Final Fantasy 7 Remake is full of amazing boss fights that can be both incredibly challenging and fun, but the game sets itself apart from others by giving each boss some sort of unique mechanic. The Roche boss fight makes use of motorcycles for example, while the Scorpion Sentinel utilizes a protective barrier. These sorts of things make each boss feel different from one another rather than all of them being giant bullet sponges, but one of the most interesting boss designs in the game, the Air Buster boss fight, also ends up being one of the most disappointing.
For those that haven’t played through Final Fantasy 7 Remake yet or just need a reminder, the Air Buster is the giant mech that Cloud, Tifa, and Barret face after they spring Shinra’s trap at the end of Chapter 7. AVALANCHE is on a mission to destroy a second reactor when it is revealed that Shinra has been watching them the entire time. As a form of public execution, Shinra’s head of Public Safety sends the Air Buster after the group. What makes this boss fight so interesting is the lead up to it, as several techniques are employed to both foreshadow and affect the fight.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Air Buster Foreshadowing
Before the gang realizes that they are being watched by Shinra, they are simply making their way through Reactor 5 like before. Though the complete lack of security should make it painfully obvious that something is off, Barret brushes this theory away by claiming that Shinra is just scared of them. Still, about halfway through the facility, Cloud and Tifa notice a massive robot. Nervously, Barret imagines what would happen if it activated, and Cloud confirms his fears that things would not work out well for the group.
Cloud informs both his party and the player that mechs of that size are created by Shinra in order to take down massive monsters, so if it was deployed against them the only options would be to run away or to die. At the time, though, the mech does not activate, and the group leaves it behind without paying much more thought into the matter. After the bomb is set and just before making their escape, however, Heidegger broadcasts to the entirety of Midgar that he will be releasing Shinra’s new weapon, the Air Buster, to publicly execute the bombers.
Air Buster Disposal Section
Fortunately for Cloud and his friends, Heidegger jumped the gun a bit. As it happens, the Air Buster isn’t ready for deployment yet, so Shinra’s technicians scramble to get the mech in operation. This gives the player some time to prepare, but more importantly, to disrupt the preparations of the Air Buster. Continuing on, the player will find themselves in a room full of Shinra soldiers and engineers. After clearing these enemies out, Cloud reveals that with a keycard found in the room, they can divert one of the parts meant for the Air Buster and send it to waste disposal instead, thereby weakening it.
This concept continues on through two more rooms, inside which the player gets to make choices as to what parts to dispose of and how to weaken the Air Buster. The three main components include M Units, liquefied materia used to power the mech; Big Bombers, large explosives the mech will fire at the party; and programming cores, which help the mech move faster and make tactical decisions. The choices the player makes here in what to dispose directly affect the upcoming battle with the Air Buster in a unique way, and the player even has the option to retrieve the diverted parts for themselves.
Disposing of the M Units doesn’t actually affect the fight itself, but instead grants the players a wealth of items they can use during the battle. The three Big Bombers are a massive area of effect attack the Air Buster is capable of using, and each one diverted is one less chance it will get to. Finally, the programming core affects how often the Air Buster uses its finger beams, which can be a real pain. Giving the player control, even if it is limited, over how the boss fight plays out is a really cool idea, and makes this one of the most unique bosses in the game.
Air Buster Boss Fight
Between the excellent foreshadowing and the unique mechanic of being able to affect how the boss fights, the Air Buster boss fight is out to a good start. Unfortunately, that’s about where the good ends. The fight itself is extremely restrictive, taking place on one small catwalk type area that doesn’t allow for much movement and even splits the party up. This is coupled with the Air Buster’s relatively small move-set to make a rather underwhelming experience.
That isn’t to say that the fight isn’t challenging, as players will still struggle with the machine even after tampering with the Air Buster’s loadout, but for a boss with such great foreshadowing, the final encounter ends up being pretty lackluster. The player is left to wail on the side of the Air Buster as any of their three characters while the boss intermittently shoots lasers, bombs, and fire at the party. There are a couple phases that change things up a bit, such as when the Air Buster deploys his fists or flies over the edge of the arena, but the arena itself is what really drags this fight down.
The Air Buster is pretty massive, so the choice to make players fight him on such a small area is rather strange. This flaw is what makes this fight both one of the most inventive and unique in the entirety of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and one of the most disappointing simultaneously. The design elements are all in place, but the execution just falls short. It’s worth noting, though, that the fight is still incredibly fun, it just pales in comparison to the other amazing boss fights in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available exclusively on PS4.
