Way back in 1997, a little game called Final Fantasy VII hit the market and took the gaming world by storm. Not only did it provide an incredible story, engaging gameplay, and memorable characters, it brought the ever-popular Final Fantasy franchise to a three-dimensional perspective, forever changing the face of the series. The story and setting touched on some major issues, such as a corporate controlled government, poverty, life in slums, and rebellion, which sparked great interest in fans.
Years later, the story and gameplay of Final Fantasy VII still hold their own against any modern-day title, and it is often regarded as the best game in the entire series. Even with several spin-off games and a movie, fans continue to ask for one thing: a Final Fantasy VII Remake . This is easily one of the most overstated, and unnecessary, ideas on the internet.
I loved everything about the game when I first picked it up. After playing through it several times and mastering the tactics required to take down the big bosses in the most efficient manner, Final Fantasy VII is still fun. So why does a remake need to exist? I’m quick to say that better graphics would do wonders for the game, but in all honesty, it would take away from everything that made the game great. These days, there is a real feeling of nostalgia from blowing up that first Mako reactor, or from being introduced to Sephiroth, as the story is already told in such an effective way, even with the graphical limitations. A Final Fantasy VII remake would lose focus of all of the creativity that went into the original title.
Compare Final Fantasy VII to Star Wars. George Lucas took what was already an amazing film, and tried to make it better with updated visual effects. The result turned out to be a series of films that are looked down upon by true Star Wars fans, yet ol’ Lucas continues to change things and add new effects. The story and characters are still very memorable, but the films have still seemed to have lost some of the magic that they once had. It was an amazing experience to watch such well-crafted scenes knowing that the filmmakers made everything seem real, even with the technical limitations.
Video games are definitely a different medium, but the basic idea still applies. Fans have been graced with additional stories that take place in the world of Final Fantasy VII, but it is clear that Square Enix’s heart just isn’t there when it comes to the original game. It is their masterpiece, which is why they continue to tell people that a remake won’t happen. If they were forced to do it just to please the fans rather than starting the project because they are actually excited about it, it is almost a guarantee that the final product would turn out less-than-acceptable. The same thing happened with the many Halo sequels.
The whole point is this: Why fix what isn’t broken? Sony released the PSone Classics version of Final Fantasy VII on PSN forever ago, and it is still very easy to find it in stores and online to purchase, so it’s not as if it has become a “long lost” title just begging to be rediscovered. It’s time for fans to let go of the push to make it better, when it was already an exciting, industry-changing experience from the start. Now, time to go get that silk dress that the Don will like…
thank you for this article 😛 i am also sick and tired of fanboys who need to relive their teen years by cherishing a game from the stone age until it becomes the new golden calf 😉 … like with religion and mcdonald’s, when so many people get this vibe of unisonic, something is not right and has to be labelled as mass hysteria.
I would prefer an HD update over a remake. The game is dated, and so many of this generation’s standard tropes could build upon the already brilliant presentation and take it to new heights.
I understand your position, but respectfully disagree. You mentioned that the game is considered the best in the series, so it makes sense then that a large portion of the fanbase would be interested in seeing the best of the series updated rather than a new one that won’t be quite as good.
“but in all honesty, it would take away from everything that made the game great.”
Cloud’s Popeye arms are what makes FFVII great, gotcha.
Actually, what I was saying is that telling a great, emotional story with such limited graphics is a hard thing to do. These days, it’s easy to just show the emotion on a characters face, and use a great voice actor to convey the right feelings. Final Fantasy VII didn’t have that available to it, so the developers had to get creative and use the music and other graphical details in order to make such an atmospheric title. Knowing that allows us to really appreciate the effort that went into making FFVII.
I dunno, though; I wouldn’t say the poor graphics are actually *part* of the experience of playing FFVII, more, as you say, something it succeeds in spite of. In theory getting the rather goofy character models looking like people would make the story work better.
Lucas’ remakes don’t work because he mainly used technology to do things that didn’t need doing (like making shots overcrowded with extra CGI *stuff* which just confuses the eye) or which actively screwed up what we knew about characters (Han stomping on the tail of the most dangerous gangster in the universe, Greedo shooting first, etc). If it had just been harmless stuff like putting pilot heads in the X-Wings and tidying up the weird blur under Luke’s speeder where they got rid of the wheeled carriage under it I doubt anyone would have had any problems with it.
Of more concern is that they wouldn’t fix the areas in which the story is well known to be broken, for example providing some sort of rationale why Phoenix Down doesn’t work the one time the plot requires it not to.
You make a very good point. I do agree to a certain extent that new character models would look good, and it may turn out to be an even better experience. I just feel that a full-blown remake isn’t required, as Square Enix should be focusing on making a new, amazing Final Fantasy. I feel the same with a lot of HD remakes, as well. Final Fantasy VII is one of the iconic games that represents that particular era of gaming, and should remain as such.
And I completely agree about the story. The first thing I said during that infamous cutscene was “Can’t they just use a Phoenix Down?”
There’s a fair case that can be made for a lot of HD remakes; for example, Shadow of the Colossus benefits immeasurably from a stable framerate, even if some things like light rays don’t quite look right. Same for the idea of bringing games up to speed for modern gamers to enjoy them without having to emulate or buy older hardware. Still, they do often seem to be developed in easy mode, I think largely because these remakes are farmed out to obscure studios who don’t tend to have a lot of actual development experience and are told to just make updated textures and nothing else. I mean, did the Devil May Cry HD remaks really need to keep the useless map function on the D-Pad rather than move inventory selection there so you didn’t have to keep pausing the game to switch guns?