Final Fantasy VII Remake

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Template:Infobox game
***Final Fantasy VII Remake*** is a remake of *Final Fantasy VII*, originally released for the PlayStation in 1997. The game is entirely remade, using the story and characters from the original, and will be released in parts. Each game in the project will have a volume of content comparable to a standalone *Final Fantasy* game. The disc version of the first game is a two-Blu-ray Disc set. The official title is *Final Fantasy VII Remake* to convey its status as a remake rather than a spin-off or sequel. The *Remake* is a reimagining of the original game that goes deeper into the world and characters. The game is being developed by Square Enix's Business Division 1, helmed by Yoshinori Kitase as producer (the original director of *Final Fantasy VII*) and Tetsuya Nomura as director (original character designer known as the director for *Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children* and the *Kingdom Hearts* series).

The remake was a surprise announcement made on June 15 during E3 2015, after years of rumors and fan demand. The debut gameplay trailer was shown on December 5, 2015 during PlayStation Experience 2015.. The first part of the project was set to be released worldwide on March 3, 2020, but the release date was pushed back to April 10. The first part covers the events of Midgar from the original game. The game Is 100GB in size. A playable demo of the game was released for PlayStation 4 on March 2, 2020, one day before the title's originally scheduled release date. On March 30, 2020, it was revealed that the game had been shipped early to some consumers in Europe and Australia to counter any potential disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic of the time. Producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Tetsuya Nomura implored those who received the game early to not spoil the game for fans.

## Gameplay

### Battle system

Main article: Final Fantasy VII Remake battle system
Combat in *Final Fantasy VII Remake* is in real-time, with the player being able to switch between party members on-the-fly and use a wide range of abilities and spells. The player can issue orders to the other characters, or leave them to AI. Switching to a different party member is encouraged, however, in order to make best use of their unique abilities, as the AI will mostly play defensively and will not use abilities and magic on their own. In addition, enemies will often favor attacking the player-controlled character, which makes switching between characters optimal to avoid being overwhelmed by opponents. The materia system can be used to tailor one's playstyle and abilities.

During battle, the player can press the File:Playstation-Button-X.png button to bring up the in-battle menu, called "Tactical Mode", where time slows down drastically, allowing the player to assess their current situation plan their next move, such as using magic or items. Players can also use the File:Playstation-Button-L2.png and File:Playstation-Button-R2.png buttons to issue specific commands to the non-active characters (the ones that are not being controlled).

Players can block incoming enemy attacks by pressing and holding the File:Playstation-Button-R1.png button, which reduces the damage taken by 40%; players can move while blocking, but at greatly decreased speed. Not all enemy attacks can be blocked, however. It is also possible perform dodge rolls as evasive maneuvers using the File:Playstation-Button-C.png and the analog stick to roll into the desired direction; this action does not grant any form of invincibility frames.

To aim for a new take on the classic concepts that the original *Final Fantasy VII* is known for, the development team revamped the ATB system with an evolution of that which yields a fast action paced experience, yet retains tactical control. Characters can now be moved freely during battles and can use basic attacks (File:Playstation Button S.png) and unique skills (File:Playstation-Button-T.png) to deal damage to their opponents. Each character have their own ATB bar, that once filled allows them to use abilities, spells and items.

In standard modes (Easy, Normal, Hard), the ATB Gauge fills up slowly by itself and by repeatedly attacking, but in Classic Mode this aspect is handled automatically, where characters will automatically basic attack enemies, allowing the player to focus solely on selecting commands, similar to the original release. Classic Mode is activated from the difficulty menu. It is possible to revert to direct control at any time during Classic Mode.

Characters can unleash powerful moves that deal a lot of damage to their opponents, called limit breaks. Each character has their own limit gauge, which fills as they take damage (and when they stagger opponents), and once filled, the characters can use their special attacks, which can be used at any given time during battle and consume no ATB. However, unlike in the original game, players cannot "store" their limits after battle to use on the next; the gauge will reset at the end of every battle.

A new system introduced in *Final Fantasy VII Remake* compared to the original is the stagger mechanic, where attacking an opponent will fill up a gauge that once filled will leave them in a vulnerable state where they take increased damage. Staggering enemies is a core part of the gameplay in the remake, encouraging players to exploit it through abilities and elemental vulnerabilities.

### Abilities and weapon upgrades

Main articles: Final Fantasy VII Remake abilities, Final Fantasy VII Remake weapons, or Final Fantasy VII Remake weapon passives
 File:Buster Sword upgrade screen from FFVII Remake.jpg
Each character has their own set of abilities, divided in two: signature abilities (which they start with) and weapon abilities (which are attached to specific weapons the characters can equip). Using abilities requires to use ATB, and unlike magic, they do not consume MP.

Each weapon ability has a proficiency value that improves as the ability is used. When this proficiency is maxed out, the wielder learns it permanently and it can be used with any weapon. Additionally, upon leveling up, the character earns Skill Points (SP), which can be spent in the Weapon Upgrade Menu to enhance the weapon, ranging from granting stat bonuses to adding more Materia slots. Players can also obtain manuscripts by performing specific tasks during the game. These manuscripts grant 10 SP and are character specific.

### Materia system

Much like in the original game, players use materia to customize their characters and tailor their playstyle. Materia are obtained in various ways, some being found while exploring while others can only be purchased at shops. The player can partake in a specific sidequest chain with Chadley to obtain unique materia that cannot be found elsewhere.

