This review didn't need your punch down comment towards "right wing" people. What the hells a matter with you injecting that crap into a review for video games. You aren't a comedian.
Chadley is a serious front runner for most annoying game character ever created. The only thing worse than endless exposition dialogue is having it spoken by a ten year old through your controller speaker during intense battles at just low enough volume that it creates this tinny sub-audible stream of babble that makes you wish they'd release an expansion quest where you can repeatedly throw Chadley off of those stupid towers he loves.
nah especially given this game is a padded out mess stringing audience to $70 for each game, its exactly the kind of example of what NOT to do in gaming
That combat arena gauntlet was legitimately the hardest thing I persevered with in the entire game. I probably would've given up on it were it not the last side quest I had to complete.
@@jesuseduardoroldanyou can ⏸️ right when the opponent pulls back for the punch and then unpause and dodge. It makes that minigame much more palatable lol
@@GageReed I had the same issue. You have to double back and get another boost from the last wind fan thing. It's the only way as far as I know. There are some videos showcasing this, I don't know if the one you saw showed it but for me it was the only way to do it.
I spent awhile on the first course but once I got the movement mechanics down and realized I wasn’t being timed (so I could double back as often as I needed them) I knocked them all out in one shot
Feels dated, huge disparity between gameplay graphics and cinematics, copy and paste open world design, animations, huge resolution issues, poor textures in indoor environments/shops and horrible lighting. Great combat, fun exploration, great music, interesting story changes, characters. This isn’t a PlayStation 5 game by any means. For me it falls short in almost every aspect. Horizon forbidden west should be the standard, and to be honest this falls far below that. This game is a mixture of ps3/ps4 visuals. Like I said, great cinematics, but that’s the money shots. That’s why they are used in trailers. After 30-40 hours it felt like a grind for me. Rinse and repeat. I do enjoy it but not as much as remake. 122 hours in now, finished the game a two weeks ago, done almost all side quests. Spent a lot of time playing and looking at it. There should be a standard, especially with visuals, and running smoothly. This was apparently made for PlayStation 5 but they couldn’t even get it to look like a PlayStation 5 game let alone fix the resolution and texture issues. Unreadable posters/bilboards, assets like book covers and other things. I’m sure I’ll get plenty of hate for this comment but it’s not an opinion. The technical issues are an objective fact. They should have never chose unreal engine 4 for the remake project. It looks dated already and will look even more dated in another 4 years when the 3rd game comes out.
i cannot believe this game even exists. Its so good. I hope square realizes how special this game is and gives us another banger sequel. I was so happy from start to finish. 80 hours
Good news: I am extremely confident part 3 of VII remake will be just as amazing, if not better, than this one. Bad news, we prob gotta wait until 2028
I dont know if ive played a game with as much charm and magic as this. The junon parade and finding your squads. The bald bar. The gold saucer. Yuffies singing. The gongaga region theme. Cait sith is now super endearing and lovable and cute. Could go on and on. Those are the 2 words that stick out to me. Charm and magic. And it infects every aspect of the game. The gongaga theme for me was a big one. Idk why it hit so hard, but it was magical. Felt like the magic that pre 21st century disney had. And the magic of the golden eras of jrpgs. Really special.
YES!..i felt like i was Tarzan while exploring Gongaga, definitely had that 90's Disney charm sorta ring to it. Couldn't agree more on what you said, the game was magical and brought me so much joy!. At a pretty shitty time in my life were things haven't been going my way, at least i had this game to look forward to and i loved every second of it. It was such a memorable experience that i'm still thinking about 2 weeks after rolling the credits and i assume i will continue to do so for a long time to come. You know what i find wrong with a game like this?...it left a void that no game will be able to fill for a while. Like, ill start playing another game soon but will just be thinking "Its cool but it aint rebirth" hahaha. Last game that left that sort of impression was Elden Ring. This is my favorite game since then.
@Wi11iamNZ it's funny you say that, I'm in the exact same position. Very shitty time recently for me. And yes, I agree. Quite a few games over the years have given me that empty feeling when I beat them. Same with tv. Gotten so engrossed that you just want to keep playing or watching. But very few games have left a void like you say. I can think of a half dozen or so that have made me feel this way. 3 of those in the last few years (Elden Ring, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and FF7 rebirth). It's kinda insane. It's like the game just took over my life so to speak. Thankfully there's a hard mode, so I've just jumped straight into that, haha.
Just completed Rebirth... Seriously, after 15+ years I got to experience the true majestic experience of Final Fantasy games. Rebirth is easily the best FF game I have played in last 15 years and definitely one of the best RPG games made ever. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
@@dgayle2348 I would put Bg3, Elden Ring and Witcher 3 on a different level, then Rebirth, P5 Royal and some others. Rebirth imo is definitely the best FF game in last 15 years though
55 minute review? Yes please. Just finished the game last night. 115 hours and I’m going to do it all over again on hard mode. Phenomenal game. Can’t think of any AAA games other than Elden ring, from this generation that were able to do that. And for me I didn’t want to play Elden ring after I beat it. Took me months to come back to that game. I am biased though because ff7 (1997) is the game that made me a “gamer”, but I dunno, this game is remarkable and I don’t even know how they made this in 4 years. Cheers!
Ff7 was my first playstation game. I watched my older cousin play the Junon after Cloud got possessed. He didn't say anything to me about Aerith. I fell in love with the series, only equaled by ff9 and ff10. I told my dad how far we went in gaming. Its so thrilling to see it all.
Generation is a bit much, just this year we got P3 Reload and DD2 both being on par with FF7. Choosing a goty this year will be super hard with so many S tier RPGs coming out.
@@Kumire_921 p3 reload brings less content than the original. They are adding the content they left out. So that’s not even in the conversation. It’s a reskin of the old game. Great game, but hard for me to even put it in competition with a game like ff7 rebirth. I mean, is it even a AAA game? Because that’s the key thing. A game like Baldurs Gate 3 has as much content, but it’s not a AAA game. DD2 seems like it is on par with FF7, but still nowhere close when it comes to size and content from what I’ve seen and heard from creators I trust and my buddy who has played both. What I’ve heard, The freedom of the game is great, but there’s very little enemy variety alongside really sub par performance. Still can’t wait to play it after I complete ff7 rebirths post game and hard mode. I hope it’s on par with this game. Honestly it’s more in line with the RPGs I enjoy these days, so I’m sure I’ll have a great time. Cheers!
This is true, but there's more to it than that. It wasn't a hindsighted reinterpretation of the dialogue to fit Rebirth's story better, the "steel sky" line was actually just a mistranslation to begin with. So while that original line was a bit more poetic and interesting, it strayed too much from the original's specific intent and meaning. Basically, someone on the localization team did an exceptionally good job with a reinterpretation of a translated line of dialogue, but Square JP was apparently not forthcoming enough about how important it was for that specific line to be translated 100% literally. I'm surprised they waited years to fix it, but maybe the timing was good since it got people talking about it again right before Rebirth's release lol.
It was only changed in english, all other languages had the right translation. Which makes me think how misleading the english translation is in general. It's often pretty clear what is meant or said in japanese or german but in english they go more for the style over substance path.
It was the english translators not being aware of this at that point, or being brazen... probably the latter. As good as the English localization seems, they have demonstrated at various points that they think they 'know better' than the writers and have screwed up the meanings of certain things as compared to every other language. In Remake, for example, they also changed the name of the Jenova fight from Jenova Pulse to Jenova Dreamweaver. The 'pulse' had meaning as it alludes to a pre-born version of Jenova (i.e. like the 'pulse' of a pre-born child) and it was named that way because the fight comes before the Jenova Birth fight from the OG game (which you fight on the ship in Rebirth). But then again, I guess it wouldn't be a remake of FF7 without a screwed up translation.
@@Muramusa723mistranslation or not, the original line still works just as well, it’s just more poetic… now it’s more literal and less interesting, imo. And it’s the last thing said in Remake, so it’ll forever stick out.
I just hit 90 hours and just finished the main campaign and oh man… this game might be my favorite game in the past decade! The music is some of the best I’ve ever heard, the story is so compelling, the world is so deep and rich, the characters are so well written and compelling and the combate is not only the best in jrpg or rpg history but I’d go as far to say it’s the best combat system I’ve ever played in all gaming! This game has shot up to be in my top three favorite games of all time and i really don’t see how square will top this with the third entry but ik they will do everything possible to do so
Man, this video felt like such a throwback to your old school "the review" game reviews, which first got me hooked on your channel 5 years ago. But with a more modern style. Really happy that amid all the busy schedule of your channel, you found the time and energy to really just get excited about a game like this. Keep up the wonderful work, the 1 mil are so deserved
I was bawling my eyes out at Aeriths death even though I know now that their intention is to save that emotional climax for the third part when Cloud has his realization, but it still hit me regardless. And I definitely don’t agree at all that Aerith is boring lol she’s my favourite character, she has tons of personality and is not at all 2 dimensional. And I also disagree with your view on Yuffie. I loved her little sister dynamic with Cloud and she had many funny moments. Also loved how she was the only one who tried to defend Barret in Corel. It’s obvious they’re saving her best content for the next game when we visit Wutai.
Yuffie was great in this version they portrayed her really well she even made me laugh at time … ff7 original is my fave game of all time and I didn’t even react to yuffie back then so this time around it was if they added something extra for me
Yuffie and Aerith are great. Aerith is my favorite character as well. That's not any slander on Tifa, either, because Tifa is wonderful as well. If I were Cloud I'd be very torn because I genuinely think both Tifa and Aerith are basically perfect. Sweet, supportive, strong, beautiful, what more can you ask for? And Yuffie is a lot of fun, I was laughing at a lot of her dialogue and her interactions with Barret are gold. She also stuck up for him in Corel which is nice.
I was fully expecting to bawl like a baby especially since these games have really elevated my attachment to her character and all the full personality she always had was conveyed more strongly.(For context I played the original long after it released and had known Aerith died long long before I was ever interested in playing it)But I didn't. I spent too much time trying to figure out wtf was going on the emotional impact of that loss was well lost. It really seems like they're more concerned with keeping players guessing and talking about what happened(which they succeeded) rather than things making sense. The character writing is really really good but the overall plot and narrative isn't and the multiverse stuff I don't care but can't objectively judge until part 3.
Yep, loved Aerith and Yuffie in this, and I thought the Dyne moment was one of the less well-handled ones. The big death scene wasn't that emotional though, but only because it was so intentionally confusing and was quickly undercut by extremely long-winded boss fights. But as an original fan, I was hit hard by the scene where she leaves Cloud in the forest, since that's really the moment where you know she's going to be gone. Even the allusion to that scene in Remake got me.
@@CaptainFalcoyd Agreed, it's really the small throwaway lines or moments that did it for me. I didn't really feel anything during the death scene itself (which really disappointed me), but when Aerith & Cloud were 'universe-hopping' beforehand, Aerith told Cloud something in the line of, "Whatever happens, don't blame yourself." and that really broke me.
