I have been playing Final Fantasy VII: New Threat 2.0!

New Threat is a mod for the original FFVII. To my understanding, it was originally aimed toward making the game a bit more difficult for returning players wanting to change their gameplay experience, while also introducing some quality-of-life changes and rebalancing certain mechanics such as materia. As of version 2.0, changes can also include adjustable difficult settings, more specification aspects for each individual character, and most significantly for Nerds Like Me, changes to the actual story itself. BLASPHEME???

Well, I decided I wanted to find out for myself! New Threat 2.0 comes with two different game modes. Type A has the various gameplay adjustments implemented, but sticks largely to the OG story presented in FFVII. Type B is more malleable, taking liberties with the story and changing events around. It says the basic story beats will be the same, but how we arrive to them will be altered. Of course I decided to go for Type B.

I've not been a huge fan of FFVII:R thus far, and I don't really think Square are likely to turn me around with the final installment. There are things I've liked in both games, but the overall experience isn't for me. I don't like what Square are selling me. But I wanted to see how New Threat made me feel. I wasn't sure what to expect! Was it going to be tryhard, full of awkward shoe-horned references to other aspects of nerd culture? Was it going to represent the characters well, and if so, would it represent the characters equally well? What would it feel the need to change, and what would it keep the same? How would it treat the godawful and infamous Love Triangle Debate? Would a preference become apparent, or would it be even-handed? WHO COULD SAY WITHOUT ACTUALLY TRYING.

I did quickly decide to think of the game as a fanfiction made manifest, a sort of "what if..." scenario given room to breathe inside menu configurations and ATB gauges. I think it's let me have a lot more fun with the experience! I don't think material being cut/changed has to inherently be a condemnation or dismissal of that material. And because I'm thinking of it as someone's fanfiction, someone's "if this one thing changed, what might happen...?" thought experiment, I don't have to sit here complaining about how cutting certain scenes/dialogues changes the whole thematic purpose of FFVII. Because this isn't an official Square product, and it isn't professing to be a Remake while shamelessly tearing out the root of what made the original game the beloved classic of the JRPG genre that it is! Wow! Anyway!

I've been making notes while I play! I've just left Midgar for the first time, and here are some thoughts taken from those notes. I'll keep story-related spoilers behind a cut, and start with things that are purely mechanical.

⦾ I opted to play on standard difficulty, which I'm very glad about because I have definitely had some game over screens already and I don't want to imagine what things might have looked like if I'd been playing on hard. Nothing has ever felt insurmountable, though! But the boss fights make you play hard, no messing around. I like to play defensively, and that has been both a blessing and a curse at different points. It's nice to have to really work, and I've had genuine fist-pump moments of victory. It's a great feeling!

⦾ Every character has a unique innate ability now, which is really cool! Cloud has a sort of Defend and Counter technique - if you set him to defend in battle and he gets physically hit, he'll stick back with either 1x, 2x, 4x or an attempted Deathblow strike. Barret gets increased strength in the front row or passive heals in the back row, and his gunfire can be used like an All attack to strike multiple foes. Tifa has an ability similar to Sturdy in Pokémon—the first time she gets KO'd in each battle, she'll use her Grit to retain 1HP (and keep her Limit and buffs in tact). Aeris has a Geomancer stance when she's defending that allows her to absorb most elemental attacks and gain passive regen, and Red XIII receives gradual increases to his STR and MAG stats over the course of each battle. It's such a simple addition but it really influences my gameplay and how I choose to approach battle! I'm excited to see what the other characters have to offer.

⦾ Materia is available IMMEDIATELY, and you get a much wider and more varied range of materia offered to you much sooner than the OG. There have been adjustments to how stats are influenced when you equip materia as well. More factors to consider for gameplay! It's been fun building different character specs for different boss battles, heehee.

I'm going to talk about some Midgar story/character writing spoilers now, so be aware!

( She seems fine. Very fine, I've noticed. )

All in all, I'm enjoying the experience! Even the parts I feel more critically toward have their own sense of enjoyment, because it makes me engage with why I don't jive with it. Gets me thinking about story-writing, tone, character beats, all the good juicy stuff. What will the rest of the journey hold for Cloud and friends? For once, I'm really not sure!