Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, better or worse than "Remake"?

GalaxyRyder · 04-09-2025 04:37PM #1

Was thinking of downloading this.

Remake was fun, lacked some of the "soul" of the original though.

Anyone played Rebirth?

johnny_ultimate · 04-09-2025 04:48PM

Based on around 20 hours of play, Rebirth is better in the sense of the gameplay - especially combat - being more refined, it boasts a lot more variety and ‘fun’, and has a grander sense of adventure than the confined corridors of Remake. It also has a great card mini game, which does some heavy lifting.

That said, it’s bloated to all hell, there’s barely any meaningful progress in the story (and what’s there is pretty bad), and some of the mini games and filler are actively annoying. Some of the story dungeons remain exercises in tedium and bad level design.

But I’m having more fun where I found Remake an active chore pretty much throughout. Still prefer the original to both, but Rebirth is a more spirited reimagining IMO. I hated Remake, but generally like what I’ve played of Rebirth so far.

HopingforNewZ · 04-09-2025 07:14PM

Surely the next installment will be called “Reunion”

lordlame · 04-09-2025 07:17PM

Reunion was used for the crisis core remaster so doubtful.

Rebirth is better than remake.

GalaxyRyder · 04-09-2025 09:22PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123786149#Comment_123786149

As good as the original?

GalaxyRyder · 04-09-2025 09:37PM

I was browsing Steam and saw "Ever Crises" for free download also.

Is that decent?

noodler · 04-09-2025 09:39PM

I preferred remake.

It was more faithful.

I just really dislike the story beats in the game. Makes less sense than the original

Retr0gamer · 04-09-2025 10:19PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123786558#Comment_123786558

It's one of these japanese gacha games. Theyre usually really high quality but somewhere along the way you will hit a progression wall and the game will expect you to grind for hours or fork out money.

quokula · 12-09-2025 12:56AM

I didn't like remake that much but loved rebirth. Remake took a fairly small portion of the original game and stretched it to ten times the length by padding it out with endless boring sewers and industrial catwalks to traverse filled with the same enemies over and over. It had parts that were great, but you'd have periods of 5+ hours in between the good bits that just felt like a massive chore.

Rebirth takes a much bigger portion of the original game that covers much more of the world and much more of the story, and it stretches it out by adding a lot more variety, open world exploration and minigames rather than just endless corridors. It still takes a lot longer to cover the same ground as the original game, but it's much more dense with meaningful content that is worth doing, and has a lot of variety through the game and through the regions you visit that all have very unique vibes and different traversal mechanics.

The game does veer away from the plot of the original more than remake did, in some ways that are good and in some ways that are bad. Overall I was a big fan though. I agree with the comment that Remake lacked "soul" and I do feel like Rebirth does have that soul.

GalaxyRyder · 13-09-2025 02:08AM

I kind of understood why Remake did what it did.

I felt Midgar in the original version was so awesome but so unexplored, we move through it relatively quickly.

So I get why the designers dedicated the entire remake first portion to it. To me what let it down most, bizarrely enough, was Aeris.

She sounded like a total floozie.

The original portrayed her as some mythical hottie, but it was the voice acting really that didn't do it for me at all in the remake.

Tifa on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air.

And yes I'd agree it didn't have the soul of the original (as for the Yuffie side quest? Diabolical!)

Sounds like Rebirth is worth trying.

I've played the hell out of RE4 remake (which was absolutely awesome), so need something fresh in my library.

Retr0gamer · 13-09-2025 10:55AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123811858#Comment_123811858

Disagree on Aerith. She's a total flirt and very forward with Cloud which he can't handle in the original. It's even more pronounced in the origin Japanese. Tifa on the other hand despite being the tough girl isn't able to express her feelings. Thought they nailed it in remake.

johnny_ultimate · 13-09-2025 11:01AM

Turn on the Japanese voices if you haven’t already.

The English voices have the same problem as almost all anime and video game dubs (and it’s no fault of the voice actors) - the pace and tone just doesn’t quite suit what’s on screen.

one armed dwarf · 27-09-2025 05:06PM

I didn't like Remake but really liked Rebirth. It is very flawed but I think it's the best Final Fantasy since XII, it just has this 'fullness' that has been missing from the series since the PS1 days I'd say. But it's not a very innovative game, outside of the great ideas it has for RPG combat

I only wish Rebirth had an ending, that they made this series a 2 parter. There's no story in these games, it's like The Hobbit

GalaxyRyder · 27-09-2025 08:40PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123812340#Comment_123812340

But I can't understand Japanese?

noodler · 30-09-2025 12:07PM

It was fantastic going to each location in Rebirth to see a Ps5 era take on favourites like Cosmo Canyon and Nibelheim. I alsi thought the voice acting was excellent even if the dialogue and story let them down.

I had such fatigue though. I thought the main story in Remake was faithful (til the end) whereas Rebirths is an absolute mess.

There's even more padding in Rebirth for me. Admittedly it is packaged in the usual modern open world way (unlock tower for larger map etc).

I did love the Fort Condor battles but alot of the minigames and side quests didnt land with me.

My single favourite moment of Rebirth is the Gonzaga area theme tune. Absolute banger.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, better or worse than "Remake"?

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