FFVIIR – Part 84: Leaving Midgar [Mostly Unspoiled]

Summary: Some brief final thoughts on Final Fantasy VII Remake.

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Protagonists

Cloud: On one hand, his growth arc feels sped up compared to the first game. He opened up and grew out of being a spiky jerk sooner in VII. On the other hand, it probably took a similar number of hours compared to the original. Either way, I’m happy it happened.

Barret: I loved his updates so much. He was so charismatic! Not just with his daughter, but with the rest of Avalanche. His passionate speeches kicked ass. Big fan of what the voice actor and writing did with Barret.

Tifa: She was great, but I thought she was great in the original too. My favorite update here was how much we got to see her friendship blossom with Aerith.

Aerith: Her voice actor was just. So. Good. I didn’t use her or really know her a lot in FFVII so this was a breath of fresh air. She was so playful and direct and caring. That friendship with Tifa was really started by Aerith, since Aerith was the one who just risked it all for someone she didn’t even know.


Aerith art by tDsuke, on Twitter @tdsukeeeee.

The Avalanche Trio: Easily the best change from the original. Three nothings became three full, rich characters. Biggs was the least interesting of the group, but still a good guy.

Wedge and Jessie were ALL-STARS. Wedge is the best bro. His adorable cats and warm friendship. The voice actor may be my favorite thing in the game. Badger was flawless.


Jessie art by Stanley Artgerm Lau.

And Jessie… whew. I may be in love? Her energy, her boisterous attitude, her UNBRIDLED THIRST FOR CLOUD.

Even more than the break-with-destiny twist at the end, my favorite addition to the game was the chapter where we all motorcycled up topside with Jessie, met her mom, and just got more more more of this trio.

Red XIII: Mostly setup for the next game. Still, I like some of the growing rapport with Barret, and the humor of a highly articular and philosophical character who’s the BEST BOY WHO DESERVES PETS AND SNUGGLES YES HE DOES.

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Antagonists

The Turks: The more reasonable side, just-doing-my-job side of evil. I especially liked Rude, and even Rude annoyed me less than he did in VII.

Don Corneo: Gross, vile, and… hilarious? His voice actor was SO DANG HAMMY. The giggling and the noises. As good as I could’ve possibly hoped for from this asshole. 

Hojo: Slimy and disgusting in a different way from Corneo. My favorite scene was when he was asking Aerith for help and you saw him writhing in pleasure when talking about her mom’s death. What a great villain!

Hojo art by steven-donegami.

The Whispers: More of a plot device than an actual antagonist. They worked in that context, to show canon separation with the original game. I just hope this is the last we see of them. “Destiny” as an abstract theme kind of annoys me so now that we’ve split from the first game, let’s leave them behind.

Sephiroth: No substance, all style. That’s not a criticism. Sephiroth was mostly being set-up for the future as a looming presence. Tons of catlike grins and slashes without a real sense of what his motivation is, and that’s fine for now.

Roche: I liked him, and imagine many people haaaate him. I can’t blame them. He’s obnoxious af, but, he’s so overtly trying to set up an enemies-to-lovers situation with Cloud that I can’t be mad.

Leslie: Didn’t hit me as a rousing success. Felt muted and bland.

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Some Side Characters

The Trio: They were so colorful and hilarious! I LOVE THEM ALL. Andrea’s smooth style, Madam M’s flips between enraged and seductive, Chocobo Sam’s bizarre Sam Elliot cowboy thing: all perfect.

Angel of the Slums: My favorite side quest person. What a badass old woman.

Mayor Domino: A short, memorable appearance. Lovely injection of goofiness.

The Side Characters of the Slums: The slums felt so much bigger than in FFVII! Lived in, populated, full and rich. All the little side dialogue and investment, from the kids to the questgivers and everything in between, made me feel well-connected to the city. Brilliant world-building.

Chadley art by kowokii.

Chadley: What a weird kid. I liked how matter of fact he was about stuff like the prospect of Cloud killing him. [Later edit: I’ve since found out about the extra background you get from completing his quests in hard mode and how he’s a Hojo android rebelling against his creator. That sounds cool, but not really a part of my experience in normal.]

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Story

Clarity: So my biggest problem with the original was that I felt lost much of the time. Even at the end, when things should be coming together, I didn’t really understand what was happening or why.

Strangely enough, that wasn’t an issue here. Despite all the weird fate stuff, the game felt reasonably clear. I rarely felt like the game was trying to tell me something that just wasn’t sticking. Whether that’s because the game took its time along the way or just because I was familiar with the canon, I can’t say for sure. A little of both maybe. 

