Don’t play the original Final Fantasy VII, otherwise you might actually immerse yourself with a real role-playing game that apparently is too difficult to understand.
Square Enix seemingly loves to drag its Final Fantasy franchise through the mud, with its upcoming entry, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the intended sequel continuation of the alleged Final Fantasy 7 “Remake” being the most action focused and easy to understand yet.
So much so that the director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Naoki Hamaguchi spoke during an interview with GadgetMatch claiming that the original Final Fantasy 7 is a “difficult” title to get into and that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a much better starting point for gamers to start out with.
Hamaguchi emphasizes that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been meticulously crafted to ensure that newcomers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the story and its events as they unfold.
We’re already well aware that Square Enix are more focused on catering to a brand new audience of customers who have never experienced a true Final Fantasy title prior to 2016’s Final Fantasy XV which has cemented the franchise as being a more action focused pseudo-RPG game rather than a true RPG of which the series was notorious for.
So it didn’t really come as much of a surprise that Square Enix would take the initiative of milking beloved installments from years past, such as Final Fantasy VII, arguably one of the best releases of the franchise to morph into his action-RPG hybrid genre they persist on going ahead with, altering the plot and premise of the original seemingly at will to cater towards modern audiences and their fragile sensitivity.
Hence the reasoning behind the altercation of the Honeybee Inn, with the secret area formally being depicted as a brothel of sorts, depictions of prostitution is considered sexist and misogynistic in todays times to the fine folks at Square Enix morphed it into an inclusive cabaret club where you the player can engage in a spot of cross dressing with a full on dancing spectacle.
“We understand that FF7 is a difficult title to get into today,” says Hamaguchi. “But the game is developed very meticulously so it won’t feel unnatural when you start playing. All the tutorials will be there. We have created everything carefully so that even a new player can enjoy the game.”
“All of the tutorials will be there, we have created everything carefully so that even a new player can enjoy the game“, what an interesting statement and a true testament of how Square Enix depicts their own audience, to be mindless idiots who couldn’t possibly manage to actually play through a real RPG in todays times, everything has to be action focused now, everything has to be formulaic and simplified.
I’m not even sure how Final Fantasy VII could even be considered to be “difficult to get into” considering how it’s only one of the best selling video games of all time, selling 14.1 million copies across its lifespan.
But I can understand where Naoki Hamaguchi is coming from, the original game would be immensely frustrating for modern audiences to understand.
Given how your average consumer are members of the “smooth brain brigade” who couldn’t possibly fend for themselves without incessant notifications, waypoints and objective markers highlighting how to actually progress through the game.
Hamaguchi proclaims that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will feature all of the “tutorials” from the very beginning, which is quite hilarious considering how the original game, released in 1997 also featured its own series of tutorials to such an extent that the protagonist himself, Cloud is the very one who gives out the tutorials going as far as to break the fourth wall and insult the players for skipping them.
Let’s be real here, the only aspect where the original falls short compared to the remake is in the graphics department, which is understandably dated given how it originally released back in 1997 and was the first entry in the franchise to employ 3D character models, if not one of the very first games outright to utilize 3D character models.
But even still you can simply modify the game, boosting its graphical fidelity immensely while retaining the original art aesthetic and soul unlike the action focused deviation that Square Enix insists on calling a “remake”.
The director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Naoki Hamaguchi emphasized that the remakes were created “carefully” so that “new players can enjoy the game”, simply because the remakes have been watered down for simpletons.
Given how Square Enix are splitting this supposed Remake into three individual installments, fans have (correctly) assumed that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will in fact end on a somber note, the death of Aerith being one of the most memorable and unexpected cutscenes to have ever been featured across the entire franchise.
However during his interview with GadgetMatch, Naoki Hamaguchi was asked about Aerith’s fate in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, instead he teased how there would “be a surprise in this version as well” more than likely referencing that Square Enix intends on throwing a curveball to those who’ve played the original and for whatever reason continue to follow the Final Fantasy franchise as it’s continually dragged into the dirt.
What curveball would Square Enix try and throw our way for new fans of the franchise in this remake? Well obviously, Aerith living instead of dying, and if I were to have a guess as to whom will be taking her place instead it would more than likely be Tifa.
Given how Square Enix seemingly hate her character design, going as far as to reduce the size of her breasts and remove any and all “jiggle physics”, it makes perfect sense to throw a wild plot twist of such magnitude to kill her off instead of Aerith.
Dare I even utter that it would actually be amazing if who lived or died changed depending entirely upon the choices that you’ve made throughout the game leading up to that point, like an actual RPG should.
But obviously that’s not going to happen given how Square Enix have turned the Final Fantasy franchise into one that prioritizes dumbed down action with a forced story narrative, because there’s no freedom in modern video games anymore, especially considering how you no longer get to influence the Gold Saucer date inside of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
In fact, the games Producer, Yoshinori Kitase, along with Directors Tetsuya Nomura and Naoki Hamaguchi, revealed during an interview with Game Spark just a month ago that the Golden Saucer date will no longer be exclusive to the opposite sex.
This is one of the most anticipated events for this title… I can’t tell you who you can date, since that would be a spoiler, but I can tell you that dating is not something limited to the opposite sex.
Getting rid of in-game choices is but one of the crucial steps Square Enix have employed to ensure that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth can be digested from smooth brained action fanatics.
For instance you’re no longer able to dismiss Aeris right from the beginning. Instead you must accept her flower, the option to reject her had been removed, you cannot insult her either, the ability to to call her the slum drunk had also been removed.
Just one of the many instances that highlights just how much of a bastardization these apparent remakes are, you’re not playing a role-playing game anymore, you’re going from point A to point B and doing whatever the story tells you to do and you’re going to fucking accept it.
Just one massive cutscene simulator which is seemingly all Sony are offering as “exclusives” for the PlayStation.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is scheduled for release on PlayStation 5 on February 29th, 2024 and will absolutely be coming to PC via the Epic Games Store either six months to a year after its console release.
