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The fact the first part of the remake would center on Midgar ended up being a subject of hot contention for fans, but Final Fantasy VII Remake does manage to meaningfully expand on the area in some regards. More importantly, Final Fantasy VII Remake has the same knack for secret keeping as the original, with things to do even attentive fans would have missed. 

10 Counterattack Without Blocking As Cloud

Although Cloud might not actually be the best playable character in the grand scheme of things, he’s incredibly fun to play as. His Mode switching allows Cloud to switch between two distinct play styles– one fast, one heavy. The latter in particular even allows Cloud to do a counter attack whenever he blocks enemies. 

The thing is, though, Cloud doesn’t need to block. He doesn’t even need to be in Punisher Mode to counter attack. In his basic Operator Mode, Cloud can counterattack enemies by Mode switching into Punisher right as he’s being damaged. It’s a far more reliable way of encountering, and even allows players to chain Operator attacks into Punisher attacks. 

9 Grind Like Crazy In Chapter 9

Wall Market is far and away the highlight of Final Fantasy VII, and no while its depiction in Chapter 14 is nice, it’s Chapter 9 that gives the area its life. More importantly, Chapter 9 ends up being the first time in the game where players are really free to play around with the core combat. Thanks to Corneo’s Coliseum, players can fight as many battles as they like. 

They can also grind like crazy. One of the best grinding spots prior to beating the game is in Chapter 9. Two Person Team versus Slum Outlaws will net over 2k experience each time, and rather fast. It’s very easy to quickly overlevel in Chapter 9. 

8 Chapter Select

The original Final Fantasy VII’s Midgar was fairly linear, but it was also the game’s opening chapter. Immediately after Midgar, players were given access to the overworld and more or less left to their own devices (albeit with quite a bit of direction.) Final Fantasy VII Remake is fairly handholdy in comparison, making it hard to backtrack outside of Chapter 14. 

Thankfully, completing the game once unlocks the handy Chapter Select feature– more or less a way of tackling New Game Plus out of order. There’s no need to play Hard more linearly, either. Players are free to jump in wherever they want at whatever difficulty. It’s a novel way of approaching replayability. 

7 Unlock More Fights In Corneo’s Coliseum 

Beyond just grinding like a madman in Corneo’s Coliseum, it’s possible to unlock new battles for the arena. Upon returning in Chapter 14, the Coliseum will be loaded with new fights for both Barret and Tifa, along with a new set of party matches. They’re not as useful to grind with, but they offer some fun combat challenges. 

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Upon clearing the game, Chapter Selecting to Corneo’s Coliseum will unlock yet another fight, rounding off the arena. From there, players can get their arena fix from Chapter 17, courtesy of Chadley’s VR Battles (also with their own set of unlockable fights.) 

6 Bring Different Parties To The Final Battle

Like with the original Final Fantasy VII, there’s an affection meter in the background for Cloud’s party members. FFVII (1997) used this to determine who would be Cloud’s date at the Gold Saucer (something to look forward to in Part 2,) VII Remake uses it to generate a few unique scenes along with composing the party for the final boss. 

This still means players can’t edit their party outside of VR Battles or Corneo’s Coliseum, but it is a nice way of personalizing someone’s playthrough. All the same, many players have expressed the fact that the party member they talked to most often didn’t appear during the final battle, so how exactly the system works is still iffy. 

5 Give Hart Money

For as restrictive as Final Fantasy VII Remake ultimately is, Chapter 17 does open up considerably and allow the player to goof off quite a bit. There’s a decent bit of content to find in Shinra HQ, including a man requesting 10,000 gil in Mayor Domino’s library. Naturally, most players won’t want to just drop the cash with no clear return on investment. 

Anyone who does, however, (and everyone should because Gil is incredibly easy to come by at this point in the game,) will be able to get the EKG Cannon for Barret– arguably his best weapon in the game. Anyone who missed nabbing this weapon can jump back to Chapter 17 via Chapter Select. 

4 Get Different Dresses For Cloud & Aerith

Both Aerith and Cloud can wind up with different dresses for the assault on Corneo’s Mansion. In the case of Aerith, how many side quests a player does in Chapter 8 when Cloud and Aerith first meet. By doing no quests, Aerith will wind up in a plain, unremarkable dress. By completing half of the quests (or at least not none or all,) Aerith will end up in a much nicer, pink dress. 

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By completing every quest, Aerith will wear a beautiful red clown reminiscent of her original FFVII dress. In the case of Cloud, his dress depends on side quests done in Chapter 9, albeit they’re a bit more complicated. They follow the same pattern of completing a set number of quests, but Johnny’s presence can also influence which dress Cloud gets. 

3 Get Different Dresses For Tifa

Cloud and Aerith aren’t the only characters who get to spruce themselves up for Don Corneo. Tifa can also be escorted to Corneo’s Mansion in one of three dresses, though which dress she’ll wind up in is dependent on actions taken in Chapter 3. Upon clearing all the side quests in the chapter, Tifa will ask Cloud what she should wear. 

At the time, players won’t know she’s referring to the Corneo infiltration, but all three options result in a different dress. Tifa’s mature dress is blue and reminscient of her dress from the original game, her sporty dress is long & silver, and something exotic is a short black robe. Tifa’s hair also changes depending on the dress. 

2 Split A Character’s ATB Into 3

Unlock with her self-proclaimed useless Materia, Aerith comes equipped with Refocus– a Materia which replaces a character’s Limit with Refocus. While it makes more sense to stick with each character’s respective Limits, Refocus will break a character’s ATB from 2 down into 3. As a result, Refocus can potentially be more useful in longer fights. 

Being able to use three skills back to back to back instead of two really does make a difference. The party can find two other pieces of Reform Materia alongside Aerith’s. Both of which are unlocked from completing challenges: Two Person Team vs Dynamic Duos, and Three Person Team versus Monsters of Legend.

1 Restore MP On Hard

As far as Final Fantasy games go, VII Remake falls on the harder side of the spectrum. Even on Normal mode, VIIR demands quite a bit mechanically. Hell House is basically the best bit of gatekeeping Final Fantasy has had in ages– locking out anyone still struggling to make the most out of character switching, Materia, and abilities. 

Naturally, Hard mode is even harder, with the notable addition of locking MP. Use your magic, and you’re stuck. Or so it seems at first glance. It’s possible to unlock MP absorption through Weapon Upgrading. Magic oriented weapons make getting through Hard far more manageable. 

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