E3 2019: Final Fantasy 7 Remake, I’m sorry that I doubted you

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Let me go ahead and put this out before we dive in – I thought that both Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3 had pretty uninspired combat.

I feel like you need to know this because when the trailer for Final Fantasy 7 Remake showed off the combat that was very similar, I expected the worst. I just finished the Square Enix E3 Press Conference, and man, I am so happy to say I think I was wrong.

Square Enix’s press conference didn’t waste any time, jumping right into Final Fantasy 7 Remake news

They showed the iconic opening of the game before explaining that we wouldn’t be seeing Tifa or other characters just yet. Then, they explained how combat would work, which as far as I am concerned is the star of the show.

Remake’s combat very much includes the hack and slash elements found in Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XV, but with a unique twist. The slashes you can spam deal damage, but there’s a tactical command mode that becomes available when you fill the action meter.

This works very similarly to the old way of having the ATB bar fill while you wait for your turn. When your character fills one or more of their action bars, they can use items, cast spells, use special abilities or more. Somehow, they kept the turn-based soul of Final Fantasy 7 intact with Remake.

Earlier, when I took a look at last night’s trailer I said that if each member of the team handled differently, that would be a major deal. Well, here we are.

The press conference showed that Cloud excels in getting close and doing nasty damage, Barrett has the ability to lay down damage from a distance and pierce enemy defenses. Pretty cool stuff! Then to everyone’s surprise, Tifa and Aerith made their appearances. The redesigned Tifa is a breakneck martial artist that hits with hard-hitting combos and special moves. I’m pretty sure she air-juggled an enemy. Aerith didn’t do too much when she feebly smack an enemy or two but her magic appeared to be far more potent than anyone else’s. As it should be.

I can’t wait to see everyone else.

The video also shows the iconic fight against the Guard Scorpion at the reactor with Cloud and Barrett

This was pretty cool because it showed the strengths of both characters while also showing that using cover and switching between characters was an easy way to get the advantage against bosses. It looks like bringing a balanced team will be important because enemies will move out of range of some characters.

I can only imagine how out of control some of the more difficult boss fights will be when in a 3D space. Man, I can’t even put my excitement into words. It’s going to be sick.

Some other major takeaways from the Final Fantasy 7 Remake segment of the show was that you can see the materia characters have equipped

If you don’t know what materia is, they are stones that characters can put in gear that gives them access to different skills, abilities and magic. I wonder if they are going to keep weapons essentially the same throughout the game, or will there be a ton of extra gear.

Knowing that answer will also clarify if you will ever be able to equip more than two materia at a time. If I had to venture a guess, I’m sure there will be weapons with more materia slots just because there is a ton of stuff later in the game, like summons and skill materia, that I can’t imagine them omitting from the game.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake has enough content to completely fill two blu-ray discs

First off, that is actually a massive amount of content. Second, this confirms that the first chapter of the game will go up to the team leaving Midgar.

According to the team, the escape will have enough content to constitute being a stand alone title. This is huge because players will likely now not be able to breeze through content. Meaning there’s gonna be a lot to take in. Sephiroth also looks to be taking any and all opportunity to torment Cloud as well.

I went into this show thinking that Final Fantasy 7 Remake was going to be a lazy Final Fantasy XV game with Final Fantasy 7 characters in. I was so wrong and Final Fantasy 7 Remake is now at the tippy top of my most anticipated games. Even if the 1st Class Edition is $329.99, I am so in!

What do you think? Excited for the new Final Fantasy remake? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Josh Knowles

Longtime games journalist and Florida resident. I'm a Guinness World Record holder, wordsmith extraordinaire, MOBA fan, devoted dad and husband. I'm here to spread the gospel of video games.