Even if you are already familiar with the legendary tales of Cloud’s adventure, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth somehow manages to invoke a soothing sense of freshness. Positioning itself as the second entry in a trilogy that reimagines the much-beloved overarching narrative of the 1997 classic, Rebirth is no mere remake as it expands the adventure with a modern take, a large explorable world to sink your teeth into and a story retold in a new light.

The narrative of Rebirth directly picks up after the events of the previous entry, Final Fantasy VII Remake – following Cloud and his party departing from the megalopolis of Midgar and venturing towards the Forgotten Capital. You know the premise, moody Cloud on a journey to stop the tyranny of the Shinra Electric Power Company and the haunting presence of his arch-nemesis Sephiroth as they weaponized the Lifestream.

If you somehow missed out on the story of the previous entry or decided to skip it, fret not, as Square Enix has incorporated an in-game feature that summarizes and retold the story of Remake at your convenience. This is great, filling you in necessary details so you can embark on an exciting adventure without being clueless or feeling obligated to play through Remake first.

Aerith or Tifa

Even after 20 years, Final Fantasy VII’s story still fills you in with a sense of awe and Rebirth further elevates it, giving characters we know and love more developments, scenes, and love. With a more expanded world and the inclusion of side quests, the realm of Final Fantasy VII is more realized than ever. Each town has more going for it, you can really feel the culture and the background of the world as you stroll through each region.

Not only is the main story being retold with a modern sense of realization, with elements that further enhance the narrative rather than subtract from it – but character relationships are also greatly strengthened. No longer did the narrative go by bit by bit, blindly following a script. The story can now shift in various directions, all affected by the bond between Cloud and his friends.

The relationship system affects scenes in the main story, depending on the closeness of each character. Special moments can also be triggered, certainly strengthening replayability especially as you choose Cloud to be close to either Tifa or Aerith in different playthroughs – something that would get many fans excited if they are part of the age-long war of who is the best girl in Final Fantasy VII. Furthermore, this system also affects the party level and the new synergy system, adding more depth to combat alongside story moments.

Let’s not forget the side quests, which dare I say Final Fantasy VII Rebirth might have some of the best side quests in gaming. Every region is packed with a good variety of side quests, all well-designed and unique in their own way while also being fully voice-acted for wonderfully immersive experiences.

The voice acting, both English and Japanese, in this game is just phenomenal and a clear step up from Remake, where awkward voice acting is nowhere to be found anymore. But unlike Final Fantasy XVI, which has a setting closer to medieval Europe, thus more immersive with English voices – I much prefer playing with a Japanese voice for Rebirth. This is, of course, personal preference, but Toshiyuki Morikawa deserves a highlight for his performance in portraying Sephiroth.

A World to Remember 

One of the biggest talking points when moving into Rebirth is that it is expanding the world of Final Fantasy VII with a massive open world to explore. With an open world, the game also comes jam-packed with side content, from the usual monster battles with conditions tied to them to treasure hunting, the search for the series’ iconic summons, and so on.

The way the open world map works in Rebirth would be familiar to most. Find a “tower” in the overworld, interact with it and the surrounding area will be revealed, unveiling various side activities such as Combat Assignments, Lifesprings, Summon Crystals, and many more.

Although each region has similar side activities, they do have their own unique flair to them. For instance, Grassland felt ordinary at the start, but once you enter Junon, there are special Chocobo that can climb steep mountains for you to ride. Meanwhile, the Corel region allows players to use a Segway as a means of transportation while rocking some spicy swimsuit, or perhaps descending from a high mountain using a zipline.

Even traveling between regions is special in its own way. There is a sense of realism for added immersion. You can’t fast travel from one region to another as transportation is needed. From Grassland to Junon, you would have to hop on a Chocobo Carriage. Meanwhile, the Corel region requires you to travel by ferry. It is truly worth appreciating how Square Enix chose to not make the traveling formulated and repetitive, highlighting each region’s uniqueness.

Although even on normal difficulty, Rebirth can be a challenge especially if you have not been grinding up your levels and resources. Healing items are important, and so are Materia upgrades. Even if it is just a little bit, the grind does feel forced and you would have to spend time doing so without progressing the story.

