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Final Fantasy 7 Remake Busts Sales Records

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake has already set sales records and rocketed to a spot on the top ten sellers for the year, after just a month.

By Steve Watts on May 22, 2020 at 8:12AM PDT

15 Comments

After 20 years of anticipation it was clear that Final Fantasy 7 Remake would make a big impact, but its first month of NPD sales has shown just how big. The acclaimed remake from Square Enix was the top-seller in North America for the month, and set a few sales records as well.

According to the NPD Group, FF7 Remake is already the #3 best-selling game year-to-date, behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, respectively. It's already the top-selling game of the year on PlayStation 4. NPD also noted that it set a Final Fantasy franchise launch month record, taking the title from Final Fantasy XV.

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Now Playing: Final Fantasy 7 Remake - Final Trailer

Final Fantasy 7 Remake was well-received by critics, especially in GameSpot's 10/10 review.

"Regardless of your history with the original game, Final Fantasy VII Remake is an astounding achievement," Tamoor Hussain wrote in GameSpot's Final Fantasy 7 Remake review. "The wait for its release was a long one, but in gameplay, story, characters, and music, it delivers--the wait was worth it. For first-time players, it's an opportunity to understand why Final Fantasy VII is held in such high regard. It's the chance to experience a multifaceted story that grapples with complex subject matter, be in the company of memorable characters, and be moved by their plight. For returning fans, this isn't the Final Fantasy VII your mind remembers, it's the one your heart always knew it to be."

If you're working your way through Final Fantasy 7 Remake, check out our sidequest guide and how to make it through hard mode. Or if you haven't started yet, you could grab it at a discount.

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dragonsama

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Edited By dragonsama

While the game was crafted well . Too bad the last 1/4 of the game basically told fins of the original game "screw you! We're going to re-write everything!"

Upvote • 3 years ago

Acheron18

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Acheron18

It's a shame considering that the original is better in every single way except for graphics. I guess pretty visuals is all you need to sell a game in these days.

3 • 3 years ago

Decoy77

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Decoy77

Now think if it would have been released on Xbox One and PC as well as only limiting it to PS4.

Upvote • 3 years ago

GleenCross

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GleenCross

Such a shame and waste of potential. This game shares a lot of similarities with Force Awakens. You can see the smoke from here, the track record of the development team is atrocious, the ending is ludicrous, etc... But, who cares right? Remember Wall Market? I member! The game is a financial success, critics are praising it because of the nostalgia overload... exactly like Force Awakens. And when this "remake" finishes it's story, the fans will get mad with the results... exactly like... guess who? If this "remake" ends up considered the best game of the year, even competing with cyberpunk, ghost of tsushima and the glorious Battle for Bikini Bottom? The force awakens comparison will become even more apparent, lol that damn movie was considered better than Fury Road smh it's crazy how nostalgia can blind people

2 • 3 years ago

Rekonym

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Rekonym

@gleencross: As someone who never played a single FF game ever (even though I was very much there and seeing the 'hype' and advertising around it back then for the original especially in gaming magazines; when I was around 15 years-old), FF7 Remake seems like an alright game overall, but it's absolutely not blowing my mind at all. I've seen better. Not talking about graphics here, but characters and story.

I've watched pretty much the full playthrough on multiple Streams by Maximillian Dood on Twitch (he's a mega FF7 fan, it's his favorite game of all time). I watched about 80% of it, and finished watching its playthrough to the ending on his YouTube channel. To me, FF7 Remake would probably be a solid 7/10, it's a bit like Breath of the Wild, which on the other hand I actually am still playing to this day not because it's blowing my mind but simply because I still am in my same, first saved-game that I started back in around April of 2017.

There's just no way - for me - that FF7 Remake would be a masterpiece or even an 8 or 9 out of 10. However, it's pretty solid, I'm sure I would have genuinely enjoyed a good portion of it. But it's overall probably not that much of my 'cup of tea'. The game's setting is kind of Steampunk'ish, it's sci-fi but it also looks like it's a society from the 1940s or 1950s at the same time (when looking at the city architecture and the cars and some citizen clothing and stuff like that). And Steampunk - in general - isn't really my favorite thing out there.

The ending of FF7 Remake to me only screams "To Be Continued" of course. There's supposed to be at least two more games to follow. This reminds me of what Blizzard did with StarCraft II. They decided to sell it three times over three chapters of one 'big story'. It took them around 6 years to do it but they did it that way, and it worked apparently.

