Man what a game.

Story:
The story is very interesting. First and foremost the story is devided into two story strings. We have the regular string of the main party traveling around the world to find Sephiroth to stop him destroying the planet and looking for the black materia before he can find it. This is basically the same plot as in the original game with some timeline shenanigans sprinkled inbetween. These changes are big but generally 90% of that storyline is fairly identical to the original plot. I did not expect the game to go as similar to the PS1 game as it did. I didn't have any problems with it though. The second story string consists of the other timeline where Zack lived. Every now and then we switch to Zack and play as him for a short period of time. The story in general is EXTREMELY hype endusing. Although the story following the main party is very similar to the original plot, there were still a lot of cool new things. Just like in Final Fantasy VII Remake there are a few new NPCs absent from the original game that provide a little bit more of a personality to the citizens of the different cities and sometimes they even come back later in later parts of the game. But there aren't just new NPCs with personality, there also are familiar faces integrated into the story who are completely new. For example in Gongaga you meet Zacks fucking parents AND Cissnei working as a guardian for the town. And it gets even crazier: the conflict between Wutai and Shinra is way more involved. It is so involved in fact that they made the FIRST SOLDIER protagonists part of the Wutai group. When I first saw Glenn I jumped out of my seat because I just didn't expect it. Lucia and Matt weren't in the game but they got mentioned by the Soldiers. This is the best case scenario of fanservice - and it's not only that, they can do so much with the story in the third game revolving around the involvement of these characters. I am really excited. I mean the first cutscene shows the whole main party dead - I was flabbergasted even though I just started the game. Pretty cool extra story stuff. But it's not all nice. I kind of didn't like the ending. First it was very confusing. The game ends at the part where Aerith "dies". But while that crucial scene was playing she died. And then she didn't. And then she died for real. But actually not. I was really irritated because I didn't know if she died or not. The game seems to want to player to know that she died (that's at least what my impression was) but why did the game show us multiple scenes where she didn't die? It seemed that the real timeline and the new timeline where intersecting with each other so I don't know what is real and was isn't. It felt like I was watching a confusing Kingdom Hearts cutscene. I general didn't dislike that, but the problem was, that the game ended with that cutscene and I left the game as confused and clueless as I've started it. The new story bits were actually underwhelming in the grand sceme of things so it feels like the game just stopped in the middle without feeling complete. The individual scenes where really amazing but they didn't lead anywhere, probably until the third game which is unfortunate. But that out of the way everything else about the story is amazing. Not only the main story but the side quests as well. Even the most trivial side quests have story and world building behind them and sometimes even revolve around the main characters and missing these story bits would actually hurt the overall story of the game - they are THAT important and most importantly all of them are charming and fun to follow. Gilgamesh is in this game man - so cool. I didn't expect that.

Characters:
There isn't actually a lot to say here. The main cast and every reoccurring character is basically the same as in previous games. There are a few new characters but they are usually only side characters. But what I want to mention is that the character interactions between each other in the main story and between other NPCs in side quests are even more amazing than in Remake. You realize that the characters relationships deepens and they become better friends and companions over time and it really shows. In Remake they already felt really authentic but Rebirth makes them even more likeable. Especially Barret is such a great character. I think that Tifa is still a little bit boring but she got big moments in the game which I really appreciate. And lastly the dates with all of the party members are all truly amazing. Cloud kisses Tifa, he jokes around with Yuffie and we even get a reference from Crisis Core where Zack was playing along with "getting beaten" by Yuffie which was the cutest thing in the whole game, we get more of wholesome Barret, Aerith and Red XII and the awkward interactions between Cloud, Vincent and Cid while Cait Sith tries to break the ice with no success. The best character interactions in any videogame I have ever played. Just amazing.

Music:
The music is as good as you would expect. The Gongaga themes are just heavenly. The only thing I didn't like about the music was that at least half the songs in the game were remixes of the main theme or Sephiroths theme. Don't get me wrong every remix is good but it became kind of lame hearing yet another rendition of the same two songs for the 100th time. The music is still very good and not bad at all.

