In a post on the US PlayStation Blog, Justin Massongill, Social Media Manager at Sony Interactive Entertainment America, spoke about the ways that Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s combat remains faithful to the original game. Players have voiced some concerns online after the gameplay demo that was shown at Square Enix’s E3 press conference showed a ton of fast-paced combat. Massongill assured long time fans that the remake’s combat is true to the original, as it still relies heavily on turn-based elements when in some of the game’s more frantic situations.
He went into further detail and said:
Allow me to elaborate. There’s a “standard attack” you can execute by hammering the Square button, and you can block with R1 or dodge with Circle. Sure, this all looks flashy and feels fun, but leaning on these skills isn’t going to get you through battles very quickly. The meat of the combat in Remake is Tactical Mode, which you can enter at any time by pressing X. When you go Tactical, time slows nearly to a stop and you gain access to a menu with options for Abilities, Spells, and Items. You have plenty of time to plan a course of action here—think of this more like a cinematic version of the turn-based combat from the original game.
He then went on to describe some of the other ways that the game still delivers that classic, tactical Final Fantasy VII experience that fans have come to expect over the years. He mentioned that “equipping Materia to a character’s gear still grants access to various spells,” which will allow players to gain the upper hand when fighting certain enemies due to the remake’s focus on elemental weaknesses. He also mentioned that when fighting the Scorpion Sentinel boss, he continually made use of Cloud’s melee attacks to keep pressure on the boss, then he would switch to Barret to make use of his ranged Thunder attack to overwhelm it. Players will no doubt find the best tactical combinations which can be used to ensure as swift a victory as possible when fighting some of the game’s more difficult enemies. Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s combat will rely on the player using their wits, not simply mashing buttons.
Final Fantasy VII Remake will launch on March 3, 2020 for the PlayStation 4.
What do you think of Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s combat system? Let us know in the comments below!
[Source: US PlayStation Blog]
