Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, preview of the battle royale on Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, the protagonist of this preview, is a battle royale shooter based on the famous seventh chapter of the Square Enix saga. It could practically seem the realization of a sort of blasphemous nightmare that probably the great fans of the JRPG would never have dared to think, if we remain at the simple definition of the gameplay, but if we try to observe it with eyes "not veiled by hatred" we could also discover something very interesting. There are some elements in favor of this bizarre initiative from Square Enix that are worth considering and that can put the battle royale shooter set in Midgar in a different light. First of all it is a game dedicated to mobile platforms, and rather than a spin-off or even worse a companion app without art or part, we appreciate an original project that is designed to be enjoyed at its best on this type of device. Then, it must be admitted that the original setting built by Yoshinori Kitase and Kazushige Nojima also lends itself easily to such an interpretation.Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier takes us to fight in a shooter battle royale in Midgar On the other hand, already the characteristic action of the first phase of Final Fantasy 7, inside the city, has for a good part little of the classic RPG fantasy styles, particularly offering a fast-paced action reinterpretation (as the recent Remake has also shown in part). To this is added all the narrative construct concerning the Shinra and her para-military organization, which lays excellent foundations for a reinterpretation with a wartime taste and provides the perfect fit for this The First Soldier. The story, in fact, explores the background of the SOLDIER program from which Cloud Strife himself emerged, staging events dating back 30 years before those of Final Fantasy 7 and the Avalanche attack on the Mako reactor. It is clear that this is a newly developed pretext for staging armed battles in Midgar, but it still makes a certain sense and we can expect from Square Enix even minimal attention to the narrative even in such a game.
Meanwhile, Square Enix has announced the dates for the beta of Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, but the problem is that they only refer to US and Japanese audiences for the moment, while there is no information regarding it. Europe, therefore we will still have to wait before we understand more precisely what we are dealing with.
War between SOLDIERS
The idea of investigating the origins of the war program of Shinra and perhaps discovering some secrets about Jenova gives a special charm to Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, which finds itself in the midst of a narrative context that is even oversized compared to what a battle royale shooter needs. This can also provide practical justifications for some elements of the gameplay, such as the special abilities of the characters that may depend on experimentation with the Materia Orbs, which are in fact present in the game and can provide special abilities and shots. In any case, this is a battle royale shooter in all respects: we find ourselves fighting with a third-person view in a large map that represents Midgar and its surroundings, where we parachute starting from an initial aircraft and in which we have to search to survive until you are the last in battle, collecting weapons and equipment while exploring the environment that progressively shrinks over time, all without respawn.In Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier there are also monsters and PvE elements within the map They are precisely the basic rules that have defined the genre and are adopted literally by Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier, which at least in structural terms does not really do anything to get out of sow. However, something different emerges from the gameplay, based on what is shown by the livestream of Square Enix, starting with some characteristics close to the actual RPG, which are found in the PvE elements of the game. In addition to fighting other players, we can dedicate ourselves to defeating numerous monsters of various types scattered around the map, making everything a sort of PvPvE, with implications also in the progression and customization of the fighter.
The fighters of Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier can have ranged or melee characteristics The latter is particularly elaborate and goes beyond simply changing the appearance or conquering new weapons and armor, characterizing the fighting style and basic statistics of the character. The "styles" shown at the moment are warrior, mage, monk and ranger, which correspond somewhat to the typical classes of the RPG (or to the Final Fantasy jobs) and carry specific skills in attack and defense, as well as the use of spells and specializations in short or long range combat. The application of Materia and the growth of the level of experience then opens up to subsequent changes in the characteristics of the fighter, in fact adding further role-playing elements in what is in effect a hybrid between shooter and RPG.
Al beyond the sacrosanct doubts about a battle royale based on this series, Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier actually brings with it some interesting elements, which can make it emerge from the mass of similar titles on mobile platforms. The reference to Final Fantasy seems to go beyond the easy exploitation of the high-sounding name, giving a minimum of meaning to the clash between soldiers in that of Midgar and above all by inserting gameplay elements taken from the RPG tradition within the normal shooter mechanics. The construction of the characters and the exploration of the map with PvE elements are particularly interesting, but all this will then have to be confirmed by the touch screen test, and it is not easy.
