Rebirth maintains its character-driven narrative, introducing a new depth to combat, yet it falls short at crucial times.
By Tamoor Hussain on February 22, 2024 at 10:02AM PST
At the close of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Cloud finds himself at Destiny’s Crossroads. Sephiroth has ripped a hole in reality’s fabric, and a formidable doorway into an uncertain future awaits. This intimidating notion is further emphasized when Aerith suggests that the forthcoming phase in their journey will require a “change greater than fate itself.” This hinted at Square Enix’s audacious approach, which implied that their remake of this much-loved video game narrative might not meet avid fan’s expectations or desires. A moment of shared apprehension follows between characters and players alike. On the brink of stepping through the portal, Tifa quizzes Aerith, “What lies on the other side?” Aerith answers, “Freedom. Frightening, limitless freedom.” And she was right.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a game centering on the clash between destiny and freedom, coupled with a delicate equilibrium between authorship and agency. Utilizing game mechanics that encourage exploration, Rebirth allows players to uncover the surrounding world and navigate through it. The story delivers an engaging narrative on the damaging effects of natural resource exploitation and the human-inducing factors behind drastic environmentalism. Yet, the narrative is bound to end in very particular ways. The balance between contrasting philosophies is seldom perfect, as seen in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – a game recognized for its many hours of player agency but disheartening during the brief hours that pen the series’ fate.
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While the events of Remake were confined to Midgar and largely linear, Rebirth pushes back the borders to allow players to explore new horizons on their terms. Across 60-plus hours, Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, Barrett, and a few other party members follow in the footsteps of the mysterious pale-skinned and dark-robed individuals briefly encountered in Remake. Despite their inability to communicate beyond pained groans, they play a key role in tracking down Sephiroth and preventing him from destroying the world. Their slow march forwards sets the group’s path through the various locales in the game.
The journey starts in the verdant fields of the Grasslands just outside Midgar, a stark contrast to Remake, which takes place predominantly amongst the greys of a city constructed from industrial machinery and oppressed by the Shinra Electric Company. The Grasslands teem with life, with cosy homesteads to discover, Chocobo ranches to visit and perilous wetlands to navigate. Each environment in the game is vividly brought to life, complemented by an invigorating orchestral soundtrack with recognisable musical motifs. The Grasslands perfectly embody the sense of openness that Rebirth aims to distinguish it from the previous installment, while simultaneously emphasising the enormity of the imminent task.
Heading next to the lesser known parts of Junon, we find a transport hub situated in the shadow of Midgar. This place owes its existence and opportunities to Shinra’s mako siphoning industry, though it’s also hindered by it. The beautiful red rocks and impressive geological formations of Cosmo Canyon, along with the lush jungles of Gongaga, exemplify the planet’s beauty and the possible harmonious coexistence with nature. Costa Del Sol serves as a laid-back tourist hotspot while Gold Saucer is a glaring symbol of extravagance built on exploiting valuable resources.
The journey between these areas includes traversing risky mythril mines, sailing on cruise ships, cable car rides, and other transport means that connect these regions, creating a feeling of a unified world. The transitions between them become noticeable especially when transportation becomes freely accessible by land, sea, or air. But this doesn’t pose a challenge, as they are significant enough to generate an overwhelming sense of grandiosity. Each region is unique in aesthetics, and continuity is maintained through narrative-driven routes. Although not an open world in a traditional sense, the sheer magnitude certainly makes it feel like one.
It may be more suitable to say Rebirth comprises open zones, with activities typical of open-world games. However, what makes Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth extraordinary is its execution of known design templates to reinforce key game themes. It all hinges on World Intel, a database that returning character and genius Chadley uses. Completing tasks and generating world intel enables Chadley to improve and enhance Materia, items that provide magic abilities and skills to characters.
