I have zero attachment to mainline FF games, or the original FFVII. I also rarely play JRPGs.

The game itself is gorgeous. Characters, enemy models, environments, soundtrack, lighting -- all expertly done. Pacing, map design, and story are typical Final Fantasy fare: if you've played one, you've played them all, basically.

The combat is where this game takes a real ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ nosedive. The ATB system, artificial difficulty spikes, and non-existent party AI makes it a TOTAL slog toward the end. No aspect of the combat or RPG mechanics feels enjoyable or synergistic. You'll have 2/3 melee characters in a party, and they'll stick you in a dungeon with mobs that are 90% immune to physical damage.

It's like they didn't even try to come up with a coherent system to design encounters around. The completion rate of content after Chapter 10 (under 50%) kinda bears this out.

I would have definitely preferred a fully fleshed-out turn-based system, OR a fully fleshed-out real time combat system. This feels slapped together with a very pretty veneer. Can't say that feeling is atypical of me with JRPGs. Anyway, rant over.

One of the best games i have ever played. Coming back home after a long day and playing this game always made my day, each chapter is different and wasn't too repetitive, the battles were sometimes lengthy but that's something easily fixed just by lowering the difficulty... The music is some of the best i have ever seen in a game and the visuals were stunning, the story, the world and the characters were really well made...

Cant wait to play the next part

9/10

Much of my logged "play time" is in menus at this point. I feel like they were given all the tools to revamp the original and instead of bringing meaningful interactions and compelling gameplay they went with standard AAA studio crap. There are largely rendered areas that feel empty. You wander around them to go to areas for random side quests, even the trope quest of going to kill some rats. I'm especially saddened to hear there is no continuity between Remake, Rebirth, and the coming third installment. I would strongly recommend that if you are nostalgic for FFVII, just go replay the original because you won't get the same satisfaction from this game.