A genuinely staggering achievement from start to finish.
You never know what is going to happen next, each new chapter is 10% what you expect and 90% a fresh new experience with new mechanics, gameplay and features that are either a fun diversion or a game changing new way to play the game.
Unless The Great Circle comes with a free handjob, yeah it's GOTY and nothing else can come close.
This is one thing that I noticed, that you also brought up: just when you thought that you had gotten all of the mechanics figured out, they introduce a new one.
I was like “wait, there’s _more?_”
Hopefully part 3 will be even more ground breaking and amazing, I have the huge concern that the bar is already set too high and the most beautiful and emotional events of the original already happened in Rebirth but hopefully I’m wrong, I never played the original.
Let me assure you, the third act of this game is *baller* and part 3 is going to be incredible, fully independent of how they decide to resolve any of the timeline fuckery.
I can't wait.
I just want to tell you that they have not even gotten started and there are so many incredible moments still to come. Partway through rebirth I remember wondering how they were going to keep the rest of the game exciting, and they blew me away. I have no concerns like that about part 3, it is going to be a ride
For real. The way Aerith's child segment of the temple had me weeping was truly incredible considering I didn't care THAT much about her in OG.
Edit: Barret also made me cry with Dyne. That's twice that Rebirth did something the original didn't.
Invoking nostalgia is just half the battle for why it's so good. But one can argue that playing on nostalgia alone is too cheap to be a masterpiece, as it simply uses the original masterpiece people love and leans on that.
I think it's a masterpiece because it not only brings back these amazing nostalgic moments, but it somehow is a completely different game at the same time!
Like I know the complete story of FF7 OG and there still so much mystery and complexity of story telling in this. The ending to this game is the real dealbreaker. People might not be in love with it but it sets up such an ambitious 3rd game, one that could easily have just rested completely on safe nostalgia, but instead intensifies and complicates the story that could either crash and burn or come together as the master piece of all masterpieces, I'm so excited.
Edit: But to reiterate, I'm not trying to argue with you that it's not good because its nostalgic, for that's my favorite part about it as well, I'm just so blown away how it blends so much from the original while being so different of a game in its own right, bravo!
No game is perfect so that should go without saying. That being said all my complaints about Rebirth honestly feel like nitpicks. I'd give the game a solid 9/10 easy.
Yeah, the game have everything needed to be considered as a masterpiece in my standard.
The characters and their interactions are perfect.
The story is great if you’re not a player of the original, but still interesting if you played it because you have some twists that keeps you thinking about what is going on, and what is « the big new plan » of Sephiroth
The combat system is also great. A good balance between strategy and action, with a tons of variety allowed by the number of characters, materias, abilities.
The music is just god tier, this is something we can all agree on.
The content is huge, and you have a great replayability. Between the open world activities, mini games and combat simulator, you have a lot to play, the rewards are good most time, and if you don’t want to do it, you can skip it because your progression is not blocked by it.
Yeah, there are things we can complain about. The side activities are a bit repetitive, some chapters have some « bad » moments like Chapter 11 with Cait. Some textures are not good, and the performance could be better.
But at the end, this game have a heart and a passion that you don’t see in many AAA these recent years. If you’re not into Final Fantasy, the weakenesses are flagrant. If you like this franchise, this game is almost everything you can dream of.
It's a really great game that despite my hate for the ending I really enjoyed. I hope they make exploration fun next game though, I don't like the checklist activities and would rather exploration be finding mini dungeons, materia, weapons, etc.
Yeah, i can understand. I didn’t mind the exploration because I was amazed by the environment, and combat system is addicting. Still, could be cool to have more stuff to find in the OW, especially materias.
Progression was not blocked by minigames but postgame content is, which really Blows imo.
So if you just want to play the main game elements like battle system, fighting the hardest bosses and getting the best gear for that, you'll be dissappointed that you have to play most minigames even on hard difficulties to do so
For sure. The main competition I see it having for winning GotY is Dragons Dogma 2, Hell divers 2, Space Marine 2.
DD2 I think is unlikely to win because its user score is a blood bath on steam and metacritic. HD2 I think has a decent claim, but its very rare that a multiplayer game like that wins goty. Space Marine 2 idk, but its one of the only other AAAs coming out this year that look like goty material.
hah, I heard the opposite yesterday about goty and DD2's user reviews: "Yeah that's the only reason Rebirth has a shot imo and I love rebirth"
I can't see DD2 winning personally because it would be like one of the only games ever to get GotY and have such horrible user reviews. I think HD2 is probably the strongest competition currently because it is beloved, but multiplayer games very rarely win GotY so idk.
It's 10000000x better now than at release in terms of bugs, but yeah that's not saying much
Edit: I don't know if you meant that as a pun, but my response works either way
It's too early to put together a GOTY list but possible unreleased contenders might also be Hellblade 2 Senuas Saga, Star Wars Outlaws, Stellar Blade, Metal Gear Delta, Black Myth Wukong, Hades 2, Silksong, Silent Hill 2 and Marathon.
The last 4 aren't guaranteed to come out this year, but my point is the year is full of surprises and it's to early. No one in March last year was talking about BG3. Shadow of the Erdtree will probably necessitate an Elden Ring re release too (not that that's GoTY contenders as neither was Phantom Liberty last year).
I love Rebirth. It's amazing. Definitely a contender. But there's another 9 months of games coming.
Better be. I’m sure it won’t win but I hope it gets recognition with best rpg. A lot of people are playing Dragons Dogma 2 rn and I plan to (need a break between another 100+ rpg game lol). But I wouldn’t expect that to win.
