Insane game, one that succeeds so strongly at expanding upon Remake that it makes that game feel more akin to a prototype than anything else. Rebirth is an absurd, maximalist experience that seems deadset on taking even the smallest details of the original game and stretching it into a massive undertaking, feeling like a game that entirely reveres its original version while constantly poking fun at it throughout. Nothing here feels like an attempt to replace, nothing here wants to undercut what the original game did, it all just feels like a massive, 100 hours love letter to one of the most beloved games out there, but one that’s not afraid to make so many decisions and alterations that would piss people off in theory, only for them to be handled with such grace (or sometimes lack thereof) that it becomes a joyous sight to watch unfold. Cannot quite remember the last time I was as engrossed in a game as I was here either, just nonstop grinning from me, despite the fact that it’s as long as it is.
One thing that I feel definitely flew by me a bit in Remake that now makes a lot of sense is the fact that a lot of the systems in that game were handled in a somewhat clumsy thanks to the structure of Midgar necessitating a the majority of the game taking place in setpieces with no way to return to, often being a linear foray into one way roads, being an especially notable issue with the Moogle Medals an how long it took to be able to spend them, only to then need to wait for a ton of time before having another opportunity. Everything feels as if it was designed with Rebirth at least somewhat in mind from the start, and Remake simply ended up suffering a tad out of necessity, but it results in this game feeling far more cohesive and tightly designed.
The combat is the biggest glow up of them all however, playing similarly, but with enough key differences to more strongly encourage players to fully engage with all of its intricacies instead of default to a couple of strong moves. This is most notable in the way that it feels as if there is a lot more incentive to be swapping between characters, both thanks to the increased complexity of a lot of encounters, and due to the synergy abilities that have been added in, leading to a moment to moment gameplay experience that punishes you more harshly for refusing to properly engage, but rewarding you so much more when you do. The synergy abilities also play hand in hand with this game allowing you to use 3 party members almost all the time, with different ones being available depending on your party composition, making it far more interesting to mix and match, experimenting with different playstyles while also getting to see so many goofy attack animations that epitomises the game’s heightened flashiness. Each character’s moveset has been tweaked to feel more situational, but infinitely more powerful in said situation as well, making them feel more distinct from one another and a lot more fun to mess around with, knowing how strong everyone can be as long as you know what you’re doing.
A lot of other details contribute to this as well, with the core moveset shared between all characters, such as a more effective rolling animation and the ability to negate damage entirely by blocking at the right time, facilitating a faster pace to the combat without making it feel frustrating in most cases. There’s a good balance of blockable and avoidable attacks and instances of it being inevitable that you’ll get hit as well, making these real time action elements just one component of how the game plays without completely ditching the feel of a more traditional JRPG.
I’m very fond of the changes this game chose to make when compared to the original as well, less so because I didn’t like it there, because I very much did love how sparse and lonely everything felt in it, but because of how this walks the fine line between keeping things faithful while knowing when to go entirely off the rails. This perfectly understands the nature of the original FF7’s contrast between seriousness and comedic nonsense, but dials everything up a lot, with more indulgent sequences being met with comedy that reaches levels of purely unhinged nonsense at every turn. There are very few stretches where this game can refrain from being hilarious and often downright nonsensical in the grand scheme of things and I’m all for it, given the sheer variety of ways which this is accomplished. Sometimes you’ll get a full-length scene based off something that was little more than a one off joke in the original, at other points, you’re admiring how Red XIII looks entirely out of place in any situation he’s in while he’s just there, trying to act like a regular human while falling horribly short because he’s just a cute little puppy, and you’re constantly being subjected to minigames as well.
These minigames are my favourite part of how the game handles tone thanks to how hard they commit to the bit. There are so many different gameplay styles to be found here, each of them fleshed out just enough to be engaging, often having fun little twists to them that really appeal to me. The Queens Blood card game implemented here is my favourite of these, being a card game with a surprising amount of depth that makes deckbuilding a wonderful time, while also including a wild side story that runs alongside the entire game. There was almost never a moment where I felt as if I could predict what I’d have thrown my way next in this regard as well, with there being a nonstop onslaught of curveballs that had me genuinely exclaim “oh, surely not” aloud more than once, grinning at the same time.
The greatest benefit of increasing the scope of the middle portion of FF7 like this however, lies in the wonders it’s done for the already great character writing that the original had. A lot of the core plot points revolving around each character’s dedicated section are kept largely similar, but the swathes of dungeon crawling and dead air in between core narrative beats are now also peppered with cute interactions that manage to almost always serve to further reinforce the writing surrounding the main cast, with even the most inconsequential of details effectively characterising without getting repetitive. This effect is most felt in Red XIII and Cait Sith, the latter of which going from someone I wanted to kill with rocks into possibly my favourite character here. While the rougher edges of a lot of the cast have been sanded down a tad to make them all feel more approachable, I’d say it works well in this instance due to how much has been put into making the party feel like a unified cast who all care deeply for one another, which in turn makes the road trip vibes that a lot of the game gives off feel utterly immaculate. The pacing here is very, very slow in a lot of cases, but in a way that works well due to this, very rarely feeling as if there’s any serious momentum as much as it being a fun adventure with a group of friends who want to explore the world.
