Description
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth for PS5 is an action role playing video game, which merges real time strategy game elements with role-play. This game is the second in a trilogy which remakes the original Final Fantasy VII, originally released in 1997. You play as, once again, Cloud Strife, the protagonist of many of the Final Fantasy games.
About the Game
This game is set immediately following the previous game (the first of the trilogy), and you are Cloud Strife, a former Shinra soldier and now one of a group of eco-terrorists who call themselves Avalanche. The groups aim is to fight the Shinra Corporation who are burning through the planet’s resources at a catastrophic rate.
While you can walk about the planet, it is far more fun to use fast travel in this game – you do so by taming a Chocobo and riding it. These chicken-shaped but ostrich-sized birds are great fun, and really add to the game play – baby chocobos will encourage you to try chase and capture them, and once you do so, you can – and should – pet them! As well as being speedy, your chocobo can cross some bodies of water and can find treasure for you too!
The setting of the game is ‘The Planet’, a nicely neutral term, and the basic premise is to get you, and your party (more about the other characters below) across the planet and ready to take on the authoritarian Shinra Electric Power Company who have seized control of the magical element Lifestream and have weaponised it for their own purposes.
You leave the city of Midgar and begin your journey through the immense and mostly empty world of Gaia, to see what life is like outside the confines of the city. Your first (official) stop will be the fortified city of Junon – but do take your time along the way and enjoy the immense mountainous, craggy open-world which is just awaiting your exploration. There are hundreds of little villages to wander through and plenty of monsters to take out.
The game is packed with this sort of invitation: plenty of immense maps packed with interesting side quests, cool locations to investigate and activities to complete. The game is not precisely an open-world game, but there is so much packed into the game map that you can behave as though it is.
This game comes with a brand-new synergy system that allows you to form combo-attacks with one or a couple of your companions. Battles play out dynamically, so you can’t take any actions for granted – and you should always be ready to hop into a different character to best face the enemy of the moment.
As well as the city of Junon, you will also visit a peaceful fishing village, called Under Junon, where you can explore widely to enjoy the beautiful graphics and settings. As you travel, look out for challenges from MAI – an apparently sentient artificial entity – who will set tasks that will, when successfully completed, earn you crafting resources and equipment. There is sometimes a worthwhile bonus prize for completing the task within a time limit.
The Nitty Gritty
Just as with the first part of the remake, this game takes strong inspiration from the original game, while adding in so much more to update the game to modern video gaming expectations. Exploration and combat is real-time, while the overall storyline is more linear. You are always well-informed about where you are and what objectives you must attain next, thanks to the ‘heads-up’ display on the screed.
Attacks are both combat-based (with melee combat comprising a great deal of the action) and magic-based, with spells and enchantments helping offensively, defensively and even resusitatively! The graphics are stunning, with Junon appearing almost photorealistic thanks to the detail-oriented lighting and textures.
Who’s Who in the Game?
The game, as befitting an enormous rewrite and expansion on the original, is packed with people – and you should explore each character widely as you will need to hop from one character to another as you play through and battle your way across the planet. Some are accompanying Cloud on his travels, while others are more like ‘supporting actors’. Let’s take a look at them.
Cloud Strife: the MC of the game, Cloud used to be a Shinra soldier, who has now joined Avalanche, the eco-terror group working to dislodge Shinra’s death grip on the planet
Barret Wallace: The leader of Avalanche, Barret is loud and brash, yet he can also show surprising levels of empathy
Tifa Lockhart: A childhood friend of Cloud’s, Tifa is a bartender in Midgar. She is shy – but is also skilled in martial arts, and as such is not to be messed with
Aerith Gainsborough: The last surviving descendant of the Cetra, an ancient people who knew how to interact with the lifestream, Aerith has been eking out a living as a flower seller in Midgar’s slums
Red XIII: this four-legged beast looks like a sort of punk lion. He is the equivalent of a teenager, due to the longevity of his species, and, having been previously experimented on by Shinra, is absolutely up for taking them out!
Yuffie Kisaragi: a ninja and, coincidentally, of course, an expert thief of equipment and gear (known collectively as Materia) Yuffie joins Cloud’s crew when her partner is lost attempting a daring heist against Shinra
Supporting characters are Zack Fair, a friend of Cloud’s; Cait Sith, a robotic cat; Vincent Valentine, a former Turk, and many more. The main protagonist for this section of the trilogy is Sephiroth, a veteran of Shinra’s enforcement arm, who was presumed dead, and who is attempting to perpetrate a crime of dark magic to become a god – even if it irrevocably harms the planet in the effort.
Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth for PC is available for purchase on Instant Gaming for a fraction of its retail price. You will receive an official key and be able to play the game in seconds. Play smart. Pay less.
