Introduction
The rebirth of Final Fantasy 7, a game that I never expected would make its triumphant return to modern consoles like the Playstation 4, PlayStation 5 and others. SquareEnix gave us the remake of Final Fantasy 7 a couple of years ago, I don’t know how long ago, but it was released for the PlayStation 4, it was announced at E3 if I’m not mistaken, and fans of the series had reason to rejoice and give thanks for so much. An Excellent game that is for its story, for its music, for its characters. Today it was my turn to, and had the privilege of playing the demo of the continuation of The remake of 7 called Final Fantasy 7 rebirth, here are my impressions of the demo.
Story
There is nothing I can add regarding the story, we are talking about the mythical story of Final Fantasy 7, the demo covers the events that occurred 5 years ago in the past in Nibelheim, cloud’s hometown and the events that led Sephiroth to lose his mind and start wanting to destroy the planet. Let’s remember that our team so far is: Barrett, Tifa, Aeris, Red XIII, and of course Cloud. They have left Midgar and are preparing to continue on their way to follow Sephiroth, making a stop at the Inn in Kalm, where Cloud narrates the events that occurred 5 years ago.
If you like the story and the events that occurred in this part of the original game, you will love the additional material that you will find when playing the Final Fantasy 7 Reirth demo because there are many things to see, you can explore a lot and the graphical department is really something else.
Characters
Cloud Strife: the typical 21 year-old Blonde blue eyes with the Epic sword, Buster Sword. Shinra’s first class soldier. Tifa’s childhood friend and is the one who will serve as the protagonist for our Final Fantasy 7 story.
Sephiroth: the antagonist of the story of Final Fantasy 7. He travels with us to conduct the mission in Nibelheim, a time during which sephiroth wwas still considered a hero and an Ally. Someone people looked up to. You can use his skills in battle and he is quite OP.
Tifa Lockhart: we are introduced to a very young Tifa, she is Cloud’s childhood friend. Although the game itself reveals that they did not have much interaction despite being neighbors when they lived together in town, she serves as a guide for our young friends. to take them to the Nibelheim mako reactor.
Shinra soldiers: two soldiers with their respective automatics accompany us for the mission at the Mako reactor. These mysterious individuals do not speak and you cannot see their faces very well because they have helmets that practically cover half of their faces, barely seeing the nose and mouth, But those of us who played the original Final Fantasy 7 know that these are not simple soldiers, wink wink.
Graphics
Speaking of the graphics, I can say that it is a very significant improvement in contrast to the original Final Fantasy 7 from the 90s. Remember that the original Final Fantasy 7 for the PlayStation 1, the graphics were polygons, Cloud’s arms literally looked like bowling pins, arms resembling Popeye the Sailor for those who know the character, square graphics, square bodies, and they did not have a mouth. The colors were quite solid, they did not have any type of contrast, but still the game managed to captivate us thanks to its story. This is an example that graphics are not necessary whether it be modern or 4k to be able to captivate an audience. Twas done before and it being done again, which brings me to my next point.
Despite what was said above, the graphics of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are exceptional, I want to start by talking about what the map is. When the game gives you access to the map, you can notice a finesse, a fidelity, a detail that they have put into what it is.
The town’s layout, the landscape visible en route to the reactor, and even the expanse of the ocean are all crafted with an attention to detail, finesse, and passion that is unparalleled. In my experience, there are few video games that have dedicated such meticulous effort to graphic design. The character models, in particular, represent a significant leap from the graphics of the PlayStation 1 era to the cutting-edge visuals of the PlayStation 5. For instance, Claudio’s hair strands are intricately rendered, standing out in contrast to other characters whose hair lacks such detail. Eyelashes, iris textures, and even microscopic facial hairs become apparent when the camera zooms in, lending a sense of realism to character close-ups. The characters’ eye movements are lifelike, reflecting their emotions as they scan their surroundings with rapid succession. Notably, the Buster Sword, the iconic weapon of the protagonist from Final Fantasy 7, is rendered with such precision that one can discern the two material slots embedded within it, adding to its allure and historical significance.
The menu screen has been done wonderfully. The characters are not a simple photo and a blue background as you may remember in the past, in the first Final Fantasy 7, now we can see the characters completely defined from head to toe with a background that looks like be an approach to a slot of Materia and inside this slot we can see a kind of universe or planet and its ellipses, is what I was able to distinguish. I hope that was the concept and if it is, it is great, from here I can say a thousand things about about the design but at the end of the day what I can say about the graphics is that it is wonderfully done, I find nothing wrong with it at all, the animations are exceptional, the colors are exactly as they should be with their tones, their darks, their shadows and everything else. So congratulations SquareEnix!
Gameplay
Being a modern Final Fantasy, SquareEnix have moved away from what the classic turn-based combat is (at least for Final Fantasy) and many people here could say it is the breaking point and refuse to abandon a combat model with which they knew the game at first, however let me tell you that I was also of that mindset, and as the years went by and as I tried all kinds of video games, especially the latter final fantasy ones; 14,15 and the sort, I can tell you that real-time combat is quite wonderful, once you get immersed and know it fully and in depth.