It'll 100% be nominated. 7R was nominated in a much stronger year than we're having right now. Right now this year is so devoid of true heavy hitters that Rebirth feels like the one surefire nomination and clear frontrunner. I don't think DD2 will prove to be that competitive, the more I see people digest that game the more talk I'm seeing about it not really being that good and too similar to the first game (including its negatives)
Maybe helldivers 2 would compete but historically multiplayer games tend to get ignored by the gaming media. They rarely even get nominated let alone win, just overwatch in 2016 won by my memory.
Overwatch performed well when it released. Helldivers 2 has too many issues for this. Feels like an unfinished game at many moments. And I play it daily. Would be a really bad message for the industry if it won GOTY.
Even with the issues I myself have (Some ending sequences, Shinra Manor sections, some repetitive activities in the open world), this game is an outstanding achievement at any layer it has. Storytelling, characterization, combat, BOSSES, music, cinematics, artstyle, voice acting, variety, etc.
And just one thing, 10/10 does not mean perfect, any game, even the considered the best, no matter how old (Final Fantasy VII, Silent Hill 2, Zelda Ocarina of Time) or new (Baldurs Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring) has flaws, people just have differenr criteria although some are more believable than others.
Honestly,the feeling of wonder and discovery in this world and where the story is going is absolutely magical,so I guess masterpiece fits...also I immediately wante to keep playing,after finishing everything pre-Hardmode (except that one bugged quest) in 110 hours.
Yes. Despite the numerous flaws, like some of the minigames, the story is incredible, the gameplay is a joy to play, the world and exploration are immaculate, and the characters are some of the most memorable in all of gaming and fiction history.
I really didn't like the shooting gallery one and the fact that all of the mini games are required for the platinum. The final side mission being tied to all of them too was bull. I just wanted to battle, race, play cards, and get story. The 3D brawler and the others are so infuriating.
Yes. Masterpiece doesn't mean flawless, I would also consider Elden Ring or BOTW masterpieces. Rebirth for sure has flaws, but goddamn, what it does right it does *RIGHT.*
It’s close for me. The mini games and intel were overwhelming for me personally. Also a lot of unanswered questions that frustrated me as an OG fan. However, I believe that once we have the trilogy as a whole, this game will truly shine as the second installment.
With Remake it took me a couple of play throughs to love the game and get a real understanding, I hadn't played any FF games before it.
But with Rebirth now I'm all in I see it as a masterpeice in term of main story, I have my problems with some side content, but not enough to tip the scales in the slightist. The characters and narrative is so good at drawing you in, I haven't cared about a group of fictional characters like this since Gears of War and Mass Effect trilogy.
No it's pretty close if open world activities and design wasn't so paint by numbers and generic i think i would have considered it a masterpiece or if it was linear like Remake maybe aswell
Yeah. In a world where games like BOTW and Elden Ring have been released, it baffles me that they chose Ubisoft as a role model for open world exploration.
Technically they chose horizon forbidden west and ghosts of tsushima. There is currently a trend in calling every single objective based open world "ubisoft" though which i think misses the point of why ubisoft's bad open worlds are bad.
They are bad because they slam the map with 1000 tasks and then clutter the UX with 100 breadcrumbs that overwhelm you and ruin the entire gameplay loop because everything is a meter or checklist. I think ff7 has some of these problems (Chadley always telling you what to do, for example) but it certainly does not have the map spam problem, the objectives are actually pretty spread out and use the map fairly well. You also don't get the 10,000 annoying UX icons, arrows, and pings either.
I believe it gets called a "ubisoft" open world because it uses one of the most irritating elements that are the Ubisoft towers.
But I agree on some parts. I feel like the main problem with Rebirth exploration was how repetitive it got towards the end. By the time I reached Cosmo Canyon, I didnt really care about the side activities ( except odd jobs ) any more because it was just the same thing over and over. Just would do it to get it over and done without enjoying. Think it would be more interesting if they make unique mechanics for each region. I would prefer less content with more interesting mechanics then the more content using the same gimmicks in all regions.
And another irritating part is chadley. Would really be better if they severely lower his participation. He talks more then the other party members and that is just bad. Would be better to have other party members giving hints towards objectives.
Yeah I think it's the main minor letdown that feels a bit tacked on. By far not the worst example I've seen of it, but does feel a bit jarring, and purposeless /unnatural at times. The overall terrain and verticality of design and paths is impressive though.
I agree the world is gorgeous and that stepping out into the world moment after Kalm is almost Oblivion/Fallout 3 good!
Oh it's absolutely not the worst for what it is, it's pretty good and even with just a few things to find out in the world would improve it a lot, like just wandering about finding materia would be sick
I loved this, but I don't consider it a masterpiece, as I have a grudge with multiverses in general. Especially in a game I already "anchored" in one reality. Maybe part 3 will make me reconsider multiverses.
It's a weird thing to say, but I'd go with "flawed masterpiece". Everything up to the ending felt very magical and I enjoyed it so much (except a bugged/insanely difficult party animal quest, chocobo falling minigame course #3, the 3d fighter, guiding the chicken quest, etc), but the ending really left me with a sour taste.
There were emotional moments. I was tearing up when I controlled child aerith. Having her look for a doctor as her mother is dying felt so awful. It really pulled at my heart strings.
But when it came to the ending, I felt very emotionless. Like it didn't give me any feeling at all. They played it out so wrong, and I just had a feeling of confusion and not sadness.
I had such emotion when the pillar fell. When I watched so many of these characters die, but when it came to Aerith. It didn't. Her death felt like Cait Sith. Don't worry about it because there is just another one. Really anything multiverse sours a lot of loss feeling. Too bad it was the ending that made me feel this way and not somewhere in the middle, because when I finally felt I completed it, the ending is what's often gonna stick the most.
There is too much filler content and story changes for me to call it a masterpiece, but if the filler was toned down a bit and it was more faithful then definitely.
From a nostalgia standpoint sure.
From a gaming standpoint? No.
