The comments about Aerith are key to her character. I hate how some people portray her as this perfect sngel when the point is shes not. She's a regular girl, just a very kind and fun one.

26:50 Crisis Core: FFVII actually introduced "SOLDIER degradation." It was the big character issue motivating the whole Genesis bullshit.

I agree with the criticisms of the ending and you've got a damn good point that if Square actually wants to change things then maybe they should go all the way through with it instead of, well doing what they did. Despite the ending being a bit of a wet fart it doesn't take away from the journey being highly enjoyable and I want to see how this ends. Hopefully they can tie everything together in a satisfying way that makes sense but we shall see in 3-4 years.

I can't believe they got away with Sephiroth raw dogging Cloud in that 3 hour cutscene

Whats funny is that not long after Remake came out they said that they woud still follow the og plot. With Rebirth it seems thats true which really highlights how they had no intention of changing the story despite what the ending of Remake would imply.

We will only know if the changes where worth it in the 3rd part but I have faith in the writing team. Mostly down to how well written the characters are

Honestly, the ending really solidified my concerns about them messing with the original story in the first part. It smacks of 'having your cake and eating it too' where they want to make it different to subvert expectations but also keep all the iconic scenes whilst also throwing in painful fan service, all wrapped in a convoluted mess of ideas that undermines the character stories that the original, despite its flaws, made us care about the characters so much

Why was 1997 Sephiroth/Jenova a better strategist? They waited until the pivotal moment to take control of Cloud, thereby not giving the rest of the party any reason to suspect anything is wrong. In this second instalment of the remake project, he acts like Sephiroth for extended lengths of time, literally says the same things they hear Sephiroth say himself and even holds his sword like Sephiroth. This whole story lives and dies by the rest of the party being naïve at best, and absolutely brain-dead at worst. You simply cannot show the audience he's being controlled that clearly, that obviously and then simultaneously have the other characters shrug it off. There's dramatic irony, and then there's just farce.

I am really digging the new stuff in this trilogy. I'm so hyped to see how it all ends in part 3.

I'm loving these new videos already!

Thanks Demod, this was super helpful, getting full spoilers and an in depth breakdown is a significant influencer on whether I buy games, games are too damn expensive for taking a chance

What a great video, and title as well. Does a great job summarizing the game.

A useful bit of info that doesn't really clarify the ending but does add a lot of extra possibilities: According to a comment made many years after the original game, (but at a time when they where adamant about not making a FF7 remake), the head designer clarified that by the time she dies in the Original Aerith has access to the same Cetra knowledge that Jenova absorbed that allowed Sephiroth to self resurrect after the Nibelheim incident. She stays dead because A) Sephiroth's messing with the lifestream makes it impossible till he's defeated at the end of the game and B) She basically can do anything she could do whilst alive from the lifestream and gets to be with Zack there so she's happy to remain there. Its not spelled out at all in the original. Becoming kinda obvious in hindsight thanks to Advent Children, but required the developer to say it outright before anyone got it.

I agree with your point about Sephiroth's control the most, in my Hard playthrough I often skipped the scenes that resolved around Cloud being a murderous / abusive psychopath under Sephiroth's control because they just drag on. I have played the OG but I wish they'd just create a way to kill the Jenova cells or something, because I felt like I might as-well just be playing as Sephiroth half the time.

I don't know if anyone mentioned this but I agree mostly with the Zack part but about Biggs. We did get answer for why he knows Cloud the mercenary. There was a scene when he was dying at the 7 plate tower and I am pretty sure it was made pretty obvious that the whispers saved him and teleported him into the other timeline... Not sure why that happened but that explains why he knows Cloud. The Biggs we see is the Biggs from the og timeline.

Bad: Everything that has to do with Kyrie.

*Spoilers* What annoyed me with Rebirth (besides the game insisting you play their Mario Party scale of mini games) is how everyone kinda went idiot near the end. Mostly around the temple where Cloud is going full Gollum and no one says they should keep an eye on him, or that something is off. Plus I was bummed that you only get about 3 hrs of Zach content in a 46ish hour game. Even was more confusing on how the end of remake shows him going to Midgar, with the end of the DLC showing him arriving at the church by himself to surprise Aerith, which confused him when he saw random survivors and not her there. Then having Rebirth opening up, showing him seeing her and the party on the news while he still carrying Cloud. As if they wanted to revive him into the main timeline, but went "We can't do that."

