Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second part of the three-part Final Fantasy VII remake project, whose goal is to remake the 1997 RPG Final Fantasy VII. The game follows Final Fantasy VII Remake and is the second of three parts, released on Feburary 29, 2024 for the PlayStation 5.[1]
The title was announced in 2022 during a small presentation celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Final Fantasy VII, alongside the reveal of Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Reunion, the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake on Steam and details relating to Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis and Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier.[1] A demo version was released on February 6, 2024. On February 21, 2024, the demo was updated with an additional section.
Synopsis
Setting
Rebirth takes place in the world of Final Fantasy VII; however, unlike its predecessor Remake which was confined to the dystopian metropolis of Midgar, Rebirth's narrative spans across the Planet. As part retelling of the original Final Fantasy VII, the player visits many familar locales, including the city of Junon, Costa del Sol, the Gold Saucer and others.
Characters
Playable characters
- Cloud Strife
- Barret Wallace
- Tifa Lockhart
- Aerith Gainsborough
- Red XIII
- Yuffie Kisaragi
- Cait Sith
- Sephiroth
- Zack Fair
Guests
Other characters
- Rufus Shinra
- Heidegger
- Scarlet
- Palmer
- Reeve
- Professor Hojo
- Tseng
- Reno
- Rude
- Chadley
- Roche
- Johnny
- Don Corneo
- Elena
- Bugenhagen
- Gi Nattak
- Dyne
- Dio
- Marlene Wallace
- Biggs
- Rashard Zangan
- Cissnei
- Claudia Strife
- Priscilla
- MAI
- Glenn Lodbrok
- Gilgamesh
Development
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth began development following the completion of Remake and its development overlapped with the third game.[2]
A Launch date trailer was shown during the September 2023 Playstation State of Play, after which Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that the game would cover the events of the original Final Fantasy VII up to and including the Forgotten Capital, though the order of the events would be changed as well. Nomura also confirmed the presence of AI-controlled party members akin to Red XIII during the later half of Remake.[3]
In the third trailer, it was announced that the song for this game is “No Promises to Keep” performed by Loren Allred, and that at one point in the game at the Gold Saucer, Aerith sings it on stage.
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
OpenCritic | 93 (based on 89 reviews)[4] |
Metacritic | 93 (based on 119 reviews)[5] |
Publication | Score |
Eurogamer | 4/5[6]
LeBlanc 2024 |
Game Informer | 8.5/10[7] |
GamesRadar+ | 4.5/5[7] |
GameSpot | 8/10[8] |
Siliconera | 10/10[9] |
IGN | 9/10[10] |
NME | 5/5[11] |
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth received overwhelmingly positive reviews. With an aggregate of 93% on Metacritic after 119 reviews,[5] it has the highest score of a Final Fantasy game since Final Fantasy IX, and the first single player entry to reach over 90% since Final Fantasy XII. Critics praised it for its improvements over Final Fantasy VII Remake across the broad, citing its combat system and character-driven stories as its strengths. It received some criticism for its ending, and for pacing with minigames.
Much praise was given to the combat, which critics praised as an elevation over Remake. Iain Harris of GamesRadar+ highlighted the Synergy abilities as the main evolution of the core combat, noting that they give more reason to swap characters midway.[7] Jenni Lada of Siliconera concurred that more reason was given to switch party members, and noted that each had a distinct role.[9] Michael Higham, writing for IGN, argued that though the amount of moves the game offers can at times be overwhelming, it offers an "embarrassment of riches without making you too overpowered when it really counts".[10]
Another highlight was the character-driven stories in Rebirth. Tamoor Hussain, writing for GameSpot, found this to be the "soul of Rebirth's narrative and frequently exhibit excellent character work".[8] Lada praised the interactions between the characters, saying that Square Enix has stayed faithful to their original character, meaning new plotlines involving them never felt forced.[9] Harris noted how the sidequests with other party members "rewards you with greater intimacy with your own party, as a companion always takes an interest in what's happening and is keen to help".[7]
Critics mostly praised the side content, but felt that they at times hurt pace. Writing for NME, Andy Brown called the side content and minigames "exceptional" and felt the wealth of them "make the world feel truly alive".[11] Harris noted their inclusion was faithful to the original Final Fantasy VII, meaning the game "maintains the joy of going through a toy box".[7] Conversely, Hussain, while noting enjoying the minigames, argued that the side-content in between the main narrative harmed the pacing of the story, finding it "hard not to get irked when the gang is playing carnival games, frolicking around in beachwear, or racing chocobo for hours on end while the fate of the world hangs in the balance".[8]
