Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: Impressions from the first 30 Hours

Since it looks like the playtime for the newest Final Fantasy is going to be in the 150-200 hours range, I thought it would be good to get an impressions piece out now, saving the full review for when I eventually get the Platinum trophy.

Minor story spoilers up until roughly midgame, gameplay spoilers throughout. Reader discretion is advised.

I did intend to do more prep work for the release, playing through Remake again as well as the DLC Episode Intergrade, but wanting to avoid overexposure/burnout and just running out of time – I settled on just playing Intergrade (Since I never actually reviewed it, it was alright – could have taken or left it really). A scare regarding potential loss of save file meant I did put the game down for a couple days, but the urge to come back was too strong and I managed to salvage my file, only losing a tiny bit of progress around the Midgard Serpent boss fight. Since then, I have progressed through the game, I am on Chapter 8 of I believe 14, in the third of the seven explorable areas, the desert/mountain region of Corel.

I’ve not played the original Final Fantasy 7 (At this point I’m choosing to wait until the third part of the remake saga has released). I bring this up because while I know the original game was split over three discs, I don’t know exactly where each disc cut off (Though I believe the remakes are following suit, with Rebirth being Disc 2). Regardless of where they split, each disc was designed to be played consecutively, whereas due to the scale of the remakes and the four year gap between them – this isn’t possible. The developers at Square Enix have had the challenge on their hand to balance the game relevant to the story as well as its existing content in the first game. I think they’ve done a fair enough job, if you consider Rebirth a sequel to Final Fantasy rather than specifically part 2 of Final Fantasy 7. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter.

Having escaped the confines of Midgard, we are let loose into the wider world. While Remake did have its more open zone areas such as the Sector 7 Undercity and Wall Market, they pale in comparison to the spaces the player can explore in the world. While there are smaller more compact level sections like the first game – Mythril Mines, Mt Corel, Junon City to name a few, they are split between the open zone areas. I’ve seen complaints online about these sections, and I do get it – it’s the Ubisoft template, down to the literal towers you scale to unveil points of interest on the map. It probably also doesn’t help that so far, the three zones I’ve explored have the same number of each objective, meaning the sameiness can settle in. Personally, I don’t mind a tiny bit of busy work, and for the most part the things you’ll find are okay.

Each open world section has 6 towers, 6 unique enemies that unlock a unique boss when beaten, a Moogle House, 3 Mako Springs, Three Summon Shrines and a Photorelic challenge that changes from region to region (For example, the first two are hunting down Beck’s Bandits and games of Fort Condor respectively). The Mako springs are a bust, having a slow QTE does nothing to stimulate the brain, same goes with the easy memory puzzles of the Summon Shrines. The summon shrines get a pass though thanks to how the game presents Summons – When you reach a new region, you can fight the Summon in Chadley’s arena, but they’ll be mega tough. Completing a shrine makes the boss easier and your summon of them stronger, incentivising you to do it. Having Chadley run his mouth after every activity gets tiring too. The Moogle houses however are just fun, and the Ape Escape like minigame makes me smile.

I’ve used the M word there, another contentious topic – a one I feel is being massively overblown. As with Remake before it, Rebirth features a lot of mini games – Total Wipeout with Frogs, dolphin riding, Piano playing to name a few. Pundits online have said these break the pace of the game or ruin the atmosphere, despite Remake and Rebirth being some of the campiest games I’ve played. Personally, I like the minigames and don’t see a problem. I don’t know if the issue is in the presentation of some of these sections, because if they weren’t minigames they’d still be sections different to normal gameplay.

Party size was initially a little intimidating, with access to 5 different characters to be in your three man party. This of course fluctuates and even blossoms to 6. Thankfully the game offers XP to those not in your party and ‘Team XP’ that raises the team level as a whole. Admittedly I’ve stuck to my core three of Cloud, Tifa and Barrett but occasions where I have to use Red XIII, Aerith and Yuffie are fine too. Everyone plays perfectly okay at worse and really fun at best.

I could talk about more, but I want to save my opinions on the Story, Characters and Combat for the full review. So far though, very good game and I’m enjoying it a lot. Full review will not be out until April, maybe even May so stay tuned for when it releases!