#25
YoY: +2 My Rating: 9.2/10
Prior to release, my feeling on Final Fantasy VII Remake was of cautious optimism. It looked like it could be something quite special, but there were also a lot that could go very wrong in a project like this. Fortunately, the game it turned out to be was great, though it was also quite different from what I expected. One of the cleverest parts of this whole remake project was that it isn't actually a straight remake, but rather more of a deconstruction of the original game and its story (or a part of it so far). I really like this approach, as not only does it make the new game stand out, it leaves the option open for returning players to be surprised by the story. And the original still exists, so I can always go back to that when I feel like it.
The game did a great job at expanding on the Midgar section of the original, adding details to the world and story, additional sidequests, and most significantly, depth to many of the characters that lacked it in the original. This was also where Square Enix finally managed to properly combine the classic ATB battle system with a real-time system properly. Adding to that is an exceptional soundtrack, with wonderful rearrangements of the original game's music.