The game play loop involves locating Remnawave towers, ascending them, and activating them to reveal more nearby activities. These activities include combat assignments, treasure hunting at excavation sites, battle powerful enemies, explore sanctuaries, or gather resources. At first glance, it appears to be the mundane Ubisoft formula that many have grown weary of; nevertheless, its deployment is more considerate than it looks.
Final Fantasy 7’s narrative focuses on the environmental devastation caused by a parasitic corporation’s excessive extraction of mako, an essential life-giving energy. The remake takes a closer look at this theme, showing the human toll taken by Shinra’s operations and how this has given the company total control over society. Many citizens have their lives devastated, a fact we see through the eyes of Cloud. This angle justifies the seemingly radical actions of Cloud and Avalanche, who essentially become environmental guerillas. The player is led to sympathize and connect with them as they are portrayed as fighting for justice and the betterment of society.
In contrast, Rebirth broadens this perspective, revealing that the battle also happens to be for the future of the whole planet. The game needs to illustrate that the stakes are way bigger than Midgar and how Shinra’s activities have flipped lives around worldwide. It achieves this goal successfully, helping the player obtain a better understanding of the world. The game asks players to investigate their surroundings, which aids in building mental maps of each location. Various activities exist to further strengthen the connection to the world, rewarding players with character growth and tangible rewards.
The game introduces lifesprings, which are places where the lifestream forms as raw, elemental mako. Prior to this, mako was only viewed as fuel. However, the areas surrounding the lifesprings abound with flourishing nature and resources that players can utilize for making healing materials. These aspects underline the precious life-giving energy of the lifestream and mako. Excavation sites call for players to use a Chocobo to unearth buried chips that can be used for equipment forging, helping the player to see what cost the planet pays for Shinra’s progress. Combat assignments involve defeating fiends, providing players with extensive information about the creatures that helps deepen knowledge of the game’s ecosystem.
Players have the opportunity to summon legendary fighters in the combat simulator. However, these summons are incredibly difficult to conquer, dealing harsh damage and sometimes even wiping out the entire party with a single attack. Mastering these summons requires considerable patience and skill. Meanwhile, other in-world activities involve finding Sanctuaries containing knowledge about these mythical beasts. Gathering information from these sites makes the summon battles more accessible. This strategy effectively converts a routine action into an activity that is both story-relevant and valuable from a gameplay perspective.
Finding activities in the game might be challenging, as they are often hidden in dark corners of the map or placed high on structures that need climbing. However, through clever in-game signposting and guidance, the game helps direct players without making it too simple. There are Springseeker owls that will guide you to a lifespring, comparable to the foxes in Ghost of Tsushima. To find fast-travel points, a cute baby Chocobo will guide you to Chocobo Stops that you need to repair to them operational again. As you unlock towers and complete activities, you generate intelligence points that Chadley can use to create new materia or improve existing ones.
The gameplay in these activities often repeats across each area and rarely takes unexpected detours or adds a unique touch, so it’s significant that there’s not a single part of the Rebirth overworld activities that feels unnecessary or pointless. Whether or not you enjoy these activities depends on personal preference, but to me, they always felt valuable. Every activity involves a gameplay system that is influenced by its completion, creating a compelling activity-completion loop in a region. This frictionless experience offers meaningful rewards and contributes to a sense of progress. It also creates a connection with the game world and adds weight to the overall goal of saving the planet.
Remake united a diverse group of people with the common aim of stopping Shinra. But that was a process of discovery that involved peeling back the layers on each member of Avalanche to understand what they’re fighting for and why. In doing so, the group became closer, existing friendships were strengthened, and new ones were formed as they decided to fight for their future. At the critical moment at Destiny’s Crossroads, Aerith asked her friends for help to end the lifestream’s suffering and save the planet. As she said “I know that, together, we can do this,” it reveals one of the core themes of the Final Fantasy franchise: the power of people working together. This theme is also emphasized in Rebirth’s gameplay, specifically in its combat systems.
