Final Fantasy VII Remake: our preview at Paris Games Week

Square Enix will have taken its time with Final Fantasy VII Remake. Fortunately, the wait will soon end because this reinterpretation of the title of 1997 will arrive in March on PS4. At the Paris Games Week 2019, we could try a demo already seen at E3 as at Gamescom.

Cloud takes up arms again

We spent about fifteen minutes with Cloud and Barret. The events depicted in this sequence unfold at the very beginning of the adventure when the two characters infiltrate the Shinra complex. Recall that Final Fantasy VII Remake will focus exclusively on the portion of the scenario taking place in Midgar. This first part will need two Blu-ray to fully flourish. It must be said that Square Enix has put the dishes in the big with completely reworked graphics and gameplay drastically modified. Indeed, the developers have definitely abandoned the fights turn by turn opting for dynamic and more accessible clashes.

If the weaker opponents easily fall under the most basic blows, others, like the Sentinel Scorpion that came to close this demo, will require more strategy and thought. By pressing the cross, the player triggers a kind of active pause that gives him time to select the action he wants to perform. For that, it will be necessary beforehand to have filled at least a gauge of ATB by attacking or parrying blows. After opening the menu, Cloud can choose to use a spell, special skill, or object. Each performed operation consumes an ATB gauge. We must think to exploit the weaknesses of the opponents while preserving the physical integrity of Cloud as the rest of his squad. The formula works pretty well,

A deep remake

Of course, Cloud is not the only playable character in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Indeed, with the help of the directional keys, we could take control of Barret. The latter can conduct ranged attacks where Cloud focuses on hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, we did not have access to other protagonists on this demo but we know that Tifa or Aeris will be there. If the exploration phases remain very traditional (especially in the closed environment that was presented to us), the redesign of the gameplay remains successful.

Since this is a remake, the graphics are necessarily scrutinized. If the modeling is logically much higher than that of the PS One opus, the rendering is not free of defects so far. Aliasing was particularly present on this PS4 Pro frame and the textures did not always look clean. Alas, since the demo took place in the very dark interiors of the Shinra complex, it is impossible to give a definitive opinion on the real quality of the graphics. It will rather wait for a less closed and more enlightened place. Finally, let's highlight the French voices heard for the first time in this demo. If the acting is rather correct, this trial version was unfortunately tainted with noise level bugs. audio that cut off from time to time. Nothing really bad ...

Conclusion

Difficult to judge the qualities as defects of Final Fantasy VII Remake on a demo also partitioned. However, the hit Square Enix is ​​clearly a facelift with its explosive clashes and well-thought combat system. What is certain is that the game will be talked about on its release on March 3, 2020 temporary exclusive on PS4.