A huge improvement in nearly every bit of FF 7 Remake and probably the best mainline FF game in probably over a decade. Some minor issues for the most part but doesn't hinder the overall quality of the game imo. Big recommend.
Excelente en cuanto a lo jugable, ambientación, personajes y música. La historia me ha encantado, menos el remate final.
Square ha mejorado mucho con respecto al primer juego, pero muchas veces, menos, es más. Personalmente creo que el exceso de actividades perjudica al desarrollo del juego, al aprovechamiento de mapas y a la saturación personal.
Square ha mejorado mucho con respecto al primer juego, pero muchas veces, menos, es más. Personalmente creo que el exceso de actividades perjudica al desarrollo del juego, al aprovechamiento de mapas y a la saturación personal.
Final Fantasy VII ''Rebirth'' Continues on with the fallacy that retelling the same story in a lengthier, more convoluted way, will somehow—someday— mean that more equals better.
The second coming of madness proves the faults of a ''quantity over quality'' philosophy; FF7's remake pushes through on presenting a thirty wordcount story in what feels like a thousand lines.
That which was once focused and intentional is lost in the sea of side content add-ons, there for the sake of justifying yet another 70-dollar purchase.
Because good things can't die, and if they can, then we'll just make them again— except completely different.
So long as nostalgic attachment can fuel another one.
And then some.
The second coming of madness proves the faults of a ''quantity over quality'' philosophy; FF7's remake pushes through on presenting a thirty wordcount story in what feels like a thousand lines.
That which was once focused and intentional is lost in the sea of side content add-ons, there for the sake of justifying yet another 70-dollar purchase.
Because good things can't die, and if they can, then we'll just make them again— except completely different.
So long as nostalgic attachment can fuel another one.
And then some.
I experienced every possible human emotion over the course of the 100+ hours I played this. I could write thousands of words about cards, segways, Zack, teamwork porn, bald people, Cloud Jr., dog songs, the Gongaga region map, mobile games, anime Young Sheldon, ninja shadow clones, Loveless, and of course, that frickin ending. But suffice it to say I had a pretty good time! On average.
Rebirth is an excellent improvement upon Remake's solid foundation, elevating the combat system and introducing a surprisingly addictive open world with improved dungeon designs and a plethora of side content to enjoy.
While I feel like the story they adapted for the second installment should have gone farther—to the end of disc 1's coverage to be specific—it's still a damn good adaptation for the most part, with the characters being the absolute highlight, just as they were in Remake. Unfortunately, also not unlike how it was in Remake, some of the adapted content loses the atmosphere and charm of the original due to certain changes made. Whether those changes are for the better or for the worse can be subjective. Luckily for me, they didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the game and only really stood out as I looked back on the 150+ hour journey.
The bigger changes to the story—namely the “meta” elements and those involving the Compilation—continue to intrigue and have the potential to make certain parts of the original story even better, though whether these setups will have satisfactory payoffs… is something that’s gonna take about 3 more years before we’ll find out.
Out of the many things I loved about Rebirth, one of my favorites is how it took the already incredible fusion of turn-based combat and real-time action and turned it into something even better, resulting in my new favorite action RPG combat system. Aerial combat was essentially the only issue with Remake’s combat system, and INTERmission was a preview into how they would address it going forward via Yuffie’s fighting style. That improvement now extends to the rest of the party, and works alongside the new synergy system. Synergy skills give each character whole new ways to deal with various situations without relying on the ATB commands, giving them access to ranged and aerial attacks, new defensive options, or even entirely new combo strings! All while helping generate ATB charges faster for the two characters involved. On the other hand, synergy abilities are powerful new team-up attacks that provide powerful buffs alongside cool animations not unlike Limit Breaks. Mastering the combat system becomes an even more impressive feat thanks to these new systems, making the combat challenges and various boss fights especially satisfying and fun.
The open world design is what surprised me the most, and in a positive way, thankfully. The game initially sets up the expectation that it would be a repetitive open world like many others out there, but the way each region is introduced and how they handle the content within each of those made for a very refreshing experience throughout my entire time with the game. Instead of getting tired as I reached later regions, I found myself still enjoying everything because of the varying locales, transporation methods, and how they dole out the story and different sections of each of these regions. And it certainly helped that (most of) the mini-games were a lot of fun too, so we weren’t locked into simply engaging in combat as our primary means of interacting with the world.
Overall, there’s so much I love about Rebirth, and fortunately only a few minor issues to complain about such as the occasional weird lighting or unintuitive menus. The unique nature of the remake trilogy makes the story a bit hard to judge fully since it’s still waiting to be completed, but the rest of Rebirth’s package is simply fantastic to say the least. Some of the best ARPG combat out there, wonderful mini-games, a beautiful and satisfying open world to run around in, and damn good character moments all throughout the game.
While I feel like the story they adapted for the second installment should have gone farther—to the end of disc 1's coverage to be specific—it's still a damn good adaptation for the most part, with the characters being the absolute highlight, just as they were in Remake. Unfortunately, also not unlike how it was in Remake, some of the adapted content loses the atmosphere and charm of the original due to certain changes made. Whether those changes are for the better or for the worse can be subjective. Luckily for me, they didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the game and only really stood out as I looked back on the 150+ hour journey.
The bigger changes to the story—namely the “meta” elements and those involving the Compilation—continue to intrigue and have the potential to make certain parts of the original story even better, though whether these setups will have satisfactory payoffs… is something that’s gonna take about 3 more years before we’ll find out.