With this said, Final Fantasy 7’s combat was originally born as a turn-based combat, however with the new installment of the remake and this rebirth, the combats are now in real time. Therefore, the action does not stop, you are pressing buttons at all times, you are doing button combinations to bring out more powerful attacks and spells and what I love about it, is its new battle system where you can make attacks in combination with your combat companions in battle, simply press the R1 button for those who are playing in the PlayStation console, you hold the block button and press any other button in combination with it to make a devastating attack as long as the other character is available.
The interaction with the world is something more. Remember that in the original Final Fantasy 7, the scenarios were presented to us from a panoramic view, I can say, or from above where we, the players, can see everything that was happening around us. So to speak, I think that They are also called a bird’s eye view, in any case, in these remakes have become fashionable with all the three-dimensional graphics going around and so now We take a third person perspective-position!that’s right, we watch our hero Cloud run with his great sword in his back, camera follows one or two steps Behind him and we are at ground level, we can see the buildings around us, we can interact with the people who are in the town, we can get closer so we can Talk, we can interact with things on the ground like boxes and animals and other things, making the experience more immersive, more pleasant, more satisfying, unlike just seeing from the sky.
Music
I can comment that the legendary music that characterized the original Final Fantasy 7 of its time feels in this game like a softer or slower version of its original version, I don’t know if I’m simply getting carried away by nostalgia but the Original music from Final Fantasy 7 Playstation 1 are a gem and a delight to hear. In these modern day remakes On modern platforms the music is always there, you can hardly recognize it only because you already know the original music. I feel like it is missing notes, It lacks more substance, more power, the music is barely there for you to hear, I don’t know if that’s part of the design or whatnot, I anitn no musician, but if that is part of the remake, then so be it.
Here is what I mean: I was trying hard to listen to legendary music, everything has been done well, the graphics are well, the dialogues have even been respected, everything as it was in the original, when leaving Shinra’s mansion and Sephiroth is burning the town down going mad, I could never hear the Sephiroth theme song if you know which one I’m talking about, or if it was playing I really couldn’t hear it, and believe me, I don’t have problems with my hearing!. So in the musical section, the game could really use an option to select the original music score, that would be epic!, but I’m not the one creating the game or remastering it so we’re going to have to settle for the music the way they’re making it today.
Difficulty
Being a modern game, it does not present a challenge at all, I can say this with confidence, even though I have a lot of experience with RPG games, the game lets you choose a difficulty at the beginning of the demo, whether normal or casual. I decided to start it in casual, casual is nothing to fear. Yes, I had some instances where some enemies almost killed the main character, however, I never got a gamer over, dying in battle is quite the challenge, simply take out the item menu, the battle freezes for a moment allowing you to calmly choose what you want and thus healing. Then, you can continue fighting.
Apart from this, the rest is simply exploration, a couple of enemies that get in your way are nothing special, you dispatch them quickly. Especially with how agile Cloud is and not to mention with the companion that you bring, Sephiroth, you take enemies out in a instant.
Yes, there is a boss fight that is much beefier, much stronger and that will get you into trouble if you don’t know what you are doing. Of course, that is why I invite you to read very carefully the tutorials that the game throws at you so you know what to do in this remake. So When playing, don’t skip them thinking that you know everything and make sure you are switching between the two available characters that you have in battle. When Cloud is incapacitated, Switch to the other one and or vice versa and you won’t have any problems, which is why the difficulty is not an issue. It is a very pleasant challenge for all audiences and ages.
Replayability
The demo can always be played as many times as you want, obviously, but let’s get to the fact that you can finish the demo itself in about two hours or so. The demo covers the events of cloud and Sephiroth 5 years ago in nibelheim, apparently is just the first demo of two that Square-Enix has prepared before the official launch of the full game on February 29, 2024. Far As I know, I have finished the demo and the demo suggests that there is a second demo that will be released soon where we can play the JUNON area and continue our search for Sephiroth.
For the rest, the demo is nothing more than that, Ladies and gentlemen, a demo for a taste of what this fantastic game will be like. So in terms of replayability, it doesn’t offer much. We will have to wait to buy the full game.
Conclusions
In conclusion I can say that Final Fantasy 7 rebirth demo is really a gem, it is a preamble to the great game that is going to be released this February 29, 2024. It stirred in me Feelings of nostalgia, Memories of past gaming sessions resurfacing inside me, the remake is a tribute to what the great story of Final Fantasy 7 is!. Square-Enix already demonstrated with the first remake of Final Fantasy 7 that They are putting a lot of effort, a lot of love into their game, I am completely sure that they will be able to deliver and do a great job with games to come.
I highly recommend Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and I am of course thinking of purchasing it some time in the future, not immediately since I have other games pending, but it is a guarantee that I am going to get it and play it completely. After that I will do the complete review of the game so you can read what I think!.
It will be a simple review and to the point!. I hope you are there available to read what I have to say, thanking you in advance, I hope you liked this little review of the demo. I hope you can subscribe to my newsletter and I’ll see you in the next article. Take care.
