Final Fantasy 7 Remakewas my second favorite game of 2020. That was the year thatThe Last of Us Part 2(an all-time favorite) released, so in most other years, it would have slashed its way to number one. As someone with no nostalgia for the original, beyond generalized nostalgia for the ’90s, that’s high praise. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a really good game and, in the dog days of those first few Covid months, it was a welcome diversion from spending all my waking hours in my house.
Why Doesn’t Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Capture The Imagination Like Remake?
But,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth… man, I don’t know. I picked the game up when it launched back in February, and it’s been on my PS5 hard drive since. I’ll play an hour here and there, have a perfectly fine time, then drop it and not come back for another month. Final Fantasy 7 Remake had a stickiness to it that Rebirth, for some reason, lacks. Judging by howmodestly the game has sold, it seems like my ambivalence isn’t a unique experience. But why is that?
I’ve come to a few conclusions. Middle chapters are hard. Remake had the benefit of adapting the best part of the original game. Midgar is a fantastic setting, and getting to see the meta approachSquare Enixwas taking to the source material begin to take shape made it a compellingly mysterious experience. Rebirth by contrast isn’t doing most of the things that good middle chapters do. I’ve played dozens of hours and it’s starting to feel like if nothing much happened in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers until Helm’s Deep, or how The Empire Strikes Back would feel if all it had to offer was the Vader reveal. And I don’t even know if this game will deliver on its conclusion. Judging by the general buzz I’ve seen around the ending, I’m skeptical.
To Open-World, Or Not To Open-World?
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth never builds much momentum. I’ve written before that I wish Square Enix had picked a lane, making an entirely linear game (like Remake) or a full-on open-world game. As it is, it’s basically a linear game, except with breaks every several hours where you get your zoomies out. It’s a half-measures approach to game design and, as a result, I don’t feel like it scratches either itch. I don’t load it up for kicks when I just want to run around, exploring or checking activities off a list. The story also lacks the urgency that makes a linear story-driven game really sing.
The final game in this remake trilogy needs to pick a lane. I’ll be happy if it returns to Remake’s approach, but I’d also be happy if Square Enix went full Far Cry. I just want one or the other. Right now, I’m only feeling apathetic about finishing this game. If Square Enix doubles down on this game’s confusion, I suspect I won’t care about finishing the series, either.
