I just played the demo. There are good things... and bad things.
The good:
+ Visually is absolutely insane. Some of the best graphics I've seen on a PS4.
+ Base combat system is fun and interesting. Real time action + "turns" is a nice combination that gives frenetism and strategy at the same time.
+ Being able to change character in the middle of the action is great. It gives us control, dynamism and variety.
+ If every boss battle is like this... wow. They are gonna be epic.
+ Music is Distant Worlds Orchestra levels of good
The bad:
- Map complexity is ridiculous. The opening mission is structured room by room, corridor by corridor just like in the original (except for the lasers part). You can barely interact with anything, you just follow a path and fight some enemies. I hope the rest of the game has a crap ton more of ambition... because if not, I don't think they are gonna be able to justify separating the story in different games.
- The lock on system is pretty bad. Sometimes it becomes really difficult to lock on the enemy I want.
- Ally AI is pretty dumb. I was using Barret to take down the flying robots... and Cloud, who cannot attack them properly... decides to attack the flying robots. Meanwhile, I'm getting my ass kicked by some foot soldiers. Also, I don't know If it's supposed to work like this... but it really shouldn't: your ally (at least in the demo) doesn't heal you. You can be literaly dying, if you don't heal yourself... you're toast. If being able to change characters implies that only the one I'm controlling is gonna do something useful... I rather just control one.
- When a lot of shit is going on on screen, is rather difficult to see who I'm I targeting. In the boss battle, I couldn't tell half of the times if I was attacking the boss or its shield generator.
- I don't know if it can be changed, but the camera is way to close to Cloud. For a real time action RPG, being able to see your surroindings is key. And FF VII Remake has a problem with that.
***
All in all, I think the game core gameplay ideas are good... but it fails terribly at executing them. Also, I really hope they don't do what they did with the opening mission and just make a 1:1 copy of the original game map design but with better graphics. That would be a shame.
I wouldn't buy this game as it is. That is if the demo is an actual demonstration of what the final game will offer us, of course. It's not a good first impression, that's for sure.
