Leading up to its release,Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldierwas the butt of plenty of jokes surrounding the current state of the games industry. Many fans felt like the existence of a battle royale shooter set in the world ofFinal Fantasy 7is a major misstep for the series and like Square Enix is chasing a gaming trend due to the battle royale aspect not fitting tonally withFF7. While the tone ofThe First Soldierdoes seem to clash with that of the originalFinal Fantasy 7and its recent well-received remake, the game itself is actually a lot of fun.
There’s a lot going forFinal Fantasy 7: The First Soldierand, if fans would give it a chance despite its seemingly bizarre concept, they might realize that it’s a pretty great battle royale with one major hangup: it’s a mobile-exclusive title. The mobile gaming space makes up one of the biggest in the entire world, so this isn’t to say that its existence as a mobile game is inherently bad. However,The First Soldierwould likely benefit in a major way from receiving a console launch at some point down the road.
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Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier’s Complex Systems
In terms of battle royales,Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldierhas a lot that makes it stand out from the oversaturated market. While its existence as a third-person shooter keeps it in line with a lot of other titles in the genre such asFortnite,PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds, andSpellbreak,The First Soldier’s incorporation oftraditionalFinal Fantasymechanicsin an elimination-style shooter is pretty unique. Players are given the opportunity to cast the series' traditional spells, summon some of its most iconic beasts, and even gain experience points to level up each round for defeating other players and NPC enemy mobs scattered across the map. This is all done while participating in the battle royale genre’s typical mechanics such as staying within the safe zone, upgrading gear, and getting in plenty of third-person shootouts.
Although it seemed initially like a merging of two unrelated gaming elements,Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldierremains true to bothFinal Fantasyand the battle royale genreby including deep mechanics that can surprise players who initially might have thought little about the title following its announcement. While its system-heavy nature can certainly work on mobile, its existence as a mobile-exclusive title might be holdingThe First Soldierback.
The Limitations of Mobile Gaming
As stated above,mobile gaming makes up a staggering percentage of the gaming spaceandFinal Fantasy 7 The First Soldierisn’t the first title to incorporate complex mechanics. Still, when playing it, some have reported feeling a little bit overwhelmed by all of the onscreen buttons that they need to keep track of. Even when playing on a paired controller,The First Soldiergets a little visually cluttered with its many mechanics due to the smaller size of most mobile screens compared to gaming monitors or TVs. As such, it might be worth the game’s time to make the jump to console for anyone who’s been put off by the overwhelming on-screen clutter.
What’s more, while mobile gaming is a very legitimate platform, many console fans view it as a “less-than” way of playing video games and, as a result, have been put off from trying outFinal Fantasy 7: The First Soldier. If it were to be brought to consoles (most likely the PS4 and PS5 due toSquare’s exclusivity deal with Sony regardingFF7Remake), it could be one of the games to help bridge the gap between console players and mobile players due to the popularity of theFinal Fantasybrand and the overall quality of the title.
Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldieris available now for mobile devices.
