The Greatest JRPG of the 2020s Is a Remake That Outshines the Original

Creating remakes is a really tough challenge, particularly when dealing with beloved classics. A studio needs to figure out what made the original so successful, and then refresh it for today’s viewers without sacrificing the things fans already cherish. It’s a delicate balance, and remakes don’t always please everyone. However, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth demonstrate a great approach to getting it right.

The FF7 Remake is a three-game series that retells the story of the beloved 1997 role-playing game, with the final installment still being created. While staying true to the original’s main story, these new games have been updated with modern gameplay and a more engaging feel, all while preserving the emotional core that fans loved.

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy Makes Major Changes to the Original

The core storyline of the Final Fantasy VII remake remains very similar to the original game. The biggest change is that the planet is now officially named Gaia. Despite this, the remake still takes the story in some unexpected directions, meaning even long-time fans won’t be able to predict everything that happens.

The extended length of the FF7 Remake trilogy allows for a more detailed story than the original, fleshing out characters like Barret and giving more significant roles to even minor ones, such as Jessie Raspberry. The developers also made substantial changes to the plot, letting characters like Biggs and Wedge survive and even showing Zack Fair living past his supposed final battle.

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy introduces major changes to how the game is played. It moves the series into the action RPG genre, resulting in a completely different battle system. This makes the game easier for new players to pick up, and also creates a unique combat flow compared to the original Final Fantasy 7.

Unlike the original Final Fantasy 7, both Remake and Rebirth are action RPGs. This means characters like Cloud can attack whenever they want, and the rest of the team fights alongside him in real-time, instead of taking turns. This change makes the remake trilogy much more accessible for new players and those familiar with the original.

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy Has Incredible Exploration

The Final Fantasy VII Remake games aren’t just about a revised story and updated gameplay. They also subtly improve how players experience the game world. A key improvement is being able to freely explore a fully realized 3D environment, which wasn’t possible in the original game. The first FF7 often felt disjointed because its 3D characters didn’t quite fit with the static backgrounds.

Splitting Final Fantasy VII into three games was a clever move by Square Enix. It allowed the team to really flesh out the city of Midgar in Remake with a lot of detail, and the expansive open world in Rebirth effectively conveyed the feeling of characters leaving the city behind.

The original game had some areas players couldn’t access, but the last game in the remake series will allow full exploration. Developing these remakes has taken a long time – much longer than the two years it took to create the original Final Fantasy VII. However, developers believe spreading the content across multiple games was the right choice, as it allowed for a much larger and more detailed experience than if everything had been crammed into a single release.

The third game in the Remake series doesn’t have a confirmed release date. Without a trailer or even a title announced yet, it’s possible we won’t see it until 2028. Although it’s too soon to know how well the game will be received, the first two installments have been successful and have improved upon the original.

5 Questions
Test Your FFVII Remake Mastery: Original vs. Reimagined
Your Top Score
Attempts
0
0
Report Error

Found an error? Send it so it can be corrected.

Read More

2026-03-12 20:46