How Will Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Chart the Course for JRPGs’ Future?

After a four-year wait, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has finally been released, and what a wait it has been. Final Fantasy VII Remake’s expanded take on Midgar, an area of the original 1997 game that was only briefly explored, was truly a sight to behold.

Yet, it was merely a taste of what fans truly wanted from a full-blown remake of Square Enix’s iconic RPG, one that redefined the course of video games as a whole. Final Fantasy VII was gaming’s first major blockbuster, and its immense impact can still be felt today.

So much so that it defined the PlayStation brand, with Sony constantly delivering cinematic and engaging experiences as their flagship games. However, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, players get a much broader experience than the typical PlayStation exclusive.

How does Final Fantasy VII Rebirth expand on its legacy, and how will it impact the future of games moving forward? Let’s take a closer look at the second part of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII remake project.

Disintegration

When we last left our crew, Cloud and his party members had just escaped Midgar after a massive confrontation with Sephiroth. Alongside Tifa, Barret, Aerith, and Red XIII, the party leaves behind the troubled metropolis for the wider world beyond.

Right from the start, Rebirth doesn’t leave players hanging and begins its story immediately with a flashback of Cloud and Sephiroth’s time together in Nibelheim. This also allows players to control Sephiroth, providing a unique opportunity to experience his power like never before.

From there, Cloud and his team embark on their hunt for Sephiroth, with mysterious robed figures appearing to be their main lead in finding the elusive villain. Meanwhile, the evil Shinra Electric Power Company is also in hot pursuit, following the events of the previous game.

In broad strokes, Rebirth presents a story that is similar to the original, but it’s the way it breaks down and expands upon each set piece and story beat that keeps things engaging. The inclusion of varied locations, compared to Remake’s focus on Midgar, effectively showcases the impact Sephiroth and Shinra have had on the world at large.

The biggest wrinkle added to the story, one that was merely hinted at the end of Remake, is how Zack Fair ties into this retelling. Zack’s death is a huge part of both Cloud and Aerith’s story, and the way Square Enix has expanded his role is unique and worth witnessing firsthand.

Anger of the Land

As in the 1997 original, players begin their trip around the world from Kalm, before visiting multiple other locales, including the military city Junon, the beaches of Costa Del Sol, and the iconic amusement park, the Gold Saucer.

On the original PlayStation, the many locations felt lived in and ravaged by Shinra’s machinations. Here in Rebirth, players get to see firsthand and hear from the many NPCs about what living in their world is like.

There’s also the fact that the world is massive, with each section broken up into its own open-world segments. This is a great way to spotlight each area of the game and give them their quirks, such as the area outside of Junon being mountainous with more vertical challenges.

With that comes more ways of traversing the world, from different types of Chocobos to the desert Buggy that Cloud receives from the Gold Saucer, just like in the original. It would have been easy to omit the open-world structure of the original, but it is cool that Square Enix decided to go all out on this aspect in Rebirth.

Divine Judgment

Each party member gets more than a handful of moments to shine, highlighting their personalities like never before. Cloud Strife is still the main character, and this is the part of his story where his true identity becomes increasingly questionable.

As introverted and reclusive as he is, Cloud displays his can-do attitude repeatedly, despite the looming spectre of Sephiroth constantly haunting him and making him faint. His resilience, despite his self-doubt, is what keeps us rooting for him.

On the flip side, we have Barret, who is also grappling with his current identity and reconciling his past actions. Barret’s environmental goal of saving the planet and keeping his adopted daughter safe is admirable, and his occasional comedic chops should be commended as well.

The tough bartender Tifa grounds the party as the most sensible and careful member of the group. She’s the glue that holds the team together, and if you are familiar with the original story, her best moments are saved for the next instalment of this trilogy.

Aerith, having spent her whole life within the walls of Midgar, is relishing her newfound independence outside. She treats this whole adventure as a massive road trip, and it is great to see her positivity shine despite her being in constant threat, especially near the end.

Rebirth introduces Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith into the main party, and they have been spectacularly brought to life in this new incarnation. We may have seen them in Remake, but witnessing their interactions with the team in this adventure reveals different sides of these characters that some may have initially brushed off due to their more outrageous personalities and designs.

Other standouts from the original cast, Cid and Vincent, are present and accounted for, but like Tifa, their best moments are yet to come in the next instalment. Either way, this entire party is the best cast of characters Square Enix has ever presented in any of their games, bar none.

Rebirth Flame

Final Fantasy games make their combat shine through the many strategies and party compositions players can employ in the heat of battle. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth expands on Remake’s already excellent combat with a spectacularly kinetic combat system.

From the Synergy Abilities that allow each character to perform in tandem with each other to the addition of aerial combat, it is a system that is begging the player to master it. It also helps that each character is unique from one another.

Yuffie’s playstyle was showcased in the Intermission expansion of Remake, but here she is one of the most versatile members of the party. Red XIII is also great as a magical powerhouse, while Cait Sith’s RNG-based abilities represent a great evolution in the Final Fantasy series.

With Final Fantasy’s total shift to action-based gameplay, these new Final Fantasy VII games show that party-based combat is what the series does best. As fun as Final Fantasy XVI was, its lack of party-based combat becomes more apparent when compared to how masterfully Rebirth pulls it off.

Tetra Disaster

Even with the original Final Fantasy VII, these games are packed to the brim with minigames, which can be off-putting to some players. Certain sections of the game may solely revolve around these minigames, detracting from the focus on combat and exploration.

The newly introduced Queen’s Blood minigame is amazing on its own, and its frequency is just spread out enough to avoid becoming too irritating. However, more random minigames like an animal-themed soccer game with Red XIII or some variation of a shoot ‘em up might bore players.

On the flipside, the massive open areas are also filled with tons of activities for players to check off their sidequest list. While these sidequests make full use of the game’s varied setting, it can be quite a chore to go through each one, even though they can provide useful level-ups and items.

The original Final Fantasy VII feels a lot more manageable and easier to digest completely in comparison to the expansive size of Remake and Rebirth, which might be overwhelming at times. We recommend taking one’s time to fully explore and appreciate everything Rebirth has to offer.

Ultimate End

In many ways, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth feels like a culmination of everything Square Enix has been working on for the past few years. It improves on Final Fantasy XV’s road trip-like story, and Final Fantasy XVI’s epic worldbuilding is surpassed by Rebirth.

Action-based JRPGs are a dime a dozen these days, with Tales of Arise and Granblue Fantasy: ReLink being some more recent triple-A examples. Yet, none of these games match the sheer scale that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth presents.

Hopefully, just like how the original Final Fantasy VII upped the ante of video games as a medium, Rebirth will similarly impact JRPGs in its own way. Taking cues from Rebirth’s combat, quest design, and world exploration is a net positive for the genre moving forward.

What is exciting is the curveballs that Square Enix will potentially throw at us with the third game in the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy. With how much Rebirth has given, we think it is worth the wait, even if it takes a few more years.