Where to begin…
Final Fantasy VII: Remake was a solid first step for the new FFVII canon. For the most part. There were still some rough edges in the story and gameplay department, but overall it succeeded at most of what it tried to do. When all was said and done, people were left satisfied with what they got and hungry for what was to come.
Now, at long last, the wait is over. Part two of the new remade timeline, Rebirth, has been out for two weeks. In that time, I’ve put a solid fifty hours into the game, explored nearly every nook and cranny of its world, and soaked in every minute of the story like a sponge. Finally, I believe I’m ready to give my final notes.
Well, maybe there should be an asterisk next to that final. Kinda like the title of the franchise.
Seeing as the game is only two weeks old as of the publication of this article, I’ll be refraining from spoiling anything in the plot. Those thoughts – of which there are MANY– will have to wait for another article and another day. Until then, I’ll be focusing almost entirely on how the game looks, sounds, and of course: how it plays.
Generally simplified thoughts on the story: for the most part, it’s really good! There are a few changes and additions I disagree with, some pacing issues towards the latter half of the game, and some cut content from the original PS1 version that made me sad. But what’s most important is the characters, and this game hits a home run with every single one of them!
I especially love all the side characters. Just about all of them are completely insane and it’s hilarious. It feels very classic Final Fantasy, with all its wacky NPCs and their bizarre questlines. I never got tired of doing side missions!
Beyond that, however, I shall say no more until more time has passed.
Because I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting to finish the game so fast. No, it’s not short. I just got sick the week I was supposed to start a new job, so I had nothing else to do but play Rebirth until my lungs stopped rebelling. So, until everyone else has had a chance to finish it, I now must fall silent on plot stuff.
Except this: I hate the Moogles. This game has one of the worst Moogle designs in the whole franchise! Kill them and burn them! They’re hideous!
On that note…
Visually, the game has some peaks and valleys. I played through the entire game in Performance Mode for that smooth 60 fps, but this cost some visual fidelity more than a few times. Tons of pop-in, some graphical bugs, and every texture in Nibelheim refused to load in at one point. I’d honestly recommend you stick to Graphics Mode; the game still runs well and feels good at 30 fps.
Issues aside: when this game looks good, it looks GOOD!! Cosmo Canyon had my jaw on the floor, Junon was everything I could’ve dreamed of, and the Gold Saucer almost looks like a real theme park! What used to be a flat map and some PNG backgrounds on the PS1 has become one of the most vibrant and beautiful open worlds I’ve ever explored!
There’s also a strong focus on character animations. Of which there are a ton, especially with the Synergy skills (we’ll get to those). Tifa leaping off of Cloud’s sword, Aerith and Barret equipping sunglasses, Yuffie’s near constant bouncing around in almost every scene, Red XIII’s cute dog-like mannerisms, Cait Sith’s little cartoony run cycle and Mog’s bouncing belly, there are so many examples of small and big animations that bring the cast to life!
Of course, it goes without saying that the music is good. It’s the perfect blend of new tracks and revitalized old ones. The Gold Saucer theme no longer drives me insane, Cosmo Canyon is as much an earworm as ever, and every single combat track gets your blood pumping! Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki absolutely knocked it out the park this time!
So the game looks good and sounds good. Shocking, I know. Now it’s time to address the important question: is the game any fun?
Unlike Remake and the dark, cramped hallways of Midgar, Rebirth is a vast, beautiful open world. It’s divided between five major sections, which you’ll unlock as you progress through the story. You can’t go straight to the Temple of the Ancients right from the start, ala games like ‘Elden Ring’ or ‘Breath of the Wild.’ You will, however, have a ton of side content to do! This includes, but is not limited to:
- Side quests
- Mini games
- Combat challenges
- Excavations for crafting recipes
- Lifesprings for lore and additional activities
- Climbable towers to reveal nearby activities
- Chocobo stops to repair
- Crystal rhythm minigames to buff your Summons (and make unlocking them significantly easier)
- Scenic vistas for photographing
- Moogle stores
- A combination of anything listed above
Completing these activities will give you World Intel, a currency you can exchange for Materia with Chadley. Each zone has its own intel and its own Materia to unlock.
