Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, for all intents and purposes, feels like everything the game industry should be avoiding right now: clunky open world exploration, repetitive objectives, and janky traversal made up a lot more time than I would usually be able to tolerate. However, it never was never random. There is so much stuff that the systems and landscapes almost feel incomprehensibly vast, but its scope always remained meaningfully gigantic and encouraging. The sheer variety of ways to interact with the world, no matter how stiff or seemingly unnecessary, is inspiring and ridiculous and funny and lively and so much more. The vast majority of excursions, mandatory and optional, tie into what ultimately came together as a more than welcome delay to the inevitable end.
Unlike other remakes, FF7R (in its eventual entirety) makes it abundantly clear that it is not meant to replace the original. If anything, the source material is deified. The thematic emphasis on what it means to follow and defy fate implies a diegetic understanding of how each character's arc ends. The nebulous tides of fate has a schedule for everyone's homecoming and it will do its damn best to keep things going according to plan. The lack of control in the flow of time contributes to the tone having an air of nostalgia beyond just the "hey look at this old thing we made new again" kind of way. Understanding that all of these characters come from less than pleasant backgrounds and that the end is near for some of our most beloved members, fills the screen with an ineffable "time of our lives" vibe even if they are crawling through the depths of hell to save the world from itself. The game is jank, but if spending a minute too long figuring out how to climb a rock means that the gang can stick together for just a little longer, then I am ok with that.
FF7 Rebirth's character growth comes from becoming acutely aware of each character's flaws. At this point, the player knows how the cast operates, so Rebirth takes advantage of this by stretching each personality to their extreme, to see where their unflinching heroism falls apart. At times, it hurts to watch. At times, you almost root for a character's downfall. But altogether, these moments of reflection and change drive this game's heart of gold.
Unlike other remakes, FF7R (in its eventual entirety) makes it abundantly clear that it is not meant to replace the original. If anything, the source material is deified. The thematic emphasis on what it means to follow and defy fate implies a diegetic understanding of how each character's arc ends. The nebulous tides of fate has a schedule for everyone's homecoming and it will do its damn best to keep things going according to plan. The lack of control in the flow of time contributes to the tone having an air of nostalgia beyond just the "hey look at this old thing we made new again" kind of way. Understanding that all of these characters come from less than pleasant backgrounds and that the end is near for some of our most beloved members, fills the screen with an ineffable "time of our lives" vibe even if they are crawling through the depths of hell to save the world from itself. The game is jank, but if spending a minute too long figuring out how to climb a rock means that the gang can stick together for just a little longer, then I am ok with that.
FF7 Rebirth's character growth comes from becoming acutely aware of each character's flaws. At this point, the player knows how the cast operates, so Rebirth takes advantage of this by stretching each personality to their extreme, to see where their unflinching heroism falls apart. At times, it hurts to watch. At times, you almost root for a character's downfall. But altogether, these moments of reflection and change drive this game's heart of gold.