Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second title in the FF7 Remake series, is finally here! Follow Cloud and the rest of his friends as they chase down Sephiroth! Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth your time and money.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Review Overview
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Deeply Engrossing Story, Rehash or Not Extensive In-Depth Combat System Breathtaking Visuals and Expanded Worldbuilding Thrilling and Expansive Soundtrack Unimaginable Amount of Content |
Open World Content Is Imbalanced Terrain Actions Are Strict and Stiff Camera is Sometimes Finicky |
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Overall - 96/100
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the apex, the summit, the absolute peak of what Final Fantasy can be. The story, although partly retelling, also brings new surprising and mysterious thrilling elements that will have anyone hooked till the end. The gameplay is engaging and strategic still, specially with the addition of new characters and Synergy Attacks. The visuals are as gorgeous as ever, with environments being a feast for the eyes from any angle you look. The music is at an all-time high with the classic renditions of the old tracks brought to the modern age. Rebirth is packed with so much excellence, love, care, and playable content that it seems absolutely impossible that a game this scale could have been made–but here we are.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Story - 9/10
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is in a unique position of advancing an already-known story but still being able to keep old fans on their toes with uncertain mysteries and changes that could occur. The way it’s handled enthralls players into the iconic story until the very end, but that’s when it slightly and needlessly gets convoluted and messy. Nonetheless, its execution is sublime, and though some changes might end up polarizing fans of the classic, it’s still a masterful "retelling" of Final Fantasy 7.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Gameplay - 9/10
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s combat remains fluid and excellent as it iterates over the previous title’s combat mechanics. With the addition of the new Synergy Attacks that can occur and be executed by any and every pairing of characters, it brings forth another layer of party composition that is greatly inspired by Chrono Trigger. However, the exploration somewhat takes a hit, as the new Terrain Action command is quite limited and goes against discovering things on your own with how predetermined all adventuring seems to be. There is also a bit of an imbalance in terms of areas of interest across the open world.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Visuals - 10/10
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is stunningly gorgeous through and through. Its character facial and body models are still as perfect as ever, while the world continues to be expanded and further fleshed out with new locations and densely populated towns and cities. The open-world landscapes are teeming with flora and fauna for players to venture into, and the cities’ architectural structures are intricate and meticulously crafted. Everywhere you go and anywhere you look is a feast for the eyes at all times.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Audio - 10/10
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth continues to reimagine Nobuo Uematsu’s work for the modern age with thrilling and thunderous orchestral renditions. Remake’s, and now Rebirth’s composers, Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki, both respectfully and successfully upgrade the iconic tracks for the title and deliver a masterpiece in gaming music. Not only do they deliver in quality, but also in quantity, as the game holds over hundreds of tracks.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Value for Money - 10/10
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is one of the most recent games to receive the new premium and slightly controversial $69.99 price tag. However, the amount of excellence being displayed in all aspects of the game, from the story, to the gameplay, to the visuals, and to the music and sound, everything makes the high price worth it. Not only that, but the game itself has an unimaginable amount of content residing within it–so much so that players will be spending upwards of hundreds of hours to experience everything there is to offer.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Review: The Best Final Fantasy There Ever Will Be
I just want to say first and foremost that I managed to be taken aback and flat-out cry in the first 10 minutes of the game. Anyway, let’s start.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth(FF7RB) has been a long time coming. Some might say that the first game, Final Fantasy 7 Remake(FF7RM), was where all FF7 fans’ dreams came true regarding a remake, but no. FF7RB is truly where everyone’s collective imaginations, nostalgia, and expectations are shattered to the extreme and beyond. FF7RM laid down the groundwork for the REMAKE series, with the mission statement to make the world and universe as expansive and fleshed out as possible with modern high-definition standards. Midgar was a mind-blowing feat in its richness where the entire city was fully expanded beyond what the original had to properly represent its sinister corporate stature. To embrace that method and apply it to the ENTIRE WORLD of FF7 is an astronomical undertaking that has outright been impossible to even initiate for the past decades of FF7’s existence since its inception in 1997. Yet here we are now in 2024, with such a game in the palm of our hands.
