010
“WE’VE TRIED TO COME
UP WITH A COMPLETELY
NEW BATTLE SYSTEM.”
BEHINDTHESCENESG
one are the random
encounters and turn-
based battles you
remember. The combat
here is in real-time, and
the areas you run through all to scale
and filled with threats. “Final
Fantasy VII Remake’s battle system
has evolved the original VII’s battle
system to make it more action-
oriented,” says Hamaguchi. “By
playing through it using the action
elements skilfully you’ll be able to
stun your enemies and open them
up for major damage.”It’s more than a reimagined action
RPG system. The important thing is
that Remake’s combat is built on top
of the Active Time Battle system from
the original game, where you had to
wait for a bar to fill up to give your
party a command. Now you fill up an
ATB bar by attacking, and then spend
it on actions like strengthening
abilities, or using magic or items. “The
key to winning battles is to select the
right command, the right ability to use
from your ATB style menu once you’ve
opened them up for that finishing
blow, and this allows for much more
deep tactical gameplay within that
action framework,” says Hamaguchi.
That action approach is reflected in
how the game’s Materia system works.This enables you to equip skills to
your weapons and armour, giving party
members access to things like magic.
“[But now] there’s also some more
action-element-focused Materia as
well,” says Hamaguchi.
You can use ATB in Tactical mode
where time slows down considerably,
but you can also use o to set some
abilities as shortcuts for faster use.
“Players who aren’t particularly good
with action games don’t have to worry
either,” says Hamaguchi. “You can also
play using Classic mode, which
automates most of the action elements
of the game and allows you to focus
on just selecting from the menus inBEHIND THE SCENES
FIGHTING
FANTASY
exactly the same style as the original
Final Fantasy VII.” In Classic mode all
the action parts of combat are
automated, and you just select the big
moves. It works well, because the
combat, at its core, remains true to the
original game. “We didn’t just try to
merge together the old ATB system
with action mechanics. We’ve tried to
come up with a completely new,
innovative battle system never really
seen anywhere else, where every single
part of combat has a massive breadth
of tactical options for you to choose
from, ranging between pure action
gameplay to real high-level menu,
strategic action,” says Hamaguchi.Not a fan of fighting?
Classic mode will take
care of the action.