I dont agree with the Aerith and Yuffie point. Expected Yuffie to be annoying but she was sweet and energetic but got serious when she needed to be. Also she was actually quite hilarious. She will get her character arc in the future. And Aerith is an amazing character: She shows her insecurities, her vulnerable side, even her hatred when talking about Hojo at Costa del Sol but at the same time is sweet and empathetic, while always caring for the group more than herself. She is not just Waifu bait for Cloud but has great relationships with the main cast especially Tifa and Red13. The ending maybe didnt hit as hard because of how confusing it was not because the scene itself and the loss of that character isnt incredibly sad. Point is that the most sad part of the game for most people is her backstory with her mother dying. I think she represents what FF7 is really about when Sakeguchi wrote the game: Looking into the future and moving on and not letting grief and regret destroy you but moving past it as a stronger person. Apart from that: Great review! You especially got that the main appeal of FF7 is its characters and how they interact with each other and help and grow with each other!
I stopped playing when yuffie was introduced. She did that goofy run when she left and that was it. I really liked ff7 remake but this one is way too anime for me. Granted that’s on me cause I hate anime but still. I was hoping I’d like it. But I’m glad for everyone else who liked it. I feel it was to them what the re4 remake was to me
Agreed for the point of Aerith's death not being so sad because how confusing everything around it was. Not that it was bad per se, but the way the story is told via Cloud's perspective makes our understanding of it less clear as Cloud just starts going insane the further in we get. I think the death of Aerith is going to hit harder next game when he enters the livestream and gets faced with the truth.
I didn't like Yuffie at first, but then you have to remember she is only 16, when you get that it's easier to accept her in your team. Plus, she is probably my favorite character to play.
@@Ungli2.0 I have to say, the double bill of the OTT Yuffie introduction and then hearing that bloody Roche had turned up again did put me off playing for a couple of days🤣
Don't really agree about Aerith. They did a good job of making her not just a flower girl, but a vivacious person who just wants to enjoy life, who wants to watch Cloud in a drag show, who wants to sing on stage, who wants to holiday in the sun, and ultimately just wants to have her date with Cloud in Midgar. Part of what makes her captivating is that she has all these hopes and dreams but you know they will never be realised, the only real power she has is to ensure her friends get to experience the life she never got to experience. I felt the final death had the wind knocked out of its sails not because Aerith is uninteresting, but rather, because the No Promises to Keep song was the real emotional climax for her, given what we know of her fate. If you know how it's all going to end, you can't shock the player a second time, but you what you can do is leverage that knowledge to make a really poignant moment where the inevitable hits like a freight train that and takes them on an emotional rollercoaster oscillating between triumph and sadness. I thought it was a great addition, and best choice available given the limitations (of how they will never be able to have the same impact a 2nd time.)
100% agree with you. I exhausted every possible dialogue option with every character and none of them are lacking in personality, Yuffie and Aerith included. I can see how someone might think they are one note if you don’t interact with them unless you have to for story progression, but that is the powers this games choices gives you.
Yeah as a big Aerith fan it's a shame how many people miss the core of or don't even appreciate her character, especially with how much more the devs have given her in part 1, 2 and probably even more to come in part 3 of this remake trilogy. Like I couldn't care less about who's whos favorite but I feel like Aerith is the only character that there's very little middle ground, either you love her or couldn't care less.🥲 The writing is so good for everyone I just think it's a shame.
@@timogul It hasn't been "noped", the implication is that Cloud's strength of will is what keeps Aerith "around" even if she is not alive in the main world. It's basically a metaphor to explain why Aerith re-appears suddenly at the end of the OG game smiling. Because of Cloud, and the party's, strong love for her, keeping her memory alive. Sephiroth however has control over what timeline you are bound to and is able to pull Cloud back into the world where Aerith has died.
I am happy to be alive so I can experience the Remake trilogy. FFVII was such a huge moment in my life, it began my obsession with RPG's back when I was 11. Rebirth is a masterpiece.
i wish i felt the same, as someone who got the PS1 and PC originals, i struggle to give it a 6/10... probably like 1000 hours in the OG. (not a fan of the combat btw but just skip the combat) The game is so enchanting, then it spits on each tense moment by making me do these stupid minigames... not like queensblood, like the grapple hook on the way to cloud freaking out at the reator, or cait sith box throw, or pray with aerith... wish everyone the best though...
@@imrendered I can forgive it's few missteps, I didnt enjoy all of the minigames, some of the pacing was off, and open world fatigue is definitely a thing... but the overall game is so polished, so expertly realized and such a love letter to its characters, its world, its music and ultimately it's fans. I would feel dishonest giving it any less, than at the very least, a 9.5/10
@@imrendered I agree with you 100% as a huge fan of the original I feel like this game doesn’t have nearly the soul or punch of the original game. But I also will admit that adult me probably finds a lot of the characters and story more ridiculous and childish than when I was much younger playing the game back in 97
@@Fletchr86 omg sorry for what i just realized was very long :( I can respect that. my ranking system is pretty straight forward and I literally quit in chapter 12 (i know right at the end lol) after saying "i swear if this game grips me, to just blue ball me with some stupid distraction, imma quit" then doing the pray with aerith mini game (getting the fuel for whatever boring crap was keeping me from having fun) and being unhappy but thinking, okay i did this chapters dumb distraction, just to get some dumb stagger the enemy to knock the tower crap... like I dont have adhd, i can focus on something for more than 3 mins, i just walked away lol fuck it, that is all dozen of us (childhood FF friends from the 90's, they all stopped after remake) no longer FF fans... my system, 2 points for each of, combat, graphic, sound, music, story and i might give bonus points. 5/10 is average or 1/2 is average and i use it's name sake as my gauge 0/2 for combat, is doesnt do action or atb even average, to me they get in the way of each other making in clunky, everything going on and start/stopping keep sounds and actions from shining, IMO. they could have just left classic a viable option to get a 1 from me, but it literally takes minutes to build 1 atb and they just stand there doing nothing... 2/2 graphics, game look damn great even on performance mode 1/2 for sounds, nothing was bad nothing was omg this was my fav sound. (for context i still remember sounds like demi or firaga from ff7 OG) 1/2 for music, its good, but rarely gripped me, just boss fights, like in the original each fight was like heck yeah, each boss and jenova's music. ICONIC. I also mostly listen to classical music irl. its was literally just the boss fights that got me and half the time i was like what is this? 2/2 for story, cause i dont blame the story for the managers insisting on breaking up each great gripping moment, its great characters are great, even pissed they treat Barret like shit all game, but everything was just so good. 6/10 I don't deduct from the pacing problems but did quit cause i can just have a better time in other games that don't constantly break my interest. like when ff14 endwalker off screened garlemald again, to douche zodiarc and the ascians, to finger guns alien bird girl at me... after years of build up. im not spending year of investment to get this again lol. rads'at'han and the ascian zones were cool
I don't know if i saw a different ending than everyone else. I saw a Cloud broken and terribly coping with Aerith's dad by believing she's alive and being left to fight meteor. Everyone else was sad and he was smiling like a maniac. His acceptance of her death in the next game will be a massive story arc.
Thing is... she's not dead for him. Not because of some coping mechanism, I mean that literally. When he went through the wall of whispers, he ended up in a weird situation where he's in the same universe as the rest of the party, but his reality is itself different. The fact she's not properly dead is why Red XIII felt her touch him in the ending cutscene on the hill. It's why, also in the scene on the hill, Cloud looks up and sees a messed up sky, rather than the beautiful, clear blue one that everyone else sees. This is also why she talks of him of how she's going to work to stop Meteor. It's why, even at her death scene, she's in different poses for Cloud as opposed to the rest of the party. It's how Cloud both deflected Sephiroth's attack in his reality while for everyone else, he didn't and she got stabbed. She's straight up alive and not alive simultaneously. In other words, they Kingdom Hearts'd this ending and frankly did such a poor job of conveying it that, like yourself, many, many people don't even realise what happened in her death scene.
@@innoclarke7435 "Kingdom Hearts'd" Please play Kingdom Hearts. Nothing like this happens in any of those games. Using it as a buzzword just makes you sound like you have no clue what you're talking about.
@@innoclarke7435I don’t think anyone really knows wtf is going on. Right now it’s all just theories. Which is frustrating in its own way…but I’ll see it tilll the end. The ending did not destroy my enjoyment of the past 116 hours of the game at all lol
@@henrytep8884 Nomura does plot hooks and KH3/the mobile game did it super strongly, but it's never something on the level of this except for KH3. Kitase and Nojima want brand new twists on top of FF7 because they think everybody knows them, so they, as a pair of the original writers for the original game, cooked up this crazy stuff to try to catch newcomers and veterans alike off-guard. KH has nothing on this.
Amazing review and I agree with pretty much everything you have to say, but I’m very curious if calling “Cosmo Canyon” by the name “Cosmic Canyon” was intentional or not :’)
lmfao literally just beat this few hours go. i completed it within 125 hours 🙏🏼 im so surprised how long this game is while bringing quality (ik everything isnt the best quality but its good enough!). its gonna be great going back to Part 1 then Rebirth 😎
These games bring back my childhood sense of wonder I missed so much. Overindulgent and drawn-out but for some reason never pretentious or soulless like almost every other "product" these days. And we get to enjoy an hour-long skillup video
Im having the same experience. The game doesnt take itself too seriously but still respect its more serious moments. And the music.... the music takes the cutscenes to a whole new level
Gongaga was by far my favorite zone to explore, especially those ancient ruins... Funny to hear you hated it. BTW IDK if you played INTERmission DLC of Remake, Yuffie gets a LOT development there. You should 100% play it, otherwise you're missing A LOT of her development... Also completely disagree about Aerith's & Dyne's death. Dyne's death was done better in the OG, because we didn't have Palmer slapping his butt right after & Dyne actually offed himself. They sanitized the scene here. Also Aerith's an AMAZING character with TONS of depth & charm & her death didn't hit in Rebirth, because it literally wasn't supposed to. It wasn't shown and is being saved for the next game. Whether that's a good decision is a different story. Also you in fact can play through the whole game in Barret's sailor costume on NG+, just like any other costume.
The only constructive criticism I can add to this conversation is that I really felt the chocobo running up to you to show you a new chocobo stop, or the owl guiding you to a new wellspring were very charming. I remember once during my playthrough, I dropped the sign as I was picking it up. The little guy looked absolutely distraught and sad. I let the little guy down. There are so many moments like that in my playthrough that made me smile.
Totally feeling this review and it sums up how I feel about it. Just got my platinum this weekend after 195 hrs playing and it's actually making me appreciate how much effort and time they have put into doing this game justice... It's gonna be a long wait for Part 3 😳😢
Ooof definitely disagree about Aerith but when it comes to characters I guess it's always just a take it or leave kinda thing, because your criticism of her humanity not shining through or breaking down, thus making her more dull is pretty meh. Imo they definitely hit it out of the park with Aerith between part 1 and 2, there's an obvious atempt with the writing in this remake trilogy to give her a big glow up in the character department.🤷♂
One of the best games I’ve played. The nostalgia for OG FF7 definitely part of it, but mostly it’s Rebirth being very special in its own right. SE went all out on this, I can’t believe they actually nailed it this well.
This is the greatest RPG of all time and one of the best games ever. Top 5. I played the OG FF7 and that was, of course, beyond incredible, but I'm so impressed with the richness of how this Rebirth game was made.
