Final Fantasy VII Remake

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About

Final Fantasy VII Remake refers to the 2020 reimagining of the highly-lauded 1997 video game Final Fantasy VII. The remake was developed and published by Square Enix and is directed by Tetsuya Nomura. The game, which releases April 10th, 2020, is the first of a multi-part series of remakes of the game and will take place entirely in Midgar.

History

On June 15th, 2015, an upcoming high-definition remake of Final Fantasy VII was announced during the Sony press conference at E3 2015. It was revealed that the game would be directed by Japanese video game artist Tetsuya Nomura and produced by Yoshinori Kitase, the director of the original 1997 version.

Within 24 hours, a PlayStation announcement tweet^[1] gathered more than 8,400 retweets and a YouTube upload of the remake trailer received upwards of 2.8 million views and 8,800 comments (shown below). In the trailer, high-definition CGI scenes of Midgar City are shown before revealing the protagonist Cloud wielding his signature Buster Sword alongside his ally Barret.

That day, several posts about the remake reached the front page of Reddit.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Meanwhile, various news sites published articles about the announcement in the coming days, including Tech Crunch,^[6] The Huffington Post,^[7] Wired^[8] and USA Today.^[9]

Following the showcase at E3, many videos were posted on YouTube that showcased various portions of the Final Fantasy fanbase reacting to the Remake's trailer. Said videos have subsequently been made into compilations and mashups across the site, the most popular of which gained over 350,000 views.

On December 5th, 2015, PlayStation Experience 2015 reveal the reaction videos of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trailer, and a brand new Final Fantasy VII Remake trailer featuring cutscenes of the protagonist Cloud, Barret, and the members of Avalanche. The trailer also includes the preview of the gameplay which is similar to Final Fantasy XV.

In the ensuing years, Square Enix offered few details regarding the remake, as director Tetsuya Nomura was busy working on Kingdom Hearts III. It was not until 2019 that Square Enix began offering more looks at the game, with presentations at E3 and the Tokyo Game Show. It was also revealed that it is unclear how many parts will be in the Final Fantasy VII remake.^[10]

Reception

Pre-release reviews for the game have been highly positive. As of April 8th, 2020, the game has a rating of 87/100 on Metacritic based on 74 critical reviews.^[11] Critics praised the reimagining and improvements on the original. Gamespot^[12] wrote, "Final Fantasy VII Remake is an astounding achievement. The wait for its release was a long one, but in gameplay, story, characters, and music, it delivers--the wait was worth it. For first-time players, it's an opportunity to understand why Final Fantasy VII is held in such high regard." Critics also praised the updated combat system, which focuses more on action than the original.

Online Presence

The game grew a vast online community prior to release. The game's subreddit has over 29,000 subscribers.^[13] On April 3rd, Redditor frumpybuffalo^[14] posted a thread saying they would help facilitate the digital purchase of the game to those who wanted it but could not afford it due to the economic impact of the Coronavirus Outbreak. ^[15] A Facebook group for the remake has over 18,000 followers.^[16]

Time Jannies

Time Jannies is a nickname given to a Final Fantasy VII Remake timeline-correction phenomenon Whispers of Fate, which manifest themselves in the form of hooded apparitions. The phenomenon was humorously dubbed "time jannies" by anonymous users on 4chan's /v/ board, with "jannie" meaning a janitor (moderator). In early April 2020, jokes about the plot element gained significant popularity on /v/, with memes often imagining Time Jannies correcting timelines in other fandoms.