There are five types of materia:

* File:Magic Materia from FFVII Remake.png Magic Materia**:** used to grant magic spells, which require ATB and MP to be cast, such as File:Spell from FFVII Remake icon.png Cure, File:Spell from FFVII Remake icon.png Fire and File:Spell from FFVII Remake icon.png Thunder. It also includes materia that grant status effects.
* File:Command Materia from FFVII Remake.png Command Materia**:** used to grant abilities that require ATB to be used, such as Assess, Steal and Enemy Skill.
* File:Support Materia from FFVII Remake.png Support Materia**:** link with other materia to enhance the materia they are linked to, provided that the player has a weapon or armor with linked slots. Examples include File:Support Materia from FFVII Remake.png Magnify Materia (which when linked with magic materia causes the spells to affect all allies or enemies) and File:Support Materia from FFVII Remake.png Elemental Materia (which imbues the weapon or armor with the elemental properties of the magic materia attached to it).
* File:Complete Materia from FFVII Remake.png Complete Materia: grant passive effects to the wielder, such as HP Up, MP Up and Luck Up.
* File:Summoning Materia from FFVII Remake.png Summoning Materia**:** special materia that have a dedicated slot in the character's weapon, and only one can be equipped at said character at any given time. Summoning materia require specific conditions to be used. Once the conditions have been met, and the character has enough ATB, the summon can be activated, where a creature will appear and fight alongside the player until the timer expires, and the summon exits by performing its signature attack. The vast majority of summoning materia are obtained by completing VR missions with Chadley.

## Synopsis

### Setting

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Gaia is a technologically advanced planet dominated by humans, who are the only major sentient race other than a few nearly extinct species. The world is economically, militarily, and politically dominated by the powerful conglomerate of Shinra Electric Power Company, which profits from the use of mako reactors.

The reactors siphon a special type of energy—called mako—out of the planet and convert it into electricity, giving consumers access to technological comforts and innovations that ease and improve the quality of everyday life. One of the byproducts of the extraction and refinement of Mako energy is materia, a concentrated form of mako which allows the wielder to harness its magical properties.

President Shinra leads his eponymous organization, and is the world's *de facto* ruler. Unbeknown to most of the world, Shinra's existence hides many atrocities and acts of despotism committed since its rise to power, including public manipulation and internal scandal, in addition to abuses of its authority, from morally questionable scientific experimentation, human rights abuses, unaddressed civil inequalities and unrest, military and police-scale oppression, as well as repeated denial of any detrimental effects resulting from the use of mako as a source of energy.

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Mako energy is drawn from the lifestream, a flow of life-force beneath the planet's surface. All life originates from the lifestream, and returns to it upon death, and the lifestream is the sum of all the life that has ever and will ever live upon the planet. The process of extracting Mako energy drains the life of the planet to generate electricity. This can be seen in the Shinra's capital city of Midgar surrounded by a wasteland where plants barely grow.

### Characters

See also: Final Fantasy VII Remake characters
The cast featured in the original *Final Fantasy VII* is said to return with all the same playable characters.

#### Playable characters

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* **Cloud Strife**: The main protagonist, introduced as a former member of SOLDIER now operating as a mercenary caught up in the actions of eco-terrorist group Avalanche.
* **Barret Wallace**: The leader of the Midgar cell of Avalanche, who wields a machine gun on his right arm in place of his injured hand. Despite his brash and loud-mouthed personality, he is a caring person.
* **Aerith Gainsborough**: A kind-hearted flower girl from the Midgar Slums, who has a mysterious past involving the Legend of the Cetra.
* **Tifa Lockhart**: A member of Avalanche and Cloud's childhood friend. She runs a pub in the in Sector 7 Slums called Seventh Heaven, which doubles as the rebel group's hideout, but has doubts regarding the methods being employed by the group.

#### Other characters

* **Sephiroth**: The main antagonist, and legendary supersoldier of Shinra Company, believed to have died five years ago and is on antagonistic terms with Cloud but needs him alive for unknown malicious purposes.
* **President Shinra**: The president of Shinra Company, who cares more about money than the fate of the Planet's Mako energy draining.
* **Heidegger**: Head of Shinra's Public Security division. A cruel and scheming man who often advises President Shinra, and advocates for the destruction of Avalanche at any cost.
* **Scarlet**: Head of Shinra's Advanced Weaponry division. Rose through the ranks of Shinra during the war with her powerful weapons and research on Materia.
* **Palmer**: Head of Shinra's Space and Aeronautics division. Since the Shinra space program is on hold due to the plentiful supply of Mako on the planet, he has lots of free time, some of which he spends in Wall Market.
* **Reeve**: Head of Shinra's Urban Planning division. A black sheep among the other executives due to his conscience and desire to improve the lives of people in the slums.
* **Professor Hojo**: Head of Shinra's Research and Development division. Entirely devoted to finding the promised land of the Cetra, with no concern for ethics.
* **Biggs**: A member of Avalanche who likes to help. The main strategist of Barret's cell.
* **Wedge**: A member of Avalanche who dreams of being more than a cowardly sidekick.
* **Jessie**: A member of Avalanche who is an expert on bombs. A former actress, she joins Avalanche because she believes destroying the reactors will help her father.
* **Marlene Wallace**: Barret's kind-hearted daughter who cares for her father and his friends.
* Roche: A 3rd Class SOLDIER who is obsessed with speed, motorcycles and competition.
* **Reno**: A member of the Turks. Brash, rebellious, and snarky, he fights with his exceptional speed. Rude's partner.
* **Rude**: A member of the Turks. Calm and rational. Always ready with a spare pair of sunglasses. Reno's partner.
* **Tseng**: The leader of the Turks working for President Shinra.
* **Rufus Shinra:** President Shinra's son and Vice President of the Shinra Electric Power Company. Ready to take over the company after his father.
* **Don Corneo**: A wealthy man from Sector 6 who runs criminal activity in Wall Market, and loves to flirt with women.
* **Red XIII**: A rare beast who accompanies Cloud and his friends upon their escape from the Shinra Company.

### Story

**Spoiler warning: *Plot and/or ending details follow.*** *(Skip section)*
Cloud Strife is a mercenary formerly of the Shinra Electric Power Company's elite special forces known as SOLDIER, hired by a cell of the eco-terrorist group called Avalanche to aid them in the bombing of Mako Reactor 1. Both Avalanche and the cell's leader, Barret Wallace, embrace the ideals of planetology that posits that the planet is a living organism and that Shinra's harvesting of the planet's life force will lead to the end of the world.