Though critics enjoyed the character-driven parts of the story, disappointment was expressed regarding the ending. Higham believed that the game does "fumble the execution" of the ending due to being "caught up in the mess of its multiple twisting timelines".[10] Hussain agreed, saying that Aerith was robbed a moment crucial to her character as "the message is lost among narrative noise".[8] Harris agreed the convoluted story elements carried over as an issue from Remake, but argued that Rebirth had improved on the story padding issue, finding it "less noticeable and more enjoyable this time around".[7]
Production credits
Producer | Yoshinori Kitase[12] |
---|---|
Creative Director | Tetsuya Nomura[2] |
Director | Naoki Hamaguchi[13] |
Co-Director | Motomu Toriyama |
Story & Scenario | Kazushige Nojima |
Music | Mitsuto Suzuki Masashi Hamauzu |
Theme Song & Original Music Composed By | Nobuo Uematsu |
Art Director | Shintaro Takai |
Battle Director | Teruki Endo |
World Design Director | Masanori Sato |
Lead Application Programmer | Daiki Hoshina |
Lead Battle Programmer | Satoru Koyama |
Lead Animation & Cutscene Programmer | Ryo Hara |
Environment Director | Takako Miyake |
Lighting Director | Iichiro Yamaguchi |
Cutscene Director | Hidekazu Miyake |
Cutscene Co-Director | Junichi Hayashi |
Character Modeling Director | Masaaki Kazeno |
Lead Rendering Programmer | Shuichi Ikeda |
Lead AI Programmer | Yoji Shirakami |
Animation Director | Yoshiyuki Soma |
Facial Director | Akira Iwasawa |
Lead Player Programmer | Toshimitsu Michikami |
Lead Technical Programmer | Tomohito Hano |
Lead UI & Localization Programmer | Takeshi Mouri |
Lead System Programmer | Satoshi Kitade |
Sound Director | Makoto Ise |
Music Supervisor | Keiji Kawamori |
Lead Dialogue Editor | Asako Suga |
Movie Director | Hiroshi Kuwabara |
Director of Photography | Yuuki Akama |
Project Manager | Nobuyuki Ueda |
Co-Producer | Shinpei Yashima |
Lead Quality Assurance Coordinator | Takashi Kaneko |
Marketing & PR Manager | Akiko Wada |
Marketing & PR Lead Planners | Yumi Katsuyama Hiroko Ueda |
Logo Illustration | Yoshitaka Amano |
Theme Song Sung By | Loren Allred |
Voice cast
Gallery
- Videos
- Packaging Artwork
- Key Arts
- Screenshots
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Square Enix 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nomura 2022
- ↑ McAllister 2023
- ↑ OpenCritic 2024
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Metacritic 2024
- ↑ Nightingale 2024
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 LeBlanc 2024 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name "GamesRadar" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Hussain 2024
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lada 2024
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Higham 2024
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Brown 2024
- ↑ Kitase 2022
- ↑ Hamaguchi 2022
References
- Square Enix (2022, June 16). "FINAL FANTASY VII 25th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION BROADCAST UNVEILS FIRST LOOK AT ‘FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH’, ‘CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION’ AND MORE". Archived from the original on 16 June 2022.
- FINAL FANTASY VII [@finalfantasyvii] (2022, June 16). "FINAL FANTASY VII on Twitter" [Tweet]. Twitter.
- FINAL FANTASY VII [@finalfantasyvii] (2022, June 16). "FINAL FANTASY VII on Twitter" [Tweet]. Twitter.
- FINAL FANTASY VII [@finalfantasyvii] (2022, June 16). "FINAL FANTASY VII on Twitter" [Tweet]. Twitter.
- McAllister, Gillen (2023, September 15). "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: developer interview reveals fresh gameplay details as new trailer debuts at State of Play". From PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023.
- Higham, Michael (2024, February 22). "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review". From IGN. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
- Hussain, Tamoor (2024, February 22). "Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Review - Destiny's Child". From GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
- Harris, Iain (2024, February 22). "Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review: "Meaningful improvements make the step outside Midgar worth taking"". From GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
- Lada, Jenni (2024, February 22). "Review: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Feels Like 2024’s GOTY". From Siliconera. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023.
- Brown, Andy (2024, February 22). "‘Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’ review: this first-class remake will put you on cloud nine". From NME. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
- Nightingale, Ed (2024, February 22). "Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review - an overstuffed but lovable re-imagining". From Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
- LeBlanc, Wesley (2024, February 22). "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review". From Game Informer. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
- (n.d.) . "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Reviews". From OpenCritic. Accessed February 23, 2024. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.
- (n.d.) . "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth". From Metacritic. Accessed February 23, 2024. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024.