What parents need to know
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a modern retelling of the acclaimed Final Fantasy VII game originally released on PlayStation 1. You play as Cloud Strife, a former soldier turned mercenary, who joins a group of environmental resistance fighters to fight against the Shinra company, responsible for exploiting the planet’s vital energy and oppressing the inhabitants.
The Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade version includes the main game as well as an additional episode titled INTERmission, consisting of two chapters centered on Yuffie, a new playable character. This additional story takes place in parallel with and after the events of the main campaign.
You don’t need to have played the other games in the Final Fantasy series to enjoy this title: the story is totally accessible to new players.
As the adventure progresses, you take turns controlling Cloud and his allies. The game alternates between exploration, puzzle-solving and battles against soldiers, mercenaries, monsters and machines in a sci-fi and fantasy universe.
Finally, even if Final Fantasy VII Remake takes the story of the original game and modernizes it, it only adapts the first part. This reinterpretation is planned as a saga in several episodes, the sequels of which are still in development at Square Enix.
Details
Level of experience required
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Evaluation
Numerous fights with bladed weapons, firearms, punches, kicks, magical attacks of electricity, fire, ice, wind… Summon and fight against monsters, soldiers, robots, aliens. Numerous sound impacts, sounds of cries of pain, explosions. At one point the game suggests the impalement of a character, but this is done off-camera. And a character gets shot several times while climbing a flight of stairs.
Some female characters have outfits that highlight their physique or plunging necklines. A scene contains a character sexually wanting three female characters, verbally demonstrating and gesticulating explicitly.
Some female characters have outfits that highlight their physique or plunging necklines. A scene contains a character sexually wanting three female characters, verbally demonstrating and gesticulating explicitly.
Many violent words, threats, combat provocations. Many sexual innuendos. Evocation of alcoholic beverages on numerous occasions. The words “sh*t”, “a*shole”, and “pr*ck” appear in the dialogue as well.
Requires reading for years. There is a lot of text, whether to tell the story or to give the objectives of the quests.
The hero and his friends team up to save the planet and protect it from its outrageous exploitation.
The combat system is difficult enough in itself, but once mastered, many challenges await you. Several difficulty levels are available, and a Hard difficulty level unlocks once the game is completed for the first time.
The combat system is as difficult to handle as it is jubilant to play. You have to constantly juggle between 2 or 3 characters, change the direction of the camera, choose the orders for each of them. Many players find themselves distraught at such an action. Those who hold on to it and persevere take great pleasure in it.
The Deluxe versions of the game contain optional additions such as additional Materia and summons for characters. You can’t get them in the game without it.
This includes:
- Cactuar Summon Materia (in-game item that allows you to summon a Cactuar)
- Carbuncle Summon Materia (in-game item that allows you to summon a Carbuncle)
The physical Collector’s versions contain a whole bunch of items featuring the game and its characters.
Local game modes
A story mode for the main story and an Intermission mode for Yuffie and Sonon’s story.
You can oscillate between the 2 stories at any time, and each story has several save locations.
It is recommended to do the main story first.
Intermission is an interlude between FFVII Remake and FFVII Rebirth.
Our opinion
There were a thousand ways to go wrong by remaking Final Fantasy VII. A thousand ways to disappoint the fans of the first hour, to bore new players, or simply to miss the soul of a game that has become mythical. Reviving such a cult work, more than twenty years after its release on PlayStation, was almost a suicidal act. And yet, against all odds, Square Enix has succeeded where so many others have broken their teeth: Final Fantasy VII Remake is not only a good remake, it’s an inspired, modern and deeply respectful replay.
From the first minutes, it is clear that this project has not been treated lightly. The city of Midgar, once suggested by a few 3D backgrounds and pre-rendered backgrounds, becomes here a real living, suffocating, vertical, vibrant world. We no longer pass through Midgar: we live there. We feel the misery, the anger, the political and social tension. Each alley, each slum, each sector breathes its own identity. This is one of the great coups de force of the game: giving a new thickness to a universe that we thought we knew by heart.
