After a successful first part in 2020, Square Enix is ??offering the second part of the Final Fantasy VII remake on Playstation 5. We were able to play it in preview.
It’s difficult to talk about the history of Video Games without mentioning the “Final Fantasy” saga. Its seventh opus, released in 1997, is still among the best-selling opuses of the license today. With a major impact on the industry itself, Square Enix is ??concocting a remake of the adventures of Cloud and his companions in the form of three separate games for the Playstation 5. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, second opus of this great remake project, will be available on February 29 and we are giving you our exclusive test before the title’s release.
The few lines that follow will spoil the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake released in 2020. This first opus of the major FF7 remake project ended on a surprising cliffhanger for those who had completed the previous games of the license at the time. time: Zack Fair, mentor of our hero, appeared in bad shape but very much alive. A surprising fate since the latter did indeed die in the original opuses of the Final Fantasy 7 saga.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth therefore begins shortly after this surprising revelation. We find a Zack, very damaged by his previous battles, who is trying to make his way to Midgar while being chased by the Shinra company. At the same time, we also follow the rest of the adventures of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret and Red XIII who set out to discover the world outside Midgar in order to hunt down Sephiroth and put an end to his dark designs towards the planet.
Always organized by chapters, the storyline of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth alternates between very restricted progression (based on multiple cutscenes and corridor levels) and progression in the open world, the great new feature of this opus. This allows players to choose their way of approaching the game by focusing only on the main scenario or, conversely, by multiplying additional activities to gain experience and improve their equipment. An experience also boosted by the new difficulty of the title, called “dynamic” and which modifies the level of the opponents according to that of the team to always guarantee a more or less challenging challenge. We regret, however, that certain passages at the beginning of the story do not allow you to return to the open world to return to missed quests or carry out a few fights to raise the level of the group.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth also features a brand new affection system for your party members. Whether it’s Barett, Red XII, Tifa, Aerith or future members who will join you, it is possible to participate in several activities and side quests as a duo with a character from your team. Carry out these actions and carry out dialogues with them to influence your relationships and modify the dialogues and feelings of some towards Cloud.
Like the first part of the remake, FF7 Rebirth takes up the main lines of the segment of the original opus that it embodies while stretching certain passages a little. Several NPCs thus gain depth and importance in the story, and certain passages become much more fleshed out and sources of new fights and bosses. However, these additions do not seem forced in order to extend the lifespan of the title and the progress of the story remains pleasant to follow.
The release of the city of Midgar allows Square Enix to greatly expand the playing field for this FF7 Rebirth. If the first opus of the Remake mainly consisted of large corridor levels with a few digressions, Rebirth oscillates between these same passages and larger open world areas. The latter is notably an opportunity to find many additional activities, fights against monsters and recovery of materials necessary for the new object synthesis mechanic.
The open areas, however, remain specific to each chapter of the story. The plains constitute Chapter 2 in particular while the mountains are specific to Chapter 4. You will therefore not be able to move freely between the two without going through fast travel and a loading screen.
The open world of FF7 Rebirth is above all an opportunity to carry out several side quests and missions for Chadley. This little android, already present in Remake, has numerous missions spread across the world map in order to extend the lifespan of the title. Unfortunately, the latter are abysmal in terms of storyline, and quite poor in terms of gameplay: unlock a tower to reveal the world map (is that you Ubisoft?), get rid of a monster camp, go and perform a few QTEs … Nothing particularly demanding, but these activities are some of the main ways to earn experience for your team as well as money to upgrade your equipment.
Open world means more terrain to explore. This is good news: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth includes several new movement features. This concerns in particular several vehicles that we are not going to spoil here, but also and above all the rise of chocobos. These large birds can be recovered in each biome of the game and have multiple abilities to help you progress more quickly in the vast open terrain of the title. Each chocobo also has abilities specific to its region in order to explore areas that are impossible to access on foot. Enough to vary the discoveries and methods of movement in the exploration.
The combat system of FF7 Rebirth is largely taken from the first Remake opus released in 2020. You control a member of the team of your choice in order to face one or more opponents. Analyze your enemies to find their weak points and exploit them to put them in a “shock” state and multiply your damage.
Each character on your team has its own gameplay: Cloud is capable of performing powerful area attacks, Tifa chains together blows at high speed, Barret can strike from afar with her machine gun, Aerith multiplies offensive and support spells, Red XIII can retaliate against enemy attacks… Each player will find the gameplay likely to please them in one of the characters in the group.
The new feature of the title, synchronized attacks, allows two characters to carry out a powerful assault once enough actions have been performed in combat. These attacks, which give rise to small, very dynamic cutscenes, are a new possibility for overcoming enemies and strengthening bonds with the different members of the team. These attacks can protect you as well as inflict heavy damage on your enemies or grant bonuses to your team (cancel the MP consumption of your next spells for example).
