The Final Fantasy VII Remake project will go down as the most ambitious and likely most expensive remake in gaming history. Treating the original Final Fantasy VII simultaneously as both a sacred text and clay waiting to be reformed, Square Enix is walking a wire attempting to appease both old fans and new with the new trilogy. The Remake introduces brand new characters and scenes, remixes existing fan favorites, and throws in some destiny-aware ghosts to confuse everyone. Chapter four of Final Fantasy VII Remake exemplifies Square’s mission statement of what the entire Remake project is set out to do.
Mad Dash, the fourth chapter from the 2020 remake, is brand new material from start to finish. The first few chapters of the remake follow the original closely with the bombing run, escape, and exploring the slums, if elongated and stretched quite a bit, but Mad Dash declares with certainty that this is not a one-to-one remake. There’s motorcycle combat, flirtation, ghost shenanigans, a flashback, a brand new tragic backstory, a walking simulator section, and a parachute jump. Let’s take the leap.
The chapter opens with our hero Cloud meeting up with the tertiary members of Avalanche: Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. Avalanche are eco-terrorists fighting back against the Shinra corporation, who in the world of Final Fantasy VII are not only polluting but sucking the planet dry of its magical substance: Mako. Jessie wrongly blames herself for the extra large explosion that kicked off the game’s bombing run, and is looking to rob Shinra of some blasting material. Jessie along with Biggs and Wedge were named albeit minor characters in the original game, but Mad Dash is about to flip that on its head.
After the initial talk, the team hops on two motorcycles and makes their way up and across the city of Midgar. Jessie rides tandem with Cloud, explaining the situation while mildly flirting, something he is entirely unprepared for. The clever writing along with Erica Lindbeck, Jessie’s voice actor, elevate what was previously a curiosity into a fully-fledged character. There’s an immediate excitement for fans of the original: Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge are not simply named NPCs anymore but are now raw potential, waiting to be developed and explored. At this point in the game we have no idea how or if the story will branch from the original, and anything seems possible.
A battle on the bikes begins, with some rather lengthy and rudimentary combat (slash left or right while dodging obstacles), but we’re soon introduced to the game's first brand new antagonist: Roche. Love him or hate him (and it seems the internet kinda hates him), but Roche flies onto the highway in the most anime way possible, twisting and contorting his bike’s movements into seemingly impossible directions while doing battle with Cloud both with sword and tongue. Roche has never been more excited to find a worthy opponent and the writing borders on slash fiction from his point of view towards Cloud. It’s stupendously hilarious and a sign of the lengths this series is willing to go for entertainment.
We’re now in the walking simulator portion of the chapter, where the Avalanche trio visits Jessie’s parents while Cloud sneaks in the back door to steal her dad’s Shinra keycard. We get to listen in on them converse with Jessie’s mom while Cloud heads around back, and are surprised to find Jessie’s dad in a coma in the bedroom. We can poke around the room for a few minutes like we’re playing Gone Home while taking in Jessie’s history. Twenty minutes ago we barely knew anything about Jessie and now we’re learning her dad has an extreme form of Mako poisoning and that she left acting at the Gold Saucer to help take care of him. And also that Wedge loves pizza!
With ID card in hand the group heads to the munitions warehouse. At the mention of a vantage point, Cloud flashes back to the famous water tower scene from the original game, where as young teens Cloud and Tifa promised to be there for each other in the future. It’s beautifully directed with a starry sky filling the wide shots and bespoke character models and voice actors hired just for this moment. Final Fantasy VII Remake spares no expense.
The middle section of Mad Dash transitions into traditional battles against Shinra infantry and mechs, they’re not too intense and peppered with great little cutscenes of Biggs and Wedge attempting to help out. Roche reappears to do battle one-on-one against Cloud and serves as a skill test to confirm you’re using all the abilities available to you, including Cloud’s Punisher stance and its counterattack feature. I just find Roche a hoot, and was tickled to see he comes back in Rebirth.
Jessie meanwhile has sourced the explosive material required for her next reactor bomb, and her escape route is revealed: parachuting off the upper plate of Midgar back down into the slums. This spectacular scene showcases the city and gives the player an excellent look at what’s at risk in the coming chapters; Midgar is a strange place but it’s easy to visualize the upper and lower plate structure of it thanks to direction like this. There’s also some physical comedy with Wedge’s cheeks flapping in the wind.
Back on the ground you’re tasked with checking in with the gang to make sure they landed okay, and there’s another awkward moment for Cloud as Jessie flirts hard with him: “Mind coming over tomorrow night? My roommates should all be out for a while.” Tifa and Aerith stans appreciate his retort: “Are you seriously that desperate?” Still though, Jessie is able to wring out a dialog choice for Cloud and the player: “No promises” or “Not happening.” Me? I’m always picking the former. The scene ends with Jessie biting her tongue, giving Cloud a wink, and exclaiming “psych!”
Properly confused, we guide Cloud to bed until he’s woken up by Tifa. Cloud reminds her of the promise that was made in the flashback, with Tifa unsure if this was what she expected all those years ago. The chapter moves into its final movement as the destiny-aware ghosts attack the slums. These ghosts are unique and new to the Remake, and at this point the player is unsure what their purpose serves. Are they metatextual adversaries attempting to change the outcome or preserve it?
The destiny ghosts don’t totally work for me overall, but I absolutely love the big swing. Looking at the new Ocarina of Time remake which seems like a straight-up recreation of the 1998 original and I can’t help but be unexcited. We won’t find out if the Remake trilogy is able to pull off its grand plan for a few months, but the idea that change is possible and even inevitable is an exciting prospect for a thirty year old property.
Mad Dash ends with Cloud joining Barret and Tifa on their next bombing mission. Cloud is a mercenary and Tifa doesn’t seem fully committed to the violence that may be ahead of them. Barret though brings his confident wisdom: “Ain’t no stopping this train we’re on, son. A lotta people risked their lives to get it rolling… Already put the word out more’s coming, too. Shut them all down by today, or we shut another down for you. Ain’t on us. Not us…”
In under 90 minutes, Square Enix announces that Final Fantasy VII Remake is rolling with Mad Dash, and there’s no stopping this train. The best chapter in the game is wholly unique to the remake but also the key that unlocks the entire project’s vision: spectacle, action, laughter, and heart. I can’t wait to see how the series concludes with Revelation.