Anyway the gist is that FF7 Remake from the perspective of someone who've played the likes of the Mass Effect trilogy and Dragon Age trilogy it's nothing that crazy to me. It's good, it's not "bad" at all. It's alright. But I've played better. The Dragon Age trilogy for me in particular is about 10 light-years ahead of FF7 Remake in terms of characters and story. Heck, even Mass Effect is better and I absolutely abhorred ME3 (and no, not just because of the last 10 minutes).

And on a final note, I found Cloud to be one of the most boring, mopey, neutral I-Don't-Give-A-Sh- type of protagonist I've probably ever seen in a story-driven video game ever. I'd give a solid 7 or even 8 out of 10 to most of the game's characters in terms of their personality and the writing for them. But I'd rate Cloud around a 1 or 2 out of 10. If I did play the game I would have kept on going just because of the characters development of all the rest of the cast except for himself. I'd go as far as to say that what 'saved the day' in my eyes for FF7 Remake were all the other characters but him. If it had just been a game about him alone FF7 would have probably been one of the worst games in my book.

Upvote • 3 years ago

GleenCross

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@rekonym: And about Cloud, I agree, he is indeed a terrible protagonist. But on a visual standpoint he looks charismatic (considering the time). Giant sword, leather, belts, a dumb shoulder pad, etc.. This kind of edgy crap was the trend of the 90's and early 00's. But don't underestimate this franchise, it can always get worse. Protagonists like Squall, Tidus, Vaan, the entire boyband of FF15, etc... They are godawful, Cloud is a much better character in comparison. And the whole brainwashing/identity crisis theme is interesting, I will not deny it, but all the characters involved are ridiculous and the overall execution was weak to say the least. And this whole mess got even worse when Crisis Core arrived with the glorious Genesis Rhapsodos at the center stage. The character development of Cloud and Sephiroth looks like a masterpiece in comparison to Genesis smh This remake had the opportunity, Nomura and his clowns could improve the execution of these ideas and themes, but they already failed. And things will only get worse. Instead of improving, they are adding even more convoluted crap over it.

Upvote • 3 years ago

LilRoss2k3

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LilRoss2k3

@rekonym: cloud getting lots of hate. ya'll don't even know his full story arc yet. the original ff7 was never as great as people made it out to be but it was enjoyable.

Upvote • 3 years ago

deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@LilRoss2k3: Actually, it was. The amount of content packed into that game makes most modern games look like a joke in comparison.

2 • 3 years ago

GleenCross

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Edited By GleenCross

@Barighm: Content just for the sake of content is not something automatically positive imo There's a lot of useless crap in the original game, especially on a narrative perspective. Caith Sith, one of the worst characters in jrpg history, you can cut him out and the game will not lose anything. Same goes for the stupid beach resort, fort condor, the ski mini-game, etc.. Considering the transition period, it was clear the development team wanted to try the 3d novelty as much as possible, that's why they included all the dumb mini-games. Maybe it's fair enough to remade them again in this fake remake, even if Cloud skiing looks dumb to me, but most fans thinks it's charming. But again, content just for the sake of it, the writing, storytelling and character development remains as bad as ever. The gameplay has lot of "holes" into it, not balanced at all, you can cheese battles and level up fast, etc Pretty much the original is hyped as it is because of the 3d novelty and overall presentation, Final Fantasy is always a fanfare of visuals and sound, the actual game itself and the story it tells is not really that good. So much so, jrpg fans are aware the writing will suck, that's not really the focus... it should be imo, but the fanbase don't give a damn. Anything goes, time-travel dogs, witches compressing time, nature defending itself by releasing giant robots around, etc.. For me these are just idiotic themes, but the fans think it's charming. Still, I will not deny that remake Rojo taking a sunbath has potential to be a hilarious scene, even if it has zero value on a narrative standpoint.

Upvote • 3 years ago

deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@gleencross: Thankfully, FF7 doesn't have content "just for the sake of it". Much of it is meaningful and the game came out back when side quests were actual quests and not some tedious chore. A lot of what you do in FF7 would just be DLC these days, so declaring it "content for the sake of it" makes me wonder if you've ever actually played the game.

And I don't really care about your take on the narrative. Story is relative and entirely subjective. "I don't like it" is a meaningless argument. Some people DO like it. The fact you don't proves absolutely nothing.

I don't know what you mean by "holes" and your other points don't really apply to standard gameplay, so I'll just dismiss those.