Playing videos my whole life (80s), classic FF7 has a special place in my heart. FF7 rebirth is..without question, not even close, my favorite video game I've ever played. Absolutely glued to the game the whole time. Incredible. If you have not played it, fix that.
Same, been playing video games since I had a commodore 64. The remake/rebirth games are hands down my favorite games ever. I loved the OG, played it well over 20 times but these versions... they make me feel something for these characters.
Been playing games since the 90s, I've had the same favourite game since I was a teenager, until Rebirth. Maybe 5-10 hours into this I knew this was going to be my new favourite ever game, and it only kept impressing me from there. Nothing but minor complaints after 150 hours.
@@dlux7357 Yeah I found Cloud's interactions with Tifa really boring after all. They are both introverts so their conversations come across like really serious and awkward. Aerith's and Yuffie's interactions are much more fun and vivid.
I'm still in the middle of the game (at Gongaga) at the moment, so I haven't watched this spoiler review yet, but I can't wait to check it out once I'm finished! Bookmarking for later. While there have been some minor things I nitpick on, Rebirth so far has been an absolute, utter dream from my childhood made reality. I cannot get over how beautifully realized they've managed to make this world, characters, and story. All of the key things I would have cared about as a faithful fan of the original have utterly exceeded my wildest expectations. I hear there's some dissatisfaction regarding the ending, but for now, I'm just joyfully along for the incredible ride!
I'd have loved to watch the review... but really don't want any spoilers on this game in particular. So here's a like, and a comment to help with the TH-cam algorithm. Be the first review posted in years I haven't watched to the end. 👍
Yea, don't watch this at all. It is full of spoilers. This review is a disservice to gamers lol I beat the game and I'm still upset with the amount the spoilers on display lol
To think we had such a large running for Game of the Year and it’s only March. Like holy heck. Thanks for still covering these games, despite their length!
I cannot believe how big this game is. Im 95 hours in and just started chapter 11 and im guessing i have 30 to 40 hours of content left and this is a full 100% playthrough on just normal mode. Yes the pacing can be a bit slow if you do EVERYTHING but its all still very fun, gorgeous to look at, and fun to play (except situps - screw the situps lol) my only complaint with the game is that there are SO many minigames that it actually can get annoying and that some of the mini games are way harder than the actual game 😂 this game may be bigger than Elden Ring or around that size. Its unbelievably huge, and feels extremely cared for and curated. I dont know how they made this game in 4 years it feels like it should have taken 10
This is basically my whole opinion as well. This game is incredible and as a fan who only played the original six years ago, this game has given me the experience that other is probably had playing the original back in the 90s. Staying up late to win the chocobo races, trying to max out matiria, looking for secrets and grinding to defeat the hidden bosses. Every nostalgic story I’ve heard about good and bad times with the original from classic fans are comparable to the experience I’m having playing rebirth! Truly a masterpiece and part 3 can’t come soon enough. I think ff7 Revise would be a good name for the finale. Also yeah, fuck the sit-ups mini game. I couldn’t beat that stupid thing and had to get a buddy to help out. (I’ve got really bad pattern recognition problems and suck at stuff like rhythm games so that stupid thing was a huge hurdle to climb.)
This is such an incredibly special game. It had me smiling one moment and crying the next, plus it’s just so damn fun to play. It warms my heart to see so many other people enjoying it too. The only thing I’d have to disagree with is about Aerith’s character. She had so many moments that I felt really humanized her. From hilarious moments such as her dialogue with Tifa on their Costa Del Sol date, and her becoming delirious from all the climbing on Mt. Corel, to more serious moments like when she reveals all the dark thoughts she has about taking revenge on Hojo if she had the chance. I felt they did a fantastic job of humanizing her and showing that she isn’t just a pure angel. Honestly, I think these characters have managed to become my favourite cast of characters in any game to date.
Planning to watch this review after I finish in 10 years! 😅 Roughly 60hrs in according to ingame time and only at Gold Saucer. I know there's WAY more to come and honestly I've been having such a fantastic time overall without feeling exhausted. This FF could definitely reach one of the top spots for me, if not my favourite. So much charm and quality everywhere (excluding certain "mini games" but they haven't been too egregious). Haven't smiled or laughed in a game this much for a long time.
I personally gave FFVII Remake a 7/10 and FFXVI a 6/10. This game is a solid 9.5/10 for me and it feels like the developers personally set out to address every criticism I had about both games. It’s not completely perfect, but this game is absolutely incredible and blew me away
As always, thanks for such a heartfelt review. Beyond what one can expect from the more 'common aspects' of a typical review, having the more introspective approach really helps to transmit your personal experience beyond mechanics, more on how you connect with such a huge experience as this game proposes
Man, I JUST beat this game and it was such a wild ride. To me, all they've done is build off the original and I absolutely love it and I can't wait to see where it all goes in the end :')
Games like this prove that giving any video game, or any piece of art really, a number score is so stupid. This game is hella flawed, featuring some really puzzling sequences and way too much bloat, so I couldn’t give it a “10.” But it’s still one of the best games I’ve played in years, an imperfect masterpiece that I’ll be thinking about for years to come.
I've been waiting so long for this video and you nailed the feelings I've felt. This game is so big and so complete it doesn't even make sense. It defies reason.
Holy crap man, did Shill up just convinced me to play Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth after a whole life of not liking Final Fantasy games? Yes. He just did.
This game captures the feeling of playing both the original game and other older Final Fantasy games in a way I didn't think was possible in the modern era. It's absolutely remarkable (as well as routinely *unbelievable* in the best way), and I got emotional so many times over how powerfully the game surfaced 25-year old memories for me when I'm someone that has memory issues. I thought Aerith was great, but I've always liked her exactly as she is. I can understand why she might fall flat for someone either way. What I *can't* abide is this slander of Wutai's White Rose. Her characterization is subtler (because as you note, they're saving a lot of it for Part 3), but they really lay the groundwork to what has the potential to be a stellar visit to Wutai when we get to it I do like the ending-tentatively, at least. They're potentially setting up some interesting stuff with Cloud's mental state in the third game (where I'm 99% sure we're going to get the "real" Aerith death sequence), and I went into this one knowing it was both Part 2 of a trilogy and that they were likely going to cliffhanger things as a result, so *for now*, I'm along for the ride. I hope they stick the landing on Part 3, which is no easy feat (looking at you, Mass Effect 3), but this game has so much love and care poured into it (as did Remake before it) that I have faith that if anyone can do it, it's these people And yeah, best combat in an RPG ever. I sincerely hope it serves as a foundation for Fantasies Final to come in the way the original FFIV ATB system did for IV through X (and kinda XIII, but XIII's combat is honestly closer to being the prototype for VII-R's combat than it is a proper ATB system)
I agree with you on nearly every point EXCEPT that Aerith is a "boring" character. Everything from her friendship with Tifa, the way she opens up about her loneliness as a child, the Nibelheim water tower talk with Cloud, the post Hojo Costa Del Sol conversation where she expresses wanting to "hate" someone. She is PROFOUNDLY layered.
Those are real emotions from someone who's life has been filled with pain and struggle and her confession about that at cosmo canyon really put it into perspective. It's part of why I preferred her over Tifa, while Cloti is great, just something about someone so hurt finding such deep care and solace from some more literally broken is sweet to me.
In the OG I was never that gripped by her and her death there didn't hit me very hard. I went into Remake deadset on Tifa, but Aerith reaaaallly warmed my heart with her bubbly exterior having the hints of her sad determination and desperation slipping through.
Waited forever for you to post this, only to realize I can't watch it until I find the time to finish the first game and this, oy very! Looking forward to watching this review later this year :D
*spoiler post* When I first saw Aerith’s death I was livid I thought Square Enix fumbled the biggest moment, but the more I watched it and realised it’s more about Clouds pure broken mind than the actual death, I don’t mind it. We’re going to get that moment properly in the next game.
the problem there is that's cope and honestly not gonna happen the reality is they wasted the moment and doing it again later isn't gonna make it better here, just shows in their pursuit of "making it different to keep you guessing" they ruined the moment
Not when Cloud didn't hardly process her death in the original. I always thought that was BS, to be honest so I like that they focus on his reaction. It isn't about her death but the stark contrast between how Cloud and the party are handling it. That's realistic and I appreciate it a lot!
I don't agree they ruined it. I never played the original but the way that it was delivered here, had me "mourning" for Aerith AND Clouds delusions. At the same time grasping at possibility she's still alive somewhere. Deaths had been played out many times in many games. What they did here wasn't. It left me broken. Simple hard ended death wouldn't.
@@marcusclark1339it’s pretty clear Cloud is not in a good mental state. Aerith is dead and he has not accepted it. That’s why we skipped the scene of him laying her body in the water. We’ll see it next game when Cloud starts to remember things in Mideel.
She was my favourite character in the original and I'm on cloud nine with how well they've portrayed her so far. We haven't even got to her big story focus yet that's been saved for part 3.
Just finished the game and came straight here to see this. Excellent review! I can't even imagine the amount of effort that went into making this. Thank you
I think her motivations are very one note.... But she has character development through the other characters like Barret and Red XIII etc. She'll get far more development through the story in the next game when we go to Wutai.
Yeah she doesn't get a big standout moment like the rest of the cast but she absolutely develops from kind of clearly using the party to further her own materia(l) goals to caring about everyone in the party in a very real way by the end.
Just finished it. I gave it a 96. The combat is so good. Miniganes are amazing. And the story and writing is really well done. The gane looks great. They only fumble it at the end. And the open world checklist gets a little tiring. Thank you Square.
What an amazing review! You are absolutely the no.1 game reviewer because you really get to the heart of each game you reviewed, makingsure to highlights the parts that are excellent and unique about a game while not glossing over their weaknesses. I already played FF7Rb before I saw this, but I absolutely will always wait for your review if I am on the fence about trying a new game.
i think this game did an incredible job at avoiding open world fatigue, constantly giving new ways of aquiring chocobos and interacting with each new biome whereas plenty of studios would've taken grasslands and then repeated that across the entire game. i just wish for as beautiful and open as it was you could interact with it in a equally satisfying way with a jump button instead of running into artificial walls all over on your impossible to control chocobo
Barrett is probably my favorite Final Fantasy character now after these two games. I think square writers have a maximum of how much good writing they can put into a game and they spent all of it on Barrett.
