I wanted to wait to review this game until I got the platinum trophy and lo and behold here we are.

Rebirth is for me the perfect sequel to the already fantastic FF VII Remake, but better, a lot better.

Rebirth builds upon the already solid foundation laid by Remake in a multitude of ways. While Remake was very focused on plot and world-building, Rebirth instead focused on bonds between you and the party. The side quests in Remake are there to expand on Midgar, while here, they're there to allow you to engage with your party members, and get to know them better. A lot of the character moments are in these side quests, and the writing shines. From collecting flowers with Aerith, to helping a dog cross a region with Barret, these quests flesh out both characters and the world. Heck, these side quests even explain why Cloud always charges 2000 Gil for each job. Clever stuff.

The main story itself prides itself on being an adventure. The team did a great job of making the world feel extremely large, even though from a gameplay perspective, it isn't that big. Just like in the original game, this part of the game is mostly focused on character moments, and mark my words, when the remake project is done, this game will be the one people like the most.

The combat is better than ever. Fast action merged with strategic command inputs. They even added a perfect parry system, and it just works. The Materia system is also better than we've seen in Remake, with loads of ways to mix and match (and break) it.

My only minor complaint is in the brutal challenges you can do during the endgame, and these are insanely difficult. Way over tuned, and not really "fun".

Remake part 3 can't get here fast enough for me. As a die hard FF VII fan, I might have to admit to myself that Rebirth dethrones every other FF game I've played to date. Masterpiece through and through.

Reviewed on Apr 14, 2024


Comments