Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Standard Edition - PlayStation 5

An excellent continuation of a masterpiece of a remake of one of my favorite cult classics. The story has a lot of emotional highs and lows. The bonds between characters make story events hit even harder. I really enjoy the combat as well as it has open action and turn based elements for fans of each style. I also enjoy the whole slew of mini games you can get lost in, despite popular opinion i enjoyed them all. The world in of itself and graphical fidelity are unmatched. If you'd like a blast from the past with massive upgrades both the FF7R part 1 and Rebirth are well worth the time and Money

The parts of the story that remained the same were incredible and it was very fun to see certain cutscenes in ps5 graphics, the music was fantastic, and the new story and ending left me wanting more. The voice acting was also phenomenal. There’s also plenty of side content right from the start of the game, and the combat is very fun and fluid. The only downsides were how much the game has crashed on me during battle intel fights, and how short the main game was. Other than that, a pretty solid game!

Despite not receiving the promised exclusive steelbook that comes with pre-ordering the game and my copy being delivered in bad/damaged condition (was able to trade for a new copy), this review is solely focusing on the quality of the game itself. After playing 100+ hours of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and still not yet finished with the main story, I am exuberant from what I have experienced so far. The sequel to FFVII Remake is arguably superior due to the vast, seamless open-world with dynamic traversal and environments/regions. The characters are developed further and are a joy to watch and play due to the engaging interactions and synergy they have between each other in cutscenes and gameplay. The combat system is a step-up from FFVII Remake, with air-combat being improved and the new synergy moves being both flashy and effective as they open up more options in battle. The music is also stellar as expected, although so far I'm unsure if it tops Remake's soundtrack and other FF OSTs. And not to mention the grand amount of minigames that is so much fun, with almost all of them being optional to play. Speaking of, a lot of things are optional, so you can focus on the main story and not do much exploration or not play a majority of minigames if you want. The story so far is interesting to follow, and it does answer some questions from FFVII Remake, but will probably leave even more questions by the end. For now, the narrative is coherent enough and follows many story beats from OG FFVII. As a Final Fantasy fan, this is one of the best FF games and it's going to be quite the task to top this game when the final part of the FFVII Remake trilogy arrives.

I played the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which can be experienced before diving into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. However, you can skip the Remake and simply watch a recap for Rebirth, though this would save you some money, you'd miss out on the experience. From my perspective, the game evokes nostalgia from the original Final Fantasy 7 released on the first PlayStation console. I appreciate the character models and the voice acting in both English and Japanese. The Japanese voices sound quite dramatic, but Cloud's voice seems a bit too child-like. The gameplay is enjoyable, offering two distinct styles to switch between, giving a sense of the classic feel while remaining in real-time combat. I appreciate the flexibility this provides. (Minor spoiler): One downside is that two characters from the original game are only briefly featured in the Remake, which feels like a tease. I believe they'll be more prominent in future installments. My opinion on the matter is that I'm not a fan of the game being split into multiple titles for marketing and monetization purposes, but at least there are no microtransactions. The storyline is well-developed, with greater depth than the original. Exploring the open world for the first time in this game is exhilarating, but the game can still feel linear during cave battles. Combat is fast-paced, and the classic mode allows for strategic thinking. A mental note: Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth differs significantly from the Remake in terms of weapon leveling. If you plan on playing the Remake before Rebirth, keep in mind that the leveling mechanics are quite different.

This game is honestly worth every dollar. It’s a not an exact remake of the original but that’s fine. It’s a love letter to a classic game. The combat system, visuals, story line, and music are all to talk about. I won’t spoil it so go and pick this up!