Thursday 17 February 2022

Review: Final Fantasy VII (PS5)

NB this is a review of the base game only, I haven’t played the Intergrade additional content yet. There will be some minor spoilers in the story section, but only vague and items relating to the premise.

 


Story

So, a quarter of a century of so after the original game came out for the original Playstation we have the PS4/5 version. The story is not identical. For a start, it only covers the first portion of the original multi-disc game. In addition, some areas are more fleshed out, or slightly altered. The additions are fairly significant, in terms of both main story midway through, and optional side-quests.

For the most part, these work well. An especially good aspect is that there’s a not-at-all-subtle explanation for why things work out the way they do, and the ending of the story does give overt notice that things might be substantially different going forward.

Pacing is mostly good but there are times when it can be jarring. When one character is rushing to save a child, the game decides to throw a needless very mini-quest (30 seconds work) that is done at walking pace and pointlessly steals away the sense of urgency. However, for the most part the story is handled well.

 

Gameplay

This is the area where I changed my mind most from the demo on the PS4 to finishing the game. I really liked the materia system, and have no problem with either standard turn-based battles or the ATB approach of the original. Materia is kept in this game, and works well (as might be expected), but the ATB system has been substantially reworked. You now have two ATB slots which are slowly filled over time, and more rapidly when you attack. Most things (spells, abilities, and items) require a single slot although some abilities require both.

This actually worked very well and prevents the real time nature of basic attacks getting swallowed by spamming spells. In addition, the varying nature of the four playable characters does make a big difference, with Tifa super-fast and Barret able to deal plenty of damage (especially at range) but rather slower. Initially, I thought it was just button mashing, and while that can work with more basic fights, smart use of materia and understanding how the system works makes a big difference for tougher foes.

Beyond your usual fights there are also optional arena style locations/events (Shinra’s combat simulator, or Corneo’s colosseum, for example). The latter is especially worth visiting as some of the optional fights here can yield more powerful limit breaks.

And there’s a darts mini-game in Seventh Heaven, which I quite liked. Looking forward to when we visit the Golden Saucer.

 


 

Sound

I’ll be honest, I own several varieties of One Winged Angel so I was wondering how the score would stack up. It’s fantastic, building on the excellence of the original and generally adding more, including the boss theme (particularly when fighting the Airbuster) and One Winged Angel. The only thing I felt could have been better musically was the reactor theme.

There’s also voice-acting. Some of this is very good, particularly Barret (John Eric Bentley) who gets some great lines and delivers them very well, covering the range from heartfelt emotion to overblown comedy and the occasional dry remark. Cloud, being somewhat of a dick, was a difficult character to pull off, but he’s likeable enough to work as the protagonist without losing his capacity to be pretty laconic. The friendship between Cloud and Barret developing is handled very well, and that’s a combination of good writing and a strong voice performance.

 

Graphics

Comparing the game from the late 20th century (which, even at the time, had poor character models) to today’s effort is a bit like comparing the drawing you did as a five year old to the one you did in your thirties. Overall, the graphics are very impressive, particularly the grand set pieces and character models for the main characters. They tread the line between realism and larger-than-life very well.

There are a few weak spots. Minor characters can have, er, interesting faces, and here and there textures are distinctly muddy. On the whole, however, it’s good stuff.

One minor weak point is that there’s a photo mode (which can also be used in almost every cutscene, exempting only FMVs) but because the player only ever controls Cloud (excepting rare times when he’s absent) you can’t really focus on other characters. Also, there’s no posing, as per Dragon Quest XI S’ mode, or facial expressions, as per Ghost of Tsushima. However, there is an array of filters and some other settings to fiddle with.

 


 

Bugs and Other Issues

During my playthrough (about 35-36 hours) I encountered no crashes, hangs, freezes, or other problems. I’m sure there is a flaw somewhere, but I didn’t find it. Overall, very impressed with how smooth the sailing was.

 

Replayability

Haven’t started this yet, but completing the game unlocks the hard difficulty (which can be played on a chapter-by-chapter basis). In addition, at least one chapter (there are 18) has differing endings, it seems. Overall, choices are not that common and you’re mostly on rails. However, the hard mode will suit those who like a challenge. There are also multiple languages, and I might try a German playthrough at some point.

 


 

Conclusion

It’s a bit weird playing such an up to date take (with some amendments) of an old favourite, but I think the Final Fantasy VII Remake is a very enjoyable game. If you’re on the fence then check out the demo (if it’s still available), but I’ve got to say that during the course of my playthrough I liked it more and more, and am looking forward to the next part.

 

Thaddeus

 

PS Having some technical woe so apologies for the lack of proofreading and any ensuing errors.

Sunday 6 February 2022

Review: The White Song (Chronicles of the Black Gate Book 5), by Phil Tucker

This is sort-of the last book in the series (there’s a sixth but it’s a prequel), which I’ve enjoyed reading over a couple of years.

Reviewing a fifth and final (in chronological terms) story is a little odd because if you’ve made it this far and liked the four preceding books then it’s nigh on certain you’ll like this. Naturally, major spoilers for preceding entries abound, so read on at your own risk.

 

***

The pinnacle of the empire is about to be under attack from a seemingly unstoppable horde of demons and while the medusa and Tharok (and the kragh generally) are now allies rather than foes, it seems the world is about to be doomed. Obviously, that doesn’t happen in the first few chapters or it’d be a short book, but the odds are very much against the good guys.

One thing I’ve always liked about this series has been the varying character of protagonists in terms of both capability and attitude. Audsley has been one of the most entertaining, and his fall from grace last time is redeemed (at least to an extent) by his intelligence and bravery in this one. Asho is as defiant as ever, and there are strongly differing opinions from major figures regarding how to try and save the world.

The various discordant allies must try to come together, for if they fail then all will be doomed. And when an ancient and immensely intelligent former enemy offers to assist it remains to be seen if he, or the medusa, can be trusted. For that matter, can they even win?

It’s difficult to elaborate much more without ruining the plot, but I will say I found it enjoyable, once again, and a fitting conclusion.

Overall, I enjoyed this fifth and (sort-of) final part of the Chronicles of the Black Gate. It’s been a fairly old school sort of read, managing to keep the black-and-white distinction of good and evil in some areas (demons) while having more complicated hues with the likes of Tharok and, especially, Audsley. The world-building has been great, with a good combination of intrigue and action.

As already mentioned, characters have been nicely varied, making them both interesting in their own right and also bringing different strengths (and weaknesses) to the table, including legitimately varying perspectives.

Looking forward to reading the prequel, but for those in any doubt I would definitely recommend giving this series a look. The first five parts can be bought as a box set e-book, which is the most cost effective way of doing it and also means you’ll have (probably, I only got it later on) a larger sample size to find out for free if it’s your cup of tea.

 

Thaddeus