Earlier this year Square Enix and Sony made a big splash at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) when they showed the announcement trailer for an upcoming remake of Final Fantasy VII. Though many fans have been asking and hoping for just such a thing to happen, many believed it never would. So, when the announcement trailer dropped back in June, people lost their minds.
This weekend, in what seems like a pretty short span of time, we were already treated to more footage of the game. Most interesting is the tiny bit of actual gameplay in the trailer, as it definitely looks to be a departure from the classic turn-based system that the original operated on in lieu of a more current, action oriented approach. Not surprising as the franchise has largely moved away from the classic combat systems of old in favor of a more fluid approach to battle. Take a look after the jump:
For starters, I think we can all agree that graphically it looks great and it is most definitely a huge step up from the original release on PlayStation. Even the version available on Steam for PC users featured updated graphics, but even those improvements pale in comparison to what Square Enix is cooking up for their proper remake of the game. That said, the footage shown is still early footage and even that may be subject to change between now and whenever the final product hits shelves. Check out this cool video that already shows a head to head comparison of the new trailer with the original version of the game.
It was also announced in a press release that Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released in multiple parts, which predictably caused an uproar with fans thinking that they were going to be episodic releases. Square Enix gave the following clarification to Inquisitr today when asked about the multi-part series:
[A multi-part series] means instead of concluding in one entry, multiple entries are being considered in development. Each entry will have its own unique story. As a gaming experience, each entry will have the volume of content equal to a full-sized game.
It still seems a strange idea for them to make what kind of sounds like a major departure from the original game. It’s certainly an interesting development, only time will tell whether what they’re planning fits with the original game. One thing’s for sure, if Square Enix screws this up, fans will be outraged.
Aside from the glimpses we’ve been treated to, other details surrounding the game’s development are relatively scarce to this point, not surprising as the announcement in June was kept well under wraps itself. That said, we can infer from the E3 announcement trailer that it won’t be exclusively available on the PS4 considering the end of the trailer says “play it first on PlayStation 4” rather than something to the contrary. Not to mention that recent entries in the franchise have been multi-platform releases such as Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and the massive multiplayer online title, Final Fantasy XIV.
In addition to the release of the trailer during the show this weekend, Sony also announced that the aforementioned Steam version of the game is currently available on the PlayStation Store allowing you to revisit the classic on your PS4. It’s certainly something I plan to do between now and the remake’s release which is sure to still be a couple of years from now.
So what do you think? Are you excited for the remake? Or should they be leaving the classic alone? We want to know what you think so let us know in the comments section!
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Images: Square Enix, Sony, Steam
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