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Cloud, Barret, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge infiltrate the reactor, and Cloud sets up a bomb developed by Jessie at the core. They get out within the time limit, unaware that President Shinra was watching their every move and that he had the reactor core self-destruct when Jessie's bomb failed to properly detonate. The area surrounding the reactor is devastated by the blast. Cloud and the Avalanche members scatter into the streets and agree to meet up at the train going back to the slums.

While moving through the shocked crowds, Cloud hallucinates a meeting with Sephiroth, a rogue First Class SOLDIER whom Cloud remembers killing in the past. Cloud cannot believe that Sephiroth is still alive, now seemingly able to distort reality and send Cloud into a vision where everything around him is burning. Cloud snaps out of the illusion and meets a woman selling flowers being attacked by invisible monsters. Unable to see the cloak-like entities until the flower girl grabs his hand for help, Cloud's reaction alerts the Shinra Public Security forces. The woman runs away and Cloud is chased by Shinra troops to the railway bridge from where he jumps onto the passing train, reuniting with the others.

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They head to the Sector 7 slums where Barret's Avalanche cell has a hideout in the Seventh Heaven bar owned by Tifa, Cloud's childhood friend who reconnected with Cloud after he came to Midgar for work and enlisted his services to Avalanche despite Barret's reservations. The bombing having been much more destructive than Jessie had anticipated frazzles both her and Tifa, but Barret is ready to move onto the next bombing mission, though he is not interested in hiring Cloud's services again.

Tifa suggests Cloud make a name for himself as a mercenary at the Sector 7 slums, and gets him an apartment next to hers. Overnight Cloud hears moaning from the room next door, and when investigating finds it belongs to a delirious man wearing a dark cloak whom he hallucinates as Sephiroth. As he is about to attack, Tifa stops him, and Cloud realizes it was another hallucination. Tifa helps Cloud find work around the slums, and they find Tifa's friend Johnny being taken by Shinra's Public Security under suspicion of being connected to Avalanche. Though Johnny is not part of the group, Tifa fears he might still spill something, and Cloud and Tifa save him by taking out the Shinra soldiers holding Johnny under arrest. Cloud is about to kill Johnny to make sure he will not expose Avalanche, but a shocked Tifa stops him and Johnny instead flees Sector 7, vowing to never return.

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Though Barret has rejected Cloud's participation onto the next bombing mission, Jessie hires him to help procure a new blasting agent from a Shinra warehouse, still thinking that her haywire bomb is what caused the previous carnage and civilian casualties. Biggs and Wedge join them and Cloud gets to know the trio better. As they head topside by riding motorbikes through the train tunnels, they are accosted by Shinra and meet a SOLDIER Third Class called Roche who challenges Cloud to a race. At the Shinra employees' housing district, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge meet with Jessie's mother while Cloud sneaks in through the back to steal Jessie's comatose dad's ID card so they can gain access to the Shinra warehouse; Jessie's dad has been suffering from mako poisoning ever since an industrial accident at a Shinra plant, which was what prompted Jessie to join Avalanche.

During their time topside Cloud glipses the starry skies and recalls a time seven years ago he had promised a 13-year-old Tifa of after entering SOLDIER he would be her "knight in shining armor" and come save her if she was ever in trouble. Cloud, Biggs and Wedge act as a diversion to buy Jessie time to find the blasting agent, and Cloud has a one-on-one duel with Roche at the SOLDIER's insistence, though Cloud asserts he is no longer affiliated with Shinra.

The place is overrun by Shinra troops and Wedge is hurt. Another cell of Avalanche arrives for their rescue, and after they reunite with Wedge Jessie shows them where parachutes for Shinra maintenance workers are kept. They ride down from the plate, Cloud riding with Wedge. Back in the slums Wedge shows Cloud where Biggs and Jessie live and shows him the cats he lives with, being known as something of a local "cat whisperer". After Cloud heads to Jessie's for payment for the successful mission she hugs him and wants him to go out with her, but Cloud is reluctant to promise her anything.

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The mysterious invisible beings attack the Sector 7 slums the next morning and Jessie is hurt. Barret hires Cloud as her replacement, and the mission is back on track. Barret, Cloud and Tifa head topside on the train, but fail an ID check under the updated security system and abandon the train mid-journey and trek their way to the reactor on foot. After setting up the remote-controlled bomb they try to leave, but discover that they are being broadcast to the public, live on the Shinra News. They learn that Shinra is aware of their operations and have been allowing their acts of terrorism to build Avalanche up as a public enemy the populace needs to turn to Shinra for protection. Shinra sets the bomb to detonate themselves, and after fighting a Shinra war machine the walkway they were on is destroyed and Cloud falls into the slums.

Cloud crashes through the roof of a church onto a flower bed. He hallucinates talking to Sephiroth again, but is woken up by Aerith, the woman who sells flowers he had met on the Mako Reactor 1 bombing. She is being pursued by the Turks—Shinra's black ops and intelligence operations division—and hires Cloud to be her bodyguard to take her home safe. Cloud protects her from Reno, but they find the church being overrun by the mysterious cloaked beings. However, this time the beings do not attack, only stop Cloud from killing Reno and guide them a way out. Aerith convinces Cloud to stay the night and head back to Sector 7 the next day, and the two get to know one another better when Cloud helps her deliver flowers to the local school, and when they help the local kids and other slum dwellers with their problems. They meet a delirious cloaked man with a large tattoo of the number 2 whom Cloud momentarily hallucinates as Sephiorth, but after the encounter, the mysterious man staggers away. When Cloud and Aerith return to her house, they run into another Turk, Rude, whom they defeat.

