Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024)

i'm not sure if it's a pacing issue, but i understand why people had gripes with this game, i'm 3/4 into the game and it still occasionally tosses some new thing at me (gears and gambits) and i totally get it, keep that spark alive, throw in a little mystery in the bedroom as it were, but i think there's a moment where you feel your attention divided between what you're being drawn to organically and what the game very explicitly wants you to do. the grasslands and cosmo canyon were something like this where i just got lost in the various activities and side quests, it all felt very natural, but when i go to, say, junon or nibelheim, i start playing like that too but the game insists on shuttling me through the story. at the same time, i totally get there are bunch of people who are just like "i just want to get through the story" and they'd rather just avoid the sidequests (that's usually me!).

I don't know how to balance that phenomenon where each mainline quest can get you in a loop where you want to just shotgun the story at the expense of the larger world you can now explore or conversely where you just want to vibe out and get annoyed if the game blocks off a region because you need to finish the main quest first.

also, i think that what plagues chadley and his associated missions is not that they're chadley, but that they often require interrupting the game with a long animation or something that feels less organic. in contrast, when you find some fiend intel mission, those actually feel a bit organic and the ui generally just gets out of your way, but activating a tower this many hours in still feels a bit tedious because climbing is awkward and because you spend like twenty seconds watching various animations resolve. i felt sort of meh about a bunch of those side quests before but i think maybe what worked about cosmo canyon (and the grasslands at first) were that the areas were large enough that they were actually fun to explore and come across the various objectives somewhat organically and they very very rarely trigger an interesting character beat which i think does a lot more work than they'd care to admit.

taking a long break from this was good, coming back feels fun and rewarding and decidedly not a slog like the last third of remake's dungeons felt (i guess there's still time)!

The art direction they went with for Moogles in this game is awful. They look like Downy bears but stupider. Huge round eyes, huge bulbous round nose, huge rounded ears, and the one thing that should be round and plump - the Moogle's torso - is all stretched out long and skinny. It's an abomination to look upon, and just when you think that's bad enough, she opens her mouth and the (English) VA sounds like a character from Paw Patrol. What were they thinking??

Okay, taking a break from this, after about 22 or 23 hours - Yuffie just joined the party and Costa Del Sol seems like it’s finishing. So far, I’ve enjoyed the production values and fun character moments the best. The combat feels like you have a few more options, queens blood is fun and their approach to an open world is serviceable if a little stiff to move around in - vaulting and chocobo traversal feels like there’s way too much friction and jank.

I also have to agree with many people here that the mini games, in particular the ones required to progress the story are a few too frequent.

Wrapped up FF7 Rebirth at 88 hours. I left a few of the more grindy side quests unfinished, but otherwise I think I encountered all the available story elements.

I really enjoyed this game! It is absolutely massive compared to the prior installment. The updated combat system is as satisfying and weighty as in Remake, with several additions, including a broad synergy system, where the role of your party members becomes even more impactful and urges one to consider composition a lot more. Obviously where this game shines is in its characters and their quiet moments. They pulled out all the stops with the cutscenes here, with many more to enjoy, and several being fully rendered and honestly stunning. Final Fantasy usually does a great job of making it feel like you're on an adventure with your friends, and Rebirth exemplifies this. As for emotional impact, I did cry on 3 occasions, and teared up a bit on several others.

Regarding the narrative, I did feel it blurred a decent bit toward the final 2 chapters, which I believe is intentional, as Remake also did this. Being left with several big questions is a tantalizing cliffhanger for the final installment (hopefully soon).

OH and I am the Queens Blood GOD! Spend some time learning this mini game, it's a lot of fun and unlocks some side story.

I am getting closer to finishing the never ending game

I reached the final chapter last night and googled how long 2-3 Hours. Alas this was at 2am so finishing it was not on the cards.

I will 100% be taking 2 weeks off work for part 3.

There's a lot of side content left for me to sweep up. Which I will do, just slowly. Sadly I will not get the plat though because of needing to replay on hard.

Ngl I don't have time in my life.

I am also convinced no one with kids finished this game

I got real ill this week, which is gutting because In the UK we have a four day weekend and I was hella keen to finish ff7.2 I even had my non working day on top of that. + 3 sick days

Yeah... Too ill to play it

The monolith continues,

but I think I am in the final chapter \0/

For my Date I got Red and was gutted.