I finished this game a few days ago and still find that the majority of my brain space is taken up with warm thoughts about it, sure, the narrative towards the end gets pretty messy due to the sudden increase in intensity that makes the final few hours feel like a bit of a poorly built up blur, and Sephiroth is unfortunately a bit less engaging to me in the remakes than I’d have hoped (still cool nonetheless, also he’s hot so he can get a bit of a pass), but even so, my adoration for this is extraordinary. A remake with nothing but earnest love for the source material that fires on all cylinders all the time, even if it sometimes misses, an absolute sight to behold from start to finish.
One thing that I feel definitely flew by me a bit in Remake that now makes a lot of sense is the fact that a lot of the systems in that game were handled in a somewhat clumsy thanks to the structure of Midgar necessitating a the majority of the game taking place in setpieces with no way to return to, often being a linear foray into one way roads, being an especially notable issue with the Moogle Medals an how long it took to be able to spend them, only to then need to wait for a ton of time before having another opportunity. Everything feels as if it was designed with Rebirth at least somewhat in mind from the start, and Remake simply ended up suffering a tad out of necessity, but it results in this game feeling far more cohesive and tightly designed.
The combat is the biggest glow up of them all however, playing similarly, but with enough key differences to more strongly encourage players to fully engage with all of its intricacies instead of default to a couple of strong moves. This is most notable in the way that it feels as if there is a lot more incentive to be swapping between characters, both thanks to the increased complexity of a lot of encounters, and due to the synergy abilities that have been added in, leading to a moment to moment gameplay experience that punishes you more harshly for refusing to properly engage, but rewarding you so much more when you do. The synergy abilities also play hand in hand with this game allowing you to use 3 party members almost all the time, with different ones being available depending on your party composition, making it far more interesting to mix and match, experimenting with different playstyles while also getting to see so many goofy attack animations that epitomises the game’s heightened flashiness. Each character’s moveset has been tweaked to feel more situational, but infinitely more powerful in said situation as well, making them feel more distinct from one another and a lot more fun to mess around with, knowing how strong everyone can be as long as you know what you’re doing.
A lot of other details contribute to this as well, with the core moveset shared between all characters, such as a more effective rolling animation and the ability to negate damage entirely by blocking at the right time, facilitating a faster pace to the combat without making it feel frustrating in most cases. There’s a good balance of blockable and avoidable attacks and instances of it being inevitable that you’ll get hit as well, making these real time action elements just one component of how the game plays without completely ditching the feel of a more traditional JRPG.
I’m very fond of the changes this game chose to make when compared to the original as well, less so because I didn’t like it there, because I very much did love how sparse and lonely everything felt in it, but because of how this walks the fine line between keeping things faithful while knowing when to go entirely off the rails. This perfectly understands the nature of the original FF7’s contrast between seriousness and comedic nonsense, but dials everything up a lot, with more indulgent sequences being met with comedy that reaches levels of purely unhinged nonsense at every turn. There are very few stretches where this game can refrain from being hilarious and often downright nonsensical in the grand scheme of things and I’m all for it, given the sheer variety of ways which this is accomplished. Sometimes you’ll get a full-length scene based off something that was little more than a one off joke in the original, at other points, you’re admiring how Red XIII looks entirely out of place in any situation he’s in while he’s just there, trying to act like a regular human while falling horribly short because he’s just a cute little puppy, and you’re constantly being subjected to minigames as well.
These minigames are my favourite part of how the game handles tone thanks to how hard they commit to the bit. There are so many different gameplay styles to be found here, each of them fleshed out just enough to be engaging, often having fun little twists to them that really appeal to me. The Queens Blood card game implemented here is my favourite of these, being a card game with a surprising amount of depth that makes deckbuilding a wonderful time, while also including a wild side story that runs alongside the entire game. There was almost never a moment where I felt as if I could predict what I’d have thrown my way next in this regard as well, with there being a nonstop onslaught of curveballs that had me genuinely exclaim “oh, surely not” aloud more than once, grinning at the same time.
The greatest benefit of increasing the scope of the middle portion of FF7 like this however, lies in the wonders it’s done for the already great character writing that the original had. A lot of the core plot points revolving around each character’s dedicated section are kept largely similar, but the swathes of dungeon crawling and dead air in between core narrative beats are now also peppered with cute interactions that manage to almost always serve to further reinforce the writing surrounding the main cast, with even the most inconsequential of details effectively characterising without getting repetitive. This effect is most felt in Red XIII and Cait Sith, the latter of which going from someone I wanted to kill with rocks into possibly my favourite character here. While the rougher edges of a lot of the cast have been sanded down a tad to make them all feel more approachable, I’d say it works well in this instance due to how much has been put into making the party feel like a unified cast who all care deeply for one another, which in turn makes the road trip vibes that a lot of the game gives off feel utterly immaculate. The pacing here is very, very slow in a lot of cases, but in a way that works well due to this, very rarely feeling as if there’s any serious momentum as much as it being a fun adventure with a group of friends who want to explore the world.
I finished this game a few days ago and still find that the majority of my brain space is taken up with warm thoughts about it, sure, the narrative towards the end gets pretty messy due to the sudden increase in intensity that makes the final few hours feel like a bit of a poorly built up blur, and Sephiroth is unfortunately a bit less engaging to me in the remakes than I’d have hoped (still cool nonetheless, also he’s hot so he can get a bit of a pass), but even so, my adoration for this is extraordinary. A remake with nothing but earnest love for the source material that fires on all cylinders all the time, even if it sometimes misses, an absolute sight to behold from start to finish.