In my, and I assume along with a lot of other fans’, excitement for FF7RB’s release, I started replaying the old original game along with FF7RM in preparation and as a refresher. Doing so definitely helped enhance the experience, as I was able to properly reminisce, recall, and modernize FF7 to what it is right now under the vision of the developers. Their vision has grown beyond the original scope of what FF7 was in such a grand way that it’s impossible not to be so wonderstruck at what they have achieved with FF7RB.
As a "Remake" project, a lot of the story beats are mere expanded retellings of the original FF7 plotline. FF7’s story is widely regarded as one of the most influential and iconic stories in videogame history. So how would they enhance the story beyond the original vision? By doing exactly what they did with Remake and now Rebirth: utilize fans’ knowledge against them and change the facts they know into a sequel. If you don’t know by now (and I repeat it again throughout the review) the FF7 Remake series is not a simple remake of the original FF7 game, but a sequel where the events of the original had already taken place. This simple change brought about the most drastic and convoluted changes that have polarized fans once they discovered this fact in FF7RM, and so they consequently were worried what potential changes to the current timeline could happen that many hold near and dear to their hearts. I of course cannot spoil anything, but I just need to say that FF7RB will continue that stark polarization and may even divide fans further, not just from the actual events, but the execution. However, this doesn’t mean that the story wasn’t told well, as throughout, any fan WILL be entranced by the events of FF7RB as they lead onwards to the faithful event everyone has been excited to see decades in the making.
The combat gameplay builds upon the already existing system from FF7RM, but with more bells and whistles to play with. The most notable of all are the new Synergy attacks that can be executed among different combinations of party members, bringing a new depth of strategy regarding your team members. All I can think of regarding this is how masterfully this same mechanic was implemented in Chrono Trigger, one of the widely regarded best RPG games of all time. If you’re going to be inspired by any game, Chrono Trigger is always a good choice.
The last thing I want to give a spotlight to is the incredible music. I have been enthralled by Final Fantasy’s music for literal decades, where my favorites are from FF6, FF10, FF15, and of course FF7. When FF7RM’s soundtrack was released, it was the only thing I listened to for weeks on end, either by listening to curated playlists depending on different moods, or just having One Winged Angel Rebirth on repeat for an entire day. To say I was excited for FF7RB’s music was an understatement. My expectations were already so high I was nervous I was gearing myself up for disappointment, but no, they still went even higher and delivered masterpiece after masterpiece. It’s so easy to chalk this up as me being biased or nostalgic about the music, but the actual compositions themselves demand to be praised for their genius. Alex Moukala, a musician and composer on YouTube, always brings light to the technical and creative marvels video game soundtracks can have hidden within them. He has a great well-informed video breaking down one track from FF7RB on his YouTube channel, and I implore you to check it out.
I boldly state that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is the best Final Fantasy that there ever will be, and I truly believe that, because this title is a freak of nature that should not be possible to exist at all. It fires on all cylinders in terms of story, gameplay, visuals, music, and content that explaining everything would seem like an impossible dream of a game. Final Fantasy 7 Remake established the needed foundations of the building, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth completed the Tower of Babel to pierce through the clouds and reach the heavens.
No doubt the next game in the Remake series will do the same and iterate using FF7RB, but pretty much everything has already been constructed and established. FF7RB goes through the full events of the original’s Disc 1, so the only natural course of action would be the third and final installment to go through the entirety of Discs 2 and 3. The events of those discs are mostly backtracking to previous known locations, with a few notable new ones and superbosses in the overworld here and there. I would compare Rebirth to the impact The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild had, where it completely bewildered everyone with its lightning-in-a-bottle excellence. The next installment of the FF7 Remake series will no doubt feel like Tears of the Kingdom, where though it WILL still be a noteworthy sequel, it will not have the same long-withstanding impact as the previous game before it had upon players everywhere.