Gameplay:
Remake but better and with more stuff. Every reoccurring character feels even better to play than in Remake. Air combat is now real combat, some movement materia is now just part of the main kit of a character so they have more materiaslots to use. Apropos Materia: it is possible to equip way more materia than in Remake. Cloud and Tifa got the best changes. Cloud has a "true" offensive mode now which is really fun and effective to use and Tifas dodges and regular attacks change and get better depending on how often she's powered up. Barret, Yuffie and Aerith got some extra skills that are pretty cool too. And the new characters are also interesting. Red XIII is basically a defensive counter character which rewards blocking with better movement and combostructure. Cait Sith basically is a summoner as he summons a big moogle that fights independently on its own or you can ride it to gain control of the moogle. Also he has a lot of skills depending on chance and luck. His basic combo structure is pretty weak in my opinion but he has his moogle with a lot of cool chance based attacks as well. Additionally there are now cool team attacks which grant different effects like having 0 MP cost, filling up the limit bar or making a staggered enemy stay in that state longer. Every character and attack is cool and fun to use but sometimes I was kind of overwhelmed which characters I should play. Sometimes the story forces specific group compositions, which was nice so I found a reason to play as certain characters but in general I mostly used Cloud, Tifa and Barret because they where my most effective damage dealing team. I usually don't like it in games where there are more party members than you can play as at the same time, but it wasn't a big deal for me in this game because EVERY character feels unique and extremely fun in his own way. The new materia in this game is also really amazing. Especially the blue materia. The additional effects are just plain amazing - even better than in Remake and they were already really good. And you can automate a lot now. Spellcasts, weapon abilities and special abilities. And the best part is that the characters use these skills smartly. It's no gambit system but the AI uses it's automated attacks really well which is always a good thing to me. But one of the coolest parts is that Zack and Sephiroth are also playable. Only once in the whole main story but also in the Shinra battle simulations. Zack can charge himself up during combos to unleash powerful attacks and Sephiroth can charge himself up when countering. They aren't that unique and not used that often but their combo system is so damn fun to use, I love it. But this game has a lot of other gameplay styles than the main combat system: Minigames. I usually am not the biggest fan of minigames in videogames. And even in this game not every minigame is fun, but there are a LOT of fun minigames. I won't go into detail with them but they are cool (Gambit minigame, hello??) and sometimes even have storylines. I appreciate these diverse gameplay styles although the main combat system is obviously where the most fun is. This game doesn't have a secret boss like Weiss but there are still a lot of different challenge fights in the Shinra combat simulator and there are also a LOT of them. Remake in comparison looks like a demo to that. And all of these fun extra fights can be really difficult, especially the hard mode fights. Just like in Remake they force you to experiment with different materia setups and learn the fights but they feel kind of more difficult than in Remake because there are way more variables to account for. Individual stages also contain more fights (up to 10 sometimes), so in general the game is harder than Remake which isn't a bad thing.

Content:
It has a LOT of and especially fun content. This game is enormous but still manages to make every content fun. There is the average length main story, some side quests, tons of minigames and optional fights and the "open world" segment with lots to explore. I still prefer the linearity of Remake but the open world aspects in Rebirth are perfectly executed. You have enough freedom to explore and find things completely on your own but it is handholdy enough that you can exactly know what you haven't explored yet so you don't miss anything. This is the best case scenario when it comes to open worlds to me. Not too overwhelming like Zelda Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom but still rich in content. Traversing through all the different fields with different kind of chocobos which have different movement options is a lot of fun. Finding all the secrets, fighting random enemies or avoiding them all together, finding treasure areas, hunting minibosses, finding shrines for the summons, finding the chocobo stations, etc. is all very fun and makes the general gameplay loop feel really dynamic. The only two gripes I have with the open world is that a lot of the fields look very similar visually. First Grasslands, then Junon with more grass but with sea and it's afternoon, then Corel desert and then Cosmo Canyon which is another desert. It's not that big of a deal but it still got a little bit boring after a while. And talking about a while: there is so much to do in every open area that it can get a little stale when you try to do everything as early as possible. But that's about it. This game is huge and it took me round about 120 hours to finish it and I didn't even do all of the optional fights in my first playthrough. This game is easily one of the biggest games I have played, it may even top Final Fantasy XII which already is pretty huge. It is nice though that you can keep all of that optional content cleared when playing in New Game+. I haven't mentioned it yet but there is also a crafting system which allows you to pick up crafting materials everywhere in the world and craft items, accessories and so on. It is pretty boring. It can provide some nice accessories and the best items are only craftable and need specific materials from the optional bosses in the open world. Grinding for them is fun but that's all that system really provides. But talking about boring systems: the weapon upgrade system which was pretty lame in Remake is gone. Instead you learn different passive abilities over time per weapon and you can chose up to three of these abilities to suit your playstyle. It's way more streamlined and simpler. But now there is the Sync-System where you unlock different abilities and team attacks for your characters. This board is just as bad as the weapon upgrade system in Remake. It is just unnecessary to make a board like this when you could just learn the abilities like you do with the weapons. It is not bad just unnecessarily more confusing than it needs to be. I hope this changes in the third game just like the weapon upgrade system changed in Rebirth. You can easily spend at least 150 hours in your first playthrough alone if you do everything and really basically everything is very fun which is a great accomplishment.

