Square Enix has one of the most anticipated games in many years with the upcoming release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Exclusively on PlayStation 5, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth picks up after the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake. Cloud and the rest of the crew have now left Midgar searching for answers with no idea where the journey will take everyone.

Along the way, new friendships will form while at the same time running into old acquaintances. As far as the story goes, there will be no spoilers in this review, so don’t worry about accidentally reading something and getting a narrative plot point ruined.

After an opening that immediately hits players with some surprises, the game begins with a flashback. Fans of the original Final Fantasy VII will have a good idea of what takes place in this scene, but as in Final Fantasy VII Remake, the development team at Square Enix has expanded and added to these events. Upon first entering Kalm, players will be awestruck at how Square Enix transformed it from what they knew back in the late 90s when Final Fantasy VII arrived on the original PlayStation. That theme carries through this game as fans experience the incredible job that Square Enix has done bringing this title to life on modern hardware. Going through this game after years (and decades) of anticipation feels surreal. 

A First Step Into a Brave New World

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth starts off in a linear fashion, but that serves an essential purpose. After certain events occur in the first area, the world opens up, allowing everyone to explore freely. The excitement Aerith feels at exploring the vast world in front of her will be the same excitement that Final Fantasy VII fans will feel. The first open-world area will be the Grasslands. Upon arriving there, be sure to open up the map to see the size of the world. With that done, now think about the size of that world displayed on that map and that it will only be the first part of the game. That realization should blow minds. Square Enix has given gamers a massive game to go through that fans will enjoy exploring.

Apart from the main quests tied to the narrative, many other optional quests exist within the world. Most of these will appear on a community bulletin board in a town or other populated area. These quests offer many experiences, and most have multiple steps to complete. One such quest involves building up an inn, while another includes collecting flowers, and another one will have your party searching for someone else claiming to be a mercenary. The characters involved in these quests might surprise fans, and we will leave it at that.

Aside from those side quests given by people worldwide, players have other missions to find and complete. For starters, they will discover activation towers strewn around the landscape. By reactivating them, the towers will scan the landscape and provide clues for other areas of interest. Some of these different side missions include wrangling a Chocobo, scanning a lifespring to acquire data about that area, scanning a crystal to gain more information about a particular summon, excavating old materials that can be useful, and much more. While most of these side missions remain optional, completing as many as possible would benefit the player. 

Ride in Style With Different Chocobos

For example, each area in the game has a different Chocobo with a different skill set. The Chocobo found in the Grasslands will be basic (but still needed) compared to a Chocobo found later in the game that can help the party scale the sides of a mountain. To gain new summons in the game, a fight must first occur, like in Final Fantasy VII Remake. An interesting new wrinkle in this mechanic revolves around the aforementioned crystals. 

The battles against these summons can be brutal initially, but the crystals come into play here. Each summon has three crystals, which gives Cloud more knowledge with each crystal discovered. The more knowledge acquired, the easier the eventual battle will be in that fight. Remember that while most of this side content will remain optional, completing it will always benefit a player. This also encourages players to explore the world, which everyone should do to enjoy what Square Enix has created.

Collect Materials to Craft Your Experience

Of course, the quests in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth remain only a part of the experience. Your team needs proper equipment to stand a chance, especially towards the later part of the game. The development team has implemented some ideas that work well here. For starters, Cloud can now use an “item transmuter.” Using that allows players to craft items needed with the appropriate supplies. Players can craft basic items such as potions and ethers, which can be helpful for those who might be far from a location selling those items or if your party is low on funds. Other items that the party can upgrade include armor, such as some enhanced bracelets, accessories like a headband that makes it so enemies can not put Cloud to sleep, and key story items. 

In the beginning, Cloud starts as a Level 1 craftsman. As more items get crafted, his craftsmanship rank rises. As his rank increases, more opportunities to craft high-quality items will appear. Keeping that in mind, make sure to craft items whenever possible, as it will lead to items that will be immensely helpful, such as armor upgrades that might offer more materia slots. Many of the required materials for these crafting sessions will be in the open world. Just run by them and push a button to collect the items. In this way, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth gives off a Horizon Zero Dawn vibe. This method will already be familiar for those who have collected items as Aloy.

Materia Innovation Introduces New Possibilities

Materia plays a critical role in the Final Fantasy VII universe, which remains true in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. For those who have played the original Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VII Remake, the basics remain the same. Square Enix did have some interesting ideas for this game, though, and the ideas work really well. One of the best new ideas includes combining materia. For example, Cloud has “Fire and Ice Materia” equipped at all times during my playthrough. The premise here revolves around saving space. Instead of “Fire” and “Ice” materia each taking one slot on my weapon or armor, “Fire and Ice Materia” only takes a single slot. These commands get used the same way as always; Cloud can simply have more materia equipped now, resulting in more options during battle. 

