After Square Enix released the first game remaking the original Final Fantasy VII, I was curious to see if Rebirth would top Remake as a reimagined sequel. What I got was a great game, albeit loaded down with a ton of bloat and tedium.

A bit of background. Final Fantasy VII for the PS1 was released in 1997. While widely beloved, fans felt aspects did not age well and long clamored for a remake. Square Enix finally obliged, but the remake they released was both a remake and a stealth sequel, as it covered the original Midgar arc of the original game. Still, the villain Sephiroth clearly was aware of the events of the original game and sought to change history. Having achieved his goals in the first part called "Final Fantasy Remake", the second part this review will cover is "Final Fantasy Rebirth". Having deviated strongly from the original canon in some ways, Rebirth covers the post-Midgar plot all the way to the point in the game where the character Aerith died in the original. However, since history is now uncertain, whether that too will change and what else will alter the fate of the world is now anyone's guess.

Rebirth is, at its core, an action RPG. Much like the original Final Fantasy 7, you explore new towns and dungeons, obtain upgrades for skills and spells, and must defeat bosses and other challenges to progress. The battle system is now action-based instead of turn-based, though the player can enable an alternate battle mode to allow for turn-based style decision-making for fans of the original while still keeping an action focus.

However, Rebirth has a big change from Remake which is both a blessing and a curse. Unlike Remake, which was confined to the Midgar area and its underbelly, Rebirth is now a semi-open world, with wide new outdoor areas with occasional forays into more linear areas like Remake. These new outdoor areas are vast and far less dreary than the industrial megacity of Midgar, but they also feature lots of additional side quests and content to explore. There are some linear dungeons and other areas that temporarily block off access to the open-world sections, but the majority of the game is more focused on the open-world parts.

The dark side of this new freedom is that unlike Remake, which made character progression rather straightforward, much character progress is now gated to the various side quests in the open world. The party attains many valuable skills grinding through these side quests and will severely hobble themselves without doing so. There are also a large number of minigame challenges. While the PS1 game had some of these, most were either brief (when forced on the player) or entirely optional. Rebirth will force the player to endure many of these minigames. Some, like Fort Condor, hail from the original game. Others, like the card game Queen's Blood, are specific to Rebirth. The player will find the main game progression will often stop cold to force the player to engage what would usually be side content very often, to the point of severe annoyance if the player is not interested in them.

Outside of that, the main story progress is much like Remake, being set out over a series of chapters. Beating the game will allow a player to revisit earlier chapters to earn any items or other rewards missed. If the player has saved data from Remake or its Intergrade DLC, they can also import that for specific bonuses for Rebirth.

Graphically, Rebirth continues using Unreal Engine to make a futuristic RPG set in the sci-fi setting of Final Fantasy VII. Instead of being confined to the dreary and grungy Midgar, the new focus on the wider world has a lot more color, with vast grasslands, deserts, and wide expanses of water now traversable and explorable. At the highest settings, the world is quite beautiful.

The music and sounds continue from Remake in being modern remixes of the original soundtrack for newer audiences. Some new music and returning music that debuted in Remake return. The general mood of the music, especially the new battle tracks, has heavy rock, synth, and gothic choir in profusion. The voice acting continues to be excellent in both Japanese and English, with support for some foreign dubs such as Spanish also covered. In all cases, the voice acting is well done.

This game allows control by keyboard and mouse or by any Steam-supported controller. Keys are remapable for both, but I highly recommend using a controller. Many of the minigame sections are heavily set up with the assumption of the controller being the default and may be very difficult to complete on a keyboard.

Stability is generally good, provided the player can meet the recommended settings. Aside from a rare soft lock bug and one instance of the bloom effects going haywire (entering and exiting the player menu during play fixed this), I encountered little else. The system requirements are much higher than Remake, and I recommend being able to pass the minimum requirements by a comfortable margin. This game runs natively on Windows but is Verified for the Steam Deck. Some Linux PCs with Nvidia-based graphics may have some severe graphical glitches, but there are some workarounds as of the time of this writing. I would recommend trying custom builds of Steam Proton if need be if running this on Linux (regular Proton on Steam Deck appears to work fine).

Some final notes. This game will be the bane of anyone trying to speed-run it. The player will frequently find themselves obligated to do many minigames and padded-out side quests, some of much longer duration than the original PS1 equivalents by far. Your enjoyment will hinge on how much tolerance you have for the absolute avalanche of side content and minigames that will be forced on you.

Morally, there is some highly concerning content.

Violence is generally action RPG style, and for the most part, there is no blood or gore depicted during this despite the use of guns and swords. There are some displays of blood in cutscenes, including one scene where a character receives a clearly serious chest wound, though the camera angle is such that most of the details are offscreen. While most bodies disappear after death, a few executions are shown by blade and gunshot, albeit generally without too many gory details.

Language is rather earthy. Practically every PG-13 curse word can be heard, and God's name is taken in vain frequently. On this last one, it's worth mentioning the religion of the setting is given much more detail, so it's unclear which god they are referring to. There is a considerable amount of sexual dialogue, and the Costa Del Sol section will require the player to wear and be around lots of people in skimpy swimwear (though more modest options are available to the player). There is one confirmed mention of a homosexual couple in a positive context that can be heard in a critical conversation as well.

Some scenes do have some explanation as not sexual. A young lady needs lifesaving CPR and your main male character must give her chest compressions. Another scene has one female character pull up her top to show a medical scar, though this is meant to be a serious scene and the camera pans away before showing anything explicit. Regardless, there are some clearly romantic scenes, including one possible unlockable where two of the main characters share a passionate kiss.

Religion in the FF7 universe was vague in the original and Remake but is spelled out some more in Rebirth. Specifically, it is confirmed a form of polytheism and Gaea worship exists and is seriously practiced to some degree in the setting. Given the planet and the beings in question had a confirmably supernatural effect on the backstory, this logically follows. While the plot overall is more science fiction oriented with many more rational explanations for most of the supernatural elements, there is enough religious content to be of note.

Morally, your main playable cast is regarded as terrorists, though given they oppose a clearly tyrannical megacorp whose short-term and long-term damage to the world is clearly much worse. This is justified as your main characters are being forced into that position due to propaganda. Regardless, the main playable cast is clearly trying to maintain some baseline of morality and support any noncorrupt authority where possible. There are clear depictions of alcohol and smoking as well as some degree of gambling. The last one the player can also partake in as well.

Overall, this is still a good RPG, just one loaded down with tons of padding and minigames to the point it drags out the story to an overbearing degree. Technically, this is mostly sound but has a few minor issues with the PC port. Morally, this title is generally not suitable for anyone who is not an older teen given the heavy themes bare minimum. I'd still recommend this title, but I'd only get it on sale if you are either a fan of the series or do not mind a slow-burn RPG.