Out of the many things I loved about Rebirth, one of my favorites is how it took the already incredible fusion of turn-based combat and real-time action and turned it into something even better, resulting in my new favorite action RPG combat system. Aerial combat was essentially the only issue with Remake’s combat system, and INTERmission was a preview into how they would address it going forward via Yuffie’s fighting style. That improvement now extends to the rest of the party, and works alongside the new synergy system. Synergy skills give each character whole new ways to deal with various situations without relying on the ATB commands, giving them access to ranged and aerial attacks, new defensive options, or even entirely new combo strings! All while helping generate ATB charges faster for the two characters involved. On the other hand, synergy abilities are powerful new team-up attacks that provide powerful buffs alongside cool animations not unlike Limit Breaks. Mastering the combat system becomes an even more impressive feat thanks to these new systems, making the combat challenges and various boss fights especially satisfying and fun.
The open world design is what surprised me the most, and in a positive way, thankfully. The game initially sets up the expectation that it would be a repetitive open world like many others out there, but the way each region is introduced and how they handle the content within each of those made for a very refreshing experience throughout my entire time with the game. Instead of getting tired as I reached later regions, I found myself still enjoying everything because of the varying locales, transporation methods, and how they dole out the story and different sections of each of these regions. And it certainly helped that (most of) the mini-games were a lot of fun too, so we weren’t locked into simply engaging in combat as our primary means of interacting with the world.
Overall, there’s so much I love about Rebirth, and fortunately only a few minor issues to complain about such as the occasional weird lighting or unintuitive menus. The unique nature of the remake trilogy makes the story a bit hard to judge fully since it’s still waiting to be completed, but the rest of Rebirth’s package is simply fantastic to say the least. Some of the best ARPG combat out there, wonderful mini-games, a beautiful and satisfying open world to run around in, and damn good character moments all throughout the game.
I don't know how it's possible to remake this part of Final Fantasy VII as a AAA game in 2024 but somehow they pulled it off. It's about as good as I could have hoped for it to be. The ending is insane and I don't know what to make of it yet but as a whole I found the game incredible. I can't wait for part 3.
This game has its strengths when it's story kicks in. It focuses very heavily on Cloud's mental instability, and his relationship with the rest of the gang, specifically Aerith and Tifa. If Remake was the Buildup for Aerith's story, this is the payoff, and if this is the buildup for Tifa's story, then Remake 3 will be the payoff (assuming they have the common sense to follow up plot points from this game, and follow the original game's narrative). The combat is significantly improved from Remake with some characters having aerial attacks and abilities, in addition to a generally improved moveset, and we get new Synergy abilities and skills, where two party members team up to do one attack.
However the open world unfortunately fails in my opinion. It's far from the worst open world in gaming, and has plenty of things I like (each region is treated as its own mini-open world, and for most of the game fast travel is contextual), sadly though most of the areas arent that unique to explore, and you could remove the open world entirely from some regions and the narrative would be completely unaffected. This is ignoring the obvious "open world checklist" that sadly the game has. If they severely cut down on side content to maybe two or three big things per region as opposed to a bunch of smaller things, it would be far better.
Issues that you might personally have with the narrative aside, I'm sure we can all agree that's where this game shines. It's story and it's characters, in both the main story and the sidequests. Just sadly I feel as if there is just far too much extra content that ends up dragging down the experience if you are a completionist.
7/10 for it's story, characters and gameplay. 4/10 for everything required for platinum.
However the open world unfortunately fails in my opinion. It's far from the worst open world in gaming, and has plenty of things I like (each region is treated as its own mini-open world, and for most of the game fast travel is contextual), sadly though most of the areas arent that unique to explore, and you could remove the open world entirely from some regions and the narrative would be completely unaffected. This is ignoring the obvious "open world checklist" that sadly the game has. If they severely cut down on side content to maybe two or three big things per region as opposed to a bunch of smaller things, it would be far better.
Issues that you might personally have with the narrative aside, I'm sure we can all agree that's where this game shines. It's story and it's characters, in both the main story and the sidequests. Just sadly I feel as if there is just far too much extra content that ends up dragging down the experience if you are a completionist.
7/10 for it's story, characters and gameplay. 4/10 for everything required for platinum.
Very interested in what this game is doing vis a vis changes from original FFVII but withholding judgement on the quality of the changes until part 3 so I can see if it sticks whatever landing it’s going for
That said, I’m not sure the story of FFVII needed to be grafted onto a modern open world style game. I enjoyed playing it but I don’t think I would’ve missed the extra dozens of hours doing over world quests to check off icons on the map.
That said, I’m not sure the story of FFVII needed to be grafted onto a modern open world style game. I enjoyed playing it but I don’t think I would’ve missed the extra dozens of hours doing over world quests to check off icons on the map.
This game is incredible and the story completely floored me. As someone who hasn't played the original and only roughly understands it's story, I can't speak to the changes made in the story. It is worth noting that when playing Remake, I could very easily guess what was new stuff. I think the fact that I still do not know kinda shows that this games story is a lot less bloated yet still long enough to justify the games length. The open world is pretty damn good. It is not the main draw of the game so it is not an issue that it is somewhat simple. Most of the tasks you do are fun and the same goes for the sidequests. The combat properly clicked with me finally and I honestly loved it. the music was incredible and the game visually is just eye candy. ALL of the characters worked for me compared to Remake where only really Cloud and Aerith intrigued me. The one issue that stops me from giving this game a 5 is the overabundance of shitty minigames. I understand this was a component to the original and that many are optional but that is no excuse. Out of all of the minigames, only a third were fun. Others like Chocobo racing were fun until you find out there is like 20 courses and you have to win like 10 to complete one quest. The protorelic minigames are by far the worst though. Especially the robot building game. They were so bad that I didn't complete the research for the Junon and Grasslands regions. Other than that, the game is a masterpiece. I can't wait to one day, pay someone to play the minigames I don't like and then replay the fun parts!!
Pretty good overall but the opening chapter as well as the last few are so drawn out
Sequência excelente que dispensa comentários. Não teve 5 estrelas por essas razões: Muitas sequencias chatas e inúteis de deslocamento obrigatório durante diálogos e Quick Time Events que poderiam ser cutscenes. Em alguns momentos mais lineares da história, principalmente no final, o jogo perdeu a oportunidade de ter puzzles bem elaborados e divertidos. Aquele das caixas com o Cait S então... foi um desperdício completo.