Replay Value:
The only replay value there is, is a second playthrough on hard mode. Everything else can be done in one big playthrough and thanks to chapter 12 you can do everything you may have missed up until now. But the game provides a nice way to replay the game in New Game+ without having to play on hard mode and that is a new difficulty called dynamic mode. In this mode basically every enemy levels with you so they are always round about as strong as you are stat wise. That means you can play through the game again with your strong characters without one shotting everything. This is a nice way to experience New Game+ without it being to easy or too difficult if you don't like hard mode. Very great choice of an additional difficulty.

Conclusion:
An amazing videogame. It is kind of bad how good this game is because from now on my standards for videogames are subconsciously way higher now. I don't know if I like Remake or Rebirth more. I like the structure of Remake more but Rebirth is undoubtedly a big gameplay upgrade to Remake so I am torn on that. But nonetheless Rebirth provides everything I like about a good JPRG: good story, amazing characters and godly gameplay. I still enjoy Kingdom Hearts more in general but at latest the Remake-Series is a strong second place for me now as a series of directly connected games.

The most high quality remaster there is.

Story:
The story is fine. It isn't anything groundbreaking like Final Fantasy VII's (FFVII) story but it is a nice prequal that tells the tale about the big plot twist guy Zack. The story is relatively short but a lot happens in this game. On one hand it is pretty cool that the game goes right into the meat of the story but on the other hand everything feels very rushed. It kind of feels like the Kingdom Hearts Days story where the game is a prequal while still introducing new stuff and the protagonist belongs to the bad guys but has no evil intent. And that new stuff is Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth. Their relationship and Zacks character development through out the game a very fun to follow. Learning about the origin of the buster sword was also a little nice touch even though that origin story is really unspectacular. Additionally we learn more about what Shinra was up to before the events of FFVII. Generally nothing groundbreaking, but still fun to follow. I am very excited why this game has the name ReUnion in it. That's a word that is used in the Final Fantasy VII Remake and the Intergrade DLC as well. But this game does not have all the timeline shenanigans in it - it is still the normal Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core (FFVIICC). So who knows what Square Enix is planning. I am very excited.

Characters:
The characters are very strong in my opinion. Zack starts out as a very optimistic, naive and sometimes annoying guy but grows over time to be way more mature and cool. Sephiroth is actually extremely relatable and sympathetic before he went nuts. Seeing him "babysit" Zack is kind of cute. And the whole relationship with Angeal and Genesis makes Sephiroth seem very human. It makes you feel for him for becoming the villain in FFVII and that's very sad in a good way. Another amazing part is seeing Cloud how he actually was as a Stormtrooper and his relationship with Zack. It gives Cloud so much more weight towards his already very good character. Actually seeing Cloud becoming who he was in FFVII instead of just being told how it happened is so cool to see. All in all very strong characters and character developments.

Music:
The music is good. There are a lot of good bangers in there that make me immediately recognize that music as Final Fantasy Crisis Core (FFVICC) music while still feeling related to FFVII's music. The soundtrack as a whole is "only" good but there are some specific tracks that are so amazing that I downloaded them on my phone.