Unfortunately, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth only has a few examples of combining materia in this matter. Hopefully, in the future, the development team will take this concept a step further and make even more combinations. Also, take note that using these combinations remains strictly optional. Players can always ignore it and use the traditional materia set up where one spell takes up one slot. As always, experiment with different forms of materia to see what will be the most effective in battle.

Upgrade Your Party To Discover True Potential

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth also introduces a new concept with the Folios system. For veteran Final Fantasy players, the idea here will be a reminder of the Sphere Grid concept. While going through the game, the characters earn SP Points, a form of experience points. Once everyone has gained enough skill points, different abilities and stats will become available. Some options include raising your health by 200 points, unlocking a new ability, or learning a new synergy ability that will allow two team members to team up for a powerful attack against the opposition. 

The weapons in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will also earn experience points. Once a weapon levels up, a new skill might become available. This could raise your magic attack power, give your character more health, or make it harder for an enemy to interrupt an attack. With that being the case, keep a close eye on this as more skills become available. Each weapon also has a new ability to master so be sure to take the proper steps in doing that as well.

Mini Games Provide Nice Break From the Action

Outside of the main quests and side missions, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth features many mini-games to pass the time. One of the more prominent mini-games that players will frequently encounter will be the card game Queen’s Blood. This card game features one-on-one action where cards must control a lane. Different cards have different values and potential powers. Players will want to utilize high-value cards whenever possible. The capability to use those cards needs to build up, so the player must always consider strategy when making a move. With the right move, it becomes possible to steal a spot from an opponent or even add to the power of a particular square. The person with the most points will win once the two players use all possible cards.

While going through the world, different shops will offer cards for sale. Be sure to pick these up whenever possible to build a well-rounded deck. In the beginning, it can be pretty easy to win a round of Queen’s Blood. Still, higher-ranked players will eventually show up and provide a serious challenge.

For those who have played the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo, a piano mini-game appeared in Tifa’s bedroom in her parent’s house. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will have six different locations with pianos to play and different music to learn. Some of the music available to play includes “Tifa’s Theme,” Barret’s Theme,” and more. Towards the later parts of the game, the music can get more challenging, but there will be a trophy for those who can reach a certain mark in all six songs.

At some point, the crew also arrives at a theme park. Fans of the original know all about this place, and the development team did an incredible job bringing it to life. Mini-games here include a 3D brawler, a racing game, a game set in space, a play to check out, a colosseum to fight in, and more. This theme park features a lot of nostalgic content for long-time fans while being fun for newcomers.

Square Enix’s Presentation Hits All the Right Notes

The overall presentation for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has also received a nice upgrade from Final Fantasy VII Remake. The menu features more dynamic action with each character on it and has a cleaner look and feel overall. Everything looks nice, making it easy to find the materia section, see enemy intel, or check out inventory. Players can also select a different party leader, and this will be where photo mode resides as well. The art team at Square Enix did a fantastic job on the world, enemies, and general environments, meaning an obscene number of pictures now sit on my hard drive (some of them used for this review).

The Final Fantasy series has a long, storied history, and for good reason. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues that tradition with an incredible ambiance set throughout the game. One sequence of events, in particular, stands out as being sweet at first but then transitioning to a big battle in a crazy environment with everything happening at once. This transition gives the player a surge of adrenaline. Then, of course, the soundtrack kicks in and brings everything to another level.

Players will find it impossible not to grin as everything unfolds on the screen. It all works so well together in a way that Final Fantasy fans love. It seems to be something no other team can replicate.

A Couple of Items Square Enix Could Work On

When thinking about the time spent on this playthrough, there really isn’t much to complain about. The mini-map could be more accurate at times. The vast majority of the time, it worked well. However, it needs some help in a couple locations.

A few side quests felt like busy work and just existed to pad the game. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has a ton of content to work through, which will keep completionists busy for a while, so the title doesn’t need the padding. As mentioned earlier, these quests remain optional, so players can ignore them. Honestly, though, these issues don’t amount to much. The mini-map worked fine for me 98% of the time, and those quests that felt a bit like busy work didn’t last very long anyway.

The story in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth takes everything to another level. Certain story elements that might have made a quick appearance in the original Final Fantasy VII get their time to shine in this game. It gives off the vibe that the team can finally bring their vision to life in a way the original PlayStation would not allow. There will likely be story items fans have forgotten until Final Fantasy VII Rebirth reminds them of it. Square Enix has added new aspects to already established lore while introducing all new layers in different parts of the story.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Raises the Bar Yet Again

Earlier in the review, we used the word “surreal,” which perfectly describes the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth experience.

The team over at Square Enix has done an incredible job with this game, frequently introducing awe-inspiring segments or ideas. Due to the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy changing some story elements from the original, some purists might want everything to stay the same from a narrative perspective. That perspective remains valid. However, the original will always be available to play. While everyone most likely has a multi-year wait to see how the trilogy concludes, Square Enix clearly has a plan, and fans can’t wait to see it unfold.

Rating: 9.5/10 Specs

This review originally appeared on Wealth of Geeks.

Please Note: Square Enix provided us with a code for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for review purposes.