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Publisher: Square Enix / Developer: Square Enix Business Division 1 / Platform: Playstation / Release Date: April 10, 2020

Everyone has their favorite Final Fantasy, more than that, everyone has an entry in the series that they consider to be the best. Some say it’s VI, others IX’s but one thing that everyone can agree on, and it’s a fact that’s undeniable, is that Final Fantasy VII has had the biggest impact of all the games. Whether it’s because it’s the first 3D Final Fantasy game or most people’s first game in the series, Final Fantasy VII is infamous. The music, story, and characters are so iconic that it’s forever burnt into our brains.

That’s why when Square Enix first teased the possibility of the classic game being remade with back in 2005, the whole world collectively lost its shit. The prospect of seeing the game we loved recreated with current-generation graphics and technology was too enticing to pass up. It wasn’t until more than ten years and a whole console generation later that a remake of the game was officially announced, and it all became a reality.

Over the course of the next couple of years, more and more details began to emerge about how the remake would take shape, with director Tetsuya Nomura promising a change from the game’s original’s turn-based battle system to a more accessible action-RPG one. Even bigger was the reveal that the remake would be separated into parts, with this only being the first one. All this drew some cause for concern amongst fans, and for good reason. The old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” comes to mind. Everything from the Final Fantasy VII Remake screams of one huge risk. The only question – does it pay off? Yes, in a very big way.

Story

Eco-terrorists, corporate greed, and a fight to save the planet. It’s funny how timely the plot of the original Final Fantasy VII still is 23 years later. If you’ve never played the original, the core of Final Fantasy VII’s plot revolves around Cloud Strife, a former Soldier and company man to the Shinra corporation. At the request of an old friend, he teams up with eco-terrorist group Avalanche as a mercenary for hire against Shinra. From there, you begin to learn more about the city of Midgar, it’s people, and how Shinra is draining the planet of its energy at an alarming rate.

For longtime fans, you’ll be happy to know that the remake faithfully recreates the plot of the original, as well as it’s iconic moments. These scenes are just as you remember and so much better. For newcomers, you’ll find yourself entrenched in the city of Midgar and its struggle between its corporate overlords and the lower-class people. It’s a fun journey, complete with all the best aspects you’d expect from a fantasy epic. From guys with giant swords to magic and epic fights against gods, the spectacle and action are dialed up to 11. Fight scenes take on gravity-defying heights and the action choreography can give the Fast and the Furious franchise a run for its money. It’s all in good fun though and fits within the tone of its world.

Even better, the story expands on those moments. All of the Final Fantasy VII Remake’s plot takes place in Midgar, which accounts for a third to almost half of the original game’s story. It’s clear that the developers wanted to breathe life into Midgar in a way that makes it feel alive more than it ever did before. It’s all done in a way that it’s easy to see new players falling in love with this game the same way that older fans have. And for the old fans, some of the new elements added to the plot will be welcome additions while the other may prove controversial. There are some surprises for those who think they know what’s coming.

However, all of that would be pointless if they couldn’t do justice to the game’s unique cast of characters. Final Fantasy VII’s main players all remain as endearing as ever, personalities intact. Cloud’s a sarcastic smart ass, Tifa is the caring one with a heart of gold, Aerith is a bit of a troll, and Barrett is a passionate one. Even previously minor characters are given more screen time, developing them and adding some heart to the plot. At first, I was apprehensive to see these characters. I’m glad that my worries are unfounded. The voice cast portrays these characters how we remember them so well. Even though the script can sometimes come off as campy and stiff at points, the actors manage to pull it off, giving us an emotional connection to them and the story.

Presentation

There is a clear jump in the technology from the original Final Fantasy VII to the remake. We’ve come a long way from the first PlayStation to the PlayStation 4, and it shows. This game is beautiful, and Midgar is a new vision of its former self. Once again, there’s a clear focus by the developers to make Midgar feel as alive as possible. In order to do that, they had to expand the formerly isometric environment of the previous game and fully realize them into a 3D space, all while retaining its steampunk/neo-noir architecture. It’s no easy task but the team at Square Enix pulls it off…for the most part.

Minor technical issues do hold back these well-designed environments. I often found myself noticing how the main cast of the game and other major story characters looked amazing. However, textures on buildings and walls or details on NPC’s would take more than a few minutes to come into focus. I saw more than just a few muddy gray or brown backgrounds and pop-ins during my playthrough. Nothing major but enough to distract from how beautiful the game is. And the game is beautiful, pushing the boundaries of what the PS4 is capable of, making for visuals on par with the best CGI films.

