This review contains spoilers
"Wait, how are they supposed to call Part 3 Reunion if they already used that on the Crisis Core Remaster-"
At the core of this game, or should I say most of it, is a game that is leaps and bounds ahead of FF7 Remake in almost every way. I'll go into detail about that other stuff later but holy fuck this game is a fucking MIRACLE to play. The game looks and sounds mind-blowing with an easy Best Score and Music-winning soundtrack. Even though some of it is reused from Remake, the many MANY new tracks all sound amazing. It's also, like I said, graphically mind-blowing. Some of the shit that happens in this game is a technical achievement that 90% of other games would kill to get.
But it's not just the aesthetics, the game's combat is also noticeably improved from Remake. Instead of adding so many new major mechanics on top of Remake's system which would bloat the combat, instead it's mostly done through the new Synergy Skills, the new party members, and a bunch of little changes that fit so naturally into the combat style of Remake, that I bet that game is going to have the Breath of the Wild effect of "how did I ever play it like this" come in. Also for what it's worth I actually quite like how fun this game is compared to remake. There's a mission where you help a dog and then the song goes "Bow wow wow Bow wow wow" even while you fight enemies. It's a good year for doggies in JRPGs. And Queensblood is actually very addicting and I had to stop myself at a certain point so I could continue the narrative.
So, this game seems like the best Square Enix game since NieR Automata. So... why is it ranked LOWER than Remake for me? Well, there are two problems I have related to major parts of the game that I have some issues with. First, the open world. Yes, I love a bunch of the side quests I did do, but a lot of other aspects of this world feel very Ubisoft-y. Unlike most games with open-world elements, I just stopped exploring the world after a while. Even though they give you some incentive to explore it, it just wasn't all that fun and part of me wishes that they handled it a little differently. Because I had issues with the world design of FFXVI last year as well.
And speaking of FFXVI, one of my biggest complaints there was with how blah the story is. Well, I am pleased to report that FFVII Rebirth is actually incredibly strong in the story department. Sure they do have some pacing issues, and sure Cait Sith is one of the most annoying characters I've had the displeasure of experiencing in a while, but for the most part the cast's interactions, the narrative twists, and the emotional beats all hit leading to an incredibly satisfying narrative experience.
And then the game ends. Holy FUCK. I read early reviews criticizing the ending for going completely off the rails, and I had NO CLUE it would be this bad. It leaves an insanely bad taste in my mouth, which sucks because this is an otherwise incredible game. It's one thing if Fire Emblem Engage's ending is bad because the whole story is bad. But when you have a story and an experience as amazing as Rebirth and then hit us with Multiverse bullshit and an awkward retooling of Aerith's death, and Cloud going even more coo-coo than in the original, and I just wasn't a huge fan of it at all.
Even after over 30 hours of some of the best Final Fantasy gameplay I've ever played, this one fucking ending (along with the problems I have with the pacing) makes me look at this game a lot less fondly than Remake. When that ended, I was confused, sure, but I was overall intrigued to see where they take this. Now, I just have no clue how they're possibly going to stick the landing. It's mostly dependent on how Part 3 is done, but man this is so fucking awkward now.
However, it is still a great game because bow wow wow bow wow wow.
At the core of this game, or should I say most of it, is a game that is leaps and bounds ahead of FF7 Remake in almost every way. I'll go into detail about that other stuff later but holy fuck this game is a fucking MIRACLE to play. The game looks and sounds mind-blowing with an easy Best Score and Music-winning soundtrack. Even though some of it is reused from Remake, the many MANY new tracks all sound amazing. It's also, like I said, graphically mind-blowing. Some of the shit that happens in this game is a technical achievement that 90% of other games would kill to get.
But it's not just the aesthetics, the game's combat is also noticeably improved from Remake. Instead of adding so many new major mechanics on top of Remake's system which would bloat the combat, instead it's mostly done through the new Synergy Skills, the new party members, and a bunch of little changes that fit so naturally into the combat style of Remake, that I bet that game is going to have the Breath of the Wild effect of "how did I ever play it like this" come in. Also for what it's worth I actually quite like how fun this game is compared to remake. There's a mission where you help a dog and then the song goes "Bow wow wow Bow wow wow" even while you fight enemies. It's a good year for doggies in JRPGs. And Queensblood is actually very addicting and I had to stop myself at a certain point so I could continue the narrative.
So, this game seems like the best Square Enix game since NieR Automata. So... why is it ranked LOWER than Remake for me? Well, there are two problems I have related to major parts of the game that I have some issues with. First, the open world. Yes, I love a bunch of the side quests I did do, but a lot of other aspects of this world feel very Ubisoft-y. Unlike most games with open-world elements, I just stopped exploring the world after a while. Even though they give you some incentive to explore it, it just wasn't all that fun and part of me wishes that they handled it a little differently. Because I had issues with the world design of FFXVI last year as well.
And speaking of FFXVI, one of my biggest complaints there was with how blah the story is. Well, I am pleased to report that FFVII Rebirth is actually incredibly strong in the story department. Sure they do have some pacing issues, and sure Cait Sith is one of the most annoying characters I've had the displeasure of experiencing in a while, but for the most part the cast's interactions, the narrative twists, and the emotional beats all hit leading to an incredibly satisfying narrative experience.
And then the game ends. Holy FUCK. I read early reviews criticizing the ending for going completely off the rails, and I had NO CLUE it would be this bad. It leaves an insanely bad taste in my mouth, which sucks because this is an otherwise incredible game. It's one thing if Fire Emblem Engage's ending is bad because the whole story is bad. But when you have a story and an experience as amazing as Rebirth and then hit us with Multiverse bullshit and an awkward retooling of Aerith's death, and Cloud going even more coo-coo than in the original, and I just wasn't a huge fan of it at all.
Even after over 30 hours of some of the best Final Fantasy gameplay I've ever played, this one fucking ending (along with the problems I have with the pacing) makes me look at this game a lot less fondly than Remake. When that ended, I was confused, sure, but I was overall intrigued to see where they take this. Now, I just have no clue how they're possibly going to stick the landing. It's mostly dependent on how Part 3 is done, but man this is so fucking awkward now.
However, it is still a great game because bow wow wow bow wow wow.