Final Fantasy Vii Remake Demo

[DaHeckIzDat]

Sony released a short demo for their upcoming Final Fantasy Vii remake this morning, and after playing through it I can confidently say that I am...meh about it. The graphics are amazing, but I think that was a given since Final Fantasy games are ALWAYS some of the best looking games. No, the combat is what most people want to know about, and I have mixed feelings about it. Playing as Cloud is okay. A little stiff, easy to lose track of enemies that you aren't locked onto, but it works. Playing as Barret on the other hand, kinda sucks. His gun arm means he has no melee attacks. It's supposed to balance out with Cloud having no ranged attacks, but it just feels wonky. If you had normal shooter controls when playing as him it'd be fine, but as it is he's only useful for taking down enemies Cloid can't reach--and even that's hard because aiming his gun feels next to impossible. He can lock on, but the lock on doesn't take into account when theres something between you and the enemy, a lot of the time something you're not able to see.

Bottom line: not terrible, but I'm still skeptical.

[Retro STrife]

Interesting. I've been looking forward to this remake for a long time, and it's right around the corner -- with an April 10th release date (for the first episode anyway). I already pre-ordered the game -- very rare for me to do that, since I almost always wait for a new game to drop in price and buy it months or years after release. But I'm making an exception and hoping to play it right off the bat. I saw ads about the demo yesterday, and I was tempted to try it, but I think I'll just wait until I have the full game. I figure it's a waste of time to play a demo if I'm just going to have to play the same sections again next month. Then again, when the weekend rolls around, who knows if I'll hold out.

I'm interested in the new combat system, but also interested in how they convey the characters and the world, including all the new story being added. To me, that was always the real strength of FF7 and what has kept it enduring for so long.