanding the original 1997 experience are enormous in hardware such as PS4, and will be much more with the arrival of the next chapters, which indicates everything will appear directly in the next generation (PlayStation 5). Just take a look at the latest trailers of Final Fantasy VII to understand the scope this first chapter will have: We can bet because some characters with almost no prominence in the original game (such as Shinra antagonists or members of AVALANCHA) will develop much more, having their moments of glory.

How has the gameplay changed?

If you go into too technical details, the main thing you should know about the gameplay of Final Fantasy VII Remake is that the combat system has left behind the traditional turn system of the original game. The gameplay in the fighting is now in real time; that is, we will directly control one character at a time (being able to alternate between team members), controlling their movements as in any action game.

This does not take away so that the timing of the fighting is conditioned by the traditional magic bars, limits or invocations, which means that the game does not lose the strategic component that we all expect from it. Even if Final Fantasy VII Remake follows the action RPG trail of other company games, such as Kingdom Hearts, lovers of original fighting have an alternative. Its creators have implemented a Classic Mode, which will give us the option to freeze the time between attack and attack, to think about our next move.

Outside the fighting, you can expect a total freedom of movement, controlling the camera at your leisure; nothing to do with the pre-landed environments of the original game and the overhead view. Naturally, all environments are three-dimensional, on a much larger scale than before, which will enhance exploration (although we still don't know to what extent). As for the size of the scenarios, it must be remembered again that this first chapter takes place exclusively in Midgar, without access yet to the open world that opens to us when leaving the city, something we will have to wait for.

What to expect after the first episode of 2020?

Although before the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake Square Enix already works in the second chapter, the future is an unknown and the deadlines for new episodes, even more. The company focuses its 100% communication campaign on the promotion of this first and expected chapter, and of course, We won't know anything about your future plans until April 10. Of course, when millions of players have finished it, the community will not stop asking what now? That is why it is not surprising that Square Enix has something to tell us in the next E3 2020.

At the moment we don't know how many chapters the Final Fantasy VII Remake project consists of (we don't even know if Square Enix is ​​clear about it). What is clear is that at least we will see two or three more chapters to finalize the story of Cloud and Sephirot knowing the history of the original game and the large number of locations that compose it. In that sense you can assume that we will have Final Fantasy VII Remake for at least the next 5 years. Will the PlayStation generation marked "the FFVII generation" remain?

An unannounced demo, but that could soon reach PS4

For the undecided, that despite the good opinions of those who have tried it and everything that has been shown of the game, are still not convinced, there is good news. A few weeks ago, due to an error by Sony and Square Enix, The existence of a demo was leaked on the PS Store. The file could be partially downloaded, filtering numerous information not only from the demo, but from the entire chapter, but that is another story.

The good news is that, although it's not official yet, unless change of plans there will be PS4 demonstration of Final Fantasy VII Remake

. What there is no news is about its release date: it is speculated that Square Enix can release it for players during these weeks, although there is also the possibility that it will be published the same day of launch of the game, the April 10, 2020.

Date, price and editions of Final Fantasy VII Remake for PS4

After the recent delay announced by Square Enix, Final Fantasy VII Remake will be launched worldwide on April 10, 2020, only on PS4, a console that saves the exclusivity of the game for a year. After that time, it is speculated that the game reaches other platforms; There are more than solid indications that there will be a PC version in 2021 (leaked in the data extracted from the demo). It is also not ruled out that the game ends up arriving later on Xbox One / Xbox Series X.

The price of the Standard Edition from Final Fantasy VII Remake is the usual € 59.99 (A DLC is offered with the Chocobito invocation for those who reserve the game). It has also put on sale a Deluxe Edition from Final Fantasy VII Remake by € 89.99, which includes an artbook of the game, a steelbook, a reduced soundtrack on CD and a DLC with the invocation material Cactilio.

