I believe it was Boyarsky that came up with the whole "What would the 1950's idea of the future be like" concept that would go on to define for me, the best aesthetic in video games.

I played this game first time a little over a year after it released in 1998 and I never beat it but I remember being floored by the concepts / ideas and around this time, I used to play DnD with friends but this game would go on to define what a computer role-playing game is for me. You suddenly had a influx of CRPGs and many of which were set in DnD worlds with DnD rulesets and man, Fallout was still better because it was defined by its own in-house system.

Many of those DnD crpgs of that era are games I adore. Hell, Planescape: Torment very well may be the greatest RPG ever made -- I still prefer Fallout (and Arcanum).

I eventually beat this a few years later after that first time and yeah, Fallout reigns supreme for me. Extremely happy to see the series getting so much love this week thanks to the TV series (I like it).

It took me 18 days to finish this gargantuan of a game. And it’s been a very long time since I’ve been this enthralled with a RPG. I’ve spent almost 90 hours playing, have not finished all side content but I’ve enjoyed every single second I’ve spent in the game. I didn’t grow up playing FF7 but I’d imagine this is what OG fans felt like when they play this game back in late 90’s. Rebirth had MANY incredible highs but certainly not without its low.

Likes:

The best thing about this game, besides gameplay, are the plot, the characters, and their development. Hands down. In the OG, I was quite indifferent to the Avalanche gang as they feel kind of distant from one another, but Rebirth did a fantastic job in having them interact with each other and make them feel like a proper found family. They all have their unique charms that make them loveable (NANAKI + TIFA I LOVE YOU MY SWEET SUMMER CHILDREN). And I really appreciate that the side quest involve all the characters. That’s the best way to get the player to care more about them, involve them in content outside of main story! So if there’s something that you should not skip, it’s the side quests.

And as Tifa gal, I ADORED what they did for her.
She’s one of the most important character to the story, especially to Cloud in disk 2, but the problem was the OG never built up her character until much later on. But Rebirth added so many scenes for Tifa that was not in the OG that will help bridge that gap when part 3 arrives. I’m talking about you, chapter 9. One of the most memorable sequence in the series so far for me. So intense and emotionally powerful!

The ending of Rebirth is setting us up for a huge tonal shift and possibly some of the most depressing moments in the part 3 as Cloud… goes through some shit, let’s just say. We’re in one hell of a ride on the tearjerker train.

Dislikes:

Funny enough, I think how ambitious this game is, is also its biggest downfall. There are way too many mini-games, especially if you count character specific scenario where they have their own puzzle-solving mechanics. However, it’s not THE biggest issue as it kept the gameplay loop interesting. I think what I had a gripe with, however, was the overwhelming amount of side content, open world specifically. It suffers from side content bloat and once you recognize that every region is a rinse and repeat of the previous, you kinda get the gist. Do this, clear this, kill enemies, etc. But tbh I’ll 1000% take this over whatever Remake had. There may be too much but at least they’re more fun to do than the boring side quests in previous game lmao.

I do think this is the part where YMMV applies as some people take joy in doing the repetitive things. I easily get burnt out by these so it certainly affected how much open world stuff I did towards end game. I respect that they’re experimenting with quality vs. quantity, though. I hope they’ll find a sweet little spot for part 3!

SPOILERS WARNING (DISCUSSION OF ENDING)

WARNING

FINAL WARNING

NO REALLY

THIS IS A FAT WARNING

⚠️

The last 5% of the game definitely threw me off. I have always been iffy with adding multiverse to preexisting storyline as it gives room for retcon and excuse for bad writing. I really do believe how you feel about the ending of Rebirth correlates to how open you are to changes in the OG storyline. I’ve always liked the grounded nature of OG so the ending left me wanting more, but I definitely see why it’s exciting for others who liked it! No matter how I feel about the multiverse stuff, the game definitely finished with more questions than ever, and I’m nervous that they only have one game left to wrap everything up. Which may perhaps not end well. But I do hope they prove me wrong.

One thing I was quite disappointed about is the lack of… mourning for Aerith? Or more like lack of TIME to mourn her death. As soon as she got stabbed, we’re pushed into this LONG series of boss fight against Sephiroth. That took nearly an hour! I don’t mind the game adding or changing stuff from the OG, but the one thing I wished that went untouched was Aerith’s death. I much preferred how simple it was in the OG where Cloud and the squad mourned Aerith, say their final goodbyes and lay her to rest. It’s one of the most rawest moments in the game but not anymore in the Rebirth. Once I finished the fight, the feeling of sadness was just gone. Whoosh. And it really bummed me out, man. Not everything has to be a spectacle. :(

4/2/24 edit: after sitting with it for a bit, watching some theory videos—I get it now. I’m much more down with the ending of Rebirth. They’re cooking some REAL good fucking food that I can’t wait to dine on in part 3.

But nonetheless, I very much look forward to the next game ❤️

Very biased because I just love the Moonmin franchise. This game is super cozy and charming. It’s really short though and it feels like it could’ve used one more little arc and some more park missions. Would have been cool if they added a way to get the steam achievements on switch as well.

My biggest issue is that after beating the game you can’t go back to a previous save before the point of no return which really sucks because I left some side quests unfinished. Definitely keep this in mind when you play. The devs said they will release a patch to fix this but it will only be for new save files.

Edit: it’s been patched but I have to start a new game

Me parece que darle una nota a este juego es algo injusto, cuando le autore se abre en canal durante la escasa media hora que dura el juego para describir la zona cero de sus traumas con la sexualidad y el género. Podría haber sido perfectamente cualquier otra cosa (un cómic por ejemplo), pero creo que ayuda la toma de decisiones para aumentar la empatía del jugador hacia las situaciones que se presentan.

Así que hay quedan esas 5 estrellas para que más gente se anime a probarlo. Una experiencial totalmente devastadora.

My input on this isn't important at all, I'm not going to stand on a soap box and make this about myself nor my experiences.

What I can say is that this is absolutely worth your time. It is uncompromisingly honest and personal throughout it's brief 40 minute runtime and left me with a lot of emotions I'm not really sure I know how to process at the moment.

I recommend you look into the trigger warnings before deciding if you want to play it as it does not hold back at all. Make sure you are comfortable with the subject matter also.

Very good. It was very good.