Really great video! I was wondering if you plan on ranking the bosses like you did for Remake?

Had no idea I was subscribed to this channel but I'm glad to have watch this.

I really enjoyed Rebirth until the last two chapters. Aeirth's (non?) Death is clearly just for shock value, considering they're 100% going to use multiverse rules to have her show up in part 3 along with Zack to rejoin the party. I wasn't sad or mad at Sephiroth that it happened, i was annoyed because they clearly established in chapter 13 that Aerith is already multiversal, so her death means nothing in the current games world. It's also just going to cheapen the parties reaction to her dearth when she inevitably comes back.

1:54 I'll share one I saw in the wild encountering a Disney Princess on her smoke break. Aerith is the best character imo and certainly my favorite of this cast.

Commenting for the algorithm. Will watch later after I beat the game!

It’s a sequel. Aerith’s foreknowledge caused rippling effects that might drive a wedge between cloud and tifa. It’s possible that cloud’s redemption is being pushed entirely to the third game so that his fall can hit harder than it did originally by driving the party to hate him and leave us questioning if aerith defying fate was ultimately a good plan in the end or if it just gave sephiroth another in to break cloud and the party apart. (Probably so you have to regain them gradually again in the next game) I do chalk tifa’s change in attitude to whatever aerith told tifa in their scene at the kalm inn. We are never made aware of what she shares with tifa here, but we’re reminded that whatever it was is driving her actions to handle cloud’s condition differently now. I do think this confusing ending is there to create a stronger moment in the third game and enforce themes of people being unable to deal with grief while giving us a first person perspective of an unreliable narrator losing the trust of everyone around him. There’s also the chance that aerith’s ultimate goal is to save everyone and somehow survive into the land of the living. The fact that we’ve passed that moment and dont know even if she’s dead or not feels intentional to this game as a sequel. They could have done a 1-1 remake, but that probably would have seen less interest in the third game because we would have nothing to look forward to and the game would be fighting the original for relevance, rather than being complimentary experiences. It hurts not having answers and closure now, but i am still looking forward to seeing what they’re cooking. I’m interested in both the characters and this meta battle between aerith and sephiroth. I feel scared that we’re in for a gut wrenching party split in the next game and a breakdown of these bonds we spent so much time building. I have to look at this as a trilogy because, like the Lord of the Rings films, these weren’t created to stand on their own. Rebirth helped me accept Remake’s ending and the third game has ample room to do the same for this quantum fate situation. (The stamp dogs are our clue as to whats going on in the meta, each one being a marker for which universe our characters are in.) i find their depiction of essentially schroedinger’s cat experiment an interesting way to portray split timelines in a way that i havent seen before. To me it suggests that these fractured timelines are still themselves, rather than a second them that we’re so used to having in these stories. It leaves cloud in a state where he seems like he’s experiencing two realities simultaneously, and we have just enough context to what these cues mean that we can obsess over trying to figure out what these pieces mean. I dismissed remake’s ending, but i feel like rebirth hit me perfectly to make me become more engrossed in its mystery. I was expecting to know if aerith would or wouldnt survive by the end of this, but i’m left looking to the third game with bated breath to find out what the truth of the matter is and what it means for our characters. Will cloud side with sephiroth as zack leads the party? Will aerith make her way from the fractured reality into our own? Will cloud go through a much darker arc where he even becomes a part of sephiroth’s machinations and a boss fight against the party before his redemption? It gives new meaning to aerith’s actions at the end of remake for me. She gave red and marlene visions of her future with the group, but it seems she did it with purpose, and her goal was to create a reality where cloud saved ger from sephiroth…but now i’m wondering what cost that comes with because cloud is thrust away from being aligned with the rest of his friends. It feels like anything could happen and i’m at the edge of my seat. Will the party abandon cloud as he becomes a robed figure? We dont know but we have enough pieces to play with to try to figure out what’s in store for us in 3 years…it could turn out badly but theres obscene opportunity for it to do something amazing, too.

I agree that cloud should be more scared of going crazy but I need to protect the ending. Its lackluster but its because I think they are setting it for powerful and sad moment when cloud get it together and realise what actually happenned and we will se a full aerith death

Been saying it since Remake but yall fr went LALALALA until Rebirth blew up on your faces. Glorious.