Took me around 85 hours to complete. This game is so big and incredible I've not felt something like this since Elden Ring. While the masterpiece that is the original FF7 can never really be overthrown by the Remakes imo, I do respect the effort the devs put in (this game was made through the pandemic) and I find many things they added very interesting. Obviously many are unhappy with the changes or the removal of some parts from the OG, but honestly for everything the devs changed/removed, the stuff that was kept/improved/added balances it out or even weighs up Rebirth more than the original in certain aspects (character development, music, environment, combat etc). I'm actually planning to platinum this game because it's so fun (even though there are a bunch of garbage minigames). Solid 9/10 as a FF7 fan
I just finished this masterpiece finally today and came immediately back to your review I had on my backlog since you released it. I applaud you for this analysis of Rebirth. You're so much on point in your criticism. In my eyes you're one of the best reviewers for the last years but this is one of your best. Hats off, Ralph! Final Fantasy VII made me the gamer I am today, it is one of the reasons for the enthusiasm I have had for this medium throughout my life. I was dreaming about a modern remake for the last 20 years. I loved Remake, but Rebirth tops that in every aspect. I loved every minute of my 105 hour playthrough. To me, this might be the best game of all time. I'm so much looking forward to showing this game to my kids in a few years (they're too little right now)
I don’t care what I read or others say, this is one of the best video games I ever played and I been playing for a while now. It’s not perfect, it could use some trimming or not trying to reinvent the wheel in controls (Cait Sith box throwing) but none of that really puts it down. I finished it doing 100% on the maps not because a completion thing but because I found it fun and the game gave me actual substantial rewards be it in story beats, materia or gear. I finished this game and I can’t stop thinking about it, will slowly chip at the Platinum and Hard Mode run but I can’t let it go yet. Peak video gaming bliss that very few games have ever left me feeling like this.
This was a weird one for me. I spent 120 hours on my first playthrough and I loved it for the most part, but for how long it was, there were moments in the late game and even in the ending sequence where I expected more things to kick off story-wise but never did, and that left me feeling just a little bit dissatisfied. Great game overall and I hope the next game's development doesn't take as long.
I agree with almost everything except for the Aerith and Yuffie slander. Aerith became one of my favorite characters in remake and in Rebirth they really stepped it up several notches. I loved every scene she was in and I thought Briana knocked it out of the park. Yuffie on the other hand reminds me a lot of Rikku from FFX. She may have had a one note arc for the majority, but she is is still a well rounded character with a lot of depth. I love how at by the end, she was more about helping the party or saving Aerith rather than chasing materia and it seemed that she had began to forget about that in the last third.
Damn Dude! Best review so far. This is the first time i watched a review where i found myself smiling nonstop! My love for Final Fantasy has never ended. Its my all time fave series. Thank you for this review!
I don't know why the more people are not shouting this game from the rooftops, however it's getting poor sales from what I hear. Final Fantasy VII was a mega classic and I doubt that anyone would deny that❤❤❤ in the impact this game had when first release back in the 90s. Mind you I know I've heard of some graphical errors but all in all I'm sold. I will definitely be getting it without a doubt.❤️🔥❤️
It didn’t meet squad’s expectations and neither did ff16, but they have still made a profit and will continue to. They should put it on PC as soon as possible.
You can tell the team poured their heart and soul into this game. It’s one of a kind and even though it was overwhelming at times your review made me realize how beautiful the journey was
Well, you gave me the TLDR at the beginning: "Everyone knows it's good." I guess that's my signal to leave before the spoilers start. I'll come back in a few months after I've had the chance to play it. Thanks!
@@TheRealCaptainLavenderYes, it is. There are always notable great games that didn’t very well. Perhaps think people were so disappointed in 16 it put them off. It’s only on PS5 at the moment and PS5 has no where near the huge install base that the ps4 had. But although the physical sales in Japan were not as high as 16 it was still the top selling game on release. It’s sold very well and a lot better in America and Europe. More importantly, we don’t know the digital sales yet. I was going to buy physical but the digital twin pack deal was too good to resist. We don’t know the full picture, yet. When we get the digital sales, plus the steam and pc sales, your conclusion about the failure of sales can be correct. But not before. Remake sold extremely well, and it won’t be as high as that because the install base was higher, and this a part 2 continuation so some who didn’t like remake won’t buy rebirth. We do know that this game is sitting in a 93 reviewer score, the highest it’s been since FF 9 (which is the only one above it) and that’s more impressive considering the increase in the number of review publications. It sits at 90 on player meta critic. All very strong indications that’s it’s a great game. You can disagree- you’d just be in a minority. I bet the eventual sales will be pretty strong, too. Skill up is right - this is the real deal.
@@TheRealCaptainLavenderif everything you see about this game doesn't impress you, you're one tough person to satisfy. They went crazy with the amount of content and stayed true to the story 90% of the time while vastly expanding a beloved classic. What more can they do 🤨
It’s outdated graphically, that’s a fact. Cinematics look great but in game is last gen, some awful textures and low resolution assets. Horrible resolution problems. Good combat, great music and story but technically awful.
You are literally the greatest reviewer in TH-cam man. I didn't want to pick this up because my backlog is just way too long. But now you've changed my mind lol
I think my biggest complaint is how the first 8 chapters have 3 open areas, and the last 5 (one of which is just a final boss) has 3 open areas and a redux where you can revisit each area for more quests. So if you are doing open content with the story and you like the pace, you feel inclined to continue to do that and then you get walloped by side content that out balances the main story. Funny enough if they had done 16 chapters and had the last one include the forgotten city it would have felt balanced albeit long Also it feels like you kind of got screwed out of a good chapter with chapter 11, further messing up the balance.
one of the only games in years where i completed it and just sat there wondering what the hell do i do now. also the characters are some of the best in gaming imo
@@Hyperman6996 If characters matter to you in an RPG, then DD2 isn't that sort of game. In fact, if a good story matters to you, then DD2 doesn't do that either.
My biggest complaint is how we kill so many people in this game and yet the cast refuses to let any of the turks die like bruh these fuckers are basically the SS dropping the sector 7 plate and killing thousands but no the random trooper who has no idea whats going on can die i guess
You mean the Elena scene? I think it was more due to Cloud literally wanting to behead her while she was down, which is really fucked up (no matter who's the bad or good guys).
After you beat the game and start your hard mode playthrough, you can dress your characters in different outfits whenever then. You can also play without cloud in combat. And there are new challenges only in hard mode.
I also fell into the trap of... just doing all of the content. And once I committed, I committed hard. But I don't regret it, I had an absolute blast and that's coming from someone who's usually glad the sidecontent is over and doesn't consider it fun. They made it fun, imo, and I'm really glad it's there, even if it was indeed overwhelming at some points. They've shown so much love with this project. Edit: Also, Gongaga. Yeah. Damn I wanted to move on from that zone asap and later came back to it, bringing a loooot of patience with me .
Thanks to SteelSeries for sponsoring the video. Get 12% of any purchase from www.steelseries.com when you use offer code SKILLUP at check out.
This review didn't need your punch down comment towards "right wing" people. What the hells a matter with you injecting that crap into a review for video games. You aren't a comedian.
WOAH Aerith dies?! spoiler alert wtf
@jac6548 that's up for discussion actually. I actually have my own theories involving multiple timelines which has alot of evidence
@@avaforlife4141 Dude has one wing...on his right...hence, right winger. Jesus dude, stop playing a victim.
BTW for Yuffie, she had a whole ass game by herself to know her better
31:24 "Chadley is an AI after all and like any good AI it's relying on other people to do the work so that it can then take credit for it" 10/10 line
Listen, if Chadley is the future of AI, I'm in.
Chadley is a serious front runner for most annoying game character ever created. The only thing worse than endless exposition dialogue is having it spoken by a ten year old through your controller speaker during intense battles at just low enough volume that it creates this tinny sub-audible stream of babble that makes you wish they'd release an expansion quest where you can repeatedly throw Chadley off of those stupid towers he loves.
@@factotumsMAI better imho
@@factotumsuse a headset or change it in the menu 😂 not hard
@@pietrozavattaro2323 So turning off Chadley makes him less annoying? I can agree with that.
It's singleplayer experiences like this, and multiplayer experiences like Helldivers, that remind me why I still love gaming so much. I feel grateful.
nah especially given this game is a padded out mess stringing audience to $70 for each game, its exactly the kind of example of what NOT to do in gaming
@@marcusclark1339 This is an insane take absolutely nobody agrees with bro here 😭
So im not allowed to enjoy it or have fun?@@marcusclark1339
@@marcusclark1339the only problem here is people like you.
both with the seal of PlayStation
Shinra Middle Manager is the true final boss
That combat arena gauntlet was legitimately the hardest thing I persevered with in the entire game. I probably would've given up on it were it not the last side quest I had to complete.
fuck man...i spent more time on the punch out trial than the whole ff remake
@@jesuseduardoroldanyou can ⏸️ right when the opponent pulls back for the punch and then unpause and dodge. It makes that minigame much more palatable lol
1 hour review = same amount of time I spent trying to beat one single Glide de Chocobo course.
Still can't beat it, even after watching a video. Not high enough for that second to last ring!!!!!
@@GageReed I had the same issue. You have to double back and get another boost from the last wind fan thing. It's the only way as far as I know. There are some videos showcasing this, I don't know if the one you saw showed it but for me it was the only way to do it.
I spent way more than an hour lmao. Drove me insane.
I spent awhile on the first course but once I got the movement mechanics down and realized I wasn’t being timed (so I could double back as often as I needed them) I knocked them all out in one shot
It is literally just Mario Kart.
Man I really loved the DOG theme! SO SO GOOD
I'm at peak happiness as a gamer, playing this feels like a dream come true, the level of charm in this game is off the charts to me.
This game gave me everything I wanted…. I have never been so happy with a game in my life. What a breathtaking experience.
Man I wish I could experience something like that again.
Call the waaaaahmbulance
As a huge fan of the OG7 when it released, this game is on 🔥
Feels dated, huge disparity between gameplay graphics and cinematics, copy and paste open world design, animations, huge resolution issues, poor textures in indoor environments/shops and horrible lighting.
Great combat, fun exploration, great music, interesting story changes, characters.
This isn’t a PlayStation 5 game by any means. For me it falls short in almost every aspect. Horizon forbidden west should be the standard, and to be honest this falls far below that. This game is a mixture of ps3/ps4 visuals.
Like I said, great cinematics, but that’s the money shots. That’s why they are used in trailers.
After 30-40 hours it felt like a grind for me. Rinse and repeat.
I do enjoy it but not as much as remake.
122 hours in now, finished the game a two weeks ago, done almost all side quests. Spent a lot of time playing and looking at it.
There should be a standard, especially with visuals, and running smoothly. This was apparently made for PlayStation 5 but they couldn’t even get it to look like a PlayStation 5 game let alone fix the resolution and texture issues. Unreadable posters/bilboards, assets like book covers and other things.
I’m sure I’ll get plenty of hate for this comment but it’s not an opinion. The technical issues are an objective fact. They should have never chose unreal engine 4 for the remake project. It looks dated already and will look even more dated in another 4 years when the 3rd game comes out.
i cannot believe this game even exists. Its so good. I hope square realizes how special this game is and gives us another banger sequel. I was so happy from start to finish. 80 hours
Imagine if they remade Final Fantasy 9 with the active time moments like this
Good news: I am extremely confident part 3 of VII remake will be just as amazing, if not better, than this one. Bad news, we prob gotta wait until 2028
@@kirkshanghainah they said that they have alot of the game already made and itll come out sooner than the last.
the game is so fucking charming, its amazing
100 hours... chapter 10..... its massive....
I dont know if ive played a game with as much charm and magic as this. The junon parade and finding your squads. The bald bar. The gold saucer. Yuffies singing. The gongaga region theme. Cait sith is now super endearing and lovable and cute. Could go on and on.
Those are the 2 words that stick out to me. Charm and magic. And it infects every aspect of the game. The gongaga theme for me was a big one. Idk why it hit so hard, but it was magical. Felt like the magic that pre 21st century disney had. And the magic of the golden eras of jrpgs. Really special.
