Aaron Ramsay

I honestly cannot see what the reviews are about, on PC at least this is a hugely unpolished and completely rubbish game. The mapped keyboard controls are the worst possible, the graphics are that of a second rate indie game at best (ultra wide resolution, hello?), and as a new comer to the series it's completely inaccessible. I was hoping for something along the Skyrim / Lord of the Rings style, but this is very much not that. I genuinely cannot find a single good thing to say about the game.

I have just finished today, and can say this is without doubt the best story a game has had....I think ever. The game is, in many ways, as close to a merger of game and movie than ever, and the maturity shows this throughout. And that maturity is not just through gore and violence, which the game has in bucket loads, but in the extremely well executed and thought provoking dialogue and plot. It's a huge shame that so many people are reviewing this game that have clearly not actually played it but instead either watched it online or read about it, ir they were expecting another mindless shooting game with a happy ending. I wont spoil anything, but if you pay attention and think it through, the ending is, for me at least, exactly what I wanted. There are controversial issues in the game, but the acting and scripting is constantly at levels I've never had the pleasure if in a game. At every single turn the levels of emotion can be felt through the amazing performances of the cast, so much so that at many key points I was left actually sad, shocked and even mentally exhausted in the best way possible. The action scenes are very similar to the first game, but tweaked in every way. It can be easy...on the easy setting, but a hard mode makes it much more real to life and an incredible challenge. Last of Us 2 is quite possibly the single biggest and best swan song this generation of games could possibly have, and the kind of mature, thought provoking story telling that the gaming industry needs. This game is easily 6 out of 5, I would recommend absolutely ANYONE who likes action horror games buys it.

So let's get this out straight away.....its not a remake of FF7, its game where about 20% of it is based on about 10% of FF7. So let's break that down. Everyone knows that its only the midgaurd section that is included, and the actions that do follow the path of the original, I.e. the opening and main plot to destroy the reactors, is an amazing nostalgia trip of the original, and a visual treat, save for some of the most noticable texture streaming pop up in recent times. However it's what happens between these sections that let's the game down so badly. Once you're given the freedom to run around midguard, the problems become evident quickly: busy work. There are lots of side missions, but they all involve the same basic mechanics and reuse the same locations over and over. These locations, thought often stunning, suffer from poor texture optimisation and steaming outdoors, and long empty corridor sections inside to hide each hub area loading in the background. The new story additions too are very our of place, and in particular the motorcycle sections and boss there seems very at odds with the rest of the grotty setting, complete with controls so bad that it leaves the impression that your playing a 90's arcade game. The graphics too outside of the main story, especially these sections, are often poor - one mission to a residential area has you walking around a completely pristine neighbourhood that would look more at home in the sims than FF, and it utterly spoils the deep of the game. Its painfully evident where the new story elements are being written. For die hard fans of the mechanics of the original, classic mode is offered but it's really nothing more than an AI controlled version of action mode, which in itself is too often hidden behind a screen so busy you just mash buttons randomly and hope for the best. Summoning is also hugely disappointing, with the ability to do it control to only boss level battles where the game decides you should be able to do it, and choosing which character to use - if you pre-ordered prepare to see the Chocobo Chick, the least useful of all, on a VERY regular basis. In fact at one point the game let me summon Ifrit and I had genuinely forgotten I even had him. The realtime combat also means that confrontations are less frequent than before, and normally feature only one or two creature types per large area, pressumably due to memory limitations. The games transition to 3D also lends to some amazingly glaring "linear path" moments....one early in during a factory missions sees you running down a path with wooden fences on each side and coming to a section which has fallen over, but which your character refuses to cross because.....reasons. The game does look amazing, and the main FF7 story is as compelling as ever, and I challenge any fan of the original not to get chills during the opening section, but the forced realtime combat, frequent confusing and bland level design, numbingly boring side quests and unskippable dialogue, and poor summoning mechanics take so much away that I didnt enjoy the experience nearly as mich as the demo. In fact, after the first 4 hours, I'd day it's not even worth playing. And that's before we even discuss the guiding "ghosts" which serve as nothing more than a mechanic to allow them to dispense with the open map sections in the next installment, and diverge away completely from the story we all love. What should have been amazing is in reality a run of the mill action slasher riding the coat tails of legend.

Story mode is dire and comes off so much like a last minute addition shoe horned in, and the events generally lack any kind of spark.....somehow they just seem dull. Theres also no "connect" between them - this is essentially just a group of mini games. The graphics also seem no better than the Wii versions, apart from being a better resolution. Like most of Nintendos games, just appears to be a rushed cash grab which is a shame. My 10 and 11 year olds played it for 30 mins.....never been on again since.