Team Free Will: I gotta talk about that ending. I gotta.


Sephiroth art by tDsuke, on Twitter @tdsukeeeee.

The big picture: I LOVE WHAT THEY DID. It’s bold as hell. If I want the old FFVII story, I can always go back to it. It’s not going anywhere. I’m so happy when they made this remake, they are adding something so fresh.

I had forgotten what a bittersweet ending the original game had. I don’t quite know what’s going on – multiple timelines? One timeline that got reset or altered? – but Aerith and Sephiroth definitely know something from the original and are trying to mess around with it.

I’ll be surprised if Aerith dies still in this timeline. I’ll also be disappointed if they don’t kill any of this main group. My money’s on Tifa biting it. Not a well-reasoned guess. Just a guess.

It’s exciting to not know.

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Gameplay

Battle Intel and Assess: For all the shit people give FFXIII, I’m delighted that the stagger meter has carried over. Chadley’s quests plus the strategy you get from regular assessments makes the battles like a puzzle. Big fan.

Hybrid Combat: I opted for more of a turn-based system. Did any of y’all end up using the shortcuts as you got more comfortable? I like the mixture they gave here. It felt actiony but not too fast, strategic but…

I was about to say “not too slow,” but I honestly don’t know that there is “too slow” for me. FFX is still probably my favorite combat system and pace.

Unique Character Abilities/Styles: I don’t mind the flexibility of materia, but I personally prefer the more linear FF elements like we got in FFIV and FFIX. And so I was really happy with the character-specific twists they added here!


Cloud Strife art by Cu Hung.

Cloud’s Punisher mode was my favorite. His combat felt so badass when I set up a solid counter. Barret’s Overcharge was pretty straight forward. Tifa’s acrobatic style is the one that if I go back to the game, I’d spend more time with. I never quite got the hang of when to charge up the chi and unload it.

Same with Aerith. Some of her magic abilities, like the familiar, I never really understood. Others I started to understand but just neglected them (Ray of Judgment, Tempest). I see this as a good thing. It feels like there’s a lot of replay value in mastering the combat systems to solve the puzzle each enemy presents.

Weapon Uniqueness: You KNOW I love FFIX, and so how could I not love this? Abilities you learn from weapons? YES YES YES. The SP upgrade tree made me excited to try figuring out a purpose for each weapon. And it was brilliant how you don’t really outgrow weapons.

Limit Breaks: These were a bit – ahem – limited. They were fun and looked cool, but I would’ve loved wider variety. Still, they beat the crap out of the likes of FFIX’s Oversoul (the lowest of bars). I look forward to seeing how more options expand things in the future.  

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Music

It’s FFVII. Of course the music is awesome. The jukebox had some fun collectibles, though I never really used it to listen to music beyond a time or two. I mostly loved the cover art on the songs.

I really dug the new ending theme, Yosh’s “Hollow.” It felt like something out of FFXV, almost Western.

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Art

I don’t have the best memories of the art of FFVII. Midgar in my memory is very metal and green.

Not so VIIR. The metal and mako green were just part of a larger tapestry. They were certainly the core theme, but the tapestry of VIIR’s palette was suffused with color and life. I liked how the unfinished/broken parts of the pizza still let in light. I liked the contrast between the slums and the quiet suburban feel near Jessie’s home.


Aerith’s House art by arcanekeyblade5.

My favorite location was Aerith’s house. One of my favorite locations in any fantasy setting, with its mixture of water, flowers, and rusted metal.

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Length

My playthrough wrapped up around 62 hours. A long game, but never felt too long or drawn out to me.

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Replayability

Pretty strong. Completionism and hard mode is a whole thing I haven’t begun to tackle, but my main interest would be in getting more familiar with strong strategies and character builds. I’d love to play again at some point to better use characters I didn’t use as well this time – Tifa especially.

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A Brief Ranking of the Main FF Games I’ve Played It’s Just One Small Opinion Please Don’t Kill Me

1T. FFIX
1T. FFXIV
3T. FFX
3T. FFVI
5. FFVII Remake. The only thing that stops it from climbing higher is that it’s only part 1. The story is still incomplete.
6. Chrono Trigger
7. FFXV
8. FFV
9. FFXIII
10. FFXII
11. FFVIII
12. FFVII
13. FFIV
14. FFIII
15. FFXI
16. FFII
17. FFI

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Next time: starting a new unspoiled FF game next week with Final Fantasy Type-0.