The bald bar was hilarious I’m so glad I stumbled on it
YES!..i felt like i was Tarzan while exploring Gongaga, definitely had that 90's Disney charm sorta ring to it. Couldn't agree more on what you said, the game was magical and brought me so much joy!. At a pretty shitty time in my life were things haven't been going my way, at least i had this game to look forward to and i loved every second of it. It was such a memorable experience that i'm still thinking about 2 weeks after rolling the credits and i assume i will continue to do so for a long time to come. You know what i find wrong with a game like this?...it left a void that no game will be able to fill for a while. Like, ill start playing another game soon but will just be thinking "Its cool but it aint rebirth" hahaha. Last game that left that sort of impression was Elden Ring. This is my favorite game since then.
@Wi11iamNZ it's funny you say that, I'm in the exact same position. Very shitty time recently for me.
And yes, I agree. Quite a few games over the years have given me that empty feeling when I beat them. Same with tv. Gotten so engrossed that you just want to keep playing or watching.
But very few games have left a void like you say. I can think of a half dozen or so that have made me feel this way. 3 of those in the last few years (Elden Ring, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and FF7 rebirth).
It's kinda insane. It's like the game just took over my life so to speak. Thankfully there's a hard mode, so I've just jumped straight into that, haha.
@@regis7971 Nice one. I will definitely come back to the game at a later date, i just have to take a break after my near 90 hour playthrough😅
100% on this
Game. Of. The. Year.
Just completed Rebirth... Seriously, after 15+ years I got to experience the true majestic experience of Final Fantasy games. Rebirth is easily the best FF game I have played in last 15 years and definitely one of the best RPG games made ever. ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
Bg3 enters the chat...
@@hasan1980hb I said "One of the best RPG" Bg3 is awesome
What else is on FF7 rebirth and BG3 level? Persona 5 maybe? But isn't that it?
@@dgayle2348 I would put Bg3, Elden Ring and Witcher 3 on a different level, then Rebirth, P5 Royal and some others. Rebirth imo is definitely the best FF game in last 15 years though
@@arox2962: great list, thanks man
Glad I wasn't the only one who thought Barrett really smashed it this game
he didn't, high emoting doesn't mean its good emotion or good characterization
they screwed Dyne's entire story and Barret suffers for it as well
@marcusclark1339 fair enough, guess we can agree to disagree on this one
@@marcusclark1339thats like, your opinion. Disagree with everyone you said lol.
Agreed. Barret was a stand-out.
@@marcusclark1339 boring hater alert
55 minute review? Yes please.
Just finished the game last night. 115 hours and I’m going to do it all over again on hard mode. Phenomenal game.
Can’t think of any AAA games other than Elden ring, from this generation that were able to do that. And for me I didn’t want to play Elden ring after I beat it. Took me months to come back to that game.
I am biased though because ff7 (1997) is the game that made me a “gamer”, but I dunno, this game is remarkable and I don’t even know how they made this in 4 years.
Cheers!
I just beat it last night too, and had been playing it since release. Great game
Ff7 was my first playstation game. I watched my older cousin play the Junon after Cloud got possessed. He didn't say anything to me about Aerith. I fell in love with the series, only equaled by ff9 and ff10.
I told my dad how far we went in gaming. Its so thrilling to see it all.
Generation is a bit much, just this year we got P3 Reload and DD2 both being on par with FF7. Choosing a goty this year will be super hard with so many S tier RPGs coming out.
@@Kumire_921 p3 reload brings less content than the original. They are adding the content they left out. So that’s not even in the conversation. It’s a reskin of the old game. Great game, but hard for me to even put it in competition with a game like ff7 rebirth. I mean, is it even a AAA game? Because that’s the key thing. A game like Baldurs Gate 3 has as much content, but it’s not a AAA game.
DD2 seems like it is on par with FF7, but still nowhere close when it comes to size and content from what I’ve seen and heard from creators I trust and my buddy who has played both. What I’ve heard, The freedom of the game is great, but there’s very little enemy variety alongside really sub par performance. Still can’t wait to play it after I complete ff7 rebirths post game and hard mode. I hope it’s on par with this game. Honestly it’s more in line with the RPGs I enjoy these days, so I’m sure I’ll have a great time. Cheers!
RDR2, Wicher 3 >>>>>>> elden ring.
They changed Aerith's sky line at the end of Remake to insinuate that she can see the ripped rift in the sky like Cloud can at the end of Rebirth.
Ohhhhhh😮
This is true, but there's more to it than that. It wasn't a hindsighted reinterpretation of the dialogue to fit Rebirth's story better, the "steel sky" line was actually just a mistranslation to begin with. So while that original line was a bit more poetic and interesting, it strayed too much from the original's specific intent and meaning. Basically, someone on the localization team did an exceptionally good job with a reinterpretation of a translated line of dialogue, but Square JP was apparently not forthcoming enough about how important it was for that specific line to be translated 100% literally. I'm surprised they waited years to fix it, but maybe the timing was good since it got people talking about it again right before Rebirth's release lol.
It was only changed in english, all other languages had the right translation. Which makes me think how misleading the english translation is in general. It's often pretty clear what is meant or said in japanese or german but in english they go more for the style over substance path.
It was the english translators not being aware of this at that point, or being brazen... probably the latter. As good as the English localization seems, they have demonstrated at various points that they think they 'know better' than the writers and have screwed up the meanings of certain things as compared to every other language. In Remake, for example, they also changed the name of the Jenova fight from Jenova Pulse to Jenova Dreamweaver. The 'pulse' had meaning as it alludes to a pre-born version of Jenova (i.e. like the 'pulse' of a pre-born child) and it was named that way because the fight comes before the Jenova Birth fight from the OG game (which you fight on the ship in Rebirth).
But then again, I guess it wouldn't be a remake of FF7 without a screwed up translation.
@@Muramusa723mistranslation or not, the original line still works just as well, it’s just more poetic… now it’s more literal and less interesting, imo. And it’s the last thing said in Remake, so it’ll forever stick out.
I just hit 90 hours and just finished the main campaign and oh man… this game might be my favorite game in the past decade! The music is some of the best I’ve ever heard, the story is so compelling, the world is so deep and rich, the characters are so well written and compelling and the combate is not only the best in jrpg or rpg history but I’d go as far to say it’s the best combat system I’ve ever played in all gaming! This game has shot up to be in my top three favorite games of all time and i really don’t see how square will top this with the third entry but ik they will do everything possible to do so
Man, this video felt like such a throwback to your old school "the review" game reviews, which first got me hooked on your channel 5 years ago. But with a more modern style. Really happy that amid all the busy schedule of your channel, you found the time and energy to really just get excited about a game like this. Keep up the wonderful work, the 1 mil are so deserved
I was bawling my eyes out at Aeriths death even though I know now that their intention is to save that emotional climax for the third part when Cloud has his realization, but it still hit me regardless. And I definitely don’t agree at all that Aerith is boring lol she’s my favourite character, she has tons of personality and is not at all 2 dimensional.
And I also disagree with your view on Yuffie. I loved her little sister dynamic with Cloud and she had many funny moments. Also loved how she was the only one who tried to defend Barret in Corel. It’s obvious they’re saving her best content for the next game when we visit Wutai.
Yuffie was great in this version they portrayed her really well she even made me laugh at time … ff7 original is my fave game of all time and I didn’t even react to yuffie back then so this time around it was if they added something extra for me
Yuffie and Aerith are great. Aerith is my favorite character as well. That's not any slander on Tifa, either, because Tifa is wonderful as well. If I were Cloud I'd be very torn because I genuinely think both Tifa and Aerith are basically perfect. Sweet, supportive, strong, beautiful, what more can you ask for? And Yuffie is a lot of fun, I was laughing at a lot of her dialogue and her interactions with Barret are gold. She also stuck up for him in Corel which is nice.
I was fully expecting to bawl like a baby especially since these games have really elevated my attachment to her character and all the full personality she always had was conveyed more strongly.(For context I played the original long after it released and had known Aerith died long long before I was ever interested in playing it)But I didn't. I spent too much time trying to figure out wtf was going on the emotional impact of that loss was well lost.
It really seems like they're more concerned with keeping players guessing and talking about what happened(which they succeeded) rather than things making sense. The character writing is really really good but the overall plot and narrative isn't and the multiverse stuff I don't care but can't objectively judge until part 3.
Yep, loved Aerith and Yuffie in this, and I thought the Dyne moment was one of the less well-handled ones.
The big death scene wasn't that emotional though, but only because it was so intentionally confusing and was quickly undercut by extremely long-winded boss fights. But as an original fan, I was hit hard by the scene where she leaves Cloud in the forest, since that's really the moment where you know she's going to be gone. Even the allusion to that scene in Remake got me.
@@CaptainFalcoyd Agreed, it's really the small throwaway lines or moments that did it for me. I didn't really feel anything during the death scene itself (which really disappointed me), but when Aerith & Cloud were 'universe-hopping' beforehand, Aerith told Cloud something in the line of, "Whatever happens, don't blame yourself." and that really broke me.
I dont agree with the Aerith and Yuffie point. Expected Yuffie to be annoying but she was sweet and energetic but got serious when she needed to be. Also she was actually quite hilarious. She will get her character arc in the future.
And Aerith is an amazing character:
She shows her insecurities, her vulnerable side, even her hatred when talking about Hojo at Costa del Sol but at the same time is sweet and empathetic, while always caring for the group more than herself. She is not just Waifu bait for Cloud but has great relationships with the main cast especially Tifa and Red13. The ending maybe didnt hit as hard because of how confusing it was not because the scene itself and the loss of that character isnt incredibly sad. Point is that the most sad part of the game for most people is her backstory with her mother dying. I think she represents what FF7 is really about when Sakeguchi wrote the game: Looking into the future and moving on and not letting grief and regret destroy you but moving past it as a stronger person.
Apart from that: Great review! You especially got that the main appeal of FF7 is its characters and how they interact with each other and help and grow with each other!
I stopped playing when yuffie was introduced. She did that goofy run when she left and that was it. I really liked ff7 remake but this one is way too anime for me. Granted that’s on me cause I hate anime but still. I was hoping I’d like it. But I’m glad for everyone else who liked it. I feel it was to them what the re4 remake was to me
Agreed for the point of Aerith's death not being so sad because how confusing everything around it was. Not that it was bad per se, but the way the story is told via Cloud's perspective makes our understanding of it less clear as Cloud just starts going insane the further in we get. I think the death of Aerith is going to hit harder next game when he enters the livestream and gets faced with the truth.
I didn't like Yuffie at first, but then you have to remember she is only 16, when you get that it's easier to accept her in your team. Plus, she is probably my favorite character to play.
I couldn't stand either of them here. I really liked Barett, Cait, and Cid though.