I’d be happy if Cloud saved Aerith as that seemed to be what the story was building up to since remake, but I’d also accept it if they stuck to how it went down in the original. Then we got whatever that was, a scene that tried to do everything at once but ended up doing nothing for me at the end. Part 3 will make or break this scene, I have confidence they’ll be able to build something interesting out of this, but the possibility that its just too messy to work with is also there. In any case the other 99% of the game is still fantastic and I wouldn’t pretend it wasn’t just bc of one scene.

As someone who never played the original I appreciate your insight on the changes Demod. Also the confirmation that I'm not the only one fucking baffled by that ending.

Great write up man 👍 I enjoyed like 90% of rebirth but the ending was a bitter pill to swallow. Rebirth was the catalyst which has ended up in me being thoroughly sick of Alt timeline/multiverse nonsense from writers who value spectacle of substance. Obvs it doesn't help with the wanky try hards who claim "you don't like it, you mustn't get it" There's not much to get. In an attempt to be subversive they devalued their own story but also didn't have the cojones to do something truly original to set itself apart.

i think the fact that the most powerful weapons and materia are behind sidequests is worth it how many games have you played where most sidequests rewards are xp and a useless item intwravting with Rebirths world and doing its activities felt rewarding because there were actual tangible rewards (as someone who almost always skips sidequests)

Those criticisms fell pretty valid, I'd say. I certainly agree that the prospect of a narrative that deviates from the original certainly felt underdeveloped, which probably sounds crazy given how wacky the finale gets. Still, for all the possibilities presented, we're pretty much back where we would've been in the original game.

Love the comedic ending description people who don't know og story or crisis core or anything major just gonna be sitting there in utter confusion. Regarding the Tifa lifestream stuff well it is indeed shuffled early to happen solo but it's probably the only thing I can actively see coming back in the next part when Cloud completely gets shattered and have a good payoff with her being determined and more knowledgeable to save her man. I actively don't see these worlds or timelines have a good payoff though rofl.

I think the open world has the Elden Ring problem for me- Elden Ring no matter where I went always had something interesting for me to find. Rebirth aside from a couple armor pieces i obtained from caches were kind of boring... 3 handfuls of gold dust from a chest is...underwhelming to put it mildy. I propose in the 3rd part put more armor, weapons, materia out in the field for me to find and combine lifesprings and towers into one thing that we activate..having both feels a little redundant. Otherwise, I really enjoyed my time with the game.

Maybe just maybe one day The ending will make sense

For all intents and purposes they did mention the scenario for part 3 is already written. And considering the whole Jungian nature of Aerith's fate, I'm relatively interested even if it came at the cost of muddying an iconic scene.

I think that after the remake trilogy is complete they should make just a remake the same game with newer graphics

Excellent video, sums up many of my thoughts on the game. The writers did not want to faithfully remake the original story but also had no courage to significantly alter it. The vision is incoherent and the result messy and confusing. Controversial opinion but in the context of the existing Remake story, I would have preferred it if Aerith had lived. At least that would have been a brave decision with clear divergence from the original story. A huge amount is now riding on Part 3 and the Mideel sequence. If they pull it off then perhaps we will look back at this scene more favourably. If not then the entire trilogy will be a failure for many people.

I will add, that i do not like how they present a lot of scenes in epic way with fire works. They couldnt setup good narrative. For example palmer boss fight is not needed after such emotional scene, gi appearing during seto scene, whole Sephiroth setup is ruined for me and etc. Also writers likes to destroy suspense. Like telling immediately about Barret innocence, who is caith sith or whole Cloud spoiler through Zack, Hojo, they even spoil aerith death through Marlene

I agree heavily with cloud showing no remorse … it would have put so much more depth into his arc in this game . Showing you different sides of the the once stoic man would have given the player a deeper connection . It’s down right foolish for the party to not call him out on anything and on top of that trust him as a leader to go through the portal and save aerith . That’s just plainly stupid writing that ignores any kind of organic development

I am in doubt about playing FF7 Rebirth. I love the original and my favorite characters are Vincent and Cid. I just found out that both are not playable, it kinda disappointed me. There are a lot of amazing things on Rebirth that I’m excited to experience and a lot of downfalls that I am afraid of being disappointed - like changing the classic Aerith scene, one of the most important cutscenes on gaming history imo. Should I play this expensive and long ass game? Are there more amazing things or more flaws? I f*ing hate the ghosts btw 😂

So far, the games have been incredible. I'm glad they are applying a twist to the story so we can still be hyped for what will happen

Your "the bad" segment absolutely destroyed this game for me. I want to love it, but holy shit when this game is bad it's BAD

Tbh I would have been very disappointed if these games were carbon copies of the o.g. just with better grahics. The fact that the characters have been fully realised and explored is incredible. I think they have done a superb job and can't wait for the final instalment.

