Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a spectacular dangerous undertaking with respectable in class armed combat and visuals that prompt you why this world is so beloved to get with .
Even if you ’ve never played it , there ’s no doubt that you ’ve been bear on by Final Fantasy 7 in some style . It ’s one of the most influential video recording games ever free , and practically every game that has fall out after has been affect by it in some fashion . Plus , new people keep to fall in love with Final Fantasy 7 to this Clarence Day across several spinoffs , wandering plot , remasters , and remakes .
No matter how you expect at it , the man of Final Fantasy 7 isspecial , andFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthreally desire you to live that . It ’s a heavy - budget love letter to the series made by fans , for fans , and its passion for the author material is infective . Rebirth is a root word park of Final Fantasy goodness , and while it does n’t stick the landing place in every regard , it ’s a shining reminder of why people get it on Final Fantasy 7 so much .
Final Fantasy 7, Expanded and Enhanced
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth picks up where Remake left off . After make their explosive dodging , Cloud and troupe trade the bustling Mako - souse street of Midgar for the spacious open field of the planet . On the tally from Shinra , the party travels across the reality in following of Sephiroth . Just like in the 1997 original , there ’s a long ton of fun and a lot of grief awaiting them . Just like its predecessor , however , Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth entirely reimagines the original game , and there ’s a whole lot more to see and do on the global sightseeing enlistment that the party embark on .
The tightly directed , linear nature of Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a key power behind its vital plaudits , and such a dramatic transmutation to an heroic open world could have been a trainwreck . Miraculously , Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth somehow matches the electrical setpieces from its precursor while also offering one of the panoptic clear worlds the franchise has ever seen .
Leaving Midgar in the original Final Fantasy 7 remains one of the most liberating second in any video game , and it ’s one that numberless games have tried to vivify . The effect is mostly the same go from Remake to Rebirth , only the six - 60 minutes Midgar division from the original was expanded into a 40 + time of day standalone RPG so the impact is much , much greater .
Screenshot: PC Invasion
Each region has dozens of activities to finish and items to collect . You ’ll do the common open world hooey like spark towers to add new icons to the map or fight groups of foeman at specifically marked locations , but the game reward you with interesting thing like traditional knowledge dumps or new summons like Alexander or Odin that will help you out in combat . As you complete more activities , you ’ll also be able to exchange your survey data for young Materia and items that you ca n’t get anywhere else .
Unfortunately , the transition to an open world is a act too much for Rebirth to handle . The initial hullabaloo wears off within the first few hours and the side activity start to overstay their welcome pretty tight . Each zona is absolutely massive , and the number of towers , hoard , and random engagement postulate to fill each region is a bit too high .
Still , each zona has a smattering of unequaled activities ( the excellent Fort Condor minigame from Episode Intermission refund in Junon , for good example ) and new side quest continue to pop up up as you progress through the game . You only have to do a handful of each region ’s generic side subject matter to get most of the rewards , anyway , and they ’re fast enough that you could ping them out while do work on odd line of work and more crucial side pursuit .
Screenshot: PC Invasion
Deeper Strategy, Harder Fights
While the natural process usable in the open earthly concern get repetitious fairly quickly , they remain at least a little interesting thanks to the game ’s starring scrap system . The basic framework remains the same as it was in Remake , although Rebirth places a much large stress on foe variety and forces you to perfect your strategy with different party compositions and Materia apparatus .
The Pressure and Stagger mechanics are much more important this meter around , and enemies are much harder to attack unless you capitalise on their weaknesses before going on the offence . void certain attacks , work elemental weaknesses , or fight the attack at the right time is key to success in Rebirth ’s battles . Because of this , it also feels like the ATB gauge fill up more slow than it did in Remake , so you ’ll take to be more measured with spells and ability .
conflict scheme are made even deeper by Rebirth ’s new Synergy mechanic , which allows political party penis to combine their powers for joint attacks during battle . Synergy Skills can be used at any fourth dimension without any ATB or MP monetary value , so they ’re basically an file name extension of your basic attacks . Synergy Abilities , on the other deal , require party members to earn Synergy points during battles by activating abilities or casting spell . These compass point are basically a disjoined ATB gauge used specifically for Synergy Abilities , and pulling one off will buff the participating pair of party fellow member in peculiar ways like increase Limit Break levels , tot up a third division to their ATB standard of measurement , or keeping enemies distribute for longer .
