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How do you remake one of the most beloved video games ever made? Why would you even risk it? It would be like remaking Jaws, Casablanca, or the original Star Wars film. Final Fantasy VII was a sprawling saga spanning eighty hours of memorable characters, lengthy battles, and tearful heartbreak. There is no way Square Enix could do it justice... and yet they have.

If you have never played the original, then all you need to know is the story follows Cloud Strife, an ex-SOLDIER. He used to work for the Shinra Corporation and is imbued with Mako, the life blood of the planet. Shinra are also responsible for sucking Mako out of the ground to power the cities, but this is killing the planet. A small team of rebels known as Avalanche have paid Cloud to work with them to blow up the Mako reactors.

Those of you have played the original game will recognise the characters and most, but not all, of the plot. The rest has been utterly transformed. The static backdrops from the original game are now huge areas to explore, cities packed with hundreds of people, cats and dogs raising their heads as you go by. It looks amazing, as do the hundreds of cutscenes. That's not to say they are long, most lasting a minute or less, but all are perfectly framed with subtle effects which are often missing in games. Focus shifts subtly between characters and when needed, the music cuts out completely so you get the full emotional performance from the actors.

The new battle system blends the old ATB system with real time combat - it sounds like a mess, but works perfectly. Battles start with real time attacks that build up your ATB bar which is split into two portions. When one of these is filled, you can shift to bullet time, allowing you time to flip through a couple of menus and select a special attack, magic, or use an item such as a potion or Phoenix Down. A Classic Mode is also available, which automates the non-ATB elements of battle.

Weapons also come with special moves that can use ATB, and limit breaks and summons similarly return. Shiva, Ifirit, and others from the original game are joined by new summons, but they are now AI controlled characters who roam the battlefield rather than the single attack behemoths from twenty-three years ago.

Combat only forms part of the game; head to Wall Market and you won't be raising your sword for a good few hours. This area is packed full of bars, clubs and other 'adult' entertainment, plus a gym where you can have a squat off. At the centre is the Honeybee club which, true to the trailers that teased Cloud dressed up as a woman, has turned a joke from the original game into something altogether more fabulous and gender fluid. Square have really pulled out the stops, making a bold statement in what is the most fabulous ten minutes of video gaming I have ever seen.

Final Fantasy VII Remake handles the more solemn moments just as well. Aerith's mother has a wonderful sepia-toned flashback and Barret's anger after a certain event is visceral and real. It's surprising just how much of an emotional impact the game creates. One catastrophic event has you walking slowly through crowds of terrified people running for their lives, somewhat echoing the opening scenes of The Last of Us. Every character has been voiced, even the background NPCs who you have to regretfully pass, children calling for their mother, unseen casualties crying for help, it is genuinely upsetting.

With Square approaching this as a trilogy of releases, a full playthrough of this first part will take around 35 hours, but you'll be drawn back in by being able to return to previous chapters to finish off any side quests and discover additional story elements you might have missed. You get to keep all your gear and any unlocks on your weapons, and these can either be assigned manually or auto-assigned depending on your play style.

It's hard to pick faults, but I would say the end of the game does suffer from the same problem as many Marvel movies; there's just an awful lot of smashing and explosions. Taking on boss battle after boss battle is a little tiring. The AI of the summons could also be a little better, as I once found Shiva standing and blankly firing into a large crate that was between her and the boss we were fighting. There were also a couple instances when the static skybox images that surround the play area seemed very low resolution and at odds with the polish of the rest of the game.

1. Wonderful characters, engrossing story
2. Looks and sounds gorgeous
3. Classic and modern gameplay expertly fused together
4. Don Corneo's scene-stealing hair

1. The final chapter might raise some eyebrows
2. We have to wait ages for the next part
3. Some buttons are a tiny bit fiddly to push
4. You can't play as Red XIII

An utter joy to play from start to finish, packed with memorable scenes, moustache-twirling baddies, and epic battles. The first part of Final Fantasy VII Remake isn't just polished, it's opulent.