Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth feels like a natural progression. Free from the steel skies of Midgar and its corridor-style design, this direct sequel to 2020's Final Fantasy 7 Remake fully embraces that sense of adventure found in the original Final Fantasy 7, as Cloud Strife and his ragtag group took their first few steps out onto the sprawling world map. Rebirth goes big in terms of scope and scale — but it doesn't always stick the landing.
Rebirth isn't fully open world, but it is split into a series of vast environments, each with their own distinctive geography. You'll spend a healthy chunk of your playthrough sprinting — and riding chocobos — across the wilderness, but it's rarely in search of the next story beat. That's because Rebirth has an excessive amount of open world fluff — the kind of checklist activities that you'd expect to find in the most cliche of Ubisoft games.
Climbing copy-paste radio towers isn't something that we ever would have expected to do in a remake of eternal PS1 classic Final Fantasy 7, but here we are. It's difficult to justify such blatant bloat, but it's important to stress that the map's many markers are optional, and not all of the busywork is so braindead. There are, for example, cool fights to be had with unique enemy types and region-based bosses. At the very least, you've got an excuse to get out there and explore what is an iconic RPG setting.
Fortunately, Rebirth is a much better game when it's just... being Final Fantasy 7. For the most part, it sticks to the original's narrative structure, as the party sets off on the trail of big baddie Sephiroth. However, much like Remake, this sequel often greatly expands upon events, bringing additional context and allowing characters to better express themselves. Once again, the development team has done an admirable job of fleshing out the core cast, and that's important, because the overarching plot barely pushes forward in this second instalment.
Of course, this was also the case in the original PS1 release — but Rebirth is the second title in a planned trilogy, taking you anywhere between 50 and 100 hours to complete (and that's without even thinking about the hard mode that's unlocked after the credits roll). It has little choice but to lean on its characters, as the core story basically boils down to following mysterious robed men from town to town, over and over again. The real narrative hooks come in the form of character development, as each member of Cloud's gang have their own business to deal with as their journey takes them across land and sea.
Perhaps that's why Square Enix saw fit to pack Rebirth with so much stuff. To say the game is padded would be an understatement, and that padding ranges from highly enjoyable, character-driven episodes to... well, the type of unnecessary bumbling that could make Remake feel like such a drag at times. Simply put, this isn't a game for the impatient. There are a couple of pace-sapping scenarios in particular — sandwiched right in between main story sections — that sent our eyes rolling.
Counting Rebirth, Remake, and even Final Fantasy 16, Square Enix apparently has a problem with just letting its games flow. For every outrageous cutscene or blood-pumping boss battle, there seems to be a relatively boring stretch of narrative filler, or a side quest that stalls your progress. But this is precisely where our frustration stems from; when Rebirth is firing on all cylinders, it's superb — just like Remake before it.
There's a real joy to seeing towns like Kalm and Gongaga — just the most basic of prerendered backdrops in the original release — brought to life as fully 3D locations. Naturally, nostalgia plays a major role in all this, but you can't possibly be disappointed with how well realised Rebirth's world feels. The sense of adventure that was so prevalent in 1997 is reestablished here, and you get to enjoy it alongside beloved characters who are more textured than ever before.
Rebirth retains its predecessor's strengths; in its key storytelling sequences, its combat system, and its clear appreciation for the source material, it continues to be a wonderful reimagining. And if, like us, you can stomach most of the game's flaws, you'll often revel in the things that it gets absolutely right.
That brings us neatly to the hybrid battle system, which again combines action-based movement and button-tapping attacks with command menus for when you want to get tactical, or dish out some big damage. The mechanics worked brilliantly in Remake and they're largely unchanged here — which is probably for the best. Instead of fiddling with the fundamentals, Rebirth simply adds to the system; there's an impressive amount of enemy variety throughout the game, and new synergy techniques (read: tag team moves) give you even more moment-to-moment options.
Rebirth also lets rip with increasingly crazy combat scenarios, regularly pushing the limits of what you thought this battle system was capable of. It goes without saying that boss fights are still incredible, but there are now so many different ways to test your party's prowess, be it in the battle simulator or in one of the game's multiple arenas, where challenge matches can encourage a whole new level of team tinkering.
All of the action's elevated by the returning materia system, which now sports additional types of materia for yet more character customisation. Depending on your equipped orbs, you can shape a party member's role to suit your needs, and with a larger cast of playable heroes, it feels like there's a strategic freedom here that wasn't quite present in Remake.
Beyond the new depths of its combat, Rebirth takes a page from the Like a Dragon playbook, and packs an impressive number of minigames into proceedings. And, just like in SEGA's sandbox series, you can spend hours mastering these (mostly) optional excursions. The headline acts include Queen's Blood — a fairly addictive collectable card game with its own absurd characters and storyline — and chocobo racing, which is just really good fun.
But not all minigames are made equal. Some of Rebirth's most lamentable moments are when you're forced to partake in the title's more tedious minigames during the main story, or otherwise engaging side quests. To be fair, these scenarios don't take up a whole lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but they're still guilty of murdering the game's pacing at specific points.
Alright, so what about all of the new story stuff that was introduced through Remake? We won't spoil anything here, but Rebirth does manage to offer up some answers. Thankfully. On the other hand, however, it conjures plenty of fresh questions — which will of course have fans looking in the direction of the trilogy's final act.
With that in mind, it does feel like this sequel is stuck in limbo — at least to an extent. It's about the journey and all that, but Rebirth lacks a proper beginning and it lacks a proper ending. And, as you might expect, its story will make very little sense if you haven't played Remake. This sequel is satisfying in its own right — thanks to its portrayal of Final Fantasy 7's world and characters — but some fans, especially newcomers who aren't familiar with how things go down in the PS1 classic, may feel as though it's lacking the overall impact of its predecessor.
