Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review – A First Class Second Act

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PlayStation 5

It’s laborious to correctly assessment Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and never simply because it’s the type of AAA launch most individuals already know will maintain a sure degree of high quality.

To make certain, it’s an incredible sport. It appears to be like and performs like a top-of-the-line providing meant for current-gen {hardware}, and it might effortlessly suck you into its story, gameplay, and general expertise for dozens of hours on finish.

But past that, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is such a lovingly crafted sport that it’s unimaginable to not get sucked into the eagerness that exudes from its each pore. The group at Square Enix wished to ship a second act of their Final Fantasy VII Remake sequence that raised the bar even additional than the place the primary sport set it, and in nearly each regard, they succeeded.

The Price of Defying Fate

For starters, the sport doesn’t skimp on its narrative presentation. Picking up shortly after the top of FFVII Remake, it sees Cloud and the gang in scorching pursuit of Sephiroth as they discover the surface world. While it may not actively be beneath the shadow of Shinra and its malevolent overlords, it’s nonetheless loads harmful; particularly when Cloud’s deteriorating psychological state begins to rear its head due to Sephiroth’s affect.

Simultaneously, a completely new plot performs out from Zack Fair’s perspective. Having survived his fateful confrontation with the Shinra forces that pursued him and Cloud, he returns to Midgar to search out Aerith in important situation and the remainder of the get together presumed lifeless after their confrontation with the Whispers on the outskirts of the town. Not solely that, however a large rift has opened above the town, ominously silent all through all of the chaos under.

Both these storylines interwine as the sport progresses and drive it additional in direction of its standing as a reimagining as a substitute of a straight Remake. It’s to the sport’s profit, and helps it stand other than FFVII Remake as a worthwhile story to expertise in its personal proper. I used to be simply as enraptured by the tried and true scenes tailored from the unique sport as I used to be by the brand new parts, and was absolutely reeled in because the plot moved towards its crescendo.

The presentation solely helped additional the immersion. On the visuals entrance, the sport is as gorgeous as its predecessor, after which some. Both the characters and the broader world pop with hyper-realistic magnificence, and each given second is a deal with for the eyes.

In phrases of audio, there’s simply as a lot to take pleasure in. Every member of the voice forged provides it their all with heartfelt and impactful performances. The music accents the whole lot from the action-packed cutscenes to the extra serene exploration segments completely, and the sound design of explosive spells, clashing swords, and bestial roars helps to maintain gamers enthralled by the expertise all of the extra.

Combat Fit for a SOLDIER

But then, the true star of the present is the gameplay.

While many of the central mechanics are largely untouched from FF VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth does tweak and refine them in order that they’re simpler than ever to make use of. Players can tweak their get together structure at will and save presets to attenuate time swapping out configurations, and the appliance of Skill Points is now executed by way of a way more streamlined and easy-to-read sphere grid.

And all that’s on prime of current options. You have the flexibility to swap between get together members free of charge management on the battlefield, and Materia is a breeze to equip, mix, and make the most of throughout the various characters you possibly can convey into battle. The gameplay can also be nonetheless a mix of turn-based and motion too, so there’s no want to fret a few lack of depth or engagement.

At the identical time although, there are many new bells and whistles that make the expertise that rather more enthralling. Key amongst them are the brand new Synergy Abilities in fight, which play off of the ATB gauge and the utilization of a number of get together members. For each spell, offensive capacity, and method you spend ATB costs with, you acquire factors towards a Synergy Ability that can be utilized in opposition to foes for enormous injury; and, in some instances, a brief buff to your character.

The solely catch is that each characters have to fulfill the Synergy Point necessities, which motivates you to modify throughout a number of characters throughout a battle as a substitute of sticking to 1 or two.

It’s a intelligent design alternative, and it really works completely with the prevailing programs. I spent loads of time rigorously swapping between get together members till I used to be able to unleash a Synergy capacity in opposition to my opponent, and reveled within the bombastic methods that have been on par with the equally flashy Summons.

Variety Is the Spice of Life

And all of that’s simply the fight of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Outside of battles, there are an absurd variety of mini video games to participate in each for the principle story and as enjoyable distractions on the aspect, and I do imply absurd. There are capturing galleries, flight challenges, rhythm video games, Chocobo races, and a completely fleshed-out card sport often known as Queen’s Blood that even has its personal substory which performs out completely within the background of the broader plot. And that’s simply to call a couple of.

The wildest a part of all, although, is that the majority of them are a blast to play. Each one feels absolutely fleshed out in a means that made me need to return to them many times, and I’d spent much more time than I wanted to delving into every one to see the total breadth of what it supplied.

An Open World of Repetition

The solely criticism I can really maintain in opposition to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is that its open world design feels padded early on.

Whereas FFVII Remake had a number of open-ended sandboxes for gamers to discover by way of the totally different sectors of Midgar, the sequel has totally different areas that are interconnected by way of an honest-to-goodness world ripe for exploration.

While there could also be dozens of actions to hold out inside a handful of various areas — and every has loads of smaller locales to find off the crushed path — most of these within the first few areas revolve round a choose few mini video games or scavenger hunts which might be copy-pasted throughout each area. It doesn’t take lengthy for them to turn into repetitive, and I’d be mendacity if I mentioned I didn’t forgo many of the ones that weren’t completely essential to my development.

Which is a disgrace, as a result of there are some genuinely good examples of open world aspect content material hidden amongst these dangerous apples. For each Ubisoft-style tower I needed to climb to light up factors of curiosity on the map, there have been aspect quests with whimsical premises like sentient Fort Condor items who wanted my assist to avoid wasting their commander. Each similar rhythm sport supplied by Life Stream Crystals was matched by particular battles with distinctive variants of a area’s fiends, and led to difficult duels with rarer mini bosses.  

The sport does throw some much-needed twists into this formulation within the later areas, so it’s a minimum of not a difficulty that persists long-term. Still, although, it’s unlucky that the sport makes such a nasty first impression with what gamers can count on from the content material of its bigger settings.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is, for all intents and functions, an exceptional second act within the Remake sequence. Though it’s open world design isn’t good, the sport is finely honed in each different space and offers as luxurious of an expertise as FF VII Remake did. It’s properly value a search for new and outdated followers alike, and is bound to maintain everybody occupied whereas we watch for the conclusion to this reinvented epic.