Nevertheless, this isn’t the time to look towards the future, but to enjoy the present time we have right now where such a game as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth exists.
Pros of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
| Things Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Got Right |
|---|
|
Deeply Engrossing Story, Rehash or Not Extensive In-Depth Combat System Breathtaking Visuals and Expanded Worldbuilding Thrilling and Expansive Soundtrack Unimaginable Amount of Content |
Deeply Engrossing Story, Rehash or Not
The Final Fantasy 7 Remake series is in a very unique position regarding its story, where, if the reader isn’t quite aware yet, for the past four years of FF7 Remake’s existence, is that the whole Remake series isn’t an actual remake or retelling of the story, but a sequel to the original. I’m not gonna go deep into all the parallel universes and the Whispers and all that, but rather how this one change in aspect manages to draw players, old AND new, to be all in the same boat of being in the dark regarding the game’s story events.
It would’ve been tremendously easy to do a 1-to-1 rehashing of the original’s story only with a couple of new additions and extensions, all in upgraded modern graphics and gameplay. In that universe, everyone who’s played the OGs will have the advantage of knowing precisely what will happen next and will just experience them in all-new visuals. However, the new ongoing story that we all left off from FF7RM has stunned, surprised, and possibly polarized old and new fans alike, all due to the mystery and uncertainty of where the story could lead.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth absolutely relishes in that fact and actively taunts both the characters AND the players regarding future events, and it effectively pulls you in the more you progress. Sure, plenty of the game’s events ARE expanded retellings of the original’s narrative, but all the little additions here and there that are exclusively new to this new release are excellently spaced and distributed to keep reeling in players, engrossing them into the new tale the writers wish to tell.
Extensive In-Depth Combat System
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes F7RM’s already excellent combat and skyrockets its capabilities with more mechanics and style. Building off the ingenious use of the ATB gauges in battle to perform actions (effectively solving the item abuse problem from FFXV), FF7RB incorporates one mechanic that most RPG lovers have loved for decades–team-up attacks.
Remember the critically acclaimed RPG Chrono Trigger that millions still tout as the best RPG, or even best game ever? One aspect everyone always praises is the abundance of team-up attacks among all available characters. It helped establish the characters to seem like real friends and teammates and also acted as another layer in the combat system in building your parties.
FF7RB takes team-up attacks, called "Synergy Attack," to the STRATOSPHERE. All characters have so many combinations amongst each other it’s almost unimaginable to think. What's more, each Synergy Attack also acts as a way to showcase their personalities in little tidbits of gameplay, all the while wreaking havoc with their devastating combo attacks. This is all thanks to the Folio grid system where you can upgrade and unlock Synergy Attacks for each character, allowing you to prioritize which team composition you want, along with the playstyle you desire.
Speaking of party composition, something that needs to be pointed out is the absolutely seamless way to switch between parties. You can pre-make these parties in the menu and easily switch between them ON THE FLY outside of battle. They even seem to tag in and out when following you depending on your party, and it’s rather immersive and cute.
Breathtaking Visuals and Expanded Worldbuilding
Following the footsteps of its predecessor in expanding Midgar to unprecedented lengths, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth flourishes its open world with so much grandiose in its various settings. From complex and bustling towns and cities, to vast green fields and hills, to dangerous mountainous cliff sides, and to the muddy marshes where the Midgar Zolom (now the Midgardsormr) resides, everything is bigger and better than ever.
Though just because they’re new doesn’t automatically mean they’re beautiful. However, the FF7RB graphics and art team has knocked it out of the park in terms of the visuals, and everywhere you glance just screams "LOOK AT ME!" and you can’t help not to. The architecture of the cities and the landscapes of the open world are all so gorgeously done that you’re going to be using Photo Mode all the time.
Of course, visuals aren’t all about the environments. We have to shine the light on the character models and lighting as well, and each important cutscene looks straight-up cinematic and aesthetically pleasing. Our heroes’ faces and models, though could have been constructed from the previous game, are still perfect as ever, and all close-ups even in performance mode show off all their perfect good looks.
