PlayStation Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part II: Rebirth
- Thread starter cm2
- Start date
Never played the first one, do I play the second one's demo? lol.
well you already know about the whispers thing though probably the demo will spoil the ending scene from the first game.
Tifa's Orthopedic 
underwear PLOT is back in Rebirth lol from noisy pixel:
"Now, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, we will finally be able to play through this portion of the remake effort, and I’m happy to say that you can still search through Tifa’s drawer. While the underwear is not explicitly taken from the drawer, Tifa still reprimands Cloud in front of the group. For clarity, the orthopedic underwear was never kept in your inventory, so its removal doesn’t really affect the game. I’m just glad I can still commit juvenile acts."
underwear PLOT is back in Rebirth lol from noisy pixel:"Now, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, we will finally be able to play through this portion of the remake effort, and I’m happy to say that you can still search through Tifa’s drawer. While the underwear is not explicitly taken from the drawer, Tifa still reprimands Cloud in front of the group. For clarity, the orthopedic underwear was never kept in your inventory, so its removal doesn’t really affect the game. I’m just glad I can still commit juvenile acts."
Read Siliconera's preview, nice
What is really neat about this narrative decision is that players are given choices in the campaign, which then reflect on the campfire story Cloud is telling. For example, there is a hilarious moment where Cloud reveals that he went into Tifa’s room, and you can choose to have him say that he looked into her closet. Based on the decisions you make, the group will either scold Cloud or praise him. This design choice not only allows players to experience the story how they want to but it also creates these dynamic moments between the group that add a lot to their relationships. And I mean, it will never not be funny when Barret chews out Cloud for making the wrong decisions.
There are a surprising amount of these moments where players are given multiple-choice decisions. I won’t go into detail about all of them, as I want to leave that as a surprise to players. However, since Cloud is retelling a story from his point of view, there is a lot of room for players to improvise the story with their decisions. The flashback narrative also allows Square Enix to really world-build by creating these little details that say a lot about the characters, especially with how they react to Cloud’s perspective.
Perhaps the most surprising addition to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth that I encountered is a new relationship system that is, in a lot of ways, similar to the Social Link mechanic in the Persona series. Each character in the game now has an emotional status that I could view at any time. The feature allows the player to change how a character feels towards Cloud, which can become positive or negative based on your choices. An example is that while I was in the city of Kalm, I found Barret sitting in a bar alone and asked him if he wanted to drink with me. After initially saying no, a timed dialogue tree event was triggered, and I was given three choices. Because I chose to have Cloud offer to buy him a drink, my relationship with Barrett increased, and his feelings toward the protagonist became positive.
As I progressed through the story, there were many moments where I could interact with the characters and improve my relationship with them. If you like your Cloud to be a jerk, it is possible to be cold towards everyone and make decisions that upset them. However, the game has a relationship rank system that impacts the story in a few different ways. If you have a good relationship with certain characters, you can unlock side quests later in the story with them. Having a good bond with everyone also increases your overall party rank, which gives you access to new abilities and skills. I’m not sure if every character moment is optional, but how you react during them at least impacts how they feel about Cloud, which has larger ramifications on the overall game.
This new relationship system was probably my favorite part of the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth preview, as it fleshed out the characters in a really big way. Most importantly, it makes the world feel a lot less static as you can discover these dynamic moments through exploration. In Chapter 2, the game sets you free to explore the Kalm, which is a massive bustling town. Yes, I could have rushed to the main campaign mission marker and progressed the story. But the game’s side quests and social system had me wanting to explore every inch of the map to see what I could find. Because of this, the city truly felt alive, and like I could stumble upon something new with every corner I walked down.
Chapter 1 is a flashback section with Cloud and Sephiroth. While the section is more similar to the linear sections in Final Fantasy VII Remake, the cinematic portions of the game feel a lot bigger. For example, before you take the trek up to the Mako reactor, Cloud can explore his hometown.
what surprised me is how much of an emotional rollercoaster Chapter 1 is. While seeing the breakdown of Cloud’s relationship with Sephiroth was always expected to be heartbreaking, Square Enix uses the game’s opening section and the beginning of Chapter 2 to set up various plot points that are gearing up to be real tear-jerkers.
