Four years after the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake and over 26 years following the original’s debuted, the most expansive realization of the epic journey of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, and friends to heal the planet and stop Sephiroth has finally arrived. In many ways, Remake had it easy. It just had to turn the first 5 hours or so of the game into something modern and exciting. Rebirth, however has a far more daunting road ahead of it. It had to adapt some of the most iconic moments in all of gaming. Read on to find out if Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was able to build on the strong foundation from Remake or if it crumpled under the weight of seemingly insurmountable expectations.

The Good

Combat

The combat in both Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth strikes the perfect balance between more active modern RPG combat and the turn-based approach of the original. Whereas combat in Final Fantasy XVI felt more like button mashing while you waited for the cooldown to your powers to run out, you are constantly strategizing here making battles all the more meaningful and grand. You are figuring out how to exploit weaknesses to pressure and stagger your opponents for colossal damage, and the newly revamped Synergy Abilities and Synergy Skills make sure you are using your entire party throughout to pull off the spectacular combos they have together. In the end, I found myself mainly relying on a party of Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie for the most fun, fast, and powerful squad around. With all the amazing weapons and materia out there, nothing is quite as satisfying as punching a monster with Tifa.

Discovering the World

Pretty much every Open World game has a fairly massive logical leap for players to make. How do you justify putting off saving the world by screwing around and doing a ton of side quests instead of making a beeline for the big bad? Early on, I felt this friction, but as things progressed, it completely slipped my mind. At its heart, Final Fantasy VII is a story about saving the environment. Roaming around the open world with your merry band of eco-terrorists actually seems natural here. You are learning about the world you are trying to rescue and what makes it tick. Additionally, the interactions with your party as you explore the vast world bestows such a vast swath of fun and color to things, that I think skipping out on it and mainlining the main story would have seriously negatively impacted my feelings on the game. Most of all, though, I love that I felt like I had a full journey. As the point of no return approached, I started doing clean-up on side quests and open world activities. With just a scant few to go, I felt that the timing was right to move on and finish the story. I had had the adventure I came for.

Yuffie Kisaragi

I loved the missable materia hunting ninja in the original, and I was thrilled to see her get the star treatment in Rebirth. Fairly early on she becomes a main character and is fleshed out so much more than history would have suggested. Her actress is clearly having a blast with what I have heard described as “big theater kid energy”, and she brings some real joy to all interactions. Plus, her shuriken throwing combat is not only extremely fun but also incredibly powerful thanks to being able to charge her attacks with any of the main elements, which led to her being a mainstay of my party the rest of the game.

The Gold Saucer

As a 12 year old, I though the Gold Saucer was the coolest thing I had ever seen in a video game, and I was fully prepared to harshly judge the remade version if it did not live up to the seemingly unattainable heights of my childhood. I am pleased to report, that from the moment you are first introduced to the Gold Saucer all the way until the big date, this game absolutely nails the look, feel, and joy of it all. Most noticeably, there is a little mix of Harry Potter magic with the spectacle of its presentation, and the mini-games are a substantial improvement over their predecessors making it a place you’ll find yourself coming back to just for fun even when the story does not require it. Areas that seemed lackluster from the original like the Ghost Square hotel now have a ton of charm and wonder to offer. Also, all the great prizes you can unlock sure don’t hurt.

Queen’s Blood

It pains me to say that my beloved Triple Triad from Final Fantasy VIII has been overthrown as the best card game in the series (and really mini-game of any type). The game itself is a clever mix of Triple Triad and Marvel Snap that stays fresh throughout the 30+ opponents scattered around the world. Early on, the meta is all about controlling territory as quickly as possible, but every few ranks new mechanics like empowering, enfeebling, destroying, and replacing cards turn it on its head and force you to completely abandon your strategy and mainstays of your deck to stay afloat. The final opponent was one of the most insane battles in the entire game and really rewarded me with the sense that I now was a “Blood Champion”. Just when I thought I was done hearing the sweet sax riffs that play during a match, I discovered there were even more fun puzzles to be found in Costa del Sol and the Gold Saucer making this a seemingly endless hobby that I hope finds its way into a standalone game some day.

An Iterative Approach

It is easy to dismiss the decision to pull a Hobbit on FFVII as nothing more than a cynical cash grab. However, after playing Rebirth, I am so glad they did this. While it would be nice to not have to wait 4 years in between games, the second entry feels like a major step up from the first. It’s like they took Remake to figure out the characters and combat. With those down, they really nailed side quests, mini-games, and the open world in the sequel and delivered something of unimaginably large scope. I can’t wait to see the lessons learned and improvements made in the finale. My only concern, though, is that if I ever go back to play Remake I won’t see it nearly as fondly as I did on my initial playthrough because I know how much better it could be now.

