WalMarket has been the highlight thus of Remake for me. A lot of effort and passion went into this scenario. By the time Aerith FINALLY got her dress on I was ready to move on from Chapter. And then honeybee happended; and the entire wait was waaaay more than just worth it. I looove that the tutorial before the "big one" made it out to be Cloud is so incompetent that that is what he thinks it is... and then we get the real think. It was Awkward, but ooooh sooo captivating. Then he continues for a round two. Cloud is a fuckin champ. The Remake has taken a Ionic moment as has outdone itself. The originals moment is nothing compared the Remake.

Currently finishing up Chapter 11 but words on Chapter 9.

WalMarket has been the highlight thus of Remake for me. A lot of effort and passion went into this scenario. By the time Aerith FINALLY got her dress on I was ready to move on from Chapter. And then honeybee happended; and the entire wait was waaaay more than just worth it. I looove that the tutorial before the "big one" made it out to be Cloud is so incompetent that that is what he thinks it is... and then we get the real think. It was Awkward, but ooooh sooo captivating. Then he continues for a round two. Cloud is a fuckin champ. The Remake has taken a Ionic moment as has outdone itself. The originals moment is nothing compared the Remake.

Finished the game. Still not sure entirely how I feel about it. I'd put it on the lower end of the 8 range. At an 83 or so. Minor spoilers maybe.

Positives

-Mostly looks great aside from some textures and NPCs.

- Battle system is fun. It's mostly a matter of presentation as the looks and sounds make all the attacks feel satisfying to hit. The different characters feel very different and satisfying to control which actually fixes one of my biggest issues with FF7 where characters were mostly interchangeable in battle.

-Weapon system works well and makes getting new weapons exciting rather than simply a chore you have to go through whenever you get to a new area.

-Some of the added content is really good. Wall Market expansion captures the spirit of the original sequence while dialing it up to 11. Shinra's offices feel like an actual creepy evil corporation HQ rather than just an area of a video game.

There are also a lot of areas where the characters are improved. Barrett actually seems like a leader. Red XIII's hatred of him is amusing. Scenes like the one between Aerith and Marlene make you feel more attached to the characters. Characters have more interactions with each other, rather than just interacting with Cloud.

-Music is excellent.

- They kept a lot of the quirky and silly aspects of FF7 which was something I feared would be lost in the translation to a more realistic artstyle. You still have squat competitions with androgynous men, fight bizarre living houses, turn into a frog, and so on.

-"Dungeons" as the are feature puzzles and mini games to break up the monotony. They mostly range from just ok to good (except for the bike sections which are really good), but it's a nice change of pace from many other RPGs, where there is not much gameplay wise besides walk and battle. Even something like stopping to make a platform with mechanical arms helps keep the game interesting.

Negatives

- The battles never really get to be all that challenging. I never really felt pushed to consider any strategy more advanced than "equip whatever elemental magic the boss is weak to".

-Some of the added content is really dull padding. For instance the train graveyard goes on for a while, and really doesn't add anything to the narrative. There's a segment of Barrett just running through tunnels. There's an awkward lapse between the air buster being introduced and the actual battle.

-Side quests are pretty much universally uninteresting.

-This is an incomplete narrative. This is the first act of a story, and it feels like it. Midgar was mostly about establishing the characters and introducing the conflict, and that's done well here. But, there aren't any real complete character arcs and no real resolution to conflicts. Spending about 30-40 hours in the first act of a story is kind of pushing it.

Before people jump to the it's just one episode/part/w/e you want to call it, compare it to Mass Effect 2. That game is also part of a larger story. But, the characters mostly have complete arcs by which they change over the story. While the main overarching conflict (Shepard and Co. v Reapers) is not resolved, the specific conflict in this game (Shepard v. Collectors) was. There was a three part narrative arc (Shepard gathering allies, Shepard helping them work through all of their bullshit, and the final mission). So, even though this wasn't the whole story of Mass Effect, it was a complete narrative arc within that story.

Basically it's like Mass Effect 2 is like reading one of the Harry Potter books, whereas this game is like reading the first 300 pages of the Stand or something. Both are parts of a whole, but one is a whole part, if that makes sense.

-Kind of a bait and switch. There was every reason for fans to believe that this would be a fairly faithful retelling of FF7. Some things added, some things modernized, sure. And for the most part, it was... until it wasn't.

The last hour of the game or so is essentially fighting against the story of the original game. Even aside from how you feel about them sticking to the story, it was a jarring fourth wall breaking shift as you go from fighting an evil power company to fighting a physical manifestation of an abstract concept.

