Video Game Review: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth by Square Enix's Creative Business Unit 1

Not your parents’ Final Fantasy VII

I have to admit to the Final Fantasy faithful that I have never played through the entirety of the original Final Fantasy VII (which I’ll refer to as FFVII). I didn’t have the funds to purchase it when I was a kid, and when I finally had the chance to play it on my PlayStation Vita, it had aged too much for me to enjoy. I was ecstatic to see the gameplay premiere for the remake back in 2015 at the PlayStation showcase. I thought I’d finally have a chance to experience the classic story and feel like my enjoyment wasn’t hindered by twenty-year-old tech. Here’s the thing though, they decided to divide FFVII into three separate entries. What was once a single game spread across three discs is now going to span three games and eight years between releases. Not only that, but this isn’t an exact 1:1 remake, as research/discussions with friends have brought me to realize. I haven’t pushed too far into spoiler territory, but I know things have diverged a bit from the original.

Remake came out in 2020 to great reviews and fanfare. This game takes the initial Midgar portion of FFVII and blows it up into a full game (in the original this section took about 4-6 hours to complete in a 30-40 hour game) and injects action-based combat. Rebirth takes the story up to the 50% mark, if what I read equates with story progress. Though Rebirth covers a broader scope, the world itself, and activities within, are significantly expanded. Some areas in the original that were pass-through areas have been fleshed out to have their own explorable biome. I won’t say which to avoid spoilers, but the point is this, even those who have played the original game haven’t seen it all. Not only regarding story but exploration and gameplay as well.

The most immediately notable difference between Remake and Rebirth is the sheer size of the world and the areas to explore. Being set in a cramped city underbelly as opposed to the rest of the beautiful open world had a significant impact on my enjoyment of the game. Rebirth is an advancement of not only the game’s story but also of gameplay systems and discovery. Though Remake is necessary to understand what’s going on in Rebirth, I can confidently say that Rebirth is a better game all around.

The game is beautiful. From the moment I stepped out into the Grasslands, I could feel I was going to embark on a special adventure. The flora and fauna are gorgeous and fully realized in a high-quality world. The character models are clean and emotive with distinct, memorable features. Without the nostalgia for the original, I can't say how this makes others feel, but if the quality that went into making this game went into a childhood remake that I loved, I would feel that justice had been done to my memory. A lot of attention to detail has been paid around every corner of the world, and though there are occasional moments where the textures aren't up to snuff or the lighting is a bit off, the overall game is done with care for such an iconic franchise.

This stretches to everything from the visuals to the sound. The voice actors put on captivating performances that, at times, feel like I’m watching an animated movie. The scene with Barret and Dyne was fantastic, compelling, and quite emotional. Each of the actors understood the assignment. Though some odd writing quirks pop up here and there, the actors make it work. The sound work is woven together through the incredible soundtrack that hits with such vigor at crucial moments and soothes when the story beat requires it. I have no doubt this will be up for the soundtrack of the year when all the nominees have been chosen. As I type this, I can hear both the gentle piano caressing my heartstrings and the battle music getting me ready for another encounter.

Anyone who has played Remake knows the combat has been completely overhauled. Instead of a slower-paced turn-based JRPG, Rebirth offers fast-paced action gameplay with a little touch of turn-based option to appease old-time fans. By building up your ATB (active time battle) bar, you can slow down the combat to a near standstill to choose your next option. This gives the player time for a breather while they decide which enemy to dispatch. In the options, players can reduce the slow-down effect if they wish to increase their battle speed. The game creates myriad options for players to play with, with several different teammates to choose from and synergy abilities to test out. Throughout combat, players can cycle between the different characters in their party. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Red XIII, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cait Sith are all playable, and each with a unique gameplay style. Each character is lovingly crafted and harmonizes with other teammates to create a truly enjoyable experience with whomever you’re controlling.

Okay, I lied. I did not enjoy controlling Aerith. Her ATB buildup was too slow and I preferred to use her only for healing. After a while, I completely switched her out, which is unfortunate because her utility and stats would have made her a great mage. She simply isn’t enjoyable to play with, but it doesn't mar the overall game considering how many choices are given. What is rather annoying is that you can’t create materia loadouts for your characters. For those unaware, materia are orbs of magic that give your characters certain abilities in battle. I plan on attempting the game on hard mode, which means I’m going to be swapping materia in and out quite frequently. Unfortunately, I will have to take pictures of my materia set up to remember exactly how I want it, and on top of that, have to then move each item one by one. Considering the original FFVII gave players the ability to swap multiple characters’ materia around, I find it odd that they would regress in this area. Who the heck wants to sit and stare at a menu longer than they have to? Considering how much progress they made with advancing the rest of the game, I consider it an odd omission.

