Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: A New Perspective on Solving a Classical Game with a Hidden Symmetry and a Unified Approach to Complexity
I never thought the original Final Fantasy VII was too short. I have played through the classic book multiple times and always thought that I did not understand it. And yet I now realize that various elements of its convoluted plot have actually escaped me. So here I am, a few decades later, and I finally understand (most of) what the hell is going on — and that’s because of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
It is more robust in every way. The world is split into different regions, huge open-world maps with towers to climb, scouting, side quests, chocobo catching, fiend fighting, a new card game, and many more experiences. If you want to go through the main story, there is no penalty for skipping side stories that will allow you to spend more time with your party. It is possible that the game could have been just a different look and feel, but instead it would have opened up a world that is alive.
The original game, which had a hidden system to determine how much you preferred character Tifa or Aeris, is not new, but Rebirth emphasis on it adds a nice touch. To deepen your relationship with Cloud and his friends, you need to individually talk to them. The small moments are heartening. Cloud and his party seem to care about one another instead of being thrown together by fate.
The Midgame of FF7: The Unfinished Business of Saving a Kid’s Life, or Queen’s Blood, or How to Win a Tournament
The developers can add a lot of flesh to FF7’s midgame narrative. The original had a number of pivotal elements, such as the gun for an arm, and the kaiju-like weapon creatures, that did not make the cut. They are presented as major plot points that you can fully explore and understand thanks to the more expansive spaces and story.
A lot of the tasks are fairly mundane but given just enough of a FF7 twist to be interesting. I was so engrossed in wrangling Chocobo and trying to get all of the towers in each area to please an Artificial Intelligence bot, that I barely had time to think. Same with the various side quests, which often had fun story elements, like the time I had a heart-to-heart with Barret about parenting while protecting a delivery dog. My interest ended up petering out. I thought of nothing else but saving the planet as Rebirth began. Thankfully, the game seems to give you the freedom to do as much or as little extra stuff as you want; I didn’t find myself underpowered in the latter portions of the game.
The experience is based on that tension. It takes a bit of time to get going but there is a thrilling story that propels you forward. There are more diversions than in a typical Final Fantasy game. You will have to get good at swimming with dolphins in order to be relevant to the story, but others are optional. In Queen’s Blood, a Magic: The Gathering-style card game, you can collect cards, build decks, and challenge other players in pretty much every town. There’s even a whole quest line about winning a tournament. It was good enough that I was almost late filing the review because I couldn’t stop playing.