You know what else is lacking? Rebirth's visuals. Remember, this isn't a cross-gen release. At the time of writing, it's a PS5 exclusive, but outside of main character models and explosive particle effects in battle, it can be rough on the eyes. We don't know what the actual cause of this issue is, but Remake's texture problems are back, and they're somehow even worse. Pretty much any closeup of a wall, door, or inanimate object hits you with some of the blurriest, low quality textures you'll ever see in a modern AAA release. Baffling.
Having said that, Rebirth can look nice at a distance, or when it's in motion. The art direction's great — we love the monster designs — and there are some screenshot-worthy vistas out in the open world.
But perhaps more importantly, the game runs better than it looks. Performance mode definitely has some dodgy resolution scaling going on at times, but it allows a smooth 60 frames-per-second for the vast majority of Rebirth's runtime. Graphics mode, meanwhile, is noticeably sharper in terms of resolution (it's hard not to be), but you're stuck at 30fps.
And lastly, we need to highlight Rebirth's music, because it goes above and beyond. The game features a frankly staggering number of tracks, to the point where almost every scene, every battle, every location, and every instance of every minigame comes with its own tune. Many of them are just fun little beats that set the tone during side quests or optional activities, but the combat themes — particularly those that play during climactic clashes — are outstanding.
Conclusion
If you can push through the tedium of its open world busywork and padded storytelling, there's a great sequel at the heart of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. It retains all of Remake's most important strengths, but builds on an already brilliant combat system, and excels at showcasing an iconic RPG setting. If you enjoyed Remake and you have fond memories of the PS1 original, you'll likely love every minute of Rebirth's memorable, character-focused adventure.
Comments 188
If anyone's got any questions about the game or the review, let me know and I'll try to answer them.
Spent 106 hours with Rebirth, completed every side quest and (almost) every minigame / optional activity.
On a personal level I think like it better than Remake because it allows for so much more player agency (and some of the boss fights are just insane) — but it's a close call.
Anyway, thanks for reading!
94 on metacritic based on 63 reviews right now for anyone curious
Can't wait til the 29th
No spoilers obviously, but let's say hypothetically that I loved Final Fantasy VII Remake when it was retelling Final Fantasy VII pretty faithfully, and I hated it when it turned into sub-Kingdom Hearts anime hijinks: am I going to like this or is it going to make me flip my table over?
@johncalmc You'll enjoy the vast majority of Rebirth and you'll probably hate some of the new story stuff.
Seems to be getting a lot of 8s and 9s which is decent. 7 is mediocre and 10 is good.
Will probably pick this up when it's on deep sale on pc.
As someone who doesn't have the keen technical eye for FPS and textures like seemingly the entire rest of the internet possesses, I'm beyond hyped for this one. Can't wait.
Cant read the review as I'm not getting the game at launch and want to go as fresh as possible but thank you all the same!
Just wanted to see the score.
My media Blackout begins... NOW
It sounds like a well made jrpg but filled with fluff in order to lengthen the story into 3 games. I wish they went the direction of God of war and finished it within 2 games. Still hoping for a FF VIII remake but only as 1 game.
@3Above Han Solo dies
I appreciate that you guys are generally pretty tough critics. Always nice to know we're not going to get a Bullsh*t opinion.
@Dragonaged There's definitely a bit of The Hobbit films to this trilogy. One classic story stretched out massively across three separate games. Thankfully, much of Rebirth's bloat is optional — but it's bloat all the same.
@ShogunRok Well, that's better than I was expecting I guess. I was hoping they'd learned from the padding issues in the first one though. Sounds like they could have just made one game rather than three by the time you take all the hours of padding out of these two. Oh well!
@ShogunRok would it seem that any of the mini games will slow progression towards the platinum?
Like piano playing, it's already giving me ptsd thinking about the squats in remake....
@Triumph741 How is a 7 mediocre?.
@jmac1686 Hated *some side quests. Review says that they vary from excellent to terrible.
Those Pros are just too inviting to avoid or wait, so still a day one buy from me and I can't wait to get stuck in.
@Uromastryx The Platinum is incredibly grindy. One Trophy in particular asks you to do basically everything in the game, which includes getting super high scores on every minigame. It's old Yakuza game levels of extreme grinding.
Wow, reviews are already coming out. Square is really confident on this one!
Can't wait for the game to drop! Already had my vacation leave scheduled
@Rangers420 It's just how the medium went. Good games get 8 or 9(and even 8 will rile up some folks) and bad games get 7 unless they are from a small studio.
This has been the review meta for close to a decade.
@ShogunRok After you finish the story can you go back to the world to finish side stuff?
Thankfully I play all FFs mostly ignoring the minigames and side stuff. I love the characters and world but never the minigames. So this seems perfect for me.
Really only an eight? Thought it would be higher.
"That's because Rebirth has an excessive amount of open world fluff — the kind of checklist activities that you'd expect to find in the most cliche of Ubisoft games"
comparisons to Ubisoft games ouch
@DennisReynolds Yeah there's a chapter select option, just like in Remake. You can revisit old chapters and finish things off with all of your levels / equipment intact.
@Jireland92 Lol I just made a joke that people nowadays complain about 8s
@ShogunRok thanks for the reply, hmm I hope they don't outstay the welcome to quick then, and 1 more question
The Barret and Dyne story, is it done well?
Visuals aren't everything, but it's not that it doesn't look good enough in terms of graphical prowess or art style to meet some arbitrary personal standard. It's the blurry mess, poor texture quality, lighting/shadow problems, pop in issues, and seriously downgraded character models that all combine to just make playing it so muddy and distracting that I just can't do this at full price. Especially it being a native ps5 title. This is just straight up shoddy post processing/polish all across the board
Bummer about the boring padding. This review and frankly Many others of the dozens I've read read like a 7 yet it was always going to get bumped up to good majority reviews because FF seems to get a lot of shoe in praise despite problems with many of the last few releases. So it takes some reading into the cons to determine how the game really will likely lie for you in terms of time value.
The poor demo update helped nudge the notion that based on polish, I am waiting on this one. The fluff just solidifies that for me.
Hopefully they fix those the visual problems at some point. As nearly every review highlights excessive fluff through boring padding alongside some glaring visual/technical issues.
