Sony's E3 conference this year could best be described using the term 'wish fulfilment'. Fans of the classic Shenmue series were delighted to find out that the third game would finally enter development - pending the results of a Kickstarter campaign - and the company even brought The Last Guardian out of development hell. However, the biggest announcement made during the conference was the revelation that Final Fantasy VII's long-awaited remake that so many fans have been aching to play for more than a decade was finally going to become reality. Now that the initial shock has worn off though, it's time to look at this remake from a slightly more realistic perspective. After all, there are many different things that could go wrong with the venture, especially considering the fact the Square have done such an excellent job of alienating many of the older Final Fantasy fans with the latest entries in the series. Getting it right is going to involve a delicate balancing act of bringing in new gameplay features whilst also making sure the heart and soul of the original is kept intact. It would be a difficult task for any developer, as failing to strike that balance could lead to one of the most anticipated remakes of all time becoming a complete catastrophe.
Lee Price is a writer for 411mania.com and Starburst Magazine, which is published in the UK. He is currently working as a freelance writer. He hopes to one day fund his addiction to video games by writing about video games, and he maintains a sporadically updated blog at leesrandombulls*it.wordpress.com