The gameplay in Rebirth is largely similar to Remake; it is a well-designed combination of responsive action game mechanics and thoughtful turn-based strategy. This hybrid was a standout feature in Remake, and it’s even better in Rebirth. The game now focuses on the synergy between characters, adding dynamism to combat and introducing new mechanics. Every character has a standard attack that can be repeated, but special actions are controlled by an ATB bar divided into segments, and abilities, spells, and item use all have a cost. In Rebirth, the ATB bar fills up slower, making individual fights tougher. However, the introduction of synergy skills, combining efforts of multiple characters, can accelerate the ATB bar charging process.
Free to use repeatedly, synergy skills may be either offensive or defensive. While they are not significantly damaging to win any battle on their own, they hold utility in other areas such as rapid ATB regeneration. Aerith, for instance, is able to briefly call on another character to shield her from imminent danger, providing her an opportunity to use an item or cast a spell without interference. Cloud can augment his sword with the destructive force of Tifa or the magic of Aerith to deliver an amplified overhead strike, moderately enhancing the damage dealt. Mastery of these synergy skills is crucial to achieving victory in battles.
Rebirth imposes more rigorous demands on players compared to Remake, thus increasing the level of difficulty. The pressure and stagger system from the previous installment is still present, but achieving a pressured or staggered state in opponents requires strict utilization of their weaknesses, as it is more challenging to push enemies onto the back foot. Moreover, enemies are more formidable in this edition, making it essential to use the Assess ability to distinguish their vulnerabilities and counteract as swiftly as possible. Executing synergy skills to rapidly build ATB bars is crucial for casting elemental spells, enhancing other abilities, or setting teammates up to do the same. Furthermore, usage of certain typical abilities marked with an icon contributes to the activation of a much potent synergy ability. Once the needed amount of synergy is attained by two characters, they can unite for an elaborate cinematic move that not only looks spectacular but also inflicts substantial damage and applies buffs.
Characters Cloud and Tifa are able to unite for an attack called Relentless Rush, during which Cloud propels Tifa toward the enemy allowing them both to launch a simultaneous attack. When used on a staggered adversary, it extends the duration they remain in that state. Red XIII and Barret come together for an attack called Overfang, where Barret hurls Red XIII towards the enemies at high velocity causing damage and simultaneously enhancing their limit levels, enabling faster access to the mighty limit breaks. The usage of synergy abilities also increases their cost over time, encouraging variation in their usage to ensure readiness in shifting the battle dynamics if needed.
Rebirth’s combat follows a tested structure, incorporating established and fixed systems. However, with the introduction of synergy, the game generates scenarios where careful strategies need to be executed. This enables absurd combinations of abilities that are on the verge of breaking the game but are highly engaging. So, the skill ceiling could be fairly high for those who desire to extreme the systems. Nonetheless, the battles transition from freeform action to combat puzzles, paced with demanding and mindless combat, which improves the gameplay experience. Basic button-mashing attacks could sometimes be beneficial until a spell is ready to be fired.
Witnessing characters depend on one another incessantly and engage in vigorous exchanges as they overthrow adversaries brings a thrilling novelty to the combat experience, affecting its mechanics, feeling, and visuals. Utilizing the circumstances of the Remake and the numerous fights these characters have collectively encountered, it emphasizes the bond within the party, thereby creating an impactful narrative and becoming the pivot of its combat, which denotes a subtly brilliant move. This is yet another remarkable implementation of the concept that themes can be utilized to enhance gameplay mechanics.
The Rebirth also inherits the advancement systems from the Remake. Characters level up by accumulating experience in battles which in due course develops stats like attack and defense. Additionally, AP is synthesized which aids in leveling up the materia, reinforcing the intensity of magic and unlocking superior tiers of spells – the only method to use the firaga spell is to ensure the fire materia is advanced, for instance. Also, weapons have exclusive competencies that, upon usage, enhance your familiarity with the said weapon. Having mastered, the weapon’s unique capability can then be utilized even when not held.