I know that a lot of people are confused about the ending and it’s more than fair but I feel like people slightly gloss over something important that being Sephiroth’s lore dump with Cloud before the end specifically the line “when the boundaries of fate are broken, new worlds emerge” or something along those lines. It doesn’t solidify everything I know that but that’s what creates an alternate timeline where Cloud breaks through the Whispers control and saves Aerith, make no mistake that the “original timeline” Aerith is very much dead but it’s the inevitable plot hole of numerous timelines/worlds that there is an infinite amount of people and events taking place all the smallest fraction different from one another

Sounds very much my points on it. Loads of filler especially in the open world Chadley parts. And a remorseless cloud. Overall a very good game but leaves you with a fair amount of disappointment of the execution

I can see where you're coming from with the ending, but I'd like to give the writers a chance. It's obvious that they're building up a lot for the final game, and given how well they've done with pretty much everything else, I'm excited to see where they go with this. I'm willing to trust that they can nail the final part. Also a few misconceptions you might have. 1. The developers have never stated this was going to be a different journey. It was always meant to be an expansion of the original. 2. Cody Christian has stated that he already recorded the voice lines for Cloud's emotional speech when Aerith dies like in the OG. They just haven't used the recording yet because it's being saved for the third game. Why do you think that is? 3. Degradation isn't a new concept. It was in the original, because SOLDIERS were infused with Jenovah cells. And when they lose control they shut down and become black robes. Cloud has an idea of what degradation may be, but we have not yet reached a point in the story where we as the audience will be let in on the truth of Jenovah's cell manipulation. 4. Also, Tifa in this story comes off more as someone who's desperately trying to keep herself together and sees the moments of kindness and remorse from Cloud as enough to keep her faith that he's still the person she knew before, even if that really just amounts to lying to herself. I find this fascinating and it definitely sets the stage for an emotional resolution once we get that memory restoration scene in part 3. 5. Cid's backstory hasn't been revealed yet. It's too soon to declare that he got ruined.

Final Fantasy 7 Retribution. Thats what i think the third part will be called.

I just wish I lived in the world that got an actual remake of final fantasy and not… this.

I loved it. Every Final Fantasy has a bunch of weird bullshit and time wasting. There are so many varied epic set pieces and so many characters and moves to play with against the awesome boss and enemy variety. 10/10 for me.

Its pretty sad how badly they botched Aerith's death. If they wanted to slightly change the sequencing of events that's one thing, but to fundamentally change what happens was a huge blunder.

Thank you for this video. It was very well written and I appreciated your insight. I have to agree with the ending. #1, Aerith's ending is too confusing. #2, that many phases in the last boss ruined the impact. Part of the reason it was so impactful in the original was that her music was playing against a boss right after it happened. II do agree with the importance of death. Sigh. Maybe something's going to be happening in the third installment that pulls it all together. Either way, thanks for the vid!

I don’t know why people find the ending confusing… I thought it was excellent

It really feels like Nomura and the writers with all that separate worlds stuff have been cribbing from Xenoblade....but clearly don't understand what that was all about in that series. And the comparison is funny considering Xenoblade creator Tetsuya Takahashi not only worked at Square, his directorial debut Xenogears could have been FFVII. Altogether, it feels like they're trying to make the original something it never was and it comes off as awkward, like they didn't learn from the faceplanting of the FFVII Compilation years ago

Not a fan of these remakes. Would have much preferred a rebuild (similar to demon souls).

This is a fantastic review. Thank you for not just blindly prising the game.

I was wondering why I hadn't heard a thing about the story of FF7R2, and now I know why. I played FF7R1 when it came to PC, knowing about the continuity ghosts, but I wasn't expecting it to be *that* bad. I don't have any plans to play FF7R2, and seeing this feels gratifying, but also really sad. REMAKO seems like the best option for someone like me who wants a remake of FF7, meanwhile there are other options out there like Persona 3R, Super Mario RPG R, Thousand Year Door R, Star Ocean 2 R, Front Mission 1 & 2 R, and each one is just another slap in the face for Tetsuya Nomura, and Kazushige Nojima. and story aside, I couldn't stand that stagger gauge in FF7R1. Even if it wasn't a constant reminder of FFXIII and its many, many sins, it made anything other than a trash mob feel like a massive sponge. ...also wait, is Gackt *not* in this one? He must be in the third...