I already thought that Final Fantasy VII Remake was damn near perfect, so to have this sequel improve on its predecessor in a number of ways is simply mindblowing. It's clear that this world is being treated with utmost respect, with an attention to detail that's almost second to none. In my mind, this is the best action RPG battle system in gaming. It deftly blends the classic turn-based Final Fantasy staples with a more modern, action-focused battle system in a way that just feels perfect. Everything that's been recreated from the original game is lovingly touched up, while the additions are of an equally high bar. I truly cannot wait for the conclusion of this trilogy and I will happily live in the world of Final Fantasy VII for as long as Square Enix will have me.
I liked the first one of these a lot, as an aaa walk and talk thing, this one is really hard to slog through. I'm maybe halfway and haven't played any in months
unbelievably pleasant surprise and experience, low lows but extremely high highs
The more of this I play, the more I realize this is an un-reviewable video game.
The emotional equivalent of the coolest, nicest, hottest people you know asking you to help them move and paying you with pizza. Rebirth has some of the most satisfying real time RPG combat with one of the best ensembles in video game history-- all shoved into a bizarrely designed approximation of a "modern" open-world game.
Reflecting on FF7's world map, the openness was more of a feeling than literal design. It wasn't until you got the Highwind near the finale of the original game that you could actually go anywhere you wanted.
Rebirth, ironically, is best when it's on the rails. There are some fun side quests here and there, but there is so much fluff that it genuinely feels like half of the world map activities were designed out of spite.
Ultimately, I am such an unabashed FF7 fan that even if part three is complete garbage, I will still be grateful that this remake trilogy exists. The characters all feel like fully realized versions of themselves, and there are moments of Rebirth that are high points for Final Fantasy overall. It's just a shame that somewhere within Square Enix they felt that a 10/10 story-driven linear action game needed to be shoved into another genre that doesn't feel built around Rebirth's strengths.
The emotional equivalent of the coolest, nicest, hottest people you know asking you to help them move and paying you with pizza. Rebirth has some of the most satisfying real time RPG combat with one of the best ensembles in video game history-- all shoved into a bizarrely designed approximation of a "modern" open-world game.
Reflecting on FF7's world map, the openness was more of a feeling than literal design. It wasn't until you got the Highwind near the finale of the original game that you could actually go anywhere you wanted.
Rebirth, ironically, is best when it's on the rails. There are some fun side quests here and there, but there is so much fluff that it genuinely feels like half of the world map activities were designed out of spite.
Ultimately, I am such an unabashed FF7 fan that even if part three is complete garbage, I will still be grateful that this remake trilogy exists. The characters all feel like fully realized versions of themselves, and there are moments of Rebirth that are high points for Final Fantasy overall. It's just a shame that somewhere within Square Enix they felt that a 10/10 story-driven linear action game needed to be shoved into another genre that doesn't feel built around Rebirth's strengths.
I haven't really stopped thinking about FFVII Rebirth since I finished it almost two months ago. It's an incredible game and a stunning accomplishment for its development team that somehow manages to both conform to and subvert expectations almost simultaneously
Its open world design feels very Ubisoft on the surface (or perhaps more directly, Horizon Zero Dawn), but more than that I found myself thinking as I played it that this is where Final Fantasy games must have gone in a parallel universe where capturing the feeling of the "world map" remained a priority beyond the era of the original PlayStation. In contrast to other modern open world games, Rebirth endeavors to (and succeeds in) making its open-world content rewarding, particularly with how character-focused many of its side-quests are
Like Remake before it, Rebirth is crafted with such love and reverence for the original Final Fantasy VII that it almost defies belief. More than once during my time with Rebirth, I uncovered remembrances of the original, drawn from the aether of the patchwork memory of my adolescence in vivid, almost overpowering detail
This is accompanied by the same sense of...playfulness that was so central to the original game: mini-games and over-the-top set-pieces abound, juxtaposed against the same compelling character work that so strongly elevated Rebirth's predecessor. Here, with the groundwork laid in Remake, the characters are explore in greater depth, with a particular focus on their relationships to one another and the world around them, culminating in the famous "Gold Saucer date" from the original, this time expanded into a full-blown opera house-style spectacle in true Final Fantasy fashion
While the ending will likely frustrate those still hoping for an entirely faithful retelling of Final Fantasy VII, it sets up a number of intriguing possibilities for the final installment of the Remake trilogy, and I firmly believe there's potential for many of the original story's strongest moments to land with more impact in 2027 than they did even all the way back in 1997
That is, of course, assuming the team sticks the landing, but from where I sit today, I have significant confidence that they will
Its open world design feels very Ubisoft on the surface (or perhaps more directly, Horizon Zero Dawn), but more than that I found myself thinking as I played it that this is where Final Fantasy games must have gone in a parallel universe where capturing the feeling of the "world map" remained a priority beyond the era of the original PlayStation. In contrast to other modern open world games, Rebirth endeavors to (and succeeds in) making its open-world content rewarding, particularly with how character-focused many of its side-quests are
Like Remake before it, Rebirth is crafted with such love and reverence for the original Final Fantasy VII that it almost defies belief. More than once during my time with Rebirth, I uncovered remembrances of the original, drawn from the aether of the patchwork memory of my adolescence in vivid, almost overpowering detail
This is accompanied by the same sense of...playfulness that was so central to the original game: mini-games and over-the-top set-pieces abound, juxtaposed against the same compelling character work that so strongly elevated Rebirth's predecessor. Here, with the groundwork laid in Remake, the characters are explore in greater depth, with a particular focus on their relationships to one another and the world around them, culminating in the famous "Gold Saucer date" from the original, this time expanded into a full-blown opera house-style spectacle in true Final Fantasy fashion
While the ending will likely frustrate those still hoping for an entirely faithful retelling of Final Fantasy VII, it sets up a number of intriguing possibilities for the final installment of the Remake trilogy, and I firmly believe there's potential for many of the original story's strongest moments to land with more impact in 2027 than they did even all the way back in 1997
That is, of course, assuming the team sticks the landing, but from where I sit today, I have significant confidence that they will
This review contains spoilers
this game was a lot both good and bad(?) just to get it out of the way, one of my biggest gripes with open-world games as a whole, and by association, this game, is how much side content they throw at you. a majority of it was good, i loved all of the mini-games at the gold saucer. the open world ones (JOHNNY) suck sooooo much man. couple this with the basic open world objectives (activate towers -> reveal other side content) and it just gets boring and tedious halfway through the game.
