Final Fantasy VII Remake manages to wholeheartedly embrace the quirks and identity of its source material while managing to stand on its own creatively; I think that's a pretty noteworthy achievement. It's so much more than just a shallow attempt to milk the most influential game of all time, despite what some naysayers may lead you to believe.

As for the gameplay, I think it's quite fun. Some very strong and interesting foundations in terms of blending turn-basedesque ATB and real-time action mechanics. It truly clicked with me when I realized I was supposed to play it akin to FFXII with more liberal use of the ATB as opposed to your traditional action-RPG game. Bosses are pretty hit or miss though. Great... when they aren't HP sponges, which is unfortunately 90% of the time.

If Rebirth can match this quality of storytelling while improving the gameplay (I'm hoping the quality of Intermission's gameplay was an indicator), as well as recreating and reinventing the original's best areas and moments, it'll earn a surefire place among my favorites in the franchise.

Reviewed on Feb 05, 2024


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