After an agonizingly long wait for any news to drop, Final Fantasy VII Remake’s hype train seems to be back on track after Square Enix dropped a trailer during Sony’s State of Play three weeks ago. And boy, is that hype train chugging fast!
First announced at E3 2015, Final Fantasy VII Remake aims to introduce the classic title with a game that is developed with modern gaming sensibilities in mind. Things like a third person camera, reimagined locations, redesigned characters, and new mechanics that have since been normal features in video games for the past twenty years.
Calls for a remake began when the game’s sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and a technical demo for the PS3 showed the game’s opening cinematic was released. It would take the whole life-span of one console generation, and half of another before the project was officially announced. Since then, information has been sparse, with just tidbits leaking here and there.
Have another look at the English-language trailer below:
The trailer showed some interesting features such as redesigned character models for Cloud Strife, and Aerith Gainsborough, several bits of battle footage, which teased a much more refined “action based” battles, reimagined takes on classic scenes, and possibly new ones.
Fans have been picking the trailer apart for more information on things like traversal, how battles start, how they compare with the original and other games. What was really surprising to me, was that the game is still a PlayStation 4 title, even after all this time.
That isn’t the only thing that has stayed the same though. The game will still be divided into parts, with each part being a full game. Although every fan knows that the length of the story alone is enough to warrant this decision, it does appear that Square Enix’s Business Division 1 is pretty serious about making Midgar this big, massiveย ย setting with expanded storylines, newly accessible locations, and more character development for the other members of AVALANCHE.
Still, there are questions that needed to be answered, like how long this game will actually be, how will the original story be divided, and if the entire game will be released in time before the rush to upgrading to the PS5 begins.
The State of Play trailer did tease that further information will be coming in June, most likely at Square Enix’s E3 presentation on June 10. That is just a week away.
If you ask me, it is pretty crazy waiting for this game, especially since I am a huge Final Fantasy VII fan, having played the original game way back when it was released, and as my first PlayStation game to boot. This is the game that I used to compare other Final Fantasy games with (I still do sometimes), and whose story I never stopped loving, even the divisive Compilation.
And so, the hype for Final Fantasy VII Remake is up again, and none to soon. The PS4 generation it had hoped to boost is now on its final years, and since its announcement, we’ve seen the release of Final Fantasy XV, Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, Kingdom Hearts III, two Tomb Raider reboot sequels, two Hitman games, the Shadow of War game, three main Assassin’s Creed games, three Call of Duty games (not counting remasters), two EA Star Wars Battlefront games, and three seasons of Game of Thrones, the last of which took two years to develop and shoot. To say that it has taken too long is an understatement, and the pressure to deliver is extremely high. Hopefully, E3 will give us the news about this game we are all hoping to hear.ย
