I've played Final Fantasy VII Rebirth almost every single day during the month of March and boy do I have a lot to say about it and I have no idea where to begin.
First off, I don't usually spend 100+ hours playing games. I did not expect Rebirth to be this vast. I expected it to be bigger than Remake but Rebirth is on a whole other level. It's a massive game. And that's it's biggest strength and also it's biggest weakness.
I really enjoyed the open world aspect of the game for the most part. Listening to the 10/10 soundtrack while riding a Choboco and mowing down fiends was always fun and something I looked forward to doing (except in Cosmo Canyon. All the homies hate Cosmo Canyon). It goes become quite repetitive early on so the variety that new environments brought were always appreciated. So exploring the world was a big thing that I enjoyed. Rebirth instills this massive feeling of adventure from the get-go and I love that about it. I always felt like I was on this epic quest with a fun party.
Speaking of the party, the interactions amongst the core cast are another highlight of the game. They're at their best when they're bickering or being goofballs. Which happens A TON in the side content, which is why it's worth playing as long as you're having fun. Yuffie especially has protagonist energy throughout the game. Her kit is by far the most complex and rewarding to play and the narrative of the game places her front and centre often, as it should. The other newcomers, Red IX and Cait Sith, are good as well, but are nowhere as endearing as Yuffie. Still, they're fun additions to the crew and I enjoyed them.
The gameplay remains as solid as Remake's was. This battle system is so fun and rewarding to play. But Rebirth's main addition is a shit ton of minigames. I lost count how many there are lol. Some are good, some are great, and some are terrible. It's a real mix of a ton of stuff. There's even a card game called Queen's Blood that I got way too into. I think at least 20 hours of my time on Rebirth is playing Queen's Blood. Although, it eventually got pretty easy once I built a deck that I was comfortable with. So yeah lots of minigames.
Too many minigames even. There comes a point in Rebirth where the minigames, the activities, hell, even the story stuff, just become too much. It's an extremely dense and vast game and it's often not to it's benefit. I barely mentioned the overarching story so far because it's basically a whole lot of nothing. The Dinkleberg Sephiroth plot is not very interesting. Even the Nomura stuff here just feels like Kingdom Hearts at home. The game ends up focusing a ton on Aerith who's just not that interesting (and also sucks to play as during her sections).
It's weird because I was never really motivated to keep playing for the story. I was motivated to keep playing to see more moments where my party would do goofy shit together. I was motivated by the exploration and discoveries I'd make during my travelsAnd that's when Rebirth is at it's best. Even though a lot of the open world has Ubisoft design elements to it, it's still really fun to play. Most of the time.
I probably sound quite harsh on the game but I truly had a lot of fun with it. For a whole month, the world of Final Fantasy VII was a world I looked forward to existing in and being a part of. I'm really underwhelmed by the main narrative but I'd still recommend the journey to those who are willing to invest themselves in it. I'm really stuck in between a 3.5/5 and a 4/5 for this one. I can't decide. I'll let myself come back to change it to whatever one sticks with me when I give the game some distance.
First off, I don't usually spend 100+ hours playing games. I did not expect Rebirth to be this vast. I expected it to be bigger than Remake but Rebirth is on a whole other level. It's a massive game. And that's it's biggest strength and also it's biggest weakness.
I really enjoyed the open world aspect of the game for the most part. Listening to the 10/10 soundtrack while riding a Choboco and mowing down fiends was always fun and something I looked forward to doing (except in Cosmo Canyon. All the homies hate Cosmo Canyon). It goes become quite repetitive early on so the variety that new environments brought were always appreciated. So exploring the world was a big thing that I enjoyed. Rebirth instills this massive feeling of adventure from the get-go and I love that about it. I always felt like I was on this epic quest with a fun party.
Speaking of the party, the interactions amongst the core cast are another highlight of the game. They're at their best when they're bickering or being goofballs. Which happens A TON in the side content, which is why it's worth playing as long as you're having fun. Yuffie especially has protagonist energy throughout the game. Her kit is by far the most complex and rewarding to play and the narrative of the game places her front and centre often, as it should. The other newcomers, Red IX and Cait Sith, are good as well, but are nowhere as endearing as Yuffie. Still, they're fun additions to the crew and I enjoyed them.
The gameplay remains as solid as Remake's was. This battle system is so fun and rewarding to play. But Rebirth's main addition is a shit ton of minigames. I lost count how many there are lol. Some are good, some are great, and some are terrible. It's a real mix of a ton of stuff. There's even a card game called Queen's Blood that I got way too into. I think at least 20 hours of my time on Rebirth is playing Queen's Blood. Although, it eventually got pretty easy once I built a deck that I was comfortable with. So yeah lots of minigames.
Too many minigames even. There comes a point in Rebirth where the minigames, the activities, hell, even the story stuff, just become too much. It's an extremely dense and vast game and it's often not to it's benefit. I barely mentioned the overarching story so far because it's basically a whole lot of nothing. The Dinkleberg Sephiroth plot is not very interesting. Even the Nomura stuff here just feels like Kingdom Hearts at home. The game ends up focusing a ton on Aerith who's just not that interesting (and also sucks to play as during her sections).
It's weird because I was never really motivated to keep playing for the story. I was motivated to keep playing to see more moments where my party would do goofy shit together. I was motivated by the exploration and discoveries I'd make during my travelsAnd that's when Rebirth is at it's best. Even though a lot of the open world has Ubisoft design elements to it, it's still really fun to play. Most of the time.
I probably sound quite harsh on the game but I truly had a lot of fun with it. For a whole month, the world of Final Fantasy VII was a world I looked forward to existing in and being a part of. I'm really underwhelmed by the main narrative but I'd still recommend the journey to those who are willing to invest themselves in it. I'm really stuck in between a 3.5/5 and a 4/5 for this one. I can't decide. I'll let myself come back to change it to whatever one sticks with me when I give the game some distance.