Remakes tend to be a highly controversial topic among fans of any kind of entertainment, be it movies or games. Gamers have traditionally been a more vocal type of community though, which is probably why we tend to hear their complaints about those remakes much more clearly in most cases.
Recently, there have been lots of talks about the upcoming “Final Fantasy 7” in this exact direction, as many fans seem skeptical about what the game will bring to the table for the series as a whole. “Final Fantasy” has a special place in the hearts of many gamers, and the seventh game in the series is a particularly iconic entry for some, so it will be interesting to see how its remake is received.
The more skeptical fans seem concerned in general with the need for remaking this game in the first place. “Final Fantasy 7” was already good enough on its own and it’s still right there for anyone who might want to give it a try, so why try to fix what’s not broken?
It can be argued that a remake will give the game the opportunity to shine in the eyes of a new generation of gamers as well, people who could probably not appreciate it in its original form, as time has not been kind to “Final Fantasy 7” in some regards.
And of course, this will lead to increased popularity for the latest release in the franchise, which was probably the main motivating factor behind the decision in the first place. Other studios have been trying similar things with their own franchises lately, such as Activision with “Call of Duty”, so it’s understandable where Square Enix could have gotten the inspiration from.
But it’s always a risky move to remake a game as iconic as that, and the studio hopefully realizes the huge implications its potential failure would have on the franchise as a whole. “Final Fantasy XV” could turn out to be a flop through no fault of the game itself, and that would be a huge disaster for the studio.
So far though, we’ve been seeing some interesting reports about the remake of “Final Fantasy 7” which paint it in a positive light, and most fans seem hopeful for what it could do for the series. It sounds like the studio is trying to preserve the original atmosphere and the main gameplay components, but a bit more worryingly, they’re also apparently planning to make some changes to the formula.
For example, we’ve seen reports that the music in the remake won’t be composed by Nobuo Uematsu, who handled the original score. The music in “Final Fantasy 7” was one of the game’s critical components, and many players associate it with the overall atmosphere the game delivered. It’s hard to imagine a “Final Fantasy 7” without that touch, but hopefully Square Enix have found a suitable replacement.
If they haven’t, this alone could spell disaster for the release and could make it particularly challenging for the studio to convince people that the game is worth checking out.
On top of that, we’ve also seen reports that the combat system is going to be revised to some extent. Exact details remain a bit sketchy and conflicting, so it’s hard to tell exactly what the studio might be planning. However, there are rumors that the game could see some of the changes that were introduced to the latest release in the franchise, something which would probably make it a far less attractive choice for many fans of the original.