Can I play this without having ever played Final Fantasy?

[sigina ✝]

I've only tried FF14 and Kingdom Hearts, and I have Final Fantasy X, but I haven't really played it. Now, I'm thinking of giving it a serious try. Is there perhaps a video that explains everything about it?

[Shock_&_Awe]

This was my first Final Fantasy and I had a great time. I don't think you'll necessarily need a video to explain anything going into it.

[ishiki]

yes

The only game that really enhances this game much is to play the original 1997 game.

But, you won't have 25 years of nostalgia either.

I say that as someone who has beaten most every final fantasy game aside from ff14 actually multiple times.

[Lucus]

you can play it. but you might not get references.
FF7RI is a basically a sequel to FF7.

it wouldn't hurt to play FF7 original > crisis core > FF7RI in that order.

[alumlovescake]

Yes


In fact this game is best enjoyed with as little knowledge of possible of crisis core or FF7.

I made the mistake of playing crisis core and the og first and it ruined it for me completely

[Faiyez]

No, it's just not feasible to understand what exactly is going on without any previous experience of the FF7 compilation. Starting from the very beginning of Remake with Tifa's neighbor, this game likes to hand wave and flash back with no explanation to an audience that is assumed to be familiar with OG FF7. Probably the most notorious example is the character of Sephiroth in Remake, who simply shows up without context and you are assumed to know who this guy is and why he's relevant without further explanation. Such explanation is found later in the timeline covered by the OG game, but that isn't reached in this game. Sephiroth quite literally makes no sense in this game without his permanence in broader pop culture and without things like the Advent Children CG movie, which was a sequel to FF7 itself.

[AIR]

Actually, it's not so bad as a first final fantasy game. You get to experience a mix between two worlds, much better than FFXV or XVI in the sense that it sure is more active than the OG final fantasy turn-based style.

It's a well told story, incomplete because it's one out of 3 stand-alone games that will compose the whole Final Fantasy 7 Remake Experience.

Sure, you will be a little lost with the references, but you can always watch youtube videos - and there are a lot of them - that fill in the gaps or even the whole games in video.

[mdesaleah]

No.

7 Remake (as confusing as it sounds) is a sequel to 7 Original. But since you've played Kingdom Hearts you probably understand the idea of weird unexpected twists.

Play 7 Original first. Its the actual full original story without any meta-twists.

[Zaris]

From a gameplay point of view FF7 Remake is most likely one of the better FFs in general because of a deep(er) combat system compared to most other entries in the series. The story is also one of the better ones, at least the developer heavily milked it over 25 years now. In general skill matters more than stupid grinding in this game more like a "souls game".

From a gaming point of view i would suggest to play FF7 Remake first, then - if you have the PS5 - FF7 Rebirth next week. If you want to see the whole story (without some meta twists) play the original game after that which doubles the fun to compare the changes to the original game and recognize areas they transitioned from 2d to 3d and on top it's more bearable to play because FF7 is really really really old but still playable (i replayed it some days ago with Reunion mod for better visuals and speedmode).

Btw for the people who are telling you that you will be confused because of meta twists whatever: The original FF7 had the same approach, you got zero introduction into the main characters background and why he is in the way he is or who Sephiroth is only nearly the end of the game you get some but not all explanations. For that you have to read the wiki, developer journals / published documents or play Crisis Core. It's in short a clusterf*ck from a narrative point of view. Adding more confusion on top doesn't matter anymore at this point, just roll with it.

[Queco Jones21]

You can play this without having played any of the other FF games.

The thing with this 'series' is that each game is basically its own story, with its own characters and story and everything. No game is connected with the other in actuality and you won't be missing out on the story if you don't play them in sequence. Only the games with similar titles, like FF XIII 2.

They just share similar mechanics and story tropes and things. Like the races, chocobos (and other animals and wildlife), similar technology, spells, abilities, potions/items, a character called Cid (which is a different character in each game, usually a mechanic or blacksmith), and various other things.

So you can pick and choose which ones you want to play with no worries. Have fun!

[mdesaleah]

Originally posted by Zaris:

Btw for the people who are telling you that you will be confused because of meta twists whatever: The original FF7 had the same approach.

Ah yes, I too remember the part in the Original where the main villain showed up less than an hour in to boast to your face about his plans xD. Or the time the original flash forwarded to multiple pivotal scenes because it didn't know how to do a slow buildup and needed to show big scenes immediately.

Thats not even mentioning 7R going completely out of order and its end twist going off the rails.

Its not a Remake, its a "remake" of the timeline by its main villain. So a sequel in disguise.

[Memento Mori]

You can play it but you won't understand why some things happen out of nowhere. The original game had a better pacing while this one throws you content you have no idea what it means or should even care about. Play once in normal mode then again in hard mode, the hard mode will be much better as the story makes (more) sense.