Final Fantasy 7/VII Remake - Final Fantasy
Movies
The Final Fantasy VII (7) Remake is an upcoming remake edition of the popular Final Fantasy 7, the seventh title of the flagship series Final Fantasy that was released on the Sony PlayStation in the year 1997. It was one of the most successful and influential games of the series. The game’s release date on the PlayStation 4 is March 2020 and will bring back some of the series’ most iconic characters including Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Barret Wallace and others in better than ever graphics. While staying true to the original plot, new combat systems and gameplay will be introduced. The remake will only cover one portion of the original game, the rest will be released in other large sections. Producer Yoshinori Kitase previously stated he was unsure how many games the remake will span but it would be a multi-part series. Each part of the series, providing its own unique experience.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Plot
The game will stay true to the original story line, though, since it is planned to be released in sections, will probably only cover the first portion of the original version. The game takes place on “The Planet”, where Shinra Electric Power Company, a megacorporation, is harvesting the world’s lifeblood and processing it into its refined form, “Mako”. AVALANCHE, an eco terrorist group, works to stop Shinra, since its actions are effectively killing the planet. The main protagonist, a mercenary named Cloud Strife, is hired by AVALANCHE to stop Shinra. Numerous groups, including SOLDIER (An elite shinra special unit of Mako empowered humans), TURKS (An elite task force of the Shinra), and the Cetra (A near extinct human tribe connected to the planet and its life force) are struggling to determine the fate of the planet. The main cast comes into contact with Sephiroth, the stories’ antagonist who wishes to use Black Materia to summon a meteor that will destroy the planet.
Characters
- Cloud Strife- Mercenary that is hired by eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE to stop Shinra Electric Power Co. from harvesting the world’s lifeblood. Initially apathetic to their cause, he ends up fighting with zeal.
- Barret Wallace- Leader of AVALANCHE. He wields a gun on his injured right hand and with a strong personality.
- Tifa Lockhart- Runs the bar 7th Heaven in the ghetto of sector 7. Childhood friend of Cloud and a strong fighter.
- Aerith Gainsborough- A flower girl from the ghetto of sector 5. Joins Cloud and AVALANCHE.
- Red XIII- A wolf/lion-like beast capable of speech that the party rescues from Shinra.
- Cait Sith- A robot cat that sits atop a mog.
- Cid Highwind- A chainsmoker from Rocket Town who wished to be the first man in space but was forced to give up on his dream. Although bitter, he is a good friend.
- Yuffie Kisaragi- A Muteria hunter that wishes to restore her home of Wutai to its past glory. She is randomly encountered in the forest.
- Vincent Valentine- A former Turk with a painful past. Due to experimentation, he is able to metamorph into multiple forms. Feelings of guilt led him to seal himself away in a coffin.
- Zack Fair - A member of SOLDIER and a key character in Cloud’s back story. Aerith’s first love.
- Sephiroth- A non controllable character that joins the party for only one sequence. He was presumed dead but returns and is the game’s main antagonist.
Gameplay
The game can be classified as an action RPG. It will introduce new styles of gameplay that incorporates elements from the early titles of the series with the more recent real-time mechanics of titles like Final Fantasy XV. In combat, an ATB (“Active Time Battle”) gauge fills as attacks are carried out, and, once full, combat slows down and a player is able to cast magic, trigger special abilities, or use items. The game also includes a “Classic Mode”, where combat is automated and the player waits to execute commands. “Classic Mode” can be thought of as returning to the menu, turn based combat of the previous series.
Main Differences to the Original Final Fantasy VII
Pre-release hype and hints from the production team gave eager Final Fantasy 7 fans a few ideas on the main differences between the original and the Remake version.
- Episodic Structure- The game is planned to be divided into a multi-part series. The main plot of the story is to remain unchanged. However with a more detailed division of the game, the plan is to create the Final Fantasy VII game with more depth on certain elements and characters.
- Unreal Engine 4- With huge strides in technology since the original game, the game has been designed from scratch using full polygon graphics, and uses the game engine used in popular game titles of this generation such as Kingdom Hearts and Gears of War 4.
- Real-Time Combat- In the Remake version, players are able to make character swaps in real time. They can switch between their party's three characters on the fly.
Development
Development for the remake began in 2015. The game is being directed by Tetsuya Nomura, Naoki Hamaguchi, Motomu Toriyama and produced by Yoshinori Kitase. Responsible for design is Tetsuya Nomura, Mitsunori Takahashi and Kyohei Suzuki. Main artists include Tetsuya Nomura and Roberto Ferrari and in the lead writing role Kazushige Nojima.
Trivia
A recent leak demo of the game has surfaced due to data mining. Fans searching through material have uncovered some potential spoilers unintended to be uncovered by Square Enix.