Look forward to playing it sometime in the future. As I hold the original with such nostalgic love much like many of you. This just feels like it needed more time in the oven for QC and refinement.
@Uromastryx I think it is, yeah. Generally speaking, the character-driven plot points of FF7 are really, really well done in Rebirth.
@Triumph741 Can you please say what every number from 1 to 10 is? 7 being "mediocre" and 10 being "good" has my mind reeling.
I appreciate you knocking the crap side missions.
They are abysmal in 7 and FF16 and it is definitely worth highlighting.
I haven't got around to playing FF VII intergrade yet so I'll probably start very soon. Then I'll get started on the next part. For anyone who's already played the remake at what point in the story of the original PS1 game does rebirth pick up?
I have played the old one a few times.
Cool a 8 is a good score.final fantasy 7 rebirth also got amazing boss fights.word up son
Finished the demo yesterday. I simply can't wait to dive into the full game. I actually don't mind padding in a game if I enjoy the combat.
Sounds like everything I hated about Remake turned up to 11. I found it to be way too long and bloated for my tastes, and I never gelled with the combat system — I’d much prefer it if it chose real-time action or turn-based instead of trying to be both.
I’ll be waiting for this to go to PS+ Essential like Remake did, if I even bother to play it at all. I think I’m gonna have to try playing the original FF VII again in the meantime, because I think my unfamiliarity with entire plot has hampered what seems to be an elaborate sequel instead of an actual remake.
I really wish they just remade the original with modern graphics, since that has been the main roadblock to me playing the original. PS1 graphics just don’t age well, especially if you have memories of them looking awesome, like what I remember the original looking like when I saw a friend play it back in the day.
@Truegamer79 Rebirth picks up with Cloud and the party in Kalm, after they've left Midgar for the first time. Basically, it's when you get to the world map in the original game.
Sounds like its as I expected: the good is better and the bad is worse. Super sad about the visual quality. Praying there is a day one patch to address it
Also anticipating some dumb Zack timeline stuff but I'm just hoping beyond hope that THAT scene remains unchanged...
I knew the open world aspect would bring some problems. You guys here on the comments tried to calm me down but after the gameplay videos on the open world I knew that it wouldn't have an impact like the first part, which I thought worked pretty well in its corridor style
@mrraditch
0/1/2/3 - Protest vote/negative review for a game no one cares about.
4/5 - Truly disappointing game. You just know that the reviewer has no malice otherwise he would have given it a lower score.
6 - Dog whistle. Don't play this game.
7 - Mediocre. I guess that the game has AAA graphics or whatever, but playing it will make you sad and bored.
8 - I guess it's alright. It has a lot of problems though. Maybe skip.
9 - This game is pretty good. Whatever flaws it has are masked by the good parts.
10 - Protest vote/positive review for a game everyone cares about. Or if you give it to some pixel indie platformer without voice acting you just want to be seen as cool to basement dwellers.
This kinda has me incredibly wary now. I enjoy Ubisoft games but they’re a very different beast from an actual RPG. XVI did my head in with the absolutely inane side quests and this doesn’t seem to have learned any lessons. It’s hard, it took me two playthroughs to get into Remake and it worries me that they seem to have done a Hobbit and made a pointless middle entry that spins its wheels and overly pads unecessary sections. The fact there’s only one game left and it cuts off at disc 1? There’s still loads of story left but instead we get Segways and Ubisoft towers? Hmm.
I haven't been this excited for a game in a long time. Since Remake really ha. And then shortly after we get Dragons Dogma 2 and Shadow of the Erdtree. Going to be a good year.
@Dragonaged Weirdly, I feel like GOW needed another game. Felt like Ragnarok tried to stuff in way too much and suffered from a storytelling and character development standpoint, especially when it came to its newly introduced characters.
To be fair though, my biggest concern with Rebirth was that its transition to a more open structure would lead to even more bloat, which was somewhat present in Remake. I've never been a mini-game guy, so hopefully they aren't too distracting. Still very excited to play next week. Love these characters and am just excited to be reunited with them.
I didn’t play much of FF7 back on the day on PS1 but I decided to give the remake a chance and I really enjoyed it. So I’m looking forward to Rebirth.
@ShogunRok
Okay cool thanks! 👍
@ShogunRok If the bloat is optional, then it's not really bloat is it? Isn't Yakuza the most bloated series ever by that metric? Or am I understanding this wrong?
I played the Junon update yesterday and have already fallen in love with the gameplay. Can't wait for next week!
@Triumph741
That about sums it up.
@Triumph741 lol this couldn't be anymore truer a translation of the current mainstream review scores for overhyped releases. 👍
@ShogunRok 106 hours?! But it was said the game would take 100 hours to do everything.
You need to "Git Gud" you slacker! 🤣
Great review! I will probably head out to Target on release day to pick up a copy.
@nessisonett It would be difficult for FF7R to learn anything from FF16 since they were being developed around the same time. Wasn't disc 3 super short? Like pretty much just north crater? It's been a while.
Very sad to read about the padding and side quests. I’ve all but absolutely lost patience with these issues in rpgs - extending gameplay time in order to hit the reward flow of my brain at the cost of a game’s substance. I felt this a lot with games like FF16 and Fire Emblem Engage, where the strengths shine but anchor beneath their potential because of frustrating busywork. I’m a tad more cautious about my purchase next week, but I’ll read a few more reviews before making my mind. And of course, happy for those excited I still am extremely interested despite my concern.
@Cloud39472 Yeah Disc 3’s short but Disc 2 has a hell of a lot to get through unless they cut the open world and make it linear again. Which is obviously impossible with how that disc pans out. I worry that if they’re going to change the Aerith situation then that will remove the entire Cloud goes bananas section, I always enjoyed the random nature of Cid being party leader for a bit.
@ShogunRok Remake was pretty easy, is it the same with Rebirth?
They should have the option to choose "Hard" from the start
This actually looks like a Final Fantasy game - unlike 16.
Sorry, just my opinion. I greatly disliked it.