Gameplay:
Its good. It isn't on the same level as Final Fantasy VII Remake's (FFVIIR) gameplay but it is greatly improved from the original FFVIICC. Zack has his own combo structure now. There are only three different combos he can do depending on his weapon and battle stance but it is still way more fluid and fun to use than the static one-swing attacks he does in the PSP version. Outside of that the materia system is exactly the same as in the original FFVIICC. But there are a few gripes I have with Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core ReUnion (FFVIICCR). First the game still feels like a PSP game. Like 65% of the game are very repetitive side quests where you just run around in the same 4-5 areas killing enemies and opening treasure chests. The gameplay is fun which makes it not as bad but you can't play that game for longer periods of time because it gets pale really fast. Additionally when you experiment with the materia system you will quickly realize that you can make yourself extremely overpowered very early on. On my very first playthrough I did the side quests as soon as I could and had a lot of resources because of that. Using all of these resources made me reach max stats for basically every stat in the game at the 50% waypoint. So the first half was challenging but fun but the second half was just spamming one attack for 99999 damage and one shotting everything - even a lot of bosses. At first it was pretty fun being so strong but sooner than later it became a little bit boring. Especially the cool Sephiroth boss fight became a joke because I killed him on TWO hits which took the whole story impact outside of that fight. But outside of that everything else about the game is really nice and fun.

Content:
It is a mixed bag. The story is relatively short and easy, but there are a LOT of side quests with nice rewards to do. These side quests are sadly all the same mostly with little to no story but if you want new reasons to enjoy the gameplay loop of this game over and over again, the side quests provide a lot of additional reasons to play.

Replay value:
There isn't really any. You can play the game on hard mode in a second playthrough but you can change the difficulty of the game anywhere and anytime you want anyway. I started at normal and after getting so rediculously strong I switch to hard mode and still one-shot everything. So you can experience the whole game in one playthrough.

Conclusion:
A very good remaster. Changing all of the character models and voice actors to the FFVIIR models and cast and adding more fluidity and combos into the game makes it look so amazing that a lot of people confuse it for a remake. It might not be as good as FFVIIR but it is still the highest quality of a game a PSP game can be in my opinion. I played this game on switch and it ran very smoothly. I was very amazed of how good this game is optimized for weaker hardware. Gives me FFVIIR vibes on a regular PS4. Very solid.

It's a nice DLC.

Story:
There isn't a lot going on here. It is just a side story for the main game after all. We get a few more infos about what wutai and the splittergroup where up to while we played Final Fantasy VII Remake (FFVIIR). That's nice and all, but there isn't much. The best part of the story was easily the ending where we got a nice CGI cutscene that shows a little bit of what happens after the ending of FFVIIR.

Characters:
Meh. There are a few more new side characters that have cool designs, but outside of that there isn't anything either. Sinon isn't that interesting and Yuffie is just annoying. That is supposed to be her character, but seeing her in a more realistic and expressive way with current generation graphics is just weird to me. She behaves like a weird person you would meet at an anime convention that tries to act like an anime character. Very uncomfortable. But the integration of Weiss and Nero as the secret and final boss are pretty cool - especially their sadistic behavior makes them kind of bad ass villains.

Music:
The music is pretty nice. It's not mind blowing but it is the standard quality you would expect from such a quality game.

Gameplay:
Speaking of quality, the gameplay is also very nice. It is the same as FFVIIR quality wise. Yuffie feels like every other character with her own distinct and fun gameplay style. She is a mixture between melee and ranged combat and has a lot of physical and magical attacks. She is not as fun as Cloud, but it is fun to play as her. I like the team attacks with Sinon a lot and they feel very impactful everytime you perfom them. And I like the fact that you only play as Yuffie and Sinon is fully controlled by an AI. That's how I usually played the main game anyway - playing as Cloud and only switching when it's necessary. Generally nice gameplay. The Fort Condor minigame is also surprisingly fun. At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy that minigame but I put more time into it than I thought.

Content:
Obviously it is very short. It took me no 7 hours to finish the whole thing. Besides the main story there is the Fort Condor and box breaking minigame and you can play the DLC on hard mode after finishing it once. A very nice thing is that you unlock Weiss as a secret boss for the main game if you beat Intergrade. And that boss is VERY hard but pretty cool. He has distinct mechanics and learning his patterns reminded me a lot of the Kingdom Hearts secret bosses and that is always a good thing.

Replay value:
Only the second playthrough on hard mode, that's it.

Conclusion:
It is a good fun and short DLC. If you want more FFVIIR to play, Intergrade adds a few hours of more fun which is very appreciated. But obviously you can't compare this DLC with the main game. Still very nice.