"Final Fantasy 7 Remake" has arrived on the PC, months after its PlayStation release, at a price of $70. The expectation was for a definitive version, but at the time of its release, this was not the case. That's because Square Enix is notorious for its PC ports, though not as bad as "Nier," but not as bad as "Automata: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade," and "Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade" is fantastic.

After the lackluster, confusing, and unfinished "Final Fantasy 15," this new take on one of the most beloved games in the series, "Final Fantasy 7," feels like a real vision. 1997's original game (the first on the PC like mine If you played it, it was 1998, and I was grateful for the MIDI soundtrack), but with comments that make the original feel up-to-date. The combat system is now completely real-time, but finally pays homage to the series' classic RPG heritage.

The biggest caveat is that, despite its title, "FF7R" only recreates the beginning of the original story. The part is set in the seedy industrial city of Midgal, where the wealthy live comfortably on giant sheets of metal and the poor live in the shadows next to piles of scrap and waste. Originally, the Midgal section would have taken about 10 hours to complete, but here it is transformed into a 35-40 hour adventure that feels complete in its own right. Everything reaches a dramatic climax, so it makes sense to close the book there (until the inevitable sequel).

The general flow remains the same. Aloof and grumpy mercenary Cloud joins a band of ecoterrorists who are after the planet-killing Mako Reactor, used by the Shinra Company to power the cyberpunk fantasy city of Midgal. It's a serious story full of environmental mysticism and melodramatic twists, but it's underpinned by goofy elements like chocobos and the infamous quest in which Cloud dresses up as a woman and sneaks into the lair of the bad guys. (Here, it is re-contextualized as a dance-off rhythm game that basically lets Cloud compete in a drag race, celebrating the stoic grouch's embrace of his feminine side.)

The game's "gothic" elements, such as the "gothic" and "gothic" elements of the "gothic" game, are also well-known in the game's "gothic" section.

The remake takes this original as a blueprint and expands it with additional quests, added character depth and motivation, and an entirely new story arc. The addition of a closer third-person camera, rather than the top-down view of the original, makes the added detail feel more natural, enhancing the sense that FF7R is a complete chapter.

The original Midgar chapter was not exactly open world, and neither is the remake. Only a handful of chapters allow Cloud to roam the hub and take on side quests. The rest of the game is much more linear. After the destruction of the Mako Reactor early in the game, you can walk among the panicked residents and really feel connected to those around you who are desperately searching for loved ones in the wreckage. In the original game, this section only took up two screens.

Another highlight is an entirely new chunk of the story, a walk through a quiet residential neighborhood where Shinra's employees live. There, one can get a sense of what life is like for those who are unaware of the plight of the earth.

The streetscape as a whole is incredibly pretty, with a mix of steel mill scrap yards and neon-lit streets, but the dungeon-like areas are much more mundane and static. The additional "Intergrade" episode, originally a DLC for the PlayStation version, has a level of interactivity that could use a little more. This episode focuses on Yuffie, a character who didn't appear until later in the original game. Flipping switches with ranged attacks and climbing walls like a ninja make for a much more interesting exploration than Cloud faces. Her combat style is also terrific fun, with a hectic mix of melee and ranged combat. Her chapters are only brief, but they show how the remake can evolve into a more interesting second chapter.

It's his first trip to the Wall Market pleasure district, where the plot involves doing favors for the locals. Cloud's man-sized buster sword is still not for show. Except when you're stopping to open treasure chests for potions (which, like me, you won't use until the last boss), you'll be beating up enemies with an oversized Final Fantasy 15-style weapon in real time.

However, when you block or use a normal attack, your active time battle bar is charged, and you can expend that charge to take special actions. Selecting abilities from the menu, such as Cloud's hard-hitting "Focused Thrust," Barrett's "Lifesaver" to protect the party, or magic spells, will slow time, mimicking the turn-based combat of the original game. Even using items such as potions consumes a large amount of the bar.

