Sunny skies with a chance of Clouds.
Final Fantasy VII: Remake was a bold and refreshing reimagining of the classic JRPG; a hybrid of ideas both old and new. It expanded upon the Midgar portion of the story, enhancing and enriching its memorable cast and story, while elevating its combat into a mixture of both real-time and turn-based systems. It was a near-perfect blend that was entertaining from start to finish. While Rebirth continues with the same superb presentation, a few technical issues, and mundane open-world objectives can often get in the way of what is essentially a tremendous undertaking.
A great deal of my thoughts about Rebirth are evolutions of my time with Remake, and since this is essentially a direct continuation of that game, and not just a sequel, I won't be as in-depth as I was with my Remake review, considering much of this game builds upon what is already present there. That said, I will be discussing what's new, what's changed, and how much of Rebirth has changed from the original game, at least to a certain degree as the entire list of all these changes is rather extensive for a review. That said, if you enjoyed Remake, you are likely already back into this world.
Much like Remake, Rebirth digs deeper into its rich characters and the world they inhabit. A greater emphasis is placed upon the traveling group as they attempt to track down Sephiroth; the series’ big bad. Much of the 80+ hour playthrough can feel a tad padded with a by-the-numbers open world as well as enough mini-games to choke a Moogle, but much of that length is applied to fleshing out its characters and what they mean to this story and those around them. While this cast has had a memorable legacy, Rebirth shows us even more reasons why they have endured for so long.
Tifa Lockhart is certainly one of the most popular video game characters of all time, but the OG Final Fantasy VII didn't exactly give her a lot to do in any meaningful way, at least from a certain perspective. There were also a lot of leaps in logic the player had to make regarding her and Cloud’s past in Nibelheim. Here, Tifa not only builds a convincing and endearing friendship with Aerith but has several impactful interactions with Cloud, often confronting him with what he recalls happening during a mission in Nibelheim that she doesn't remember him being involved in. This also lends itself to a dire moment for the character, one that was very entertaining to see unfold.
While other characters get a great deal of added backstory, like Barrett and Red XIII, the attention to Tifa allows for some of the more complicated moments of the original to feel better written and executed here in a way that is not only easier to grasp but that nothing feels glossed over from a character perspective.
Then we have Cid Highland, who you'll meet several hours in that has been largely rebuilt from the ground up, at least to a certain degree. Those of the original may have been expecting changes to him, considering how he was handled back in 1997. Here, Cid is a far more cocky and caring individual this time around and written to have a connection to one of the team, thus his desire to see their mission through. While Cid doesn’t join the active roster in battle, his role here is nonetheless just as entertaining.
Another change from the original is that both Yuffie and Vincent are mandatory characters this time around and are not missable. That said, Vincent is not playing during the campaign and is likely being kept for the follow-up unless we get some sort of DLC extension as we did with Yuffie. While Vincent is used sparingly, Yuffie is often front row and center, coming across a screen-stealer every chance she can get. In fact, most of the game’s most pivotal moments feature her in some direct way.
With such a diverse cast of characters, each with unique ways of illustrating their combat, several have their moment to shine as a playable element of their own moments. Barret, Red XIII, and Cait Sith each have playable sections that have you interacting with the environment in different ways. These moments are fine for what they offer, but can feel a tad dragged out, especially Cait Sith’s section as the gameplay element surrounding this diversion is just ultimately lacking. The moments with Barret and Red XIII work better because not only is the gameplay better, but their moments are also well-constructed from a narrative level and meant to lean into your emotions.
The general story also weaves in and around another timeline that revealed itself at the end of Remake. While I don’t feel it pays off in the end, especially considering how much time they spent on it, it did allow for a few interesting moments during the final battle. Where Remake took a few detours from the main story, Rebirth plays it a bit closer to the original’s events, even if they are saving a few locations and moments for the final installment, such as the Wutai elements that Yuiffie is a big part of.
I also was very into Sephiroth having this appeal of something akin to a boogeyman, often haunting Cloud’s mind and causing friction between Strife and the group. We revisit the cloaked figures constantly here with the whispers front and center in some pivotal scenes that lend themselves well to the moments where Rebirth attempts to drift away from the original’s story. While Sephiroth is used sparingly, his role here is nonetheless compelling in ways that most games often fumble their villain.
Cloud and gang will also traverse several large open areas, often without a single loading screen. While there is transition scenes between some land masses, most locations can be traversed from one to another without a break to load them. From the more tropical paradise in Corel to the starting plains via the Grasslands, several of these environments offer a huge area to explore. There are also not only new cities and towns to explore that were not present in OG FFVII, but those that were found in the original game are expanded upon greatly to feel like legitimate locales.
Now, I mentioned that its open world can feel pretty generic in that the objectives you are taking on can feel a tad uninspired. From climbing towers, and finding life stream crystals, to taking in a few particular combat challenges, you’ll be doing so to provide Chadley with a bevy of research data. Had this data translated into something pivotal to the main story, I’d be more inclined, but apart from granting experience, gil, and various rewards, nothing you are doing here contributes to your main quest whatsoever. In the end, so much of this feels like open-world busywork and isn’t always engaging. It’s not quite the map barf you find in most Ubisoft games, but it certainly has that air about it.