Great gameplay, great music, great characters, great visuals… How about the story? Well, it’s great! For the most part. The bulk of the game sees Cloud and company chase down Sephiroth and eventually search for the black materia. This task sends the player all over, from the Grasslands to Nibel, from Junon to Cosmo Canyon. The shenanigans that the story and side-quests rope the player into are memorable. Sometimes pure fun, sometimes emotional rollercoasters. The spectacle of the Gold Saucer can’t be understated. But the motivating factor, Sephiroth, is rather weak. He doesn't have much depth and feels, to me, like a generic mwahaha! villain (but cooler). Some of his motivations don’t seem clear, and when they are clear, sometimes his actions don’t match the motivation (this happens with the protagonists occasionally). Despite that, the game evokes a sense of grandiose curiosity that is sated through interaction with the world and its inhabitants. At times I had completely forgotten my mission in favor of exploring. Though in-game discovery isn’t as satisfying as a game like Elden Ring, it’s still fun. Creative Business Unit 1 essentially took the Ubisoft open-world format, varied it enough, and polished it to a sheen.

Though nearly every aspect of this wonderful game resonated with me, a few things got on my nerves (aside from those previously mentioned). Any time the game slowed me down created general frustration. If a game slows the player character, it should only be to build tension, but this was never the case in Rebirth. Any climbing, shimmying, or slow walking sections in Rebirth were irritating. Also, whoever thought having Chadley prevalent throughout every facet of the game must not have listened to playtesters. He is annoying and constant. Anytime he speaks, I just want him to stop. Every time I find something, he's there. Watching. Waiting. And, of course, mini-games. Way too many mini-games. There are enough mini-games in this game to satisfy ten other games. The only one I found genuinely appealing was Queen’s Blood (which was fantastic and should be a standalone game). While you could avoid many of the mini-games, some were tied to plot/side-plot advancement, which was disappointing.

While a few issues rear their heads, none of them fully obstruct what makes Rebirth so great. The game fully embraces the original and respects people’s memory while also trying something new with the story. Though the multiverse approach may make death seem trivial, and by extension, lessen the impact of heavier moments, it nonetheless creates an intriguing narrative that will appeal to fans new and old. After over a hundred hours, I can say I am finally done with my first play-through of this wonderful game. It’s packed to the brim with content and worthwhile for any JRPG/action game fan who wants to be immersed in a sci-fi/fantasy setting. Even after you put the game down, the characters and tunes will stick with you for quite a while. Now, let me get back to my hard-mode run. Sephiroth beckons.

--

The Math

Objective Assessment: 9/10

Bonus: +1 engrossing world, characters, and combat. +.5 for Queen's Blood. +.5 for the fantastic soundtrack.

Penalties: -1 for multiverse chaos at the end of the game. -.5 for Chadley. -.5 for excessive mini-games.

Nerd Coefficient: 9/10

Posted by: Joe DelFranco - Fiction writer and lover of most things video games. On most days you can find him writing at his favorite spot in the little state of Rhode Island.

Microreview [Book]: Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West by Aidan Moher

A must buy for any JRPG fan.

There's something special about starting up a new Japanese role-playing game (JRPG). Whether it’s the promise of adventure, the camaraderie between party members, the excitement of discovering some long-forgotten magic, or the comfort of finding an endearing town to rest your head—JRPGs have been delivering players formative experiences for decades. In the sub-genre, one will discover indelible stories that trigger nostalgia, soundtracks that raise the hair on the back of your neck preparing you for the journey to come, and best of all, an experience to share with friends. Thankfully for us, Aidan Moher was one such recipient of many of the formative experiences that JRPGs had on offer.

Fight, Magic, Items is a confluence of the history of JRPGs and their expansion west alongside Moher’s personal journey with the sub-genre. The book homes in on Enix and Square, and more specifically, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy—the two biggest heavyweights in the sub-genre. From the humble beginnings of Yuji Horii and Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creators of both series respectively, to their commercial and critical successes and missteps, Fight, Magic, Items covers three and a half decades of struggle, drama, and perseverance for some of the most well-respected game developers, and franchises, in history. And, as an accompaniment to the historical aspect, we live through a young Moher as he hotly anticipates more news and information from his favorite developers.