Characters finally fully embodied
Cloud Strife is no longer just this cold and taciturn hero. Here he is more human, more nuanced, sometimes clumsy, often touching. Tifa, Aerith, Barret and the others are no longer simple archetypes: they are characters in their own right, with real emotional arcs. The writing work is remarkable. The dialogues sound true, natural, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking. We feel that Square Enix wanted to take the time to bring these characters to life, to offer them moments of intimacy, doubt, lightness.
This is where Final Fantasy VII Remake divides a bit: by expanding the story, adding new scenes, missions and sequences, the game sometimes takes detours. Some players see it as a length. On our side, we see above all a clear desire: to give emotional weight to each moment, even if it means slowing down the pace.
A spectacular staging
Visually, the game impresses. Without being technically perfect, it shines with its artistic direction. The play of light, the industrial sets, the verticality of Midgar, the nocturnal panoramas… Everything is designed to serve an almost cinematographic staging. Some sequences are real pieces of bravery, worthy of the greatest AAA productions.
The soundtrack, carefully reorchestrated, is another pillar of this success. The iconic themes of the original game return, sublimated, modernized, sometimes unrecognizable at first glance… but always full of nostalgia. The emotion is working at full speed.
A combat system that modernizes without betraying
Square Enix’s other big bet was the gameplay. Gone is the pure turn-based system, replaced by a hybrid system mixing real-time action and strategy. And we have to admit it: the result is particularly convincing. The fights are dynamic, spectacular, but also demanding. It’s not enough to hammer the buttons: you have to manage your characters, their skills, their ATB gauges, their roles in the team.
Change characters on the fly, exploit enemy weaknesses, plan your attacks… All this gives a real tactical depth. Some purists may miss the classic system, but for many, this new model is a perfect compromise between tradition and modernity.
A remake… that dares to be more than a remake
Where Final Fantasy VII Remake becomes really fascinating is in the way it plays with expectations. The game doesn’t just reproduce the original story: it questions it, hijacks it, reinterprets it. Without giving too much away, some narrative decisions dare to shake up the collective memory of fans. And that’s probably what makes the experience so exciting.
We feel that Square Enix didn’t just want to make a luxurious “copy and paste”, but to offer a new reading of FFVII. A version that dialogues with the past while looking to the future. This will not please everyone, and that’s normal. But this risk-taking deserves respect.
A game that is not perfect… but profoundly striking
Not everything is flawless. Some passages drag on a little long. Some side quests lack interest. A few textures are below the rest. But these flaws remain marginal compared to the ambition and sincerity of the project.
What we remember above all is this rare sensation: that of having experienced something strong. Final Fantasy VII Remake isn’t just a good game. It is a work that touches, that makes you think, that creates attachment. He talks about memory, destiny, struggle, ecology, identity. Themes that are still as relevant today, more than twenty years after they first appeared.
The Nintendo Switch 2 version
This Nintendo Switch 2 version constantly runs at 30 frames per second, while the other versions aim for 60 frames per second. It’s normal, it’s a version on a handheld console. The characters’ hair is not very well transcribed, and has aliasing effects. This is mostly seen in portable mode. Despite all this, the entire game is incredibly well transcribed for a handheld console. Of course, we had to make sacrifices on performance for that. For all the details between the differences, check out Digital Foundry’s video.
Note that the physical game was released on a Game Key Card unfortunately, i.e. a game cartridge that requires you to connect to the Internet to download the game.
In conclusion
Final Fantasy VII Remake is a major success. A game that manages the feat of speaking to two generations at the same time. A title that does not just exist in the shadow of its illustrious predecessor, but that affirms its own identity.
It’s a tribute, a reinvention, a risk-taking… And above all, a deeply human game.
A remake that does not seek to replace the original, but to respond to it. And this is probably the best we could have hoped for.
