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.

Is this game perfect? Absolutely not. it's got it's issues for sure. But I don't care. This game is just... man.

The side content in this game is phenomenal. The music is phenomenal. Honolulu was a great setting. There's tons of fantastic boss fights and dynamic action sequences. The gameplay is a billion times better than 7. It took 7's combat and turned it into one of the most engaging JRPG combat systems I've played. Poundmates and regular attacks are so much better. Reclassing and jobs have been streamlined signifcantly, making it way easier to utilize a wide variety of skills.

Yeah, the story had times where it wasn’t super engaging, and the antagonists I felt were a bit lacking for the LaD series- but the character moments in this game go so unbelievably hard. This game made me like Ichiban even more than before and he's now one of my favorite characters in fiction ever. Chitose and Tomi were both fantastic, and are in my opinion better than any of 7's party members. Seonhee I was skeptical of first as a party member, but she fit in so well. I loved her interactions with Kiryu and everyone else. I will say, it felt like some of the returning party members weren't given a lot to do and were just kind of there, but their presence still felt natural due to the sheer amount of group interactions the party has via drink links, walk and talks, and table talks.

There were many great moments between the characters over the course of the main story as well. And that ending sequence before the credits rolled is actually one of the best scenes in any piece of media I have ever witnessed. I hate using this word to describe it, because it sounds really pretentious, but it truly was cinema.

Infinite Wealth is an amazing game. It made me cry more than any other entry in the franchise. If this were the last LaD game, I would be okay with that.

Played through Yuffie's story to prep for Rebirth, and boy howdy glad I sure did!
The long and short of it this side story fucking rules, combat in the remake is still good, graphics are breathtaking, music is peak, and I'm dying to get my hands on Rebirth already. I think a bit of a disappointment is that you're so railroaded overall, you can't explore the set pieces as much as I'd like. Been so long I found myself annoyed I didn't have a jump button. Game makes you interact with it on its terms. For a game as cinematic and presentation-oriented as it is, I get it. All in all a dope side story that I wish was slightly cheaper for what it is, but an excellent refresher to get myself ready for the next major title.
Also Fort Condor is actually fun this time around so insane W

Boy, what a game this is. Don't let the score fool you!
Pizza tower is a gem. A Wario Land-esque title that brings all the joy of that game and then some. So many positives to be found here. The characters, the level designs, the soundtrack, the overall aesthetic that comes together? Great stuff!
That being said, some levels and level gimmicks certainly felt like misses which diminished some of the gameplay. The boss fights took some getting used to. The controls and overall design of the game aren't quite my speed, so it was a struggle at the beginning.
Overall, this is a game I like but don't love. It's clear to me the appeal this game has and why its achieved the acclaim it has. At the same time, I'm unable to hit that same level of enjoyment and enthusiasm that others have for it. This is by no point a knock on the game, just a situation where it's not my slice of pizza (HA!!!!!), which is perfectly okay. The score here is my own enjoyment of the game, at the end of the day.
Still though: buy this game! I'm glad to have enjoyed the wackiness it brought to the table. It's not too exhausting long as to overstay its welcome and there's plenty of replayability if you'd like to truly master what has been served here. Take a bite out of this one and try it for yourself.

To nobody's surprise this game is still a banger.
Super Mario RPG hits a sweet spot for me, though that much just be the nostalgia goggles talking. This is a short and easy RPG that doesn't overstay it's welcome in any regard. You'll find its pacing fast and fluid, making it accessible to play without tiring you out and also being an easy entry point to RPGs for those new to the genre or young kids who might not be able to grasp your final fantasies and dragon quests of the world just yet.
World design good, music is GODLIKE (Yoko Shimamura continues to be one of the best to ever do it), writing is fun, gameplay is fluid. Not much else you could ask for in a game like this. I listened to the OG music most of the game, did a few secrets, and mourned the fact that Geno and Mallow are not in more stuff. I didn't touch the post-game, I'll save it for another time. HIGHLY recommend this game if you want a short and sweet RPG with a lovable world that you can knock out over a week. #GenoForSmash

I'd like to start this review by quoting Kiryu himself in Yakuza 5

"I'm not like you. To you, being Yakuza is a way to die. To me... it's a way to live. We walk the same path, but you're barreling towards death, while I fight for life."

