Square Enix launched their E3 presentation with the Final Fantasy VII remake.
Producer Yoshinori Kitase first took the stage, where he shocked the crowd by announcing that the Final Fantasy VII remake will feature two Blu-ray discs worth of gameplay content. It also seems like it might actually be two games in one. The translator notes, “The first game in this project expands on the story of Midgar and is such an elaborate retelling that it has become a solid standalone game in its own right.”
Final Fantasy VII’s Neil Pabon introduced the gameplay. He announced the game will feature a hybrid gameplay system with real time action as well as strategic command based combat.
He notes that Cloud’s standard attacks build up two ATB gauges. While the gauges fill up over time, Cloud’s attacks can fill them up faster. Once the ATB bar is full, time is basically stopped and players enter tactical mode allowing players to choose a number of different actions. Those actions include items, a Braver attack, and spells.
They note that players will be able to switch between characters, and the characters have very different skill sets in ATB mode. Players can either switch between characters to use their ATB bars or issues commands while staying on one character.
Enemies will also have a focus bar that will allow players to stagger them once they are depleted. In stagger mode, enemies take increased damage.
The game will also allow abilities to have shortcuts if players want a quicker-paced battle.
Square Enix then featured an extensive combat tutorial where Cloud and Barret take on a massive robot boss. Following the combat tutorial Tetsuya Nomura, the director of Final Fantasy VII Remake, took the stage.
He debuted the long version of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trailer which features Tifa in her original costume. The trailer begins around the 17 minute mark.
After the trailer, they unveiled a number of pre-order options. You can take a look at the options below.
Final Fantasy VII Remake will go on sale on March 3, 2020.
What did you make of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII E3 presentation?