There is a new high for Final Fantasy VII
The Mistakes of Square Enix in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Revisited): Is There Still a Midgame?
With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the stakes are higher. Rather than being contained in the city of Midgar, its backdrop is the entire world of Gaia and the impacts Shinra’s political and planetary machinations have had there. Square Enix has already pulled off the impossible by making a story fans knew and believed in, but with a few major plot deviations and the promise of an ‘unknown journey’ when credits roll. The company has set a new standard for all of its Final Fantasy games now that it has delivered with Rebirth.
That said, most of the updates and remixed elements are great, and they not only make Rebirth feel like a modern reimagining of a classic, they still maintain the spirit of the original. Which is to say: things get really silly and weird. Seriously, you can ride around a resort on a Segway and stay in a haunted house-themed hotel and play dress-up with a giant chicken. The goofy elements stand in stark contrast with the whole fate of the planet thing, but that’s always been a part of the franchise’s charm. And, despite all the new info, there are still plenty of confusing new narrative aspects with plot threads still to be wrapped.
The cast has real charisma together, and Rebirth shines when it gives them the room to interact. While the original game was largely from Cloud’s perspective, players get control over duos like Barret and Red XIII, or Aerith and Tifa, on their own, and the game is better for it. New, fleshed-out character backstories give the game more depth than its source material. Barret and Red XIII, in particular, are given more room to shine, whether it’s small moments like Barret putting on a pair of sunglasses to hide tears or Red proudly telling you about his sense of smell every chance he gets (often by implying that Cloud smells horrible).
The developers can add a lot of flesh to the midgame narrative of FF7. There are plenty of pivotal elements — like how the hard-nosed Barret got a gun for an arm, or the kaiju-like Weapon creatures — that got short shrift in the original. They are presented as major plot points that you can fully explore and understand thanks to the more expansive spaces and story.
A lot of the tasks are mundane but still have a FF7 twist to them. I found myself really engrossed in wrangling Chocobos (giant chickens you can ride like a horse) and seeking out all of the towers in each area to please an AI bot. Same with the various side quests, which often had fun story elements, like the time I had a heart-to-heart with Barret about parenting while protecting a delivery dog. Eventually, though, my interest petered out. As Rebirth’s story kicked into gear, I could think of nothing else but saving the planet. The game gives you the freedom to do as much or as little extra things as you please, and I found myself underpowered in the last parts of the game.
That tension is the center of the experience. It takes a little bit of time to get going but the thrilling story propels you forward. A lot of diversions are included in the game, including a lot of mini- games. Some are pertinent to the story — you’ll have to get good at racing Chocobos and swimming with dolphins — but others are largely optional. My favorite card game is Queen’s Blood, a game where you can collect cards, build decks and play against other people in a variety of towns. There are a lot of things that need to be done to win a tournament. I was almost late to file this review because I couldn’t stop playing.
