This game was one of my most anticipated of the year, and I ended up with a lot of mixed feelings about it. On paper, every aspect of this game is really well done. I think that Final Fantasy VII has one of the best stories and characters in the series, and this game really utilizes them well, something some of the other previous spin-offs struggled with. The combat is similar to the previous Remake entry, which I enjoyed when it was released. The graphics, some initial blurry issues aside, are top notch. All that being said, there are some games that I think are better than the sum of their parts, but my big takeaway from this title is that I found it weaker than the sum of its parts. A lot of this is due to the pacing of the game. The first half of the game has a lot of minigames, many of them adapted from the original FF7. This isn't a bad thing on their own, but I honestly think in the first 10 hours of the game, you'll be playing more mandatory minigames than core gameplay. It really highlights the fact that this isn't a complete story, but the middle section of Final Fantasy VII, expanded so that it has its own beginning, middle, and end. This expansion goes better than one would expect, but does lead to some unique issues. The game sets up some mysteries, and it's a little frustrating to know they won't be resolved until a third game years in the future (and even worse for some things established in Remake). I think the second half of the game is a lot tighter focused, as it leaves the distractions and campiness behind. The new aspects to Rebirth, as opposed to Remake, are the large open world areas, and some changes to the gameplay. The open world is.. fine. It feels like a bog standard modern open world, complete with towers to visit to reveal new points of interest. They're easy enough to avoid if you don't find them interesting, and I found them mainly to be a checklist to complete. I do want to highlight the changes they're making to the story across this new trilogy. There are some players who seem opposed to the idea of any changes at all. I personally view that remaking a game gives the chance to tweak not just the visuals and gameplay, but potentially the story as well. The impression I got from Remake was that this was potentially a secret sequel to Final Fantasy VII, and that could be an interesting change. With two thirds of the new story behind us, I'm afraid to say I'm not crazy about the approach they're taking. I don't want to reveal too much, but despite Zack Fair being on the cover, he served very little purpose. His inclusion I could overlook (so long as they don't add any of the awful Crisis Core villains), but I think the changes they made to the ending segments are pretty awful. Not only does it take away from the impact of Sephiroth as the overall villain -- the same mistake they made in Remake, in my opinion -- but it also somewhat muddies what is this game's most famous legacy. There is a vision here, and a desire to keep audiences in suspense, but in the end I was just left with confusion. This review might sound a bit negative, but I do want to express that I did enjoy myself. It's rare these days that I find myself playing through a game for hours on end, but often when I went to save I would be surprised that an hour had gone by. It's because I had such high hopes for this game -- and the high reviews from others -- that I found it a bit lackluster. If I'm being honest, I didn't like it as much as Remake, I didn't like it as much as the original FF7, and what I'm sure is going to be somewhat controversial, I didn't like it as much as Final Fantasy XVI.