This game's a lot of things all at once and I think it's fairest to take a look at each facet separately.
As an adaptation, it's poor. It has lost track of the meaning and intent of FF7, which is the most important thing for an adaptation to capture. You cannot play this game alone and have a different but equivalent experience. In fact, you probably shouldn't play this game at all if you haven't played OG.
As a narrative-driven game, it's mediocre, poor by my standards. Most individual scenes are competent, but the whole does not hang together. New plotlines don't connect, and old plotlines are adapted in such a way that they don't really work anymore*. The tone is all over the place, and the best moments feel rushed. The pacing is abysmal, even if you rush the story and ignore the side content. Some folks have said they like this game for the camaraderie among the cast, but even that's pretty thin for me, especially in comparison to other character-driven JRPGs like Tales or Persona. Excepting perhaps Red, the characters don't really develop past where they began at the start of the story, and a lot of the writing is fluff. Remake did better on just about every front here - despite my dim view of it, it's a lot more coherent and careful.
As its own piece of art, it's empty. It's flashy, maximalist, and obviously afraid of getting too real. It refuses to let its most meaningful moments breathe lest they become bummers and it doesn't really have anything in particular to say - again, even less than Remake. It's entirely a piece of FF7 fanfiction/metafiction. The implications of the ideas that it does bring to the table are extremely tone-deaf, particularly the Shinra apologism.
As a sequel it's a worse story, but a better game. The battle system is much improved. Bosses and trash are a lot less spongy. The environment design is way more impressive (not to mention exhaustive) and there is a lot more of it to explore. It's clearly a lot more ambitious and it tried out many different things and stretched quite a lot. It is just more fun to play... as long as no one is talking.
As an open world game, it's so-so. On the positive side, I found the objectives well spaced out, so that if I was just running around the area I moved pretty freely from one to the next to the next. The rewards for your exploration points are always good and substantial, so it does feel rewarding. On the other hand, it's extremely repetitive and bloated. The maps are not very fulfilling to explore in terms of landmarks and interesting things of note outside of your map markers. Many of the areas are extremely difficult and frustrating to navigate. I was constantly in and out of my map trying to figure out where I had to go.
As a collection of minigames it's exceptional. There are so many minigames. I lost track. I think you'd need to play an MMO to find more variety in minigames really. There is so much Content here, I have never seen a game more ambitious about minigames. There is a part of me that feels bad for leaving it on the table when so much has gone into it.
As a piece of fanservice for compilation fans it's probably pretty good! All the locations are there and rendered in stunning detail for at least one good shot, the music is there and very hummable, unexpected fan favourites return, references are many. If all you really care about is seeing your blorbos you probably like this game.
As a compilation of FF7 entry it's about where Remake was, a little lesser. Better than most of the slop, nowhere near the original, different in very meaningful ways, and marching bravely forward towards a world state where the only person who has ever done anything wrong is Hojo.
And overall, this game felt like it was Cocomeloning me. It was long and bloated and over the top and afraid to give me any space to think about any of what was happening. It is also so long, and so bloated. I would say it is functionally a marvel movie. Good if you're in the mood for that, bad if you happen to really care about story or games or the source material.
I gave each segment grade ranks as I played through, they're under the cut if you're curious.
Rebirth Report Card
Plot/Location
Nibelheim Flashback: D
Kalm: B
Chocobo Ranch: B
Marshes: F
Mythril Mine: B
Under Junon: C
Upper Junon: F
Ship: D
Costa: B
Corel: C
Gold Saucer: F
Prison: F
Gongaga: D
Lifestream: F
Cosmo Canyon: C
Cave of the Gi: B
Nibelheim 2: C
Shinra Mansion: F. G, if I could put a G.
Gold Saucer 2: C
Temple of the Ancients: A. It's a generous A, but I felt they really stretched here.
City of the Ancients/Ending: F
Characters
Cloud: F
Barret: A
Aeris: B, and I'm probably playing favourites
Tifa: D
Red: God I hate that voice switch. But objectively there's nothing wrong here. C
Yuffie: B, but she has great potential.
Cait Sith: Too soon to call it, so C.
Cid: Who is this? This isn't Cid. He's fine but he isn't Cid.
Vincent: D. Does he take his iPad into the coffin with him?
Sephiroth: F. I've had enough of this guy.
FINAL GRADE: This apparently averages to a C but I'd put my final impression closer to a D. After a certain point, I just gave up on dinging it for the same bullshit repeatedly
don't you think cloud's words after aeris' death was him expressing for the first time his feelings on his mothers murder, at the hands of the same man? feelings until now due to everything that happened and all the ways cloud has suppressed his true self, he never had the opportunity? shall we say, to express? that with the shock of aeris' death came undone?
yes he felt extremely guilty about all the ways he felt he caused this death but also you know how aeris and elmyra at times made cloud think of his own mom? he thought he was hearing claudia when aeris was trying to wake him up in the church.
and you're right about claudia feeling like a throw away character when compared to all the ways the other mothers affect the story and the party members. I think it makes sense to think about it this way especially considering claudia dies the exact same way hironobu sakaguchi's mother was killed, in a fire when she was the only one at home and this loss affected so much of the plot.
in nibelheim he's only able to express rage at sephiroth for his actions, I suppose because he had no time to process any other emotion at the time among all that chaos. I would think his words in the forgotten city mirror the grief he's been feeling over his mothers death.
