Final Fantasy 7 Remake

Release Date: April 10, 2020

Platform Played On: PS4

2018 Placement: N/A

What It Is:

Of all the games that people have clamored for a remake, Final Fantasy 7 is probably the one that has gotten the most (or at least the loudest) support. The game itself is stuck in early polygon-era models, but since it captured the hearts of many and also had several later spinoffs (and a movie sequel) with better graphics there was a lot of hoping for an HD upgrade to the story.

People finally got their wish in 2020 as the Final Fantasy 7 Remake finally came out. It had the updated graphics everyone asked for, along with an all-new action RPG system that used elements of the original game. Because the project was so big, Remake only told the story of Midgar, the opening city of the game. For comparison’s sake, this 40 hour game was about 4 hours of the original game and was only a small portion of the first disc. The city of Midgar is brought to life even more than before with side characters being expanded upon and entire new areas and enemies to fight, along with old enemies being refashioned into bosses and characters that don’t show up until later in the game making much earlier appearances (here’s looking at you, Sephiroth).

But it wasn’t just the original game’s story with a shiny coat of paint and a different battle system. As the game progresses, things get weirder and start deviating from the original story. And before you know it, you release you aren’t just playing a remake: you’re playing an entirely new game. And it’s awesome.

Why It’s Important To Me:

When I sat down and started playing FF7 Remake, I knew I liked FF7 a lot. But I didn’t realize how much these characters and this game had influenced me until my emotions started running rampant as I played through this. I tore through this game as the COVID pandemic was starting its tear through everyone’s lives, and falling back into the comfortable, updated nostalgia of this game was just perfect timing.

And then the story beats went in an entirely different direction than I was expecting. It blew me away to the point that I ended up loving this game even more than the original. It does something with storytelling that can’t be replicated in any other medium as far as I’m concerned. It took something familiar, something beloved, something that people had been clamoring for, and built upon it and gave something nobody asked for. It was amazing. I’d never played anything like it and I haven’t played anything like it since.

My Strongest Memory:

To stay (heavy) spoiler-free: the set up of the Air Buster showdown. In the original game, the Air Buster is simply the second boss. It has a mechanic that you have to hit it from behind to do more damage but it’s otherwise fairly unremarkable. But the game takes your expectation and turns a pretty standard boss into an awesome setpiece. There’s so much build-up – fans of the game know what’s coming but the game ratchets up tension as you basically see it be built to attack you as you progress through the chapter. If you’re smart, you can disable some of its parts to make the eventual fight easier. And then the fight itself is just balls-to-the-wall action fun. You couldn’t ask for a better execution.

And then, of course, the remixed music. They took the original legendary soundtrack and just made it better in every way. The battle theme gets so many different variations: from the Airbuster version to a gym version. There’s even new songs for new bosses that kick ass. And there’s a remix of one of my favorite video games songs of all time, Crazy Motorcycle, that nearly tops off the game as it’s played towards the end of the Midgar section in the original game. I was looking forward to hearing the remix the entire time I played and man, finally getting to hear it did not disappoint.

Why It’s #10:

This is the last game on this list that wasn’t on the 2018 list. When I originally made the list in 2021, I was a little worried that recency bias was making me overvalue FF7 Remake. But the stupid smile I got while thinking about this game and listening to the music again as I wrote this entry just washed away any doubts. This is a fantastic game, and while it’s hard to replicate 20+ years of nostalgia wrapped into a surprisingly perfect package, if it does apply to you this game will hit your feelings hard and I definitely think it’s worthy of being in the top 10.