Final Fantasy VII Remake aims to retell the story of the original Final Fantasy VII publisehed and released in 1997 by Square Enix. Players control Cloud Strife, a former Shinra soldier turned mercenary who joins the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE to fight the Shinra Corporation, who have been draining the planet’s life energy. 

Exploration and battle mechanics both take place in real-time, like Final Fantasy XV. The game features an altered “Active Time Battle” (ATB) system from the original, which gradually fills up slowly, or can fill faster with attacks. Once it is filled, the player can halt the action and use special abilities such as magic, items, and special moves. The player can also assign these special abilities to shortcut buttons, allowing them to play entirely in real-time without pausing. Each special ability uses up a segment of the ATB bar. 

The player can also switch between party members at any time. Each party member has their own individual skills, such as Cloud’s close-quarters melee attacks and Barret’s long-range distance attacks. Players will also be able to use magic and summons, and a Limit Break gauge allows characters to perform more powerful attacks once charged. Producer Yoshinori Kitase stated that while the game has more real-time elements, there would still be strategic elements, such as selecting weapons and magic for each character to wield.