Final Fantasy 7 remake comparison video shows just how much the characters have changed

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We last saw Cloud in 2015, but he's looking a little different now

The wait to see more of the highly anticipated Final Fantasy 7 remake went on for quite a while didn’t it? Since we saw the 2015 PlayStation experience trailer, the recent State of Play event gave us the first glimpse we’ve seen of the remake in just under four years. Naturally it’s undergone some changes in that time, and thanks to YouTuber Cycu1’s comparison video (via Siliconera), we can take a closer look at just how different the designs of the characters are. 

Back in 2018 at the 30th anniversary Final Fantasy Art exhibition in Tokyo, remake director Tetsuya Nomura surprised attendees by showing them new screenshots of the game. News then got out that the screenshots showed the characters had been heavily redesigned since the 2015 trailers, and now we can finally see it for ourselves. 

As you can see in the video above, lots of the characters faces have been changed, and more details have been added to the model designs to make them look more realistic.  

You can also see comparisons between the famous backdrops and battles, which show the graphical improvements that have been made during development since we last visited the FF7 remake world. Take the famous sequence where Cloud arrives at the station at the beginning of the game for example: 

Outside of the differences between the two remake trailers, fans have also taken the time to compare the latest remake’s scenes with those of the original 1997 release - which just goes to show faithful the remake is being to the source material.  

More about the Final Fantasy 7 remake, which will still be episodic in format, is due to revealed in June.  

Heather Wald
Heather Wald
Evergreen Editor, Games

Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.