Final Fantasy VII Remake is a game I played before being on Backloggd, but it was my favorite game of 2020 and is one of my favorite games of all time. There are some flaws, air combat was stiff, level design was rough in several of the chapters, and it suffered from pacing issues. However, I felt that it was an excellent foundation to the FFVII remake series, and if they could address those issues, the follow ups could easily exceed this already amazing game. Remake also introduced additional story elements that hinted at a new overarching narrative, I hoped it wouldn’t completely eliminate the elements from the original game, and it is an interesting set up if they could nail the conclusion. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth had to tackle all of those elements from Remake, while also contending with the larger scope of the world outside of Midgar.
Rebirth manages to get SO MUCH of this better than I could have ever thought possible. The world outside of Midgar feels vast, towns are more lively than their pre-rendered selves implied. I would go so far as to say that these are the best towns I have ever seen in an RPG, especially Kalm and Cosmo Canyon. Each region feels vast and unique, with tons to do and the diversity of activities allows exploration to remain entertaining even after 90 hours. This element was one of my main concerns going into Rebirth from Remake, especially when we saw the existence of "Ubisoft Towers”, but I think this is one of the best implementations of this gameplay system. This is assisted by the wide variety of mini-games, while not all are equally enjoyable, some are remarkably deep, and keep the game varied and interesting. Also, Chocobo Racing is amazing and I absolutely would love to play more, and I hope they have more in part 3.
Combat is also vastly improved by expanding on the excellent ATB system from Remake, as well as the synergy system from INTERmission. Combining this with more refined character movesets led to a superior version of the already amazing combat from Remake. On top of that, the new playable characters all felt amazing to play as, including Cait Sith which was a pleasant surprise. I really can’t wait to see how they handle Vincent and Cid in Part 3.
Level design was vastly improved, while still having some awkward moments where you have to move a box or something. Each dungeon mostly focused on a different party member's unique attributes, allowing for them all to have a moment to shine and these were some of my favorite moments of the game, especially the final dungeon.
While there were still pacing issues, most of these were actually present in this section of the original. Like with Remake, several additions were made to mixed results, though mostly positive to just neutral. I won't go into specifics to avoid spoilers but I overall like the direction of the story and where they chose to flesh out the narrative. A few exclusions from the original do worry me that we may not see these elements in part 3. And that's really my main concern that I hope causes this review to poorly age. This is an excellent middle chapter, that sets up beautifully for the final part, and it is on part 3 to use what it has been given to create a satisfying conclusion.
Rebirth manages to get SO MUCH of this better than I could have ever thought possible. The world outside of Midgar feels vast, towns are more lively than their pre-rendered selves implied. I would go so far as to say that these are the best towns I have ever seen in an RPG, especially Kalm and Cosmo Canyon. Each region feels vast and unique, with tons to do and the diversity of activities allows exploration to remain entertaining even after 90 hours. This element was one of my main concerns going into Rebirth from Remake, especially when we saw the existence of "Ubisoft Towers”, but I think this is one of the best implementations of this gameplay system. This is assisted by the wide variety of mini-games, while not all are equally enjoyable, some are remarkably deep, and keep the game varied and interesting. Also, Chocobo Racing is amazing and I absolutely would love to play more, and I hope they have more in part 3.
Combat is also vastly improved by expanding on the excellent ATB system from Remake, as well as the synergy system from INTERmission. Combining this with more refined character movesets led to a superior version of the already amazing combat from Remake. On top of that, the new playable characters all felt amazing to play as, including Cait Sith which was a pleasant surprise. I really can’t wait to see how they handle Vincent and Cid in Part 3.
Level design was vastly improved, while still having some awkward moments where you have to move a box or something. Each dungeon mostly focused on a different party member's unique attributes, allowing for them all to have a moment to shine and these were some of my favorite moments of the game, especially the final dungeon.
While there were still pacing issues, most of these were actually present in this section of the original. Like with Remake, several additions were made to mixed results, though mostly positive to just neutral. I won't go into specifics to avoid spoilers but I overall like the direction of the story and where they chose to flesh out the narrative. A few exclusions from the original do worry me that we may not see these elements in part 3. And that's really my main concern that I hope causes this review to poorly age. This is an excellent middle chapter, that sets up beautifully for the final part, and it is on part 3 to use what it has been given to create a satisfying conclusion.