Moher keeps fantastic pacing throughout most of the book, making it easy to lose yourself in the read. Fight, Magic, Items is filled with so many appealing tidbits of JRPG history. From what kind of pre-established media influenced the nascent JRPG developers’ decision to include western tropes in their games to which genres impacted their already established intellectual property, many things will click for any reader who has loosely followed the sub-genre over the years. Did you know that Call of Duty influenced some of the design choices for Final Fantasy XIII? That would explain it’s black sheep status.

For most people in the west, Final Fantasy is the name synonymous with JRPGs, but in Japan, Dragon Quest is king. Steeped in traditional genre tropes and honing its mechanics and systems to a sharp edge, Dragon Quest continues to do what it does best—with its next release (Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate) hopefully out next year. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy ditched its turn-based combat years ago in favor of frenetic action-packed gameplay, a franchise that’s always shifting, and with their next release (Final Fantasy XVI) announced for 2023, both franchises are still going strong. But what happened between the original releases of both franchises in the late 80s and the upcoming release of both these JRPG juggernauts? Which games failed, and which pushed the sub-genre into the stratosphere? Which other JRPG franchises were influenced by these titans, and which were made despite them? Fight, Magic, Items has many of the answers and lays them out in a way that keeps engagement throughout.

Moher is enthusiastic about the subject matter, and it comes through in his voice. Every step of the journey is laid out with excitement and threaded perfectly through to the next chapter. I could feel the impact Final Fantasy VI’s big plot twist had on the author, not to mention VII’s main character send-off. I could relate to the decision a younger Moher had to make when choosing between a PlayStation and a Nintendo 64. Was he to follow the console of the company he had loved all along or follow the games that he wanted? Many kids, myself included, have been in such a situation and each retelling of his experience with JRPGs brings the conversation back to Fight, Magic, Items being such a relatable read, whether you're a fan of the sub-genre or video games in general.

While most of the book follows Dragon Quest/Final Fantasy and their developers, Moher brings other franchises to the discussion; Persona (4 Golden being my personal favorite), Super Mario RPG, Blue Dragon, Legend of Dragoon, Breath of Fire, and Baten Kaitos among others are all sprinkled throughout. I had a sincere appreciation for the mention of more obscure titles that didn't necessarily sell well but had an impact on the genre. I didn't know anyone else who had played Baten Kaitos—and in turn discovered the wonderful confectionary village, Paranasse—so it was refreshing to feel as though I was essentially sharing that experience with the author. Baten Kaitos was just one of many examples of this feeling throughout my time with the book.

Another of my favorite things I eagerly anticipated throughout the book were Moher’s asides. These would give a small description of a game’s synopsis, history, primary developers, release year, console, and publisher. This was not only informational but gives respect and shines the limelight on many of the people who worked on some of the sub-genre's greatest (and some not-so-great) games.

While most of the book has a solid loop of franchise-specific history, game industry and game development history, and Moher’s personal history with the genre, it eventually hits a bit of a snag. It’s through no fault of the author, but of the advancing technology of the time and the Japanese publishers’/developers’ archaic view toward game creation. Moher keeps it as interesting as possible, but the focus turns more toward specific games and less about the industry at large or his personal experiences. Though these things are still present, they feel inferior to the flow in the earlier chapters. What started as humble beginnings for these legendary JRPG developers evolved into such massive corporate projects with so many cogs that it was impossible to attribute the success to just a handful of people. Regardless of the flow, the information was still intriguing and engaging.

In my opening, I mentioned that JRPGs are formative. This sub-genre helped form many of the writers in the industry today and still has its hooks in many players—though I'm sure many of us wish we had more time for these epic adventures. But in addition to being formative, this sub-genre is also transformative, casting echoes throughout the video game industry and having an effect on games considered outside of its sphere, but also allowing other genres into its own. What defines a JRPG is now a bit different than it was in the 90s (I’m looking at you Soulsborne games), but nonetheless distinctive. Though my journey into the world of JRPGs is different from Moher’s, he creates an inviting umbrella that can be appreciated by all who have found comfort within this sub-genre of influential video games. As someone who doesn't find too many things nostalgic—hell, my favorite game is only from nine years ago—it was impressive to find that Moher’s words took the wheel and had me riding shotgun while I relived some of the best escapism from my youth. Even if I hadn't played the title he was discussing, I still felt a connection to the content. Moher’s appreciation and intent are infectious and well worth investing your time into. Fight, Magic, Items isn't just a history of some of the greats, but a celebration of an incredible sub-genre that has influenced people the world over.

Posted by: Joe DelFranco - Fiction writer and lover of most things video games. On most days you can find him writing at his favorite spot in the little state of Rhode Island.