Check Out Everyone’s Folio 

Another aspect that is a step up from Remake is the new character progression system called “Folio”, essentially a robust skill tree for each character where new abilities are unlocked through connecting nodes. To unlock a node, Skill Points (SP) are required and they are earned from leveling up or purchasing a book called Manuscript.

What’s incredible is that each Folio branch offers something special to the character, whether new abilities to cast or the hallmark Synergy Skills to combo up with other party members. Of course, there are also your typical passive stats boosts such as more HP or higher basic attack damage and so on. For a game with extremely distinct characters, the Folio offers quite a diverse range of customization to tune a party member to suit your playstyle.

The Folio system creates a more dynamic and strategic gameplay experience, providing players with a variety of options to tackle specific challenges. Shifting away from the linear progression of its predecessor Remake for more impactful choices and more diverse strategies for battles.

Materia Oh La La 

With Rebirth going open world, there were obviously certain expectations when it came to the progression system as the genre is at times known for having unnecessarily complicated progression. Surprisingly, the way the equipment system works is not much different from Remake, especially concerning Materia and weapons. For Rebirth, each character has 3 types of equipment slots, a weapon, an armor, and an accessory.

The way weapon progression works is roughly still the same as it was in Remake, so if you would somehow want Cloud to ditch his oversized slab of metal of a sword and be a spellcaster – you can load him up with magic-focused Materia and throw him weapons that raises his magic attack. Weapons also come with different unique abilities, making your choice more impactful now.

A neat thing in Rebirth is that weapons can now be auto-upgraded to save time. How weapon and Materia are upgraded stays the same as it was in Remake – the point is that the more you use them, the more their level increases. What’s cool is that the equipment does not have to be used on an active party member to level up.

Similarly, armor and accessories stay similar to Remake, where each gear has stats that can be adjusted accordingly based on your desired character builds. Of course, like Remake, the more Material slots you have, the better.

Crafting a New Swag 

Speaking of equipment there is also a new feature called Item Transmuter, which serves as a crafting system that enables players to use various resources found in the vast open world to create potions and other items. But more importantly, it can also allow you to forge some powerful gear that further bolsters the strength of Cloud and his buddies in the end game.

In all the regions, materials are found throughout for pickup and rarer ones can be discovered through side activities like Lifesprings, defeating certain powerful enemies, side quests, or minigames.

This crafting system adds an additional layer of depth to the gameplay and incentivizes players to be more resourceful as they find ways to approach acquiring valuable items. It certainly rewarding for those who love exploration as some random pickups might become powerful endgame armor later on.

Buster Sword Go Brrr…

If you are coming from Remake directly – for the sequel, instead of overhauling the already terrific combat system, Square Enix opted to keep its core and add to it. In other words, if you are already familiar with the combat system, it is a very easy game to dive into.

The core loop stays the same, you charge up the ATB bar to use abilities, and items while dodging and defending to avoid damage. If you want to use techniques outside of basic attacks, you can open up the Tactical Mode menu, slowing down time and allowing you to select abilities of your choice to cast.

Now, there are customizable party formations in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, marking a significant advancement in gameplay as it allows you to be able to strategically plan your party setups in ways that enhance combat effectiveness and overall immersion. By incorporating this feature, the game not only adds depth to character specialization but also provides a more dynamic element to party management, certainly an enriching experience with an overall nice gameplay flow.

Power of Friendship

While for the most part, the combat system stays similar to Remake, there is still a huge addition that sets the battle dynamic apart from its predecessor and that is the Synergy System. Two characters can now join forces to unleash a powerful attack together in the name of friendship. The first type of such ability is Synergy Skills, which does not require ATB.

For example, Cloud and Barret have a Synergy Skill where Cloud guards with his Buster Sword while Barret goes gun blazing on enemies from the back.

Furthermore, there is the more powerful Synergy Ability which acts like a “Limit” attack but differs in the sense that uses the synergy gauge and is performed by two characters at once, providing special effects to allies besides unleashing big damage. The special effects provided varied and made a significant impact in battle, including temporary unlimited MP consumption, increased Limit Break levels, and more.

