It’s an indisputable fact that the majority video games are, to some extent, industrial merchandise. If we weren’t prepared to spend our cash on video video games, then firms wouldn’t make them. With all-time basic titles like Remaining Fantasy 7, I typically don’t take into consideration this. As a substitute, I’m so swept up within the story, music, and gameplay that I overlook in regards to the money I spent. It’s solely when video games like Remaining Fantasy 7: Ever Disaster come alongside that I do not forget that the everlasting wheel of capitalism lurks behind even my most treasured gaming reminiscences.

Look, I’m not above the expertise that Remaining Fantasy 7: Ever Disaster presents. In my review-in-progress, I defined my strong expertise with gacha video games. As a result of lest you overlook, Ever Disaster actually is simply a gacha recreation. It goes via the identical motions as any title on this area does, and its gameplay largely devolves into consuming Stamina and watching numbers go up. In my spicy opinion, video games like this may nonetheless be enjoyable. So long as there’s a substantive core driving the expertise, I can take pleasure in incremental grinds like these.

Properly, I communicate to you now as somebody who has spent roughly 27 hours in Ever Disaster. I’ve cleared the principle story, seen all its modes, and raised my workforce’s energy degree to roughly 60,000. Admittedly, that is solely a couple of third of the way in which in direction of difficult the toughest content material accessible within the recreation. However even when there’s an incredible expertise hiding right here, I’ve performed sufficient to say that the Mako simply ain’t definitely worth the squeeze.

Disclaimer: All screenshots have been cropped to suit on the web page. Some photographs might not be absolutely reflective of the sport.

Remaining Fantasy 7: Ever Disaster (iOS [reviewed], Android)
Developer: Sq. Enix, Applibot
Writer: Sq. Enix
Launched: September 7, 2023
MSRP: Free-to-play with microtransactions

The First Soldier, the second time

I’m going to gloss over the fundamentals of Ever Disaster, as I lined that in my review-in-progress. In that article, I mentioned how Ever Disaster smashes Remaining Fantasy 7 with the “Compilation of” tales collectively in a frankly incohesive means. Nevertheless, I didn’t actually cowl The First Solider content material, which functionally serves as Ever Disaster’ “authentic” story. Sadly, I can’t say this did a lot for me.

For probably the most half, it revolves round introducing us to the brand new characters Glenn, Matt, and Lucia. It is smart for this arc to take this angle, because it presumably lays the muse for future updates. I simply by no means discovered myself invested on this celebration or their mission. It provides some supplemental lore, certain, however I didn’t discover it attention-grabbing both within the scope of Remaining Fantasy 7 or by itself. It’s not that it was horrible, it was simply type of boring.

It’s solely on the finish of The First Soldier that we lastly get to see younger Sephiroth, who Sq. Enix teased previous to launch. Nevertheless, with out spoiling an excessive amount of, I’ll say that clearly any intriguing content material right here remains to be being withheld. The sport’s launch teaser trailer states “we nonetheless don’t know Sephiroth,” and that continues to be true for me after enjoying.

Thankfully, Ever Disaster does allow you to select which story to progress previous a sure level. Nevertheless, this winds up revealing simply how little story content material there may be. The Remaining Fantasy 7 arc at the moment ends after Midgar, which I suppose traces up with what belongings the sport might use from Remaining Fantasy 7 Remake. In the meantime, Disaster Core ends after the primary Ifrit struggle. Stuff like Dirge of Cerberus or Creation Youngsters has no illustration within the recreation to date, regardless of showing in the sport’s debut trailer.

Programs of a Phoenix Down

So far as the precise play expertise, I famous in my review-in-progress that I’ve stored auto battle on because it was unlocked. That by no means modified, although Ever Disaster does attempt to add depth in very small methods.

The crunchiest possibility right here is the Criterion Dungeons, which activity you with repeating the sport’s occasional dungeons with boss fights that escalate in problem. This does introduce very, very lite roguelite-style mechanics the place you may choose sure stat buffs after every struggle. Nevertheless, these are ridiculously fundamental, like selecting whether or not to spice up bodily or magical assault. Many gacha video games have experimented with these kinds of mechanics, and Ever Disaster doesn’t compete in any significant means right here. To their credit score, Criterion Dungeons do attempt to incorporate some merchandise administration. However I discovered this provided nothing greater than “heal between battles and use buff gadgets earlier than the ultimate boss.”

The opposite substantive possibility, which I think about has probably the most strategic depth, is co-op. As of writing, groups can hyperlink as much as take down three totally different bosses at a number of totally different problem ranges, with a limited-time occasion boss additionally becoming a member of the combination as of writing. Given the way in which the battle system works, you could possibly theoretically coordinate some neat methods right here. In single participant, you should automate two celebration members even with guide play turned on. Co-op technically lays the muse to let gamers work collectively as devoted attackers, healers, stat buffers, and many others.

Nevertheless, in observe, co-op rapidly turn into simply one other factor to make use of auto battle on. My Cloud would be a part of two equivalent Clouds to take down baddies, and provided that all of us modified our assault stances at equivalent instances, I assume that everybody else was simply auto-farming too. There could possibly be a worthwhile expertise on the prime degree, I’m simply not seeing it now.