Some people are going to like the potential of being surprised in the next entries. For instance I'm actually more invested in Aeris (I prefer the old translation) as a character *spoiler for the original* now that I don't know if she gets kabobed. But, for those who were really looking forward to seeing the story of FF7 recreated with modern technology and gameplay sensibilities (what generally constitutes a remake) there is legitimate cause for disappointment based on how the game was presented and marketed.



So that's basically my opinion. There's a lot of good stuff in there, and at times the game is great. But it's got a lot of the same issues as when you try to convert a TV series into a movie or vice versa, where it doesn't quite fit the new format.

@JWeinCom - does your review have spoilers in it?

I value your opinion, just adding my 2 cents. 

I consider the game, to my tastes, one of the best I have played in many years. I could say I am missing out on some things from the original but I'd rather judge this game on it's own merits. After many years of asking for a modern remake, I do wonder, is it to the consumers to tell how exactly SE should go about it or should we be content with this high quality product?

- the battles really become interesting when you play hard mode. My guess is, they've made the first playthrough 'userfriendly'. 

- since they have recreated the city of Midgar, and no teleportation is available, are these paths to traverse not something of the world as is? And the few side quests that are present are at least introduced in a way for Cloud to become a 'better' person. It also results in him becoming the talk of the town, building the legend maybe?

- you prefer en entire arc, I am just happy to see Cloud giving a high five and slowly 'trying' to be part of a community.

- I didn't feel like a bait and switch to me. It's a matter of vision and how SE thinks they can portray the story and characters at their best. I never expected to get an exact copy, which would not even be realistic. Before the jury is out we will probably have to spend another 180 euro's to see if they managed to make it as epic as the original. But to be clear, I was satisfied with the ending. It's not as you say, a complete story, but we knew it wasn't going to be.

Maybe I refrain from being to critical because I really enjoyed, and still am, the time I spent with this game. I can certainly advise you to try hard mode if you haven't already.

Last night I spent two hours battling the last boss from chapter 11 on hard, trying to figure out it's mechanics and fases, and how to deal with them. Good times!

The 1 million+ in Japan is pretty much sold through Physical sales and digital. It sold through 95.9% of its shipment in Japan and the sales numbers from Famitsu is 702k. So the total physical shipment was only 733k or something. The rest of that 1 million is digital. 

I played the game on the hardest mode available to me, and it was a bit too easy.  I could only judge based on what was available.  Having just played through the story, I'm really not going to enjoy it all that much to play through it again right away.

Everything Square Enix said would lead people to expect a faithful adaptation.  And, it's not.  There's nothing wrong with doing that, but it is definitely a bait and switch.  Some people will like the switch and will therefore be fine with it, but those who aren't have a valid gripe.

Beginner of chp 13 now.

Chp 11 felt like those Dragon Ball Z episodes that came after Cell gave everbody 10 days to prepare for tournament. Very strange to see Tifa be super concerned about Sector 7, beat the SECOND BOSS of chp 11 and stand there like "oooh so pretty we freed them", then go back to being super concerned about Sector 7. While not bad chp, but does not feel the crew is behaving in a way that one should with the info they have.

Oh btw. In chp 10 they actually have Aerith say, " The future is not set in stone".

I also noticed our ghost guys (cloacks) have interest in chapters that died in the original...

Having not finished the game yet, I can't say how I will feel about it after I've finished. I think its phenominal so far. Theres a couple of things I can nitpick here and there, but there is nothing I would say spoils my experience of the game. I'm sure they can fix some of the textures with an update at some point.

I feel criticising the episodic nature is unfair. Its a huge game, bigger than many games which also feature sequels or compliations. Assassin's Creed 1,2,3 spring to mind and so does Mass Effect. They tell a bigger story over the course of several games. FF7R has apparently 15 hours worth of cutscenes; the level of time and energy to do motion capture for all those characters and all that voice acting, then cutting it all together and adding all the effects. Personally I feel its justifiable for this to be one game, and I'm glad they did it that way.

Unlike other games FF7R has never felt like a chore to play. FF13 was one of those games where I struggled to keep my eyes open at one point, The Witcher, Assassin's Creed Origins, Dragon Quest XI, depsite having incredible moments all sufferred from pacing issues where you must suffer through mundate repititiveness at some point.

I have never felt FFR gets to a point where its mundanely reptitive. The gameplay is just brilliant. I have a couple of minor issues, but its simply the most fun I have had playing an RPG since FF10. It feels satisfying to button bash your enemy to build up the ATB. When that thing goes its very satisfying to unleash your staggering strategy on the enemy. You can't button bash your way through a battle, you have to think about your enemy, think about your setup and plan your strategy around what you know. What you don't know can kill you easily.