Perfect remake: The novelty of the Japanese game conquered by thousands of fans manages to provide improvements and experience like the other titles • Nadav Taoz played, mostly surprised, and came back with some conclusions that you should know

• Photo: A screenshot from the game

I recently decided it was time to understand what everyone was talking about and dove into the game Final Fantasy 7: Remake, and always when games, and movies, get remakes (rework), we look forward to getting what we originally liked. Somehow this time I found myself liking the newer version than I know.

Final Fantasy is a role-playing series created by Japanese Square Enix (formerly just Square) and considered one of the greatest gaming series of all time. The first game in the series came out in 1987 (bearing the name of the series "Final Fantasy"), and since then the company has been releasing a new part every few years. Currently, the game has 15 titles.

Each game stood on its own in terms of plot and characters, except for all sorts of sequels that have been created over the years, so you can actually play any of the games created without knowing its predecessors at all. The games in the series contained similar elements in terms of design which is a manga / anime style combined with dungeons and dragons, as well as repetition of characters and places and similar style of play.

turning point

The game series gained a lot of popularity mainly in Japan and was lesser known in the Western world (due to the language and platforms the games were marketed to), but that all changed more or less when in 1997 the seventh part of the series - Final Fantasy VII. The game was initially marketed to the first PlayStation, then also to computers, and became the most successful RPG of the time. By 2003, it had sold about 9 million copies, becoming the first part of a successful series outside of Japan.

And what about me? Well, at the time I was a subscriber to the late WIZ newspaper and well remembered the enthusiasm around the game, but I didn't really play it because I had a hard time designing the manga-style characters. It seemed too drawn and not real unlike other RPGs of the same Period - Baldur's Gate and Fallout, but I still remember the cabaret image of the game where the anime figure with the huge sword on his back appears and looks toward the industrialized city.

Plot summary

On some planet called "The Planet" (sometimes also referred to as "Gaia") we enter the shoes of Cloud Strife, a former soldier in the evil Shinra corporation, whom we don't know too much about at this time. Cloud joins a local terrorist group called Avalanche who hire their services to help them attack one of their reactors.

The Avalanche group are something in the middle, between Greenpeace and Al Qaeda, which includes, among other things, leader Barret Wallace, a big, furious guy with Machine Gun instead of a hand that believes Shinra is destroying the world. Tifa Lockhart, a Cloud childhood friend who brought him into the bunch, also appears as a queer flower girl whose relationship to him or the plot is still unclear.

A general experience

Square Enix, the creators of the game, seem to have taken what they did in 1997 and made it much more modern in terms of gameplay. The little pixelated 3D figures in the 2D world have replaced some of the best graphics I have seen and are definitely up to standard, and in terms of controlling and navigating the whole business pretty much looks like the Souls games and so does the character control.

The soundtrack is a theme in itself and composed by a number of composers. The background music changes throughout the game and it sounds meticulous and fits the overall atmosphere. As one of the anime series enthusiast I know the musical richness of these series and they seem to have done similar and excellent work here. 

Also, the original composer of the game created a single called Hollow which is an integral part of the plot which plays along the various scenes in certain sections, you can read some background on the music and hear the single here. There is also a cute feature in the game that lets you buy or collect music records and play them on record machines, as it is unmistakable that the Japanese still love to buy hard-copy music today.

The control of the figure is quite comfortable, and the camera can be rotated almost 360 degrees. In the meantime, there is not too much complication here and the creators will help you with tips and tips as you play, so your character control improves as you progress in the game. In addition, there are all kinds of aids and arrows and also a map that helps you find out so you can really focus on what's important, as well as change characters during the battles and this is a skill in itself.

The battles themselves happen in real time (unlike the original game in which they were in turns), and the game can be frozen mid-battle to do complex actions - such as using special attacks, using potions or magic.

As you progress in the game you get to know all kinds of enemies that each have their strengths and weaknesses. To be a real professional you need to learn to use this knowledge to overcome them and also know which character from your group you want to use at that moment.

And as with any role-playing game, here too there is a character development interface and it is comfortable and simple and will not get you too complicated with fateful decisions - like character development axes or specialization in various weapons, etc., but it is complex enough to provide pleasure in combat and magic skills enhancements. Another important detail is that firearms can be improved using points you gain as you rise.

The plot is the game

This is the game's biggest strength, the rolling plot will make you feel that you are in a movie in the lead role (and indeed there are a plethora of scenes), which is probably what will, like me, keep you moving forward in the game without getting bored.

Another strong point is the attention to detail that really impressed me, for example the facial expressions or body language of the dialogues, the bustle of the bustling street (wandering the streets of Midgar city made me feel like I was walking around some weird version of Tokyo), little animals running around, the music (just the soundtrack) Of the game is an issue in itself) and because of every object and object in the game world.

Bottom line

Certainly this is the best rendering I have seen in the game, but unlike the original game, he did not invent the wheel and somewhere he relies on elements that we have seen in all sorts of RPGs that have come out in the last decade. On the other hand, it would have been nicer if I could have deepened the characters' development options.

Final score: 8/10