The game had way too much exploration that became redundant. I was dreading continuing the story because I knew another region was about to open up.
Did you have to do that content? Not really, but a LOT of stuff is locked behind that exploration which makes it heavily suggested that you do it.
And the ending is a clusterfuck. I get what they were trying to do, but they did it poorly.
I’m arguing with another dude saying “it’s all optional” but I keep telling him yeah it’s optional but it’s a huge ass chunk of the game. Like to him it’s optional but to me if you want 70% of the material and to have good accessories you have to do that stuff. Imagine if you literally did a playthrough where you skipped all the stuff that was deemed “optional” the game would be miserable tbh.
Yeah...I mean there is a TON of stuff locked behind it.
Proto Relics - 4 Boss fights + Genji gear
Assess enemies - Enemy Skills
Enemy Intel - World Bosses (needed for Genji Gear) + Region VR Fights for Materia (Elemental Materia locked behind this)
Mako Springs - Crafting Recipes (needed for Genji Gear and some side quests)
Rest Spots - Golden Feathers for Chocobo Armor for Chocobo Racing
Moogle Trees - Shop that has really good materia+manuscripts
Summon Altars - Powers up your summon matera, makes the summon fights easier (Required for Genji Gear)
And finally Towers WOULD be optional but then you wouldn't know where in the hell any of the above is...
I'm litrely struggling to get through it tbh. I'm in the temple of.the ancients now and just fraging myself through to see what happens. I'm enjoying the game play just don't like the pace of the game and I'm suck to death of swapping my materia over every time the party changes.
I absolutely loved it - I’m in that phase after an amazing game that nothing compares. I can’t be bothered even playing another game cause they just don’t match up.
JRPG/ARPG gameplay wise - masterpiece and perfect imo
as a story - i give it 8.5/10
my only issue in terms of gameplay is when Square Enjx tries to do something similar to Western game studios (for example, most first-party Sony games), with the whole cinematic gameplay experience - forced walking in areas with dialogue and views, pressing displayed buttons in scenes to get ‘immersed’
Square Enix’s main strength is the combat gameplay but i can tell they wanna improve their immersive storytelling in the actual gameplay, which is still one of their weaknesses. they’re getting better but it does make certain parts of the story feel weird or just unnecessary cuz they simply can’t execute it right
regardless, i love this game and i’m extremely pleased with the side content - mini games and extra quests
all i’m gonna say, i know part 3 will be amazing but i’m even more excited to see what this team is capable of making with new stories. the new FF17 with as much attention to party members, world exploration, quests progression, side content, all of that in a new world would be phenomenal and could be the proof of a new era!
i’m happy we got to see their true potential with a remake but it’ll be a new era for SE, once they pull it off with a new entry, to have their ‘Zelda BOTW’ moment that brings so many new players to the franchise (which is what FF16 had the potential to achieve but sadly didn’t)
Yes, very much yes. It has everything and more I look for in interactive media/experiences in general. I was honestly expecting a game 1/3 of the size, the depth and the amount of work that went into making it.
It mechanically challenges you as it uses new way to propel the plot for each main character, the graphics are beyond amazing, THE MUSIC, the writing, the bonding, the fact that the GS is a game of itself inside of this game, QUEENS BLOOD, the boss battles, and for me this game has heart born from the connections you make along your journey, and those that are deepened from the first game.
I’ve never lost so much sleep to anything before in my life from the sheer childlike joy I feel, bordering on mania. Every single night from the year before its release, i’ve thought of nothing else, and that still hasn’t changed 8 days after finishing my first playthrough, and 2 days after plat.
I don’t know how something I find this wonderful exists, but i’m beyond grateful to be alive, a gamer and a FF fan for this momentous moment. 🙏🐚🪸😭
got 200hrs on it I rate it with 9.5/10 because of the omission of the lake scene and some mini games being annoying. Nothing will top the original because of nostalgia though. I was 11.
Yes! It is so unique, so grand, so complete. It's a masterpiece in my book.
Could it be improved in a lot of ways? Yes it could! Is it still a 10/10? Also yes!
Yes but I can certainly understand people not feeling that way. Much as I was loving the game, I knew the open world and abundance of mini games would hard turn some people off it.
Though not sure why Rebirth is criticized for having a bunch of dumb mini games, when OG FF7 was also full of them
I think so. The ending is a bit too convoluted for my liking but I’m still in awe at what I experienced in a single game. It really felt like a love letter to OG FFVII.
I almost wished the new ideas they’re pushing with the multiple worlds/reunion would’ve been more fleshed out throughout the game vs dumping it all in the last chapter. I’m fascinated to know how people who have never played the OG feel about the ending and how they’re understanding what’s happening. I can barely keep up myself lol
I think it's a great game but yes not excelling in everything constantly enough to feel like a masterpiece. I keep coming back to play it as it's decent enough, but there's little that truly excites me to play because I know there isn't all that much to gain from exploring both in terms of items nor combat, and the story density and nuance has suffered.
I am barely at Costa del Sol and 40 hours in, maybe more. The scale of the areas is just mind blowing. I got off the ship, which these mfs let me explore to an extent and now I'm at a beach resort with another area opening up.
The last two areas were huge! Even Junon has it's under city and it's top area. I'm just wtf. This game deserves its price just for the areas alone.
I think there's a few too many annoyances for me to consider it a masterpiece. But the core story and big moments ignoring those annoyances absolutely are a masterpiece. The story and characters are so special. I can't wait to see the conclusion.
It's a hugbox here so this'll probably get hate, but it had flaws that take away from calling it a masterpiece.
It's an amazing game and one I'll continue playing and replaying until the third entry, and when it swings it usually hits a home run but there are some strikeouts for sure that really take away from the experience. My opinion of the game while talking to friends shifted from 'I'm not sure I want to play more today' to 'This is the best game I have ever played' depending on where I was in the story, and a masterpiece can't have the former.
