Final Fantasy VII Remake is the latest game in the Final Fantasy series released by Square Enix. It was released globally on April 10, 2020 as a PS4 exclusive, and is a retelling of the original Final Fantasy VII’s story. Here are 5 interesting facts you should really know before jumping into this remake!

5. The New Battle System

The combat is much more action oriented this time around

For the remake, Square Enix has completely overhauled the classic ATB system. Fights now take place in real time, with all characters having basic attacks, and a unique ability (Cloud shifts combat modes with his, while Barret overcharges to give his ATB bar a boost). You can also block and dodge to minimize the damage you take. Each character has a unique play style, and the game encourages use of all of them for certain situations.

Characters also have two ATB bars, which charge slowly over time, and as you land basic attacks. These bars are required to use magic, weapon abilities and items. If the combat feels overwhelming, you can set the game to Classic Mode, where characters will do their basic actions automatically, allowing you to focus on only the ATB abilities.

4. Cloud the Mercenary

Tifa will help get Cloud’s mercenary business off the ground

In the original FFVII, Cloud says he’s a mercenary, but never does any work as one outside of the opening mission. This is fixed in the remake, in the form of side quests. As you explore the slums of Midgar, you will find residents who are in need of help, and will hire Cloud for his services.

These quests can range from killing monsters in an area, to assisting residents in finding someone that’s missing. Completing these quests will give various rewards, and build Cloud’s reputation as a reliable mercenary.

3. The Weapon Upgrade System

You can choose how your weapon grows to suit your play style

FFVIIR has a system to both upgrade and customize your weapons. As you level or clear certain objectives, you will earn SP, which is used to upgrade the weapons. These upgrades can range anywhere from stat boosts, to extra materia slots for the weapon.

All weapons will gain SP equally, so none of them will ever become obsolete. It is perfectly viable to play through the entire game using Cloud’s Buster Sword for example. Every weapon has their specialties, so you can use whichever one best suits your team and play style.

2. Same Characters, New Voices

Voice actors such as George Newborn will not be reprising their roles

If you are a veteran of the Final Fantasy series, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the voices for Cloud, Sephiroth, and others from the FFVII cast. For this new telling of the story, Square Enix has replaced the entire voice cast (you can find the new voice actors here).

While this means that the characters with previous voice actors will sound different, many characters will also have a voice for the first time. This includes characters like Jessie, voiced by Spider-Man PS4’s Erica Lindbeck, and Wedge, voiced by Breaking Bad’s Matt Jones.

1. Remake, Not Remaster

The mysterious spectres are one of the biggest new additions to FFVIIR

The most important thing you need to know before going into this game is that this is not going to be a shot for shot redo of FFVII’s original story. As this is a complete reboot of the original game, you should expect there to be many changes, from combat to story.

A big focus of these changes will be greatly expanding Midgar and making it feel more alive. This includes adding various sections of Midgar, giving more depth to side characters from the original, and adding all new characters and story elements to the game.

It’s worth noting that this game takes place entirely in Midgar, as this is part of a multi-game project. The reasoning for this is so that they are able to expand upon the original game’s story, without having to remove any elements that fans would want to see. As Producer Yoshinori Kitase stated, “Having more than one game in the project allowed us to focus on keeping everything people loved from the original, but go into greater detail and more story depth than before.”

Hopefully this list has given you a good idea of what to expect from the Final Fantasy VII Remake.