anyways, aside from the side content, the rest of the game is phenomenal. the story is so good, only hampered by the overabundance of content, which ruins the pacing quite a bit if you're a first run completionist. like you'd finish the story in the area and then a bunch of side content opens up and then it's like, well shit now i have to do it :P its a skill issue on my end but the game gave me too much to eat.
NOW for the story........ what the hell was that ending?! they kinda flubbed aerith's death? like she's dead but also isn't? and now we have a bunch of timelines (thanks stamp?) and cloud might literally be a fusion of two realities?! what i find really interesting is cloud not only having serious imposter identity but also being influenced by the personifications of the white/black materias. one thing im still wondering is where the zack scene at the end of the yuffie dlc takes place. i guess sometime after rebirth? but idk! everyone in that world is content with being dead (unless zack got TP'd to another timeline). im kinda scared of cloud at the end of rebirth lol, that man is NOT WELL god knows how the mideel scene will play out now.
part 3 is setting itself up to be the biggest, hardest hitting final fantasy stories of all time, wether that will be in the next console cycle or still on the ps5, its certainly gonna be bigger than 150gb!
just one qol i would've liked to have is saved materia sets/loadouts. having to go back and forth from one of the 6 characters and swap each piece individually.
overall, i think i enjoyed my time with the game? very exciting moments dragged out by an overabundance of side content. i literally don't know if i have any predictions for the future. we pretty much got a close recreation of ff7's ending? we fought jenova in an almost similar way to jenova synthesis and had that weird sephiroth on sephiroth creature. i can only hope they do something insane with the third game, maybe fight real jenova as some final boss? sephiroth as the final boss x2 is kinda meh. still good fights but it def affects its magic.
anyways, aside from the side content, the rest of the game is phenomenal. the story is so good, only hampered by the overabundance of content, which ruins the pacing quite a bit if you're a first run completionist. like you'd finish the story in the area and then a bunch of side content opens up and then it's like, well shit now i have to do it :P its a skill issue on my end but the game gave me too much to eat.
NOW for the story........ what the hell was that ending?! they kinda flubbed aerith's death? like she's dead but also isn't? and now we have a bunch of timelines (thanks stamp?) and cloud might literally be a fusion of two realities?! what i find really interesting is cloud not only having serious imposter identity but also being influenced by the personifications of the white/black materias. one thing im still wondering is where the zack scene at the end of the yuffie dlc takes place. i guess sometime after rebirth? but idk! everyone in that world is content with being dead (unless zack got TP'd to another timeline). im kinda scared of cloud at the end of rebirth lol, that man is NOT WELL god knows how the mideel scene will play out now.
part 3 is setting itself up to be the biggest, hardest hitting final fantasy stories of all time, wether that will be in the next console cycle or still on the ps5, its certainly gonna be bigger than 150gb!
just one qol i would've liked to have is saved materia sets/loadouts. having to go back and forth from one of the 6 characters and swap each piece individually.
overall, i think i enjoyed my time with the game? very exciting moments dragged out by an overabundance of side content. i literally don't know if i have any predictions for the future. we pretty much got a close recreation of ff7's ending? we fought jenova in an almost similar way to jenova synthesis and had that weird sephiroth on sephiroth creature. i can only hope they do something insane with the third game, maybe fight real jenova as some final boss? sephiroth as the final boss x2 is kinda meh. still good fights but it def affects its magic.
I can't wait til the third part FF7: Cloud Goes to Therapy
This review contains spoilers
Holy shit, just completed a playthrough of just the story, world intel, and sidequests than ran me over 90 hours on Dynamic. This game is a remarkable feat and the open world on this scale with so many JRPG elements like encounters and ships and hidden treasures is unlike anything I’ve experienced in the HD era of RPGs save for parts of Lost Odyssey or Ni No Kuni on the 360 and PS3. If anyone has recs for more open world jrpgs like this please send them my way. The environments in this game feel like they shouldnt be possible, and the cartoony art style with a mix of realism and nomura-isms is really nailed down in this from the characters to the landscapes to the enemies.
With all that said. This is no way anyone should experience FF7 for the first time. This one is strictly for the fans it seems, with meta-narrative piled on(which is unsurprising but not less groan-inducing than it was when Remake introduced it in the ending). I’m withholding all the judgement I can for the finale, especially cause I kind of like the darker and darker tone they seem to be hinting at with all that’s going on with Cloud’s psyche. Since they already gave away so many of the reveals that the original has about Cloud’s path in the original, I’m curious to see where they’ll diverge with that. Regardless, I’m pleasantly surprised that they still went through with Aerith’s murder despite hinting to the contrary, though the way it’s directed as with everything in this game’s direction lacks all subtlety and weight of consequence. I did come to really care for Aerith more than I thought I would with her characterization, but had she not woken up about three times and continued on as a Lifestream ghost I think her death would have still had quite an impact. Once again, I’m still curious what they’ll do with it but it made me roll my eyes a little.