I agree with a majority of this but “gratuitous fan service” being a critique always fascinates me. The whole remake project is fan service. For me, I couldn’t get enough of it.

Nojima's a fucking hack. I never had faith in his ability to write anything well when he isn't reigned in by someone else, and these two games have done nothing to change my mind. Anything that was good in Rebirth's writing was generally something that was at least hinted at in the OG, whereas anything that was brand new here was decidedly not as good. I could tolerate it in Remake since I was generally enjoying the rest of the game, but in Rebirth I also hated all the ubisoft-style open world bullshit so there wasn't much to stop it from getting under my skin. I wish I liked the game more than I did, but sadly it was just not to be.

Of course Oblivion's soundtrack plays on the boring open world part.

I think, just as I do with the kingdom hearts franchise, that the writers are unwilling to tell their own story, and throw out BS like, "I hope the fans come up with a bunch of theories," just so they can intentionally subvert everyone's expectations. It's stale at this point, banal and obtuse. And just downright offensive. We liked ff7 for what it was. I don't need multiverse drivel mucking up a beautiful story.

*mentions all themes except the most important one: dealing with loss* Clicks off video.

Im not going to agree that the 'ending' was bad because there is still another part to come. It didnt feel like an ending it felt like an intermission. They know this triology will exist for decades maybe a hundred years. They are designing the overall experience to be played back to back to back.

I'm pretty sure Cloud seeing Aerith survive is just Jenova or his mind playing a trick on him.

I swear the next one or the next one after is going to go meta and break the fourth Wall by itself in some form And making this final Fantasy 7.2 Advent children doesn't count shut up

They have made this into a story that is not and never will be a classic. The storytelling is so bad at this point I just wonder if anyone actually understands what good writing is these days. These games feel more like a Christmas tree with presents underneath it doesn’t feel like a story with any kind of real planning.

I totally get the complaint of side/open world monotony and repetitive nature, could def be improved for the third installment. But for me personally i didn't really mind it cuz I loved the combat and the world/characters so much that I just wanted to do it all regardless, and had fun the whole time.

When I finished the game, I was kinda mixed on the ending. After thinking about it a lot more I absolutely adore it

Bad : Yuffie and Kyrie good everything

So it's multiple timelines. The timeline in the remake trilogy, Holy was not activated as aerith was not killed, cloud stops it. Aerith takes cloud through multiple timelines after the Thing happens just long enough to find a activated Holy. The main timeline you control zack in is a world aerith created when her and cloud fell down at the temple of the ancients. Zack finds out about this and begins junping timelines to protect aerith from sephiroth who knows she has Holy, the one thing that can stop him. So when the Thing happens at the end, aerith is already in the lifestream and knows which timeline will protect the planet and she already knows she has to die and cloud had to give sephiroth the Black materia. Its great story telling. But failed on the execution. They really need to explain the timeline thing in the final game

Like you, I was fully on board with this game until the last 1.5 chapters of it. Then it completely killed my enjoyment. Zero faith they manage to save this trainwreck in the third game.

The “proper pronunciation”, as it relates to the FF7 universe, was given to us. Please don’t…

Zack - paladin type character. Above average fighting skills but most importantly he raises the spirit of everyone around. His dream was being a hero. CC while a very bad game gave that to him in his death. Cloud - a new Cecil. A dark knight who has a spin on a redemtion arc. This being scifi genes in your body, awkward personality with weak will and being unable to control your body. It actually is a nice twist if it pays up good. Tifa - giving her a solo moment in the lifestream is bad because that should be when they reconnect with Cloud TOGETHER. Og version of her avoids his memories because he knows things she doesn't and that makes her doubt her own.

Yea I mostly agree with all your thoughts. This version of the story is much different than the original and is heading down a different path for Cloud. And the story is very deliberately made convoluted and confusing at the end. And while this sucks at the time, it's essentially a message from the writers that this is not a remaster of the original game. You can't tell the same story as the original and have it land with the same impact. They want you to have time to let that absorb.