At first, I was absolutely absorbed by the exploration! Not only were the activities enjoyable, but the world itself was interesting to traverse! Chocobos aren’t just mounts; each one has a different mechanic for navigating a different area. Black chocobos can climb mountains, green ones can bounce off of mushrooms, light blue ones can glide, so on and so forth. You’ll need to really scan the topography to find your path forward; a flat plain, this is not!
However, the longer the game went on, the less interest I had in doing the side activities. They evolve bit by bit as the game progresses, but those changes are too small to keep them genuinely interesting. Exploration never becomes tedious, but the thrill of it fades significantly by the time you reach the final region.
Some areas are also just flat out miserable to play through. Areas like Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon, where the only way to progress is to bring your chocobo to very specific points on the map to access other very specific points. Hop on the wrong mushroom? Have fun spending ten minutes getting back to where you started, idiot! This game is at its best when there are multiple routes to reach your objective; in the earlier areas, you can pretty much get anywhere however you want. When there’s only one road to your destination and you need to spend half the journey finding said road, exploration becomes tiresome real quick.
There’s also a metric truckload of mini games. You’ll hardly go ten minutes without unlocking another one! Which is good; it’s very true to the original FFVII and its wide array of mini games. However, not all these are created equally. Some, like the new card game Queen’s Blood and Chocobo racing, are super addictive and fun! Others make me want to throw my controller across the room, like the stupid mushroom picking minigame.
But what about combat? I’m happy to say that this game is a huge upgrade over Remake! Every single character has a huge list of abilities, and with the classic Materia system, you can make some crazy builds in this game!
Aerith in particular has been hugely upgraded from the last game. Her Wards are larger, have more substantial effects, and most importantly of all: she can teleport back to them instantly with a button press. When I gave her all the elemental Materia and magic-boosting items, she became the ultimate glass cannon! If I weren’t forced to play Cloud all the time, she’d have been my main.
Speaking of: there are multiple points in the game wherein Cloud takes a back seat and you need to play as the other characters. You’ll need to solve puzzles as Cait Sith, climb walls with Red XIII, do ninja stuff with Yuffie, so on and so forth. Every member of the cast gets their time to shine, and it’s always super fun when they do!
Except for Cid and Vincent. No playing my smoker pilot or edgy vampire boys just yet… A necessary evil, I admit, but it still hurts.
Synergy skills are the name of the game this time. These powerful tag-team moves aren’t just badass super attacks. You can use them to charge heavy strikes, deflect enemy projectiles, and even boost the characters’ Limit Breaks! It certainly helps that every single character has multiple Synergy skills with every other character!
Of course, your tool set doesn’t matter if you don’t have interesting enemies to use it against. Luckily, the enemy variety in Rebirth is off the scale! Regular enemies have a ton of variety in how you fight them, and boss fights are like high-adrenaline cinematic puzzles. There’s something new to fight around every corner!
At a certain point, though, it does start to get old. Namely when they start recycling boss fights. Yes, I did want to fight the Turks a fourth time, Rebirth, how did you know?!
*Yes, I know you fight the Turks a lot in the original, but you know what else you could do? Not. Almost every Turk battle was optional on the PS1. Plus, they had unique and interesting mechanics. For example: on the PS1, Rude would never attack Tifa because he had a huge crush on her. None of that made it to Rebirth; the Turk fights are all mandatory and Rude no longer has a crush on the cute bartender.
As for the levels themselves, they’re a mixed bag. Some of them are amazing, bringing classic set pieces and dungeons to life with brilliant effect! Others are just really disappointing. The Shinra Manor has had everything that made it unique stripped away; instead of a creepy 19th century style manor, we get yet another generic Shinra lab. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d have preferred the haunted house.
Unfortunately, that’s all I can say without going into more major spoilers. Trust me, I could keep on going for days! But for now, I’ll have to call it quits.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is a very good game. Not a perfect one by any means, but one well worth the time and money spent. In spits of its flaws, it’s still one of the best Final Fantasy games in the series to date, and I would highly recommend it.
The second step of the trilogy is complete. Now all that’s left is to let Square cook and see if they can stick the landing.
Like Sephiroth.
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