Rebirth is an excellent improvement upon Remake's solid foundation, elevating the combat system and introducing a surprisingly addictive open world with improved dungeon designs and a plethora of side content to enjoy.

While I feel like the story they adapted for the second installment should have gone farther—to the end of disc 1's coverage to be specific—it's still a damn good adaptation for the most part, with the characters being the absolute highlight, just as they were in Remake. Unfortunately, also not unlike how it was in Remake, some of the adapted content loses the atmosphere and charm of the original due to certain changes made. Whether those changes are for the better or for the worse can be subjective. Luckily for me, they didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the game and only really stood out as I looked back on the 150+ hour journey.

The bigger changes to the story—namely the “meta” elements and those involving the Compilation—continue to intrigue and have the potential to make certain parts of the original story even better, though whether these setups will have satisfactory payoffs… is something that’s gonna take about 3 more years before we’ll find out.

Out of the many things I loved about Rebirth, one of my favorites is how it took the already incredible fusion of turn-based combat and real-time action and turned it into something even better, resulting in my new favorite action RPG combat system. Aerial combat was essentially the only issue with Remake’s combat system, and INTERmission was a preview into how they would address it going forward via Yuffie’s fighting style. That improvement now extends to the rest of the party, and works alongside the new synergy system. Synergy skills give each character whole new ways to deal with various situations without relying on the ATB commands, giving them access to ranged and aerial attacks, new defensive options, or even entirely new combo strings! All while helping generate ATB charges faster for the two characters involved. On the other hand, synergy abilities are powerful new team-up attacks that provide powerful buffs alongside cool animations not unlike Limit Breaks. Mastering the combat system becomes an even more impressive feat thanks to these new systems, making the combat challenges and various boss fights especially satisfying and fun.

The open world design is what surprised me the most, and in a positive way, thankfully. The game initially sets up the expectation that it would be a repetitive open world like many others out there, but the way each region is introduced and how they handle the content within each of those made for a very refreshing experience throughout my entire time with the game. Instead of getting tired as I reached later regions, I found myself still enjoying everything because of the varying locales, transporation methods, and how they dole out the story and different sections of each of these regions. And it certainly helped that (most of) the mini-games were a lot of fun too, so we weren’t locked into simply engaging in combat as our primary means of interacting with the world.

Overall, there’s so much I love about Rebirth, and fortunately only a few minor issues to complain about such as the occasional weird lighting or unintuitive menus. The unique nature of the remake trilogy makes the story a bit hard to judge fully since it’s still waiting to be completed, but the rest of Rebirth’s package is simply fantastic to say the least. Some of the best ARPG combat out there, wonderful mini-games, a beautiful and satisfying open world to run around in, and damn good character moments all throughout the game.

An amazing experience through and through, be it as a survival horror game or as a surreal, supernatural mystery story. Its solid combat and resource management go hand in hand with the dark, oppresive atmosphere you’d expect from any great survival horror game, which are then further elevated by the game’s visuals and presentation, as well as the many psychological horror elements. The story and its mystery are the game’s core, however, and they’re easily my favorite aspect of the game which had me eager to see what happens next after every session.

PROS
- Solid survival horror gameplay, mixing great combat with resource management and fun puzzle solving.
- While there aren’t a ton of unique weapons to use, those that we do get are great. The crossbow, flare gun, and hunting rifle are especially satisfying to wield against the Taken. The versatility of flares stood out to me too, once I realized how to use them. They work similarly to knives in the RE games as a way to break free from enemies who’ve grabbed you, but can also serve as a means of stunning enemies when used.
- Great variety of puzzles, ranging from simple number sequences we have to follow, to finding clues in or interacting with the environment, all the way to literal math problems. The reality-shifting puzzles in Alan’s sections are among my favorites, as well as the nursery rhyme puzzles.
- All around excellent horror experience. The top class atmosphere created by the visuals and sound design mix perfectly with the near-constant threat of the Taken. They may not be as numerous as in the previous game, but never knowing when or where they would appear, combined with how dangerous each one is, kept me on my toes throughout my playthrough. The jump scares are fun too and very well done, fitting perfectly with the game’s story and how it presents its different elements.
- The Case Board is awesome. Even the simple task of pinning collectibles onto the board is satisfying for someone who likes organizing information and keeping things neat and tidy. The more involved cases and questions were fun too and go a great way into creating a satisfying detective experience. It also doubles as a very convenient way of keeping track of the various characters and events throughout the game.
- The game expertly weaves together its many dark and serious moments with levity as necessary, and its humor is top notch too. What we get feels uniquely “Remedy” in the best way.
- Terrific performances from the entire cast, especially from Ilkka Villi’s and Matthew Porretta’s combined performances for Alan. Alex Casey and Saga are wonderful characters too, and their friendship is a delight to see. Saga is an awesome new protagonist and I’m hopeful to see more of her in future installments of Remedy’s connected universe.
- Killer soundtrack. The original songs are such a treat to listen to.

CONS
- The game can be buggy. Luckily nothing too bad from my experience, but there’s quite a bit and some even persisted throughout my entire playthrough. It’s not enough to ruin the experience, but they do stand out because the rest of the game is so good.
- While the lack of handholding from the level designers in terms of having “yellow paint” (or something similar) to guide us as we progress through the different locations can provide a refreshing experience, certain areas (forests and the like, usually) are somewhat difficult to navigate and end up requiring one to repeatedly open the map. Luckily, the menus are very quick so it’s a painless experience, but it definitely takes you out quite a bit opening the menu again and again. I am personally fortunate enough to not really need much accessibility options, but it notable as a game in 2023 for it to not have these things.
- Boss fights are decent enough for the most part but it’s definitely one of the areas that still need improvement.