Finally, part two of the Final Fantasy VII Remake is here, I have been so excited for its release and like the first part, I was once again graced with the opportunity to review the next installment. It is no secret I love Square Enix and I try and play everything they put out, some are hits some not so much, but the Final Fantasy series was my childhood and has been with me as I got older. I fell in love with the worlds they created even when they started becoming more sci-fi rather than fantasy. However, some will try to drag the remakes through the mud because it is not an exact copy of the original. I just want to point out that this is a remake not a remaster and to come into the remakes with fresh eyes, forget about the original and think of it as a brand-new game.

The story continues after the escape from Midgar and the crazy trip into what I can only describe as some sort of space between time and space. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story as that is my favourite part of the game, and I know people are going to complain about changes made, just remember it’s a remake not a remaster. However, you should know that it still sticks to the basic outline of the original, you will learn a little more about each character than what you did from the original, which I love. So instead of everything being vague and mysterious some things are more openly talked about, and some things remain secret like the Sephiroth incident at Nibelheim with Cloud and Tifa, if you know you know, if not you will find out or look it up on YouTube.

But for me I love the changes to the story, there is even a side story that you will get to see at certain points throughout the game that I am still shocked by but intrigued by at the same time. May have something to do with Zack and Cloud returning to Midgar’s end scene from part one just saying still has me a little weirded out, in a good way. So, buckle in cause it’s a ride and just take it slow. There is so much to do, this game is overflowing with content, it made reviewing it hard cause I had to get through it as fast as possible and it doesn’t make it easy. You cannot rush Rebirth, the game won’t allow it, I mean unless you want to miss so much of everything.

The actual gameplay has not changed that much in most ways, however now that it’s a more open world, there are traversal changes when it comes to landscapes. You will gain access to Chocobos, which is amazing, I love everything about the Chocobo quests. You will even get different coloured Chocobos that can do things that your standard Chocobo can’t. Now when I mentioned above that the game won’t allow you to speed through there is a reason, if I was playing casually like I will do on my second playthrough you probably wouldn’t notice it that much.

Although I was trying to finish the game quickly, I realized the pacing of the game was a little up and down. Take Nibelheim for example, when investigating the reactor with Sephiroth, Tifa and …Cloud, travelling there was fun, beautiful landscapes, fighting monsters, then suddenly Mako gas. We can’t continue with the gas around, so you must stop what you are doing, grab a big ass vacuum, and very slowly push it around and suck up the gas. I do not believe this was necessary for the plot of the game or needed at all, and you will find other

situations like this going forward. As I said though, you only notice it if you are focused on pushing forward because it actively halts your progress.

Combat has me on the fence most of the time, the combo moves between characters are great, and as such is a good addition and makes combat so much fun. But the AI enemy targeting is something I dislike; I will be fighting as Cloud or someone, then switch to Aerith to heal, or use one of her abilities and straight away the enemies turn and target Aerith purely because I switch to her. This is very noticeable in the Summon fights, I wish they used some sort of aggro system where it takes more than a second for them to switch targets. Other than that, I can’t fault the combat. I still enjoy it and always initiate any fight I come across and have yet to find a fight I couldn’t beat, eventually.

On top of the main story, there are almost countless side quests and minigames to participate in, Chadley is back, and he has heaps of things for you to do. Unlock towers, defeat mini-boss monsters, find artefacts, search for summon crystals, and locate Lifespring Oases.

Doing these side missions will earn you points to spend with Chadley for his enhanced material which is very useful. As well as fighting summons to gain access to their material, when you locate the summon crystals, each one will weaken the summon when you fight it but increase its strength when you use it, also useful. There are other side quests you will get from quest boards, and Kyrie is back for you to reluctantly help. Instead of trading the kids using the Moogle coins you will find giant mushrooms that lead to a Moogle world, help them and trade Moogle coins for items.

The last one I will mention is the card game that every Final Fantasy has a different version of Rebirth is no different from Queen’s Blood. I enjoy Queen’s Blood, it is now one of my favourite Final Fantasy card games, use cards with abilities or no abilities to fill the board and earn more points from each row than your opponent. One thing I noticed though is you always go first, there is no flip of the coin to work out who goes first. This can sometimes make the game so much harder as your opponent always gets to counter your move. There are so many other minigames and side quests but if I go through all of them, I will get well and truly over five thousand words.

The visuals are amazing, but I still couldn’t help but notice the background and some of the finer details are just still frames or look like they were just painted on. There was one point where I had to release the pressure of some containers and the pressure gauge was right there in plain sight, and it looked like someone in the game got paint and just painted a picture onto the side of the canister.

Other than that, the world is stunning, especially once you get to Costa Del Sol and the Golden Saucer those areas are breathtaking. No issues with the camera like I did with part one, and the targeting system seems more refined and easier to position properly. The character models are my favourite, they are all designed so well even the background characters all look amazing.

The voice actors in this game are all legends and amazing performers like Cody, who would probably be most known for his role in Teen Wolf, reprising his role as Cloud along with fellow Teen Wolf star and my favourite, Superman Tyler Hoechlin as the menacing Sephiroth.

The whole cast is star-studded, but for me, the most exciting casting choice is Mathew Mercer voicing Vincent Valentine, Matt has a very impressive career including being the creator and Dungeon Master of Critical Role. So, I can confidently say that the delivery and impact of the lines are all perfect, and not once was I like man that doesn’t sound right. On top of that, the music is iconic, the way they can continue to take the original music and make it something new without overdoing it or ruining it is impressive. I am certain I even heard samples from Final Fantasy VIII and IX. I am pretty sure there are hundreds of Chocobo theme remixes and again it was great, I was so pumped when I got to the Chocobo ranch and heard the new theme, it is why I found the Chocobo events so fun.

I love the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, a lot of people will try and pick it apart cause it’s different from the original, but that’s the thing it’s not the original it’s a new take on the original. If it were the same most of us fans would know what would happen, this gives us a fresh playthrough following pretty much the same story, but with more depth and some changes to keep us on our toes. Scoring this game was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, in my heart this is ten out of ten, because of how good the story is, the nostalgia and the iconic scenes that are recreated are amazing.

It is just held up by little things, things that throw the pacing out, the enemy aggro being non-existent, and the lack of detail on backing imagery. These are only minor things though and don’t impact the game on a grander scale, but they do exist. For me, the good well and truly outweighs the bad and has me excited for the next instalment, and hopefully announcements of remakes for Final Fantasy VIII and IX.

Written by: Adam Brasher