Choosing a favourite video game of all-time is an extremely difficult task, but if push came to shove, a huge percentage of gamers out there would select Final Fantasy VII as their all-time favourite. Japanese role playing games were already successful to a point, but it was the seventh instalment of the series that popularized the genre worldwide and changed the landscape of gaming forever.
Few games have evoked such a loyal and devoted (kind words for obsessive and borderline psychotic) following. So, naturally, talk of a potential FFVII remake has consumed RPG message boards constantly since the game’s release in 1997. Despite the steady stream of spinoff movies and games that the original title generated, many had still given up hope that a remake would ever become a reality. The release of a HD update for the PS4 seemed to be the closest we’d ever get, short of slashing a goats throat and selling our souls to the Sony gods.
[zerggaming]Turns out there’s a few less goats in the world now, as E3 2015 made the dreams of millions come true, finally confirming that a FFVII remake is indeed on the way. With most of the original core team back at the helm, expectations are of course ridiculously high, fuelled even further by brief footage shown at the event. As teasers go, this one was even more cryptic than most, but that didn’t stop a million gamers from simultaneously exploding all at once.
There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Final Fantasy VII remake, but it’s worth proceeding with caution here. The hype could raise expectations way too high, inevitably causing the same crushing disappointment that some felt while watching Avengers: Age of Ultron or anything Pixar has made since Toy Story 3 (Inside Out aside), so it’s worth bearing in mind the potential pitfalls alongside the reasons it could be awesome.
Join us as we break apart this announcement in more detail and try to suppress our over-excited child-like giggles. Let’s start with the positives…