SPOILERS: I have mixed feelings about the game as a whole. Every time it builds itself up to be something good, it immediately does something to make me hate it. The first half was a drag. The latter half was better but still had some downsides. 5.5/10
[b] Minigames [/b]
It took some getting used to the fact that progressing through the main and side quests meant playing minigames. Getting weapon upgrades, useful items, deepening relationships with companions, and progressing through main/side quests all meant doing minigames. I thought finishing them and getting the best rank would be the end, but later on, new challenges and hard modes were introduced for the same minigames.
The upside of having so many minigames was that there were at least one or two I enjoyed and grew fond of. During the Loveless play, instead of just watching and enjoying the play as the characters bond, we're instead tasked with doing quick-time events, completely ruining what's supposed to be a laid-back section where we should be paying attention to the play and our characters performing different roles.
I'd say a good 40% of the gameplay is just minigames.
[b] Combat [/b]
The game gives you plenty of options for approaching enemies rather than just relying on their weaknesses to defeat them. This installment introduces synergy skills/abilities that let you perform powerful attacks when two characters work together. Parrying is a bit better here.
Although there are many ways to approach enemies, the game does a terrible job explaining some deeper concepts, which makes them easy to miss and causes players to overlook major aspects of the game. Looking up videos on the topic will give you more info.
One of the most frustrating and lazy combat scenarios is when the game actively puts you in a situation that goes against everything it has taught you about fighting. One example is a combat simulation battle where you have to defeat one enemy before killing the two others accompanying it. The frustrating part is that your companions will attack the 2 weaker enemies, which makes you fail the mission.
A 2nd example is the Rufus battle. This boss fight is the first and only one of its kind, where Rufus is completely invincible except when he's reloading. You can perform Cloud's most powerful attack, and Rufus will simply be immune to it. Even the final boss doesn't have this feature and is notably easier to defeat.
[b] Weapon/Skill Progression [/b]
I thought the UI and progression system were worse in this game. I could see they were trying to make it easier, but it comes out messier and less coherent. Instead of dedicated spheres like in the last game, we're given skill trees that feel mashed together.
This game is stingy and inconsistent about giving you new weapons or good materia. For weapons, they'll give you new onesnfor each character, over one or two chapters, then none for several chapters afterward. One example is the Mako Reactor: the game gives you new weapons back to back, but then, for several chapters before or after, you get just one or none.
It was disappointing to reach a new region or store and not be able to spend my accumulated Gil on anything useful. I expected to earn weapons through side quests or deep exploration, but most of the time they were just sitting in chests out in the open. It felt like they were handed out at random.
[b] Open-world [/b]
At first, I was skeptical of the open-world concept, but it turned out better than I expected. My favorite part was when Chadley shows you a compilation of everything you've explored in a region, field intel, towers/springs discovered, activities completed, enemies assessed. That was a nice touch and made the repetitiveness of the region activities feel mostly worth it. You're rewarded well for it too, since you can practice defeating enemies in the simulation, which grants you new skills via the Enemy Skill materia. You also earn intel points, which let you develop new types of materia from Chadley.
Every soundtrack perfectly captures the atmosphere of its region.
[b] Story [/b]
Story-wise, this game really moved me and genuinely made me care about the characters and the story. I already knew the basic story, but playing this game made me develop a deeper appreciation and a hunger for learning more about the deeper themes of FF7.
I think one thing that hurts the game is its unserious attitude. It felt like the writers were afraid to let some things go all out. Take Barret's rage against anything Shinra. There are multiple times where he is given the opportunity to finish off someone he deeply despises but just lets them go because it's "the better thing to do." It doesn't make sense to build him up as someone who holds a grudge against people for literally dropping a plate on their home but he does nothing about it. One of the main themes of FF7 is death, but it seems to be nowhere to be found where it makes the most sense to appear.
The game isn't subtle about portraying Don Corneo as a human trafficker who keeps women as sex slaves. Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie act threatening toward him but pretty much just give him a slap on the wrist. Instead of some gritty outcome, it doesn't have to be death or gore, he just gets kicked in the stomach and let go. Isn't Cloud at least a little mad at him for almost trafficking Tifa? Wouldn't Barret, who has "Dad" energy in the group, especially in his relationship with Marlene, be the first to want to kill Corneo?
Another miss was bringing back Reno, since Remake made it seem like he died. The Turks are some of the most boring characters in this FF7. They never die and Barret or Tifa never do anything to them despite the Turks committing atrocities. Their only purpose seems to be showing the banality of evil. All Sephiroth ever does here is taunt Cloud.
But it's the little moments and interactions between the main characters that grew on me, and my thoughts about them evolved beyond my first impressions. I took Yuffie as an annoying brat but playing her here, completing her side quests, and taking note of her small interactions within the group made me grow fond of her and her small development from someone who only cares about materia and proving herself, to someone who genuinely cares about the other characters. She's not perfect, but it's the small changes here and there that I really took note of.
This sequel made me understand why Aerith is a truly beloved character among the FF fandom. I think her personality is an important part of the group's dynamic, and more importantly, of Cloud's personality/psyche, as a positive force that combats his dry, monotone, and fractured character.
All the drama within the first half acted as trauma bonding, and the Gold Saucer was probably one of my favorite events in a video game to date. The setting simply makes sense for the group to bond even further in a fun setting where we get to see a different side of them. As the endgame approached, I grew increasingly sad that our adventure was ending. I completed all the side quests and most of the activities the game had to offer, and in return I felt a stronger attachment to the characters, their individual stories, and the game's overall story.
[b] Ending Thoughts [/b]
Personally, I like the game. But I don't think it's a good game. It's an okay game. Whatever topics the game tries to tackle, it never fully commits to them.
Despite all the good things, I don't think I can recommend this game, mainly because of the minigames and the hit-or-miss storytelling around serious topics. Some people might argue you can just skip them, since most are entirely optional, but when people buy a product, they usually expect to get the most out of it, if not all of it. With the lack of character deaths, it's hard to take the game's themes seriously when characters are going to live anyway.
