Final Fantasy VII Remake first announced back in 2015 at E3. Since then, it has been quiet with the development with Square Enix making additional modifications and bringing the development back in-house. With Kingdom Hearts III out the door, Final Fantasy VII Remake is Square Enix’s next big game to be released. No new details were showcased until recently, days before E3. A new trailer was revealed and more details during Square Enix’s E3 presentation last week. Final Fantasy VII Remake E3 this year was going to be the highlight for Square Enix, aside from their Avengers game.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Booth at E3

The game would be available to demo at E3 but was limited. Square Enix staff handed out tickets at their booth when doors were open. Those who came in as media and industry attendees were able to grab their ticket early. Gamers, the general public, were able to grab tickets when E3 opened up hours later. Tickets were stamped with a time for you to be in-line for. This would prevent long lines and safety hazards. The wait you could say around one hour, which is much better than other areas such as Nintendo’s three hour waits for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

The booth was based on Midgar, the main city in the Final Fantasy VII. The outside resembled the train station, hence tickets being handed out from a ticket booth. In the center, a reactor peaked over the wall from the outside, blowing out smoke. While in-line, few members were dressed in suits and played their role as Turks, assassins in the game. Watching attendees interact with these “Turks” were amusing as they never smiled and carried a stern look, playing their role quite well. Inside there wasn’t too much as it was an open area, filled with demo areas to fit at least a dozen or so players.

Battle Mechanics Remake

Once you were inside and before playing, attendees took a sit to watch a 10-15 minute video about the game. Unfortunately photo and video equipment were not allowed to be used. We’re pretty sure the Turks would have taken them away. The video started and started off as a warm message about Shinra, the corrupted corporation, about their clean energy. Jessie, one of the characters in the game, hacks through the video and warns you about Shinra. Then goes on about how to play as Cloud and Barret, two main characters in the game that you’ll play as. While Tifa and Aerith were shown off in the newest trailer, they were not available to play.

The video explains more about the game’s mechanics. While limit breaks make a return, you’ll mostly be focused on using the ATB (active time battle). This gauge gives your fighters to use special attacks and spells. For example, magic and more powerful attacks, though not as strong as limit breaks. The video explains that it’s not just an offensive battle but defense plays a role. The game requires you to play your moves accordingly, making it more of an action role-playing game than turn-based. It’s not to be meant as a hack and slash styled game. Great news is that you can swap between characters easily. During the demo you’ll be doing that constantly, especially at the boss fight.

A Familiar, Yet Different World

Starting up the demo, you are dropped into the factory to place the first bomb in the reactor. Those who played the demo from the original Final Fantasy VII, it’s not as long nor fully equipped with spells at your disposal. Instead, the demo has you battle less than 10 fights, climb down a few ladders, and enter a boss fight. While it may not sound much, it was entertaining. The environment and enemies looked and felt familiar from the original 1997 game but played like a new adventure. There weren’t any pauses or frame rate issue when engaging battles. Enemies were seen from a distance.

The neat part about the game is Square Enix made it feel like playing a movie. Stunning visuals, effects, though some textures seemed a bit off but for an early demo it looks delicious. As you fight and then bring up your special attack menu, time almost freezes to a still. You can take the camera for a better view of the visuals. Seeing sparks fly in the air with your target falling to the ground, while choosing what heavy attack you want to inflict next. The styled gameplay and mechanics reminded me what I thought Final Fantasy XIII was going to be. More so, the game’s battle system is similar to Final Fantasy XV but more improved based on what the demo provided. The music in the game was re-created to be orchestrated, which does not come to a surprise but is welcomed with open arms in this remake.

Theater Battle

Cut scenes showed no delay and with Square’s reputation on computer graphic (CG) scenes, this is one of their best works. Cutting right into the boss battle in the demo, Final Fantasy VII fans will remember the Guard Scorpion. A robotic scorpion that creates massive damage with its tail when powered up. With this not being a turned-based game, Cloud gives instructions that it’s about to attack and you’ll need to hide behind a nearby debris to avoid critical damage. The battle took quite some time, almost half the time playing is the boss fight itself. Being a demo, it’s hard to say if every boss battle will be this long and tedious. It hurts my brain to think the time length of fights would be against the ruby and diamond weapons.

Square Enix so far has been very careful with this game, being one of the most well-known games. While it may not come out to be the complete adventure of Final Fantasy VII, fans should look forward playing in Midgar and the extra content that the original game doesn’t have come March 2020. Not sure what to expect with summoning massive monsters on the field. Let alone the Chocobo summon but if this section of the game truly ends at Midgar, then we may not see summon spells in action for awhile. We just wish we could have one of those Shinra staff shirts the Square Enix employees had.

Outside the Booth

Final Fantasy VII Remake was one of the biggest game displayed at this year’s E3. Entering the main entrance, Square Enix laid out a mini booth filled with new designed art, printed on its wall, couple figures, character promo prints, and a replica of the popular motorcycle Cloud rode on. Attendees were able to take a photo riding on it. It’s hard to tell if Square Enix will do another large-scaled booth in the future for the game. You can take a look at our photos below to see the booths at E3. Final Fantasy VII Remake releases March 3, 202o for the PlayStation 4.

Pre-Order Your Final Fantasy VII Remake

You can pre-order the game in a few different ways: 1st Class Soldier Edition, Deluxe Edition, Digital Deluxe Edition, Digital Edition, and original physical game.

Final Fantasy VII Remake E3 Trailer