Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Why Everyone Is Talking About Square Enix’s Boldest Remake Yet

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth takes your nostalgia, shatters it, and rebuilds it into something bigger, stranger, and far more ambitious. If you’ve ever wanted a JRPG that feels both like coming home and stepping into the unknown, this is the one you’ve been waiting for.

You know that feeling when you go back to a game you loved as a kid and realize it doesn’t quite match the epic adventure you remember in your head? The story beats are there, the characters are familiar, but the scale, the drama, the emotional punch… it all feels a little smaller than you remembered.

Modern RPGs have spoiled you with seamless worlds, explosive combat, and cinematic storytelling. Going back can feel like trading a 4K dream for a fuzzy memory. And yet, you still crave that exact mix of heart, spectacle, and weirdness that only a certain legendary 1997 RPG delivered.

That’s the problem a lot of players have been stuck in: your nostalgia and your standards are at war.

This is where Final Fantasy VII Rebirth steps in, not as a simple remake, but as a full-scale reimagining of what that classic story could feel like in 2024—and beyond.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: The Modern Answer to a 27-Year-Old Dream

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth picks up where 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake left off, taking Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret and the rest of the crew beyond Midgar into a sprawling, semi-open world that finally matches the grand adventure you remember. Developed and published by Square Enix, Rebirth is the second entry in the planned trilogy, available exclusively on PlayStation 5 at launch.

Instead of just sharpening textures and updating character models, Rebirth leans into a bigger question: What if this world could surprise you again—even if you know every plot twist by heart?

From the early impressions and reviews across enthusiast press and Reddit discussions, three big themes keep coming up:

• It’s huge—much larger in scope than FFVII Remake.
• The combat system is deeper, flashier, and more satisfying.
• The story takes bold swings that play with your expectations.

Why this specific model?

In a market already crowded with massive open-world RPGs like Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, and Cyberpunk 2077, you might wonder why Final Fantasy VII Rebirth should be the next 80–100 hour epic you commit to.

The answer lies in how deliberately it connects modern design with one of gaming’s most iconic stories.

1. Semi-open world that actually respects your time.
Rebirth doesn’t just give you a giant map full of icons. Instead, it breaks the world into large, distinct regions—like the grasslands surrounding Kalm or the sun-soaked Costa del Sol coastline—each with its own flavor, side quests, minigames, and narrative beats. According to early reviewers and players posting impressions on Reddit, exploration feels purposeful rather than bloated. You’re not just ticking off boxes; you’re uncovering character moments, lore, and combat challenges that matter.

2. Hybrid combat that finally nails action + strategy.
Building on the system from Remake, Rebirth’s combat blends real-time action with tactical slow-motion menu commands. You can dodge, block, and attack freely, then tap into the classic ATB system for spells, abilities, and items. New Synergy Abilities—team-up attacks between party members—add another layer of depth and visual flair. Players on forums frequently praise how good it feels to swap between characters on the fly and chain abilities together, calling it one of the most satisfying combat systems in modern JRPGs.

3. A story that respects the original—but isn’t afraid to diverge.
If Remake was your warning that things might not go exactly as they did in 1997, Rebirth is where that idea fully blossoms. Without spoiling specifics, early discussions highlight that Rebirth embraces the concept of expectations, fate, and altered timelines. For long-time fans, that means genuine surprise. For newcomers, it plays like a rich, self-contained narrative filled with emotional peaks, character development, and dramatic set pieces.

4. Built for PS5 from the ground up.
Rebirth is designed specifically for PlayStation 5, leveraging SSD load speeds, higher-fidelity visuals, and DualSense haptic feedback. Fast travel and transitions are nearly instant, and players highlight lush environments, expressive character animations, and cinematic cutscenes as standouts in early impressions.

At a Glance: The Facts

Feature	User Benefit
Platform: PlayStation 5	Optimized for current-gen hardware with fast loading, enhanced visuals, and DualSense support.
Genre: Action RPG	Combines fast-paced real-time combat with strategic command inputs and party management.
World Design: Multi-region semi-open world	Explore large, varied zones filled with quests, minigames, and hidden content without overwhelming clutter.
Combat System: Hybrid ATB + Synergy Abilities	Switch between characters freely and unleash powerful team-up attacks for tactical depth and spectacle.
Story Scope: Second part of a trilogy	Continues the narrative from Final Fantasy VII Remake and deepens character arcs while setting up the finale.
Visual Presentation: High-end cinematic graphics	Character models, environments and cutscenes push the presentation into big-budget TV/film territory.
Developer/Publisher: Square Enix Holdings Co. Ltd.	Backed by a veteran JRPG studio with a long track record in cinematic role-playing experiences.