A novelty in Rebirth includes weapon abilities and the Folio system. The preliminary represents an opportunity to unlock distinctive weapon skills by elevating the overall weapon level. These skills can be inserted into weapons the same way as materia, and they offer various bonuses such as amplifying stats, enhancing the efficiency of character-specific states, or promoting magical abilities. This brings in a diminutive enhancement in the sense of progression. Folios are theme-based manuscripts designated to each character: The Art of Swordplay for Cloud, Way of the Fist for Tifa, Sharpshooter’s Companion for Barret, and so on. With each level ascension, skill points are made accessible and can be utilized to identify a style for characters by unlocking particular stat boosts or gauge behaviors. For instance, the creation of a defensive tactic for Cloud can amplify his damage resistance ability or concentrating on rapidly filling the limit bar can transform him into an offensive powerhouse. Although the system lacks open-endedness for numerous potential builds, it is relatively easy to unlock most upgrades, despite the temporal costs. Thus, it is beneficial to concentrate on a specific build and modify for the situation by resetting and reallocating the points. The Folio also unlocks additional synergy abilities and elemental spells that are conducted using ATB rather than MP. While this might seem insignificant, securing the availability of an elemental spell to anyone manifests the importance of exploiting weaknesses.
The principal question ahead of Rebirth’s release was how it would manage its narrative and character development, and specifically, if it would modify how the story was initially played out. For the most part, it does not adopt any dramatic changes, maintaining the broad storyline post Cloud and Avalanche’s exit from Midgar. Rebirth do what Remake did and accentuates the narrative that was previously not possible, deeply exploring its characters. The objective of finding Sephiroth and saving the world is pushed to the backdrop and left suspended for major portions of the game allowing the main cast to seize the spotlight, and it works impressively well.
Remake offers vague allusions to backstories, and while Cloud is the prime mover of the narrative, the mercenary’s transformation from a self-serving fighter to a team player remains the highlight. Now, Cloud almost plays a secondary character, giving the stage to others except when Sephiroth is involved. His story is chiefly presented from Tifa’s perspective, his old friend but now a close confidante. Tifa has a firm knowledge of Cloud’s obscure past and supports him when he falls prey to Sephiroth’s manipulation, leading to several touching scenes. Tifa’s own tragic past, losing her father due to Shinra and Sephiroth, enriches her character. Notably, these background explorations enhance the characters by humanizing them. Despite her moments of vulnerability, Tifa demonstrates her inner resilience, matching her outward strength.
Barret’s hometown visit sees him transition from an outspoken, optimistic Avalanche leader to a submissive, self-doubting individual burdened with remorse. His heartbreaking past, unveiled over time, explains his commitment to the planet’s cause and his defiance against Shinra. Barret, a family man, struggles with an overwhelming sense of accountability, revealing the reality beneath his self-assured façade. Red XII’s equally devastating history comes to light when he revisits Cosmo Canyon, offering a deeper understanding of his character and his family’s influence on his people’s legacy. These characters benefit from the careful construction and respect that match their high standing in the gaming universe. Final Fantasy 7’s characters are widely cherished, and Rebirth fortifies this sentiment.
The dialogue may sometimes veer towards unnatural or clumsy but if one embraces the heightened drama, the unapologetically earnest characters, with their amplified personalities, set the stage for memorable scenes. Cloud delivering a motivational speech to Shinra soldiers, egged on by Aerith and Tifa, is one such event revealing a hitherto unseen side of his character, a deviation from the stereotype of a gruff, sulking, sword-wielding hero. Rebirth sparkles with these insightful character developments, surpassing any superficial awkwardness.
Interpersonal relationships between characters get an impetus from their individual backstories. Each party member shares a bond with Cloud which strengthens with dialogue options and, crucially, with side quests. Various regions in the game have people needing assistance. Despite being lackluster from a gaming angle, these quests introduce a positive diversion. Friendly interactions enlighten us about Shinra’s global impact, drawing from diverse ideologies and viewpoints. The preponderance of tragic tales involving Shinra is balanced by narratives inspiring optimism and persistence, highlighting instances of finding pleasure in life’s simplicity or employing the land’s resources judiciously.