Aerith's mother, Elmyra Gainsborough, is not happy Aerith is getting caught up in something dangerous, and despises Cloud being an Ex-SOLDIER, saying he has traded his chance for a regular life for power and thus can't stay around Aerith. Cloud agrees to sneak out in the dead of night, but Aerith catches up with him and insists to take him to Sector 7 anyway. On the Sector 6 park, Aerith tells Cloud about how he reminds her of her first love who was also a SOLDIER First Class, but Cloud's vision goes blurry and his ears begin ringing when she mentions his name.

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Cloud and Aerith spot Tifa being taken to Don Corneo's mansion, and Aerith insists Cloud help her, as Corneo is a dangerous crimelord. They find that Corneo is looking for a "bride" but only entertains woman endorsed by one the "Trio", influential locals who run the notorious slum entertainment town Wall Market. They manage to procure endorsement for Aerith from Madam M after winning a tournament at the local Corneo Colosseum, and another endorsement for Cloud from Andrea Rhodea who helps Cloud disguise himself as a woman. Once inside Corneo's place they are subdued by gas and taken to a dungeon where they meet Tifa, who is shocked to meet Cloud dressed as a woman. Corneo makes his pick of the three, but they subdue his lackeys after their weapons and other equipment are delivered to them by Corneo's disloyal lackey Leslie Kyle working together with Andrea. Cloud, Tifa and Aerith threaten Corneo to reveal what he knows about Shinra's plans for Avalanche. Corneo reveals that Shinra is about to drop the upper plate on the Sector 7 slums, killing countless people, to crush Barret's Avalanche cell. He then drops them into the sewers below through a trap door.

Cloud, Tifa and Aerith race back to the Sector 7 slums. The way takes them through the sewers and the Train Graveyard, which they find haunted by the captured spirits of children whom Aerith can still commune with. They free the kids' spirits by felling the demon haunting the grounds and make their way to the Sector 7 slums where they find the pillar under attack by Shinra, with the locals up in arms to protect it. Shinra announces that Avalanche is about to drop the plate and that Shinra does not negotiate with terrorists and thus they need to give themselves up. Wedge, who was protecting the pillar along with Biggs, Jessie and Barret, falls down and is injured. Tifa and Aerith tend to him while Cloud races up the pillar, but ends up in the sights of Reno and Rude who are the Turks on the mission to separate the plate. Reno holds a grudge toward Cloud over their previous meeting and opens fire at him. Tifa can't bear to stay back any longer, and with Wedge recovered declares she will follow Cloud, asking Aerith to find Marlene, Barret's four-year-old daughter, at her bar.

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Wedge shows Aerith the way, but they part ways when Wedge leads the slum dwellers toward Sector 6 when a nervous Shinra Public Security soldier opens the gates against his superior's orders. Aerith finds her way to the bar even if the area becomes engulfed in flames from a downed Shinra helicopter. She finds Marlene and the two have an instant connection, but as she leads the girl out they are stopped by Tseng, the leader of the Turks. Aerith agrees to go with him in exchange for Marlene's safety.

Cloud finds a gravely injured Biggs, and reunites with Tifa. They find Jessie who dies in Cloud's arms. They find Barret atop the pillar, but Reno and Rude arrive and begin the plate separation procedure. Though Cloud, Tifa and Barret defeat them and destroy Rude's helicopter, they fail to stop the plate separation procedure from completing. They learn through a video message that Tseng has taken Aerith captive because she is an "Ancient". Reno and Rude evacuate on a Shinra medical helicopter while Cloud, Barret and Tifa ride a ropeway to safety as the pillar separates from the plate above and it comes crashing down.

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Barret goes ballistic at the sight of carnage and the thought of having lost Marlene, but Cloud thinks that Marlene is safe at Aerith's house. They find her there and Aerith's mother Elmyra tells the story of how she and Aerith—not her biological daughter—came to meet. Aerith and her biological mother had escaped from a Shinra facility, but the mother had passed while asking a random passerby—Elmyra—to take Aerith somewhere safe. Elmyra had adopted the girl as her own, but soon noticed she had mystical powers and the ability to connect to the spirits of the dead. When the Turks had come looking for her, Elmyra had learned Aerith is an Ancient, whose mystical powers Shinra wants to exploit. However, the Turks had never taken Aerith by force, and thus Elmyra still thinks Aerith is being treated well.

Cloud, Barret and Tifa return to the Sector 7 ruins where they find Wedge still alive and a secret underground testing facility where Shinra has been exposing people to mako energy to turn them into monsters. This sparks some memories in Cloud, but they are ejected from the testing site by the mysterious ghostly beings before they can investigate any further.

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Cloud, Barret and Tifa carry Wedge to Elmyra's. Cloud asks again for Elmyra's permission to rescue Aerith. He believes, Aerith being the last Ancient, that she is too valuable for Shinra, especially to mad professor Hojo, to ever be released. Elmyra says she needs some time to think. Later, Cloud hears footsteps and follows them outside, and finds either Aerith, Tifa or Barret among Aerith's flowers. If the person Cloud finds is Tifa, she asks if the flower he had given her was from Aerith and cries over how Shinra has again taken everything away from them while Cloud embraces her. If Cloud meets Barret, he tells Cloud about the other members of Avalanche Cloud never had the chance to meet, and promises to introduce them after they save Aerith. If Cloud finds Aerith, he is surprised and wonders if it is a dream. Aerith talks about the importance of living in the moment as everyone dies one day, and warns Cloud not to become too attached to her as she may not be able to stay with him for long. As she touches his face, she disappears and Cloud wakes up in the the guest room.

The next morning, Elmyra has concluded that Cloud is right about Shinra, and allows them to go rescue Aerith. Barret asks her to look after Marlene and Wedge, Marlene also saying Barret should go help Aerith. Since the trains aren't running and Shinra probably has every station under lockdown, they need an alternate route topside. Tifa suggests they ask Don Corneo, but he's not at his mansion. Instead they find Leslie, who claims he can help them get topside on the condition they help him find Corneo in his sewer hideout. Barret doesn't trust him, but Cloud agrees to help.