Side Quests

As much as I loved Remake, I will be the first to admit that the Side Quests left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, Rebirth significantly revamps them. There is a ton more variety here, and I found myself wanting to do them all as opposed to begrudgingly getting them all done for the sake of being a completionist. Even on the rare occasions when they devolve into simple fetch or kill quests there is always a considerable enough character moment payoff to make them worth it, and they play a massive role overall as they can swing the other characters’ affinity for you greatly and determine who you get to take on the fabled Gold Saucer date.

Commitment to the Bit on Mini-Games

Perhaps the strangest criticism I have seen about Rebirth is that it has far too many unskippable mini-games. Clearly, these people complaining are forgetting that the Final Fantasy VII is nothing but absurd one-time mini-games (chronicled and ranked here). The developers could have easily pulled back on the mini-games for a more contemporary approach, but they leaned hard into them and the results are a clear step up from the original and things I would be glad to revisit at the Gold Saucer many times over. Here’s hoping the next one nails snowboarding and submarine battles.

Flow

A common criticism of Remake was that it was just a collection of corridors. While there are plenty of corridors to fight through here, they do a great job of mixing those dungeon crawling segments in with the sprawling open world, so you never get too tired of what you’re doing.

Music

Ok, calling out the music for being fantastic in a Final Fantasy game is the least hot take you could have, but it still amazes me how well they have playfully remixed the classics from the source material. You haven’t lived until you have listened to a dubstep inspired take on the Chocobo theme while touring the Grasslands. Also, in case you are wondering, I did write this while listening to various versions of the soundtrack.

Moody Album Covers

One of my favorite runnings personal gags in Final Fantasy VII Remake was that anytime you faced the camera and went to take a picture, you would get a result that looked like a moody album cover. Thankfully, the angsty experimental rock covers remain.

Your Party

I would die for any of the members of my squad in Rebirth. They are all so incredibly expanded out and have plenty of moments to shine in various side quests or in areas where you actually get to briefly control them as your main character. Part of what was missing from Final Fantasy XVI was really feeling like you had control of your party and that they mattered. Here, they are just as important if not more so than Cloud, and they are what makes the original and its remakes all-time greats.

Seeing the Locations Anew

Let me just copy and paste this from my review of Remake because it still 100 percent stands. Being able to see a fully realized version of the pre-rendered backgrounds I adored as a kid never ceased to amaze me throughout my nearly 100 hours in the game. Every location is so lovingly crafted and managed to make the filling in the blanks my pre-teen brain did into an actual graphical reality.

Returning Friends from Remake

I definitely regret not replaying Remake prior to starting Rebirth, but I loved seeing my old friends from Midgar out exploring Gaia with me even if I occasionally needed a refresher as to who they are. I was also delighted to see so much screen time given to standouts like Johnny and Kyrie.

Being Weird and Silly

The first game features a slap battle on top of a giant cannon. It is incredibly weird and silly. The team behind the remakes could have easily gone for something more gritty, but they kept the true heart and soul of the best Final Fantasy offerings present by not shying away from humor and absurdity. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Queen’s Blood match to play against a dog.

Cloud as Various Animals

Cloud as a Moggle or little hoppy frog with his buster sword amused me endlessly. Once again, weird and silly is the way to go.

Chadley

My hottest take in this review is that Chadley is good, actually! I will admit that I found Hojo’s scholarly cyborg to be pretty unnerving and annoying in Remake, but, against all odds, I liked him a lot here even if he did occasionally scare me when he suddenly started talking through the speaker in the PS5 controller.

Chocobos

Chocobos are a core element of any Final Fantasy game to me, and Rebirth treats its feathery friends with the utmost respect. Mandatory stealth sections are usually annoying, but I found myself enjoying the silly capturing of each region’s unique variant. Once you have them, their unique traversal abilities including climbing mountains, gliding, bouncing off giant mushrooms, and riding waterspouts add a lot of personality and variety to each of the game’s enormous regions. Had their awesomeness merely stopped here, they still would have had a well deserved spot in the “Good” section, but the extremely addictive Mario Kart-esque Chocobo Racing in the Gold Saucer elevates this to perhaps the best we have ever seen Chocobos in the entire series. Now if only the finale includes overly obtuse breeding that culminates in getting the Knights of the Round Materia, I will be as content as a fat chocobo.

Dogs and Cats

Escort missions can be among the most annoying types of side quests in games like this, but when you’re escorting an adorable doggo or kitty you don’t mind it. The absurdity and joy inherent in so much of the game was at its most obvious and wonderful during these times that I can almost forgive the developers for not just letting me constantly pet the animals.

Realizing Why I Pick the Greatsword in Any Game that Lets Me

Somehow it only occurred to me while playing this game that the reason I without fail always start a strength based character with a giant sword in games like Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Monster Hunter is because I have been chasing the high of running around as Cloud with his Buster Sword since 1997. There’s still nothing quite like it over 25 years later.