Cloud often partners with another character during side quests, which helps to deepen his bonds and flesh out their characters. These moments also underline Cloud’s transformation from a detached mercenary to a caring friend. This change is evident in a scene where Cloud sincerely promises to be there for someone, a contrast to their interaction in the Remake. The persona growth is encapsulated in the level of bonding Cloud shares with the characters which later influences the choice of character he spends quality time with. Rebirth is infused with humor, mostly evident in the side quests. The humor derives from the witty writing, comedic delivery, absurd situations, and high jinks. The game also capitalizes on self-reference; for example, Fort Condor morphs the art style into the pixelated character models of the original version but in high resolution. This art style graces other parts of the game as well, each appearance a joy to see.
The main story, however, lacks consistency and lacks the conviction of its delivery. Complications arise from the game’s pacing, largely attributed to the middle parts aping too closely to the original Final Fantasy 7. These parts of the game are either distractions or mere fillers. What begins as an engrossing narrative, grinds to a halt as the characters take up multiple vacations and trivial pursuits. Crucial plot-moving moments, introduction of characters, and heavy emotion scenes are commonplace, but they’re held ransom by the gameplay. The emotional tenor of these moments are diluted by the tiring repetitions needed to access them.
Gold Saucer acts as an accurate representation of these issues. While it’s a nostalgic scene from the original game, its new incarnation serves as a container for various minigames. The party characters do indulge in pleasure and fun sequences, which are decidedly video gamey, however, these moments are roadblocks to the narrative progression and cannot be skipped. The minigame experience replaces the main story, which may lead to feelings of irritation as hours are spent on carnivals, beach frolicking, or chocobo racing while the world faces impending doom.
Despite my fondness for minigames and acknowledging Gold Saucer’s iconic status, the time I’ve spent on Queens Blood – a captivating card game – affirms that a good distraction is not the focus. The contrast to today’s sophisticated storytelling opportunities has made the experience of navigating through a confusingly designed theme park, just to get back to the open world and main quest, quite compulsory. This diversion happens often enough to strip the minigames of their whimsy and disrupts pacing significantly.
Final Fantasy Rebirth shines in its individual stories, making up the majority of its gameplay and narrative composition. However, it often stumbles in the moments that should have the major impact on the progression of the story. The overall experience wasn’t spoiled, but it left me somewhat concerned about where the story might be headed.
The idea of a reimagined Final Fantasy 7 that pays tribute to its roots while also carving a fresh future is captivating. Yet, the foundation laid in Remake and its implications potentially steer the story into a maze. Indeed, that’s exactly what occurs in the concluding segments of the game. It does not do justice to a character, crucial to the plot. Despite the disappointing delivery, the potential for fascinating narrative developments emanating from Square Enix’s concept is evident.
One particular watershed moment, has often been speculated, and its resolution proves to be quite convoluted. An unforgettable, heart-wrenching moment in the original Final Fantasy 7 had a profound impact on the way many perceived video game characters. However, its portrayal in Rebirth is puzzling, detracting from several characters, blurring their defining traits, choices, and motives. Particularly, Aerith’s defining moment is lost amidst this narrative disarray. Additionally, at one point, the story progression and a character’s behavior didn’t align with my past decisions. While some might find meanings where I didn’t, being forced to decipher a tangled storyline wasn’t an appealing prospect for me once the journey concluded.
Despite its narrative flaws, Final Fantasy Rebirth triumphs in building an excellently designed gameplay that induces a sense of autonomy and rewards exploration. It refreshes the satisfying combat by emphasizing character synergy. Irrespective of its responsibility to live up to a storied legacy, it proves to be a deserving second chapter. Looking ahead, it’s going to be interesting to see how Square Enix wraps up the story in the third and final part. Much like Destiny’s Crossroads, the future remains uncertain and open-ended.
