Final Fantasy 7 Remake - Breathing New Life Into a Classic

When mentioning the game 'Final Fantasy 7' to any video game player 9/10 it would invoke some kind of emotion. Widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time many clamoured for a remake of this for a new generation in a new era. It wasn't out of the realm of possibilities after all we had seen several games get remakes such as the first three generations of Pokémon so when the remake for Final Fantasy 7 finally released we finally got a look at (some of) the iconic characters in high definition and how this remake has helped bring new life to this game and the sub series around it. 

Ok just to preface this I haven't finished part 1 of the remake as I write this, I'm currently in Wall Market and loving the game so far. As well as this I have to be honest the original version  of this game is 11 days younger than myself so I don't know the hype around it when the original release came out or my thoughts playing it. I have vague recollections of seeing my brother play this but as for myself the main experience I had with these characters was mainly through their other appearances in the likes of Kingdom Hearts and videos I have seen of the series. While I haven't had to journey others would've these characters still resonate with me I still knew these characters and the hype for a remake. 

If you want a brief essay on the original game please checkout Super Eyepatch Wolf and please be wary of the spoilers ahead in it and though this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V68GCZ61Rc

The first thing is to look at the updated visuals. Each character has received updates to the original Tetsuya Nomura designs (IGN did a full article with more comparisons here (https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/06/04/ff7-remake-vs-original-final-fantasy-vii-character-designs) 

I've chosen to use Cloud as the comparison here with him being the main character and the focus. Remaking a game on a console two generations down the line where the capabilities of what you can do are a lot more vast it creates more that you can do. One main thing is the emotion, one of the hardest things to me at least it to convey emotion through words. Right now I am thinking rewording and rewriting what I am typing I do with most things I just always found it easier to convey emotions through emotions, through facial reactions. With this now we don't have a run of basic emotions or the writing to have to make inference for us. We can see it, we can feel it. You know though the way Cloud look at something, how he reacts to what is being said and by who how it then effects him it add to a rich story by showing us how Cloud feels. 

It's not just Cloud while added facial features are certainly a bonus we also get more from the entire ensemble of characters. As for the whole of Avalanche the group described the Starbomb as 'awesome eco-terrorists who you'd probably wanna bang' all receive updates to their design which help with what I have previously mentioned but not only that but more. 

Having more console power to flesh out your world allows for even more compelling moments with characters. Now we get more time with Jessie, Biggs & Wedge. I had to stop myself and think if these characters had this time invested to begin with in the original but they weren't. I knew of the characters names but now we get to spend more time with them they become more characters. By fleshing them out we can flesh the world out more. You now get more idea of what Jessie feels in relation to how the world is and what he wants. A good character is one you can tell the relation to the main protagonist. While not the perfect comparison I liken this to Persona 5. To use it's opening palace we get time with each main party member in Ryuji, Morgana and Ann we understand their struggles and want in the overall goal in the first palace, you get time to see them in the main story and how the first antagonist will effect them and has even before the main issue of taking their treasure to make sure the issue at hand doesn't come to fruition. While I don't think this successful the further you go into the game (especially Haru) but I'm not here to compare these two games. It's easier to get a scope of what you as the character are fighting for when the characters around you are fleshed out more and can invested you in what is happening. With a character like Cloud who has a wall between them and everyone else you really rely on the other characters around him to do the heavy lifting and by fleshing out the likes of Jessie help. The more well developed characters the better. 

This is why in the case of Jessie her death scene means more now. Previously more of a background character the additional content and scenes added for Jessie round her off as a full character now the impact of her death matters more.

I wish I could comment more on the game as a whole but with only a small part of the game played (and then not the full game completed) I do feel limited here. But I can say that when it comes to retreading old ground it is difficult to not just repeat yourself what Final Fantasy 7 remake has done is look to flesh out the world of the game and as such will help to improve all that around it. For me Square Enix games always find their strengths in the character dynamics of it's main playable characters (something I want to speak on in more depth in at a later time) but with at least the first bit of this remake we can see the basis of the character relationships and evolution of those take form, growing out and showing the evolution of those in Avalanche. I hope this continue with part 2, I'd love to see Vincent and Yuffie get this kind of expanded love for Final Fantasy 7's main story from being optional in the original game it would be nice for them to get expanded roles.