Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: A Sequel in Disguise

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second installment in the reimagined trilogy, is a testament to the power of continuity and evolution. While it may initially appear as an extension of its predecessor, Rebirth is brimming with new ideas that promise to make Cloud and co’s upcoming journey a genuine sequel rather than a full-priced expansion.

The opening section of Rebirth recreates the Nibelheim Incident flashback from the original game, a crucial slice of Sephiroth’s backstory that reveals the main reason for his villainy. This scenario plays out similarly to what was experienced in Remake, a linear trek through a simple environment elevated by exceptional combat and character work. The structure in Rebirth is appreciated, as it was in Remake.

However, it is in chapter two where Rebirth begins to distinguish itself. Freed from the restrictive streets and corridors of Midgar, the party is set loose in a large open world of rolling grasslands and towering trees. The demo did not clarify if the continent is made up of large segmented zones or a genuine, seamless open world. Nevertheless, the sizable region in this demo chapter feels much more expansive and authentically natural than the areas seen in Final Fantasy 16.

These zones initially seem empty but are soon filled with activities plotted on the map by remnawave towers. These towers offer a variety of tasks that can be undertaken as distractions from the main storyline. Unfortunately, I did not have enough time to fully explore these side quests, but they include hunt-style battles and item salvaging. While they may not be Rebirth’s most compelling feature, they do promise worthwhile rewards, such as upgrading the combat simulator, which in turn unlocks new summon materia.

The grasslands area that extends around and beyond the small town of Kalm is not an exact replica of the world in the original Final Fantasy 7, but it nonetheless feels authentic to that game. Lush forests harbor the Chocobo Farm, which is once again managed by Bill, Billy, and Chloe. The verdant grass gives way to gloomier swamplands terrorized by the monstrous Midgardsormr, the renamed but still-infamous Midgar Zolom snake. As in Remake, all of this covers a significantly larger and more detailed area than the same region of the original game, turning what were once minutes of play into hours.

Simply getting around these zones feels more freeing and smooth thanks to the improved movement that allows Cloud to easily hop over small and mid-sized obstacles and a basic climbing mechanic. It’s not exactly Uncharted, but this added element of ‘outdoorsiness’ provides an enjoyable sense of adventure. Add in the expected Chocobos for fast, feathered trips, and you’ve got a strong basis for wider exploration.

Of course, those wide open zones are home to more than just trees and flowers. There’s plenty of enemies roaming the world, and Remake’s exceptional combat returns. This time around, you have the freedom to arrange your party however you wish, choosing a trio from your recruited pals. You can put together three different parties and switch between them on the fly while exploring, allowing you to have pre-arranged setups for different scenarios. Spotted a large beast in need of a battering? Get your melee-focused Cloud-Tifa-Red XIII party ready and dive in. Are flying monsters lurking in the skies ahead? Just cycle to your ranged Cloud-Barret-Aerith team and you’re good to go.

Red XIII is now a fully-playable companion, acting as an agile attacker who can build up combos of claw swipes. He also has a Vengeance gauge, which builds with every successful block and can eventually be triggered to boost his attack power and dodge speed. But a new character isn’t the only added layer to the combat – alongside the character combo synergy abilities which return in an enhanced form from Remake’s Intermission DLC, there’s now a whole skill tree system that allows you to build out a character’s strengths beyond just their Materia choices. Remake felt like a sweet spot for Final Fantasy combat and character crafting, so it remains to be seen if Rebirth has perhaps overloaded it with too many extras, but right now I am excited to learn its tactical depth and breadth.

While shocking stabbings, amazing airships, and weird weapons are what the original Final Fantasy 7 is best remembered for, one of my favorite things about the PS1 classic is its variety of goofy minigames. Remake established the new trilogy’s dedication to that eclectic variety of gameplay types with things like the motorbike chase and Honey Bee Inn dance number. I am pleased to see Rebirth has a whole new slate of weird oddities to entertain us. A collectable card game called Queen’s Blood, in which you lay cards in a trio of lanes in an attempt to claim the highest score, hopes to steal the hearts of Triple Triad fans. Out in the fields, you must outwit Chocobos in a humorous stealth sequence that has you weaving between patches of long grass and throwing rocks as distractions. And once you’ve snuck up on and caught a chocobo, you can indulge in a bit of chocobo time trial racing.

None of these activities are pinnacles of gameplay design, but that’s not the point; the weird diversions from the standard explore-fight-upgrade loop were what made the original Final Fantasy 7 so flavorful, and I’m pleased Square Enix recognizes that. Not all of the new experiments land, though; I’m hoping the one where you push a slow, heavy vacuum around to suck up toxic mako fumes is a one-and-done.

Rebirth promises to continue in style this worthwhile reinvention of one of history’s landmark RPGs.