We’ve spent several weeks exploring every inch of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s open world and there’s a lot to unpack. Here’s what we thought of this ambitious recreation of one of gaming’s most beloved stories.
While the Final Fantasy 7 Remake re-introduced us to a collection of characters we fell in love with over twenty years ago, we never anticipated the second chapter of Square Enix’s FF7 Remake project would leave us so stunned by what was possible in an open world game. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes the formula that worked so well in Remake and applies it across the whole world of Gaia, truly sending Cloud and the gang on their epic adventure.
At times, the scale difference reminded us of Dark Souls leaving its carefully layered and interconnected kingdoms for something as wide open as Elden Ring. The same is true here, Rebirth feels like Remake’s Elden Ring moment, or Zelda going full on Breath of the Wild. The difference is that Final Fantasy is no stranger to vast open world games and FF7 Rebirth benefits from past outings such as FF15 and FF16. This is a full Final Fantasy game in a way that Remake could never have been.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s open world is simply breathtaking.
A True Rebirth for Final Fantasy 7
As with all open world adventure games, FF7 Rebirth is filled with side content and extra things to do, for example, climbing towers to open up segments of the map, enemies to hunt and kill, and various other tasks that would be busywork in most games. Luckily, Rebirth manages to avoid falling into the ‘more is more’ trap and instead only offers a few select and bitesize side tasks to do per region. While they do become a bit repetitive by the fifth time you’ve done these ‘World Intel’ objectives, we found them fun and engaging without them ever outstaying their welcome.
One task also seemed to blend into another without much effort on our part, making exploring and completing rewarding side content a breeze and never a chore. Once we were satisfied we had truly completed all the side quests and World Intel objectives, we were usually ready to hop back into the main quest and progress in the story. We commend Square Enix for both recognising that less is more, yet still producing a game that will take the average person over 60 hours to complete. This is a quality content over filler balance that few large games manage to get right.
Speaking of the story, events in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth pick up after the end of Remake, retelling the events of the infamous Nibelheim incident as well as re-introducing us to a character who was long dead by this point in the story in the original PS1 game. From here, the gang resolve to track down Sephiroth and prevent him from endangering the world. Oh, and Shinra are also still chasing you, but their goals have also changed. Essentially, the game faithfully retells the events from the original game, only with a few changes and wildcards thrown in.
Battles are just as dynamic as ever.
A Fantasy Reimagined
Of course, the game is set in a different timeline from the original FF7 and the Whispers exist to ensure that events follow the course they’re supposed to. The only issues is some things have already changed, so now anything can happen. Some characters are even aware that events have played out before and are actively working to alter their fate or the fate of others. By the third act, things start to get very trippy in terms of the multiversal shenanigans, and the game really wants you to know that not everything from the original game is set in stone – but some things most certainly are.
It was great to properly get to play as characters like Red XIII, Yuffie and Cait Sith, and we look forward to controlling Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine in the next chapter. From Remake, Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Aerith and Yuffie all return, and players will also get to play as Sephiroth and Zack during certain segments. There are also more moves, limit breaks, summons and abilities than ever before, expanding on the FF7 Remake in every way.
If you didn’t enjoy Final Fantasy 7 Remake or didn’t finish it, then don’t worry, the game offers a nifty ‘The Story So Far’ segment to catch up lapsed players so they can jump right into the action. Those who do have FF7 Remake, Episode Intermission DLC, or the Rebirth demo save data can also unlock some extra goodies by scanning their hard drives at the start of the game. Also, those who completed the Nibelheim mission in the demo will be given the option to skip it once the game has finished its combat tutorials.
Will everyone survive the adventure?
Final Verdict
The game’s messages about corporate greed, preserving the environment, and that bad things happen when good people do nothing are all back in force. And in 2024, these messages feel more relevant and urgent than ever before, but they’ve also been updated and modernised to be even more thought provoking than they were in 1997. So in many ways, retelling the story of Final Fantasy 7 today feels even more meaningful but without ever being preachy.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth pushes the envelope when it comes to open world games as well as storytelling and we can honestly say that the game is an absolute triumph. So much so that we wonder quite how part 3 of the FF7 remake project could top it. However, there is a lot of story to go in this universe and in many ways, Rebirth just scratches the surface.
