Final Fantasy VII: REBIRTH Review

Shortly before launch, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi confused many fans of the series by explaining that the development team made two versions of each side quest all because of Red XIII. We didn't know why at the time, as we weren't aware of the voice change that Red XIII goes through a little ways into the game itself, first hinted at in Under Junon and then again in Costa del Sol.

The final boss of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a doozy. There’s a series of Chapter 14 bosses waiting for you at the end of the story, and they get increasingly difficult — it can take upwards of an hour or more to fight them all, and some phases of the boss can wipe your party in an instant. We’ve got video and a whole lot of text to help you beat the biggest bosses of the game. Here’s how to take on Jenova and the many, many forms of Sephiroth.

As many people have said on dating profiles (or mothers on their wall art), I love a video game that makes me laugh, and I am delighted Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been so goddamn good at it.

Chadly has a lot of tasks lined up for you in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Now that the world is far more open and explorable, you’ll have a ton of extra activities to take if you wish, but the first few are a bit more required. Aside from the usual tower climbing and item gathering, one task is to fight specific enemies with a series of requirements. The first one, which asks you to pressure a Thunderclaw, is more troublesome than it should be, even if you understand the system. Not to worry, because we’ve used the Assess skill to gather all the data on this foe to make pressuring it a breeze.

How do you win the Queen's Blood tournament on Shinra-8 in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth? The RPG's very own card game that's brand new to the PS5 remake, you can create your own deck, collect new cards, and win a tournament aboard a prestige cruise ship in the first half of the game. As part of our Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth guide, we're going to reveal how to win the Queen's Blood tournament on Shinra-8. Doing so unlocks the Card Royalty Trophy.

One of the most memorable moments from the original Final Fantasy 7 is the date scene at the Gold Saucer. There was no way that Square Enix would leave that part out of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. In the original, it was almost an Easter egg of sorts to learn that you could end up going on a date with almost every member of the cast, not just Aerith. That’s because the relationship system was hidden and almost impossible to manipulate without a guide. Thankfully, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth makes things much clearer with the new bonds system that shows you just how strong your relationship with each character is. That plays directly into who you end up sharing a touching moment with near the end of the game.

Take an extended trip through the Corel Mountains with two big bosses in Chapter 7. In this section, we’re taking on the Custom Valkyrie and the Gigatrice — the Custom Valkyrie similar to a boss encountered late in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The flying drone spews flames all over the arena, before cooling off to recharge. When it’s cooling, that’s your best shot to really damage this monster. The Gigatrice is even more complicated — the monster summons tornadoes that can be imbued with elemental magic. Hit those tornadoes with fire, thunder, blizzard or aera to transform them into swirling damage-dealing weapons. Lure Gigatrice into its own tornado to knock it out of the sky. Learn more about each boss with the full guide below.

The toughest bosses in the game so far appear in Chapter 9 — both Specimen H1024 and Crimson Mare Mk. 2 can wipe your party if you don’t target their weaknesses. You’re stuck using specific characters for both boss fights, so don’t rely on your usual strategies. You’ll need to change things up and reset your Materia for the best chance at survival. Bring Ice Materia for the first fight and Fire Materia for use against Scarlet herself. The Specimen will slowly absorb more Mako until it unleashes a killer attack that hits your entire party — there’s no dodging this, you’ll just have to suppress it by dealing high damage while it attempts to absorb. Interrupting it is your only option. The Crimson Mare has a similar mechanic. If you don’t destroy both arms of the mech (before one is repaired) then she’ll continue to hammer you with deadly attacks. Try dealing damage to both equally before quickly crippling. And that’s just scratching the surface of these encounters. Learn more about each boss in the full guide below.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth confirms early on that both Aerith and Red XIII could see the future in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, although it's a power that they have both seemingly lost.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth introduces new playable characters, but not everyone made the cut this time around. Vincent Valentine and Cid are now the only two companions from the original Final Fantasy 7 to not be playable in the remake trilogy so far, as they sit Rebirth out.

We were told, or rather, warned, that Red XIII would ride a chocobo in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth long before launch. This got a lot of attention, since it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, leaving the director to explain both how he'd ride one, and why he wanted to in the first place. After all, he hasn't got opposable thumbs, and if he wants to move faster, he could just... run.

There’s a lot to take in during the opening hours of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Not only do you have an entire cast of characters to play as right away, but a fast hub world to explore. One thing you’ll get very familiar with right away is collecting resources for crafting items. These things are littered all over the world, begging to be collected. However, there are rare parts out there, such as the Quetzalcoatl Talon, that you can only get from one specific source. If you’re trying to finish the “Where the Wind Blows” side quest specifically, you’ll need this fiend’s claw to complete it, so let’s hunt it down.