@@Ungli2.0 I have to say, the double bill of the OTT Yuffie introduction and then hearing that bloody Roche had turned up again did put me off playing for a couple of days🤣
Don't really agree about Aerith. They did a good job of making her not just a flower girl, but a vivacious person who just wants to enjoy life, who wants to watch Cloud in a drag show, who wants to sing on stage, who wants to holiday in the sun, and ultimately just wants to have her date with Cloud in Midgar. Part of what makes her captivating is that she has all these hopes and dreams but you know they will never be realised, the only real power she has is to ensure her friends get to experience the life she never got to experience. I felt the final death had the wind knocked out of its sails not because Aerith is uninteresting, but rather, because the No Promises to Keep song was the real emotional climax for her, given what we know of her fate. If you know how it's all going to end, you can't shock the player a second time, but you what you can do is leverage that knowledge to make a really poignant moment where the inevitable hits like a freight train that and takes them on an emotional rollercoaster oscillating between triumph and sadness. I thought it was a great addition, and best choice available given the limitations (of how they will never be able to have the same impact a 2nd time.)
100% agree with you. I exhausted every possible dialogue option with every character and none of them are lacking in personality, Yuffie and Aerith included. I can see how someone might think they are one note if you don’t interact with them unless you have to for story progression, but that is the powers this games choices gives you.
Yeah as a big Aerith fan it's a shame how many people miss the core of or don't even appreciate her character, especially with how much more the devs have given her in part 1, 2 and probably even more to come in part 3 of this remake trilogy. Like I couldn't care less about who's whos favorite but I feel like Aerith is the only character that there's very little middle ground, either you love her or couldn't care less.🥲 The writing is so good for everyone I just think it's a shame.
I'm still Team Tifa, but I felt legitimately betrayed that they "noped" our blocking of Sephiroth's sword. It really ruined my memories of this game.
@@timogul It hasn't been "noped", the implication is that Cloud's strength of will is what keeps Aerith "around" even if she is not alive in the main world. It's basically a metaphor to explain why Aerith re-appears suddenly at the end of the OG game smiling. Because of Cloud, and the party's, strong love for her, keeping her memory alive. Sephiroth however has control over what timeline you are bound to and is able to pull Cloud back into the world where Aerith has died.
@@ash_yt0 I don't think any of that is accurate.
Would personally give it a 7. Glad people are enjoying it so much though. . .
But yeah for me it was a solid 7/7.
Got me in the first half, not gonna lie.
You had me. Then you HAD me!
Me during Aerith's trial: look at me. I don't even cry and you're about to make tears come out of my face.
yesss for real that part was crazy sad man
Bro i fucking bawled, might have been a bit drunk but still that shit was so sad, honestly all the trials were extremely sad
That killed me too. :(
Fuck man... It was extremely emotional
Media consumers trying not to spoil the plotline for 5 whole seconds:
I am happy to be alive so I can experience the Remake trilogy. FFVII was such a huge moment in my life, it began my obsession with RPG's back when I was 11. Rebirth is a masterpiece.
i wish i felt the same, as someone who got the PS1 and PC originals, i struggle to give it a 6/10... probably like 1000 hours in the OG. (not a fan of the combat btw but just skip the combat)
The game is so enchanting, then it spits on each tense moment by making me do these stupid minigames... not like queensblood, like the grapple hook on the way to cloud freaking out at the reator, or cait sith box throw, or pray with aerith...
wish everyone the best though...
@@imrendered I can forgive it's few missteps, I didnt enjoy all of the minigames, some of the pacing was off, and open world fatigue is definitely a thing... but the overall game is so polished, so expertly realized and such a love letter to its characters, its world, its music and ultimately it's fans. I would feel dishonest giving it any less, than at the very least, a 9.5/10
@@Fletchr86 Just gotta survive to see the finale 🥲
@@imrendered I agree with you 100% as a huge fan of the original I feel like this game doesn’t have nearly the soul or punch of the original game. But I also will admit that adult me probably finds a lot of the characters and story more ridiculous and childish than when I was much younger playing the game back in 97
@@Fletchr86 omg sorry for what i just realized was very long :(
I can respect that. my ranking system is pretty straight forward and I literally quit in chapter 12 (i know right at the end lol) after saying "i swear if this game grips me, to just blue ball me with some stupid distraction, imma quit"
then doing the pray with aerith mini game (getting the fuel for whatever boring crap was keeping me from having fun) and being unhappy but thinking, okay i did this chapters dumb distraction, just to get some dumb stagger the enemy to knock the tower crap... like I dont have adhd, i can focus on something for more than 3 mins, i just walked away lol fuck it, that is all dozen of us (childhood FF friends from the 90's, they all stopped after remake) no longer FF fans...
my system, 2 points for each of, combat, graphic, sound, music, story and i might give bonus points. 5/10 is average or 1/2 is average and i use it's name sake as my gauge
0/2 for combat, is doesnt do action or atb even average, to me they get in the way of each other making in clunky, everything going on and start/stopping keep sounds and actions from shining, IMO. they could have just left classic a viable option to get a 1 from me, but it literally takes minutes to build 1 atb and they just stand there doing nothing...
2/2 graphics, game look damn great even on performance mode
1/2 for sounds, nothing was bad nothing was omg this was my fav sound. (for context i still remember sounds like demi or firaga from ff7 OG)
1/2 for music, its good, but rarely gripped me, just boss fights, like in the original each fight was like heck yeah, each boss and jenova's music. ICONIC. I also mostly listen to classical music irl. its was literally just the boss fights that got me and half the time i was like what is this?
2/2 for story, cause i dont blame the story for the managers insisting on breaking up each great gripping moment, its great characters are great, even pissed they treat Barret like shit all game, but everything was just so good.
6/10
I don't deduct from the pacing problems but did quit cause i can just have a better time in other games that don't constantly break my interest.
like when ff14 endwalker off screened garlemald again, to douche zodiarc and the ascians, to finger guns alien bird girl at me... after years of build up. im not spending year of investment to get this again lol. rads'at'han and the ascian zones were cool
I don't know if i saw a different ending than everyone else.
I saw a Cloud broken and terribly coping with Aerith's dad by believing she's alive and being left to fight meteor. Everyone else was sad and he was smiling like a maniac. His acceptance of her death in the next game will be a massive story arc.
Thing is... she's not dead for him. Not because of some coping mechanism, I mean that literally. When he went through the wall of whispers, he ended up in a weird situation where he's in the same universe as the rest of the party, but his reality is itself different. The fact she's not properly dead is why Red XIII felt her touch him in the ending cutscene on the hill. It's why, also in the scene on the hill, Cloud looks up and sees a messed up sky, rather than the beautiful, clear blue one that everyone else sees. This is also why she talks of him of how she's going to work to stop Meteor. It's why, even at her death scene, she's in different poses for Cloud as opposed to the rest of the party. It's how Cloud both deflected Sephiroth's attack in his reality while for everyone else, he didn't and she got stabbed. She's straight up alive and not alive simultaneously.
In other words, they Kingdom Hearts'd this ending and frankly did such a poor job of conveying it that, like yourself, many, many people don't even realise what happened in her death scene.
@@innoclarke7435 "Kingdom Hearts'd" Please play Kingdom Hearts. Nothing like this happens in any of those games. Using it as a buzzword just makes you sound like you have no clue what you're talking about.
@@Miriam_J_stop being so triggered. KH has alot of bs, Schrödinger Aerith is a real phenomenon and it is embodied in cloud.
@@innoclarke7435I don’t think anyone really knows wtf is going on. Right now it’s all just theories. Which is frustrating in its own way…but I’ll see it tilll the end. The ending did not destroy my enjoyment of the past 116 hours of the game at all lol
@@henrytep8884 Nomura does plot hooks and KH3/the mobile game did it super strongly, but it's never something on the level of this except for KH3. Kitase and Nojima want brand new twists on top of FF7 because they think everybody knows them, so they, as a pair of the original writers for the original game, cooked up this crazy stuff to try to catch newcomers and veterans alike off-guard. KH has nothing on this.
Yuffie story will be told in part 3 when we got to her homeland. Square doesn’t want to spoil the involved characters yet
Amazing review and I agree with pretty much everything you have to say, but I’m very curious if calling “Cosmo Canyon” by the name “Cosmic Canyon” was intentional or not :’)
lmfao literally just beat this few hours go. i completed it within 125 hours 🙏🏼 im so surprised how long this game is while bringing quality (ik everything isnt the best quality but its good enough!). its gonna be great going back to Part 1 then Rebirth 😎
These games bring back my childhood sense of wonder I missed so much. Overindulgent and drawn-out but for some reason never pretentious or soulless like almost every other "product" these days. And we get to enjoy an hour-long skillup video
no it has that as well in it
Im having the same experience. The game doesnt take itself too seriously but still respect its more serious moments. And the music.... the music takes the cutscenes to a whole new level
It feels like a game made in the 90's/early 2000.
It's magic
I totally agree this is the most lovable cast of characters in any video game.
Gongaga was by far my favorite zone to explore, especially those ancient ruins... Funny to hear you hated it. BTW IDK if you played INTERmission DLC of Remake, Yuffie gets a LOT development there. You should 100% play it, otherwise you're missing A LOT of her development... Also completely disagree about Aerith's & Dyne's death. Dyne's death was done better in the OG, because we didn't have Palmer slapping his butt right after & Dyne actually offed himself. They sanitized the scene here. Also Aerith's an AMAZING character with TONS of depth & charm & her death didn't hit in Rebirth, because it literally wasn't supposed to. It wasn't shown and is being saved for the next game. Whether that's a good decision is a different story. Also you in fact can play through the whole game in Barret's sailor costume on NG+, just like any other costume.
Gongaga's only problem is u have no idea how u can reach certain objectives
Wow, crazy man killed himself, 10/10 character writing!
I absolutely hated gongaga to complete, bar the story. It was so poorly laid out and difficult to find stuff. Most other regions were perfect
The only constructive criticism I can add to this conversation is that I really felt the chocobo running up to you to show you a new chocobo stop, or the owl guiding you to a new wellspring were very charming. I remember once during my playthrough, I dropped the sign as I was picking it up. The little guy looked absolutely distraught and sad. I let the little guy down. There are so many moments like that in my playthrough that made me smile.
I love that the game over music plays at the end of that side quest at 23:50 🤣
“Well, we all gotta eat?”
Totally feeling this review and it sums up how I feel about it. Just got my platinum this weekend after 195 hrs playing and it's actually making me appreciate how much effort and time they have put into doing this game justice...
It's gonna be a long wait for Part 3 😳😢
Best game I’ve ever played. A sublime masterpiece. Nothing really comes close for me except Remake. This trilogy is something special.
Got my platinum at 188h mark, easily the best game I have ever played, though they didn't have to make the plat requirement so ruthless
Ooof definitely disagree about Aerith but when it comes to characters I guess it's always just a take it or leave kinda thing, because your criticism of her humanity not shining through or breaking down, thus making her more dull is pretty meh. Imo they definitely hit it out of the park with Aerith between part 1 and 2, there's an obvious atempt with the writing in this remake trilogy to give her a big glow up in the character department.🤷♂
One of the best games I’ve played. The nostalgia for OG FF7 definitely part of it, but mostly it’s Rebirth being very special in its own right. SE went all out on this, I can’t believe they actually nailed it this well.
This is the greatest RPG of all time and one of the best games ever. Top 5. I played the OG FF7 and that was, of course, beyond incredible, but I'm so impressed with the richness of how this Rebirth game was made.
