4 Key Differences Between Final Fantasy 7 Remake And The Original Game

Square Enix is finally opening up about Final Fantasy 7's remake. If you were expecting simply the same old game with a higher resolution, think again.

As it turns out, Square Enix is making sweeping changes to the PSOne classic. Here's a run-down of the biggest differences between the remake and the original version.

Episodic Structure

Rather than releasing the Final Fantasy 7 remake all at once, Square Enix says the revised game is "a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience." They explained that breaking the game into episodes is necessary because of how large it is.

It's unclear how many parts the game will be divided into, or how much each part will cost. It's possible the full game could end up being more than the standard $60 as a result of this structure. The bright side of an episodic schedule, though, is that it allows Square Enix to release the first part much quicker.

Unreal Engine 4

The FF7 remake ditches the pre-rendered environments of the original. The development team has completely rebuilt the world with full polygon graphics. The game is powered by Unreal Engine 4, the technology behind Kingdom Hearts 3, Gears of War 4 and a wide range of other games.

Each of the characters have been built from scratch to look more realistic. Square Enix told Famitsu that they're not reusing the character models from animated film Advent Children, as they're not life-like enough and are over 10 years old at this point.

Real-Time Combat

The original Final Fantasy 7 saw players issue commands to a party of three characters The remake swaps in real-time combat, with players directly controlling one character. They can switch between their party's three characters on the fly.

Familiar elements of the original FF7's battle system will return. There will still be Limit Breaks, special abilities that can only be used sparingly in combat. There's also an ATB gauge building up over time, though it won't determine how often you can attack.

The Story Is Changing

While the major plot points of Final Fantasy 7 won't be changed for the remake, the story won't be completely the same. Director Tetsuya Nomura told Dengeki Online that the multi-part release of the remake lets them get deeper with each part of the story. He hinted that FF7 veterans are in for some surprises.

In the same interview, producer Yoshinori Kitase said that they don't want the remake to be just a nostalgic experience for long-time fans. They're planning to adjust the story so that these players can once again get excited by FF7.