It was no surprise that Final Fantasy VII Remake proved to be a huge success. Fans and critics alike revelled in the adventure, thrilled that it did justice to one of the most beloved video games of all time. It’s just a shame that we’re sure to be waiting so long for chapter two.
In the meantime, though, there’s a lot about the first instalment to digest. While Square Enix did an admirable job keeping the game as faithful to the PlayStation original as possible, there are still some curious little details about the remake’s story that even returning fans may have missed. Let’s take a look!
Johnny Is Much More Significant That He Was
In the remake, a young man known only as Johnny is quite the hilarious and underrated character. He appears in Chapter 3, then resurfaces several more times (twice in chapter 9 and once more in chapter 14), truly becoming Cloud’s ‘Bro’ along the way.
A little Johnny comic relief is always welcome in the game, but it’s interesting that this young man’s role in particular was made much more significant. In the original, he’s barely noticeable, cropping up in Sector 7, Wall Market and Costa Del Sol. If the player does seek him out, they eventually discover that he finds happiness with a woman and later proposes to her.
Eligor Still Has A Familiar Weapon Of Aerith’s
Superfans who have completed the PlayStation original numerous times will know all the crucial early-game items that are available to steal. One of these is the Striking Staff, a weapon of Aerith’s that can be stolen from Eligor (a rare enemy found in the Train Graveyard).
This early in the game, the Striking Staff is super powerful, even allowing Aerith to take a physical attacking role in battle. In the remake, meanwhile, the Bladed Staff (the weapon’s equivalent) is still held by Eligor, available to steal in the Train Graveyard as before. The only difference is that the odd-looking creature is now a boss.
The Avalanche Gang All Love Playing Darts
With the remake being a visually stunning new PlayStation 4 game revolving around only the Midgar portion of the original, it was vital that the team pack the bustling city chock-full of content. To this end, naturally, there are a lot of minigames and fun distractions for the player to engage in along the way.
Now, a darts minigame isn’t exactly essential fare, and we’d forgive a lot of players for bypassing Seventh Heaven’s dartboard entirely. If you do take the time to play, though, you’ll notice that the default highscores are set by the Avalanche members (among others). While Tifa and Jessie are accomplished players (finishing the game in 9 darts), Wedge just topped them with a score of 8. To earn the Heavenly Dart Player trophy, you’ll need a score of 7 or better.
The Moogle Emporium Is Worth Revisiting Later In The Game
Often in classic RPGs, stores in specific towns keep the same inventory throughout. If you return later in the game, the gear available there will probably be much lower level that your heroes have available to them now.
With this in mind, you may have picked out the handy items from the remake’s Moogle Emporium when it first became available (in Chapter 8) and then passed the adorable little guy by. During Chapter 14, however, four new items are added to the store that could very well be worth your while. These are the Moogle’s Mortar, Turbo Ether, Elixir and Barret’s vicious Steel Pincers weapon. Pricey, but they can all be very valuable.
Jessie’s Backstory Is Much More Fleshed Out
In the 1997 title, the collapse of the plate and loss of Biggs, Wedge and Jessie (not to mention the rest of Sector 7) is a crushing blow to their Avalanche colleagues, not least of all Barret. For the player, it would have been much more impactful if we’d gotten to really know these characters, spend some time with them.
The remake fixes this by spending some time filling each of them out a little more. With Jessie in particular, we learn of her ambitions to be a star actress, the performances she’s already given. Her reasons for joining Avalanche (her father’s accident while working for Shinra) are revealed too. These things have precious little impact on the story itself, but they’re fascinating pieces of the puzzle for returning fans.
We See A Lot More Results Of Hojo’s Grim Experiments
As anyone who’s fought the enemies in the original’s sunken Gelnika will tell you, Shinra have been responsible for some horrific experiments. Resident Evil’s Umbrella Corporation would be jealous of some of those genetic horrors.
In the party’s unsuccessful attempt to apprehend Hojo, Shinra’s head scientist, they learn just how far the unscrupulous man has sunk. The enemies fought in the Hojo’s Laboratory area are unlike anything from the original, bringing a lot of grotesque information to light.
You Can Give Cloud And Tifa A Real Workout
As we’ve mentioned, Midgar is a huge city but only a small portion of Final Fantasy VII as a whole. To contain a fully-fledged PS4 game within this one town, every familiar aspect of Midgar had to be expanded severalfold.
In the PS1 title, of course, there’s an iconic sequence in which Cloud competes in a squats contest at the gym, in order to win a precious piece of his Corneo’s mansion infiltration outfit (that beautiful dress). Where that was the only gym-related minigame the player could indulge in, there’s a whole world of exercise besides in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Both Cloud and Tifa can compete against various NPCs, with various useful weapons and items and trophies like Peeress of Pull-Ups at stake. It’s a brand-new, fully-fledged minigame with various difficulties.
Barret’s Staircase-Climbing Dialogue Is Just As Good As Ever
Developers of remakes always face that constant dilemma: change too much, players will be outraged. Play it safe and release the same game with just a new coat of paint, players will be outraged. The balance lies in being faithful to the original while nipping, tucking and updating where necessary.
Most importantly to nostalgic fans, there are certain elements of the game that absolutely shouldn’t be messed with. Sometimes, it’s the tiny things that mean the most. Barret’s constant complaints about climbing the staircases as the party infiltrates the Shinra Building were a comedic highlight for many, and we’re thrilled to say that they’re just as funny as ever.
There’s No Jail Sequence
One interesting departure from the original also takes place in Shinra headquarters, though. As fans will remember, the party is apprehended by the Turks in the escalator after rescuing Aerith, before being incarcerated in that convenient little jail block in the corner of floor 68.
In the remake, this sequence doesn’t take place. While it was only a brief moment before the mighty blade of Sephiroth stepped in to claim a few souls, it allowed Cloud to speak to Aerith, Red XIII and his other companions in the adjoining cells, with Aerith giving the player a little more detail on the nature of the Ancients. In all the high-octane drama of the remake, there was no time for this quiet moment, which some players would entirely forget about in the heat of it all.
Fate Is Already Being Defied In Various Ways
As Video Chums reports, both Aerith and Sephiroth seem to be subtly keyed into the Whispers, to the notions of fate and, more importantly, changing it. Both of these major players seem to vaguely hint that they know what’s ‘supposed’ to be in store, and desire to change the future.
There’s still a lot of debate about that, but one thing is for sure: defeating the great amalgamation of Whispers at the end of the game seems to have set fate free. We’re given brief glimpses of Zack’s survival against the Shinra horde, of Biggs’ (and perhaps his colleagues’ too) survival. They’re tiny, brief moments, but they could have enormous repercussions for the second instalment of the remake and beyond. Will Aerith survive, for instance, and what will it mean for the planet if she does? We can only speculate.