@ShogunRok the Hobbit analogy is bang on — I tried giving those a fair rewatch a year or so ago and I could make it through the second one, it was worse than I remember.
As for FVIIR, the bloat and padding was definitely a nitpick I had with the first game, so I'm glad you highlighted it here.
@Cloud39472 It's a little different because of the game's structure. In Like a Dragon, the minigames exist alongside the main story in a sandbox map. In Rebirth, you're always following a linear story through a (mostly) open world, and at times, you're forced into playing minigames that hamper the game's overall pacing.
Really, the key difference is that some of Rebirth's minigames / quests are deliberately used to pad out the runtime. Hopefully that makes sense.
@Barry_vV I would say Rebirth is more challenging overall, especially in the game's latter half. You definitely need to give more thought to your materia loadouts and the like, while some boss battles have unique mechanics that you have to prepare for.
Generally speaking though, it's still fairly easy compared to a lot of RPGs. I played the vast majority of the game on 'Normal' and my party only wiped twice.
That said, there is a new difficulty setting called 'Dynamic'. Its menu description is quite vague, but from what I can tell, it enables enemy level scaling, so even if you're backtracking in early areas, enemies will put up a fight. It's a nice option to have.
And yeah, hard mode is locked behind completing the game, just like in Remake.
@Triumph741 I ain’t complaining. 8 is a great score, was just expecting higher.
@ShogunRok If someone doesn't like JRPGs will he like this game?
@ShogunRok Ahh I see what you mean. It's probably something I won't have a problem with personally but I get why it would be a problem for some. Thanks for the explanation
Sounds like a win some/lose some situation. Thankfully, my biggest gripes with Remake seem to have been addressed. Really looking forward to playing this at some point but I’m not feeling compelled to jump at it. Nostalgia is a very minor factor for me here. Thanks for the informative review!
@nessisonett I like that section too, it's key for the development of a lot of characters too so I hope it doesn't get changed. I think part 3 could fit it all in though since they have a lot of the world and gameplay already established. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Yeah I knew there was still going to be some really bad padding once I did the sloooow climbing and pulling a mako vaacuum.
@Triumph741 Hard to say — it depends on what you dislike about JRPGs. If it's their 'anime' stylings then Rebirth is very anime, but it's quite unique in terms of design compared to a lot of more traditional JRPGs.
@Jireland92 it's got a 93 metacritic based on 114 reviews if that helps.
I was so excited for FF7. I fell in love with it all these years back. Back then, I felt the turn based gameplay was superb.
The remake was nostalgic and pleasing in many ways, although somehow the gameplay was not pure enjoyment for me. Maybe it was the hybridity between turn based strategy and action RPG.
Now you wrote the story is kinda bad boiling down to chasing down men in robes and that is, for now a deal breaker for me. I hope that there is a lot more to the story than how it is presented here.
I think the Remake was an instant purchase. This will go on my wishlist and probably be lodged there for some time together with a lot of 2's (God of War "2", Spider-Man 2, Horizon "2"(this one I own, never got to far into it).
At this point, I have accepted that I have to EXHAUST cyberpunk for story until it is wrung so dry as the Mojave desert.
The combat system and the story padding were the two things I didn't like about the first, and it doesn't seem like much has changed there. Kind of dulls my excitement for the game but I'll likely pick it up eventually, when the feeling takes me.
Man, I can’t wait to play this. The reviews have been fantastic so far. Luckily, I have the day off when this game releases. Let’s go!
@Loamy I really didn't have that much of an issue with side quests in FF16 because most of the time they either made for good world building or had you doing the fun combat. Especially the last set of them. As long as FF7R has stuff like that for even the horrible I think that's fine. My main worrisome is the needlessly slow padding.
Will try the demo. My PS4 backlog is huge.
@ShogunRok are there optional bosses like in the original , and the big question
, is there a knights of the round materia ?
@Ryu_Niiyama what about your ps5 backlog ?
Thanks for an informative review! Disappointed about the bloat - based on earlier coverage, I hoped for 50+hours story, plus 20-30hrs of optional content, so that the first “completionist” walkthrough would amount to around 80hrs. Looks like it’s gonna be much more than that - not sure I am going to plat this one then(
@ShogunRok great review. Personally I felt Remake was a bit bloated already and I had to leave it for a bit to get the motivation to finish it. This sounds very much like I'd feel the same way.
Ironically though, it's mainly Like a Dragon that's going to make me skip this at launch as I'm having way too much fun with it and it's battle system is what I would have loved from a modern Final Fantasy game. I'll pick this up at some point when I've got more time to play it
Woah, this review is clearly calming down all my excitement for this game. Truly disappointing. There are so many exciting games coming up in the next 6 months, so I will certainly pass and get it next year when it will be on massive sale.
@Shushibda Yeah Rebirth has quite a few optional bosses, or 'elite' enemy types. There are a lot of opportunities to test your skills.
No Knights of the Round in this one — must be saving it for the third game!
@carlos82 I felt the same way about Remake at times. Despite being a very linear game, you could shave off practically all of the side stuff, cut the storytelling down a bit, and you'd probably be left with a better, more cohesive game.
Sadly, I think the same is true of Rebirth — but that's partly down to my personal taste. I think a lot of people will enjoy the optional stuff and its often lighthearted nature.
"Excessive padding at times
Some truly crap side quests"
Same as the Remake then. (And also the genre as a whole)
I don't have the patience with yet another one of those games, where 2/3rds of the game, is a chore to play.
8/10 to 10/10 is game of the year material, so no complaints from me.
Also currently has a 93 on Metacritic from 115 reviews, massive W for Playstation.
Seems to me this is an incredible game and that has now shot up my hype levels some more.
https://www.metacritic.com/game/final-fantasy-vii-rebirth/
@Shushibda I believe I am confused by your question (or rather its relevancy) but will attempt to answer. My PS5 back log is perhaps 5 games or so (I have very few PS5 games). But I am working through my PS4 backlog before I buy more PS5 games… no point in buying a game day 1 that I can’t get to in a few years. But the demo is fine to play. Because PS is my least played system I have to camp on the system for several games so I get the muscle memory back.
