As a longtime Final Fantasy fan and one who has thoroughly enjoyed the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy so far (regardless of what some might say), I am anxiously awaiting the release of the third and final entry in the trilogy, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. I'm certainly not alone in my love for Final Fantasy 7—although I would love to see a remake of FF6 or FF9 as well—and the more I hear about what it's bringing to the table, the more I salivate at the prospect of playing it. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's open world, no matter how big it ends up being, sounds like an incredible way to spend a good chunk of time in the Final Fantasy 7 universe, and I have enjoyed being behind the sticks to witness each entry's evolution of the original game's combat firsthand. However, there is one feature I do find a bit odd that I will personally not be taking advantage of, though I guess I do see why some players might: the auto-level system.
Essentially, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's auto-level system allows players to skip the game's side content altogether by periodically giving them the option to jump up to the level the developers recommend for that stage of the story. Of course, players who do all the side quests and exploration can simply ignore the new feature and level normally, but the auto-level system is nonetheless a new level of easy mode that I don't think I've personally seen in a video game. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything wrong with it from an ethical standpoint, and I'm not at all offended by its existence. More than anything, I'm actually reminded of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt—a game with such great side content that no one in their right mind would want to skip it. I get that Square Enix is wanting to broaden Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's appeal, and I'll admit we live in a different age now, where time is almost more precious than money. But if FF7 Revelation's side content was really worth doing, as The Witcher 3's is, would Square Enix even want to give us the option to skip it?
I know singing The Witcher 3's praises is nothing new, especially when it comes to its side content, but it's nonetheless interesting how, 11 years later, it is still something of a standard for optional content. To be fair, nailing side content in an open-world game is an incredibly difficult balance to strike, from ensuring there's enough of it but not too much to making it all feel equally rewarding, and rewarding in more than one way. Plenty of open-world games have gone down in history as being phenomenally bad, largely due to mishandling of side content. The Witcher 3, on the other hand, managed to strike that balance almost perfectly, and its open-world successors have been relentlessly compared to it ever since.
What The Witcher 3 understood better than most open-world games, though, is that side content doesn't necessarily need some incredible piece of gear or a mountain of XP waiting at the end of it to make it worth doing. Sometimes, I would pick up a Witcher contract thinking I was about to hunt down another monster, only for the whole thing to unravel into a surprisingly involved story that I genuinely wanted to see through. Other times, I would stumble across a quest almost by accident and end up following it simply because I wanted to know where it was going. Even some of the game's smaller side stories had choices that made me stop and think about what I wanted Geralt to do, especially when there wasn't an obvious right answer waiting for me. The XP and rewards certainly didn't hurt, but they also weren't really the point. The Witcher 3 made me want to do its side content because the side content itself was often the reward, which is probably why so much of it is still being talked about more than a decade later.
And herein lies the reason why Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's auto-level system immediately brings The Witcher 3 to mind. I know there are people out there who were immensely bothered by Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's semi-open world, so I can understand why Square Enix would feel the need to pivot in what seems like such a drastic manner. Then there's the argument of, if it's truly optional content, then why am I essentially forced to do it if I want my party's level to be on par with the content I'm about to head into? Does that not make it required content?
But I'm not trying to argue whether Square Enix is justified in its implementation of the auto-level system in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, nor am I putting the semantics of what qualifies as side content up for debate. What I'm offering up for consideration here is that, if Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's optional content were truly worth doing, just as The Witcher 3's was and still is, there would arguably be no need for an auto-level system, as the majority of players would likely find doing it all quite enjoyable. Then, perhaps they wouldn't begrudgingly engage with it just to get their party's level up, and instead, they'd want to see its many stories through to fruition.
Of course, there are players who only play these games for their stories, but that's also a large part of what I'm trying to get at here. The stories, if you will, that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's side content tell could be considered just as essential as the main story if their quality was on par with it. The Witcher 3 proved that optional content can be compelling enough to make players forget it's optional in the first place, and I would much rather see Final Fantasy 7 Revelation accomplish that than simply give players a way around it. Maybe the auto-level system really is just there as a convenience for those who want it, and maybe I'm reading too much into its existence. But if Square Enix wants me to spend dozens of extra hours in this world, I would rather it convince me that those hours are worth spending than reassure me that I can skip them.
The Thrilling Conclusion of the FINAL FANTASY VII Remake Saga
Embark on a final journey aboard the airship Highwind—one that will decide the fate of the planet.
In the third and final entry in the FINAL FANTASY VII Remake Series, the scale has never been larger, and the stakes have never been higher.
Take to the skies and explore a boundless world, fight alongside a fully assembled party, master strategic and dynamic combat, and prepare yourself for the climactic finale.
A vast planet awaits. Everything leads here.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/final-fantasy-7-revelation-auto-level-system-witcher-3-side-quests/
