Note: this blog post was originally published on The Gray Areas blog in 2022. It has been rewritten and edited for clarity.

With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth right around the corner, there’s no better time to go over my thoughts of the Remake and my roller coaster impressions of the original Final Fantasy VII.

Video games are an incredible art form. Having an active role in a characters journey and watching the story unfold with each twist and turn make video games an immersive experience. Many of my most positive and memorable experiences with my favorite games happened during those first playthroughs when I was along for the ride and didn’t have any expectations or knowledge of what would happen next.

It’s Hard to Enjoy the Experience When You Know What’s Coming

I wish I could have experienced Final Fantasy VII spoiler-free. I’m sure that it would have been among some of my favorite games ever if I did. But by the time I was old enough to play it, Final Fantasy VII‘s popularity and massive following, its impact on the video game industry and community, and the rampant spoilers on the Internet made a blind playthrough impossible.

After years of having my expectations risen to impossible heights because of how popular it was, I played through it and watched the credits roll with a sense of confusion. While I could see glimpses of potential, for the most part, I felt disappointed and wanted more. I wanted more of the characters and the story. I wanted to be invested in Cloud’s journey and Aerith’s sacrifice. But it didn’t resonate with me at the time.

It wasn’t just the knowledge of major spoilers and key plot points that colored my impression of the game; the hype surrounding the game also played a role. For many gamers, Final Fantasy VII is a beloved and formative entry in the franchise. Many may even say it’s one of the greatest games ever made. Back then, I had a hard time seeing why.

Enter the Remake Announcement

Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced with a trailer in 2015 not long after I beat the original game. I still felt bitter about the original, so my response to the Remake wasn’t very positive. At the time, I felt that other classic Final Fantasy games like VI and IX weren’t getting any love. Final Fantasy VII had several spinoffs, OVAs, a movie, and now a remake? I understood that it was popular, but it felt like the cherry on top of a franchise being milked dry.

Following the announcement and fanfare, Square Enix was quiet on its development for the next few years. It wasn’t until 2019 when substantial information and trailers were released that I became genuinely impressed by what I saw. The graphics were significantly improved from its initial announcement, the music was familiar and fantastic, the voice acting was excellent, and the action-based combat system looked fun and involved (despite being a departure from the original ATB battle system).

What I realized after watching the trailers was that the Final Fantasy VII Remake wasn’t going to be just a “remake” of the original with some spruced-up graphics and voice acting added in. The trailers sold me on the attention to detail and effort Square Enix put in to develop the world and characters further. When Remake was released in April of 2020, I was genuinely looking forward to playing it.

I played through it, and to my surprise, I loved it. While I suspected that I would enjoy it based on the trailers, I wasn’t prepared to love it as much as I did. It was that moment where I became a legitimate fan. It did something that I thought would be impossible: the Final Fantasy VII Remake was so carefully crafted and well-done that it shifted my perspective of the original game.

How Final Fantasy VII Remake Succeeds

Final Fantasy VII Remake is, as its name suggests, a “remake” in every sense of the word. I’ll get to how exactly it has evolved beyond the original while respecting its origins, but the ways this remake succeeds are numerous.

Expanding on Midgar with Meaningful World Building

Final Fantasy VII Remake succeeds in enhancing the original game by expanding on the Midgar portion of the story. In the original game, Cloud’s adventures in Midgar are a few hours, at least. In the Remake, Midgar is chockfull of story, sidequests, and NPC’s to interact with that makes it a whopping 40+ hour game. Of course, not every chapter is a perfect or necessary inclusion. But I still appreciate the time and care Square Enix took to further develop Midgar using modern video game design and development principles.

When I played the original Final Fantasy VII, I didn’t have a good grasp of the worldbuilding or how Midgar was constructed. It didn’t feel bustling or lively. But through the improved graphics and additional time spent in the city, Remake solidifies the world-building.

It’s abundantly clear that the slums are literally “below” the city, almost underground, and the Upper Plate is where the rich prosper through the jobs Shinra provides. Unlike the peope living in the slums, people on the plates can see sunlight regularly, and the distinction is important. It makes Avalanche’s fight against Shinra more believable on multiple levels; not just to save the planet, but to give everyone a chance to live meaningful, fulfilling lives.

As a result, it made me care much more about the conflict and repercussions of Avalanche’s actions in the city. Midgar is alive and full of conflict, and I became invested in the struggles of the people and their plight. It doesn’t just feel like a stop on the journey in a video game. Midgar feels like a real place.