Some real heartache in the Eurogamer comments. Guess that site is mostly made up of Xbox fans ?
Seem more reasonable and balanced here
@Anthony_Daniels not everything is a console war on the internet.
Looking forward to playing this game! Can’t atm, cause I don’t own a PS5, because everything interesting to me so far was also playable on the PS4. This is the first game that might push me in that direction.
Great review! I'll get Rebirth in the future since I have quite a few games on my plate at the moment.
gamers: "no more remakes and remasters!!! no more open world collectathons!!"
gamers when ff7 remake does those exact things: "yes!! masterpiece!! square slays again!!"
@ShogunRok Is it possible to play and enjoy if you have not played Remake? Is there an overview or catch-up at the beginning, the story so far? I keep meaning to start Remake but other games keep getting in the way. The Rebirth buzz is making me want to jump to it first, but wondering if I should start with the first entry.
These are the moments I'm glad i don't take reviews or other people's opinions into account to decide whether i will or will not buy/play any games. Can't wait to get my hands on this one!
@frankmcma I don't like telling people they need to play previous games to like this one, but I think playing Remake is borderline essential if you want to enjoy Rebirth.
So much of what happens in this game is tied to events in Remake, and the underlying context of the story would make almost no sense if you jumped in at this point.
There is a recap that's actually quite decent, but it's still no true substitute for playing Remake yourself. For what it's worth, you can basically treat Remake and Rebirth as one massive game — it's as direct as direct sequels get.
Starts to sound like Sony is wasting money with these guys. They can't make big games anymore and the suit guys blame sony because of the low sales when the sales are what they are because the games suck lol.
If they somehow manage to ruin ff 14 later this year Embracer will have a shot on buying SE lol.
@gymratAmarillo The game has a 93 metacritic rating so I doubt this game "sucks". Probably their best game rating wise for a very long time.
Infact it's rated higher than the original FF7....
Can't wait for next Friday. The game currently sits at 93 on Metacritic, which is the highest for a Final Fantasy game since Final Fantasy IX in 2000. Potential GOTY.
Climbing radio towers? What is this, FF8?
Ha!
@ShogunRok I'm pretty sure the PS Store is selling Remake and Rebirth as a bundle for the same price as Rebirth. So all it costs ya is time.
Is it possible to disable the floating damage numbers during battles in the full game?
That was one of the big things putting me off in the demo - very large font damage numbers all over the screen makign it hard to really see the enemies you were fighting sometimes.
@ShogunRok Excellent advice..thank you!
@Loamy agreed. They built a cool world with xvi and then wore me down with repetition and meaningless side quests
@soyabean135876 I don't think so, unfortunately. The screen can definitely be a bit busy during combat, and if you're playing on performance mode, the low resolution certainly doesn't help during crazier moments.
Fortunately you do slip into a kind of rhythm once you know what each character's doing. You eventually get used to the damage numbers, but I can understand why they'd seem distracting.
@soyabean135876 Oh, it might also be worth mentioning that you can zoom the battle camera out via the options. It could help make the damage numbers look a bit smaller.
@ShogunRok How big is the download size?
If I do end up getting this, I think i'll wait for a bunch of patches. Performance mode sound less then great.
Is it FF16 level of bad performance while fighting? (with background and everything looking awful)
93 on Metacritic with over 100 reviews. Why are people saying it's bad lol? Push Square is known to be the harshest review outlet.
What type of combat is it, @ShogunRok? Is it real time with pause, straightforward battling in real time, or turn-based? I haven't played any of them yet, but am planning on doing so soon. Thank you...
@ShogunRok would it age like a fine yoghurt?
Bruh an 8 what
@ShogunRok The demo made me feel like this game is going to drain the DuelSense battery pretty fast?
@danzoEX I’m more interested in how the character work was so overwhelmingly positive that it negates the absolutely craptastic side content and filler other games would have been absolutely dinged for in their scores from the ten reviews. I def think nostalgia is doing some heavy lifting here for reviewers because this feels like a open world game from a decade ago
@man_what lol exactly I’m still excited to play this but I can’t stand the hypocrisy from users here who I’ve seen crap on games for having filler or crap sidequest. It just goes to show that if you’re a super fan of a series you’ll turn a blind eye to the same problems you’ve dropped hot takes on for other games by using the “logic” of “actually it’s different and enjoyable this time” in a ridiculous and convoluted way lol
Thank you for the review!
It sounds more up my alley than 16 (which I liked!) was. Love mini-games and explorations and non-linear plots.
It has a striking 93 on MC for what it’s worth…I see the dry PS5 2024 continues after TLOU2, GBfabtasy Relink and Hell Divers 2: such a bleak, bleak year for PS.
Just can't get into these games atall.....also think these are the kind of games that just usualy just get automatic 9s and 10s from most places (looking at you metal gear solid 5) and all the issues get ignored....so surprised to see it get an 8 and nice that alot of the draw backs aren't ignored for once
@Sil_Am Lmao no it's not atall
@ShogunRok are there any missable weapons/materia? I’m assuming chapter select is a thing post-game. I’m more meaning like missable “gear” you can’t go back and grab easy
@Nei don’t forget we still have at least Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin. Bleakest of all bleak years 😂😂 2024 has been great so far though for real
Assuming the textures are better than the original... then who cares?! It's open world FF7 Remake time! Cannot wait.
@Rangers420 that's the way.it's seen these days. People say starfield flopped and it scored over 8. Days Gone was panned, scored 7.
@Areus The download is a massive 148GB.
@gymratAmarillo wasting money? It scored 93 and is a early favorite for the game of the year 😂😂 if that's them "can't make big games anymore". And making games that suck. I'll take it every day of the week 😂😂😂😂😂
@Fiendish-Beaver It's action but you pick your special moves and magic spells from a command menu that basically pauses time while it's open. Best way to describe it is a hybrid system between classic Final Fantasy and action RPG.