One of the more memorable aspects of Final Fantasy VII is the score. Square Enix took the effort of creating updated versions of the songs, which add a bit of an orchestral flair to them. The new versions of these classic songs still have the same impact as the original did in 1997. I was worried that it would lose its sound in the update, but the score is just as unforgettable as ever. Plus, there are plenty of new songs added to the game, which are a welcome addition. Final Fantasy VII has some of the best music in the series, and Square’s update does it justice.

Gameplay

More than the story, more than the characters, a Final Fantasy game can live or die by its gameplay. The original turn-based battle system holds a special place in my heart. So, the announcement that it would be replaced with something was more akin to Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy XV left me with pause. I worried that the remake would be just as mindless and lack strategy. The good thing is that those fears are alleviated once you get your hands on the battle system.

Before a battle, you can customize the weapons, equipment, and items for each party member. Each weapon comes with its own set of stats that can be upgraded, and a special ability that can be learned and passed onto the next weapon. The materia system makes a return, allowing players to tweak and set extra abilities, magic attacks, and summons. Upgrading weapons seem like an afterthought because I found myself not seeing the effects too much during battle.

Players can switch between all three-party members freely, move them around the battlefield, use basic and secondary attacks at any time, as well as block and dodge. What makes the combat stand out from your basic hack and slash is the Active Time Battle (ATB) system. As you fight, defend, and take damage, your ATB gauge grows. For each bar that is filled, players can take several special actions. Those actions can be linked to shortcuts or accessed by Pressing X to open up the menu, slowing down the combat like bullet time.

I barely found myself using shortcuts because using the menu feels a lot more satisfying and like playing the classic Final Fantasy VII. Slowing down the action also allows you to think, strategize, and plan whether you are going to spend ATB bars on a character’s special abilities, spells, or items. Once you get in the flow of things, even with the pauses in combat, the action is nonstop. While everything in battle is in real-time, the developers have made battle feel so cinematic, making each battle exciting to play. It’s the perfect middle ground for new and old players. There is so much fun to be had fighting against the enemies you take on. 

Speaking of enemies, there is a large variety of them to encounter. Players will find themselves needing to pause the action a lot in order to analyze the enemies and exploit their weaknesses. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s not perfect. Smaller battles can grow a lot less thrilling and rewarding to play overtime. Sometimes you run into an area, press the attack a few times, and it’s over before it even starts. Another gripe I had was that the enemy AI tends to focus its attack on the party member you’re controlling, making you switch between members more often than I would have liked. Thankfully, there are plenty of mini-bosses and great boss battles that more than makeup for it, letting you fully utilize every aspect of combat.

Outside of combat, the game is mostly linear by all counts. It is designed to keep you in one specific area for as long as you can. The developers have added several side missions to each of the main areas, which act as a way of stretching the playtime and story. Environments like the Sector 6 and 7 slums and the wall market feel bigger and more populated than it did before. The architecture and NPC’s of those areas also do wonders for environmental storytelling. Even I, as someone who played the original PS1 game, felt like I was learning about Midgar through a whole new lens. All of it encourages you to explore as much as you can and take your time with the game.

Summary

Remakes and Remasters are not the same. There was a point where those two words got so confused, and I kinda understood why. Giving games a new coat of paint meant making it HD or updating the character models. However, the last year or two has seen developers fully recreating games with current-generation game design mechanics and flare. The Final Fantasy VII Remake is an example of that. When it comes down to it, the game is a reimagining of the classic game that feels familiar yet brand new at the same time. Old school fans will have to decide for themselves if they are okay with the major story changes but there is no arguing how visually stunning the graphics are and how captivating the gameplay can be. For sure, the remake will have made plenty of new fans and anyone who plays will have a blast.

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The post Final Fantasy VII Remake Review: An Endearing Classic in Its Own Right appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

Close up of Oculudentavis in Amber (via Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)

Someone call Guinness: The world’s smallest dinosaur has been found preserved in Burmese amber from Myanmar.

Trapped around 99 million years ago, the delicate skull—tinier even than the smallest living bird—belongs to a new species, Oculudentavis khaungraae, or “eye-tooth-bird.”

Nicknamed “The Cretaceous Terror of Insects,” Oculudentavis refers to the creature’s unusual features: large eyes and loads of teeth, suggesting that despite its size, the bird was a diurnal predator.

“Animals that become very small have to deal with specific problems, like how to fit all sensory organs into a very small head, or how to maintain body heat,” according to lead study author Jingmai O’Connor.

This process, called miniaturization, commonly occurs in isolated environments, most famously islands—like the one this 99-million-year-old Burmese amber is thought to have come from.

Unfortunately, the new specimen consists of only a skull, making it difficult to understand how Oculudentavis is related to other animals. Some features are similar to dinosaurs, while others are more like advanced birds.