 File:Leslie threatens Corneo from FFVII Remake.jpg
When they find Corneo's hideout, one of Corneo's pets steals the key from Leslie. Cloud, Tifa and Barret give chase, and reclaim it, only to find it wasn't a key, but a necklace that once belonged to Leslie's fiancée. Leslie reveals that she was chosen to become one of Corneo's brides, and disappeared without a trace right after. Now he wants revenge, and Barret softens up to him. They return to the hideout door and Leslie goes in alone, but Corneo sees his attempt to kill him and disarms him. Cloud, Tifa and Barret come to Leslie's aid, but Corneo sets a monster on them and escapes. Leslie gives Cloud and friends grappling guns to climb over the Sector 7 wall, and from there they can reach the Shinra Building.

Cloud, Tifa and Barret make their way through the collapsed Sector 7 plate and reach the Shinra Building, and while Barret is eager to charge in through the front door guns blazing, Cloud suggests they use Shinra trucks to infiltrate the parking garage. They jump onto a truck and get inside, but when the truck leaves checkpoint, they fall and have to fight their way in. In the lobby, Tifa makes her way inside the reception and obtain a keycard to access the rest of the building. Cloud believes Aerith is being held in the research labs near the top floors, and Tifa thinks Hojo's lab on the 65th floor is the most likely one. Either using stairs or elevator, they make their way to 59th floor, and work from there.

 File:Sephiroth and Cloud in Shinra presentation from FFVII Remake.png
To reach higher floors, Cloud, Tifa and Barret act like tourists going through a tour. In one exhibit, they experience distressing images about Midgar being destroyed by a meteor, and Cloud sees Sephiroth again. The image ends, and the trio meets Hart, Mayor Domino's deputy. Hart leads them to Domino, who has been the one aiding them by silencing any possible alarms from going off. He reveals he is Avalanche's man inside Shinra, as he loathes the company for locking him up in the archives, and not giving him any real authority in Midgar.

With Domino's help, Cloud, Tifa and Barret reach the 64th floor where they eavesdrop on the Shinra directors' meeting where President Shinra denies Reeve's plan to rebuild Sector 7, since they now have Aerith, and through her they can build Neo Midgar in the promised land. Hojo believes they can use Aerith, even though she is not a pureblood Ancient, suggesting they use SOLDIER candidates to reproduce more Ancients from Aerith for Shinra to study.

 File:Professor Hojo from FFVII Remake.jpg
Cloud, Tifa and Barret shadow Hojo as he leaves the meeting and intercept him in his lab and force him into leading them to Aerith, only to deal with with one of Hojo's grotesque experiments as he escapes during the fight. The group fights their way through guards and advanced soldiers to reach Hojo, who notices Cloud has SOLDIER qualities, but claims he's not a member of that force. Cloud clutches his head as his ears begin to ring, and the mysterious ghosts blow Hojo away.

The group later encounters a creature chasing Hojo into an elevator, the now freed Aerith preventing a fight as she calms the creature down. The creature reveals his ability to speak to everyone's shock. Tifa notices a XIII tattoo on the creature, who calls himself Red XIII. Cloud is stricken again, and stumbles towards the elevator, sensing that Jenova is close. He collapses and awakes in Aerith's old room in Hojo's lab, where she tells them about her Cetra heritage, but how Shinra is wrong about her being able to lead the company to the promised land. They get a video message from Wedge and Domino on Avalanche HQ coming to rescue them on helicopter from the roof, Barret being surprised as Wedge was supposed to be bedridden and he had never asked for Wedge to help bail them out.

As the group goes through Hojo's lab, they find Jenova's tank where its headless body spooks everyone. Red XIII explains Jenova is Shinra's most precious research specimen and that Hojo has spent his life studying it. A cloaked man appears in front of the tank, but everyone sees him as Sephiroth who breaks the walkway they are on and sends everyone plummeting to the deep recesses of the lab into an area called "The Drum" where Hojo controls their every move and ushers more of his "research specimens" onto the group, only to watch them be destroyed much to his delight. The party reunites and makes their way back to where Jenova's tank was, but Jenova is gone with only a trail of dark liquid leading to the president's office.

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The party reaches the seemingly empty office and finds the president hanging on the side of the roof, offering them wealth to save him. Barret pulls the president up and tells him to confess to the Sector 7 collapse and that there is no Avalanche-Wutai link, only for the president to hold Barret at gunpoint while scoffing at him for only wanting to clear his name rather than asking the company to shut down all mako reactors. Sephiroth appears behind the president and kills him before stabbing Barret in the chest with his sword when he tries to protest. The "Sephiroth" is revealed to be another of those cloaked men, who transforms into the Jenova Dreamweaver, a monster able to create illusions. Cloud, Tifa and Aerith destroy it, and afterward, Barret is healed by one of those ghostly mysterious beings that have begun to fly all around the Shinra Building. Another "Sephiroth" appears and carries away Jenova's body that has been released from the tank, and the two fall off the building.

As they step onto the roof, the Avalanche helicopter that was sent out to extract them is shot down by a helicopter piloted by Reno and Rude, which brings Rufus Shinra onto the building. Rufus fights Cloud one-on-one while the others escape downstairs, though Tifa stays behind to help Cloud. Rufus is flown off by the Turks after he loses the duel against Cloud, and Cloud is saved by Tifa.