Summons are also making a comeback. Shiva, Ifrit, Phoenix, Titan and many other Espers can be used during your battles to have a powerful ally at your side. However, only 3 Espers are available at the start of your adventure. To unlock the others, you will first have to face them via Chadley’s missions in battles of high difficulty. You are free to measure yourself against these powerful entities with their full powers or to weaken them with a technique that we will not reveal here. The game therefore leaves the choice, once again, to select its difficulty.
In order to improve the performance of your characters, several options are available to you. You will obviously find the classic levels to be gained by obtaining experience through the fights and quests offered by the game. Equipment also remains a factor not to be neglected since certain objects can improve your resistance to certain penalties or elements. , which can greatly facilitate certain confrontations (an anti-fire accessory facing an enemy naturally composed of the same element is very effective).
The materia system is also back and allows you to equip the spells and skills of your choice on your characters. The player is free to choose and can equip Barret with multiple healing and support materials while leaving Aerith with powerful spell materials. However, you will have to take into account that certain parts of the game will separate you from some of your teammates, so try not to place precious material on a single character!
As we said previously, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth places particular emphasis on the relationships you develop with the other members of Cloud’s group. This is also felt in the fights and improvements of your skills since some can only be unlocked by increasing the level of your team. A welcome new way to get involved in the good understanding of the group and to follow the different story lines likely to improve your relationships with the characters in the game.
In addition to the clashes and side quests, the world of FF7 Rebirth is full of different mini-games that can keep you entertained for several hours. The most prominent is certainly “Queen’s Blood”, a strategic card game reminiscent of the “Triple Triad” of FF8 and FF14. The goal is quite similar: to have cards of varying values ??in order to win the most points and win over your opponent’s game. A fairly pleasant activity, but which is perhaps a little too omnipresent throughout Cloud’s adventures (fortunately, the most imposing passages concerning “Queen’s Blood can be ignored by the player).
Those who participated in the first demo of the game have already been able to take part in the Piano mini-game which allows you to replay several melodies following a rhythm and very specific notes. FF7 Rebirth does not stop there since the player discovers many other mini-games during his adventure in order to take a few welcome breaks between two trying chapters in action or emotions.
If Final Fantasy 7 Remake had excellent graphics, the game was a little too restricted to the environments of Midgar and its slums. From then on, it was complicated for the Square Enix teams to really shine in terms of diversification of level design.
Fortunately, the opening to multiple biomes and environments allows the studio to show all their talent for this Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The levels covered are varied, ranging from vast green plains to dry mountains and caves illuminated only by the light of crystals. If we don’t necessarily remember a particular landscape with a “wow” effect, the environments covered in this FF7 Rebirth remain magnificent and pleasant to explore (special mention to the cutscenes and exhibition shots).
The only criticism unfortunately comes from the so-called “corridor” levels where exploration disappears completely. Apart from two or three branches to collect a chest or hidden materials, these levels follow each other in an almost straight line when they don’t block you with childishly simple puzzles.
It’s difficult not to talk about Final Fantasy VII without mentioning its music. The original opus already had, in its time, several melodies that have become cult over the years such as “Victory Fanfare”, “Rufus Welcoming Ceremony” or the iconic “One Winged Angel”. If Remake in 2020 had already been able to play with our nostalgic chord by offering several rearrangements of iconic titles, Rebirth continues this momentum with a myriad of titles and sound themes that lend themselves perfectly to each situation in the game.
The compositions re-orchestrated under the supervision of Keiji Kawamori (already working on multiple games in the Final Fantasy franchise) are extremely pleasant to listen to, whether in-game or even outside. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth even features a brand new composition by Nobue Uematsu himself (the flagship composer of the license) titled “No Promises to Keep”. Attached to the character of Aerith, the latter has already been heard during the last Game Awards ceremony during the presentation of the game to the general public.
Four years of waiting to rediscover the adventures of Cloud and his companions will have been worth it! If Final Fantasy VII Rebirth does not intend to reinvent the wheel, the title takes everything that made its predecessor an excellent remake and refines them a little more.
The addition of social links and the different mechanics linked to the understanding and progression of the team makes you want to invest much more in our different companions and to understand their motivations for getting along with them.
The scenario is also very pleasant to follow despite several downtimes (Costa del Sol, the Gold Saucer…) designed to take more advantage of the characters and get away from the usual mechanics of the game.
However, we will regret certain side quests which stand out for their lack of ingenuity or even the passages of the game which are full of little puzzles that are far too easy to be interesting, and only slow down the player’s progress.
Beyond these little hiccups, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth fits perfectly in the tradition of the previous opus by offering an adventure rich in twists and turns, with epic battles and particularly endearing characters. Looking forward to the sequel!