“It’s the weirdest fossil I’ve ever been lucky enough to study,” O’Connor, a senior professor with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and research associate at LA’s Natural History Museum (NHM), said in a statement. “I just love how natural selection ends up producing such bizarre forms.

“We are also super lucky this fossil survived to be discovered 99 million years later,” she continued. “Just goes to show the extraordinary circumstances that all need to be just right for fossils to make it into human hands.”

Skull reconstruction of Oculudentavis (via Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County)

Eight specimens of ancient dinosaur birds were previously found in amber, all smaller than traditional fossils preserved in rock.

The petrified tree resin is a unique preservational mode, capturing otherwise unfossilizable parts of ecosystems for discovery centuries later.

“This discovery highlights how ancient amber has the ability to provide information about organisms that are otherwise absent in the fossil record,” Luis Chiappe, senior vice president of research and collections at NHM, explained. “This is particularly the case for tiny animals that lived in trees.”

Tiny animals like Oculudentavis khaungraae, whose full name honors Khaung Ra, who donated the specimen to the Hupoge Amber Museum in China.

A paper describing the hummingbird-sized dinosaur was published this week in the journal Nature.

More on Geek.com:

• Case Closed: The Mystery of the Dinosaur Tracks on the Cave Ceiling
• Curate a Mini Museum With Lego’s New Dinosaur Fossils
• Scientists Uncover New Evidence of Asteroid That Killed Dinosaurs

Kennedy McMann as Nancy and Riley Smith as Ryan -- Photo: The CW

On an especially scary night in the real world, what better time could there be for a Nancy Drew ghost story? It’s Nancy’s dad’s hearing today, which of course is the perfect time for an evil spirit to send her an omen. For now, she has to ignore that and search for evidence exonerating her dad. Her lab tech friend is in town to examine Lucy’s bones, and Nancy herself is going through Lucy’s old case files. She calls Lucy for help with an exasperated plea. Lucy obliges and points her toward’s the pantry. Nancy called on a jump scare for help. It’s a nice bit of horror-comedy to begin the episode. And hey, it leads to an intriguing new clue. The murder weapon was one of her mom’s favorite steak knives. That means that foreign female DNA found with Lucy’s remains could be Nancy’s mother’s.

With that, Nancy joins the investigation at The Claw. They don’t get much time to examine the bones, though. The cops show up with a warrant to investigate the place. Ace and the lab tech try to escape out the back, but there are cop cars there too. They have to hide in the walk-in. No chance the cops will want to search that, right? This episode doesn’t go all the way into farce, but there are definitely elements there. The show does it well. Maybe it should add a little comedy every once in a while. The lighter tone of these scenes adds a welcome balance to Nancy’s murder mystery.

Alex Saxon as Ace, Maddison Jaizani as Bess and Kennedy McMann as Nancy — Photo: The CW

Speaking of, Nancy figures out that Ryan didn’t write the last email sent to Lucy. Ryan normally used single spaces after periods, while that email used double spaces. You know, like an old person would do. Nancy finds Ryan, asking him to help her figure out what really happened that night. She doesn’t think he killed Lucy anymore, but his dad’s not looking so clean. Ryan reveals their usual meeting spot was actually an ice cream shop. They check it out, and find that nothing’s changed in 20 years. Including the girl working the counter. She remembers Lucy coming there on the day she died. She had won Sea Queen, but looked depressed. She kept writing in a journal, and looking for someone. When she left, a car started tailing her. Ryan’s dad’s car.

So this is the part of the murder mystery where every clue just leads Nancy to someone else, who leads her to someone else. Ryan’s dad says he just gave Lucy a ride home and told her to stay away from his son. At her home, he saw Karen. The same one now in jail for trying to kill Ryan. Karen was the last person to see Lucy alive. Nancy questions Karen, who says she switched the ballot boxes to get Lucy elected Sea Queen. She thought it would cheer her up, but it only started rumors that Lucy had slept her way to winning. This town has always had a problem with slut shaming, it seems. Karen is the only person who actually gives Nancy a useful piece of evidence. When she arrived home, she had her journal with her. She left home without it, but no one could ever find it.

Tunji Kasim as Nick, Scott Wolf as Carson Drew, Alex Saxon as Ace and Maddison Jaizani as Bess — Photo: The CW

Nancy and Ryan search Lucy’s old house, and the ghost immediately gets more hostile. For some reason, she really doesn’t want Nancy finding her journal. Nancy persists anyway, despite some real scary aggressive ghost business happening inside the house. Ryan wants to leave after Lucy screams and throws a curtain at them, but Nancy searches further in. She finds a hole in the wall, covered up by wallpaper. Lucy’s journal is inside. She reads the final entry and at once has the evidence to exonerate her dad and knows why Lucy didn’t want her finding it. She runs to the courtroom to read the evidence at her dad’s trial. Lucy had stolen the knife from the Drews’ house and went to the cliff to kill herself.