The way I see it, the ending is the same as remake, there for the purpose of creating intrigue while waiting for the next part. If you don’t like it that’s fair but based on how good the rest of the game is I have faith the third part will deliver on the spirit of the original

Remake Rebirth and the final part regurgitation

I kind of disagree with your take on the open world, at least some aspects of it. I think the discovery of the towers, mako springs which lead into unique boss encounters, lore behind the summons, the descriptions behind the fiend challenges, etc. give a good deal of world-building in a game where saving the world is the goal. It's much more pronounced and expanding on than in the original.

It’s really sad as He’s responsible for actually writing her death, with the intent of it being a sudden loss Only for him to ruin it wit remake

Real bummer about Tifa like you said, Her arc is so incomplete it hurts to watch her by the end of the game. And it is going to get worse for her and Cloud before it gets better.

I think the ending is great and still the same (minus the long fight) but they're saving it for Part 3 and here's a few reasons why.. 1. The final credits shows every cutscene but conveniently skips everything that is from his perspective after that scene as it's "wrong" 2. The lowering into the water happened (that's why they sit at the water) but Cloud blocked it out of his mind as in his mind Aerith is fine. 3. Aerith is 100% dead like usual but Cloud still sees her because he's in denial & crazy. The only time it's her actual ghost is her saying" goodbye.." 4. When Cloud "wakes up" in part 3 is when we'll see the true events + the lowering into the water etc (like the OG)

Welcome to the bullshitverse

Personally i think the multiverse is the way to go we allways had inconstincies with like genesis and dirge of cerberus this is a way of tidying up these inconstiences without having to erase anything plus everyone id doing multiverse I get its overdone but wr just gotta accept its the current trend like the trend of playing the bad side in early 2000s

These rake games need to be 2 parts or 1

The best part of having to speculate about how the story is going, due largely to cloud's unreliable perspective, are the fan theories that add loads of excellent possibilities. Videos like this, though, are a bit of a downer.

You are asking for answers to questions that aren't meant to be answered yet. The devs want you to question if Cloud's mind is breaking at the denial of Aerith's death causing him to see her still alive, or if he's caught seeing between two timelines where he did in fact save Aerith. This game is clearly meant to be the darkest hour, with Cloud completely estranged from everyone, even Tifa, b/c he's an unreliable narrator. An unreliable leader. You're judging the ending as a conclusion and not meant to set up the final act. Part 3 will show whether is payed off or not. Until then, I'm excited to once again not know completely where this story is going.

I've seen a lot of people that are saying they *ruined* the series cuz they fucked up THE iconic scene for this part of the game. And that's fine, it's their opinion. But imo it's done pretty well. People have had so many expectations especially with multiple timeliness that perhaps aerith makes it to the third game, and I'm pretty sure she still will be. But that's just it. The scene wasn't as impactful as the OG especially for people who played it. It left us feeling..hollow, empty..frustrated. kind of like how cloud would feel. And that, is brilliantly done. Don't get me wrong aerith is my favorite in the ff7 series so I broke down when I *THOUGHT* we had saved her and broke down even more when we fought sephiroth in..between worlds? Or the lifestream? Not sure. But I certainly felt empty and broken by the end as well. Took me some time to process how I actually felt about the scene and the ending. That being said... Nomura and hamaguchi are huuuge star wars fans and rebirth's ending, kind of feels like ESB. And I don't think their goal was to really try to make her death as impactful as the original cuz it's just not possible. They made us mourn and grieve, or just feel angry...in the same way the party probably does. Made us as fragmented and confused as cloud is. Maybe it was a bit too convoluted but I think that to understand what their original idea for ff7 is (and yes, the OG was not the full vision, that's been stated multiple times) we need to experience the 3rd part first. And see how they deal with the OTHER most iconic scene of the original: when clouds mind gets completely broken and then subsequently put back together again. As they say, let them cook. They did a fantastic job with the character writing in this game and it's only the last chapter or chapter and a half people are upset about, but we don't have the full story yet. Give them time. ❤

I still don't get why aertith keeps messing with cloud and people think it's sweet? Goes from saying date to not fall in love with her. I was rooting for sephiroph after that Especially when you know she knows everything it gets worse as cloud loves tifa and aerith is basically a obstacle to that relationship even as a force ghost.