Without giving away too much, a scene between Cloud and Tifa was really intense emotionally and had me choking back tears. There are also a lot of character moments, such as Tifa giving Aerith a back rub and hilariously striking the wrong nerve, to Barret hanging on the edge of his seat like a little kid listening to a bedtime story as Cloud retells the origins of Sephiroth’s downfall. The character-building is a major step up in Rebirth, and the emotional stakes have never been higher. While Chapter 1 has more in common with the linear sections of Remake, its story feels much more cinematic.
It is Chapter 2, though, where I got to experience many of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s new features, as it’s where we first get access to the game’s open world. Even before stepping foot in the Grasslands, I explored the Kalm for an hour. The massive town is filled to the brim with life. From random musicians having a musical jam session to a romantic couple confessing their love on a bridge. While not every corner of the city leads to an activity or side quest, I really appreciated the detail they put into making Kalm feel like a living, breathing city.
My preview eventually transitioned to the Grasslands, which is the first major open-world section of the game. And it’s huge! My initial fear when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was first announced is that it would suffer the empty-map problem that many modern open-world games suffer from. After all, it doesn’t matter how big and detailed your open world is if there isn’t actually anything to do in them. From what I played, at least, I can confirm this is not a problem in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, as the game is packed with side content and quests.
So overall, what do I take away from my preview of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth? I had to think a lot about this, the game was seriously packed with content and features that were almost overwhelming (in a good way). As someone who picked up Final Fantasy VII in 1998, I am truly blown away by how much Square Enix has fleshed out these beloved characters. I think what has stayed with me the most is how much I already care about Cloud’s relationships with the rest of the cast. More than anything else, I want to jump back into the game to see how these relationships change over the course of the story.
From a purely mechanical point of view, however, I also think Final Fantasy VII Rebirth nails the open-world design. I think most fans will be really pleased with the balance they found with this game in terms of the RPG features, combat mechanics, and item crafting. Even more than Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth truly captures the magic and the spirit of the classic PlayStation One title.
What is really neat about this narrative decision is that players are given choices in the campaign, which then reflect on the campfire story Cloud is telling. For example, there is a hilarious moment where Cloud reveals that he went into Tifa’s room, and you can choose to have him say that he looked into her closet. Based on the decisions you make, the group will either scold Cloud or praise him. This design choice not only allows players to experience the story how they want to but it also creates these dynamic moments between the group that add a lot to their relationships. And I mean, it will never not be funny when Barret chews out Cloud for making the wrong decisions.
There are a surprising amount of these moments where players are given multiple-choice decisions. I won’t go into detail about all of them, as I want to leave that as a surprise to players. However, since Cloud is retelling a story from his point of view, there is a lot of room for players to improvise the story with their decisions. The flashback narrative also allows Square Enix to really world-build by creating these little details that say a lot about the characters, especially with how they react to Cloud’s perspective.
Perhaps the most surprising addition to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth that I encountered is a new relationship system that is, in a lot of ways, similar to the Social Link mechanic in the Persona series. Each character in the game now has an emotional status that I could view at any time. The feature allows the player to change how a character feels towards Cloud, which can become positive or negative based on your choices. An example is that while I was in the city of Kalm, I found Barret sitting in a bar alone and asked him if he wanted to drink with me. After initially saying no, a timed dialogue tree event was triggered, and I was given three choices. Because I chose to have Cloud offer to buy him a drink, my relationship with Barrett increased, and his feelings toward the protagonist became positive.
As I progressed through the story, there were many moments where I could interact with the characters and improve my relationship with them. If you like your Cloud to be a jerk, it is possible to be cold towards everyone and make decisions that upset them. However, the game has a relationship rank system that impacts the story in a few different ways. If you have a good relationship with certain characters, you can unlock side quests later in the story with them. Having a good bond with everyone also increases your overall party rank, which gives you access to new abilities and skills. I’m not sure if every character moment is optional, but how you react during them at least impacts how they feel about Cloud, which has larger ramifications on the overall game.
