Note to developers - if you want to do a remake, this is how you do it. While it's been rumoured for years (or perhaps even decades), with a new rumour starting seemingly ever year, at this year's E3, it's finally happened - the incredibly popular cult Playstation 1 role playing game, Final Fantasy VII, is being remade. And, if the trailer is anything to go by, it's going to look incredible.
This is a lot more spectacular than we remember it
Far and away the most popular Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy VII first hit the original Playstation way back in 1997. A game that caused Japanese role playing games to leap to immense levels of popularity, the Final Fantasy games were one of the main driving forces behind the success of the Playstation and Playstation 2 - although by the time they went multiformat with Final Fantasy XIII, their popularity had started to wane. Set in a land under the control of an evil corporation known as Shinra, who are draining the life of the world (in the guise of providing energy), FF7 tells the story of Cloud Strife, a member of an eco-terrorist group known as AVALANCHE, and permanent thorn in Shinra's side. Of course, there's a lot more to it than what appears on the surface, and before too long you're plunged into a tale of espionage, betrayal, and a heck of a lot of characterisation. Oh, and there's some cross dressing thrown in there for good measure too.
It's Cloud himself. The giant sword is a staple in Japanese role playing games.
Taking the game from it's kind-of Chibi like primitive 3D graphics from back in the day (Final Fantasy VII was one of many Playstation games to make use of static, pre-rendered background, with 3D characters plonked on top), to a stonking new updated art style along the lines of the more recent films and spin-off games, the familiar sights (and music) will nevertheless bring goosebumps to many a Final Fantasy fan - and provide a great way for those who weren't into games back then to find out first hand what all the fuss was about.
Having only just entered development, Final Fantasy VII is still a long way off, and should release around the time of the game's 20th Anniversary, in 2017, on PS4 first (and presumably PC and Xbox One later). We just hope they keep the traditional turn based battles, rather than moving to a more button-mashy approach. Here's the first footage (although it's not clear whether this is in engine or not)