Carson Drew is exonerated, but the mystery isn’t over yet. Lucy is still haunting Nancy and she doesn’t know why. That is until her DNA test gets back. The show doesn’t tell us the results just yet. Instead, Nancy confronts her dad to get the full story. It turns out the night of the Sea Queen Festival, he and his wife got a desperate call from Lucy. They met her at the cliff to find that she was giving birth. The state of her bones indicated a recent childbirth as well. That’s why Lucy wanted Nancy to find them. Carson used the steak knife to cut the umbilical cord, and Lucy asked them to make sure their baby was taken care of. Then, as they took the baby, they turned their backs for a second, and Lucy went  over the cliff. Whether she slipped or jumped, they don’t know. And yes, by now, you’ve definitely figured out who that baby was. Nancy is the daughter of Ryan Hudson and Lucy Sable.

Leah Lewis as George and Tunji Kasim as Nick — Photo: Kailey Schwerman/The CW

So that’s a big bombshell to leave us with for the next three weeks. The show’s two biggest mysteries are solved, and there’s still just under a quarter of a season left to go. Just because the mystery’s solved doesn’t mean the story’s over. What’s Ryan going to do when he finds out he has a daughter? And that Nancy’s her? Then there’s the new detective taking charge of the Horseshoe Bay police department. He’s especially suspicious of the crew at the Claw now that he’s found a piece of skull in the kitchen. I’m guessing he’s not going to buy the explanation of “An evil spirit gave it to us.” And of course, there’s Nick and George. After an episode of bickering and nervous sexual tension, they finally kissed. They’re adorable together and I love them. They’re part of what makes Nancy Drew work so well. The show combines a good mystery with the most addictive ingredients of trashy teen drama. There’s no more mystery (for now) but I’m hooked nonetheless. I need to see what happens in three weeks.

Nancy Drew airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

Previously on Nancy Drew:

• Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 15 recap
• Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 14 recap
• Nancy Drew Season 1 Episode 13 recap

COVID-19 has brought much of the world to a screeching halt, including your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Sony has delayed the release date for the third Spider-Man film, pushing it from July 16, 2021 to November 5, 2021. Naturally, this shifts dates for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well. Sam Raimi’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was set for that November date, and has since been pushed to March 25, 2022.

On the plus side, the highly anticipated Thor: Love and Thunder is now pushed a week earlier, to February 11, 2022. In addition, Into the Spider-Verse 2 is being pushed to October 7, 2022. Fans will have to wait a little bit longer to return to the MCU, and to new movies in general.

Given the quarantine, it’s unknown when Hollywood will go back to work. After all, film sets are just large groups of people congregating in tight spaces, so it may be a while before we see any new films or television series. It’s a good thing we’re in the midst of a content surplus, because we have plenty of films/series/quibis to tide us over until the Avengers re-assemble.

Still, it’s hard to know how much content studios already have in the can that has yet to be released. And once everything gets back to some semblance of normality, there’s no telling how and when these films will be released. While it’s been nice to catch up on everything from the couch, we’re looking forward to a time when we can return to movie theaters and see stories on the big screen.

(via io9, image: Marvel Entertainment)

• Everyone loved seeing Brad Pitt as Dr. Fauci on SNL at Home. (via AVClub)
• Captain Marvel should obviously be leading the Avengers, am I right? (via CBR)
• Sebastian Stan as Dracula? Directed by Karyn Kusama? Yes please! (via Collider)
• Watch out for drunk, dessert-stealing lizards in your back yard.

This Snakey looking fellow is an alligator lizard, who seems to be living in our tomatoes. And apparently, every night this week, has been feasting on drunken pill bugs, washing it down with Coors, and dragging the cups into the blueberries for dessert. pic.twitter.com/bSu9qewFG3

— Jessica Ellis (@baddestmamajama) April 25, 2020

• Check out this early style guide for The Simpsons characters. (via /Film)
• Dave Chappelle hosts fundraiser for Comedy Store employees with fellow comics. (via EW)
• These dolphins know how to party! (via Jezebel)
• Big Poppa the bulldog is all of us during quarantine:

Big Poppa has been so sad today, I think he miss playing with the kids in the building. He just watches them from the patio pic.twitter.com/gVooqvZ5oI

— Rae Elle (@RaeElle) April 22, 2020

Hope you’re having a Super Sunday, Mary Suevians!

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