@CthulhuFhtagn Maybe, it's always hard to predict until the game's at least a few years old! I think a lot of these more modern Final Fantasy games tend to have story moments that age quite badly, but we'll see...
@Splat Hmmm, I didn't really notice my DualSense running low more often when playing this. I suppose it is quite intensive, though. There's a lot of varied haptics, even during cutscenes and stuff.
@CWill97 That's a good question. In terms of weapons, they're very hard to miss. They're always in the purple treasure chests, and the chests tend to be in plain sight of the next story objective. I never missed a single one of them in my playthrough.
What's more, you can actually go and buy any weapons you somehow missed from weapon shops.
Materia is slightly different. I don't think there are any outright missable materia, but you find it all over the place. Rewards for quests, rewards for combat simulator challenges, and you can buy it.
People acting like an 8 is disappointing is pretty wild to me, some of the best games are rated 8/10, the score just indicates the game might have some shortcomings which most do. No reason to not dive in or lose the hype you had initially
The pacing issues mentioned here worry me. I’m playing Remake now, and often get annoyed by the plodding, slow pace.
My expectations were so low for Remake because it was hard to imagine Square pulling it off taking into account their large titles leading up to release. They pulled it off.
For Rebirth, I expected more of the same of what Remake did, which sounds like it is. I'm not here for a groundbreaking, genre defining, game of the year title.
I want a solid gaming experience with the characters I know and love, that soundtrack, those big story moments, and continue to expand on the foundation FF7 left. Day 1 for me.
Thank you, @ShogunRok...
I doubt the side quests can be any worse than FF16, which were generally the worst and an embarrassment to the genre.
I've decided to become a professional Final Fantasy VII Rebirth player.
This is in no way cooling off my excitement for Rebirth with it still being one of my most anticipated games in a long time, but how Square Enix is struggling with their graphics engines this gen is baffling.
I'm wondering if Remake actually looks just as good as this. That ended up looking pretty nice overall when ported to the PS5, so to see 2 PS5 exclusive games in a row from Square Enix have rough looking performance modes is ridiculous. In no way should this be even discussed about games developed specifically for the PS5 at this point in the console generation.
All the people complaining dramatically about ff16 and Remake quests have been playing P3 Reload? Because bring me Pine Resin and Muscle drink were really compelling and moving side quests that redefined the genre 🙄
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@Nei You've got a point, but the side quests in Persona aren't really side quests in the traditional sense. They're more just like additional objectives that you can complete while you play through the game anyway.
But yeah, maybe the broader conversation here is that side quests could be much better across most RPGs. The Witcher 3 is still the gold standard — and by some distance.
I only have one question, does the prologue trophy pop for those who played the demo?
@danzoEX I don't know, sadly. I played through the whole prologue again to see if anything was different to the demo. You would hope that it does, but there's obviously a chance that it might not.
@UltimateOtaku91 metacritic doesn’t matter!
Only Pushsquare, Nintendolife and PureXbox reviews matter 😜
@ShogunRok was anything different in the prologue?
@ShogunRok Great review. Did you find it took long to get back into the swing of things with the combat system? I was playing the junon demo on normal but kept getting smashed by the enemies. Then the amount of information being thrown at the player was just too much to remember.
Anyway, can't wait to get stuck into this game!
@danzoEX There's a small scene that happens before the stuff from the demo, but it's the same aside from that. If you want to skip the prologue, you watch that opening scene, and then you can choose to skip.
@Rob_230 It did take me a while to readjust to the combat, but I think that's more to do with me reviewing so many other games recently. I was almost treating it like a full-on action game (after playing Granblue Fantasy: Relink!) which is obviously a recipe for disaster. Much like Remake, you want the commands to do the heavy lifting while you play a mostly patient game of quick attacks and blocking.
I also think the demo skipping straight to Junon skews the difficulty curve a bit. There's an entire open world section before that which is designed to ease you back in.
Thanks for confirming I should wait for the PC version
"Some truly crap side quests" 😂
It's a shame they felt the need to go the 'more is more' route, rather than letting the emotional depth play out and keeping it trimmer. Especially given a lot of people would likely replay it, for trophies or otherwise.
I've enjoyed the demo a lot, not surprising the full game turned out well. I also like Remake so this is definitely a day one buy.
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@Arnna He/She says under a review
@johncalmc the bulk of this seems to be faithful to the original then the ending goes full kingdom hearts and in my opinion has completely ruined the story for this game
The Pros and Cons listed make this sound more like a 7 to me.
@Nei
Agreed mate. The vast bulk of reviewers who rated this game thought much higher of it (93 meta critic from 120 reviews), and comments in regards to side quests were that they did them to to become more involved with the characters which made the game more moving and made you feel like you were part of a family.
This seems to be in common with FF16, which had a bunch of side quests of no real import, but made you feel more attached to the characters. I thoroughly enjoyed them as I play games for the involvement of the story as well as to bash some bosses, and I suspect many other fans will too.
I love and support this site, but rarely take any notice of the reviews as they are often well out of step with others and time has shown I disagree with the bulk of reviewers here - they do not represent what I will get from the game and so these pieces are of limited value. All perspectives are good though if you wish to have a valid overview, but this review score is the lowest the game has received from any site, and though others have scored it an 8, its less than %10 of the reviews have gone this low. Its clearly an outlier score that doesn't agree with most of its peers, which is fine, but puts it in perspective.
I know I'm going to love and get lost in this game, didnt play the demo for that reason, but who knows, maybe once I have I'll think' Push got it right'. I highly doubt I will share this view though, time will tell!
@ShogunRok
You have literally just described what side quests are, it just so happens that developers have got much better with it.
i think too there is definitely a difference between wrpg & jrpg side quests so bringing in Witcher 3 (which does have brilliant side quests) doesn't seem fair, or Fallout 3 quests, Oblivion etc. Mainly because they're essentially non mainline story quests that you are partaking such is the personal reflection in to the character that you get in wrpgs, this isn't prevelant in jpgs and certainly contributes to them not being of the same quality.
It sounds like P3r has absolutely dire ones that should be better.
