While I enjoyed playing the remake of Final Fantasy VII quite a bit, I could not escape one question: Is it actually a remake at all? It is so vastly different from what Final Fantasy VII is that it comes out more like an iteration of a similar story, down to having similar story elements, but the overall outcome is so different that it feels more like a separate entity. And this isn't just because of the expanded and utterly different story elements, but the gameplay as well, as even that puts the game into a different genre.
The story starts just like the original did. Cloud has joined Avalanche, an ecoterrorist group that is waging a war against the humongous Shinra corporation, which is draining the planet of Mako energy. Their aim is to destroy one of the giant Mako reactors placed around the rim of Midgar city. Even during this mission, you see the difference in the story and how it's presented. It's more cinematic, and there's a lot more of it. Then you very quickly notice that the gameplay is different as well. The turn-based combat has been replaced with more fast paced realtime acton, where the old ATP system is used to limit the use of special abilities, inventory, spells and summons.
The next big difference is the levelling. While you gain experience and levels not only for yourself, but for the materia you are using, the weapons you have levelled up too, allowing additional abilities to be unlocked from them. This makes the whole weapons system very different from the original game, as it's not as simple as just buying the next best weapon. It gives a bit of a bigger tactical focus on it, depending on whether you want to gain more bonuses on your attacks or your spells through the weapon. This weapon upgrading can be done either manually or automatically based on three presets, which favour either attack, magic or balance.
As Final Fantasy VII remake has only the Midgar section of the game, the story elements and the quests you find from there are heavily expanded, and Cloud is given a lot of new things to do with the emphasis on his mercenary work. All over the slums, people are seeking help from a merc, and Tifa makes sure his name is known among people needing help.
It's not only the main characters who have been expanded. Many of the side characters, like the members of the Avalanche, have additional things to say and things to do for Cloud. From time to time, they even tag along. You get to know a lot more about everyone involved.
The gameplay is, perhaps unsurprisingly, pretty linear. Most of the game is spent in different sections of the slums or in the upper Midgar city plate. You are also limited on what characters are in your team. Most of the time, it's just Barret or Tifa. Aerith has some gametime as well, and while Red XII appears in the game and even takes part in the action, he is never a controllable character. Everyone else who joins the party after Midgar is either not present, gets a small cameo and Yuffie getts her own interlude mini game, where she is looking for materia from Midgar around the same time Cloud and co are running all over the place.
I got to the end of the game in a bit over 40 hours. Even in the end, there are differences from the original, as you get to actually fight against Sephirot. The new story beats also hint that a lot of the familiar story beats from the original game might be a lot different in the 2nd part of the remake, Rebirth. Yuffie's mini-story adds about 5 hours to the mix. And depending on whether you want to try and get all the additional content from the main game and the Yuffie episode, you might get even more play time, as that requires playing the episodes with a harder difficulty unlocked after completing the game.
So, to get back to my original question: is Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade a remake at all? Yeah, technically speaking, it is, but in terms of the story and the gameplay, it is not. It is as much of a remake of the original game as the modern Wolfenstein series is a remake of the original 1980s Wolfenstein game. Sure, they share the name, but as games, they are very different.
That said, I did enjoy the Remake quite a bit. Especially when you take it as its own thing, you'll find there's a lot to like about it. It's a gorgeous-looking game with a lot of things to do. The story is at times deliciously cheesy, especially in how utterly evil the Shinra corporation people are, and there's intentional sillyness in a lot of things and people you encounter during the game. It's both very familiar and very different, which makes it more fun to play, as you aren't just playing the same old game again with a new slap of paint on top of it.
If this feels like your cup of tea, you can get Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade for PlayStation 5, Switch 2 and for Windows. The Windows version can be bought from Steam.
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