This review contains spoilers
An overall really cool title, with some annoying quirks, mainly with the story and ending.
The gameplay is kinda more of the same as Remake, but that’s not a bad thing, it’s still really fun, and the dungeons are mostly better, even if some like Hojo’s (second) lab and Temple of the Ancients kinda drag, also a big fan of the characterizations, I’m sure not everyone will be into Red XIII and how his voice kinda abruptly chances after Cosmo Canyon, but I really loves how it highlights he’s younger nature personally. Cid is a lot more chill, Vincent is still a fun edgelord, I like Cait Sith for still being dumb and his betrayal is handled a lot better, and returning characters like Barret still get some great moments. I also love how much fun the game can exude, I love silly moments where it just lets the party have some fun, they were some of my favorite parts of the whole experience honestly.
It’s not all perfect obviously, Sephiroth continues to just be an awful villain that completely overstays his welcome, with motives that aren’t even true, and over usage throughout the whole thing, ruining a bunch of his ominous presence. Also wasn’t really a fan of how they incorporated Yuffie into the main plot, they relay on you having play INTERmission for her backstory and motives, and all the stuff with Wutai generally just feels half-baked, and you don’t even get to go there this part even though you could in the original game’s first disc, which is what Rebirth largely addapts.
Music is good for the most part, even if I do prefer the original OST, and there’s one thing that REALLY bothers me, they bring back Bizzaro Sephiroth, which is neat cause like if Sephiroth is gonna be the final boss in all 3 games (which is still dumb), may as well have it be a different version each time, but THEY DON'T HAVE A REMIX OF BIRTH OF A GOD, instead it's just a bunch of generic orchestra, which is insanely disappointing cause it would've fit with the atmosphere of the team coming together PERFECTLY, Probably my biggest issue with the game and I wish I was joking, as soon as thing comes to PC someone should patch that track in ASAP, but alright enough stupid fanboy talk, let’s talk about that freaking ending.
With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I, along many others, came in wondering one thing: Will Aerith still die? And this is something the game clearly knows. It toys with her A LOT, putting a butload of spotlight on her throughout the second half. I initially came in expecting her to actually survive this time, but after they had the scene where she sang the game’s main theme in an opera, it became pretty clear that yep, she’s a goner, but the game keep on trying to trick you, going back and forth on whether she’ll be saved or not, and honestly during the moment, it was pretty darn intense, the game probably makes the best use of the PS5’s stupid adaptive triggers gimmick when Cloud tries to stop himself from killing Aerith, and you have to much them while they’re hard to press, it was genuinely really strong.
But then after a really cool moment where it seems like Cloud was able to save her, the game pretty much just cheats and has her die anyways cause multiverse shenanigans, the whole ending is just way too messy, bringing Aerith back and killing her over and over, and going back and forth with all the dumb Zack stuff that barley even matters cause Aerith ends up dying anyways, at the end it’s barely even made clear if she’s fully dead or not, it’s so messy. I feel like they were trying to use her fate being ambiguous to their advantage and make everyone cry over her death all over again, with the game’s setup, the expected outcome has managed to become the subversive one. But the issue is that the game just tries TOO hard, to fuck with you, to the point where it barley even hits, it’s barley even made clear what’s going on for the most part which robs it of any of its emotional value, and leaves the ending just feeling hollow compared to the original’s disc 1 ender.
Overall I did still really enjoy my time with Rebirth, I’d say it has higher highs and lower lows then Remake, and I’d personally put it above that one, I just really love having all the main cast and exploring the world, when it was just that, it was a bunch of fun, but sadly all the original stuff still tended to fall flat, main party was great, but shit like the new Zack stuff that ended up amounting to nothing, and new characters like Glenn from the dead Fortnite ripoff mobile game just soured it sadly, still, I would recommend it if you like the original game, but obviously play Remake first
The gameplay is kinda more of the same as Remake, but that’s not a bad thing, it’s still really fun, and the dungeons are mostly better, even if some like Hojo’s (second) lab and Temple of the Ancients kinda drag, also a big fan of the characterizations, I’m sure not everyone will be into Red XIII and how his voice kinda abruptly chances after Cosmo Canyon, but I really loves how it highlights he’s younger nature personally. Cid is a lot more chill, Vincent is still a fun edgelord, I like Cait Sith for still being dumb and his betrayal is handled a lot better, and returning characters like Barret still get some great moments. I also love how much fun the game can exude, I love silly moments where it just lets the party have some fun, they were some of my favorite parts of the whole experience honestly.
It’s not all perfect obviously, Sephiroth continues to just be an awful villain that completely overstays his welcome, with motives that aren’t even true, and over usage throughout the whole thing, ruining a bunch of his ominous presence. Also wasn’t really a fan of how they incorporated Yuffie into the main plot, they relay on you having play INTERmission for her backstory and motives, and all the stuff with Wutai generally just feels half-baked, and you don’t even get to go there this part even though you could in the original game’s first disc, which is what Rebirth largely addapts.
Music is good for the most part, even if I do prefer the original OST, and there’s one thing that REALLY bothers me, they bring back Bizzaro Sephiroth, which is neat cause like if Sephiroth is gonna be the final boss in all 3 games (which is still dumb), may as well have it be a different version each time, but THEY DON'T HAVE A REMIX OF BIRTH OF A GOD, instead it's just a bunch of generic orchestra, which is insanely disappointing cause it would've fit with the atmosphere of the team coming together PERFECTLY, Probably my biggest issue with the game and I wish I was joking, as soon as thing comes to PC someone should patch that track in ASAP, but alright enough stupid fanboy talk, let’s talk about that freaking ending.
With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I, along many others, came in wondering one thing: Will Aerith still die? And this is something the game clearly knows. It toys with her A LOT, putting a butload of spotlight on her throughout the second half. I initially came in expecting her to actually survive this time, but after they had the scene where she sang the game’s main theme in an opera, it became pretty clear that yep, she’s a goner, but the game keep on trying to trick you, going back and forth on whether she’ll be saved or not, and honestly during the moment, it was pretty darn intense, the game probably makes the best use of the PS5’s stupid adaptive triggers gimmick when Cloud tries to stop himself from killing Aerith, and you have to much them while they’re hard to press, it was genuinely really strong.
But then after a really cool moment where it seems like Cloud was able to save her, the game pretty much just cheats and has her die anyways cause multiverse shenanigans, the whole ending is just way too messy, bringing Aerith back and killing her over and over, and going back and forth with all the dumb Zack stuff that barley even matters cause Aerith ends up dying anyways, at the end it’s barely even made clear if she’s fully dead or not, it’s so messy. I feel like they were trying to use her fate being ambiguous to their advantage and make everyone cry over her death all over again, with the game’s setup, the expected outcome has managed to become the subversive one. But the issue is that the game just tries TOO hard, to fuck with you, to the point where it barley even hits, it’s barley even made clear what’s going on for the most part which robs it of any of its emotional value, and leaves the ending just feeling hollow compared to the original’s disc 1 ender.
Overall I did still really enjoy my time with Rebirth, I’d say it has higher highs and lower lows then Remake, and I’d personally put it above that one, I just really love having all the main cast and exploring the world, when it was just that, it was a bunch of fun, but sadly all the original stuff still tended to fall flat, main party was great, but shit like the new Zack stuff that ended up amounting to nothing, and new characters like Glenn from the dead Fortnite ripoff mobile game just soured it sadly, still, I would recommend it if you like the original game, but obviously play Remake first