This new relationship system was probably my favorite part of the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth preview, as it fleshed out the characters in a really big way. Most importantly, it makes the world feel a lot less static as you can discover these dynamic moments through exploration. In Chapter 2, the game sets you free to explore the Kalm, which is a massive bustling town. Yes, I could have rushed to the main campaign mission marker and progressed the story. But the game’s side quests and social system had me wanting to explore every inch of the map to see what I could find. Because of this, the city truly felt alive, and like I could stumble upon something new with every corner I walked down.
Chapter 1 is a flashback section with Cloud and Sephiroth. While the section is more similar to the linear sections in Final Fantasy VII Remake, the cinematic portions of the game feel a lot bigger. For example, before you take the trek up to the Mako reactor, Cloud can explore his hometown.
what surprised me is how much of an emotional rollercoaster Chapter 1 is. While seeing the breakdown of Cloud’s relationship with Sephiroth was always expected to be heartbreaking, Square Enix uses the game’s opening section and the beginning of Chapter 2 to set up various plot points that are gearing up to be real tear-jerkers.
Without giving away too much, a scene between Cloud and Tifa was really intense emotionally and had me choking back tears. There are also a lot of character moments, such as Tifa giving Aerith a back rub and hilariously striking the wrong nerve, to Barret hanging on the edge of his seat like a little kid listening to a bedtime story as Cloud retells the origins of Sephiroth’s downfall. The character-building is a major step up in Rebirth, and the emotional stakes have never been higher. While Chapter 1 has more in common with the linear sections of Remake, its story feels much more cinematic.
It is Chapter 2, though, where I got to experience many of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s new features, as it’s where we first get access to the game’s open world. Even before stepping foot in the Grasslands, I explored the Kalm for an hour. The massive town is filled to the brim with life. From random musicians having a musical jam session to a romantic couple confessing their love on a bridge. While not every corner of the city leads to an activity or side quest, I really appreciated the detail they put into making Kalm feel like a living, breathing city.
My preview eventually transitioned to the Grasslands, which is the first major open-world section of the game. And it’s huge! My initial fear when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was first announced is that it would suffer the empty-map problem that many modern open-world games suffer from. After all, it doesn’t matter how big and detailed your open world is if there isn’t actually anything to do in them. From what I played, at least, I can confirm this is not a problem in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, as the game is packed with side content and quests.
So overall, what do I take away from my preview of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth? I had to think a lot about this, the game was seriously packed with content and features that were almost overwhelming (in a good way). As someone who picked up Final Fantasy VII in 1998, I am truly blown away by how much Square Enix has fleshed out these beloved characters. I think what has stayed with me the most is how much I already care about Cloud’s relationships with the rest of the cast. More than anything else, I want to jump back into the game to see how these relationships change over the course of the story.
From a purely mechanical point of view, however, I also think Final Fantasy VII Rebirth nails the open-world design. I think most fans will be really pleased with the balance they found with this game in terms of the RPG features, combat mechanics, and item crafting. Even more than Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth truly captures the magic and the spirit of the classic PlayStation One title.
Part III will have airship confirmed:
Nomura: Since the quality of FF7 Rebirth’s world map is this high, I think it will be quite a challenge to incorporate the airship travel in the next game. When we made FF7 Remake, we were already thinking about how to make the world map for FF7 Rebirth. Now with FF7 Rebirth, we are thinking about how exactly we will portray the airships and weapons. I’m always thinking about what kind of elements will come next.
Nomura: Since the quality of FF7 Rebirth’s world map is this high, I think it will be quite a challenge to incorporate the airship travel in the next game. When we made FF7 Remake, we were already thinking about how to make the world map for FF7 Rebirth. Now with FF7 Rebirth, we are thinking about how exactly we will portray the airships and weapons. I’m always thinking about what kind of elements will come next.
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