Finally, a Collector's Edition (1st Class Edition) which will be exclusive to Square Enix Store, it will cost € 299 and in addition to all of the above, it will include the exclusive figure PLAY ARTS KAI of Cloud and Hardy-Daytona and a DLC with the Carbunculus invocation subject.

Trailers and gameplays of Final Fantasy VII Remake published

From the unexpected announcement of the E3 2015 on the PlayStation show to the last trailer of The Game Awards 2019. From here you can do a chronological review by all trailers and gameplays of Final Fantasy VII Remakeshared by Square Enix and PlayStation for almost five years. If you are one of those who prefer to arrive without knowing anything, you may want to skip this part and see it after the game is released.

First teaser of Final Fantasy VII Remake since E3 2015

First trailer of FFVII Remake with fragments of the gameplay since PlayStation Experience 2015

Teaser trailer published in May 2019

Final Fantasy VII Remake introduction trailer

Trailer with announcement of release date (E3 2019)

Trailer shown at the Square Enix conference of E3 2019

Official gameplay since E3 2019

Trailer shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2019

45-minute gameplay from the PlayStation stage at the TGS 2019

Trailer shown at The Game Awards 2019

Last trainer shown in January 2020, presenting the main theme of FFVII Remake

This is how the characters and environments of the Final Fantasy VII remake look

Cloud

Cloud strife, former member of SOLDADO and protagonist of Final Fantasy VII was the first character shown, back in 2015 and the truth is that his design does not differ much from the one we all knew about Advent Children. Maintains haircut, attire and clothing; He is an iconic character for Square Enix and it seems that they have not wanted to play too much so as not to anger the fans.

Sephirot

If the Cloud aspect is continuous, the design of Sephirot -one of the greatest villains of video games- is even more so. The antagonist of the adventure has a very balanced design and it has always worked really well. His level of participation in this first episode, which takes place exclusively in Midgar, is still unknown.

Barret

Barret Wallace He is the character that has most changed his appearance with respect to the original design, adding a black T-shirt and sunglasses as well as updating his hairstyle a bit. It will have a very important role in this first episode.

Tifa

The design of Tifa Lockart He was the latest to unveil within the cast of main characters and the truth is that his final appearance has liked the community a lot. The appearance is very respectful of the original design, but leaving behind the anime aspect of the original game to present the design of a much more balanced and realistic Asian-looking woman.

Aeris

The design of Aeris Gainsborough It has also been updated with respect to the original Final Fantasy VII artworks although it is not the one that has undergone the most changes; his outfit has been updated slightly and the original haircut style has been maintained, but adapted to the realistic cut look of the characters.

Network XIII

In the trailer of January 31, 2020, two months before the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, the appearance and voice of Red XIII has been revealed, one of the most anticipated and important secondary of the Clud group and company (and that has more incidence in history).

Invocations

Upgrade: In the trailer you can see at the beginning of the article you can see one more invocation: Leviathan.

The invocations they are one of the most distinctive elements of any Final Fantasy and in this remake they look like never before, with a maximum display of visual effects, in line with what is seen in Final Fantasy XV. At the moment the final design of Chocobito, Ifrit and Shiva. Playably the invocations will work very differently from the original game (we can continue attacking with them on the screen).

Other characters (Avalanche, Turks, Shinra)

Upgrade: In the last trailer, which you can see at the beginning of this content, the appearance of some important Shinra antagonists, such as Scarlett, Reeve, Palmer or Hojo, the company's chief scientist, is revealed.

At the moment the appearance of some secondary characters, such as Jessie, Biggs and Wedge of Avalanche and Reno, Rude and Tseng, from the Turks, in addition to several senior managers of Shinra, like Heidegger or Rufus. Logically it is the most surprising designs, since with many of them we are left with its superdeformed aspect of the original game.

The Final Fantasy VII environments

Square Enix has been sharing through its networks captures of some of the most iconic scenarios of Final Fantasy VII, such as the Aeris church, Wall Market, different Midgar sectors or own Shinra building. You can take a look at everything in the following gallery.