BEEN WAITING TO SEE THAT EXACT VIDEO TITLE POP UP IN MY NOTIFICATIONS FOR A MONTH LFGGG
Playing videos my whole life (80s), classic FF7 has a special place in my heart. FF7 rebirth is..without question, not even close, my favorite video game I've ever played. Absolutely glued to the game the whole time. Incredible. If you have not played it, fix that.
Same, been playing video games since I had a commodore 64. The remake/rebirth games are hands down my favorite games ever. I loved the OG, played it well over 20 times but these versions... they make me feel something for these characters.
Been playing games since the 90s, I've had the same favourite game since I was a teenager, until Rebirth. Maybe 5-10 hours into this I knew this was going to be my new favourite ever game, and it only kept impressing me from there. Nothing but minor complaints after 150 hours.
do you have to play others before this one or can jump into it without missing anything?
@@crocodile7334 it has a video for the previous story but I'd say get the double pack and play remake first.
Same here!! I felt like a kid again the entire time I was playing and they kept surpassing my expectations.
calling aerith boring is fucking CRAZY nice review tho 👍
Personal preference, I guess. In my opinion Aerith and Yuffie are much more fun and exciting than Tifa.
@@dlux7357 Yeah I found Cloud's interactions with Tifa really boring after all. They are both introverts so their conversations come across like really serious and awkward. Aerith's and Yuffie's interactions are much more fun and vivid.
The only thing crazy is calling only Aerith boring. There is no depth to any of the characters in this remake.
It’s absolutely nutty, yeah. But overall good review.
She's like... PERFECT.
I'm still in the middle of the game (at Gongaga) at the moment, so I haven't watched this spoiler review yet, but I can't wait to check it out once I'm finished! Bookmarking for later.
While there have been some minor things I nitpick on, Rebirth so far has been an absolute, utter dream from my childhood made reality. I cannot get over how beautifully realized they've managed to make this world, characters, and story. All of the key things I would have cared about as a faithful fan of the original have utterly exceeded my wildest expectations. I hear there's some dissatisfaction regarding the ending, but for now, I'm just joyfully along for the incredible ride!
I'd have loved to watch the review... but really don't want any spoilers on this game in particular. So here's a like, and a comment to help with the TH-cam algorithm. Be the first review posted in years I haven't watched to the end. 👍
Same, I hope the game releases on PC at some point, I'm gonna do a double feature with the original Remake and this back to back, can't wait.
Yea, don't watch this at all. It is full of spoilers. This review is a disservice to gamers lol I beat the game and I'm still upset with the amount the spoilers on display lol
Same!!
To think we had such a large running for Game of the Year and it’s only March. Like holy heck. Thanks for still covering these games, despite their length!
I cannot believe how big this game is. Im 95 hours in and just started chapter 11 and im guessing i have 30 to 40 hours of content left and this is a full 100% playthrough on just normal mode. Yes the pacing can be a bit slow if you do EVERYTHING but its all still very fun, gorgeous to look at, and fun to play (except situps - screw the situps lol) my only complaint with the game is that there are SO many minigames that it actually can get annoying and that some of the mini games are way harder than the actual game 😂 this game may be bigger than Elden Ring or around that size. Its unbelievably huge, and feels extremely cared for and curated. I dont know how they made this game in 4 years it feels like it should have taken 10
Getting to 100% outside of Hard Mode took 190 hours 😅
@LiquidSnake794 wow peoples playtimes are insane. For me doing 100% outside of hard mode and the hardmode vr battles was like 77 hours
@@MixedMilk1 im taking everything in. I spent 2 hours walking around cosmo canyon the town just because it looks amazing.
This is basically my whole opinion as well.
This game is incredible and as a fan who only played the original six years ago, this game has given me the experience that other is probably had playing the original back in the 90s.
Staying up late to win the chocobo races, trying to max out matiria, looking for secrets and grinding to defeat the hidden bosses.
Every nostalgic story I’ve heard about good and bad times with the original from classic fans are comparable to the experience I’m having playing rebirth!
Truly a masterpiece and part 3 can’t come soon enough. I think ff7 Revise would be a good name for the finale.
Also yeah, fuck the sit-ups mini game. I couldn’t beat that stupid thing and had to get a buddy to help out. (I’ve got really bad pattern recognition problems and suck at stuff like rhythm games so that stupid thing was a huge hurdle to climb.)
@MixedMilk1 you talking about the Story 100% or the Platinum Trophy 100% 😮 cause I thought the story alone took almost 60 hours 😅
This is such an incredibly special game. It had me smiling one moment and crying the next, plus it’s just so damn fun to play. It warms my heart to see so many other people enjoying it too.
The only thing I’d have to disagree with is about Aerith’s character. She had so many moments that I felt really humanized her. From hilarious moments such as her dialogue with Tifa on their Costa Del Sol date, and her becoming delirious from all the climbing on Mt. Corel, to more serious moments like when she reveals all the dark thoughts she has about taking revenge on Hojo if she had the chance. I felt they did a fantastic job of humanizing her and showing that she isn’t just a pure angel.
Honestly, I think these characters have managed to become my favourite cast of characters in any game to date.
I'd take a date with Aerith anytime! I unfortunately got Red XIII lol
Aerith is one of the best characters ever created.
I cant believe what he said about her in this review I was genuinely shocked... She's incredible
She annoys the hell out of me. Glad I’m saying this on TH-cam instead of Reddit lol
@@bromeisterbryce that sounds like a you problem
@@sama2086 aren’t all opinions you problems? I like Brussels sprouts and maybe you don’t… that’s a you problem.
Planning to watch this review after I finish in 10 years! 😅
Roughly 60hrs in according to ingame time and only at Gold Saucer. I know there's WAY more to come and honestly I've been having such a fantastic time overall without feeling exhausted.
This FF could definitely reach one of the top spots for me, if not my favourite.
So much charm and quality everywhere (excluding certain "mini games" but they haven't been too egregious). Haven't smiled or laughed in a game this much for a long time.
I personally gave FFVII Remake a 7/10 and FFXVI a 6/10. This game is a solid 9.5/10 for me and it feels like the developers personally set out to address every criticism I had about both games. It’s not completely perfect, but this game is absolutely incredible and blew me away
Same
As always, thanks for such a heartfelt review. Beyond what one can expect from the more 'common aspects' of a typical review, having the more introspective approach really helps to transmit your personal experience beyond mechanics, more on how you connect with such a huge experience as this game proposes
Man, I JUST beat this game and it was such a wild ride. To me, all they've done is build off the original and I absolutely love it and I can't wait to see where it all goes in the end :')
Games like this prove that giving any video game, or any piece of art really, a number score is so stupid. This game is hella flawed, featuring some really puzzling sequences and way too much bloat, so I couldn’t give it a “10.” But it’s still one of the best games I’ve played in years, an imperfect masterpiece that I’ll be thinking about for years to come.
Every masterpiece is imperfect. Masterpiece just means exceptionally good, not perfect. Point to a perfect game and I’ll show you its flaws.
Finally finished the game. Time to watch!
Just finished it a couple of days ago... The final two chapters are such a ride!!!
me super excited :D
i quit at cp12, did they do anything different than the original, should i look up a video?
@@imrenderedThere are some changes but you better experience it yourself. Watching just a video won’t do it justice.
I've been waiting so long for this video and you nailed the feelings I've felt. This game is so big and so complete it doesn't even make sense. It defies reason.
Holy crap man, did Shill up just convinced me to play Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth after a whole life of not liking Final Fantasy games?
Yes. He just did.
Hope you had a positive experience!
It not feeling like Aerith died was the entire point, they made us as copium as Cloud is.
This game captures the feeling of playing both the original game and other older Final Fantasy games in a way I didn't think was possible in the modern era. It's absolutely remarkable (as well as routinely *unbelievable* in the best way), and I got emotional so many times over how powerfully the game surfaced 25-year old memories for me when I'm someone that has memory issues. I thought Aerith was great, but I've always liked her exactly as she is. I can understand why she might fall flat for someone either way. What I *can't* abide is this slander of Wutai's White Rose. Her characterization is subtler (because as you note, they're saving a lot of it for Part 3), but they really lay the groundwork to what has the potential to be a stellar visit to Wutai when we get to it
I do like the ending-tentatively, at least. They're potentially setting up some interesting stuff with Cloud's mental state in the third game (where I'm 99% sure we're going to get the "real" Aerith death sequence), and I went into this one knowing it was both Part 2 of a trilogy and that they were likely going to cliffhanger things as a result, so *for now*, I'm along for the ride. I hope they stick the landing on Part 3, which is no easy feat (looking at you, Mass Effect 3), but this game has so much love and care poured into it (as did Remake before it) that I have faith that if anyone can do it, it's these people
And yeah, best combat in an RPG ever. I sincerely hope it serves as a foundation for Fantasies Final to come in the way the original FFIV ATB system did for IV through X (and kinda XIII, but XIII's combat is honestly closer to being the prototype for VII-R's combat than it is a proper ATB system)
Yet another brilliant review. The thoughtfulness you put into these is thoroughly appreciated.
I agree with you on nearly every point EXCEPT that Aerith is a "boring" character. Everything from her friendship with Tifa, the way she opens up about her loneliness as a child, the Nibelheim water tower talk with Cloud, the post Hojo Costa Del Sol conversation where she expresses wanting to "hate" someone. She is PROFOUNDLY layered.
Those are real emotions from someone who's life has been filled with pain and struggle and her confession about that at cosmo canyon really put it into perspective. It's part of why I preferred her over Tifa, while Cloti is great, just something about someone so hurt finding such deep care and solace from some more literally broken is sweet to me.
Agreed. I love that part in nibelheim. She’s great and has plenty depth
In the OG I was never that gripped by her and her death there didn't hit me very hard. I went into Remake deadset on Tifa, but Aerith reaaaallly warmed my heart with her bubbly exterior having the hints of her sad determination and desperation slipping through.
Waited forever for you to post this, only to realize I can't watch it until I find the time to finish the first game and this, oy very! Looking forward to watching this review later this year :D
*spoiler post*
When I first saw Aerith’s death I was livid I thought Square Enix fumbled the biggest moment, but the more I watched it and realised it’s more about Clouds pure broken mind than the actual death, I don’t mind it. We’re going to get that moment properly in the next game.
the problem there is that's cope and honestly not gonna happen
the reality is they wasted the moment and doing it again later isn't gonna make it better here, just shows in their pursuit of "making it different to keep you guessing" they ruined the moment
Not when Cloud didn't hardly process her death in the original. I always thought that was BS, to be honest so I like that they focus on his reaction. It isn't about her death but the stark contrast between how Cloud and the party are handling it. That's realistic and I appreciate it a lot!
I don't agree they ruined it. I never played the original but the way that it was delivered here, had me "mourning" for Aerith AND Clouds delusions. At the same time grasping at possibility she's still alive somewhere. Deaths had been played out many times in many games. What they did here wasn't. It left me broken. Simple hard ended death wouldn't.
@@marcusclark1339it’s pretty clear Cloud is not in a good mental state. Aerith is dead and he has not accepted it. That’s why we skipped the scene of him laying her body in the water. We’ll see it next game when Cloud starts to remember things in Mideel.