I got about 3/4 of the way through (love the gameplay), but I stopped playing. I don’t know what happens at the end, but I know I will hate it. If they would have kept the story exactly the same, this would be one of my favorite games of this generation. (Spoilers ahead) I will just assume Aerith is resurrected. If so, this is the single worst thing they could have done to the story. I would hate that they feel the need to cater to a happy ending for everyone. The impact of Aerith dying is a huge factor in what made FF7 such an incredible game.

I dont get how anyone can complain about the activities in rebirths open areas and not complain about Elden Ring reskinning the same dungeon and bosses throughout the entire game and having a nearly useless crafting system and materials scattered around

Its a wild ending However this, for all intents and purposes, is the 2nd movie in a trilogy Its not supposed to have a satisfying ending Much like Catching Fire for the 'Hunger Games' its ending is only an ad for the upcoming finale Personally speaking, Part 2 sets up Part 3 pretty well And if you take the story as "As per what Cloud says" Cloud isn't reliable Hell, those could lowkey be a coping method, rather than seeing into an alternate universe. A refusal to believe Aerith and Zach are dead. If thats what it is W writing But we will have to wait and see

I have to reiterate this . Irregardless of how you feel about the ending of Rebirth, SE and the director where in a no win scenario in handling Aeriths death. If remade 1to1 , you've made the remake pointless. Why not just replay the 90s title again. Leaving it ambiguous how it was imo the smart play and sets up a more devastating gut punch when clouds psyche is placed back in place.

Having played OG 7 multiple times, makes both Remake/Rebirth worse in my opinion. The problem is not the changes; it's that they didn't change it enough to justify it being three games. The plot moves pretty much in the same way. You go to the same places, the key events occur in the same order with a few changes here and there. The pacing of those games is painfully slow, the amount of padding, especially in the first game, is just too much. Having played the original, you know where you go next, you know what's going to happen. However, in this new version, everything takes too long to happen. A section that would take 30 minutes or so in OG can take up to 3 hours, with new things happening that add nothing to the main plot. And then there is the ending; they actually blundered it. I don't understand the direction of this game at all. Part three is going to need to be something really special to convince me that this project needs to be a three-part game. I didn't like Remake; Rebirth, on the other hand, is a good game on its own. However, this whole project is weird. I believe Remake and Rebirth could have been a single game.

I hated every min of rebirth. It should be un birthed. Just more garbage from Square Enix. I miss that awesome company, Square Soft. They were great.

Aerith still dies, bad game

Yeah, Demod did not understand the ending at all. I'm not gonna do a whole explainer here in the comment section because I'm not even sure it would be seen but yeah, between lore dropped at different points in the game & dev comments now that it's been out we know that it's not alternate realities or timelines, which also by extention explains what was going on with Zack & why the scenes in the ending are portrayed how they are in a way that makes both perfect sense and is thematically consistent with the OG game.

I only recently finished playing the Remake. After 30+ hours, I had only just left Midgar. Then I learned after 100 hours in Rebirth, the story ends in the Temple of the Ancients. I decided to play the OG instead. I’m only 12 hours in and already past the Gold Saucer. These new games are crammed with fluff, and the immaturity of the writing is too cringey for me. I’ve given up on these games.

Dead but not really but actually yeah! But actually NO! But maybe? But YES! 10/10 better than the OG.

Part 3: Final Fantasy VII Refund

Trash game

just a worse game, a shame - Dont Buy people - more for the sake of more "less is more" avoided to justify $70 game price - bloated world design to justify separating the games - worse characterization, having more of it doesn't make it stronger when they're inconsistent to the characters (like their morals to killing when it goes to animals, npcs, mooks and plot important characters) - mini game hell - cause of that the golden saucer is weaker than before cause of its now new size and scope making it a chore than original and having nothing special about when mini games are everywhere now - gameplay cause even that gets weaker with each version being released - spectacle noise to visual design making combat just a throw up of noise and effects - wasting Aerith's death - 10 stage boss fight - pointless alt universe that they do nothing with - everything they did with alt reality and changes in Remake for no payoff in the now when barely anything changes and they keep safe on track and on rails - Sephi spam every few moment making him pointless out of a cheap attempt to make you "fear him", why fear what you already beat at you're weakest

You keep saying the run time allows for them to do this stuff?But it's because they did all this stuff that the game has such a long run time. I have to stop watching because you present everything in such a disingenuous fashion.

You said you are tired of open world games but you played this which is also an open world game. What a huge liar