Documentary Details the Creation of PS5's Critically Acclaimed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth | Push Square

31.03.2024 - 01:13 / pushsquare.com / Naoki Hamaguchi

Square Enix has started a documentary series which delves into the creation of the critically acclaimed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. This first episode, Shaping the World, discusses how the developer reimagined the original game’s sprawling PS1 map into an enormous PS5 sandbox. It features anecdotes from directors Naoki Hamaguchi and Tetsuya Nomura, among many other key personnel.

Cloudy with a chance of pain

Overall, we really enjoyed this reimagining of the all-time PlayStation classic. “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth retains all of Remake's most important strengths, but builds on an already brilliant combat system, and excels at showcasing an iconic RPG setting,” we said in our review. “If you enjoyed Remake and you have fond memories of the PS1 original, you'll likely love every minute of Rebirth's memorable, character-focused adventure.”

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

Modern classic? A lot of the articles on here would have you believe it's been selling horribly.

Still a little surprised it got an 8/10 from Push Square. 25 hours in and I think it is the best game I've played on the PS5. I wonder, as the game is so large, reviewers just had to rinse it to get write-ups out — and burnt themselves out on it? There is a lot here (but I think pacing is always an issue with massive open world games. The overall high quality of gameplay is ridiculous in Rebirth). Metacritic user scores are solidly 9 (should always be cynical about user-scores but that is actually higher/on par with Balders Gate 3 — on 8.9).

The Gondola region is perhaps the most incredible setting I've seen in an open world game.

@add286 I just finished the Gongaga region last night and thought it was amazing.
I had seen people online talking about how it was the worst area in any game ever, but I thought it was just a lot of fun. Gorgeous to look at too.
And the music. Was it a mix of Uilleann pipes and an African choir or something? It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

@MomsSpaghetti it has sold less than expected physically. It’s still one of the year’s biggest releases.
Also, digital release preorder included Remake for free, so a lot of people bought it digital

@Shepherd_Tallon absolutely — I just loved exploring it (same with all the regions if I'm honest). And the music (whole game): just incredible.

@add286 An 8/10 is still a great score, don't see what there is to complain about. For me it's lower because the ubisoft checklist open