Square Enix could have gotten away with simply giving the originalFinal Fantasy 7a fresh coat of paint and calling it a day, but its vision is much bigger and bolder than most video game remakes. Deciding to greatly expand upon the original adventure, Square Enix has split theFinal Fantasy 7remake project into three distinct games, starting with 2020’sFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, whichretold the Midgar storyand threw in some risky plot twists for good measure. The second game in theFinal Fantasy 7remake project isFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which retains all the best and worst traits from its predecessor, while also taking everything to the next level.
WhereasFinal Fantasy 7 Remakewas sometimes painfully linear,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthlets players explore massive open zones that take the place of the original game’s overworld map. Instead of walking around a bare open wasteland when traveling from one town to the next, players are let loose in painstakingly-detailed worlds filled with enemies to fight, treasure to find, and side activities to complete. Hours fly by as players exploreFF7 Rebirth’s breathtaking worlds on the backs of their trusty Chocobos with Cloud Strife and the unforgettable companions that make up his party.
More effectively than anyFinal Fantasy 7game before it,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthdoes a tremendous job of making players feel like they’re going on a grand adventure with a party of great friends. While only three characters can be part of the active battle party at any given time, everyone is always visible when exploring the world and even in fights. Players may have Cloud, Tifa, andAerith in their party, but Barret, Yuffie, Red XIII, and Cait Sith can still be spotted on the periphery, blasting away at enemies even if they are not truly a factor in the battle’s outcome.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthgets players invested in every single party member. While Cloud Strife is the primary playable protagonist throughout most of the adventure, everyone gets their time in the spotlight, with players taking direct control over the other party members at various points in the story. These sections expand on the backstories ofFF7 Rebirth’s companionsand also introduce unique gameplay mechanics tailored to their specific abilities.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthretains the flashy combat fromRemake. The game can be played purely as a hack-and-slash, with players furiously swapping between characters to issue commands as their ATB bars are filled, but those that want a deeper challenge can crank up the difficulty and take a more strategic approach to the battles by exploiting enemy weaknesses and experimenting with different builds. As players develop the relationships between the game’s characters,Synergy Abilities are unlockedthat let players pull off wild double-team attacks that give them even more options in fights.
Players will fall in love withFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s cast.
As they explore and battle throughout the game’s lengthy main story, players will fall in love withFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s cast. All the voice actors do an incredible job at bringing these iconic characters to life, even when the dialogue is sometimes clunky or goofy. That being said, there is one voice acting choice involving a playable party member that is going to be hugely divisive. We can’t provide details without going into spoilers, but it makes one of the game’s coolest characters annoying to listen to and is a definite misstep.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthmakes a lot of changesto the source material. Some of them will be appreciated, but others are a detriment to the overall quality of the game. For example,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthrepeats a mistake fromRemakeby expanding on certain sections that don’t necessarily call for it, with segments that may have taken 10 to 15 minutes in the original now taking hours. Despite this,Rebirthis paced very well for the first half, but then things start to become a slog, with the final chapters an exhausting exercise in tedium. Certain chapters are full of time-wasting nonsense that frustratingly keeps players from reaching the more interesting parts of the story.
One of the game’s final dungeons is especially tedious, filled with repetitive, lengthy fights that extend the time between important plot beats, lessening their impact. Some restraint would have gone a long way, and the lack of it is really what keepsFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthfrom reaching its full potential. As it stands,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthblowing everything upto 10x the length it was in the original game causes it to fumble its most pivotal moment. It’s unfortunate, but many fans are going to come away disappointed with the story by the time the credits roll.
It took us about 45 hours to completeFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s main story, but that barely scratches the surface of what the full game has to offer.Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Platinum trophy will likely take double that to achieve, as the game is stuffed full ofside quests and open-world activities. Some of the side quests are bland and the open world tasks can get old, but there’s also a lot of worthwhile content for those who want to really dig into everythingFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthhas to offer.
Of particular interest isFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s trading card mini-game, Queen’s Blood. While Queen’s Blood can be mostly ignored, it’s legitimately fun acquiring new cards and putting together the best decks possible. One of the most exciting things about reaching a new town is finding new Queen’s Blood opponents, as that means there are new cards to gain that will give players even more strategic options. It’s easy to lose hours playing Queen’s Blood, but it’s not the only fun way to kill time inFF7 Rebirth.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthalso has fun and challenging rhythm mini-games. ClassicFinal Fantasy 7songs can be played on the piano, and the Shinra Parade mini-game from the original has been reworked into a button-press mini-game that is far more tolerable.Costa del Sol has been expandedto include fun mini-games of its own, and there’s also the Gold Saucer’s array of options. While there’s been a lot of buzz about the Gold Saucer, honestly, the best mini-games are found in Costa del Sol.
It took me about 45 hours to beat Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s main story, but that included doing most of the major side quests and plenty of Queen’s Blood.
The sheer amount of content inFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthmay have some worried about potential technical problems that are common in massive games like this, but the game is polished to a sheen. There are minor texture pop-in issues, but otherwise,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthis gorgeous, with seamless transitions from cut-scenes to gameplay. We only encountered one serious technical issue in our entire time with the game, though it was annoying enough that it warrants a mention. At the end of a lengthy, especially challenging boss fight against two enemies at once, one of the enemies magically revived itself after defeat and was then impossible to kill or even target. Considering how longFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthbattlescan take, stuff like this is especially problematic and, hopefully, it’s not an issue that rears its ugly head for too many players.
Despite the pacing issues in its final chapters,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthis still bigger and better thanFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. If the third game can keep everything that’s great about these remake projects so far and trim the fat a bit, we will have a spectacular trilogy on our hands.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
WHERE TO PLAY
Discover a vibrant and vast world in this standalone entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, which retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. Iconic heroes Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII have escaped from the dystopian city Midgar and are now in pursuit of Sephiroth, the vengeful swordsman from Cloud’s past who was thought to be dead. This new adventure can be enjoyed by all players, even those who have yet to play Final Fantasy VII Remake or the PlayStation original. Expect a new standard of cinematic storytelling, fast-paced combat and rich exploration across a vast world.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthreleases July 27, 2025 for PS5. Game Rant was provided a code for this reivew.