As a fan, and for what it is, there’s so much I was curious to see and happy to see and enjoy. On the otherhand, there are way too many minigames that demolish the pace of this game. (My two roommates both said they saw me playing way more minigames than any actual combat or exploration, and I felt it too). Dyne’s death scene is butchered, Cid’s character is gutted(maybe they had a hard time updating the plot with his wife, but still, this alternative Cid is so nothing). And really, you spliced up a 30 minute Zack scene throughout the entire game to make it feel like a plotline? But there are great additions to Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Vincent that I mostly enjoy.
It’s hard not to feel like they really game this IP the “Hobbit” treatment when it comes to adaptation. They probably shouldn’t have expanded a midpart into a game THIS long and expansive, but it still remains a technical wonder that they pulled it off. Combat is still great, and Gilgamesh is peak, but no way in hell will I invest in hard mode or mastering the piano game to beat this till completion. If you love these specific characters and this world to death and just want to spend time in it, there’s SO MUCH GAME here for you. I would still recommend any friend or young teen to get past the prejudice of turn based combat and play the original via emulation or ports with all the quality of life updates. That atmosphere and pacing can’t be matched.
With all that said. This is no way anyone should experience FF7 for the first time. This one is strictly for the fans it seems, with meta-narrative piled on(which is unsurprising but not less groan-inducing than it was when Remake introduced it in the ending). I’m withholding all the judgement I can for the finale, especially cause I kind of like the darker and darker tone they seem to be hinting at with all that’s going on with Cloud’s psyche. Since they already gave away so many of the reveals that the original has about Cloud’s path in the original, I’m curious to see where they’ll diverge with that. Regardless, I’m pleasantly surprised that they still went through with Aerith’s murder despite hinting to the contrary, though the way it’s directed as with everything in this game’s direction lacks all subtlety and weight of consequence. I did come to really care for Aerith more than I thought I would with her characterization, but had she not woken up about three times and continued on as a Lifestream ghost I think her death would have still had quite an impact. Once again, I’m still curious what they’ll do with it but it made me roll my eyes a little.
As a fan, and for what it is, there’s so much I was curious to see and happy to see and enjoy. On the otherhand, there are way too many minigames that demolish the pace of this game. (My two roommates both said they saw me playing way more minigames than any actual combat or exploration, and I felt it too). Dyne’s death scene is butchered, Cid’s character is gutted(maybe they had a hard time updating the plot with his wife, but still, this alternative Cid is so nothing). And really, you spliced up a 30 minute Zack scene throughout the entire game to make it feel like a plotline? But there are great additions to Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Vincent that I mostly enjoy.
It’s hard not to feel like they really game this IP the “Hobbit” treatment when it comes to adaptation. They probably shouldn’t have expanded a midpart into a game THIS long and expansive, but it still remains a technical wonder that they pulled it off. Combat is still great, and Gilgamesh is peak, but no way in hell will I invest in hard mode or mastering the piano game to beat this till completion. If you love these specific characters and this world to death and just want to spend time in it, there’s SO MUCH GAME here for you. I would still recommend any friend or young teen to get past the prejudice of turn based combat and play the original via emulation or ports with all the quality of life updates. That atmosphere and pacing can’t be matched.
This review contains spoilers
This game was really interesting. I liked Remake quite a lot and was extremely excited for Rebirth to come out as well, since it looked like it was cleaning up the small things I didn’t like about Remake. In a relatively short time period, Square Enix managed to develop a huge, expansive open-world game with tons to do and at a fairly high production quality.
The ability to play a full party, cycling them in and out as you wish and having each character feel fully realized and unique is very impressive in a modern game. I wish more Final Fantasy games did this and still want to see more modern games follow the formula set by the Remake series with the unique blend of turn-based and action combat. The music is still quite good, as is the voice acting. Only a few side characters took me out of the game from how they did voicing, but otherwise it was quite well done. I appreciated having reasons to use most of the party, and learning how each of them does or does not contribute to my strategy as a whole. Some of them I obviously liked less, but my least favourite character might be someone’s favourite. That variety is a nice thing in a game like this.
I have mixed feelings on the open world. The game is huge. One thing I didn’t like about Remake was that some parts felt like padding to “make you experience the game more” but felt strongly like filler (e.g., the robot hand puzzles on the way to Wall Market), but overall the game was quite short so these didn’t blemish the experience. There are sequences in Rebirth where the game feels like it’s milking the moment too long, particularly toward the end of the game, and I simply want to move on at those points. The Temple of the Ancients in particular overstays its welcome, and even doing the final boss gauntlet had me wondering when I was getting close to finished as enjoyable as the combat was.
While I appreciate that with Rebirth the world truly feels big and realized, there is simply too much to do. I recognize I don’t need to do everything, but it is overwhelming to process and I don’t think every side quest is a quality experience. In fact, some of them have good or even interesting narratives and mechanics, while others are extremely repetitive. Going into a new region knowing I would do exactly 4 proto-relics that follow the same format, find 3 shrines to the regional summon, etc. got a little tiresome after realizing the pattern after Junon. The tracking system for each region was nice to know how much I still had to do, but I did not find it much more engaging than any other generic open-world format. Notably, climbing is both frequent and exhausting because the characters move somewhat slowly up and down vertical climbs, and there’s not a lot of forgiveness in the open world when you approach a minor cliff face. The first region actually made me realize this, because many of the hills are jagged and you can get stuck on them. While Horizon has restricted climbing, in the sense that you can only climb specific pathways, the fluidity of climbing in those games is enjoyable and there are ways to mitigate needing to do so altogether at points in the game. The addition of Ubisoft towers to the overworld was also pretty unnecessary. I get that it’s the established format at this point, but it was a pretty forgettable way to uncover the map in the way it was implemented. Even the original Ubisoft tower (in Assassin’s Creed) puts in a bit more of an exciting show into doing it, both by slowly revealing how high you’re going and the interesting ways to climb a building, which is sometimes lost when others emulate the format as was done here.
