REVIEW: Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth — More Of The Good Stuff

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is the second installment in the Remake trilogy of the original game. The first game in the series was released for the Playstation 4 in 2020 with an enhanced edition coming to the Playstation 5 along with the DLC – Final Fantasy VII Remake – Intergrade in 2021. Final Fantasy VII – Remake was released at a time before the Playstation 5 was released, and I called the game as a swan song for the Playstation 4.  Now, 4 years after, Cloud and the rest of the gang to continue on their adventure through the Planet.

STORY

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth follows the events right after their confrontation with Sephiroth in Remake. After the collapse of sector 7, Cloud with his party began their journey through the Planet to stop the plan of the Shinra Electric Company and hunt down Sephiroth. Rebirth gives a glimpse of how Sephiroth came to be in the first chapter of the game. In the first minutes of the game, Rebirth also introduced another integral character to the series, Zack Faire, who happens to be Aerith’s first love. His introduction may cause a bit of confusion as he is from a different timeline. In his timeline, he finds the members of Avalanche collapse and captured but through the sacrifice of Red XIII, he was able to save Aerith and Cloud. Right after this event, the game switches back to the main timeline showing Avalance in a hotel in the town of Kalm talking about the early days of Cloud and Tifa and their relationship with Sephiroth.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth’s story is told in 14 chapters.  With a party consisting of many characters, there’ a tendency that some characters who come off as an afterthought, however, Rebirth delved into each character’s backstory and their relationships throughout the main storyline. As someone who’s not been able to finish the original Final Fantasy VII, I find Barret’s backstory notable having learned about the heartbreaking origin of his gun-arm and Marlene.

You  do not need to play Final Fantasy VII: Remake or Intergrade to understand Rebirth’s plot. The game has appropriate flashback’s to explain certain plot holes that you may have missed and the game also has a “Story So Far” in the start menu to keep you up to speed.

GAMEPLAY

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth gameplay is an action-role playing game with the ability to switch between characters and command the entire party.  The game has incorporated the Synergized mechanic, first introduced in Final Fantasy VII: Remake – Intergrade.  Synergized is divided into two, Synergy skills – a free action that could be either an offensive or defensive/counter move between two members and Synergy Ability – a limit break-like mechanic that after filling enough ATB (Active Time Battle) bars allows you to execute a powerful combo.

Rebirth has an increased difficulty which could be a learning curve for some players. Button mashing would no longer get you by, you now need to assess each opponent’s weakness to pressure and stagger them. Pay attention to the early combat in the game and with enough battles you’ll eventually get the hang of it.

As your party levels up, you gain not only experience but also skill points (SP). You spend your SP through the game’s Folio system,  a series of interconnected nodes that unlocks your character’s abilities, synergy skills, and a stat boost.

Rebirth is also an open world game as opposed to Remake’s linear progression. Each of the game’s different regions are explorable with different areas of interest. Similar to other open world games like Horizon Zero Dawn or Assassin’s Creed, Rebirth has it’s own Remnawave Tower that Cloud needs to scale in order for Chadley to locate other areas of interest in the region. Areas of interest vary from Fiend Intel – combat assignments against fiends unique to the region, Lifespring – intel revealing the region’s lore, Sanctuaries – temple like locations for Summoned Materia, Protorelic – a series of sidequests to the game’s secret boss, Classified Intel – the region’s secret boss, Excavation Intel – a treasure hunt that lets your Chocobo dig Transmuter Chips that is necessary for transmuting different items, and Moogle Intel- a minigame that asks you to round up different Moogles and upon completion unlocks the Moogle Emporium that allows you to trade for various items and folios.

As you progress throughout the game, these areas of interest tend to be repetitive and somewhat becomes a chore, which is normal to open-world games. A necessary task to complete the game. I would like to think of these as a break from the main storyline and it also serves as a grind to gain experience and level up your characters.

Since Rebirth is now open world,  you’ll spend most of the time exploring and helping you traverse the game’s vast regions is your ever trusted Chocobo.  Each region in the game has a specific Chocobo that you can also customize. In the game, there are scattered Chocobo stops that let’s you rest and regain your HP and MP and also gain Golden Plumes – the currency needed to customize your Chocobo.

VISUALS & PERFORMANCE

In my review for Final Fantasy VII: Remake,  I mentioned that it was among the most beautiful game to come out for the console. Being a Playstation exclusive, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth maximizes the consoles visual capabilities. It is still a visual spectacle and looks like your playing though a cut scene. Characters are life like and the special/battle effects makes each encounter feel grand and executing a synergy ability gives a satisfying feeling.  The moment you step out of Kalm and venture into the world has a breathtaking feel. Aerith even puts it as a beauty she has never seen before.

The game’s vast map showcases the difference between regions from the glitz and glamour of the Gold Saucer, to the scorching desert wasteland of the Dustbowl, and the luscious forest of the Gongaga region.  Each games region is highly detailed that makes it photo-mode worthy. However, do not expect too much from photo mode as it is limited to point and shoot. You are unable to change the party’s poses or expression. A missed opportunity as the game has a beautiful backdrop.

A new option added to Rebirth is the option to play either through Performance  mode – a less detailed but with higher framerate at 60fps or Graphics mode – offers the detailed and best possible graphics running at 30fps.  Having not being able to distinctly tell the difference, I chose the Graphics mode for this playthrough. Either way, you may select the mode that best suites your preference.

VERDICT

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth builds up on what Remake had established. The game utilizes the Playstation 5’s capabilities in creating a grander and expanded open world experience. The inclusion of the synergy mechanic improves the combat experience by being tactical and not a mere button mashing game. Executing the right moves gives a satisfying feeling when staggering an enemy. Rebirth is still among the most beautiful game to come out for the console and shows how far technology has gone since 1997. Though the game falls into the trap of being repetitive as an open-world game, it is a welcome trade-off to tell the story of Cloud and everyone as they go on and save their dying world. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth reimagines how the game should have been released, something that fans of the original game and this generation would appreciate.

We were also fortunate to be invited to the game’s official launch at the Gold Saucer installation in SM North Edsa The Block. During the event we had the opportunity to meet one of the Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth directors, Mr. Naoki Hamaguchi. Mr. Hamaguchi was gracious to meet every fan who came to the event and signed an item of their choice. We had him sign a digital signature on the screenshot of the scene where his name appears in the game. It is definitely a memorable experience and we would like to thank the gracious team of Bandai Namco and Square Enix for the opportunity. We are looking forward to future game launches in the country.