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| Jeremy Harnage |
We are looking forward to it.
06.24.15 - 7:35 PM
It happened. It finally happened. Hold on, that needs a bit more power behind it. IT FINALLY HAPPENED! In a move many thought would never occur, Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy VII Remake during the Sony conference at E3. The arena went insane. Other videos followed, but we were all too distracted to even notice. As the conference carried on, each member of the RPGFan team silently ran through all of the things this announcement meant. There were so many unanswered questions, and the list for those questions just keeps getting longer. We made our way back to the hotel, excitedly brainstorming concerns and fantasizing about seeing our favorite moments recreated.
It's still a lot to take in. What will they update? Will they remove content at all? What will the attitude of the game be? A few things are obvious right from the start: the game will of course come with updated graphics and a grittier, more realistic look. After Crisis Core, Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus, it's to be expected that the game will have a more serious tone.
But is that what we really want?
While running through our expectations for the umpteenth time, we all came to one general conclusion: We want the Final Fantasy 7 Remake to be goofy.
Now, hear me out on this, because that sounds crazy. We're not asking for cartoonish visuals and guffaw-inducing writing, but when it came right down to it, we all wanted to see the hilarious FF7 moments more than anything else. I mean, if they opted NOT to include Cloud making his way through the Honeybee Inn and eventually cross-dressing, what is even the point? Final Fantasy 7 comes with a slew of silly scenes, and we want them all to be included. We want snowboarding mini-games. We want Barrett and Cloud on the Ferris Wheel. We want slapping mini-games, we want Barrett pounding his chest and Cid launching into "$&%*@!" moments. All of these things give the characters and story of Final Fantasy 7 a unique and memorable spirit, and we'd love to see them return.
Of course we're also excited about the HD treatment that the rest of the game will receive. The visual style of the first was incredibly iconic, and seeing redone versions is sure to be a treat. Again, though, we found ourselves filled with questions. Can we still count on those legendary blue menus? How's the world map going to be presented? Will there even be a world map? Along those same lines; will we be getting new musical scores? Maybe some voice acting (Mr. T for Barrett please!)? The questions just seem to keep piling up.
But lastly, because this is a remake, and not an HD version, we find ourselves pondering the possible additions and changes to the core game. Some changes seem relatively obvious. Yuffie and Vincent will most likely have larger roles this time around, especially with the splash they've both made in the extended Final Fantasy universe. But will we be able to expect larger roles for other characters? Additional bosses? Maybe even some Crisis Core throwbacks (What is Genesis up to these days...)? Will they plan on releasing DLC? How will the battle system function? Maybe something akin to XIII? Or perhaps a full on switch to an action RPG system? Can we still even explore the open world, or will things work from a linear standpoint? The questions really come one after another after another. But this is what's truly exciting about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The possibilities are endless, and each option only lends itself to more and more speculation. But that's really the point of the announcement; to inspire this excitement. There's no doubt that the multitudes of fans will be going through these questions over and over and over again until the game actually releases.
And those of us here at RPGFan couldn't be happier.
PS: Cross-dressing Cloud has already been confirmed by Tetsuya Nomura. Please look forward to it!