Synergy Abilities are just straight-up cool. It adds so many exciting dynamics to the gameplay and opens up more room for strategies as characters combine their strength together for some truly cinematic anime-level flourishes. The emphasis on bonding between characters through increases in Party Level further deepens both the narrative and strategic elements of the game’s experience – a rewarding journey for fans as they explore the world together with Cloud and Co in achieving success.

Admittedly, the difficulty is not to my liking as it can get rather hectic. It is the mix of classic Final Fantasy VII combat with modern action game mechanics but does not feel as fluid as a full-on action RPG. Parries and dodges can feel odd as despite me evading for quite a distance, I would still be hit by enemies, making bosses on normal difficulty quite a challenge.

All in all, the combat design in Rebirth is still extremely engaging with a good amount of customization freedom with a whole load of unique abilities for characters. Its combat may be less fluid if you rely on the action side, resulting in the game losing sight of what makes combat fun for some people.

Chocobo Hippity Hop & Card Duels

Of course, combat takes up a significant part of the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth experience, but the game also comes with a lot of minigames, like a lot. In the early parts of the game, there are already a good amount of fun minigames to engage with; for example, there’s Queen’s Blood, a card game similar to Triple Triad from Final Fantasy VIII.

Aside from Queen’s Blood, there’s also Moogle Mischief, Hustle de Chocobo, Piano Performance, Jumpfrog, Pirate’s Rampage, Run Wild, and Warm Up Crunch Off. These are only a handful of them and there are more to be discovered as you progress.

Although they are optional if you desire more rewards, some of these minigames are mandatory in story progression. Overall, they are a fun addition to the experience, and Hustle de Chocobo is possibly one of my favorites, as it allows you to customize your own lovely and adorable Chocobo and it feels rewarding when you win.

Immerse into Rebirth 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a visual marvel. It has rich lighting that truly brings the beauty of each region alongside high-quality textures that showcase each model in great detail. There is no omega difference compared to Remake, graphics-wise, but Rebirth certainly feels more rich.

There are two graphical modes in Rebirth, one tailored for performance, while the other for those who prefer a visual feast. The great thing is that the graphical modes can be changed without needing to restart the game.

While the options are nice, it is rather disappointing as the Quality mode comes at the cost of a wildly inconsistent frame rate that greatly hinders the awesomeness of Rebirth, especially during tense moments like say, a boss battle. Playing on Performance mode would provide a more consistent performance, but does look blurry.

Made as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, there is without a doubt that the game will utilize the various features on the console for added immersion such as Adaptive Triggers and Haptic Feedback on the DualSense. You can really feel the world as you explore, as you ride your Chocobo, or engage in certain minigames like Pirate’s Rampage. Undoubtedly a truly immersive experience.

Of course, let’s not forget the wonderful soundtrack that packaged the whole experience into a full package. Square Enix has always been great in this aspect, and Mitsuto Suzuki and Masashi Hamauzu have truly composed some masterful scores that will be remembered for ages to come.

Rebirth into a Masterpiece 

The wonders of exploration in a vast open world, an emotional and tense storyline, and upbeat engaging battles – all superbly wrapped in a masterpiece soundtrack, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is truly Square Enix’s magnum opus, one that elevates the original in many wonderful ways.

While initially skeptical about a sequel to an already incredible remake, Square Enix has successfully subverted all expectations and crafted a game that is familiar yet fresh – expanding the world to marvelous new heights with an open world worth remembering.

Yes, Quality graphical mode is a disappointment as it tarnished an otherwise great game with fluctuating awful performance. Combat difficulty can be wild, and some who are more into the story may not find it a fun experience.

Regardless, Square Enix has injected Final Fantasy VII Rebirth with much love and passion, creating a game that gives you great wonders as you explore the relationships of your favorite characters, sink into the rich world of Gaia, and get the hype up as the battle music started jamming. Final Fantasy VII fans, this game is for you.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is slated to launch exclusively on the PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024.

Review code provided by Square Enix Asia and Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 

Publisher: Square Enix

Developer: Square Enix

Release Date: 2024-02-29

PlayStation 5

Cloud and his comrades escape the city of Midgar in pursuit of the fallen hero, Sephiroth. As they travel across the world, they find themselves on a journey that will decide the fate of the planet.