Where this becomes any sort of issues is that a few areas, such as Gongaga and Cosmo Canyon, are designed to be almost maze-like in their traversal, especially Gongaga, the home of Zack Fair. As each location is a large expansive space, you’ll rely on Chocobos to largely get around. What is different about earning your Chocobo here as opposed to the original, is that you’ll have to stealth capture one in each region. Each Chocobo has a trait for each area such as flying high off the water to being able to scale specialized walls. You can also outfit your Chocobo in different gear as you collect feathers from discovering each Chocobo stop. While there is another way to get around one particular area, I’ll leave that for you to discover as it’s pretty damn fun to use. Add in some grappling hook systems and a fairly clunky climbing system, and you start to find other ways to traverse several of these areas.
Regardless of how you traverse each location or the objectives you’ll take in, the world created here looks shockingly impressive, especially for Unreal Engine 4, an engine known for considerable pop-in in open-world games. Given the team was far more familiar with Unreal Engine 4, it makes sense they didn’t opt for building the game in Unreal Engine 5, a feat that would have delayed the game by a considerable amount. Now, all that said, there are elements of the game that don’t look good. While Remake had some bad textures here and there, Rebirth has them everywhere. Granted, the scale from Remake to Rebirth is night and day, it’s still disappointing to see Rebirth’s technical woes on display pretty frequently. Regardless, the highs outpace the lows, and a great deal of these issues can be addressed in future patches, which was the case with Remake. As there is both a quality and performance mode, I opted for performance since 60fps was just too good to pass up. Despite some graphical issues, Rebirth still looks considerably impressive.
Each area you’ll explore will have a wide range of side quests to take on apart from the open-world busywork I’ve mentioned before. You’ll also take in a ton of mini-games both in and away from the Gold Saucer. Queen’s Blood, a card game, has been making the rounds as the next big thing, was a mini-game I simply didn’t care for, especially since you are forced to play a few rounds in order to progress the story. Some mini-games also appear across the open world and are optional if you don’t mind leaving a few areas unfinished. While the original had a wealth of minigames to its own, Rebirth simply feels too overstuffed with them, making their use here far more apparent. The only bit of side content that I left unfinished across the entire game was the Chocobo flying side quest which I simply found more frustrating than fun.
Regardless of how I feel about the busy work presented across this lengthy adventure, the sheer scale of its world is nonetheless incredible, giving you numerous moments for the game to truly shine. From your return to Nibelheim to your time visiting the Gold Saucer, you’ll find several strong set pieces that invoke some amazing combat, stellar character work, and some of the best cutscenes SquareEnix has ever produced. Rebirth oozes production value and its focus on expanding its story and characters is delivered to almost near perfection.
Additional changes to Rebirth also come in the form of new Materia. While traditional favorites return, Rebirth adds new Materia and Summons to equip into the slots of your various gear. Previously, you’d have to equip multiple Materia to gain the effects of Fire and Ice; however, there are Materia that contain both Fire and Ice as well as Lighting and Wind as well. You can also benefit from debuff Materia in the form of Disempowerment and Enervation, giving you more options as you cast Debrave and Defaith, as well as Deprotect and Deshell, respectively. Rounding out the new additions are Auto-cast, Spare Change, Magic Pot, Subversion, Synergy, and more. These new additions flesh out combat more and are there to simply give you more options.
While combat in Remake was incredibly fun, it was its Yuffie DLC in Intermission that gave us a look into where Rebirth would add to it. Synergy Abilities are frankly the best part of what Rebirth offers in combat as it allows pairs of characters to engage in team-up attacks. These can be either incredibly hard-hitting or act as support skills, such as converting your ATB guage to 3 cells instead of two, to team up attacks such as Cloud launching Tifa off his sword toward their foe. One of my favorites, Sweet and Sour Salvo, is an attack by Barrett and Aerith where they both put on a pair of sunglasses as the pair strike a pose. These attacks are such a blast to pull off and given how fast your ATB gauge can fill, are attacks you’ll be doing constantly.
Synergy attacks, as well as character progression is tied to the Folio system. This is a system similar to FFX’s Sphere grid. This allows you to use skill points to move around a large skill board, unlocking more skills as you find items that extend a character’s growth. These skills range from 5-15 points, on average, as you move around and unlock skills, passive upgrades, and making boosts to your strength and health. While you could grind away to unlock nearly everything, it’s a good idea to plot out a path and find what works for you the best, especially on some of the game’s more challenging difficulty modes. It’s also worth pointing out that if you don’t use certain pairings of teammates, using those points on key skills instead of synergy attacks can benefit you.
Rounding out some of the other changes are weapon skills. Character weapons now feature abilities that are unique to each weapon. Each weapon has a lengthy list of weapon skills they contain. As you discover more weapons, you’ll add to that library of moves. As you use a particular weapon for a while, you’ll level it up and add that ability to that character permanently, regardless of having that weapon equipped or not. I also found that each character had a healthy selection of weapons to keep you constantly upgrading and having something new and flashy to swing, punch, or slash with.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is often incredible and a top-tier experience in so many ways; however, some of its reliance on padding the experience with its open world and reliance on far too many mini-games, doesn’t always pay off. Sure, it’s great to explore these expansive areas, but it's the character moments that will last with you for far longer than any objective you’ll find in these locations. That said, the presentation and execution of the whole package is nonetheless stunning and continues the story toward its eventual conclusion, a legacy that continues to be retold.
Developer - Square Enix Business Unit 1 Publisher - Square Enix. Released - February 29th, 2024. Available On - PS5. Rated - (T) Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence. Platform Reviewed - PS5. Review Access - Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth was purchased for review.
Jeff is the original founder of Analog Stick Gaming. His favorite games include The Witcher III, the Mass Effect Trilogy, Hi-Fi Rush, Hellbade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and the Legend of Heroes series, especially Trails of Cold Steel III & IV.