While this might be a Kiryu game in all effectiveness, to me this is a game dedicated to the series itself, and to the moment of glimmer the characters see in a way of life trudging through filth. The way of life that the Yakuza follow.

This game lets us finally see the true impact of what the dissolution of the Yakuza brought about. And in a meta-narrative sense, the end of Kiryu's age or the "Yakuza" series with the rebranding into Like a Dragon.

When you reflect on the series' origin, how Kiryu ended up in this way of life by idolizing a man who held guilt towards his actions. The diamonds of his effort resulted in him having ended the cycle by inspiring his children to be people who walk the path of light. He didn't just end the age of Yakuza in this game, he truly brought about something good from Kazama's actions that kicked off his life no matter how morally grey he was.

To quote Kiryu again,

"I can hide my past all I want. But no matter how much I hate it...I'll always be Yakuza."

"I can erase my name all I want but I can't deny who I am."

He unbashedly acknowledges how he is Yakuza through and through in the series, and while his ideal might've been one of hope and strength the path of violence that he has taken has had its consequences in turn bringing about a cycle of violence that threatened all that was precious to him. And inspiring others to follow it in the wake he leaves.

This is where I'll make a tangent to talk about Shishido, I think he is the best thing to come out of this game. On paper, he might be just a man who tried to prevent the end of the Yakuza because that's the only way of life he knew. But to me, he's more than a character in the narrative, he's a figure who represents every single person in this way of life across the series. He is the result of what Kiryu's life influenced in a twisted way.

Confronting Shishido at the end must've felt like facing a crystallization of his own life to Kiryu. When you see him size himself up with the backdrop of the Omi alliance building, that's when I knew he wasn't just representing himself but the very blood, sweat and tears that went in throughout the series that led to this.

While Yakuza is a series that talks about humanity in criminals, it also deconstructs itself by commenting on the modern age of Yakuza where there are no ideals or honour in the men who identify as such. To them, it's just another way to succeed and indulge in the pleasures of life.

Where Someya is a man who was able to walk the path of the lost ideals despite losing himself, Shishido is someone who inherited the one thing about the Yakuza that's universal across all of them. Tenacity.

He is a cry for survival the Yakuza shout out in their dying blaze. And one that calls out to Kiryu as the man who stands atop it all. An effigy of the ideals that breathe no more.

If Yakuza 6 was about his parenthood being tested and the sacrifices he would make to uphold it, Gaiden is about him coming to confront the past he couldn't in 6. The demons he's built and festered, the legacy that nearly consumed him whole. It's impressive how small-scale and contained the narrative is, focusing solely on the end of the Yakuza. We direly needed to see Kiryu's perspective on this as it isn't just a conclusion to the era but also the end of his life as Kazuma Kiryu.

That's all I have to say about the narrative and how previous entries play into it but to make a few footnotes, it's a little disappointing the first 4 chapters don't do a lot for the story but it's fine considering they are primarily here to serve the finale. The gameplay is good it felt unpolished which isn't surprising with how short of a development cycle it had. What I did of the side content was standard fare for the series, the coliseum is good. The music is great and this is the best-looking game in the series undoubtedly.

To conclude the review with the quote I started it off on if a man whose identity and actions are so tied to a path he finds to be rubbish can start over, I can't help but be inspired.

I'm gonna repeat myself a little here but it is incredibly rewarding emotionally to see that Kiryu's life through the mistakes, partings and suffering he bears, leads to something meaningful. Even if his past being bloody is something he regrets, his purpose as Yakuza resulted in lives brightened as the ultimatum.

To be able to destroy the throne he sat on and subsequently wipe off the face of the Yakuza, I can't think of a more perfect ending for The man who erased his name.