But let's take things one step at a time. Earlier during the week it became known through a post by the game's director Tetsuya Nomura on the FFVIIR Twitter page that a new trailer was going to drop. A short while later, a countdown timer was added on the game's official Japanese website, with all fans holding their breath for the moment it would finally hit zero. Once that moment came, the new trailer dropped like a bomb in a Mako reactor (too soon..?)
The almost-three minute long clip showcased the members of the Turks, ShinRa's elite mercenary force. Reno, Rude and Tseng were all displayed looking a lot flashier than in the 2005 movie Advent Children. The final member, Elena, was nowhere to be seen though. Also in the trailer there was yet another character of unknown origin who was riding a motorcycle and pursuing the Avalanche members. Presumably, he is also a member of SOLDIER, just like Cloud and Sephiroth, and according to rumors that remain unconfirmed his name is Cerberus (no, not Sebastian or Essai, sorry.)
Apart from them though, one of the most appreciated con-men in video game history, Don Corneo, also made an appearance, looking as creepy as ever, while it was confirmed that Final Fantasy casuals Shiva and Ifrit will once again be coming out to play with ice and fire. The clip ends with the trio of Cloud, Tifa and Barret looking over an all-too familiar setting of what can only be presumed are the ruins of Sector Seven after ShinRa's handiwork.
But FFVIIR wasn't limited to just the (impressive) trailer at the Tokyo Game Show, as Square Enix made sure that the game's presence was felt by everyone, both those who attended and those who were hundreds of miles away. During a presentation for Sony, the game's producer Yoshinori Kitase took to the stage to confirm that all the Wall Market mini-games will indeed be making a return. The show's host took on the squats challenge and performed rather well considering this was her first try! There will also be a newly-added darts mini-game.
Furthermore, for those still not sold on the game's new action-type approach to battles, there will be a "Classic" mode available, thanks to which they can just kick back and wait for the ATB gauge to fill up before they take action. The characters are set on an "Auto-Attack" function until the gauge fills up, giving players the time to strategically think about their next move. This mode could be useful down the line when there are too many characters and abilities to choose from and building up the ATB is just something you don't have the time for. Who says turn-based is dead..?
During the presentation's closing minutes, Kitase showed some entirely new footage of Cloud, Tifa and Aerith taking on Aps, the monster that lives in the sewers beneath Corneo's estate. Considering this boss battle takes place on a later stage that the one against the (Sentinel) Scorpion, the characters are much more developed at this point and will have some new or expanded abilities, not to mention some new materia (shining orbs that can be used for either magic or summoning). The battle was incredibly fast-paced, yet each character had their own separate roles and Kitase (who played the demo) had no issue switching between them and issuing orders. On the middle right of the screen, there was a purple bar with the "SUMMON" indication on top of it and when Cloud used his regular attacks, it would slowly fill up. Once it hit its maximum, our spikey-haired protagonist was then able to call upon the firey god, Ifrit. As shown, the summoned creatures will have their own abilities (Ifrit had Flare Burst and Crimson Dive) and can be controlled just like any other character, yet they don't seem to have a designated HP or MP meter. Once the purple "SUMMON" line on the middle of the screen runs out, they leave the battle. But not without leaving something behind. Just when the bar reached zero, Ifrit performed his trademark "Hellfire" attack, making swift work out of Aps' remaining HP. It was later confirmed that characters will be able to carry one summon materia each, while only one can be present at a time during battle.
The abilities of the other two characters were shown off as well, with Aerith performing her Healing Wind and Tifa her Sommersault. Aerith is a magic-user and her unique ability is called "Tempest". It creates a circle in which any spell cast can be used repeatedly at no extra MP cost. All-in-all, it was highly entertaining just to watch, while nothing seemed out of place or extreme. Even with Ifrit's presence in the battle, it was still easy to maintain a grasp of everything that was going on during the fight while Aps was jumping all over the place. It seems apparent that the more characters have a chance to grow throughout the game, the more battles will require strategy, and become even more demanding for players, with each new opponent providing new questions that will need answering apart from "how do I get his health bar to zero?"
That was all of the official information released by Square Enix regarding the Final Fantasy VII Remake, a title that is shaping up to be even better than many fans could've imagined. There are still some unconfirmed rumors going around, such as that there will be a separate story line showcasing what happens with Barret, Tifa and the rest of the Avalanche crew members when Cloud falls into the Aerith's church or that the materia growth system will be present, yet until this becomes official we recommend you take it with a grain of salt.
This title promises to be an incredible experience, bringing to life characters, battles and locations we could only imagine when some of us were young and giving others the opportunity to see what the older generation is going on about. The one thing that I'm personally worried about is the level of information that the developers are dishing out and also the actual size of this title. Considering it ends when the crew decides to leave the city of Midgar, we've already seen, well, pretty much all of it! At this point I don't know how much of it remains left to see. There is the promise of expanding on certain elements, but, from what we know of the original, there's not much else. I sincerely hope my doubts are misplaced. Only time will tell.
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