One of those hypothetical questions you hear a lot is “If you could play any video game for the first time again, what would it be?” It’s fun to think about what experiences have felt so enthralling that you’d love to relive them all over. I’d usually put forward something from my childhood that felt like it defined my life or taste in entertainment in some way, but five years ago, my answer to that question drastically changed, with the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Never in my life had I played a game that gave me the exact feeling of bright-eyed wonder I had playing massive RPGs as a child. Square Enix completely flipped the script on the very idea of what a video game remake means, and I’ll never forget the feeling I had playing through Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
The proposition of remaking a game like Final Fantasy 7 is daunting no matter how you look at it — how do you revive one of the most influential RPGs of all time? Some people just want a graphical upgrade with no changes, some want a brand-new experience. There’s no way you’re going to please everyone when remaking a game, but Square Enix decided to take the most ambitious, and simultaneously, most difficult path.