The Cast Features Nuanced, Fully-Realized Characters

When I played the original Final Fantasy VII for the first time, I was suprised by how off-putting the characters were. I found some of the party members, like Cait Sith and Yuffie, to be grating and irritating. Others, like Cloud and Aerith, came off as flat and one-note to me. While Cloud’s arc does become compelling later, and the sequence with Tifa helping him sort through his memories in the Lifestream is one of my favorite moments, it felt too little and too late. For most of the game, many of the characters felt defined by singular personality traits.

To my great surprise, the characterizations of the playable characters we’ve met so far Final Fantasy VII Remake are significantly improved. Because we get the benefit of spending more time with these characters, we get to know them so much better. Each character is flawed and compelling, and I adore all of them now, but that’s not to say they’re unrecognizable characters.

Cloud still tries to be the cool, lone wolf. But it’s just an act that everyone very easily sees through, and when they force the walls to crumble, he becomes more vulnerable. Cloud has a wide range of emotions, caring deeply for Tifa and Aerith once he gets to know her. He can be sarcastic one moment or shy and awkward the next. The focus isn’t just on him trying to be aloof or brooding.

Playing through Remake reminded me just how mis-represented Cloud is in other games and media. Both Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts portrayed Cloud as a deeply brooding, tortured young man to the point that being “emo” was all he was known for. But with Remake‘s impressive graphics and excellent voice acting, Cloud’s personality shines through subtle facial expressions and witty responses that were impossible to convey in the original.

In addition, I like that Remake incorporates aspects of his identity crisis and jumbled memories early on. It foreshadows Cloud’s deep trauma that he doesn’t understand and is desperately trying to bury, and in doing so, it adds layers to his personality and emotions.

Meanwhile, Aerith is a far more interesting character in Remake. My perception of her changed the most out of all of the characters. When I played the original, I thought she was selfish and inconsiderate. The Remake went a long way to change my impression of her.

Aerith is kind and has moments of innocent naivety, but is independent and unafraid of speaking her mind. She also seems to know more then she lets on, and it adds nuance to her character. She isn’t just a saccharine flower girl you meet on the street. There are notably quiet moments and cryptic dialogue that implies she may be aware of her ultimate fate.

As a result, it makes Aerith’s choices tragic and compelling. If she truly is aware of the future, will she try to resist her fate, or accept it for the greater good? It may recontextualize her decisions later, too. I remember thinking how foolish it was for Aerith to journey by herself to the Forgotten Capital and ultimately be killed there before she could communicate her plan. But now, what if she makes that choice because she knows it has to happen to save the world? Suddenly, her actions are far more profound and brave than I could have imagined.

I’ve always liked Tifa and felt she had the most depth in the original game, and luckily the Remake doesn’t detract from the good aspects of her character. Her development is organic and positive. Tifa’s moral dilemma about what Avalanche is doing, and feeling trapped as a result, adds depth. While she supports the cause and the fight for the greater good, it doesn’t mean she won’t question the violence and potential consequences. It reinforces the compassion and caring personality she’s already known for, on top of adding new layers to her character.

I also adore Tifa’s redesign. All of the character redesigns have been well-done, but Tifa’s stands out. Maybe because it’s the most different to her original design in comparison to the others, but giving Tifa realistic body proportions and a better outfit while still being a nod to the original was a fantastic choice.

Even characters I didn’t have a strong opinion about in the original, such as Barret, are more fleshed out. He’s not just a gruff and angry character. He is motivated by the trauma of his past and desire to create a better future for his adoptive daughter, Marlene, and all of their scenes together are precious.

As a result, Barret’s ambitions as the eco-terrorist leader behind Avalanche comes from a place of noble intent and good, and not just from a place of anger and revenge against Shinra. He’s a far more interesting character than before, and as one of the few prominent Black characters in a JRPG, this representation as a multi-faceted individual is so great to see and no doubt appreciated.

Final Fantasy VII Intergrade continues the trend, transforming Yuffie for the better without losing sight of her personality. Yuffie maintains her theatrical and goofy traits, but it’s paired well through her emotional moments with Sonon, her companion in Intergrade. Almost immediately, I was endeared to her great characterization. She’s not just a “kid” trying to steal materia; through the DLC, she now has an excellent motive for revenge against Shinra. It’s a small adjustment, and yet it makes a world of difference.

Lastly, every single voice actor for the core cast of characters — Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie — does an excellent job. They all sound younger than their Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts voice overs, and they bring heart and humor to their line deliveries. They are all fantastic and perfectly cast. I’m sure there are fans out there who wanted to see the original voice actors return, but I much prefer the new voices.

