F
our years ago,
Final Fantasy VII Remake
raised the bar of what a remade game could be, making major deviations from the original narrative and fleshing other parts out.
Rebirth
picks up directly after the events of that game, with Cloud and his friends searching for Sephiroth while being pursued by Shinra… but it also throws you straight into a scenario that didn’t happen in the old version.
This isn’t just a next instalment, which might disappoint anyone expecting their progress to carry over, but the solid foundations from Remake are still here –such as the excellent action-based duels inspired by the original’s Active Time Battle (ATB) system, where you charge up gauges to execute special commands. Plenty of new systems are layered on top, like skill trees for each character and a new party level, separate from individual progression.