The past several years have been an excellent time to be aFinal Fantasy 7fan, and a great time for anyone new to jump on. Square Enix is midway through an entireFinal Fantasy 7 Remaketrilogy, and more games using its setting are coming out as well.Final Fantasy 7’s prequelCrisis Coregot a partial remake of its own, and althoughThe First Soldierwas an unsuccessful effort to mergeFinal Fantasywith a battle royale,Ever Crisispicked up its narrative slack and is slowly working through a mobileFF7remake of its own with new lore.
Complete with a remaster of the original PlayStationFinal Fantasy 7having made its way to all modern platforms, players can engage with one of themost impactfulFinal Fantasyentrieshowever they please. Waiting for theFF7 Remaketrilogy to be completed is also an option, as even with the many eccentricities and deviations that those games have made, they are still some of the highest-quality games Square Enix has ever put out. All of that being said, the originalFinal Fantasy 7has been made available for a reason, and it is still worth experiencing in addition to its remakes.
Final Fantasy 7’s Remakes Haven’t Replaced The Original
In Fact, The Remakes Emphasize How Unique FF7 Still Is
That central reason is thatFinal Fantasy 7and theFF7 Remaketrilogy are fundamentally different. Without going into details, several major story beats inFF7 RemakeandFF7 Rebirthassume that players are familiar with the original, sometimes to more than a surface degree. Although the remakes have been committed to staying close toFinal Fantasy 7’s source material, there are too many changes building up for theRemakeproject to even be under consideration as a direct replacement forFinal Fantasy 7. Instead, it’s best to view these games as the series they are.
While that sounds like it simplifies matters, for newcomers looking to get intoFinal Fantasy 7, it’s not an easy pill to swallow. Despite its availability,Final Fantasy 7looks old, sounds old, and is old, while theRemaketrilogy is the hot new thing.Final Fantasy 7is considered an all-time classicfor good reasons, however, and there’s more than enough of them to motivate playingFF7on its own merits instead of just as homework for the remakes. If the dated music and visuals are problems, then PC mods may be a solution, but otherwise, there’s a lot inFF7to love.
Final Fantasy 7 Can Be Fully Experienced In The Current Year
For one,Final Fantasy 7is already a complete package. Its self-contained story needs no other entry in theCompilation of Final Fantasy 7to make sense of it, and it can be finished wellbefore the thirdFF7 Remakeentry is out. Many of the beloved minigames, Materia, and music tracks from the remakes are still inFinal Fantasy 7, and they’re arguably more impactful thanks to the PS1 game being so compact. If nothing else, seeingFinal Fantasy 7’s story in the way it was originally told is worth the price of entry.
The Original Final Fantasy 7’s Combat Still Has Its Own Strengths
But for those looking for a unique experience, believe it or not,Final Fantasy 7still delivers. Not only did theFF7 Remakesadd voice acting, expanded areas, and new plot twists, but they also completely changed the original gameplay.FF7’s customization-heavy Materia systemtranslates well to an action format, but the classic game’s Active-Time Battle turn-based combat is just as flashy and dynamic as it’s always been.FF7 RemakeandRebirthhave improvements in many areas, but sometimes there’s no beating the old-school complete package that isFinal Fantasy 7.