Although I do agree side quests could an perhaps should be better across the board.
Or perhaps, flag ones that do not have any remote bearing on characters or to the plot? Or flag ones that do?
For example, FF16's final batch of side quests felt pretty critical to experience to keep you attached and caring about the characters.
@ShogunRok you might have answered this already but how crucial is it to play FFVII Crisis Core Reunion before Rebirth?
@Odium I wouldn't say its crucial. Crisis Core does give you a much better idea of who Zack actually is, but outside of that, so much of Crisis Core's story has very little bearing on what actually happens in FF7 and this remake trilogy.
I think it's probably worth playing Crisis Core if you've got the time, but I wouldn't worry at all about skipping it. You could even just watch the cutscenes on YouTube and you wouldn't be missing much.
@ShogunRok Is the map customizable? I'm hoping I can turn off the icons for all the side activities--not side quests--so I'm not distracted by them when I pull up the map, and then just do the activities I happen upon organically.
@ShogunRok thanks! I had a feeling that was the case but I wasn’t positive. I’ve tried getting into it a couple of times but it hasn’t really held my attention, so I was hoping I could skip it.
@ShogunRok I wasn’t objecting to your review at all, just pointing out that many posters here are overly dramatic: I can think of many, many RPGs that did side quest worse than recent FF. SMT and Persona, for instance, have absolutely dire ones, yet that aren’t scrutinized for not being on the level of the Witcher 3 or BG3, a completely other vibe and form of game.
And while we’re at it: maybe we should start comparing FF16 or FF7R combat and boss fights with The Witcher 3’s (again, one of my faves) since it seems so natural to compare the side quest, let’s do the same with the combat …it is just my opinion but these comparisons are one sided, unfair and serve a ready-made narrative that it’s getting more and more tiresome.
@SlySnake0407 The actual map screen isn't customisable — there'll always be markers on it. However, you can swap between having a compass and a minimap in-game. Both still show objective markers, but you might prefer one over the other.
@Nei No I get what you mean — direct comparisons will always have flaws without additional context. But at the same time, I think you do have to draw a line under certain criticisms, and comparisons are often a good way to create a quick (and easy to digest) discussion.
On the topic of side quests, for me personally, I think the issue with them in recent FF games is that the bad ones actively distract from what the game does right.
In Persona's case, yes, the 'quests' aren't very engaging or interesting — they're basically just fetch quests — but they barely interfere with the gameplay loop. You cross most of them off just by playing the game and not actively pursuing them.
There's a big difference between that kind of design and a proper, more traditional side quest in which you talk to a character, get a background story, do what they ask, and then report your success. The FF7 remakes have a lot of quests that are like this, and some of them are good and interesting — but when they're not, they stand out because you're having to actively engage with them.
For example, there's that first side quest in Remake where Cloud has to find the cats. Granted, it only takes a few minutes, but it's still incredibly basic and boring, and completing it is essentially holding you back from doing something that's more fun (in this case, it's the actual main story).
And when a game like Remake has a bunch of quests like this over the course of the game, they start to add up and it becomes frustrating. It might even get to a point where you just give up on doing side quests.
Hopefully that explains my point of view a bit better.
I have only purchased 2 games at the $69.99 price tag, God of War Ragnarok and this one in the last nearly 30 years.
Oddly enough, the title I purchased nearly 30 years ago that was also $69.99 was FF3 (6) for the SNES.
@Nei Very well said, I came back to the comments to say something similar but you put it far better than I had intended too. I never even thought about the one sided angle of it.
It is strange that they compare the weak aspects of Jrpgs to Western ones but not the other way around. All in all, they're different beasts.
@Cloud39472 preach it!
Great review,and has made me even more excited for it. The first one had that sense of wonder that playing the original for the first time, and it seems the follow up has that sense of sheer size when you walk out of midgar and realise there is a whole world to explore out there.
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@ShogunRok I commented yesterday ripping into Square Enix for not being able to properly optimize two straight PS5 exclusives' Performance modes. Then the thought hit me hours later that maybe the review copies were all out without the Performance mode upgrades that the demo patch provides. I've yet to play the demo as I want to wait for the full game, but does that demo patch actually address many of the problems with the Performance mode for Rebirth? A bit long winded, but thanks in advance.
@danzoEX @ShogunRok Yeah dude their score system is a complete failure, this review was really negative too, kinda worries me about the game a bit haha - hopefully this reviewer was just having a bad week and was force slogging himself through the games content for working purposes instead of enjoying it like the 99% of consumers who will use product.
@KilloWertz Sadly that same patch was applied to the full game (that we reviewed) and it didn't make a huge difference.
I don't know the exact details, but the update seemed to make Performance mode slightly less blurry. Whether it's just straight-up increased the resolution or whether it's some kind of filter (or removal of such), I'm not sure.
But again, it wasn't a very noticeable improvement — and I basically played the whole game in Performance mode.
@JeffreyBowser We did give it an 8/10, it can't have been that negative!
@Triumph741 I reported you to the spoiler police! Be prepared for them to knock your door!!
@gymratAmarillo not sure about Ff16, but remake sold quite decent, no? Sure, there is a huge influence of nostalgia, but to say now SE is not capable of doing big games anymore and Sonys wasting money is a little harsh.
Let me edit my comment after I played Rebirth, though 😎
Shame about all the fluff. I was reluctantly pushing through the last chapter's side quests on Remake as they were frankly crap. Shame there's so much more of it here.
I don't have much free time for games and I'd much prefer a 30hr game than a 100hr game for the sake of it.
Really couldn’t stand how much padding was added to Remake so sad to hear it’s more of the same in that area. Don’t understand the need to make a game a billion hours long. I’d rather have a great 20 hour RPG that’s a banger from start to finish than a 40 hour game where half of it is boring AF.
@ShogunRok Did Square Enix pull a KH move and made that weird spin-off mandatory to follow the story?
@RenanKJ Not that I know of (thankfully!).
