Blair Loveday
Final Fantasy VII remaster was a fantastic example of how to remake a game.
It was in every way a brand new game with awesome new mechanics, but they were built on and had references to the original in a way that truly honoured the gameplay. The only issue, it was only a third of the game and by the end I was craving the next chapter.
Well now the next chapter is here, and it was worth the wait.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth kicks off with chaos. The team leaves Midgar and then we get a big flashback to Clouds history with Sephiroth. If you have played the original game, it’s one of the two most iconic polygonal images from that game. If you haven’t and still aren’t sure about the game, you can check it out in the demo. This scene has been added to, and made it so much darker and so much more brutal.
Then we are back with the gang having gotten out of Midgar with Shinra forces on their tale. After the team leaves the town of Kalm, and we get to see Aerith seeing the open world for the first time. A scene plays out where she gets to see what the world outside is like and what the life under the plates in Midgar were. It’s bloody delightful.
Speaking of the open world, this has been cleverly done.
This is the same point in the original where the world is opened up, albeit this time it’s after one amazing game, as opposed to two hours in. The world is broken up into a bunch of massive open areas. Not dissimilar to the way it was done in FFXV, except this time they are way bigger, and way more interesting.
It has managed to balance a nice open area with heaps to do and explore, without it being bland. Exploring was way too easy to get distracted, and I mean that in the best possible ways.
But exploring and having fun is only half the battle, the other half being… battles.
The gameplay is pretty similar to FF7 Remake.
You choose your party of three to go into battle, and you can focus on using one to fight with while the others auto-battle, or you can control more of what your companions do.
You can easily strip through your MP with enemies out in the wild, but fortunately you get to unlock a heap of cool abilities for your characters to enhance that makes this less of an issue.
The biggest challenge is you have so many party members to choose from now. Don’t sleep on Yuffie though. My least favourite character in the original is easily my favourite now.
Then there are the mini-games. So many mini-games.
The original had us go to the gold saucer where there were a selection of mini games. We have this again which I won’t spoil, but they don’t include the best mini-games on offer.
The best one which you get access to early is the card game. From my first play, I just wanted to play hours of it. The first hand is awkward, but it’s super easy to get your head around, and so much fun.
Oh and the game is gorgeous.
The massive scenes, stunning cut scenes, and a soundtrack that just absolutely slaps. Time and time again I was just enamoured by the excellent takes on classic tunes, especially as you are running on a Chocobo or just exploring the open world. Voice acting can vary from the excellent to the, incredibly average. But it never gets too bad.
I mean, it’s tough to go too much into it without spoilers. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a banger. The end leaves you hanging out for game number three, but as far as trilogies go, this is a damn good game two.
You will get to know and love the cast so much more, and totally ready for the last game. Can I have it now please?
Released: March 2024
Rating: M15+
Platforms reviewed: PlayStation 5
Genre: RPG
Developer: Creative Business Unit
Publisher: Square Enix