Short Return to Midgar

Finally my fantasy (really!?) of playing Final Fantasy VII Remake came true. This week saw the release of a demo of the long awaited game, and let my tell you … I was blown away like from a makonuclear blast! The demo features the Bombing Run and let me confide you another thing: Square Enix absolutely nailed it!

Now, I have to say I was a bit skeptic on the gameplay side, cause the game features a real time combat system in stead of turn based system like it was back in 1997. Since I wasn’t a fan of combat in Final Fantasy XV, I was afraid it would ruin the experience for me in VII as well. My fear proved to be partly true. It’s already an improvement over XV, but I must say I’m not the biggest fan of the newest implementation either. For this reason, I’m still unsure wether I’ll play Remake as intended or in the hybrid realtime/turnbased Classic Mode which is more along the line of how it used to play.

Despite this, the Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo rides on a gigantic wave of nostalgia. The graphics look amazing (even the 30fps on PS4 don’t seem to bother me), enemy design is faithful to the classic and the music … the music! These themes teleported me back to a time where its melodies where engrained in my brain.

Now I have read some remarks online about the bad voice acting, and while I can see why, it doesn’t bother me that much after all, despite Barret getting awfully repetitive during the boss battle when Cloud falls …

Basically, if you have a Playstation 4, played FFVII back in the day and your still on the fence: make sure to install and play this demo! I’m sure you’ll be convinced to buy this one once it’s out. I know I am!