The Villains are Active and Involved

Perhaps the biggest disappointment I experienced when playing the original Final Fantasy VII was the realization that Sephiroth, the famous villain fans loved to hate, wasn’t actually who we thought he was. It turned out that all along, Jenova was disguising herself as him. And while they do face the “true” Sephiroth in the end, most of the game is spent facing Jenova. I wasn’t a fan of the bait and switch and didn’t feel the seeds were planted properly for it to be effective.

But in Remake, visions of Sephiroth haunt Cloud early in the story. On top of that, Jenova (or at least a version of her alien form) is fought near the finale, reinforcing the important connection between these two villains. By introducing them both in active roles much earlier in the narrative, their roles later on will make a lot of more sense.

I also recently played through the Rebirth demo that takes place in Nibelheim, and appreciated the humanization of Sephiroth. His descent into madness after wondering if he’s a monster is believable, and the demo also does a good job of showing his “heroic qualities” before he became a villain. It’s easier to buy that he was someone once respected and looked up to, making his heel turn that much more shocking for everyone who knew him.

The Story Balances a Concise Yet New and Fascinating Premise

The story in Final Fantasy VII Remake is fascinating. It covers many of the same story beats in Midgar that the original game does, such as the bomb mission at the Shinra Powerplant in the game’s opening sequence, or Cloud falling through the church and meeting Aerith in the Sector 5 slums. Remake presents these familiar moments with concise and effective storytelling, while expanding on the lore and background when it needs to. But it’s what is going on behind the scenes that is far more interesting.

Throughout the game, creatures called Whispers (black whispy figures that resemble the Smoke Monster from Lost and Dementors from Harry Potter) swirl ominously around the characters. At first it’s not entirely clear what they are or what their purpose is. But as the game progresses, whenever characters try to act outside of or change predestined events, the Whispers come in to course correct.

Through clever visual cues and references to the original game, it turns out this is an alternate timeline, and the original game serves as the “true” one. Basically, the Whispers are keeping the timeline intact and preventing any variation, allowing the story to progress as intended. This includes saving characters who aren’t supposed to die and vice versa.

By the end, the Whispers are killed by Cloud and the party, meaning that (in theory) the story is effectively “unknown” and can progress in any way. A major example of a shift to the timeline is Zack being alive. He should have died in his last stand, and the Whispers were there to make sure of it. But since they were seemingly destroyed in all of the timelines, Zack survived. This could have major ramifications on the story going forward. Will he join the party? How will his actions impact the future? More importantly, if Zack can survive, does that mean Aerith can too? Maybe. I don’t want to speculate one way or the other.

There’s no question that it’s a complicated premise, but I absolutely love this approach to the story. It respects and acknowledges the original while paving the path for a reimagining of its own. It’s a true “remake” in every sense of the word, and it could be seen as a spinoff or sequel in a way. It’s allowed to coexist with the original through exploring the multiverse and challenging fate.

Most fans would have been fine with the original game seeing a glow up. But I think this remake has gone above and beyond just being a shiny rehash of its predecessor. While the story is set up to go in any direction now in Rebirth, I suspect it will still cover many important story elements from the original. But how it does so, the order of events, and which characters are involved, could look very different. Either way, it’s evolved into something far more compelling and deeply interesting.

How My Perspective of the Original Final Fantasy VII Has Changed

For all of these reasons, I look back on Final Fantasy VII with more respect now. It’s not a perfectly executed game (namely, the at-times haphazard localization that impacted the dialogue and story with hilarious errors like “This guy are sick” isn’t great), but looking back, there are nuggets of fascinating lore and compelling ideas. I remember finding all of the story beats with the Lifestream and the socio-environmental commentary to be absolutely fascinating. Over twenty years later, its themes are still relevant and arguably even more powerful today.

I respect what it did for the video game industry, and for the groundwork it laid for this remake. I fully recognize the Final Fantasy VII Remake would not work without the original game serving as the foundation. Maybe VII had the pieces all along, but it needed the benefit of advanced technology and improved localization to convey them as originally intended.

Because of that, Remake has undeniable advantages that work in its favor since it’s able to expand on the original story, add nuance to the characters, redefine the world, and incorporate contemporary gameplay features in a way that still feels true to the original. Instead of fixing the original, Remake is like an extension of Final Fantasy VII, and it’s given me a lot of food for thought lately.

Final Thoughts

Through its unique storytelling approach, excellent expansion of Midgar, character depth, and great voice acting, Remake has, so far, addressed every major criticism issue I had with the original game.

It’s not the whole experience, of course, but the work and commitment to make something special is there. I can’t think of another video game remake that has been as creative and different as this one to the point that it forced me to rethink my impressions of the original.

For all of these reasons, I am beyond excited for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and I can’t wait to see where the story and characters go.

Featured Image: Square Enix

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