A notable negative point in this game is Chadley and Mai’s aggressive voiceover. In battles, Mai is tiresome and has very repetitive dialogue that I don’t really value or need past the first listen. Chadley is incessantly buzzing you like an overbearing partner, not realizing that I would like to just go around the map at my own pace and not have his annoying robot ass sending me a FaceTime every 5 minutes. I got a Pavlovian response to the world intel celebrations near the end of the game, because I knew Chadley had an 80% chance of calling me directly after.
Finally, the story was a big question mark coming in and I had mixed feelings here as well. The question of Aerith actually dying or not was on everyone’s mind (including the marketing team’s), and the development team was clearly aware of this since they toyed with scenes that mimicked the original death scene even from the very opening of the game. I am not convinced it was handled well. In the original game, it was a quick and impactful scene where you really feel that Aerith is gone for real and your party feels the loss. In Rebirth, her death(?) scene plays with the idea of if she is dead or not, and we don’t really get a satisfying resolution. Combined with the multiverse Aeriths, it almost seems like the game is afraid to say what happens one way or another, and disappointingly leaves that plot thread for the third game to fully resolve. While I think the true answer is she did die and Cloud is experiencing trauma, I was a little disappointed they played a little too loosely with it and watered it down from the impact it otherwise may have had, even knowing how it ended in the original game. The multiverse timeline thing was another interesting thing most people guessed correctly (i.e., that Zack is in some other timeline). I’m not fully satisfied in how much of the plot was left for the third game to resolve (or never resolve fully?), and my satisfaction with what this game set up is highly dependent on how the third game does or does not stick the landing. Other thoughts on the story were that it was cool seeing reference and story connections to other side content (in particular, Crisis Core, which has many many connections in Rebirth), yet I also had struggles with some moments where the plot was intentionally changed. Sometimes this subseries uses plot changes as intentional twists or to mess with the audience, and sometimes it simply changes the plot. For example, the way Cait Sith is dealt with near the end of the game, the fact that the Temple of the Ancients does not appear to collapse inside the Black Materia (which I thought was incredibly cool in the original), and the weird way Cid is introduced without Rocket Town were things where I couldn’t tell if a later twist was coming that would align things with what I expected or if we were just entirely changing what was happening in the remake. I appreciate the desire to write a new plot to not make it boring, but some of the twists and story beats are missing for me when I can’t tell what is an actual change or what is just a delayed plot moment.
Recognizing there is a lot of negative in this review, I don’t think the game is bad by any means. I had such a good time playing it and went slowly through it and methodically for a month so that I could enjoy it, knowing it was a long game. It is just another case of “bigger and messier” that I’ve noticed in most game sequels recently, and I’d like to hope that the third game reins it in a little, even though it is unlikely at this point given the positive reception to Rebirth. I’m still looking forward to the next game and hoping it can provide a satisfying conclusion to this very impressive trilogy, and hope that Final Fantasy XVII, whenever it comes out, can learn from the very complex and interesting battle system presented in this subseries.
The ability to play a full party, cycling them in and out as you wish and having each character feel fully realized and unique is very impressive in a modern game. I wish more Final Fantasy games did this and still want to see more modern games follow the formula set by the Remake series with the unique blend of turn-based and action combat. The music is still quite good, as is the voice acting. Only a few side characters took me out of the game from how they did voicing, but otherwise it was quite well done. I appreciated having reasons to use most of the party, and learning how each of them does or does not contribute to my strategy as a whole. Some of them I obviously liked less, but my least favourite character might be someone’s favourite. That variety is a nice thing in a game like this.
I have mixed feelings on the open world. The game is huge. One thing I didn’t like about Remake was that some parts felt like padding to “make you experience the game more” but felt strongly like filler (e.g., the robot hand puzzles on the way to Wall Market), but overall the game was quite short so these didn’t blemish the experience. There are sequences in Rebirth where the game feels like it’s milking the moment too long, particularly toward the end of the game, and I simply want to move on at those points. The Temple of the Ancients in particular overstays its welcome, and even doing the final boss gauntlet had me wondering when I was getting close to finished as enjoyable as the combat was.
While I appreciate that with Rebirth the world truly feels big and realized, there is simply too much to do. I recognize I don’t need to do everything, but it is overwhelming to process and I don’t think every side quest is a quality experience. In fact, some of them have good or even interesting narratives and mechanics, while others are extremely repetitive. Going into a new region knowing I would do exactly 4 proto-relics that follow the same format, find 3 shrines to the regional summon, etc. got a little tiresome after realizing the pattern after Junon. The tracking system for each region was nice to know how much I still had to do, but I did not find it much more engaging than any other generic open-world format. Notably, climbing is both frequent and exhausting because the characters move somewhat slowly up and down vertical climbs, and there’s not a lot of forgiveness in the open world when you approach a minor cliff face. The first region actually made me realize this, because many of the hills are jagged and you can get stuck on them. While Horizon has restricted climbing, in the sense that you can only climb specific pathways, the fluidity of climbing in those games is enjoyable and there are ways to mitigate needing to do so altogether at points in the game. The addition of Ubisoft towers to the overworld was also pretty unnecessary. I get that it’s the established format at this point, but it was a pretty forgettable way to uncover the map in the way it was implemented. Even the original Ubisoft tower (in Assassin’s Creed) puts in a bit more of an exciting show into doing it, both by slowly revealing how high you’re going and the interesting ways to climb a building, which is sometimes lost when others emulate the format as was done here.
A notable negative point in this game is Chadley and Mai’s aggressive voiceover. In battles, Mai is tiresome and has very repetitive dialogue that I don’t really value or need past the first listen. Chadley is incessantly buzzing you like an overbearing partner, not realizing that I would like to just go around the map at my own pace and not have his annoying robot ass sending me a FaceTime every 5 minutes. I got a Pavlovian response to the world intel celebrations near the end of the game, because I knew Chadley had an 80% chance of calling me directly after.