Thrilling and Expansive Soundtrack
The original FF7 soundtrack was already iconic and upheld as one of the best soundtracks for a game for decades, all thanks to Nobuo Uematsu’s work. FF7RM’s music directors, Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki, took his compositions to the next level by reimagining them to be so much grander while being respectful to the originals. In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Hamauzu and Suzuki continue their work with so much more reimaginings of Uematsu’s tracks, bringing a fresh modern feel to the already epic music.
Not only are the songs amazing, but transitions between one another are immersive and flawless. Say, for example, the relaxing overworld theme is playing as you explore the fields, and then you enter into combat. The music, without missing a single beat, immediately FLOWS to the combat music. Literally FLOWS, because the two tracks are layered as you can still hear the melody of the normal theme within the battle theme. Once the combat encounter is over, it again flows back to the normal theme like nothing ever happened. I’m always a sucker for seamless music transitions, and FF7RB is chock full of them.
Unimaginable Amount of Content
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Has. So. Much. Content. It’s absolutely insane how much is packed into this one game, but it just does. It’s very much akin to the Like A Dragon series where you can enjoy and progress through the serious narrative by completing main story missions through the open-world exploration and battling anything that comes your way. But, at the same time, you can… pause all of that and participate in some card games!
The first mention of a card game and I was immediately hooked. Similar to Final Fantasy 8’s most beloved Triple Triad card game, FF7RB has its own unique card game called "Queen’s Blood" where you can battle certain players scattered across towns and cities.
That’s just the beginning, as we all know, the Golden Saucer exists, filled with literal dozens of minigames the player can indulge in. THEN, moreover, there are still other minigames across the entire world such as Chocobo breeding and racing, as well as the Fort Condor defense game.
Stepping away from leisure, FF7RB also features tons of side quests that are littered anywhere and everywhere. There’s just so much to do in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth it feels overwhelming in a good way. Players who wish to experience all there can be in FF7RB will surely have their hands full for quite some time.
Cons of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
| Things Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Can Improve |
|---|
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Open World Content Is Imbalanced Terrain Actions Are Strict and Stiff Camera is Sometimes Finicky |
Open World Content Is Imbalanced
As is the usual case for open-world games, they always have trouble making sure large swathes of open areas have content to engage with. Either with collectibles, combat encounters, special events, breathtaking scenery, or story advancement, open-world games always strive to make each area worth going to, yet most always seem to fail at doing so. FF7RB runs into the same problem of having an imbalanced mix of areas of interest (not the literal "Areas of Interest" labeled in the game) across its world.
Though FF7RB has a good amount of possible activities, it places them so that some areas are large fields of grass with only collectibles to be found and no enemies, while other paths have enemies positioned right after the other acting like a trail to follow. The areas of interest "placements" across the overworld lack a more proper mix between their various activities, seemingly separating them from one another. Not to say that they’re all wholly separated, but rather it’s obvious how monster groups also only seem to spawn close to other monster groups. And while field collectibles DO still spawn between monster encounters, they’re noticeably scarcer compared to other areas where they’re lying around aplenty.
Terrain Actions Are Strict and Stiff
One new feature that FF7RB brings that FF7RM didn’t have are the new Terrain Actions. Terrain Actions are parkour-like movement actions that Cloud or other party members can carry out when near possible obstacles. Terrain Actions are mostly used for traversing up, down, and across the hundreds of locations in FF7RB. It can be used to climb scalable walls (with conveniently yellow-painted ledges), walk through tight spaces, vault over objects, and leap up and jump down small cliffs. This is the main traversal skill that players will be using in their adventures in the world of FF7, and its answer for the lack of a jump button in the game since the previous title. It seems like a great mechanic in idea and practice, but once you try it out to its full extent, you can see how limiting and somewhat clunky it could be.