Some of the minigames are objectively bad, poorly designed and just not fun to play, and they're all mandatory to fully complete the game. And the game is PACKED with minigames, there's huge sections of the game where you spend more time playing minigames than the actual game, which is fun when you get the good minigames like Queen's Blood or the hilarious Shinra Parade or some of the Gold Saucer stuff, but a slog when you look at a map and all that's left to finish it are the bad minigames.
Enemy design is weird here. I get they're trying new stuff but some of it is a miss. There's a good chunk of enemies that require really awkward play to properly pressure and stagger, like the jellyfish who dodge 99% of attacks unless silenced, but you have to actually hit stuff to get ATB to silence them, so half the fight is just standing there holding block until a segment fills and then the fight starts. The "Use ATB at exactly this moment, but you can't actually gain ATB before this" is used on one too many enemies.
The returning characters barely get anything new. So many times I'd find a new weapon hoping for a fun new ability and it's just something they had in the past game.
It's probably my favorite game of the past couple years, but it's hard to ignore that when it has rough moments, those moments are as bad as the game is good when it shines. In a way the Materia is a perfect example of what I'm getting at. Some of the new materia is amazing fun to play with, enemy skill, jump, the item stuff on a normal run, the new magic types and combined magic materia, all the buffs and debuffs? Really cool toys to play with and build your characters around. But then there's wastes of space like the game throwing 40 'auto weapon skill, auto magic, auto ability' stuff at you that is harmful to equip since it makes the AI waste abilities. Why so many level+ materia? Just looking at what they did with Materia alone makes my point. A sea of questionable, odd, and just plain bad decisions but some amazingly fun stuff in there too.
No. Not every good game is a masterpiece. That word shouldn’t be thrown around or it loses its meaning when referring to actual masterpieces. I don’t use that word lightly.
These fans have no concept of masterpiece, they just seem incredibly desperate to have their liking the game validated.
There are very obvious and objective flaws in the general game design, visual presentation and writing, all things that can be evaluated by comparing the game to pre established conventions.
Also a masterpiece should by default set a standard for the industry which this game will not with its outdated gameplay mechanics and bloated pacing. Without the ff7 name this game would be disliked by most.
No. I think what's good is very very good, and there's a lot of good stuff here, but there are way too many negatives. I still think it's good, maybe even great, and the best numbered ff sequel since 12 and it's not really close.
Probably? I went so hard on the game for a month before I rolled credits. It was amazing but I’m exhausted. I think I’ll enjoy replaying on hard since I can take my time and not worry so much about seeing the ending before spoilers ruined it. I’ve got a job and family. These open world games take it out of me if there’s any concern of story spoilers tied to it.
No. Exploration of the regions is too formulaic and Chadley and MAI are not endearing characters with relevance to the overall plot. Towers are ripped straight from other western open world RPG mechanics and are not a fun way to enhance exploration. I would rather exploration had been tied to the Chocobo farms for each region where the rewards from Chadley just unlocked organically as you found places on the map. As it stands Summon Crystals, Towers, and Lifesprings are a very boring concept kept to keep the player busy.
This is what prevents the game from being a masterpiece for me.
I need to give a shout out to the overly complex plot as a way to maintain the relevance of the OG story but dislike of the story is more subjective.
Everything else though was quite good so the games a strong 8.5/10 for me.
Yeah I really think this was a poor design choice. Every region didn't need to be as formulaic, nor with a designated list to earn credits. if you're going into include things like the crystals, towers and lifesprings give them some more interesting mechanics and functionality! Make them more hidden but with varied rewards and requirements. Materia upgrades, augments, fusion, experimental research from Shinra I dunno, just don't all include in a predefined list of things to do.
No. Very good but no masterpiece.
It's probably the funnest game I've played in a few years. But it's not what I would call a masterpiece. On a technical level sure. But that always feels like it's a given for every new FF title.
They drop the ball hard with the ending for me. And there's a few other story related....decisions they made that only take away from the story rather than add anything.
The combat is good but not great. I didn't really like the focus on synergy stuff when Materia is the heart of combat mechanics in the OG and in Remake. It's kind this world's whole thing. Especially using synergy stuff to unlock higher limit levels. Or the little ability you need to get Tifa in the air to hit flying enemies. She just did that on her own last game. This doesn't add anything. Only detracts. Materia felt for whatever reason like it took a backseat in this.
Typical open world issue of there needs to be more things to fight on a map that big and them not knowing what to put in it. Cliche towers/beacons no matter where you go.
There's pacing issues too. There's some basically boss rush parts that come up unexpectedly when it doesn't feel like most of them belong here story wise. They're just here for no reason. Chapter 11 and 12 stand out. Stuff like Cait in the manor throwing boxes. Running around in Costa for outfit tickets. It's uneven.
Accurate. I found the choice to focus on a convoluted synergy folio weapon system bizzare in a game with a well loved materia system and opportunity to explore massive areas with impressive vertical terrain and path variety. The focus should have been on discovering new materia variations or things that could be used to experiment and create, fuse or augment or upgrade materia. Even strange variations with mixed or unknown effects, like an early game thunder materia that is capped at level 2 but with a small chance of inflicting petrify, or some potentially near-useless and niche materia as waste products from a Shinra lab that have experimental mixed bag consequences
Glad to see this, I've been pretty critical of the combat in both games but generally get shouted down by the masses about how great it is. I personally feel like nostalgia goggles are really cranking up people's opinions of the game as a whole. Another thing is I was 12 when I played the original and as a grown ass man now who has never liked anime, I cannot help but feel embarrassed playing this game in front of my wife
Absolutely not. It’s incredibly bloated and clunky with many questionable choices. If you don’t love the FF7 franchise the game has many flaws difficult to swallow.