Aerith delivered imo the most sincere line in the entire game when she gave Cloud the black materia.
Yuffie made this game really fun for me. She's the best, I'll fight anyone lmao
The moment with Cloud killed me. "Cool."
@@simonr344 when she sings the chocobo song aswell 😂
Yeh she’s top tier loved what they did with her
She was my favourite character in the original and I'm on cloud nine with how well they've portrayed her so far. We haven't even got to her big story focus yet that's been saved for part 3.
She is a bad ass that spinning whirlwind attack is awesome
Anytime Barret and Red team up, it's AVALANCHE TIME MOTHERFUCKERS!!!
Somebody watched Machinabridged.
Yeah... I kind of maybe said that to myself all the time
Lab rat dog time🙌
Just finished the game and came straight here to see this. Excellent review! I can't even imagine the amount of effort that went into making this. Thank you
I don't trust a word Cloud says in this game. Then he says 'I got this.' I don't know what's going to happen, but he's got this.
Completely disagree about Yuffie
I think her motivations are very one note.... But she has character development through the other characters like Barret and Red XIII etc.
She'll get far more development through the story in the next game when we go to Wutai.
Nah she’s the worse character by far. Can’t stand her
Yea I like her a lot but she’s obviously being mostly saved for Wutai
Yeah she doesn't get a big standout moment like the rest of the cast but she absolutely develops from kind of clearly using the party to further her own materia(l) goals to caring about everyone in the party in a very real way by the end.
I like what she adds character wise, but I feel like she talks about materia way too much.
Just finished it. I gave it a 96. The combat is so good. Miniganes are amazing. And the story and writing is really well done. The gane looks great. They only fumble it at the end. And the open world checklist gets a little tiring. Thank you Square.
Been waiting for this review for weeks.
What an amazing review! You are absolutely the no.1 game reviewer because you really get to the heart of each game you reviewed, makingsure to highlights the parts that are excellent and unique about a game while not glossing over their weaknesses. I already played FF7Rb before I saw this, but I absolutely will always wait for your review if I am on the fence about trying a new game.
I very strongly enjoyed this review. Well done Shillup.
i think this game did an incredible job at avoiding open world fatigue, constantly giving new ways of aquiring chocobos and interacting with each new biome whereas plenty of studios would've taken grasslands and then repeated that across the entire game. i just wish for as beautiful and open as it was you could interact with it in a equally satisfying way with a jump button instead of running into artificial walls all over on your impossible to control chocobo
Barrett is probably my favorite Final Fantasy character now after these two games. I think square writers have a maximum of how much good writing they can put into a game and they spent all of it on Barrett.
John Eric Bentley absolutely killed it as the va too!
Took me around 85 hours to complete. This game is so big and incredible I've not felt something like this since Elden Ring. While the masterpiece that is the original FF7 can never really be overthrown by the Remakes imo, I do respect the effort the devs put in (this game was made through the pandemic) and I find many things they added very interesting. Obviously many are unhappy with the changes or the removal of some parts from the OG, but honestly for everything the devs changed/removed, the stuff that was kept/improved/added balances it out or even weighs up Rebirth more than the original in certain aspects (character development, music, environment, combat etc). I'm actually planning to platinum this game because it's so fun (even though there are a bunch of garbage minigames). Solid 9/10 as a FF7 fan
Quality reviews, as always! Great work, man.
I just finished this masterpiece finally today and came immediately back to your review I had on my backlog since you released it.
I applaud you for this analysis of Rebirth. You're so much on point in your criticism. In my eyes you're one of the best reviewers for the last years but this is one of your best. Hats off, Ralph!
Final Fantasy VII made me the gamer I am today, it is one of the reasons for the enthusiasm I have had for this medium throughout my life. I was dreaming about a modern remake for the last 20 years. I loved Remake, but Rebirth tops that in every aspect. I loved every minute of my 105 hour playthrough. To me, this might be the best game of all time.
I'm so much looking forward to showing this game to my kids in a few years (they're too little right now)
I don’t care what I read or others say, this is one of the best video games I ever played and I been playing for a while now. It’s not perfect, it could use some trimming or not trying to reinvent the wheel in controls (Cait Sith box throwing) but none of that really puts it down. I finished it doing 100% on the maps not because a completion thing but because I found it fun and the game gave me actual substantial rewards be it in story beats, materia or gear.
I finished this game and I can’t stop thinking about it, will slowly chip at the Platinum and Hard Mode run but I can’t let it go yet. Peak video gaming bliss that very few games have ever left me feeling like this.
Just finished it this morning, perfect timing! (by this morning, I mean I played from 10pm to 9am hahaha)
Omg, the way they use the game over theme for the end of that chicken quest; that's freaking funny.
skillup reminds me why i still love youtube, so many years later
This was a weird one for me. I spent 120 hours on my first playthrough and I loved it for the most part, but for how long it was, there were moments in the late game and even in the ending sequence where I expected more things to kick off story-wise but never did, and that left me feeling just a little bit dissatisfied. Great game overall and I hope the next game's development doesn't take as long.
Absolutely nailed this review. S tier quality, per usual.
Cheers mate
I agree with almost everything except for the Aerith and Yuffie slander. Aerith became one of my favorite characters in remake and in Rebirth they really stepped it up several notches. I loved every scene she was in and I thought Briana knocked it out of the park. Yuffie on the other hand reminds me a lot of Rikku from FFX. She may have had a one note arc for the majority, but she is is still a well rounded character with a lot of depth. I love how at by the end, she was more about helping the party or saving Aerith rather than chasing materia and it seemed that she had began to forget about that in the last third.
Nice review Kupo.
Outstanding Work, Ralph!
Damn Dude! Best review so far. This is the first time i watched a review where i found myself smiling nonstop! My love for Final Fantasy has never ended. Its my all time fave series. Thank you for this review!
The game is astonishing. It’s a staggering achievement. It makes me love single player gaming again.
I don't know why the more people are not shouting this game from the rooftops, however it's getting poor sales from what I hear. Final Fantasy VII was a mega classic and I doubt that anyone would deny that❤❤❤ in the impact this game had when first release back in the 90s. Mind you I know I've heard of some graphical errors but all in all I'm sold. I will definitely be getting it without a doubt.❤️🔥❤️
@Dreamcasthero002 Does easiest pushing a button
It didn’t meet squad’s expectations and neither did ff16, but they have still made a profit and will continue to. They should put it on PC as soon as possible.
This game hit every note for me that 16 failed on. 16 was solid but this one is special and just so much more fun
You can tell the team poured their heart and soul into this game. It’s one of a kind and even though it was overwhelming at times your review made me realize how beautiful the journey was
Well, you gave me the TLDR at the beginning: "Everyone knows it's good."
I guess that's my signal to leave before the spoilers start. I'll come back in a few months after I've had the chance to play it. Thanks!
word. game is pure ps1 jrpg magic with modern presentation.
No it isn't. If it was it would have sold way better. It's a bait and switch and the sales reflect that fact.
@@TheRealCaptainLavenderYes, it is. There are always notable great games that didn’t very well. Perhaps think people were so disappointed in 16 it put them off. It’s only on PS5 at the moment and PS5 has no where near the huge install base that the ps4 had.
But although the physical sales in Japan were not as high as 16 it was still the top selling game on release. It’s sold very well and a lot better in America and Europe. More importantly, we don’t know the digital sales yet. I was going to buy physical but the digital twin pack deal was too good to resist.
We don’t know the full picture, yet. When we get the digital sales, plus the steam and pc sales, your conclusion about the failure of sales can be correct. But not before. Remake sold extremely well, and it won’t be as high as that because the install base was higher, and this a part 2 continuation so some who didn’t like remake won’t buy rebirth.
We do know that this game is sitting in a 93 reviewer score, the highest it’s been since FF 9 (which is the only one above it) and that’s more impressive considering the increase in the number of review publications. It sits at 90 on player meta critic. All very strong indications that’s it’s a great game.
You can disagree- you’d just be in a minority. I bet the eventual sales will be pretty strong, too. Skill up is right - this is the real deal.
@@TheRealCaptainLavendera games quality isn't determined by how much it sells
@@TheRealCaptainLavenderif everything you see about this game doesn't impress you, you're one tough person to satisfy. They went crazy with the amount of content and stayed true to the story 90% of the time while vastly expanding a beloved classic. What more can they do 🤨
It’s outdated graphically, that’s a fact. Cinematics look great but in game is last gen, some awful textures and low resolution assets. Horrible resolution problems. Good combat, great music and story but technically awful.
You are literally the greatest reviewer in TH-cam man. I didn't want to pick this up because my backlog is just way too long. But now you've changed my mind lol
enjoy man!
This game is special, hope you enjoy it.
I think my biggest complaint is how the first 8 chapters have 3 open areas, and the last 5 (one of which is just a final boss) has 3 open areas and a redux where you can revisit each area for more quests.
So if you are doing open content with the story and you like the pace, you feel inclined to continue to do that and then you get walloped by side content that out balances the main story. Funny enough if they had done 16 chapters and had the last one include the forgotten city it would have felt balanced albeit long
Also it feels like you kind of got screwed out of a good chapter with chapter 11, further messing up the balance.
one of the only games in years where i completed it and just sat there wondering what the hell do i do now. also the characters are some of the best in gaming imo
Started Dragons Dogma 2 after. I’m enjoying, but goddamn it does not fill that feeling
@@Hyperman6996 If characters matter to you in an RPG, then DD2 isn't that sort of game. In fact, if a good story matters to you, then DD2 doesn't do that either.
I just replayed the original right after.
Hard mode
The best ensemble cast of characters in gaming imo.
Dude! I seriously was giving up on you reviewing this 😆. Thank you! Love your content.
My biggest complaint is how we kill so many people in this game and yet the cast refuses to let any of the turks die like bruh these fuckers are basically the SS dropping the sector 7 plate and killing thousands but no the random trooper who has no idea whats going on can die i guess
You mean the Elena scene? I think it was more due to Cloud literally wanting to behead her while she was down, which is really fucked up (no matter who's the bad or good guys).
After you beat the game and start your hard mode playthrough, you can dress your characters in different outfits whenever then. You can also play without cloud in combat. And there are new challenges only in hard mode.
I also fell into the trap of... just doing all of the content. And once I committed, I committed hard. But I don't regret it, I had an absolute blast and that's coming from someone who's usually glad the sidecontent is over and doesn't consider it fun. They made it fun, imo, and I'm really glad it's there, even if it was indeed overwhelming at some points. They've shown so much love with this project. Edit: Also, Gongaga. Yeah. Damn I wanted to move on from that zone asap and later came back to it, bringing a loooot of patience with me .
Dude a 55 minute review? Loved every minute of it man.....
"Aerith is kinda boring."
YEAH WELL YOU'RE KINDA WRONG BUDDY.
I agree with you. I just finished the game.
I'm seriously questioning if skill up finished it.
He definitely did, just had a different opinion to yours. It happens lol
Aerith was my favorite character in Rebirth ^^
Ikr? Craziest take in the whole video. Aerith is my favourite character.
I don't know how you can get through the final chapter and have that opinion of her.