Final Fantasy VII Remake: Complete Controls Guide for PS4

Originally
released in 1997 to a tremendous amount of player and critical acclaim, the
Final Fantasy VII Remake has finally arrived on the PlayStation 4.

The
remastered classic is scheduled for release on 10 April 2020, but developers
Square Enix graciously released an 8Gb demo in March to showcase the incredible
new aesthetics and gameplay of FF7 Remake.

Fans have
craved this game for years, decades even, and while physical distribution may
be delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, gamers will be piling into this major
release as soon as they can.

So that you
know how to navigate the new-look world of Final Fantasy 7, here’s the Final
Fantasy VII Remake controls guide.

For these
Final Fantasy VII Remake controls, the four D-pad controls are listed as Left,
Up, Right, and Down, with either PS4 controller analogue denoted as L or R,
with the press of the left or right analogue being L3 or R3. The ‘>’ is used
to denote a follow-up action as opposed to a combination of button presses.

FF7 Remake Field Controls

When playing
Final Fantasy VII Remake, you’ll often find yourself in combat or roaming
around preparing for combat. These are all of the controls that you need to
know when you’re exploring the map.

FF7 Remake Battle Controls

The
fast-moving, eccentric action of the original looks even more spectacular in
Final Fantasy 7 Remake: these are the combat controls that you need to know.

FF7 Remake Customise Shortcuts

To make the
processes that usually require you to navigate the Commands Menu a little
quicker, you can bind commands to some shortcuts – all of which require you to
press L1 and then the assigned symbol button.

If you want
to trigger the shortcut, though, you’ll need to have the necessary amount
charged on your ATB Gauge or the necessary MP.

To create
your own shortcuts, press Options, go into Battle Settings, and then down to
Shortcuts. Here, you can decide what commands will be activated when your press
L1+Triangle, L1+O, L1+X, and L1+Square.

How to change the difficulty in FF7 Remake

At the start
of Final Fantasy VII Remake, you’ll be asked to select the difficulty of the
game. However, if you’re finding it too easy or too difficult, you can change
the difficulty of the game.

To change the
difficulty settings in FF7 Remake, follow these steps:

Press the Options
button > System > Gameplay > Difficulty

There are
three levels of difficulty in the PS4 game, ranging from Classic to Normal and
are detailed as follows:

• Classic: Actions are performed automatically
  with battle difficulty at the same level as on Easy difficulty. Best for those
  who want easier combat and want to focus on executing commands.
• Easy: Best suited to players who don’t
  want to worry about the battles and want to enjoy the story.
• Normal: Battles are fought at a more
  competitive level, with this standard difficulty being suited those who want to
  enjoy challenging battles and the story.

By following
the above navigation, you can also find the Audio, Camera, and Controls
settings.

How does the ATB Gauge work in FF7 Remake?

Found at the
bottom left of the screen, under each character’s HP, you can see the ATB
Gauge, which is light blue in colour.

When you
attack enemies (Square), perform successful guards (R1), and as time passes in
combat, the ATB Gauge will fill up.

The ATB
works as your currency to use the abilities, items, and magic found in the
Commands Menu (X) during battle. Each time a bar of the ATB Gauge is filled,
you can use it to activate something from the Commands Menu.

However,
some abilities require you to have more than one ATB Gauge bar filled to activate.
The more powerful the ability, the more bars of ATB it tends to need to
activate.

How to trigger a Limit Break in FF7 Remake

The Limit
Break gauge, which takes the form of a thick yellow-to-orange bar under the
character’s MP (labelled ‘Limit’), fills when you sustain damage and when you
stagger an enemy – which we delve into below.

When the
Limit Break gauge is full, you can trigger an extremely powerful attack. So,
make sure that you’re positioned close to the enemy, or at least in range of
the target enemy, when you activate the Limit Break.

To trigger
your Limit Break during a battle, press X to bring up the Commands Menu, select
the character with the full Limit Break gauge (L2/R2), and then scroll down the
now illuminated option ‘Limit.’ As soon as you press X, the character will
perform their Limit Break attack.

How to stagger enemies in FF7 Remake

Each foe that you face in Final Fantasy 7 Remake has a health bar and a red bar beneath. This red bar is the stagger gauge and indicates how close the enemy is to becoming staggered.

As the
stagger gauge fills, there’s a chance that the enemy will become ‘Pressured’ if
you hit them with certain attacks or deal large amounts of damage.

Being ‘Pressured’
means that an enemy is off-balance and their stagger gauge fills quicker. So,
you should go all-out to hit them with abilities and spells.

Each foe’s
particular vulnerabilities, as well as the types of abilities and spells that
you use, will determine how quickly you fill its stagger gauge.

Once the
stagger gauge is full, the enemy will become staggered and defenceless. In this
state, they’ll sustain more damage and grant you a boost to your ATB Gauge if
you use abilities on the staggered foe.

How to heal and revive in FF7 Remake

Perhaps not
early on, but once you start meeting the boss opponents of Final Fantasy VII
Remake, you’ll likely need to heal your characters and potentially even revive
them a couple of times.

To heal or
revive a character, you’ll need to go into the Commands Menu (X) and into the
Items menu. Here, you’ll be able to scroll through all of your available items
and see their descriptions.

Early in FF7
Remake, you should have and be able to use the Phoenix Down item to revive a knocked-out
ally or a potion item to restore the HP of a chosen character.

Now you know
how to navigate and battle in the stunning world of Final Fantasy 7 Remake.