Take for example the video above, where I’m trying to land on a specific wooden object. With any other game with a working jump button, one can easily land on this and parkour and explore further. However, with FF7RB’s Terrain Action, all possible "landing" spots that can be climbed or jumped into are predetermined by the developers themselves. Some objects can be Terrain Action’ed, while others cannot, and that somewhat devalues the openness of the adventure and discovery, does it not?
The adventure starts to feel predetermined, artificial, and formulated, instead of the player being able to discover something on their own either through the laid-out route or through unconventional means.
Camera is Sometimes Finicky
Another age-old problem that’s been prevalent in 3rd person action games has been the camera. Sometimes infrequently when close to a big obstacle, object, or wall, while locked on an enemy and your controlled character goes between the enemy and said obstacle/object/wall, the camera absolutely spazzes out and it becomes difficult to understand the flow of battle, leaving you to have to unlock or switch targets. It’s annoying and detracts from the gameplay to say the least. Another case would be in tight indoor sections, passing through doors just freaks the camera out and doesn’t enable any turning to properly look around corridors, similar to the previous title.
Is Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Worth It?
Sephiroth is Waiting For You
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a game where every Final Fantasy fan–heck, every gamer ever should play once in their lives. It’s the culmination of all things beloved from the original Final Fantasy 7, and more. Its heavily expanded story grips fans, old and new, into the uncertain future the story holds which gives way to very engaging storytelling. Its combat gameplay is greatly fluid and fleshed out, with numerous Synergy Attack combinations amongst all the cast of characters. The graphics are out of this world, translating the old basic and barren fields and architectures of the original into grandiose and expanded landscapes and densely packed towns and cities. The music of Uematsu still rings proudly with the arrangements of Hamauzu and Suzuki to create an extensive soundtrack of hundreds of songs, ranging from calming, to joyful, to sorrowful, to epic. Lastly, the game flat out has so much content and things one can do that you can spend a hundred hours and not be finished with the main story.
I myself have always slightly disagreed with the modern trend of pricing games higher at $69.99, even as understandable as their reasons are, being top-of-the-line almost quadruple A games, but this? Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth feels like it should STILL cost more with the amount of amazing content tightly packed into it.
| Digital Storefront | |||||
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 Playstation |
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| Price: | $69.99 | ||||
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Overview & Premise
The game picks up where Final Fantasy VII Remake left off, with Cloud Strife and his allies on the run from Shinra after escaping from Midgar. The party will travel across the planet, exploring new locations and meeting new characters on their way to stop Sephiroth.
Things seem to be progressing identically to the original FF7's plot, but then it's revealed that Zack Fair, the former first-class SOLDIER, is alive. He can be seen talking to Biggs, who points at a wanted poster where all AVALANCHE members, from Barret, Wedge, Jesse, and Tifa are implied to be dead.
What do any of these scenes mean for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? Play on and discover the fate of our beloved characters and of the planet.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth FAQ
Is Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth a Sequel?
Yes, and yes. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, the first in the FF7 Remake series. The entire Remake series itself is also a sequel to the original Final Fantasy 7, having new plot lines and altered events.
When Does Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Take Place?
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes place immediately after Final Fantasy 7 Remake, where Cloud and the gang escape Midgar after being labeled as fugitives by Shinra. It starts at the town of Kalm, where Cloud recalls his past with Tifa and Sephiroth.
Should I Play Final Fantasy 7 Remake First?
Seeing as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, it is highly advised for interested players to play the first installment before playing the latest release, as many even though one could have knowledge of the original Final Fantasy 7’s events, FF7 Remake brought about numerous changes to the story and timeline.
Does Aerith Die in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?
I’m sorry, but you have to find that answer out for yourself.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Product Information
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| Title | FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 29, 2024 |
| Developer | Square Enix |
| Publisher | Square Enix |
| Supported Platforms | PlayStation 5 |
| Genre | Action, RPG |
| Number of Players | Single Player |
| ESRB Rating | Rating Pending |
| Official Website | Final Fantasy VII Website |