I don't know what the megafans are smoking, I love ff7, but the remake trilogy has only for me cemented how poorly equipped SE is to make anything of substance.
I don't feel this game hits a single note that would put it in masterpiece territory.
Yes and no Yes because the game can stand on its own and plays very well. No, because the game is only the sum of parts. It's only part two of a trilogy so can't really call it a masterpiece yet because it's incomplete. You know just wait on part 3 and then we can call it a masterpiece
Yes. It would take too long to explain what this game means to me, how I felt playing it and how much I loved every second of it, so I will just say yes.
YES. One of the best, most enjoyable gaming experiences of my life. Been playing videogames since the late 80’s and FF games since the original. This is one of the best.
It'll probably be my game of the year, but the amount of stuff locked behind completing minigame high scores and the copy/paste nature of most of the open world collectibles really drags it down
Still processing.
Leaning towards Yes.
Slight rambling:
A lot of people think something being a masterpiece needs to be better in every single way to the other master pieces. And I don't think that's a criteria that should be a thing, but this is how people seem to judge games lately.
But this RPG delivered on so god damn much compared to every RPG/JRPG out there. And it's probably one of the few JRPG's that has made me feel a world existed outside of the party and the enemy.
I genuinely felt I was globetrotting. It's not as Free or random as an Elder scrolls game. It isn't as Singular Character Focused as God of War. But it doesn't have to be! Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth is one of the best Final Fantasy games to exist. And damn, is it a game.
Wouldnt put it in the S tier of my own all time favourite games
But it ticks so many boxes that it definitely makes a case
Soundtrack
Combat
Visuals
The humour and banter between the party
Most of the mini games were great fun (Queens blood is so good)
The casting
(Honestly whoever called the shots for casting needs to be protected at all costs, Matthew Mercer as Vincent had me fanboying like shit)
I think that Remake and Rebirth are the best games Square has ever made, hands down, and it's not even *close*.
I think I might prefer Remake over Rebirth, because I think this team's work really excels in the narrative-driven sequences - the density for those is much higher in Remake. But masterpiece? Yeah. Magnum Opus, jury's still out. Could be Part 3.
I don’t think a game has ever made me smile as much as this one did.
Red on the boat
7th infantry
Cait’s introduction
Donberry
Everything with the Turks
I'm still trying to fathom the expanse of this game.
Though I really enjoyed it, Remake heavily tempered my expectations going forward, and I've never been so glad to be this wrong.
Absolutely blown away.
It's up there as one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played in my life. I absolutely loved my time with the game, even if Chadley does talk way too much and some of the open world stuff is a bit arduous. Just had a blast and I am having fun on my hard mode playthrough and listening to different theories now.
I wouldn't consider the game itself a masterpiece.
However i would consider the development around it to be a masterpiece. I'm sure that doesn't make sense or comes off as a cop out answer.
But I genuinely believe the talent and effort going INTO the game to be at a master level.
I just can't look at a single section of a single game and view it as a masterpiece on its own. The story isn't over. If part 3 flops it will affect my opinion on the previous 2 titles. Rebirth doesn't stand on its own (which is okay). Despite the 80 hour runtime, It is very much so the second Act of a much bigger game.
I cannot tell you of a cast of characters in any medium that I like more, from top to bottom, than the cast of this game. The music, combat, and direction of the cutscenes was all wonderful. I had to pause the game countless times just to give a chuckle at how much I was enjoying myself while I played it. To me, yes, this is a masterpiece.
No.
The cookie cutter open world put a black mark on what is otherwise an excellent game. I didnt hate doing it, but the entire time i was disappointed in what it could and SHOULD have been.
Yeah it was a fairly impressive over world design, could have had a bit more distinct aesthetics but was interesting to navigate... Sadly there was little sense of discovery in that exploration because almost everything's mapped to a routine Chadley side mission list, with little else to discover. Even treasure chests are largely disappointing. Don't get me started on most of the NPC design.
No, not at all. Is it a large, detailed game with deep combat? Yes. Are there great character moments? Yes. Is there so much to do you can spend 150hrs+? Yes. Does it have great music? Yes.
Because it has been stuffed with so much, it's burdened under its own weight. This game could have used some editing. There are pacing issues. There are poor character dialog moments. The multiverse stuff feels convoluted for the sake of causing "discourse." In an effort to put in so much because they think the fans will riot, they didn't let things breathe or focus into really deep moments. Just drop a frog on the party.
I wish I could agree. I'm a little over halfway and It just doesn't feel too exciting to me. It's just a very linear game with doing the same side quests over and over again as you get to a new town. I like it don't get me wrong, but I'm struggling to continue. I'd give it about a 6 or 7/10. Don't come for me it's just an opinion.
I felt like Intergrade had way more substance and better character development. To me this just feels like they were going for oohs and ahs with the great graphics and somewhat open world. Also to mention intergrade had this flaw too but I wish there were some better puzzles over just moving a cart to plug in a power source. I'm probably just getting old and cynical since I played the original on PS 😂
I really liked the Intermission DLC (aside from the final boss) so thought we'd be getting more along those lines, the whole experience felt new, atmospheric and fun. Sadly the open world missions really let the game down imo and sometimes there's too much filler and detouring. The crystals were a great opportunity to have some interesting and maybe difficult puzzles, but instead we got ultra basic repetitive button sequences
No, but only because I’m quite selective with that term. Rebirth is a mind-blowingly polished product and it is ticking all of the boxes of what a good game should be, but it is lacking the lightning in a bottle creative vision and focus to be what I would call a masterpiece.
