Coming into Rebirth, I worried a lot about how it'd follow up Remake. Remake left a lot on the table with sudden twists and turns at the ending. It felt on rails and lacked a lot of room to wiggle around and explore. It enhanced the characters of FF7 to a fantastic degree. Would Rebirth carry this torch onward? I'm so glad it lived up to my hopes and dreams.
Everything about this game takes Remake's foundation and builds upon it tenfold. The characters are ABSOLUTELY fantastic. Specific characters like Barret and Yuffie are easily the best incarnation they've ever been. All the moments between characters and storylines are so damn fantastic. Shoutout to the voice direction, too!
Gameplay is DAMN smooth. The only character I didn't love playing is Aerith. Each playable character has a unique way to play that they bring to the table, and there's just enough nuance in the controls and attacks that you can level up your gameplay and feel great doing so. The amount of content in this game is overwhelming, too. I finished at 88 hours with another 10-20 hours left on the table not counting running through chapters again in hard mode to snag all the collectibles. It goes to show just how much they packed into this game as a labor of love.
The plot is not as on the rails as the original. Rebirth had a tough task to follow, considering that this section of FF7OG is mostly the party aimlessly wandering the world stumbling into stuff to do. There's more purpose here than in the original. Every stop along the way is a great step for the party and the plot. As for the plot itself, I have a few questions regarding the ending and what interpretations there are. That being said, I'm still content with it all. This game cleans up some of the OG and expands where necessary.
The soundtrack is OST of the year, full stop. The amount of tracks still in my head after playing the game over this past month is well over a dozen. The composers went CRAZY to make sure we'd have lovely returning tunes brought to life alongside absolute jams that are completely original. Visuals are what you expect. Everything is beautiful on PS5. The game is smooth, looks cool, and there's tons of spectacle to be seen here.
I'm so happy I got to experience this game. As someone who loves the original, having played it so many years ago, seeing so many important story and character moments brought to life fills my heart with joy. It can be hard jumping into Rebirth for a newcomer, but it's an absolute must play for FF7 and RPG fans across the board. Such a satisfying game. I'll see you all in 4 years to see the thrilling conclusion to this trilogy.

Solid roguelite that allows for high replayability.
The D&D/Tabletop aesthetics rule. As someone who loves class systems in JRPGs, having a roguelite that can scratch that itch and remain freeform/flexible enough in the decisions you make on a given run absolutely rules. Visuals & audio are nothing impressive given it's a simple pixel game, but they do a good job for what it is. Nothing flashy, all tactical turn-based maneuvers. I'd like to have a bit more control of a given run, and some classes just feel like total wastes, so sometimes you really can live or die by the RNG (surprise surprise).
At the end of the day, it's a simple, effective gameplay loop with high replayability and an affordable pricetag. It scratches the itch of dice rolling tactical gameplay, so give it a shot if you're new to roguelites or you're someone who loves turn based combat and wants to dip into the genre.

Dear God, I finally understand why people are addicted to gambling, despite the fact that this is nothing like gambling.
Balatro is a simple roguelite game where you have a deck, utilize cards to rack up a high score, and shoot for the moon. It is easily replayable with various decks, types of builds, challenges, and more. The duration of a given run isn't too long either, so you don't feel crazy invested or have a heavy loss when it inevitably ends. It even has a great endless mode that scales hard enough while being fun and rewarding! The music and visuals are nothing to write home about, they service the gameplay well but are not so unique as to heavily draw you in (though I do like the CRT vibe that the options enable for added effect).
I think having a few more bits and bobs (such as a more sandbox-y mode or additional ways to have runs) could be added to allow for more replayability and fun with the game. I told myself I'd beat gold chip difficulty with a deck before reviewing it, so with all the time under my belt having beat the base difficulty with all decks as well, this is an absolute gem. As it stands, this game absolutely rules and is so damn good that I HIGHLY recommend people grab it on the platform of your choosing.