Final Fantasy VII Remake: The first hours alluded to

Final Fantasy VII Remake is just a few weeks away. Less than five years after the unveiling at the Sony E3 press conference, Midgar is back. We were able to take a detailed look at the new edition of the role-playing classic and tell you what an impression Final Fantasy VII Remake left behind.

The neon lights shine brightly, smoke rises from the rooftops of the city. Thick pipes and cables run through the nested alleys like arteries. The streets are wet and a bit too dirty. That's exactly what I remembered Midgar when I explored it on PlayStation back then. Almost 23 years later, the graphic leap is as different as day and night. And yet this world looks familiar. When Cloud jumps off the train at the beginning to meet with the members of AVALANCHE, it feels a bit like returning to the parents' old house after a long time.

When I used to watch Final Fantasy VII render sequences, I started to dream if video games could ever look like this in the future. Today, in 2020, I can happily tell my self from the past: Final Fantasy VII Remake looks even better.

So different and yet so familiar

The Final Fantasy VII remake offers a significantly different gaming experience from the PSX template. It looks like a modern role-playing game that just didn't have its roots 20 years ago. Instead of the isometric perspective, the camera is placed behind your shoulder. There are no more random encounters with enemies and the fighting does not take place in arenas.

Instead, you pat yourself with the guards of the Shin-Ra group without having to wait for an interruption. It is also not added in rounds. In the skin of Cloud you thrash your enemies with the gigantic armor sword. Your ATB bar fills up. This is tapped for special attacks, magic or the use of objects.

In the frenzy of action

It still took me a little bit of time until the individual subtleties of the combat mechanics had passed into flesh and blood. On the one hand, this is due to the multitude of possibilities. You can take control of the other party members at any time. Alternatively, you press one of the back shoulder buttons, pauses the game and then selects the respective action that your fellow combatants should take. On the other hand, there are also shortcuts for various special maneuvers.

Basically, however, I miss missing out on the rudimentary behavior of my party members in the fight. In the heat of the moment, for example, it is not always clear how much life energy the heroine has left. Unfortunately, it cannot be set that an AI comrade heals reliably at a certain point or acts otherwise as a support. The developers want you to switch back and forth between the different characters, but this leads to meticulous micromanagement, especially in later battles. When we had to compete with fearsome Obemotze in the seventh and tenth chapter, I was really sweating.

The camera also likes to throw a branch into the spokes. Especially when you have to deal with several enemies, the overview goes down. These ailments are not tragic. After a while, I regularly battled myself into a kind of intoxication. It is satisfying, especially during a boss fight, to put the opponent in a state of shock by cleverly arranging special attacks. This will cause you to do 160 percent more damage for a short time. Together with the groovy limit break attacks, you can distribute a lot in a short time.

Materia and incantations

Familiar elements like Materia also find a prominent place in the remake of Final Fantasy VII. You can use these captured bullets in your weapon, for example, to activate the special properties for the character. With magic materia you learn magic, with skill materia useful maneuvers such as stealing or analysis. I got along quite well without having to deal with the Materia more intensely, but in the full version I will surely equip my party with it conscientiously.

Summons work a little differently in the remake: You still summon the mighty beasts in battle, but then they fight autonomously at your side for a while. By sacrificing ATB strips, special beast abilities can be triggered. At the end of the timer, the beast says goodbye with an elaborately staged attack. This is where Final Fantasy fans become nostalgic.

Final Fantasy VII Remake – Opening Movie Trailer

The five-minute video already shows the full opening sequence of the Final Fantasy VII remake.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is no slouch anyway when it comes to staging the game in a grand manner. Elaborate tracking shots capture the sheer size of Midgar in the beginning, while the excellent music adapts to the situation. In quiet moments, the soundtrack nestles discreetly in the background, only to let the muscles play in the battles. According to the first impressions, the German voice output does a solid job, only the constant wheezing and sighing goes on the biscuit.