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This Fan Project Fixed Final Fantasy VII, and You Can Play it Today

Square Enix already has gamers nervous about the direction of the Final Fantasy VII remake, but luckily there’s a fan-made overhaul project called The Reunion that you can play right now.

Image: Square

Square Enix greatly annoyed gamers over the weekend when it said that the upcoming remake of fan favorite RPG Final Fantasy VII will be "told across a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience." Whether that means the release will be broken up into separate entries, similar to Telltale Games' Walking Dead series, or more along the lines of Final Fantasy XIII, which had two sequels, is still unclear. What is clear, however, is that fans were not happy about the news:

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TFW you learn Final Fantasy VII Remake will be episodic. #FF7Remake #FFVII pic.twitter.com/q1wWPzWKPJ
— Harley Jameson (@hrlyjm) December 7, 2015

The good news is that Square's controversial decision presents a golden opportunity to turn the spotlight on a fan project that fixed many of the problems of the original version of Final Fantasy VII, just about obviating the need to wait around for the "multi-part series" remake (which we also learned today is being created with Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4).

The project is called The Reunion, and one of its chief components is "Beacause," a complete re-translation of the game's original, and woefully translated, script. (The name "Beacause" is a typo taken from the game itself.) Daniel Burke, who spearheaded the re-translation project, told Eurogamer earlier this year that the number of mistakes in the original translation "pissed [him] off."

While the new translation is arguably the most important part of The Reunion, it also includes updated graphics (letting players use the game's character models from the turn-based battles in the actual game world) and orchestral renditions of the game's legendary soundtrack. Trust me, you have not lived until you've heard "Opening Bombing Mission" alongside your actual gameplay.

The best part is that you can play this fan-fixed version of Final Fantasy VII today. All you need is the PC version of the game, either the original boxed copy (which you can find on eBay for less than $50) or the Steam version. There's also a way to import the re-translation into the PlayStation version of the game, but I've not personally tested this.

Why wait for Square to release the "multi-part series" remake when you can play a much improved version of the original right now?