At the Monaco Anime Game International Conference of 2017, or better known as MAGIC 2017, Square Enix revealed two screenshots of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy VII Remake.
The screenshots revealed two scenes in the early parts of the original Final Fantasy VII, including the first boss fight, and gave excited gamers a glimpse of how the combat system will work for the remake.
'Final Fantasy VII Remake' Screenshots
The screenshots of the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Remake were presented by game director Tetsuya Nomura. The images give fans a preview on how the opening sequence of the classic 1997 RPG Final Fantasy VII will look like in the remake.
The first image shows Cloud hiding for cover behind a crate as an enemy soldier fires at him with a rifle. Aside from the gorgeous graphics in what is likely the first part of the game wherein Cloud joins up with Barrett and Avalanche for a mission, a command menu can be seen in the lower left portion and Cloud's details are shown in the lower right portion.
The options listed in the command menu are Attack, Magic, Materia, and Item, with the L1 and R1 buttons shown on each side of the menu. As for Cloud's details, his HP, MP, and Limit Break meter are shown on one row and his ATB bar, or the bar that needs to fill up before he can perform an action, shown in the second row.
The second image is much more action-packed than the first one, as Cloud and Barrett are shown locked in battle with the first boss in the original Final Fantasy VII. The Guard Scorpion looks much more menacing in the Final Fantasy VII Remake as the mechanical guardian fires bullets at Cloud and Barrett. As with the first image, a command menu with the same items are shown in the lower left portion of the screen, and the details of both Cloud and Barrett are shown in the lower right.
Glimpses Of The 'Final Fantasy VII Remake' Combat System
One of the biggest questions on the Final Fantasy VII Remake is whether or not the game will keep the turn-based combat system found in the original game, or if it will adopt a more fluid, fast-paced combat system like the one seen in Final Fantasy XV.
From the command menu shown in the two screenshots, it seems that the combat system of the Final Fantasy VII Remake will still rely on command inputs, with an active battle system that will have opponents performing actions if their time to act has come even if the player has not yet chosen a command for Cloud or his team.
In the second screenshot, a Triangle button is seen on top of Cloud's head as he looks to be charging toward the Guard Scorpion, which might mean that he is ready to perform a special attack against the robot boss.
One other interesting thing is that there is both a Magic and Materia option in the command menu, when Magic in Final Fantasy VII is drawn from Materia. Perhaps the Magic option is for launching magic attacks, and the Materia option is so that players can switch equipped Materia in real-time.
'Final Fantasy VII' Remake Video Voted Down
Beyond the two screenshots, Nomura had nothing else to show fans for the Final Fantasy VII Remake. He did, however, claim that he wanted to show a video during MAGIC 2017, but his colleagues voted against doing so.
It seems that gamers looking forward to the Final Fantasy VII Remake will have no choice but to wait for more information, though judging from the screenshots, it seems that development is moving along just fine.
