THE GAMES OF 2020

With so many great games coming your way, you might want to give up on sleep…

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FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Buster swords at dawn

Next year marks 23 years since Final Fantasy VII released on PS1, changing what JRPGs could be. It told a mature story through the mechanics we’d come to love in previous games in the genre, with a cinematic flair that could only be accomplished on the newest hardware. It was a literal game-changer. In 2020, Final Fantasy VII Remake will accomplish the same by reimagining the story for a new generation, bringing the Midgar portion of the original to life once more.

While it was impressive before, on PS4 the tiered city of Midgar is grittier and more believable than ever, its sprawling alleys teasing new stories and secrets we haven’t seen previously. It’s technologically advanced, and powered by Mako, the planet’s own life force. Its reactors are slowly killing the planet, not that that bothers Shinra, which rules the city and make a lot of money off the energy. That’s why the ecoterrorist group AVALANCHE wants to destroy the Mako reactors, and needs help from Cloud, a disillusioned exSOLDIER for Shinra turned Buster-Sword-for-hire, to do so.

As AVALANCHE takes on Shinra things quickly escalate beyond control, endangering everyone living in Midgar, as well as the planet itself. But the members of AVALANCHE aren’t the only ones who take issue with Shinra: Sephiroth, a mysterious silver-haired figure who shares a history with Cloud is also involved, and cares a lot less about who gets hurt in the crossfire.