I have already told you about my special attitude to the Final Fantasy series. From a young age, I wanted to play all the Final Fantasy games, because at one point I played the 9th part - the best in my opinion - and after that I was very impressed. Over time, however, this desire faded. I began to play all sorts of games more often, discovered many new genres. And I didn’t want to return to the first games of the series at all, they were too outdated (despite the remasters that came out). And they would take up a lot of time with their strictly turn-based combat, the necessary excessive grind for leveling up, etc. Now it’s boring, not the same.
Getting to Know the Remake
So, I wanted to go through all the Finals. In 2020, a remake of the seventh part was released, which was considered in quite wide circles to be a cult classic and the best (with which I, of course, disagree, the ninth is the best). At that moment, I thought about going through the original, so that later I could compare all the changes in the remake, look at the new old locations, the characters and all that. But the walkthrough did not go at all. Precisely because of the above-described reasons. I decided not to suffer and just watch a video about the plot, but this also got boring, and in the end I thought: why do I need it at all, if in the remake everything will be exactly the same? Well, I went to play this very remake. It did not last long, the game quickly ran out of steam for me. By the time I visited the second "city", I was simply not interested, the same type of quests began, and before that there was a stuffy story location. And I turned it off, disappointed in this part as a whole. But a couple of years later I tried different JRPGs, turn-based games again, and decided to give the game a second chance. This time even on streams. And you know, now I'm hooked. Maybe because I started playing even more attentively and got a better understanding of the combat.
Gameplay Impressions
I really liked the gameplay, the combat was quite good, although it would seem to be a slasher, and I don't like this genre. But everything changes over time) It is worth saying that you don't need to learn any combinations here, in fact, there are only two buttons for an attack, but still. At the same time, the whole process is a kind of hybrid of a turn-based game and a slasher - at any time you can activate a pause (which is actually a super-slow motion) and start choosing other actions: spend a consumable, a special move, magic, an ult, etc. You can give similar commands to your squad members. By the way, they act quite well on their own, but you can take control of anyone and play them, not the main character.
"Tactical mode" on pause, clearly visible plate with a choice of options that can be selected relatively calmly in the heat of battle
In between battles, you are simply provided with exploration of the location, sometimes you encounter spatial puzzles, sometimes associated with "parkour". Apart from completing quests, there are no special activities.
The leveling is standard for RPGs, but it is not the character himself that is leveled, but his equipment (weapons). The only equipment the heroes have is decoration and some armor. A unique aspect of this game is the system of materia. Materia are small spheres that give various abilities to the character, the effect depends on the type and color of the matter. Green ones are all kinds of magic: ice, fire, lightning, healing; yellow ones are various technical options, such as scanning the enemy; purple ones simply increase certain parameters, blue ones work on synergy, red ones are a summoning of a powerful ally for a while. Each type of equipment has slots for these same materia (the number of which can be increased by leveling). And until you insert these balls into the equipment, you will not see any magic. So you need to choose what you want to use in the next battle. And some materia can even be useful in quests.
The map is a system of semi-open corridors, most of which you can return to again and collect loot. Of course, if it was not a story location, you will not be allowed there again.
Impressions of the plot
It's a bit hard to talk about the plot, since this remake is literally one third of the original. In principle, I liked the main story. It tells the story of a former soldier (now a mercenary) of a mega-corporation that sucks energy from the planet to convert it into electricity and other amenities. Cloud (our mercenary) takes a job from a group of rebels who want to overthrow this corporation to stop exploiting the planet, as a result of which he finds himself embroiled in a showdown with something more than just an evil corporation. Including his past. The original, as I said, I have not played, but from what I saw, I think everything is on the same rails, only with improved graphics. There are some innovations, but they do not change the course of the plot much. The story is quite dashing, it really picked up speed towards the end, but it ended just as quickly.
The side quests aren't very interesting, but there are some that are quite fun and unique. Some of them further reveal the world and characters. There aren't many of them, and with a gradual and thoughtful progression, they don't get boring.
Conclusions and recommendations
Overall, I liked the first part of the remake, but there wasn't enough of a truly open world to farm, run, fight (without the obligatory grind). But it will be in the second part, so I'm waiting for the release on PC and translation into Russian, the game definitely caught my attention.
I think it's possible to recommend it, but first of all, look at your preferences. The game can either hook you or not, and this will determine whether you want to PLAY it with all the quests, dialogues, etc., or just run through it for the sake of the plot, character development, and the world. If you want the latter more, then don't torture yourself and watch an analysis of the lore and plot (or someone else's walkthrough) in some video. And so the game is suitable for both those familiar with the original and for beginners. I don't advise beginners to play the original, unless after the remake, if they are really interested, in addition, the seventh part has a bunch of different branches in the form of animated films and games, you can get acquainted with them. Well, I'm waiting for the translation of FF VII Rebirth and the third part)
