The release of the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo is not a secret at this point. The demo was discovered on the PlayStation Network recently, and while it’s not playable just yet, it is inevitable that it will be hitting our PlayStation 4 consoles before the game’s release date in March of this year.
Gamers were treated to a preview yesterday as a YouTube user with the handle Lystrasza leaked the game demo’s introduction online. What we got was nothing short of spectacular, with a scene that recreates the original iconic opening of the 1997 release with some tantalizing new elements that make it an even more complete first impression of the city of Midgar.
To view the leaked footage, check out the video player below. If you want to go into the demo or the actual game itself completely blind, then take the following footage as a strong spoiler warning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=9ivzat4BSJ8&feature=emb_title
We notice a few things right off the bat here.
We see Aerith in a dingy alleyway marveling at wisps of Lifestream energy as the familiar theme song plays subtly in the background. But then, something new and unexpected happens.
We suddenly hear a few bars of the iconic One Winged Angel theme, which is the song of the game’s primary antagonist, Sephiroth.
Aerith seems to hear this as well, and jumps up, startled. She rushes out of the alley onto the crowded street. In her red and pink outfit, Aerith stands out on the dingy Midgar sidewalk. People rush past her, bumping into her without a care and continuing on as she drops her flowers onto the pavement outside the LOVELESS theater.
She picks up her flowers one by one, placing them back in her basket until someone steps on one. She cradles the flower in her hand and looks up at the night sky. The camera pans up and we get our first view of Midgar in all of its glory.
The last thing we see in this shot is the massive Shinra building, which towers above the entire city.
Then, the Final Fantasy VII logo pops up accompanied by the game’s main theme. It’s an amazing moment of nostalgia that should give any fan of the original game goosebumps.
We’re then treated to a shot of the train pulling into the Sector One Mako Reactor where we get our first look at Cloud Strife, the game’s main hero.
Two Shinra soldiers inspect the train before being jumped by Biggs and Jessie or Avalanche. Wedge also hops off the train and the camera pans over to show us Barret. He signals for Cloud, gruffly saying, “Get down here, Merc.”
Cloud flips off the train and lands with Buster Sword in hand as the introduction comes to a close.
Final Fantasy VII Remake releases on March 3, 2020 for the PlayStation 4.
