Tag: final fantasy

66 hours in and I think I’m only 2/3rds of the way through – I’m not abandoning all the sidequests and exploration as Chadley would be so disappointed in me if I did. Also, stopping sometimes to take photographs is an important part of the experience as everything is so pretty! That applies to the locations like the Gold Saucer above but also to the characters – I probably have too many captures of Rufus Shinra and Tseng in particular but also lots of pics of Cloud and Sephiroth (who is definitely behaving towards Cloud like a crazy stalker ex!)

The game itself is great: it’s built on the systems in FF7 Remake and extended them to have the synergy options and combined materias which means my main character (normally Cloud) is absolutely fully loaded for any conflict the squad come across. A really nice touch is the way some backup members still participate in fights (Aerith and Barrett as ranged units will still be firing shots). Some of the mini-games are a nightmare (I hate the Moogles!) but I’m really enjoying Queen’s Blood and how that fits in the narrative.

Story wise I think the expansion of it is solid and I’m liking the addition of Glenn from First Soldier and the history there also the multiverse aspect with Zack and Biggs. I think if there’s anything I want it’s more of the Turks, but I’m hopeful that this will become a bigger part of part 3 as well.

Eventually I’ll make it to the end and then it’s back to Rising Tide expansion for FF16!

I’m a PlayStation person – I’ve got a PS5 now and prior to that have had multiple versions of every previous generation of consoles and also both handhelds. Square Enix’s epic series Final Fantasy is one of the main reasons for my affection for the console – as Final Fantasy VII on the original was a turning point for me in playing JRPGs (Japanese Role Playing Games). Its prequel Crisis Core was why I bought the PlayStation Portable and so the news that there was a remastering of this for modern consoles using the same engine as the FFVII Remake meant I’d preordered as soon as I could.

And well… just look at this graphical difference!

The story shows the events that lead up to the beginning of Final Fantasy VII – we follow a SOLDIER (enhanced human) called Zack Fair as he goes on missions for his employer Shinra (Evil Inc.) and tries to deal with his friends and mentors going missing and worse, turning into humanoid monsters. Along the way he befriends characters we meet in FFVII like the Turks (security division for Shinra, basically spies and hit squad), and in particular he starts dating Aerith (a main character in FFVII) and befriends the protagonist of FFVII Cloud whilst Cloud is still just a young infantryman.

Whilst the general game is the same with improved graphics there are some good quality of life improvements as well. The controls and handling of materia (magic and abilities) is great and could be used in other games as a quick way to access your loaded abilities. The guarding / blocking / dodge works better than most games too. And the quirky DMW slot machine function for triggering limit breaks and power ups is a lot more unobtrusive.

As for the story? I think it really benefits from the improved graphical quality giving more expression and emotion visibly to characters. In particular, I don’t think I’m alone in saying that it really makes you empathise with Sephiroth (the big bad of Final Fantasy VII) because you can visibly see him happy, amused, sympathetic, and sad – it adds humanity to him as a character before it all goes horribly wrong when he finds out something that shatters his grip on reality.

Basically I’d really recommend this game to anyone who liked Final Fantasy VII. It adds a lot of depth to the story and the world in general – we understand more about the Turks, Soldier, Shinra and how Cloud became who he is. And it’s just very pretty to look at and play too.