 File:Stolen Shinra vehicles from FFVII Remake.jpg
Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Aerith and Red XIII escape the Shinra Building via the expressway with vehicles stolen from the Shinra exhibition rooms, taking out numerous Shinra troops and robots sent out to pursue them. At the end of the expressway, they run into Sephiroth waiting for them, everyone being able to see him now. Sephiroth cuts a passageway to thin air and disappears, telling Cloud to follow. Red XIII explains that the mysterious ghosts that have intermittently been helping or barring their advance are Whispers, arbiters of fate and beings sent out by the planet itself to enforce a fixed future. Aerith hesitates over defying destiny, but tells the others that Sephiroth is more dangerous to the planet than Shinra and must be stopped.

They step through the passageway and enter a surreal realm where they fight giant Whispers as well as Sephiroth himself. How much of what they experience truly happens is ambiguous as Sephiroth is a master of projecting illusions, having trapped Cloud into illusions numerous times since he started his journey already. They witness distressing images of Aerith dying, a meteorite hurtling toward Midgar, and of a much older Red XIII witnessing a destroyed Midgar, wondering if they are glimpses of a bleak future. They defeat the giant Whispers and then Sephiroth, but the true Sephiroth cannot be defeated in this surreal realm, and instead shows Cloud a vision of what he calls "the edge of creation." He implies that the world is ending and asks Cloud to embrace the plan Sephiroth has for the planet's future. Cloud refuses, but is defeated and left with a warning that he has "seven seconds before the end."

The Whispers defeated and fate thus defied, the party is free to advance toward a new unknown future. Aerith misses the steel sky, deeming the new sky ahead of them unknowable. As the party leaves Midgar to pursue Sephiroth to stop whatever his plan is, people back at the ruins of Sector 7 are rebuilding, Biggs is recuperating from the injuries he had sustained at the plate's fall, revealed to having survived, and Marlene thinks of Barret with Barret declaring that he will return to her. Rufus Shinra takes over the company, pondering over Sephiroth's apparent return and the strange occurrences at the Shinra Building and Cloud and his friends' involvement. Hojo discovers that Jenova's body has disappeared from his lab, and breaks into hysterical laughter.

 File:Zack injured from Final Fantasy VII Remake.png
Destiny's course changed, Zack Fair has survived "his final stand". He is last shown bringing the delirious Cloud to Midgar, where he ended up becoming a mercenary and working for Avalanche, now wielding Zack's buster sword, but what happened to Zack himself from this point on is unknown.

***Spoilers end here.***
## Music

Main article: Final Fantasy VII Remake Original Soundtrack
 File:Final Fantasy VII Remake Original Soundtrack.png
The game will feature arranged and updated remixes of songs heard in the original game, as well as several new tracks. Background music will transition to a battle variation in certain areas.

In June 2019, it was revealed Nobuo Uematsu will return for the remake, though in what capacity was not stated in full at the time. It was then revealed in January 31, 2020 that the game's ending theme, "Hollow", was composed by Nobuo Uematsu and sung by Yosh from Survive Said The Prophet. The lyrics are by Kazushige Nojima, translated by Ben Sabin and John Crow. It was also revealed that Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki were composing and arranging music for the game.

The music featured in the E3 2015 reveal trailer was "Beyond The Wasteland" from *Advent Children* as well as part of the Distant Worlds orchestrated rendition of "Opening - Bombing Mission", which was further used in the gameplay trailer shown at PlayStation Experience 2015.

## Development

Main article: Final Fantasy VII Remake development
## Release

File:Final Fantasy VII Remake logo textless.png
The game is planned for release in multiple parts, as a remake of *Final Fantasy VII* would not fit into a single release. Was the team to dedicate to a single release, the content would need to be cut, so rather than remake the game as a full volume, it was decided to do it in parts. The parts will be full-sized games with the *Final Fantasy XIII* trilogy cited as the base model, each part being the scale of one game from the *XIII* series.  The first installment will be released on two Blu-ray discs.

## Reception

### Critical reception

*Final Fantasy VII Remake* received strong critical reception. On Metacritic, its review score aggregated to 88% based on 116 reviews, and on OpenCritic, its review score aggregated to 88% based on 150 reviews, with 94% of critics recommending. This score aggregate is lower than that of the original PlayStation release of *Final Fantasy VII*, but higher than the subsequent ports of the game, and higher than every single player game in the *Final Fantasy* series since *Final Fantasy XII*. Critics praised the combat, characters, story, graphical fidelity, attention to detail, and humorous writing, though it drew criticism for its sidequests and controversial narrative choices, particularly the conclusion.

The combat was praised by critics for feeling exciting and action-packed, yet still strategic and challenging. Tamoor Hussain of GameSpot said that the combat "asks a lot" of players, but is "incredibly gratifying" when considering strategy behind unique ways characters function as well as the properties of enemies, likening it to playing "high-speed chess". Heather Wald of GamesRadar praised the variety of combat styles between the characters for helping to "prevent the fighting from ever feeling too stale", and said that the boss battles "present a real challenge". Tom Marks of IGN said that though he was "initially sad to hear" that the combat of *Final Fantasy VII Remake* would not use the same Active Time Battle system as *Final Fantasy VII*, the way the system transformed to real-time brawling is "exceptional", saying that the menu slowing time to select commands adds tension to choice that was reminiscent of the "frantic decision making the original elicited".

Though reviewers reacted positively to the combat sections, many were divided on the sidequests. Heater Wald of GamesRadar said that many of the sidequests comprise "rather menial tasks that aren't particularly too exciting", and Tom Marks of IGN said that he completed the sidequests but "felt forced to do so out of a sense of obligation rather than amusement". Conversely, Bradley Ellis of *Easy Allies* said that the sidequests become "more captivating" as the game goes on due to the "meaningful character moments between your party", and because they "help bring life to the citizens of Midgar".

Critics praised the game's writing and characterization, as well as the game's sense of humor. Aoife Wilson of *Eurogamer* said that familiar characters are "fizzing with new life and personality", saying that their depiction captures "the essence of what made them so iconic and enduring". Heather Wald of GamesRadar said that the characters with the game's "biggest strength", filling out the experience with humor and heart-felt moments. Tamoor Hussain noted that the narrative and characters "truly stand out as its crowning achievement", and praised the game for embracing the "goofier elements of the original", which he found "bring levity to what is otherwise heavy subject matter". He added that the game would allow newcomers to "learn to love the characters for the first time".