Finally, the story was a big question mark coming in and I had mixed feelings here as well. The question of Aerith actually dying or not was on everyone’s mind (including the marketing team’s), and the development team was clearly aware of this since they toyed with scenes that mimicked the original death scene even from the very opening of the game. I am not convinced it was handled well. In the original game, it was a quick and impactful scene where you really feel that Aerith is gone for real and your party feels the loss. In Rebirth, her death(?) scene plays with the idea of if she is dead or not, and we don’t really get a satisfying resolution. Combined with the multiverse Aeriths, it almost seems like the game is afraid to say what happens one way or another, and disappointingly leaves that plot thread for the third game to fully resolve. While I think the true answer is she did die and Cloud is experiencing trauma, I was a little disappointed they played a little too loosely with it and watered it down from the impact it otherwise may have had, even knowing how it ended in the original game. The multiverse timeline thing was another interesting thing most people guessed correctly (i.e., that Zack is in some other timeline). I’m not fully satisfied in how much of the plot was left for the third game to resolve (or never resolve fully?), and my satisfaction with what this game set up is highly dependent on how the third game does or does not stick the landing. Other thoughts on the story were that it was cool seeing reference and story connections to other side content (in particular, Crisis Core, which has many many connections in Rebirth), yet I also had struggles with some moments where the plot was intentionally changed. Sometimes this subseries uses plot changes as intentional twists or to mess with the audience, and sometimes it simply changes the plot. For example, the way Cait Sith is dealt with near the end of the game, the fact that the Temple of the Ancients does not appear to collapse inside the Black Materia (which I thought was incredibly cool in the original), and the weird way Cid is introduced without Rocket Town were things where I couldn’t tell if a later twist was coming that would align things with what I expected or if we were just entirely changing what was happening in the remake. I appreciate the desire to write a new plot to not make it boring, but some of the twists and story beats are missing for me when I can’t tell what is an actual change or what is just a delayed plot moment.
Recognizing there is a lot of negative in this review, I don’t think the game is bad by any means. I had such a good time playing it and went slowly through it and methodically for a month so that I could enjoy it, knowing it was a long game. It is just another case of “bigger and messier” that I’ve noticed in most game sequels recently, and I’d like to hope that the third game reins it in a little, even though it is unlikely at this point given the positive reception to Rebirth. I’m still looking forward to the next game and hoping it can provide a satisfying conclusion to this very impressive trilogy, and hope that Final Fantasy XVII, whenever it comes out, can learn from the very complex and interesting battle system presented in this subseries.
I mean obviously its amazing but those fucking mini games ruined the vibe, also i kinda liked the more linear experience from the previous game more since exploring didnt really give me any special loot or anythingelse other than maybe a potion or two. I like open world games but perhaps not like this and i hope the third game cuts back on the open world elements a bit. I found myself wanting to finish up a region before moving onto the next but it soon felt more of chore to do so, also since the open world is filled with stuff that didn't really matter i occasionally forgot what the actual mission was or where the story was going resulting in a storyline that speeds up and then stops over and over again.
Oh and i just have to say that the score for this is amazing
Also kinda want a shorter game with just Yuffie, Tifa and Aerith or maybe with the Avalanche og's anyways already waiting for the next game.
Oh and i just have to say that the score for this is amazing
Also kinda want a shorter game with just Yuffie, Tifa and Aerith or maybe with the Avalanche og's anyways already waiting for the next game.
Simplesmente um dos maiores atos da SE, goty. Poderia passar horas escrevendo o quanto amo esse jogo e cada coisa nele!!
This review contains spoilers
It's a great game and I've waited for it for four years. While the mini games didn't bother me at the time as a completionist, looking back on it it ended up dragging the story down. Barett's arc was done splendidly and made me appreciate his and Dyne's character a lot more. Though I don't think a lot of people see it, the game did justice to portray mental turmoil within Cloud. However the ending does end off weird like Remake, and hopefully the payoff does turn up good for part 3
What an incredible game, some of the best cutscenes I've seen with such a great story to tell, the combat was super fun and the locations were awesome.
A little too much open world bloat and annoying mini-games, I ended up rushing towards the end and enjoyed it a lot more. Bravo!
A little too much open world bloat and annoying mini-games, I ended up rushing towards the end and enjoyed it a lot more. Bravo!
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is confidently enormous and ambitious, a crazy leap from Remake, and shows a clear love for its source material pouring out of nearly every aspect.
I think the gameplay has seen the most improvement here, and I have to imagine going back to remake is gonna be difficult after this. It’s so much faster and more responsive, and gives you an impressive amount of options to play with. The loop of ATB into synergy attacks into better and better limits is absolutely excellent, and the increased tools to deal with distanced and flying enemies are highly appreciated. I still don’t quite understand how “Dynamic” difficulty works, aside from what I am left to assume from some strangely-placed difficulty spikes, but when it all clicks together it feels fantastic. I can’t wait to see what they do with this already excellent system next.
The story is quite good as well, it more directly follows the events of FF7 proper than its predecessor and continues to embellish and expand on those events quite well (perhaps better, even) with a clear understanding of why certain things worked. Its divergences are much more sectioned off which I think helps the game at large, give or take a couple weird placements of certain events, and I found said divergences to be much more interesting on their own merit. If I had to single out anything, I think the beginning is a bit rough as the game throws you straight into the action with next to zero effort to ease the player back into the universe, but that was my only real point of friction with it and I actually liked the ending of this one a bit more.
