I wish Square Enix could give me back my innocence. But I liked having those memories, and I miss thinking Avalanche was awesome, or that Cloud's stoicism was exceptionally cool instead of dreadfully dull. Putting games on pedestals isn't helpful, and it shouldn't come as a surprise that game design that's a quarter of a century old doesn't feel great to play today. Maybe it's a good thing that my rose-tinted glasses have been removed and stomped on. It's nearly impossible to find a game that's genuinely timeless, and even positive changes might result in venomous anger from fans who believe their fave is sacred. That's always the risk with a remake, I guess. The very thirsty Jessie, the character who's evolved the most, is the only one I unreservedly enjoyed. I still dig Tifa, but I think that's just because I like anyone who will pour me a drink. Barret's an exhausting blowhard, Aerith is sickly sweet, and most of their adversaries are idiots. Cloud has never been a strong JRPG protagonist, but I thought I liked some of the other characters-no more. Playing Remake also made me face the fact that I don't really like anyone I have to hang out with in FF7. If I ever have to visit a gym again, I will cry. I have a lot less patience now for fighting my way through boring corridors-Final Fantasy 13 doesn't have a monopoly on this-or participating in poorly designed minigames. And this brings me to what, sadly, I must confess is the real reason it feels like Remake took a crap on my childhood: maybe Final Fantasy 7 ain't all that. I was worried that Remake would change too much, but it turns out that what it really needed was some more dramatic changes to make its transformation into multiple games a success. ![]() I couldn't bring myself to care about any of it, because it was clear there wasn't going to be a satisfying conclusion. When it was clear I was hurtling toward the end, I was on autopilot, just trying to get through a bunch of big fights so I could finally walk away. It simply doesn't work when you break the game up like this. But at least there you're not waiting for years to actually find out what this creepy dude's deal is. This is true of the original, too, which teases Sephiroth while keeping him at arms length for a long time. It comes too soon, so what should be a powerful emotional highpoint just becomes an excuse to show off how epic and pretty Remake can look. When you face him in Remake's climax, there is a long, dramatic and flashy battle, but it's an unearned moment. Sephiroth is still around, of course, but at the point in the story Remake covers, he's a total enigma. ![]() It's a hollow confrontation because, while you've been dealing with Shinra throughout the game, it's mostly via grunts or henchmen like Reno and Rude. Rufus just shows up, you get into a frustrating battle, and then you're done. Sure, there's Shinra, Final Fantasy 7's evil corporation, but the payoff there is some weak stuff: a fight with vice president Rufus and his magic dog. It must be wild to play without knowing the original story, as it lacks even a proper antagonist. Remake is simply unable to escape the fact that it's not a complete story, and even though I knew that going in, I found it hard not to be disappointed with how awkwardly it attempts to tie things up-an attempt that ends in failure. The rest serve to fatten up what's really just a third of a full game. Like Yakuza, Judgment's side stories get just as much consideration as the critical path, but Remake's feel like an obligation, and only a couple justify their existence. I was playing Yakuza spin-off Judgment at the same time, and it really shows up Remake-pretty much everywhere, really, but especially when it comes to side quests. People will argue that you can just skip them, but what if the next one is actually going to be good? FOMO is nearly as bad as doing more dismal chores. Square Enix had an opportunity here to use them to give us a stronger connection to Midgar, but instead offered up nothing but finding lost kittens or killing random monsters in a scrapyard. ![]() ![]() Side quests are plentiful, but these rarely amount to anything other than busywork. As JRPGs go, Remake is not a long game, but it's absolutely been padded out.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |