Final Fantasy VII Remake First Impressions

So, despite being exactly the right age for it when it came out, I didn't play FFVII back in the day. It was available, I think, for the original Playstation and possibly PC, neither of which I had (ours was a Nintendo/Mac house).

By which I mean to say that I don't have any primary nostalgia for this game - it was more hearing about others talk about it that I learned of Cloud, Sepphiroth, Aeris/Aerith, Tifa, Barret, etc.

In fact, I actually didn't play any Final Fantasy games until X, though I eventually went back to play VI/III.

When the series began to turn away from turn-based battles, I was not a fan - to me, the turn-based system define the series, and helped tie it to table-top RPGs that had inspired it.

So while I don't have much specific VII-based nostalgia, I was a little wary of this game's action-focus.

Having had my hands on it, however, and taking the game on its own merits, I'm finding it very enjoyable. Much more than what I felt was the very clunky FF XII (though I know that game has its fans) this one commits to being an action-RPG game. You still build up an "ATB" meter, which you then use on abilities - special strikes that do extra damage.

The combat thus becomes fairly fluid, pausing (or more accurately going into super-slow mode) when you want to cast spells or select things from the menu. Your fast-paced attacks happen pretty much any time you press them, but you need to let the ATB meter fill to do more complex stuff.

There's also some tactical aspects that have been added - hitting an enemy repeatedly pressures and then eventually staggers them, causing them to take more damage. Some of the early enemies - guard dogs - have a much heftier amount of HP, but you can stagger them relatively easily, allowing you to burn your ATB options to wipe them out.

So far I've only had a couple segments controlling multiple characters, and while it was a bit awkward at first, I think I'll get the hang of it. You can easily access other characters' menus, allowing you to direct their special attacks, but they'll automatically use basic attacks against things.

Graphically, the game is flat-out gorgeous. Its mix of modern, futuristic, steampunk, and fantasy is something I realize must have been influencing me for a long time, even before I experienced it firsthand (see also: Twin Peaks, which I did see about ten years ago, but which I think was influencing me through pop-culture osmosis far earlier).

One element I really enjoy is that the sort of random gossip from people in towns is just broadcast when you walk past them, and separated from more important conversations.

I'm given to understand that the remake adds new story elements to the game, though given my only basic understanding of that original story, I'm just taking it as a whole. (Something about weird ghost things threatening Aeris/Aerith - she hasn't been named in-game yet - plus Cloud having various weird flashbacks/hallucinations involving Sepphiroth).

Currently, I've just arrived in the Sector 7 Slums and met up with Tifa, Cloud's childhood friend, who hired him for the act of ecoterrorism that starts the game.