FF7 Rebirth review round-up: What do the critics say?

The best support character for your party is undoubtedly Aerith in , but this kind soul can fiercely protect her friends if you find her best staff weapons. Aerith excels at long-range combat, casting spells that can buff her allies or debuff enemies. Many skills learned from new weapons found in story Chapters also deal plenty of damage, allowing Aerith to fight on her own.

Summons are powerful creatures in that your party can call upon as the best allies to help in tough fights. Only one red Materia orb containing a beast of this magnitude can be carried by your whole team, so picking the strongest Summon can be tricky. You'll have to learn which abilities and attacks Summons use to determine which one to bring into your next battle.

One of the mini-games with the most depth in is Queen's Blood, an intricate card game you can often win if you manage to build a strong deck. You can buy powerful new cards from vendors as your party arrives in different regions throughout story Chapters. Winning matches in Queen's Blood may seem easy at first, but it can become challenging as opponents use unexpected strategies.

In , Fort Condor’s Hard Mode is optional — but that doesn't mean completing it will go unrewarded. Fort Condor is a recurring (if greatly expanded) mini-game from the original . It's a real-time strategy tower defense game in which a variety of units are placed on a two-laned battlefield. The end goal is to destroy the enemy's headquarters, or to run out the clock with more towers remaining. Finer points of strategy come from calculated unit placement, and a rock-paper-scissors system of strengths and weaknesses.

Johnny's Treasure Trove is one of the most expansive side activities in — considering the laundry list of tasks it involves, a good reward seems almost inevitable. Unlike most side quests and mini-games in , Johnny's Treasure Trove isn't focused on a single activity. Instead, it's more of a dressed-up completion list akin to 's Curiosities. In order to complete Johnny's Treasure Trove, players will have to complete chocobo races, win Queen's Blood Tournaments, and find all the buried PLAY ARTS figures in .

Magic Materia in are green orbs that allow characters to cast spells, but the best of these items to get first have stronger magic than you might expect. Unlike purple Independent Materia or red Summon Materia, Magic Materia are simple to use. Instead of giving party members new abilities or stat increases, you gain spells that cost MP to cast during a fight.

Different Materia in can be collected in the first Chapters of the game to give your party magic, support, or other buffs that give them the best tools to overcome early obstacles. There are five types of Materia that you can get, but each offers something unique. Equipping these items will give you great tools to excel against any enemy your team faces.

's map isn't truly open-world; it's divided into regions, and further areas are unlocked as the player progresses through the story. The regions themselves are pretty wide open, though. Each one comprises a significant bit of real estate on ’s larger Gaia map, and they’re all interconnected, even if players can only travel between them after reaching certain milestones in the story.

Tifa Lockhart is Cloud's childhood friend and a romanceable character in . If you play your cards right, you can take Tifa on a wonderful date at the Gold Saucer and cement your relationship with her. However, this requires forming the strongest bond with her out of anyone else in your party.

The Shinra Manor contains a locked vault in . Finding the hidden password will unlock the door and reveal its secrets. This is a mandatory main story quest that needs to be completed to progress the narrative.

The party member Cait Sith has seven different weapons you can unlock in to give this cat and moogle combo a variety of new abilities. Although you don't recruit this character to your team until later in the game, their fighting style is unique from everyone else. Those looking to make Cait Sith even stronger will want to look for his weapons in Chapter regions.

The gun arm of Barret returns in to aid the planet and your party, but this iconic character has several different weapons you can find that give him his best abilities. Discovered in purple chests across large Chapter regions, you can find tools to help Barret grow stronger. However, some weapons provide better skills to learn than others along your journey.