The rest of the gameplay is pretty standard RPG fare. You will go through towns and dungeons, you will find treasure and fight monsters, and you will need to do a lot of exploring and solve various puzzles to get past certain areas. Many of the minigames from the original 1997 game have been updated for the modern era and the game itself is split into chapters for easier tracking of progress. The player can unlock being able to revisit any chapter to make sure no secrets are missed, and there are unlockable hard modes for greater challenge.

My only complaint, albeit it was somewhat inevitable, is that this game has a lot of padding. Most are of the good sort, adding new story scenes, more to do, adding more worldbuilding details, or providing more fun inclusion of prior spinoff media as a core part of the story. Some, however, are of the "pad out the time it takes to beat the game" style of padding. Several areas that were somewhat small in the original game are now large dungeons, and outdoor areas that were small are now elaborated in far more detail and breadth. Granted, given this game only covers the first couple of hours of the original game, this was to be expected, but it can make some parts very tedious. As it is, even if you just want to get the essentials done, this can still take a few days if you don't skip any cutscenes.

Graphically, this game largely follows the futuristic aesthetic of the original 1997 title but is redone in modern graphics to better illustrate the vision that was limited by the technology of the time. Midgar still has an oppressively dark cyberpunk meets futuristic dystopia look, while the slums and undercity look appropriately miserable, hardscrabble, and bleak. It's clear below the megacity of Midgar people live among all kinds of trash, monsters, and rogue robots cast off by an uncaring Shinra above. However, it's now all lovingly rendered in generally realistic 3D as opposed to the far simpler blocky 3D of the original PlayStation.

The music and sound direction got a massive upgrade. The original game was a modernish take on many classic Final Fantasy motifs crossed with some futuristic synth, gothic choir, and techno influences. The Remake introduces much better instrumentation, and progressive remixes of classic music with grand orchestra, opera, dubstep, and other instruments to breathe new life into the classic music. There are several new songs which all fit this new sound direction that slot in perfectly with the overall epic soundtrack choices, and it's the kind of music that's worth buying the OST for. The original was already good, this is what happens when the original music gets a nigh unlimited budget and far better music tech to work with at absolute minimum. There is voice acting in English and Japanese, and I found both to be well-acted and quite competent.

This game is controllable with a mouse and keyboard or any Steam-compatible gamepad. It's playable with the former, but I heavily recommend a gamepad. I got by just fine with an Xbox One controller, but any gamepad supported by Steam should work very well with this title. There is key remapping, but I found the stock controls easy to learn, and the game comes with patient tutorials and directions for new players.

This game runs very well provided you are slightly at or above minimum settings, and runs with rock-solid stability on Windows. It is fully verified on the Steam Deck and runs with hardly any issues on Linux via Steam Proton. It's rendered in Unreal Engine 4, and with a few minor tweaks at best any slowdown is not noticeable, if any.

Morally, there are some concerning elements.

Violence is generally of the RPG style give orders and watch it happen style (or more like an action RPG if you play using that style of control). While largely devoid of blood and gore and bodies disappear after death (in line with spinoff titles to the original FF7), there are some depictions of fantastical beings having limbs like tentacles severed and some depictions of blood and implied gore.

Language is going to be rather earthy. Practically every PG-13-level swear word will be heard at some point. In fairness, it's to a far lesser extent than the original game, but enough that it will be noticeable.

Sexuality is somewhat toned down from the original in some areas and somewhat increased in others. While lacking some of the cringe from the original game with blatantly homosexual crossdresser stereotypes, they still exist, but are somewhat toned down in depiction, and there is still the iconic Cloud crossdressing segment from the original. It's implied a few villainous characters are potentially bisexual or into BDSM (shown in a negative light) while leaving it a bit more ambiguous for the non-villainous NPCs with similar inclinations. Ladies like Tifa are rendered a bit more sensibly but still show midriffs and wears form-flattering outfits like the 1997 version.

This title, much like the 1997 version, has a religion based around the planet itself, considered a living being with control over the cycle of life and death. It's made somewhat more explicit in the Remake. Churches in a roughly Christian style exist, but to what deity is unspecified. Many more elements whose supernatural aspect was left ambiguous are made more explicit this time round, and ghosts and the undead are made more explicitly real. There is still a heavy justification of sci-fi for many elements, but this is a universe with a heavy supernatural presence mixed with many sci-fi elements. The term" "godd***" is uttered by a few characters, but the focus is not vile to God, mostly uttered by characters in anguish over losing loved ones to acts of evil and depravity the few times it comes up.

Morally and ethically, it's pretty murky. While Shinra is shown to be rather evil and immoral, your protagonists generally practice ecoterrorism and resist most authority with armed force, though generally with the justification such authority is corrupt. There are mentions of drinking and prostitution, and while the player cannot directly partake, it's implied they have and can.

Overall, I rather enjoyed Final Fantasy 7 Remake, though I admit it may be divisive in many ways, especially for those hoping for a "pure" remake of the original game. Technically, it's quite sound and has amazing graphics and a total fire soundtrack I have extensively enjoyed. Morally, it's around the same level as the original, with a mature story generally only suitable for older teens. I certainly recommend it and look forward to the PC releases of the follow ups.