Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is set for release in just under a month!
Now here at GIO we’re admittedly a little conflicted about this.
On one hand this is a Final Fantasy VII title with all our beloved characters, and it seems more on Sephiroth’s story which in my mind always felt a little underpadded. On the other this is a mobile title… and perhaps with tones of quickish cash grab and Square attempting to bring in a newer, predominantly mobile device orientated fan base.
Now as long-time fans of the original FF7 we understand there is a need to revitalize the franchise from time to time and attract new fans to the franchise given the original was released 25 years ago now. Square Enix have done a fair job of catering to both the old faithful and new so honestly, at this point, were just excited to revisit some of the storylines we fell in love with all those years ago!
For this we are, quite regrettably, prepared to swallow the mobile platform pill.
Yes, everyone has a mobile device and not everyone has a PC, Playstation or Xbox so for coverage it makes sense from a business decision, but mobile devices are not great for playing content intensive games. They just don’t capture the emersion a good game deserves, leave mobile gaming to likes of pop it match games and endless pay wall nonsense. Not to mention battery life drains hard if played for more than minutes at a time, the general squintiness required for those who already ruined our eyes on likes of Gameboys or first gen PSPs sucks. Surely the cons outweigh the pros in mobile gaming for anything that considers itself a quality and serious gaming franchise. Square Enix already learnt this, or should have, from its earlier mobile game attempt with its FF7 first soldier entry they begun to wind down just a year after its release citing its failure to deliver the experience they had envisioned.
Why? It was a terrible gaming experience. Could it have worked in some environment with proper controls rather than a tiny touch screen, maybe. When half your visual field is obscured by your thumbs to move and take actions you’re already pitching from the back foot.
Ever Crisis may have this sorted though by reports it is returning to its turn-based battle system meaning you don’t have to manage controls in real-time. That’s one problem sorted at least but we still have reservations about the rest.
Now there have been so many entries into the VII franchise over the years and the narrative has expanded in each iteration so the opportunity to revisit some of those memories or explore ones we happened to miss is a welcome sight.
That said though there have been so many entries into the VII franchise over the years and the narrative has expanded in each iteration, so the opportunity to revisit gameplay, characters and a storyline that impacted our early gaming to (no understatement either) a ludicrous degree has us excited. All tell there we might even get to explore narratives we happened to miss, a welcome sight, but there are new storylines as well to build on the rich world yet still.
From the trailer it looks we can expect more of Angeal and Genesis, two significant and powerful establishing figures that are largely left otherwise to being footnotes to Zack who himself is something of a footnote in Cloud’s story. How about the much-underrated Shelke, the badass psionic that helped Vincent whoop some serious butt? There are many characters we all think deserve a little more love and playtime than they’ve had so we can’t way to see who shows up, who is playable and what moments and stories feature!
Check out the official site here, we’ve got our calendars marked and will be sure to return with our first thoughts and verdict in due course!
