Not quite living up to the Fantasy – Square Enix announce Final Fantasy VII Port

At the Playstation Experience keynote, Square Enix wittingly or unwittingly pulled the biggest practical joke in the world on keen gamers by revealing that the game that they have been lobbying for a remake of ever since the day after it got released (more or less), is coming to the Playstation 4.

[breakout title="Joanne Kendrick" align="right"]Joanne Kendrick is a gaming blogger, and will cover news and reviews from the gaming world. She has written for the gaming websites Ready Up and Made2Game, as well as PlayGamer magazine. You can read more from her at Checkpoint Reached.[/breakout]

Yes, Final Fantasy VII is finally going next gen, although your playing experience will not be much different than when you played it 19 years ago.

I can imagine it was very awkward indeed when, trying to make his voice heard over the room exploding with absolute glee, Final Fantasy producer Shinji Hashimoto realised that he forgot to mention that the game was a port.

For those unfamiliar with what a game port is, this is when a game released on a previous console is released onto the latest one. This is usually accompanied by slightly upscaled graphics and maybe some extra little bits such as a minigame or different costumes for your characters. A notable example would be Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Originally released for the N64, Zelda was a very popular game, and got deservingly high reviews on its release. Years later, when the Wii came out, Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released again, with the graphics tweaked and a mode where all of the items needed in the quests were switched around, adding a good replay value.

Ports are not always a bad thing. If someone had never owned an N64 before - perhaps had only just got into gaming, or weren't old enough when the game originally came out - and discovered a classic game through these means, I absolutely think that it's worth bringing them out.

However, ports and remakes are two completely different things. A remake is taking a game released on a previous console, and starting again from scratch using the latest technology. We are all curious to see what our favourite games from childhood would look like with a lick of next gen paint on them.

One of the best remakes ever made, in my opinion, is Resident Evil for the GameCube. It's the original game made pretty with the original clunky controls slightly less clunky, the enemies have been spiced up to keep us on our toes, and more has been added to the story to keep us interested. I remember playing this and thinking about what could be done with the second game in the series (my favourite), but when we were treated to just a port of Resident Evil 2, I was a little disappointed.

So imagine hearing an announcement like 'Final Fantasy VII is coming to Playstation 4'!

Even if you're sat at the back, halfway between tweeting and trying to quietly open a bag of crisps, you're going to immediately stop what you're doing and pay attention. There have been fan made trailers for this! This is a dedicated crowd and of course everybody will assume it's going to be a remake. The only way to really manage that announcement without breaking a few hearts is to say 'it's a port!' as soon as you get on the stage. Perhaps before you get on the stage.

I'm sure it will sell just fine and who knows, maybe a real honest remake is just around the corner. Until then, it can't hurt for Square Enix to be a little more aware of their actions.