One of the most impressive things about it is how deeply they seem to have taken the criticisms of the first game’s side content, because almost everything here feels fun, substantial, and worth doing. Hell, in general I find it impressive that Remake’s formula worked so well in an open world format. Sure, you can rag on it for an “Ubisoft Open World” as has become the go-to (and to be fair, I think you could cut a couple lesser minigames and a good chunk of the small “World Intel” tasks and the game wouldn’t be much different for it), but most of it is content worth seeing at best and something you can probably do in 2 minutes and/or easily ignore while you’re traversing to the next objective anyway at worst. At times it can be a bit too much, I had to take a bit of a break around the middle because there the game is just A LOT, but much of the time it works, it’s smooth, and most importantly it’s good!
I don’t tend to drone on about visuals a whole lot, but this is the first game in awhile that has wowed me. There are scuffed textures here and there sure, but the game is extremely well-realized and a pleasure to look at, with a super indulgent and excellent soundtrack to match. It’s hard to describe, but some of these areas are a shockingly perfect translation of the graphics of the era into a modern style that somehow manages not to lose any of the original’s feel. However I do have to mention the graphics modes; there is clearly something really wrong with the performance mode here and hopefully it gets fixed eventually. Conversely, this is the first time I’ve used a resolution mode and it’s been consistent enough that I stuck with it, and I’m really glad I did. Also god have I missed big expensive CG cutscenes, we need to bring that back into vogue!
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth may have its issues, but rarely does a game come along that makes me feel like I’m a child on Christmas morning like this one did, and it’s hard to overstate the importance of that.
I think the gameplay has seen the most improvement here, and I have to imagine going back to remake is gonna be difficult after this. It’s so much faster and more responsive, and gives you an impressive amount of options to play with. The loop of ATB into synergy attacks into better and better limits is absolutely excellent, and the increased tools to deal with distanced and flying enemies are highly appreciated. I still don’t quite understand how “Dynamic” difficulty works, aside from what I am left to assume from some strangely-placed difficulty spikes, but when it all clicks together it feels fantastic. I can’t wait to see what they do with this already excellent system next.
The story is quite good as well, it more directly follows the events of FF7 proper than its predecessor and continues to embellish and expand on those events quite well (perhaps better, even) with a clear understanding of why certain things worked. Its divergences are much more sectioned off which I think helps the game at large, give or take a couple weird placements of certain events, and I found said divergences to be much more interesting on their own merit. If I had to single out anything, I think the beginning is a bit rough as the game throws you straight into the action with next to zero effort to ease the player back into the universe, but that was my only real point of friction with it and I actually liked the ending of this one a bit more.
One of the most impressive things about it is how deeply they seem to have taken the criticisms of the first game’s side content, because almost everything here feels fun, substantial, and worth doing. Hell, in general I find it impressive that Remake’s formula worked so well in an open world format. Sure, you can rag on it for an “Ubisoft Open World” as has become the go-to (and to be fair, I think you could cut a couple lesser minigames and a good chunk of the small “World Intel” tasks and the game wouldn’t be much different for it), but most of it is content worth seeing at best and something you can probably do in 2 minutes and/or easily ignore while you’re traversing to the next objective anyway at worst. At times it can be a bit too much, I had to take a bit of a break around the middle because there the game is just A LOT, but much of the time it works, it’s smooth, and most importantly it’s good!
I don’t tend to drone on about visuals a whole lot, but this is the first game in awhile that has wowed me. There are scuffed textures here and there sure, but the game is extremely well-realized and a pleasure to look at, with a super indulgent and excellent soundtrack to match. It’s hard to describe, but some of these areas are a shockingly perfect translation of the graphics of the era into a modern style that somehow manages not to lose any of the original’s feel. However I do have to mention the graphics modes; there is clearly something really wrong with the performance mode here and hopefully it gets fixed eventually. Conversely, this is the first time I’ve used a resolution mode and it’s been consistent enough that I stuck with it, and I’m really glad I did. Also god have I missed big expensive CG cutscenes, we need to bring that back into vogue!
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth may have its issues, but rarely does a game come along that makes me feel like I’m a child on Christmas morning like this one did, and it’s hard to overstate the importance of that.
10 stars out of 5, perfection. now my 2nd fave FF after X.
Uhhh open world? The backloggians AINT gonna LIKE THIS ONE...
After just literally rolling credits with over 155 hours with still hard mode and Chadley missions left. I have to say at this very moment, this is the greatest modern JRPG in the past 25 years. And one of my favorite games of all time. The jump from Remake to Rebirth is almost a quantum leap on how a sequel should be. Square Enix should stand up and take a bow for a masterclass of execution on not just how to remake a game, but creating an unforgettable experience for generations to come. My score: an undisputed 10/10.
9/10
Still have to digest everything and especially that ending but man it was a great adventure. I don't think it hit me quite as hard as the original from 1997 but it was still excellent in most aspects.
Tied with Tekken 8 as my GOTY so far.
Still have to digest everything and especially that ending but man it was a great adventure. I don't think it hit me quite as hard as the original from 1997 but it was still excellent in most aspects.
Tied with Tekken 8 as my GOTY so far.
This is one of the best action JRPGs ever made and nobody will ever forget it. The story is retold in a deeply engaging way. Every character is treated with so much love and care and they're all much more fully realized than they were in the 1997 OG. The world is gorgeous and beautifully realized. The added content to literally every part of the game transcends padding or fluff. The voice acting, both Japanese and English, are phenomenally done. There is so much depth added to various story beats and I openly sobbed during one segment.
This game has flaws; far too many mini-games, some of which were infuriating. Some of the story beats were told slightly better in og, which I can't get into without spoiling. And some sidequests were just not engaging. However, everything else in this game is just so good, I can't subtract points for these negatives. This is my favorite game in probably twenty years and I'm never going to forget it.
This game has flaws; far too many mini-games, some of which were infuriating. Some of the story beats were told slightly better in og, which I can't get into without spoiling. And some sidequests were just not engaging. However, everything else in this game is just so good, I can't subtract points for these negatives. This is my favorite game in probably twenty years and I'm never going to forget it.