PEAK. FF7 is my fave game of all time, and here, it is ramped up to max, done better than I could've thought. The soundtrack is insane, the world is beautiful. Every new location looks like you are playing the beauty of concept art, fully visualized. It is amazing how hard they went to expand the universe & every iconic moment from the game is brought into full depth. Things I never thought would be made into a 'whole thing', are brought into actual, fleshed out sections of game. Seeing how they expanded upon these moments, adding new perspectives and looks into the world of FF7... I think this, along with RE4's recent remake, are shining examples of modernizing classics. This is how remakes should be. There is no value in merely 1:1 re-adapting a work. It can be fine, and sometimes necessary to get versions up to speed (see, Persona 3 Reload, although, even that has its differences).
Wondering what would happen, what might be changed, what paths they would take to the end, and theorizing, left me in a constant state of anxiety. I was gripped. The combat is a wonderful blend of action & turn based rpg, and, while I know Final Fantasy isn't that series, I wouldn't have been disappointed to see this sort of combat reflect more heavily in the other mainline entries. It's great.
This is a VIDEO GAME. Unlike the drivel of most western AAA games, this is filled with things that feel very 'aracadey' and 'gamey'. This honestly makes the game feel, in some ways, like Yakuza. Whacky side quests, weird, funny NPCs--the Queens Blood card game is fun as hell, & the people you play against are largely hilarious borderline sociopaths & sometimes, a random animal. Some side quests are just plain silly, much better than the first game, entertaining. That said, there is quite a lot of the typical AAA checklist sort of content. It's nothing incredible, but it's what you'd expect. At this point, these kind of side activities, feel like a lot, but it's standard fare for bearing the burden of featuring a modern open world. Doing the side quest gives access to some good materia & other equipment, etc, so it does feel there is a point to it.
Character writing is immaculate. Everyone is given such a depth & range of emotion. Party interactions are numerous, you can really see every character's feelings brightly on display. There is a deep foreboding across the work, as events play out. I never thought I could love this cast of characters more than I did, but here we are. The acting is incredible. From the opening hours of Nibelheim, with the haunting performance of "Cloud" acting like Zack, is just absolutely peak. There are so many tiny, small details, throughout the game, the characters, their interactions, the way they micro react to certain events and dialogue... there is so so so much love and respect for the 7 universe throughout this game, it is incredible.
-very minor suggestions of spoilers ahead-
And man some of those bosses went insane. We get capped with an incredible final dungeon that is an onslaught of tough enemies capped by one of the craziest fights I've had. I can't remember a game going so hard in a final dungeon / boss sequences in a long while.
My time with this is far from over, but it was a great time, and I loved it start to finish. Overall, Rebirth is an absolute masterpiece, the craziest thing Square has put together in idk how long. I could really not have expected more from this game. It surpassed my expectations on every front.
Wondering what would happen, what might be changed, what paths they would take to the end, and theorizing, left me in a constant state of anxiety. I was gripped. The combat is a wonderful blend of action & turn based rpg, and, while I know Final Fantasy isn't that series, I wouldn't have been disappointed to see this sort of combat reflect more heavily in the other mainline entries. It's great.
This is a VIDEO GAME. Unlike the drivel of most western AAA games, this is filled with things that feel very 'aracadey' and 'gamey'. This honestly makes the game feel, in some ways, like Yakuza. Whacky side quests, weird, funny NPCs--the Queens Blood card game is fun as hell, & the people you play against are largely hilarious borderline sociopaths & sometimes, a random animal. Some side quests are just plain silly, much better than the first game, entertaining. That said, there is quite a lot of the typical AAA checklist sort of content. It's nothing incredible, but it's what you'd expect. At this point, these kind of side activities, feel like a lot, but it's standard fare for bearing the burden of featuring a modern open world. Doing the side quest gives access to some good materia & other equipment, etc, so it does feel there is a point to it.
Character writing is immaculate. Everyone is given such a depth & range of emotion. Party interactions are numerous, you can really see every character's feelings brightly on display. There is a deep foreboding across the work, as events play out. I never thought I could love this cast of characters more than I did, but here we are. The acting is incredible. From the opening hours of Nibelheim, with the haunting performance of "Cloud" acting like Zack, is just absolutely peak. There are so many tiny, small details, throughout the game, the characters, their interactions, the way they micro react to certain events and dialogue... there is so so so much love and respect for the 7 universe throughout this game, it is incredible.
-very minor suggestions of spoilers ahead-
And man some of those bosses went insane. We get capped with an incredible final dungeon that is an onslaught of tough enemies capped by one of the craziest fights I've had. I can't remember a game going so hard in a final dungeon / boss sequences in a long while.
My time with this is far from over, but it was a great time, and I loved it start to finish. Overall, Rebirth is an absolute masterpiece, the craziest thing Square has put together in idk how long. I could really not have expected more from this game. It surpassed my expectations on every front.