Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | REVIEW

"Everything I could have wanted from a remake of the PS1 original Masterpiece!" 

HOW I PLAYED: I purchased the digital deluxe edition for PS5 and exclusively played on performance mode the entire game.

STORY — 17/20

The Intro to the story in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth picks up right after the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake. The Intro does a great job of getting us back into the atmosphere of the game and updates us on where our characters are at while showing us some new events that are occurring at the same time. 

Cutscenes in this game look amazing, seemingly transitioning from pre-rendered movies to in-game rendered cutscenes just like in PS1 days. The main group Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret & Red XIII all have exceptional story moments that build on their characters in this story.

World Building in FF7 Rebirth is amazing, building out story and lore on areas in the game that previously just had surface-level information. Just like Remake, each place you visit in the game is rich with memorable landmarks that are brought up to today's standards as well as building out far more World Building in each area. 

Overall Story of FF7 Rebirth follows the original PS1 game to the T but has some unique twists and additions that may not agree with all OG fans, but I felt were welcomed and added to the story as a whole. 

GRAPHICS — 19/20

Character Models look stunning in FF7 Rebirth. It is truly amazing how far we have come since the PS1 days when we thought nothing could get better than the pre-rendered FMVs of these characters. Fast forward today where the in-game rendered character models are on par with the FF7 Advent Children fully CG movie of 2006. The artists at Square-Enix did an incredible job bringing our favorite characters to life.

Environments in Rebirth look great and are eye-catching. The game being built in Unreal Engine 4 does show at times the weird texture quality issues on background elements like rocks and some walls. But it was never so bad that it truly stood out during gameplay. Digital Foundry did a great video showcasing how while playing the game in Performance mode you did take quite a dip in visual fidelity. But this game needs to be played at 60fps so I could not justify going to Cinematic mode and playing at 30fps in 2024. 

The contrast in environments between FF7 Rebirth and 2023's FF16 is pretty stark. The environments in FF16 are a huge leap compared to FF7 Rebirth and that is likely due to FF16 being built in a proprietary game engine vs Unreal Engine 4. But that doesn't mean that the environments in FF7 Rebirth are bad. They still achieve what they need to and have their moments of stunning the player at times.

Special FX in FF7 Rebirth is where the game shines, all our favorite Materia spells are there in full glory and the action moments in this game truly impress. It showcases what the PS5 is capable of and you can tell Square-Enix put a lot of focus on the combat and effects in this game vs FF7 Remake.

Animations in Rebirth are all fluent and look very natural. There are lots of dynamics between the different characters as they each have their play styles and animations. All of the cutscene moments were very thought out and each character did an incredible job displaying their emotions through their facial and body animations. Many times I felt like I was watching real characters as opposed to hyper exaggerated anime esc types that they are. 

AUDIO — 20/20

The ambiance in this game sets the mood for each area in FF7 Rebirth. The open-field music was fun and engaging and helped drive me forward in the game's story. 

Boss Music was EXACTLY what fans want, a lot of the music is re-done from the original and the original PS1 game's composers signed on to redo these classics. I love that when a remake does the original music justice and enhances it with modern recording standards and orchestras. Each boss track got me truly amped up to take on the challenge and had an emotional impact on me as a player as it rehashed all the feelings I had as a young gamer playing the original.

Sound Design is top-notch in FF7 Rebirth, being a PS5 exclusive it was no surprise that Square-Enix went all out in sound design for the Pulse3D headset. The voice acting as well performed by every actor, standouts for me were Britt Baron (Tifa) and John Eric Bentley (Barret).

The variety in the music and ambient sounds was excellent. I never once felt fatigued or like I could notice any of the tracks repeating. All of the original music was re-done and it was a fantastic experience getting to hear these enhanced tracks sounding just as I remembered them. There was some new music composed for Rebirth and all of it seamlessly fit with the original music and nothing felt out of place. Sometimes when games get remade, new music is added and it completely takes you out of the original game's atmosphere or mood. This does not happen in FF7 Rebirth and I commend Square-Enix for this. 

GAMEPLAY — 34/40

Controls in FF7 Rebirth have been improved from feedback of FF7 Remake. World Traversal feels better and combat has been improved. Where in FF7 Remake Air combat was always a hassle for characters who did not have ranged attacks, it has been massively improved so no characters on your team have a disadvantage for aerial combat.

Mechanics are all improved upon vs FF7 Remake. I LOVED the new Synergy Skills & Abilities. It made the teamwork aspect of your chosen squad stand out. The Stagger and damage systems felt improved and a lot more joyful to play. I also really appreciated respawning enemies in the open world, so if you are the type that wants to grind XP for your characters you can do so.

Pacing in FF7 Rebirth does drag at times, I can feel the "padding" at times. But thankfully those parts are few and far between. I was happy that a lot of the side content is 100% optional and does not contain any Super OP Game Breaking items that are "Must Haves". You can get full enjoyment of this game by just playing the main story missions, or if you are a completionist who wants a 100+ hour experience, there are MANY side quests and mini-games to keep you engaged in this game. 

UI/UE in Rebirth is similar to FF7 Remake with some refinements. A lot of FF7 Rebirth is "FF7 Remake... but better". I felt like navigating menu items and starting menu items was made more fluent with shortcuts. And I didn't feel like anything was cumbersome. I also appreciate the balance between minimalist and informative.

 

Boss Quality In FF7 Rebirth is great. I do wish they were spaced out a little more evenly as I felt the ladder half of the game was almost in "Boss Rush" territory. But all of the favorites were there and each boss had its unique mechanic that the player had to solve. But I did enjoy each boss battle and felt they were engaging and a test of my skill at that moment in the game.

Gameplay Variety is the next level in FF7 Rebirth. The in-game card game Queen's Blood is a favorite amongst RPG fans. Many players would 100% want a full game of just Queen's Blood matches. There are also many mini-games throughout the game's open world along with the many mini-games in the Golden Saucer. What I love is most of this is 100% optional to fit your play type. So if you are finding you are getting fatigued from going from battle to battle, you can do some side quests and play Queen's Blood play the Fort Condor strategy game, or even jam out on the Piano. You can see the immense amount of work Square-Enix put into these mini-games. 

Replayability is really good in FF7 Rebirth, there is a lot of post-game content in NG+ where you can replay chapters and work your way to 100% completion. Or you can play out certain events in the game with different companions using the game's relationship mechanic. 

BONUS — 1/3

Stability On Launch - it is embarrassing that in 2024 we should celebrate when a game launches as expected and has 0 game breaking issues. We need to break this trend of releasing games half-baked and barely functional. FF7 Rebirth has a massive amount of polish and I never once felt like I was playing an Unreal Engine 4 title when I was... 

OVERALL — 91/100

INCREDIBLE

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth was everything I could have wanted from a remake of the PS1 original Masterpiece! When the end credits rolled I was overwhelmed with feelings I had not had since I played the original 25 years ago (coughs in old man). This is truly a love letter to the original game and I 100%  recommend any fan to play this incredible game. The only bad part about FF7 Rebirth is the fact we have to wait 3 years for the final installment...

Pick up Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth HERE - FF7 Rebirth PS5

Check out my video review HERE