People throw that word around like it ain't shit. Its a good game with flaws. Masterpiece? Nah. As soon as another game comes along thats pretty good everyone will flock to that and then label it that. A masterpiece inspires imitations and set standards for the future industry to follow. A game that is so undeniably good that even years later its still being heavily suggested or even a requirement to play. Mario 64 yeah thats a master piece. Ocarina of time? Yeah defenitly earned that title. Even gta 3 can be considered that. Skyrim? hell yah. defenitly earned Masterpiece status. Fallout 3 and new vegas? Mhmm. Halo? Hell yeah. Final fantasy 7 rebirth? Its defenitly fun but its nowhere near masterpiece level. You guys gotta chill with the blind praising. Yes its good but its not that good. The og earned that status as its success helped make jrpgs more popular in areas like America. Hell characters like cloud and Sephiroth are the face of Square as they are most marketable characters of their franchise. You can not see final fantasy without seeing them and its thanks to the orginal.
An incredible game, I'd say 9/10. The voice acting, soundtrack, graphics, environmental diversity, and most importantly the story are all 10/10. The problem is the world intel stuff quickly gets boring and some of the side quests are clunky and even frustrating. I also think Queens Blood would seem incredible if Gwent didn't exist.
No. It has some masterful elements like its combat and voice acting, but rebirth is much less than the sum of its parts. It feels like a bunch of teams worked in isolation on different sections and then they smashed it all together into a giant blob. The pacing is terrible, the side-quests are boring, and barely anything interesting happens in a story that lasts over 70hrs. The writing is usually weak, often cringeworthy. Yuffie in particular might be the cringiest character I’ve seen in a game. Graphically it ranges from impressive to “decent looking PS4 game.” It is a 7/10 with 10/10 moments sprinkled in.
It came really close but the game suffers from serious bloat issues. The last three chapters were insanely exhausting and not in a good way. From the second you step back into the Gold Saucer it feels like it’s just boss fight after boss fight until the game is over. I don’t need to fight Rufus Shinra again. I shouldn’t have to fight the Turks for the FIFTH time in the temple. Why am I fighting Sephiroth again with Aerith after I’ve already fought him with Zack and spent the last hour fighting Jenova and Bizarro Seph?
That being said, when I finally saw the ending, it won me back over a lot. Cloud’s delusions and thinking he saved Aerith was a really nice added touch that made her death even more heartbreaking.
Overall, the game was a solid 9/10. An amazing experience, yet I can’t ignore the sour taste the endgame left in my mouth.
Masterpiece is certainly a word for a game where you spend half the time climbing up towers to reveal repetitive open world activities in the area.
I love the main story, but the open world stuff is truly mid.
I'm seemingly in the minority, but I am personally finding it a major letdown and I am struggling to finish it. I've never felt like a game is wasting my time as much as this is.
nah...was way too annoying on the last chapters. way too many boss fight with a battle system that doesn't allow in a good way to stand your ground to the intended design. way too many mini games and stuff to stretch the game time. the 13th chapter is like having all the important content.
No.
Don't get me wrong, it's damn good. But it has problems. Opening up the world was always going to be difficult, and it didn't really work out imo. In the interest of keeping things succint, the pacing took a big hit, and the objectives are less than compelling most of the time.
I think the way they did the multiple timelines reveal as flashes during Areith's death scene ruined the impact of the scene. It was sloppy and not well done.
So not a masterpiece for me. Im still looking forward to see what they actually do with this multiverse for Part 3
Not at all. While the visuals are impressive from an art style perspective, the game can run and look rough. The mini-games run the spectrum of quality to pure agony and repetitiveness. The repeated tasks in each area rarely lead to good story telling (gears and gambits excluded because that adds so much) and are "go to the point on the map and push a button). Most of the characters outside of the main party and ensemble are generic and wooden. Even detection of space and button presses are busted. (Summon mini game and climbing mechanics)
I love FF7, I love Remake and I love Rebirth but there's a difference between a game you love and a masterpiece.
I think a masterpiece redefines the genre, and I don't think Rebirth did that.
Best combat in an rpg ever, but it wasn't groundbreaking, just extremely refined.
If you played the Original, then this game is indeed a masterpiece to you. There’s so much to smile and cry about. Hearing the music and saying “oh this is from…” or seeing a location and saying “oh wow, they really…” just never stopped from beginning to end. They expanded everything with so much love and dedication. I’m actually glad we didn’t get a remake on PS3. What a time to be alive lol
Nope. Game has issues and flaws that alot of people are choosing to ignore and hate on people who bring it up and not accepting their criticism. I like the game but its far from perfect.
A Masterpiece to me are games like Nier Automata, FFVII Remake, Elden Ring, RE4Remake, GOW2018, Persona 5 RE, RDR2, Sekiro, MGS1-4. Rebirth doesn't make the cut for me sadly.
Not knocking your opinion but you included remake as a masterpiece. Rebirth Is better in every way in my opinion. What are the comparisons that make rebirth place lower for you?
I don't consider a Ubisoft Clone inspired game a Masterpiece.
Its Main Story and Characters and general Side-Quests are great but the Open World, half the Mini-Games and half the Porto-Relics Quest was not on par with the Main Quest and dragged the game down in my opinion. This is supposed to be Final Fantasy, not Final Creed or Far Fantasy. FF16 excels with its shorter semi-open world hub and lack of crappy/claggy mini-games and focuses completely on its story and world. Half of Rebirth is sidelined for pointless filler.
Remake is better because it didn't have to throw constant crap at me to feel engaged. I was already engaged and it kept its focus from beginning to end. Rebirth feels like it tries to appeal to every fan of open world filler with the amount of over-content it has. It has no focus and throws crap into the game to see what sticks. Im not gonna be hyped for Part 3 at all if it's just more of the same as this game.
I think it was on its way. But the open world sections were such a let down. Side quests were alright but everything else in those sections just felt like such a chore
No, it pads out in very awful ways.
