Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review: A Worthy Next Chapter 

Hot off the ending of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade (see reviews here: Remake Intergrade), we see that the next stage of the story comes to life in the second part of the trilogy, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. And boy, do we have much to discuss for this game. 

 

The Story continues from where we left off with the party escaping Midgar and exploring the planet of Gaia, going through iconic places such as the Junon region, the Coral region, and all the way up to the Nibel region. While they make new enemies such as the Turks and SHINRA, they also make new friends such as Yuffie, Cait Sith, Cid, and Vincent. While the latter two aren't playable in this game, they do have a presence that helps out from their parts of the story. I have always loved the fact that there is an interconnected world that only modern systems can handle. It makes what we saw in the original PS1 game come to life with the power of the PS5.

 

The Gameplay for the game is incredible. Showcasing an open world filled with secrets, monsters, and even missions that help you earn more swag that will assist you on your journey. We see that the open world is very easy to traverse in multiple ways including on foot, on Chocobo back, and even on other modes of transportation that I can't say because that would be a spoiler.

 

Like all high-budget games, the audio and visuals are at their peak as we see the lands come to life. The soundtrack of this game is superb, as usual for a Final Fantasy game, showcasing a mix of remakes of classic tracks from the original FF7, to new tracks that help elevate the game’s story. There are also the sounds I want to talk about, showcasing the sounds of nature, the characters' dialogue with one another, and even the sounds of combat that are present within the game. These sounds make me feel immersed in the game to the point where at times, I feel like I was there.

 

Like all JRPGs, the Combat system is a make-or-break point, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth knows what to do with its fight system. Taking the elements from Remake Intergrade and expanding upon them with new skills, new upgrades, and new characters such as Red XIII and Cait Sith. While the returning favorites of Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, and Yuffie feel upgraded from the Remake Intergrade combat. With new material to help you in combat and new summons that help shake the gameplay (albeit, too often), this is by far one of the best combat systems Square Enix has produced. 

 

While not focused on the main game or the substories, there are a lot of minigames to do, mostly at the Golden Saucer, an area you get to about halfway through the game. There are racing minigames, shooting minigames, and even a pet minigame that lets Red XIII have some fun. The best minigame of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has to be Queens Blood, a card game that offers strategy, overpowered combos, and rare cards to collect. I even found myself getting distracted by Queen’s Blood sometimes, which is the cause of me neglecting pretty much everything else of the game for this one card game. 

 

In conclusion, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a game that continues to elevate the incredible story of Final Fantasy 7, both as a sequel to FF7 Remake Intergrade and as a solid RPG on its own. I would only go through this game if you already beat the previous game, both the main story and Intermission, to help get the picture of the overall story of Final Fantasy 7. It’s got a perfect pace to its content, has a ton of monsters and challenges to experience, and a remastered story that showcases why the name of Final Fantasy 7 is etched into the greatest games of all time category, through unforgettable characters, an interactive battle system, and its epic scale story, in which Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth does with flying colors. I hope we get the third and final game of the trilogy soon.

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9.5/10