While it is possible to hack through many battles, sooner or later you will need to figure out how to get the most out of your crew. You can switch between controlling them directly or ordering them to use their abilities when their ATB bar is full, depending on your preference.

Each party member has a unique attack. In Cloud's case, it is the "Punisher Stance," which sacrifices mobility and range defense to make his blocks auto-parry. Barrett's is a charge shot, which he can fire in between long bursts from his gun arm. If you keep pressure on the enemy or hit an attack that the enemy has difficulty with, it will stagger and overcharge its damage (up to 200%).

Often you will have to choose between going on the offensive to stagger the enemy or taking the opportunity to recover. In hard fights, such as boss battles, this dilemma can be a problem. Especially in hard mode, magic is restricted and the use of items is forbidden. Although it is not unlocked until the game is played once (it is balanced in New Game Plus), it is a great additional challenge that really shows the tactical nature of the combat system.

This may be the best combat system in Final Fantasy history. It mixes the real-time approach of Final Fantasy 15 with more strategic and classic elements. Combat is speedy, but there is still time to breathe if needed. It's like if "Kingdom Hearts 3" wasn't a game that made you want to scream every 10 seconds.

You can expand your abilities by finding new weapons and maximizing your proficiency with them, and you can apply their unique abilities to all of your weapons. For example, if a character uses an iron blade enough, the triple slash attack can be used with any weapon. Characters level up by improving their equipment, and each level up gives the same number of skill points to all weapons. This is a great way to reverse the equipment power creep of RPGs, allowing weapons to remain relevant for different uses rather than being replaced by powerful variants. Find spells that are more useful than melee attacks' Equip something that buffs magic attacks.

Materia is where you can really get creative. Glowing orbs can be attached to weapons to perform a variety of effects, including elemental magic, parry, status buffs, abilities, and summoning powerful creatures. As materia gain experience, they unlock permanent upgrades that apply even when moved between characters (for example, the classic "fire" spell becomes "phyla," which deals higher damage). Some materia can be attached to the link slot next to Elemental Magic to give the basic attack an elemental effect or the same effect as Resistance. [For example, a combination of Barrier Magic and Stead Block can absorb heavy damage, instantly convert it into ATB, and spit out the attack. Always have far more materia than your party can use, so you can be creative in responding to threats. There is space for trial and error thanks to generous checkpoints that allow you to re-specify before retrying the battle.

Cloud constantly asks where the money is; I find myself asking where the PC-specific options are. Final Fantasy 15 Windows Edition was an amazingly detailed port, full of tweaks and expansion options that were not possible on the original console hardware. The game seems to do little more than allow you to choose between higher or lower shadow and texture quality. Stuttering was reported in multiple hardware configurations, and dynamic resolution scaling cannot be disabled.

Unless one is used to the default control system of WASD, IJKL, arrow keys, and mouse all at once, one will struggle with mouse and keyboard. You can scroll with the mouse wheel, but you can't use the mouse to select menu options (fun for selecting attacks, but hardly worth the hassle of not using a controller in a battle clearly designed for controllers.) Moving around the map with WASD is inconvenient, and sections that require custom controls, such as the bike sequence or the darts mini-game, are considerably more difficult with a keyboard than with a controller. Some of the keyboard prompts have prominent PlayStation button graphics. The shortcut for pressing escape to bring up the menu is m.

Still, Final Fantasy 7 Remake feels great with a controller in hand. It ping-pongs between the mechanical brain massage of combat and the exploration of an industrial fantasy world and a gripping story. Newcomers get a rich world to delve into for the first time, and as an old fan, it was impossible to resist the urge to discover what has been added and what has been changed. The new dimension in storytelling and visual design has me excited for the future of the main "Final Fantasy" series for the first time in a long time, and as an action game fan, I find myself going back again and again for the combat, which I rarely feel in RPGs.