It’s finally here! What was once thought of as simply a pipe dream is now real, and Final Fantasy VII Remake has been officially released worldwide. Here are a few things you should do first once you boot up the game.
Play on Normal Difficulty
At the start, Final Fantasy VII Remake offers you three difficulty levels: Classic, Easy, and Normal. Easy and Normal are essentially the same thing: you’ll be fighting your enemies, action-RPG style, and you can enter tactical mode by pressing the X button to bring up the command menu. This slows time down to a crawl, allowing you to make decisions and choose what abilities you want to use in the heat of battle. Easy mode just makes the enemies a little less tough.
Classic mode sounds cool, like it should be made for fans of the turn-based combat system, but it really isn’t. This mode completely removes the action elements of the game, and enemy toughness is the same as it would be on Easy mode. You’ll just be making decisions as the ATB charges fill up, and the characters will block and evade perfectly. It’s a pretty boring way to play, and will get old fast.
For the full experience, play on Normal mode. Final Fantasy VII Remake is not a particularly challenging game, as long as you’re reading your ability and spell tool tips as they pop up.
Press L2
When you first arrive at the Sector 7 slums, you’ll get your first proper taste of freedom as you get to roam about and complete side quests. The slums aren’t that big, but they can’t be tricky to navigate as there are so many little streets and alleyways.
It’ll be annoying to have to keep opening up your menu and checking your map, and sometimes the compass at the top of the screen just isn’t good enough. If you need more clarity or info about the area you’re exploring, hit the L2 button to activate a mini-map at the top right corner of your screen.
Do All the Side Quests
Speaking of side quests, most of these reward you with new Materia, shop discounts, and equipment. You don’t have to do all of them, but it’s strongly recommended that you do. Completing all side quests in an area can unlock purple Discovery quests with whichever character is accompanying Cloud at the moment, and they’re nice little touches that add a bit more flair to the story.
If you do just want to pick and choose your quests, though, I recommend focusing on Chadley’s Battle Intel quests that you unlock in the Sector 7 slums. His quests are simple enough to do, and completing each one will unlock new Materia for sale when you talk to him. Eventually, he’ll also give you VR missions where you can take on powerful enemies and earn them as summons.
Switch Weapons Frequently
A new element introduced in Final Fantasy VII Remake is the unique weapon abilities. New weapons can be hard to come by in this game, but when you do get a new one, consider switching to it even if its stats may not seem that great initially.
Every weapon specializes in a different area; for instance, the Nail Bat has pretty poor stats, but boasts a high critical rate once you upgrade it, which can make it quite a devastating weapon in combat.
In addition to that, every weapon comes with a unique ability that you can master the more you use it. Once mastered, you’ll be able to use that ability any time, even when you have a different weapon equipped. It’s definitely worth experimenting with all the weapons you find just for those abilities, as they add a lot of utility to your characters.
Assess, then Touchpad
One of the very first Battle Intel quests you get from Chadley will reward you with the Assess Materia, which is basically Libra. Using Assess on an enemy will give you all the info you need about them, including their resistances and weaknesses, as well as tips on how to take them down effectively.
Once you’ve used Assess on an enemy, their info will become available to you forever. The next time you face them, and if you happen to forget what they were weak to, just lock on and press the touchpad to bring up their Assess info.
Learn How to Use Tifa
Tifa is one of the most powerful characters you can make use of in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Initially she might seem a little weak, as she’s primarily focused on melee damage and her stats aren’t as great as Cloud’s. However, she serves a more important purpose: racking up Stagger damage.
Tifa starts with an ability called Unbridled Strength, and you can use it up to two times to build up her Chi stacks. Using it once unlocks her triangle skill, Omnistrike, and using it twice unlocks Rise and Fall. The key here is to Stagger an enemy, then use both Rise and Fall and Omnistrike to increase the Stagger multiplier from 160%. This lets her deal an insane amount of damage.
Her other abilities are also great for Pressuring enemies and building up their Stagger bars, such as Overpower and Focused Strike. Make good use of her to take out your foes efficiently.
Take in the Sights
Finally, just enjoy the game and take in the beautiful sights of Midgar. Final Fantasy VII Remake takes place entirely in Midgar, and it’s basically a perfect recreation of the city we all know and love from 1997.
When exploring the city, always take the path less traveled and try to go to areas where your party members won’t follow you. This is the key to finding hidden items and treasure chests, along with powerful Materia you might not be able to buy anywhere else.
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