What Users Are Saying

Scan through Reddit threads and early community impressions for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and you’ll see a consistent pattern of enthusiasm with a few notable caveats.

Common praise:

• Scale and variety: Players love how big the adventure feels compared to Remake, with more regions, more side content, and more character interactions.
• Combat feel: Many call the hybrid action/ATB system “the best Final Fantasy combat yet,” praising the responsiveness, build variety, and Synergy mechanics.
• Character moments: Longtime fans highlight how Rebirth deepens relationships within the party, with expanded scenes and optional content that make the crew feel more human.
• Visuals and music: The soundtrack remixes classic themes in inventive ways, and the visual fidelity of environments and cutscenes gets called out frequently as “top-tier.”

Common criticisms:

• Side content pacing: Some players feel that, while the side quests are better integrated than in many open-world games, the sheer amount can occasionally dilute the urgency of the main story.
• Story deviations and meta elements: Fans who wanted a 1:1 remake of the original sometimes feel conflicted about the narrative twists and the way Rebirth plays with destiny and canon.
• Complexity for newcomers: If this is your first FFVII experience, some of the meta-story elements and references may feel dense, though many still report enjoying it as a standalone tale.

Overall sentiment trends strongly positive: Rebirth is widely seen as an ambitious, lavishly produced RPG that is more than worth your time if you’re prepared for a long, story-heavy adventure.

It’s worth noting that the project sits under the broader umbrella of Square Enix Holdings Co. Ltd. (ISIN: JP3164630000), a company that’s essentially built its identity around narrative-rich RPGs—which shows in the production values and attention to detail here.

Alternatives vs. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

If you’re RPG-shopping, you’re not short on choices. But each major competitor offers a slightly different flavor compared to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth:

• Final Fantasy XVI: Also on PS5, but leans much more into pure action, almost character-action territory, with a darker, more political story and less party micromanagement. If you want a heavily combat-focused experience with less emphasis on a large explorable world, XVI could be the better fit.
• Elden Ring: Offers a massive open world with a focus on challenging combat and environmental storytelling. Compared with Rebirth, it is far less linear and less cinematic, but also less guided. If you crave freedom over authored story beats, Elden Ring wins.
• Cyberpunk 2077 (current patches): A huge, story-rich RPG with a first-person perspective and sci-fi setting. It offers branching choices and a gritty tone. Rebirth, by comparison, is more character-driven, fantastical, and structured, with a heavier emphasis on party dynamics.
• Persona 5 Royal: Turn-based combat, social-sim elements, and a very different pace. Persona 5 Royal is perfect if you like deeply systems-driven, calendar-based progression. Rebirth is better if you want real-time combat and a cinematic, globe-trotting adventure.

What sets Final Fantasy VII Rebirth apart is how aggressively it tries to marry nostalgic storytelling with modern blockbuster design. It’s not just another action RPG; it’s a deliberate conversation between your memory of a classic and what that classic can become in 2024.

Final Verdict

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth isn’t a museum piece. It’s not interested in restoring an artifact under glass so you can admire it from a distance. Instead, it grabs your memories, tears them apart, and reassembles them into something alive, surprising, and unapologetically big.

If you’re a returning fan, Rebirth gives you what you remember—the iconic locations, the emotional beats, the characters you love—but amplifies them with richer writing, expanded scenes, and a combat system that feels genuinely modern. You’ll recognize the bones of the journey, but you won’t always see where the next step is leading, and that’s exactly the point.

If you’re new to FFVII, this is still an easy recommendation—especially if you enjoy story-heavy, character-driven RPGs. You may miss a few layers of meta-context, but the core narrative, world, and character arcs are strong enough to stand on their own. Just be prepared: this is the middle chapter of a trilogy, so not every question will be answered by the time the credits roll.

In an era of games vying for your time with endless checklists and shallow spectacle, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth feels like a rare thing: a massive game that actually has something to say—about fate, memory, and how stories change when you revisit them.

If you’ve ever wished you could experience Final Fantasy VII again for the first time—or finally understand what all the fuss is about—Rebirth is the closest you’re going to get.

And this time, the vision in your head might finally match what’s on the screen.

@ ad-hoc-news.de