Upvote • 3 years ago

GleenCross

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Edited By GleenCross

@Barighm: Nope, writing is definitely not something subjective. Humanity has been studying storytelling techniques for thousands of years. There's some clear flaws regarding character development that are not passive of "taste". For example: Cait Sith is completely irrelevant for the narrative (even with the artifice of using him as "sacrifice" for the black materia). Same goes for Tifa, who is completely dependable of Cloud instead of being a fully functional character who goes through a proper arc. And when I talked about holes, it's literally that, the combat/level up system is completely flawed, you can cheese your way through the whole game. It's possible to use mime + KOTR +hp absorb + quadra magic and it's done, you can crush any enemy in the game. And lastly, yes, the skiing mini-game is just content for the sake of it.

Upvote • 3 years ago

deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@gleencross: If that is what you truly believe, you're unreasonable. All of your points are either based on subjective analysis or exceptionalism, which are of no meaningful value. Flaws identifiable by hundreds of hours of gameplay are only relevant if you know about them. This is quite unlike, say, the leveling problem in FF8 where leveling Squall to 99 while the rest of the party is only 30 doesn't require any effort whatsoever and can be accidentally done by anyone. And your points about Tifa and Cait Sith can be immediately undone by simply saying "I can see how they're significant". You can argue that, but then you'd just be demonstrating my original point about how story is relative. You believe one thing. I believe another. And, being the internet, you'll believe you're right despite all evidence to the contrary no matter what. So who gives a shit?

Upvote • 3 years ago

Rufus_the_rat

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Edited By Rufus_the_rat

@gleencross: Cait Sith is indeed a terrible character (in that I don't like his personality, character design, advent children voice or some of his decisions), but he's not irrelevant to the narrative. Spoilers: His insider status to Shinra helps to explain how the party knows what it knows about Shinra's mascinations, especially towards the end of the game. He also serves to execute the role of "shocking in-party betrayal" which is a powerful narrative device (especially back in 90s game plots before it had been beaten to death by the likes of Metal Gear Solid). You can argue that is a twist just for the sake of a twist, but then almost everything that happens in fiction is written as such for the sake of surprise and entertainment value. So he fulfills an important narrative function by doing what he does mid-way in the game. As for "cheesing" KOTR, your point is stupid. By the time you as a player have jumped through all the grind and frustration necessary to get KOTR (ESPECIALLY without a strategy guide telling you exactly how to do it), you've earned the right to one-shot (or should I say 13-shot) any enemy in the game. There's nothing cheesy about it at that point. It's earned power. Next you'll be complaining that leveling up a character to level 99 is cheesy because it allows you to one-shot enemies.

Upvote • 3 years ago

GleenCross

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Edited By GleenCross

@Rufus_the_rat: This whole concept of becoming a God in rpgs (and metroidvanias) is something idiotic imo. You "earn" the right of instakilling every enemy in the whole game... so what is the point? Even the Weapons who are suppose to be endgame challenges, if you use the KOTR cheese you can kill them easily. This is a good example of lazy gameplay, the devs gives an invincible tool for the players to make them feel this delusion of grander. I think FF7 is particularly infamous for this, it basically tortures the player with a horrible chocobo mini-game and the "reward" is a gimmick who pretty much erase any tactical challenge (as a bonus, you are obligated to watch a unskipable 2 minutes cutscene every fucking time). It's a no-win situation, there's no logical pleasure in these scenarios, but the rabid fanbase loved it for whatever reason. This "remake" is no different, you have extremely powerful limit breaks and summons, basically a "win now" button that cheeses the whole experience. It's really that hard to create a gameplay cycle who can challenge the players no matter their level? Not really, the (even more) infamous Bethesda provided a clumsy solution for this. Level scaling is one possible solution among many, if even the hacks at bethesda were able to come up with an answer, why Square remains lazy as ever? Because the fanbase just accept this, they want to feel like gods in their own little worlds.

Upvote • 3 years ago

deactivated-64efdf49333c4

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Edited By deactivated-64efdf49333c4

@Rufus_the_rat: Thus my point about standard gameplay. The kind of gameplay "flaws" speedrunners, pro gamers, and hardcore lifers can identify are of no value to the average gamer and are rarely noticeable through normal gameplay. This is why I find it extremely annoying when competitive multiplayer games or MMOs make design changes based entirely on what the so-called "pros" say. Yeah, let's appeal to the people who fill their computer up with assistance programs and mod the heck out of their controllers and use all sorts of crap to eke out every bit of performance they can get. Surely THEIR gameplay is representative of the game at large.

Upvote • 3 years ago