I’m not a Materia woman

So far as development itself, it actually does keep firmly in that “grind for grinding sake” mentality. Extra improve techniques unlock as you progress, however all of them boil right down to the identical loop. Establish what you must improve, spot the useful resource you want, after which run the suitable stage till you’re performed. Certain, it’s neat that characters earn gentle ability bushes to climb. However these techniques don’t combine up the gameplay in any significant means.

The one exception, nevertheless, is the Materia system. And sadly, I don’t imply that in a great way. Materia is important, because it’s the best option to slap the fundamental protection in your workforce with out performing extra gacha pulls. Nevertheless, crafting Materia takes real-world time, and you’ll solely craft as much as 5 directly. Moreover, every Materia is handled like a singular merchandise, since all of them wind up with randomized stats and rarity ranges. In different phrases, it’s a gacha inside your gacha.

None of that is unhealthy on paper, however treating every Materia as its personal distinctive merchandise rapidly turns into a UI nightmare. If I simply wish to determine which Materia I ought to optimally craft, I’ve to do a ridiculous quantity of cross-referencing. Do I’ve sufficient of this ingredient for my workforce to equip? Which sort of Materia might use a greater variant? How a lot time am I prepared to spend chasing a couple of further stats?

Moreover, strengthening Materia requires sacrificing your spare items as level-up supplies. I can see the logic right here, because you’re rolling the cube on Materia time and again to search out ones with good stats anyway. Nevertheless, once more, this requires micromanaging to be sure you aren’t chucking Materia you would possibly want by chance. None of that is inconceivable, however it’s simply so tedious to repeat this course of ever few hours that I ended attempting to optimize it.

Rain within the desert

Now, credit score the place credit score’s due, if there’s one factor I do genuinely like about Ever Disaster, it’s the character tales.

These unlock fairly a methods into the sport, and I assume they’re linked to your characters’ ranges. I solely actually used Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, and people had been the tales I had the choice to expertise. These are, no joke, fairly good! They fill in implied gaps in Remaining Fantasy 7’s predominant story which can be enjoyable to see, even when they’re type of pointless. For instance, Cloud’s story particulars his reconnecting with Tifa and explaining how, precisely, he turned concerned with Avalanche. The writing and cutscenes really feel genuine to the unique recreation, as in the event that they had been long-lost deleted scenes.

It’s not simply the character tales both. Even the foolish seaside occasion that went reside as I sort this options some decently charming writing with the Remaining Fantasy 7 solid. It’s 100% filler content material, however I like seeing the sport have enjoyable with its solid and put them in whimsical conditions. Truthfully, if the sport simply wholly centered on authentic tales like these, it’d make a a lot stronger case for itself. I do know that The First Soldier technically is attempting to do that, I simply actually don’t care in regards to the characters there like I do for the unique solid.

Sadly, these bits are over means too rapidly. You’ll end every story in a handful of minutes, which pales compared to the hours of grinding you’d must do to get there. I couldn’t even full Tifa’s story, because it abruptly jumps from a really helpful energy degree of 45,000 to 70,000 in a single mission. It’s a bummer that FF7 followers who simply wish to see content material like this may hit partitions like these. Particularly if it causes them to pay to climb over these partitions quicker.

Draw a line within the Ruby Weapon’s sand

It’s tempting to have a look at Remaining Fantasy 7: Ever Disaster and say that as a result of it’s a gacha, it’s due to this fact rubbish. I guess at the least one individual will have a look at the rating beneath and say that I rated this too extremely. Nevertheless, I don’t assume that’s essentially truthful. There is a marketplace for these informal, long-term grinds, and Ever Disaster does meet that naked minimal. It seems to be and sounds nice, typically runs properly, and, sometimes, does ship emotions of enjoying PSX Remaining Fantasy 7 once more. I feel Ever Disaster efficiently accomplishes every thing it units out to do. It’s simply that the bar it needed to clear is exceptionally low.

Outdoors the Remaining Fantasy 7 branding, there simply isn’t something notable or exceptional right here. For as a lot as I talked about simply leaving the sport on auto battle, I’ve no real interest in meaningfully interacting with the core techniques at this level. The menuing is so clunky that I don’t even need to construct my workforce, which is often the very best a part of gacha video games. It’s one way or the other each too shallow to be attention-grabbing and too convoluted to be partaking, which is beneath par even by cellular recreation requirements. In my review-in-progress, I in contrast gacha video games to ordering a Massive Mac. Ever Disaster is a Massive Mac made by a workforce who utterly forgot so as to add any particular sauce.

Remaining Fantasy 7: Ever Disaster is only a gacha recreation. Nothing extra, nothing much less. It’s not the worst factor I’ve ever seen, and it does supply satisfactory fanservice for many who love Cloud and associates. However in any other case, Ever Disaster doesn’t do something that different free cellular video games already do higher. Possibly it’s value a obtain for bored Remaining Fantasy followers, however in any other case, you may spend each your money and time higher elsewhere.