@Triumph741 Because considering this is a AAA game from an absolute almost no miss powerhouse production company based on an immortal legend of a game and series, an 8 seems like a bit of a red flag for either the game (we'll see) or the reviewer's taste. I'm definitely surprised by the score but I guess most of us are going to see for ourselves. An 8 won't mean it's a bomb, but yeah, I was definitely not expecting that. It's supposed to be a remake, and somewhat better spiritual successor to the original. How would anyone not think 8? "Oh... yikes, now I'm a little worried"???
I just preordered the soundtrack. It'll arrive in April apparently, so a nice addition to look forward to after playing the game a while!
Ps5 showing its GPU age, it wasn't powerful enough at launch we need a Pro version that isn't cut down third tier GPU at launch. It's equivalent to a 2070 in terms of what it can actually show on the screen in frame rates and quality. It's just too underpowered for 4k.
@tselliot it's the most negative review on the Internet. This review is appallingly negative paragraph after paragraph, there is clearly issues within Push Square's review structure that needs to be addressed. Rebirth being in the same basket as FoamStars, Suicide Squad, Skull and Bones is a large disservice to all readers of this outlet and all potential customers on PS5. I am beyond dissatisfied with Push Square since 2020 and will no longer consume their material.
Why have SE not made additional content available? There were a few minor preorder incentives, a bang average deluxe and then nothing else.
Do SE need reminding that the original came out in 1997, making a huge audience of 30-40 somethings who can clearly spend more than £60 in 4 years on this franchise. Huge missed opportunity, and genuinely disappointing for fans too.
"It should be included in the game". I disagree entirely. The game is already stupidly large for the price. Give us some extra content to pay you for SE. Perhaps then you can keep your staff employed...?!
And where's the merchandise?! Collectable cards, a poorly written book or two, OK an excellent OST (but not until April?!) and... why is there nothing else to buy?! Not even an official walkthrough guide?!
How much money is SE leaving on the table? Absolute madness. They should be milking this moment but they've literally done nothing! This release was always the moment to go for it. SE have completely missed the boat. Foolish.
Wow, so glad this game is as good as Metal Gear Online according to the Review score!
So can I have fun playing Final Fantasy now that it’s no longer turn-based? It is no longer turn-based, correct?
@AhmadSumadi
It hasn't been turn based for 18 years.
Let's be real here if they made FF7R just a better looking the FF7 game would have been done ages ago. Maybe throw in the new controls and a few extras I would have been way more happy. The original was fantastic already and it did not need all the extra padding.
@Denni5m Something like Rachet and Clank did it better ages ago as a release date game. It took them less time too. I think it's just a not so good optimised game.
@E5115271 The just should have updated the Graphics and controls and be done with it. The original was a fantastic game on itself.
@Flaming_Kaiser
You should stop posting same things in different topics multiple times.
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@PinderSchloss
Already announced multiple times this is a three part remake. Would have been easy to google.
@NightshadeNL Yeah and FF16 wasn’t going to have any updates and DLC yet here we are.
I give up. I've played about 17 hours now, and it's just a chore to play. If they had cut down on all the padded and unnecessary crap, then they might have been able to finish the story in this one...
I enjoyed Remake, but even that one had issues.
But none of them as bad as in this one.
And the amount of nonstop dialogue, is driving me nuts, during combat.
I think I'm done with this franchise.
Only on chapter 4, but so far it's feeling like a big improvement over Remake.
Combat is subtly improved quite a lot, and the pacing seems to be a lot better regarding how often you are forced to do the slow-walking and listening to characters talk stuff. I would regularly play remake for 15 minutes chunks where nothing fun seemed to happen at all - this one seems much better balaced in that regard.
And since the latest patch, perfomance mode is still a little soft, but improved to the point it's not causing me eye strain (like the first version of the demo was doing quite badly for me).
@ShogunRok I just finally got around to playing infinite wealth and being the petty person that I am, I had to come back and say that you straight up lied to me.
The mini-games in Yakuza are far more intrusive and distracting than anything in Rebirth. Dondoko Island? I have to play animal crossing before I can get back to playing the game I paid for? Or how about the bicycle mini game? Where I had to play it despite the game even admitting to my face that I had the money already, but it's going to force me to do it anyway.
The amount of times Infinite Wealth derails the main game for some whacky misadventures is staggering compared to Rebirth which just makes the conversation we had months ago completely baffling to me.
If Rebirth is padding it's main story with mini-games (which a majority of can be skipped, like the queens blood tournament) then Yakuza is doing it in spades. Can't believe you defended that the way you did. Yakuza's mini-games don't "exist alongside the main story" they literally are part of the main story at times.
I have at least to praise this review for being one of the most honest out there. In my opinion this second part is one of the most overrated games in recent years.
Loved the original game on PS1, liked the first one (REMAKE) for the most part, and tried to like REBIRTH as much as I could, but I'm giving up on this just after 40+ hours of playtime: for me it's a bloated mess full of nonsense.
The open world sections, which are the 70/80% of the game, are so repetitive that you can lose interest in exploring just after few hours (after Junon/Corel in my case). The story advances so slowly that at times you simply lose yourself in wondering what really is going on apart from following the men in black cloaks. Main characters are being ridiculed (Cloud fighting with an umbrella? Red XIII moon-walking? Seriously?) as often as they can, while the dark/oppressive atmosphere that enveloped the original (and REMAKE) is totally lost with all those cities, turned into tourist-like centers, full of cheerful peoples incessantly chatting at you at every step... not to mention that frustrating characters that are Chadley and MAI continuously interrupting the adventure for ridiculous matters. And then mini-games come in to give the final blow to the pace of the game, which was already low due to the aforementioned problems. And let's be clear, I liked the card game, one of the few appreciable mini games I've tried.
The best parts of this game are combat system and graphic which is beautiful, but why no one talks about how bad physics is in this game? It's shameful, almost as it was done in a predefined and limited "Game Maker".
I leave this comment for posterity, do yourself a favor, play the original or at most try it well before throwing your money into a work devoid of soul and respect for the fans who have long awaited it.
5/10
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