In an era where everything feels meta Square Enix's Final Fantasy VII Reverse Take a refreshing approach. I say this after playing over 200 hours in the last month and accomplishing everything in the game. This is the best video game I've ever played. Mainly because it includes mini-game samples of many other fun games, but more importantly because of the nostalgia of late 90's millennial video games.This is the game I've always wanted – fully immersive Final Fantasy VII It means that you feel true joy in playing. It's not just unemployment. It's not just about covering or following the latest hits. This is a game built on happy and often unpleasant moments and fighting against obvious evil.
The current review doesn't do justice to what I and everyone else has already said about what this game means to the industry. As for myself, I'm not alone in thinking that this game reflects the way we feel about video games. Final Fantasy VII Reverse I think it's not only a good experience, but also a necessary experience at this moment in our world. When everything feels self-referential and story-wise he's becoming META or IP-driven. Fantasy VII Reverse It may be based on Square Enix's most famous IP, but it's evolved with the times, and more importantly… addressed some worrying losses. This is an experience that I can really relate to as I am approaching middle age. I too have watched several friends die over the past five years.
Here I begin this review by emphasizing the importance of the message of this review. The concept of saving the Earth from its own fate due to pollution caused by corporate greed. This lesson feels more relevant than ever. This quest to stop a great evil (Sephiroth/Jenova) created from the by-products that was destroying our planet in the first place. That's how the game addresses this issue by seeing not only the hero, but the core of all the characters in the game itself take action. People who are motivated to come together to change lives.
Much of this theme is explored in the game's great writing, which features character arcs for literally everyone in the game since the FF7 remake, including every NPC you've met since the beginning. It's shocking how many stories, growth and depth there are for character arcs, from Shinra's middle managers to members of Avalanche's Yuffie DLC team. Everyone is on their own quest, and Cloud and his friends help them grow and change.
As for the main cast… there are a lot of characters who get by by the end, but most get arcs with backstories about their hometowns. How these journeys unfold is a beautiful spectacle of powerful emotions forming even more powerful beliefs, a sort of genesis of love and loss between all the characters. Cloud and Tifa, that is their Nibelheim origin and their tragic first encounter with Sephiroth. Of course, Aerith faces her ancient destiny.
Many of these characters' journeys are tied into exploring the wider world in order to stop Sephiroth. What's amazing is the design of each town and landscape, and how it responds to the modernity and technological capabilities of the evolving era, but at the same time destroys the surrounding environment. Whether this is revealed in Settra's ancient history or a moment of metaphorical tragedy in a play without love, these scenes in Rebirth are breathtaking moments, and this game There are so many of those scenes.
Still, the story is not without its confusing moments. Complaints about the ending are justified, as the alternate reality/multiverse story confuses viewers in the age of “everything everywhere at once.” This leaves a lot of room for interpretation when it comes to the final chapter, but the team has a lot of work to do for the finale.
In addition to this, his unreliable narrator's approach makes the game's ending even more confusing, as Cloud is losing his sanity, just like in the original. Especially about the large, unexplained crack in the sky. Just like in the original game, I now realize that this may also be Meteor himself, albeit his Rebirth's new take on an impending threat.
Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth also takes liberties with the story of Nibelheim and Cloud and Zack's roles within it, and is free to decide how and why. Especially when you find out who is still alive and who has left now and re-entered the lifestream by the end of this game. The biggest question about this is, what will happen to Aerith? Without giving away any spoilers, the game's approach not only gives the viewer a glimmer of hope, but also complete chaos.
That being said, I think this game is worth playing over and over again because there's so much world building. You can see how things have been built from the beginning, along with hints that only make sense once you know the bigger vision of the game. This will surprise the viewer on the second run (later chapters have many reveals hinting at earlier chapters that you may not have understood).
When it comes to gameplay, this game is simply beautiful. Soft tones and vibrant lighting emphasize the grandeur of your adventure. Graphics mode is better than performance, which is something I don't say often. I prefer games with smooth 60 FPS action sequences, but since the game still uses Unreal Engine 4, the standard game engine from the previous generation, I found it a bit cumbersome in performance mode. The graphics were better than the performance, especially considering the abundance of cinematic cutscenes.
Some balances were also created for the game. All of Tifa's quick stagger and combo approaches have been scaled up, and the combat mechanics have been changed to encourage more strategy involving all characters in the party. Hard mode and several endgame challenges with Chudley's Battle Simulator make combat more difficult and challenge you to combine the best materia and ability combos.
The combat system combines both abilities and spells to generate synchronized cooperative attack points. Consuming this adds temporary additional bonuses such as additional his ATB, unlimited his MP, longer stagger, and better limit breaks. In addition to this, there are a lot of different strategies on how to build your team, especially once you unlock more weapons and items.
One of the main improvements to the game is the ability to traverse a new world map. Packed with monsters, side quests, optional boss battles, and unlockables, it's currently difficult to get from one end to the other without a chocobo or transportation. In addition to this, the map is scaled to fit the environment. You can see things like Callum with the grassland in the background, and Junon and its very large Mako cannon in various parts of the ocean.
Finally, the final addition to the gameplay is item conversion, which adds some crafting and collecting fun to the overall level. Transmutation is a way to create and upgrade equippable items and potions based on loose materials found in the world's environment. It's also a fun way to collect resources in the world. If you're playing for the first time, you'll often stumble upon items or areas that interest you.
The game is also littered with cute Easter eggs, from conversations with NPCs to cute little details like Chicobos resting together at Chocobo stops. Truly, this game is one of the greatest feats of video game design I've ever seen.
Perhaps the biggest feature is the game's sound. Rich voice cast It does a great job of making us empathize with the characters. There are also cameo appearances by prolific characters such as. Alejandra Reynoso (Cipher, from “Castlevania”) Earl Bailon (Jonah from Tomb Raider), all of which are accentuated by music composed by Mitsuto Suzuki and Masashi Hamauzu, based on a score by Nobuo Uematsu, a leading Final Fantasy composer.
Now, this is a game that's all about side quests, from Gold Saucer to numerous mini-games around the world, such as Chocobo's Treasure Hunt and Queen's Blood. The mini-games take up a lot of the player's time because they are mini-games, and actually callbacks to so many video games throughout history.
For example, musical piano playing games are similar to the classic rhythm games of DDR. Run Wild is very much Rocket League, and even Queen's Blood features a story very similar to the popular children's card game Yu-Gi-Oh, complete with its own version of the Pharaoh/Queen.
The minigames aren't without their problems either. Chocobo's flight was boring with a fixed camera, and Chudley's brutal challenge felt overkill. Some of the summoned bosses (I'm looking at you Odin) felt more like punishment than a good use of the combat system. This was all because they were trying to create a similar gameplay style to compete with Souls-lite and Elden Ring.
Even as a platinum chaser, I don't enjoy the brutal and legendary challenge. These battles were more difficult than Sephiroth, and a single mistake would be punished mercilessly. Even with the struggles towards the end, I believe this is a near-perfect video game with plenty of replayability. I wish trying to get everything it has to offer didn't feel like a punishment.
Overall, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is a perfect lesson in how to create a fun single-player adventure world game with a great story. What is surprising is the loyalty to the story and the message of saving a dying planet that everyone shares. I sincerely hope all gamers get a chance to play this game. I believe this game retains the original that inspired it, which is widely regarded as one of the best games of all time.