Many reviewers praised the atmosphere of Midgar, and the graphical fidelity. Tamoor Hussain of GameSpot called it a "stunning depiction" of Midgar, and Chris Carter of *Destructoid* said Midgar's atmosphere "wins out as the true pivotal character" of the game, for giving players a " context for the city and the class-based politics that define it". Many reviewers praised the graphics in the depiction of the city and its characters, and noted that although textures occasionally popped in, the issue was not pervasive.

Critics were divided on the narrative changes. Jason Schreier of *Kotaku* said that new characters may initially be "baffling" but "all serve either to help develop the main cast or to add life to Midgar itself", and pointed to sections in which Cloud visits Jessie's house as an example of the "delightful additions to the story", enhanced by due to the "top-notch voice acting and stunning views of Midgar". However, he noted that other changes "aren't all great", drawing attention to the sewers and the Sector 5 tunnel as examples of dungeons that were originally a few screens long, and can sometimes take an hour to finish in *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, thus feeling "tedious". Likewise, Tom Marks of IGN said that the additions range from "welcome expansions to existing sequences" and new scenes that offer "enticing new perspective", while others are "pointlessly dull padding that frequently makes you retread previously explored areas". Aoife Wilson of Eurogamer praised the game for preserving the "spirit and tone" of the original, saying that the game "even manages to frequently improve upon the original's telling of the story".

One major point of contention for reviewers was the ending. Joe Juba said that the ending scenes are "jarring" and "surprising", calling them "mildly disappointing as a resolution to this game, but much more disappointing in what they imply for any installments that lie ahead". Tom Marks of IGN said that the game "raises a metric ton of questions that it doesn't deliver any semblance of answers to", referring to parts of the story as "Some *Kingdom Hearts* BS". Jason Schreier of Kotaku said the ending causes the game to become "something else entirely" from a remake, elaborating that he found himself grappling with the consequence of the ending days after finishing the game and also likened it to *Kingdom Hearts*. He concluded that he "certainly can't wait to see what's next". Tamoor Hussain of GameSpot said that the "cryptic references to something more in Cloud's past" and unexplained elements nonetheless do not "diminish the story that is told", and the ending rather "lays the foundation for future revelations in an intriguing way".

### Commercial performance

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Square Enix, by choice, shipped fewer physical copies to stores. This impacted sales of the disks, but the setback was overcome by digital sales. *Final Fantasy VII Remake* shipped and digitally sold 3.5 million copies within its first three days of release, making it the biggest PlayStation 4 exclusive opening weekend, an outcome Square Enix was pleased with. The game set a new launch month sales record for the *Final Fantasy* series in both unit and dollar sales, beating *Final Fantasy XV*. Because the growth in digital sales meant that they increased the percentage of digital sales overall, Square Enix expected a better gross margin overall.

In Japan, it debuted in first selling 702,853 copies in its first week, and was attributed to boosting sales of the PlayStation 4. In the United States, the game was the best-selling game of April 2020, both on the PlayStation Network and in physical sales overall across all platforms. In the United Kingdom, the game was the best-selling physical game for the month April 2020, leading the strongest April month for physical games in the country since 2015. Though physical sales in the United Kingdom were slightly below *Final Fantasy XV*, it has been noted that distribution challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic played a role.

After the success of *Final Fantasy VII Remake*, Square Enix planned initiatives throughout the year designed to capture a larger audience of players and further grow sales. These initiatives are not yet disclosed, though they have stated that marketing strategies would not solely rely on pricing.

## Packaging artwork

FFVII Remake North American box art for PS4.jpgNorth America.VII Remake boxart 1.pngVII Remake boxart 2.pngVII Remake boxart 3.png
## Production credits

 Graphics & VFX Director
Mitsuto Suzuki

### Additional voices

Japanese
Template:List

English
Template:List

## Gallery

See also: Concept art gallery
Artwork
FFVII Remake Key Visual.pngVisual art from January 31st, 2017.FFVIIR Concert releasedate BIGGER june2019.jpgArtwork revealed at *A Symphonic Reunion*.Cloud Strife anniversary render FFVII R.pngKey visual from 22nd September 2019.FFVIIR-Boxart.pngUS boxart.Final Fantasy VII Remake Title Card.pngOpening title card.
Screenshots
FF7 Remake Cloud & Barret.jpgWithered-Flowers-FFVII-Remake.pngAerith's lily and a black feather.Playing as Cloud.jpgGameplay.Escape in Midgar.jpgEscape in Midgar.Midgar-FFVII-Remake.pngMidgar Highway.Midgar-Slums-FFVII-Remake.pngMidgar Slums.VII Remake Barret talking to wedge.pngBarret Wallace.VII Remake Coud and Wedge.pngCloud Strife and Wedge.Cloud and Tifa E3 2019 VII Remake.pngCloud and TifaSephiroth E3 2019 VII Remake.pngSephirothJessie-and-Biggs-FFVIIRemake.pngJessie and Biggs.Guard Scorpion boss vii remake.jpegGameplay at Monaco Anime Game International Conferences 2017 event.Hiding from shinra troops.jpegHiding from Shinra troops.Final Fantasy VII Remake Aerith.jpgAerith Gainsborough in State of Play trailerFinal Fantasy VII Remake State of Play Barret Battle.jpgBarret in battle in State of Play trailerFinal Fantasy VII Remake State of Play Aps.jpgAbzuFinal Fantasy VII Remake State of Play MPs.jpgMPsFinal Fantasy VII Remake State of Play Custom Sweeper.jpgCustom SweeperHealing Wind stance from FFVII Remake.pngAerith in battle.FFVIIR Cloud Makou Reactor 1.pngCloud at the Mako Reactor No.1.FFVIIR gameplay June2019 05.jpgGameplay.FFVIIR gameplay June2019 03.jpgGameplay.FFVIIR exploration June2019 01.jpgGameplay.Shiva summoned in FFVII Remake.pngShiva summoned.President Shinra Hologram in FFVII Remake.pngPresident Shinra.SOLDIER member in FFVII Remake.pngRoche.Sephiroth in FFVII Remake.pngSephiroth.Cloud and Aerith flee in Sector 5 in FFVII Remake.pngCloud and Aerith.Tifa Cloud and Aerith in FFVII Remake.pngTifa, Cloud and Aerith.Sector 7 fall in FFVII Remake.pngSector 7 fall.Hundred Gunner in FFVII Remake.pngHundred Gunner.Shinra robots in FFVII Remake.pngShinra robots.Tifa gym minigame in FFVII Remake.pngMinigame.
#### Merchandise

