Final Fantasy 7 Remake HANDS ON: 8 Ups & 3 Downs

1. Killing The Reveal Of Sephiroth

As mentioned earlier, it's important to know that the entire narrative of Final Fantasy VII is different in the remake.

Yes, our intrepid heroes will go from Point A to Point B to Point Chocobo, but how they get there (and in some cases, their reasons for doing so) have been fair game for a "reimagining". Despite us all feeling very protective of the story this is largely a positive step, but one area it feels like a mistake is regarding Sephiroth.

In the original Final Fantasy VII, Shin-Ra is the villain. The corporation feels like an unbeatable, globe-spanning, mega-power and, somewhere down the line, you're going to have to knock off their seemingly untouchable president and save the planet. Then, in one of the game's greatest twists, a Masamune blade is found impaling the president through his own desk, and the game's true villain is revealed as Sephiroth.

It isn't until Kalm Town, hours into the game, that we're really told who he is. His connection to Cloud, his astonishing power, his destruction of Nibelheim, his plans to avenge his "mother" by wiping out the life that he sees as inferior. It's perfectly paced, but the remake forces in visions of him from as early as the first reactor.

The narrative restructuring feels like it works overall, but this is one rewrite too far.