Confirmation of my Taste in Video Game Women

I have previously written about how my preferences in the love triangle have evolved over the past two and a half decades. Going in to Rebirth, I was actually more nervous about who I would get for the big Gold Saucer date than I was about the fate of any of the main characters. So, I was relieved when the knock on my door turned out to be from Tifa, confirming that no matter the era of gaming, this suspender-enthusiast brawler is the one for me.

Impact on the Original

One of the major concerns about remakes is that they will somehow sully the legacy of their inspiration. What I think makes Rebirth a truly successful attempt is that if anything it elevates Final Fantasy VII as a whole in my eyes. It fills in some gaps and adds some color that previously was left to my imagination. It makes me want to go back and replay it again with new eyes and see how much more it shines.

The Big Moment

Don’t worry, I won’t spoil the ending that everyone has been wondering how the remakes would handle for years now. The big moment in the original game was so shocking and really shaped my view on video games and cemented FFVII as an all-timer for me. This team was in a no-win situation as to how they could handle it, and it seems nearly every major online video game site has had some variation of a post about how they messed it up. Is the end result a little confusing and overly convoluted? Yes, but it felt fresh and impactful and made me want even more of this remake series. It provided me with hope for a grand finale fitting of its legacy.

The Mixed Bag

Balancing Tifa and Aerith

It definitely felt like Remake was Aerith’s game, but Rebirth can’t quite decide how to balance the last of the Ancients and the girl next door. The first half of the game is clearly Tifa’s time to shine, and Aerith often comes across as an afterthought outside of side quests. In the second half, however, there is a massive swing in the opposite direction, which, given the well known story makes sense. Still, I wish they had found a more consistent flow between the two characters, so they could have felt equally impactful throughout.

Lighting

There are times that the lighting in this game is among the most beautiful I have ever seen. There are other times that it make the characters faces look weirdly dull or just takes 2 seconds to transition from dark to light when you enter a new area. It seems like maybe the decision to keep this on Unreal Engine 4 and not upgrade to 5 maybe cost it a little bit, but for the most part, this is among the prettiest games ever and a clear step up from the PS4 version of Remake.

Playing the Piano

Now here’s an entry that could land in any of the sections of this review. Perhaps the most elaborate and difficult of the mini-games is playing the piano. It actually is a blast to be able to sit down and play this joystick rhythm game with some of our favorite tunes, but the difficulty is far too steep making it almost impossible to get the “A” rankings required to get rewards and advance. I gather that it is kind of a mess for people who know the piano. Still, there are some truly incredible moments like playing Aerith’s Theme in Nibelheim that stand out. My feelings on this have alternated wildly and have currently swung over to loving it after finally achieving those difficult “A” rankings and the related trophy while revisiting it to get a picture from this post.

Leveling Up/Upgrading

It feels like the developers attempted to streamline things from Remake by doing away with complicated upgrades for each weapon and instead having an overall Weapon Level and Folios to unlock with skill trees. It’s all a little confusing at first (especially since both your party level and weapon level, which may be different, matter). Additionally, leveling up starts far too slowly for the first few chapters and does not really start to seem like it kicks into gear until the latter half of the game. With that being said, there are some good options to choose from allowing you to still customize your characters and weapons to your liking. I do also like that it seems reaching the highest level requires a playthrough on hard mode. Getting to fully unlock the potential of my characters is plenty of motivation to keep me invested after finishing the main game.

The Bad

This Menu

You should really try not to lose in the midst of a series of connected battles in this game because the riddles posed to you as to where you would like to restart from may cause your brain to melt. I must admit that after a whiskey in the midst of the final battle, I may have selected the wrong option and been forced to redo 4 earlier segments. At least the combat and bosses are so fun that i still ended up enjoying myself.

Controlling Cait Sith

While I truly love that every character has their moment in the spotlight where you control them and they really get a chance to shine, I have to say that Cait Sith’s big star turn falls quite flat. Sure, it is amusing controlling the Scottish robot cat sitting atop a giant stuffed Moggle, but he moves far too slowly and the controls for the box throwing that you have to do are painful. This is unapologetically the Final Fantasy XV Chapter 13 component of the game, but, mercifully, it only lasts 15 or so minutes.

The Verdict

2024 has its first masterpiece. This was the perfect middle chapter for the Final Fantasy VII saga. I loved every minute I was immersed in the world, and I cannot wait to see how they close it all out. The improvements made over its predecessor clearly show a team that both reveres the source material and is not afraid to learn from their mistakes and make adjustments. I am thankful that this exists and has given me an opportunity for an even deeper experience of one of my favorite games of all-time. Frequently, I found myself in awe of the strong sensations of joy I noticed from getting to see everything anew. It is no easy task adapting from something so influential and universally acclaimed, but the developers behind Rebirth seem to have found the delicate balance of honoring the original and creating something wholly their own. It is a world I do not imagine myself leaving anytime soon despite all the other games out there.