BusterSword Lifestream.pngUn-released image designed by Hidemi MatsuzukaFF7R Merch Totebag.jpgTote Bag designed by Hidemi MatsuzukaFF7R SephirothShirt01.jpgSephiroth shirt designed by Hidemi MatsuzukaSephiroth FF7RShirt.pngSephiroth shirt designed by Hidemi Matsuzuka
## External links

* Official site
* *Final Fantasy VII Remake* on *Wikipedia*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Producer Yoshinori Kitase talks FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE (Accessed: June 15, 2019) at Square Enix Games
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Final Fantasy VII Remake details: reason for multi-part release, CyberConnect2 collaboration, more (Accessed: December 07, 2015) at Gematsu
3. ↑ Final Fantasy VII Remake - Official Gameplay PSX Trailer (Accessed: December 05, 2015) at Youtube
4. ↑ Final Fantasy VII Remake Box Confirms the Game Is 100GB in Size (Accessed: February 18, 2020) at Push Square
5. ↑ A Final Fantasy VII Remake demo is out now for PS4 (Accessed: March 02, 2020) at The Verge
6. ↑ Final Fantasy 7 Remake is shipping early, so Square Enix is asking fans not to spoil it (Accessed: March 31, 2020) at Polygon
7. ↑ New Final Fantasy VII Remake screens feature Moogles, weapon abilities, Materia, mini-games and more (Accessed: November 25, 2019) at PlayStation Blog
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Nobuo Uematsu Confirmed To Be Working On Music For Final Fantasy VII Remake (Accessed: June 11, 2019) at Siliconera
9. ↑ Final Fantasy VII Remake Will Be Multiple Full-Sized Games (Accessed: April 06, 2016) at Gamespot
10. ↑ Final Fantasy VII Remake Will Ship on Two Discs, Not Three (Accessed: June 10, 2019) at Tweaktown
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Final Fantasy VII Remake for PS4 Reviews. OpenCritic. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Final Fantasy VII Remake for PlayStation 4. Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020.
13. ↑ Playscore for Final Fantasy VII Remake, *whatoplay.com*, Retrieved June 19, 2020
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Chris Carter (April 6, 2020). *Review: Final Fantasy VII Remake*. *Destructoid*. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Bradley Ellis (April 6, 2020). *Review: Final Fantasy VII Remake*. *Easy Allies*. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Aoife Wilson (April 6, 2020). Final Fantasy 7 Remake review - a faithful retread, with a few missteps along the way. *Eurogamer*. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
17. ↑ Reid McCarter (April 6, 2020). *Final Fantasy VII Remake review*. *Electronic Gaming Monthly*. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Joe Juba (April 6, 2020). *Final Fantasy VII Remake Review - Old Friends And New Life*. *Game Informer*. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020. Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "gameinformer review" defined multiple times with different content
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Tamoor Hussain (April 6, 2020). *Final Fantasy 7 Remake Review - Cruel One-Winged Angel's Thesis*. GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 Heather Wald (April 6, 2020). *Final Fantasy 7 Reamke review: "A loving reimagining of the original that delivers a new experience that's wholly its own"*. GamesRadar. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 Tom Marks (April 6, 2020). *Final Fantasy 7 Remake Review*. IGN. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Jason Schreier (April 6, 2020). *Final Fantasy VII Remake: The Kotaku Review*. *Kotaku*. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
23. ↑ Tuffcub (April 6, 2020). *Final Fantasy VII Remake Review*. The Sixth Axis. Archived from the original on April 7, 2020.
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Ali Haider (May 30, 2020). *Square Enix Is Pleased With Final Fantasy VII Remake Sales, Has Initiatives To Grow It Further*. Twisted Voxel. Archived from the original on May 30, 2020.
25. ↑ Steve Watts (April 21, 2020). *Final Fantasy 7 Remake Hits Big Three-Day Sales Milestone*. GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020.
26. ↑ Jordan Biazzo (April 21, 2020). *Final Fantasy 7 Remake is the Most Sold PS4 Exclusive in Opening Weekend, Selling 3.5 Copies in Three Days*. Gameranx. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020.
27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Adam Bankhurst (May 22, 2020). *Final Fantasy 7 Remake Is April 2020's Best-Selling Game, Sets Franchise Record*. IGN. Archived from the original on May 22, 2020.
28. ↑ William D'Angelo (April 16, 2020). *Final Fantasy VII Remake Sells Over 700,000 Units in Japan, PS4 Sales Nearly Hit 80,000 - Sales*. VG Chartz. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020.
29. ↑ Justin Massongill (May 7, 2020). *PlayStation Store: April’s Top Downloads*. PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on May 11, 2020.
30. ↑ Christopher Dring (May 28, 2020). *UK boxed games market delivers strongest April in five years*. GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on May 28, 2020.
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 31.4 31.5 31.6 31.7 Introducing the FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE development team (Accessed: October 26, 2019) at Square Enix Official Website

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