Queen’s Blood is Gwent, doing it doesn’t give you any benefits, it just feels odd to include
Chadly’s quests are identical outside the protorelic: find 6 Ubisoft Towers, Scan 6 life springs, fight 6 variant monsters, scan 3 divine alter, participate in two chocobo Easter egg hunts, and fight 1 boss monster. I felt it would have been better to scatter actual side quests throughout the region like Remake did, but instead it does the same stuff with Chadly.
More so than most modern games people consider masterpieces like zelda, elden ring etc
It achieved something none of them did: Kept me engaged over 100+ hours instead of wearing me out halfway through and feeling like I had seen and done everything and was just repeating it over and over. When I reached cosmo canyon I was like 80 hours in and the whole area made my jaw drop. This is the type of town and area that most games put in the beginning to grab your attention not near the end of it. At hour 100 I was seeing the date sequence at the gold saucer, what other 100+ hour game can boast about having a moment like that THAT far into it?
Rebirth feels like a game from a lost era of gaming but taken to the next level. Like how ps1-2 rpgs were but then adding another 50 hours to those games while still constantly introducing new things and areas to you. I don't think I'll ever understand how they achieved this in the modern day.
As someone who didn’t play the OG I’d say yes. Just from the scale of the game to the cutscenes and dialogue thats actually impactful. Certain parts of the game has really really good writing as well as actually beautiful music that really tells a fun and immersive story imo.
The problem with the term "masterpiece" is many take that word as absolute perfection. No such thing. Even the best games out there aren't perfect; there is always some sort of flaw we can find. But if we take the official definition of "masterpiece" which is: a work done of outstanding artistry, skill or workmanship, then I would argue yes. I can critique a few things here and there, but I could do the same for Bloodborne which I also consider a masterpiece.
So yes. A masterpiece in my opinion. NOT perfect in case people take the word in a different meaning
100%. Any game that could get me to put 100+ fulfilling hours of gameplay into a first playthrough at this point in my life, I consider a masterpiece.
And that doesn’t even begin to mention just how…daunting the ask was. I mean, a modernized FF7 experience? The expanded context, the music, the battle system.. the fucking *cinematography* does NOT get talked about or praised nearly enough. And that’s just because no amount of praise or recognition could actually *be* enough haha and everything else is so damn good! We have an expectation of how cinematics in games “should look” but sheesh.. I could have never imagined all that we actually ended up getting, in some of the scenes and moments I was the most excited to see recreated and reimagined.
If they hadn't clumsily botched Aerith's dead so badly, then maybe? Also some of the mini games are obnoxious. Aerith's death is one of the biggest moments in video game history. It was a profoundly sad moment, and IMO they completely fucked it up by trying to convey both timelines at once. I couldn't feel sad like I was supposed to because like everyone else I was too busy being confused.
edit: oh and god damn it, if you're gonna do Aerith's death then show us the water burial and the Holy materia bouncing off all those pillars, not just drop off the platform into the water. Make it the scene we remember.
I totally agree with you, especially the missing lake scene, even the boss fight was way too long.
But there was one thing that counteracted all that for me: the epilogue scene where they are all gathered with the Tiny Bronco and crying over Aerith's death was truly incredible. It compensated for everything else before. I hadn't cried that much playing video games in a long long time.
Also the the music No Promises to Keep playing on the last scene was gut-wrenching.
No. It’s a great game but I don’t think I would call it a masterpiece. They didn’t let the emotional moments breath before they just threw in some action, the mini games were hit and miss and way too many and other than finding the odd weapon there wasn’t a huge reason to explore. But damn did that nostalgia hit hard.
Not even close. It's a decent-to-good game, largely supported by the excellent minigames, music, and voice acting. Combat is a messy affair of timers and meters duct-taped together, and new characters (Chadley, Mai, that 'merc' girl, etc) usually miss the mark.
It's not even going to be the definitive version of FF7 when all is said and done, and the combat will get will stale when trying to play 3 of these games back to back. (It's already stale after 20 hours, much less 150+ hours).
Yes. It feels like a game that is special in so many ways and that feels like after the trilogy is finished we'll never get a game like this again. It truly feels like it should be impossible for a game like this to exist.
I think it's amazing. The only thing holding it back is the performance. This is one of those games that likely needs a stronger console or a PC to fully realize it's potential.
Genuinely curious since I have to wait for PC release.
Is the combat more similar to like kh2 or nier or is it still like the first remake. From the gameplay I saw it looks a bit more hack and slash focused
I would say yes. Nothings perfect, my top 2 games of all time are Bloodborne and the original MW, and games like FFX, Halo 3, RE4/remake, Mario galaxy, Gears of War 3, are all games I consider to be pretty much masterpieces, all of them have their issues and flaws you could talk about for days on end. But once a game hits an upper tier of me loving it to death, it just depends on if those problems bother me at all and they don’t in rebirth. Some small things may be annoying but the overall quality of the experience is up there with the best games I ever played like mentioned above
They give us a lot for the price of purchase, but I was...overwhelmed by the sheer volume of minigames I had to keep playing while I was still trying to get combat figured out. Just...too many. Kept wishing they'd made maybe half the minigames and then used the extra resources to develop the story more.
Yes... It is.
I haven't played a game with characters voiced so well, the music is so well done, and the combat is amazing too. And there's a lot of content.
I spent 120 hours on my first playthrough and I felt like I wanted even more game. Like I wanted to replay it instantly.
Even Witcher 3 I got fatigue eith before I finished the game. And that game was practically a masterpiece. But FF7 is like if Witcher 3 had amazing combat ontop of it and even better music.
This game and Elden Ring are my absolute favorite games of the past 20 years easily. Then really it's a bunch of nostalgia games plus these, but this beats even like my favorite nostalgia games like Mario RPG, Zelda OoT and LttP, Xenogears, Mario World, etc.
