This is a weird feeling.
Usually when I bring up Final Fantasy on this blog, it’s to let my scorn and rage flow forth unimpeded. In the wake of the Switch port of Final Fantasy 7, that’s not the case. So let me be as upfront as I can right off the bat: yes, this is a good game. Yes, it still holds up. And speaking personally, I may like it (or at least respect it) a bit more than when I last played it.
By extension? I’m glad I’m not on the Squeenix payroll, as a code-spewing grunt, a suited overlord, or anything in between. If I was, I would be completely, utterly, irrevocably, justifiably, eternally embarrassed.
It’s like this. Sometimes, instead of sleeping, learning a valuable skill, or otherwise being a well-adjusted member of society, I wonder what the world would be like if FF: The Spirits Within never happened. What if someone went back in time and slashed the film and its production out of existence? Maybe the franchise as a whole would be healthier. Squaresoft wouldn’t have lost so much money, wouldn’t have had to merge with Enix to survive, wouldn’t have made some of its top talents resign in disgrace, wouldn’t have the first of many critical and financial black marks…the list goes on.
I hope that the top brass at Squeenix Keep have done some serious soul-searching recently. I hope, but I get the feeling that no lessons have been learned; if they had, they probably would have righted the ship after the behind-the-scenes drama of FF12. Given the poor reception to The Lightning Saga (HRRRGKH), the utter failure of FF14’s original version, and the on-again, off-again development hell of FF15, nobody on board is keen to reflect. These days, it seems like when it comes to JRPGs, the only things they need are 1) production values, 2) a familiar brand, and…no, wait, that’s it. Just those two.
I mean, it works. They get money for it. Now, if only they could buy the respect and adoration that true works of art can elicit…you know, like they used to.
To be sure, FF7 isn’t the perfect game. Thanks to the Switch port, I’m able to use L3 to triple the speed of the game -- a function that’s getting a lot more use than I expected. Sometimes it takes a long-ass time for characters to get where they need to go mid-cutscene, so expediting their trip ends up being a must at points. By the same token? Climbing up and down ladders is sluggish. Like, I feel like the 3x speed option is there to skip past infamously-long animations (*glances at Knights of the Round in the distance*), but there’s a lot of skip-worthy material just during standard exploration.
I can’t say it’s a very challenging game, either. I know that’s hard to ascertain in a JRPG, where if you’re not careful (or if you’re me) you could end up over-leveled and curb stomp everything in your way. But even before I started my trek to godhood? Rather, up to my current spot 25 hours into the game? I’ve only gotten one Game Over so far by way of picking a fight with the physical variant of Lost Number. That was a mistake.
So I guess the question then becomes “Do you just need to mash Attack and occasionally heal in a Final Fantasy game?” In some ways, yes. But if you’re like me and want to break the game over your knee -- in terms of building up a team of uber fighters and dominating foes with the harshest of strategies -- then there are steps you need to take that go beyond mashing Attack. It’s forgivable.
What’s really weird is that, well, I can’t shake the feeling that the game is dealing with extremes of speed. Fights are over quickly! Then you move slowly through environments. And you move through those environments to speed through the story! Because some of those dialogue scenes are over in a flash. But you never really need to grind, at least! And in exchange, you have to wait a good while before you can create your ideal builds, given that it’s dependent on what Materia you find in your travels.
This game’s kind of weird. But I dig it.
For the most part, everything moves at a rapid clip. I think it’s a consequence of the old technology at work; if Squeenix had the power and resources, they probably would have puffed it up a lot more than “they” already did, relative to a 1997 title. (You can see some of the hallmarks of Squeenix’s penchant for design excess; props to them for adding in snowboarding, motorcycling, and real-time strategy minigames, but I’m in no rush to ever play those again.) But since they had hard limits imposed, it’s as if the devs trimmed the fat in the best possible ways.
The story’s tighter and focused than most modern FF productions. Characters actually develop, and become endearing even without big-budget animations or voice acting. World-building actually exists and gets properly integrated without resorting to sidelined, in-game codexes or datalogs. The more I play it, the more I realize that the enduring love for this title is deserved.
What’s really surprising is how much fonder I am of the characters now -- removed from the stigma and missteps of godforsaken spinoffs. Barret might actually be my favorite character now, and not just because we share the same race (relative to whatever planet he’s on). The only competition he has is Tifa, who’s so sweet and endearing -- yet flawed nonetheless -- that it proves there’s more to her than being Madame Fanservice. And the only competition she has is Cloud. The real Cloud. Forget Kingdom Hearts. Forget Advent Children. Forget all of the revisionist history nonsense that Squeenix tacked on after the original game’s release. This boy is gold.
So, okay, real talk? The FF7 remake is 100% redundant at best. Foolhardy at worst.
We don’t need it. I don’t need it, at least. Setting aside the fact that it’s seemingly plunging into development hell (seriously, does this company never learn anything?), there’s no way that it can live up to the legacy of the original. It can’t pay respect to the game that millions of players have fallen in love with. I mean, it could if there was genuine talent and wisdom behind it -- but we’ve got Tetsuya “Let’s Load Up Our Game’s Rushed Finale With, Like, Eight Deus Ex Machinas” Nomura directing (or maybe co-directing) again, so my hopes are slim. And remember, this is modern-day Squeenix we’re talking about, so it’s going to be a lot of flash with no substance. Busted, unfulfilling gameplay to stitch together a world as fleshed-out as wallpaper. Even though they already have a roadmap.
My faith in the remake has dwindled even further, and here’s why: in the original game, it takes 5-6 hours to clear Midgar and venture out into the world. It’s a chunk of the story that has its weight and merit, setting up the conflict with some valuable backdrops for scale. But because we’re talking about modern game development -- by a company that was once famous for developing engines with a strictly-limited shelf life and/or value -- there’s no way Squeenix won’t find ways to thoughtlessly inflate Midgar alone into a bloated, befuddling mess. That, or a bunch of hallways.
And that’s just one section of the game. How the hell are they going to handle everything else?
(Hear that? That's the sound of my blood pressure spiking. Guess why.)
Modern JRPG development isn’t the issue here. If it was, then we wouldn’t have gotten heavy hitters like Tales of Berseria, Persona 5, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and more. With the exception of Dragon Quest XI -- which I assume only has their name on it as the publisher -- this is a Squeenix problem. The original mindset that held back remake prospects was the belief that they couldn’t do it until they made a game that surpassed FF7. They haven’t recently, and now it just seems like they’re breaking the glass in case of an emergency.
It’s pointless, even ignoring the inevitable botch that we’ll all be free to play from the comfort of our coffins and urns. It’s pointless because we already have a great game in our midst, one that’s more available to players than ever before. I bought my digital copy for less than three bucks, and now I can relive a classic without even getting out of bed. So for now, I have to give Squeenix a backhanded compliment: they were nice enough to sell me a game that turns their future, multimillion-dollar endeavor into a curiosity I can keep quarantined. Thank you, kind sirs, for not destroying one of your good games.
Yet.
And that’ll do it for now. More FF7 stuff to come. But for now? Let me say this to finish: the graphics aren’t that bad. Don’t @ me.
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