Screenshot: PC Invasion
synergism attacks feel like a whatchamacallum at first , but sympathize them is required to come after in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth . Flying enemy are much harder to hit in this secret plan , for example , but Cloud can avoid Barret ’s bullets off of his sword to take them down from the land or another party member can launch Tifa into the air to fight them in the sky . There are other uses for Synergy Skills , too . Aerith is incredibly thin , for instance , but she can have someone serve as a bodyguard and pass attention away from her .
Mixing Synergy Skills into your received combat rotation micturate the party feel like a coordinated unit and give you even more controller over the party member that you are n’t directly controlling during gameplay . Plus , pulling off powerful Synergy Abilities at cardinal moment is not only exceptionally cheering , but also an easy way to turn the tide of a tough battle .
You ’ll unlock more Synergy flak via the new Folios system , which is how eccentric are upgraded in Rebirth . alas , the Folios system is a Brobdingnagian disappointment . out of doors of Synergy Skills and Abilities ( plus powerful skills that let you unleash elemental approach without spending MP ) , there just are n’t that many interesting thing to unlock . I ’d deliberately dismiss raise stations quite often even if I had SP to spend . It ’s surd to get excited about a 3 % boost to attack damage .
Screenshot: PC Invasion
Quite a Colorful Cast
While they may not all be playable , Rebirth convey the full Final Fantasy 7 political party together by the time the credit entry roll . Red XIII , Yuffie , and Cait Sith are the three new playable reference in Rebirth , and everyone from Remake remains playable with new abilities in their arsenal to thrill . Vincent and Cid are here too , but they ’re being saved as playable political party members for the final plot in the trilogy .
Rebirth extend about one-half of the original Final Fantasy 7 story , but each chapter is greatly expanded . Just like in the original secret plan , the search for Sephiroth takes the party all over the world . Some chapter are devoted to flesh out certain party members , while others are fun for the whole political party . Corel and Cosmo Canyon are still incredibly significant to Barret and Red XIII , for case , but the game goes all out with places like Costa del Sol and the Gold Saucer to ensure that everyone has their time in the glare .
Since the parts of Final Fantasy 7 that Rebirth covers do n’t have too many important plot moments , the biz places the spotlight square on its characters . It rate a huge focus on getting to know each political party phallus and growing your relationship with them ( and not just to prepare for the iconic Gold Saucer date ) . As big of a cliche as it is , Rebirth is quite literally about the friends we make along the way , and that theme continue into every part of the secret plan . The Synergy onrush are n’t just there for show , after all .
Screenshot: PC Invasion
The expanded content is n’t all great , though . When the game is diving deeply into graphic symbol exploitation and adding Modern story segment , the new material is appreciated . Some of the raw combat - focused segments really drag down the game ’s pacing , however . There are quite a few analogue keep sections in Rebirth , and some segments that lasted under an hr in the original game ( like the Mythril Mine ) have been turned into entire chapters with wad of padding .
The Verdict
Of naturally , even at its defective , Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth stands head and shoulders above most other games out there today . It ’s a tightly directed RPG with a cast and world that are impossible not to fall in love with . There ’s just somethingspecialabout Final Fantasy 7 , which belike explains why it ’s getting a trilogy of remakes .
After everything , Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has done the impossible . The original Final Fantasy 7 is now installed on my PlayStation 5 , and despite myriad endeavor to get through the game before , I now find myself determined to see thing through to the end after nail Rebirth . Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ’s greatest lastingness is not how it reimagines the original game for a mod hearing , but rather , how it inspires a modern audience to apprize the original game .
While the transition to an undefended world is n’t wholly seamless in Rebirth , its small stumbles are n’t even close to being enough to hinder the overall experience . Even when you ’re activating yet another tug for Chadley , you ’re still fighting enemies with an fabulously inventive action RPG combat organization and listening to some of the most beautiful music you ’ve ever heard in your aliveness , all while hanging out with some of the most iconic character in picture plot history . Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a glow example of why Final Fantasy 7 is so darling to begin with , and Rebirth is yet another reminder of why people fell in dearest with this world all those long time ago .
Screenshot: PC Invasion
Screenshot: PC Invasion
Screenshot: PC Invasion
Screenshot: Square Enix