I can't say I particularly agree with this, but it did teach me that Sakaguchi's mother died in a fire. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20150426013925/https://ch.nicovideo.jp/indies-game/blomaga/ar772866
Thank you for arguably the best and most insightful close read of FFVII on the internet so far. I wanted to ask: what other video games do you think reach (or approximate) FFVII’s life-changing status or literary and philosophical depth for you? I can think of a few others for me (Xenogears, NieR: Automata etc.,) but I’m curious to hear your thoughts!
Hey, thank you! That means a lot, especially after this blog has lay dormant so long.
I think it's always a little subjective what kind of art speaks to you, and that many games are art, but Nier Automata absolutely came to mind as the one to recommend. I'm not sure I'll ever have another experience quite like the ending of that game. It's beautiful. I think it's most like VII in how comfortable it is exploring questions and feelings it has no concrete answers for.
Disco Elysium would be next on my list. Like FFVII, DE feels like fresh perspective on personal and political struggles from the real world that are current and pressing. It's also best enjoyed when you let it challenge you and your preconceptions of people and what makes them good and bad. At one point in time I might have said Planescape: Torment but I think DE is such an effective spiritual successor that you could jump right to it (though PS:T is still very much worth a play).
I'll have to think on some others - and finish Xenogears at some point - but thanks for the question anon, and I'd love to hear your own recommendations if you want to send me a tumblr message.
With the leftover sale completed and all zines delivered, the Return to the Planet print run has come to a close. Thank you to everyone who bought a copy, we hope you enjoy it!
Proceeds from the print run came to $562.02, which works out to an 11% margin. Combined with our total for donations/at-will digital merch sales ($1368.01), we’ve raised $1930.01 for Rainforest Foundation US, putting us $67 shy of our $1997 goal.
Before the 26th anniversary of FFVII on January 31st, can you help us reach our target?
We'll be placing the order for the physical print later tonight! In the meantime, enjoy this little preview of what will soon be arriving in your mailbox. Music provided by @tofuthebold, our art mod!
Preorders for Return To The Planet's print run are now open! Open from May 1st to June 15th. To help our Planet, all additional proceeds will be donated to Rainforest Foundation US! ✨
Start your timers! The preorders for the physical print of Return to the Planet open in ONE WEEK (on May 1st, 11 AM EDT)! ✨ We may also have a merch stretch goal in store for you... 👀
Do you like moogles? Postcards? Both? You're in luck! This amazing augmented reality postcard by @kleptoyade has the cutest animations--you can even feed the moogle kupo nuts! Donate here to access, kupo (^=˃ᆺ˂) https://tiltify.com/@ff7ogzine/ff7ogzine/
Curious to see what's inside our digital merch package? We have phone backgrounds, custom-made fonts, AR postcards and more—all available with a minimum $1 donation to Rainforest Foundation US! Stay tuned in the coming days for some special sneak-peeks ☆彡
Our first merch spotlight is @birdblacksocialclub's phone background! A stunning homage to FFVII 90s posters, this background might inspire you to dig your PS1 out of storage. Donate here to access: https://tiltify.com/@ff7ogzine/ff7ogzine/
Speaking of politics though… man, I thought FFVII was already **really** blatant with their anti-corporation, anti-military, anti-capitalist, anti-exploitation of the environment messaging.
In Junon, where the fishing village at the bottom of the cliff is poisoned and impoverished because of the Mako reactor, but the military base at the top is doing booming business and has tons of open shops and bars, the contrast between the mass who are exploited and the small group who benefit was already very blatant, but comparing Barrett’s hometown with the resort town for Shinra personnel the contrast is even MORE blatant.
I mean, obviously the point is to contrast them, since they come one right after the other. Both towns even have a group of kids playing soccer in the main square.
Then just to rub in the point even MORE, there’s an optional side-trip you can take to a town that’s in ruins because the Mako reactor blew up, killing half the population. So far not a single town or village with a Mako reactor in it has been anything but an environmental disaster zone, and Shinra in this world is just a company, not a government so they don’t even pretend to do SUPERFUND cleanup.
I also think it’s probably not a coincidence that both the playgrounds for the rich and famous, Costa Del Sol, and the casino town, Golden Saucer, have all the signs in English. It’s the language of the hegemons.
(Something something Marx’s analysis of Capital originating from “the free gifts of nature” something something.)
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