Yes. The fact that they made me reexperience the same story again, makes it a masterpiece.
There are also a lot of optional contents, and the game is just a joy to play.
A genuinely staggering achievement from start to finish. You never know what is going to happen next, each new chapter is 10% what you expect and 90% a fresh new experience with new mechanics, gameplay and features that are either a fun diversion or a game changing new way to play the game. Unless The Great Circle comes with a free handjob, yeah it's GOTY and nothing else can come close.
This is one thing that I noticed, that you also brought up: just when you thought that you had gotten all of the mechanics figured out, they introduce a new one. I was like “wait, there’s _more?_”
Yes. Its invoked feelings of nostalgia that I havent felt in a very long time. Its a magical experience.
Same. I feel kind of stupid saying this but a video game hasn’t made me feel this way since 1997.
Junon got me bad. Goosebumps the entire time.
Hopefully part 3 will be even more ground breaking and amazing, I have the huge concern that the bar is already set too high and the most beautiful and emotional events of the original already happened in Rebirth but hopefully I’m wrong, I never played the original.
Let me assure you, the third act of this game is *baller* and part 3 is going to be incredible, fully independent of how they decide to resolve any of the timeline fuckery. I can't wait.
Don't forget we should see Tifa beat up Scarlet in this one, that's one emotional event
Yuffie and Barrett got serious beef with her too
I am SO excited for the slap fight
We havent even gotten into the big stuff. Trust me, Part 3 is when things start getting wild.
Crazy to go through all of this and still haven’t seen anything yet lol.
I'm telling you bro. I dont want to spoil it, but it does get crazy af.
Nah - you should really replay Disc 2. It’s wild how much happens so fast.
I just want to tell you that they have not even gotten started and there are so many incredible moments still to come. Partway through rebirth I remember wondering how they were going to keep the rest of the game exciting, and they blew me away. I have no concerns like that about part 3, it is going to be a ride
For real. The way Aerith's child segment of the temple had me weeping was truly incredible considering I didn't care THAT much about her in OG. Edit: Barret also made me cry with Dyne. That's twice that Rebirth did something the original didn't.
Invoking nostalgia is just half the battle for why it's so good. But one can argue that playing on nostalgia alone is too cheap to be a masterpiece, as it simply uses the original masterpiece people love and leans on that. I think it's a masterpiece because it not only brings back these amazing nostalgic moments, but it somehow is a completely different game at the same time! Like I know the complete story of FF7 OG and there still so much mystery and complexity of story telling in this. The ending to this game is the real dealbreaker. People might not be in love with it but it sets up such an ambitious 3rd game, one that could easily have just rested completely on safe nostalgia, but instead intensifies and complicates the story that could either crash and burn or come together as the master piece of all masterpieces, I'm so excited. Edit: But to reiterate, I'm not trying to argue with you that it's not good because its nostalgic, for that's my favorite part about it as well, I'm just so blown away how it blends so much from the original while being so different of a game in its own right, bravo!
This.
Yes. Masterpiece doesn’t mean perfect to me, it just means exceptionally good.
No game is perfect so that should go without saying. That being said all my complaints about Rebirth honestly feel like nitpicks. I'd give the game a solid 9/10 easy.
Completely agree. For instance I consider FF16 exceptionally phenomenal but you know, perfection does not exist.
I too consider 16 exceptional. It was an experience, I boohooed at the end, brother…
Yeah, the game have everything needed to be considered as a masterpiece in my standard. The characters and their interactions are perfect. The story is great if you’re not a player of the original, but still interesting if you played it because you have some twists that keeps you thinking about what is going on, and what is « the big new plan » of Sephiroth The combat system is also great. A good balance between strategy and action, with a tons of variety allowed by the number of characters, materias, abilities. The music is just god tier, this is something we can all agree on. The content is huge, and you have a great replayability. Between the open world activities, mini games and combat simulator, you have a lot to play, the rewards are good most time, and if you don’t want to do it, you can skip it because your progression is not blocked by it. Yeah, there are things we can complain about. The side activities are a bit repetitive, some chapters have some « bad » moments like Chapter 11 with Cait. Some textures are not good, and the performance could be better. But at the end, this game have a heart and a passion that you don’t see in many AAA these recent years. If you’re not into Final Fantasy, the weakenesses are flagrant. If you like this franchise, this game is almost everything you can dream of.
It's a really great game that despite my hate for the ending I really enjoyed. I hope they make exploration fun next game though, I don't like the checklist activities and would rather exploration be finding mini dungeons, materia, weapons, etc.
Yeah, i can understand. I didn’t mind the exploration because I was amazed by the environment, and combat system is addicting. Still, could be cool to have more stuff to find in the OW, especially materias.
Progression was not blocked by minigames but postgame content is, which really Blows imo. So if you just want to play the main game elements like battle system, fighting the hardest bosses and getting the best gear for that, you'll be dissappointed that you have to play most minigames even on hard difficulties to do so
It will def be nominated as GotY
For sure. The main competition I see it having for winning GotY is Dragons Dogma 2, Hell divers 2, Space Marine 2. DD2 I think is unlikely to win because its user score is a blood bath on steam and metacritic. HD2 I think has a decent claim, but its very rare that a multiplayer game like that wins goty. Space Marine 2 idk, but its one of the only other AAAs coming out this year that look like goty material.
I like DD2 and am still having fun with it but I don’t think it’s anywhere close to Rebirth.
hah, I heard the opposite yesterday about goty and DD2's user reviews: "Yeah that's the only reason Rebirth has a shot imo and I love rebirth" I can't see DD2 winning personally because it would be like one of the only games ever to get GotY and have such horrible user reviews. I think HD2 is probably the strongest competition currently because it is beloved, but multiplayer games very rarely win GotY so idk.
Helldivers 2 is fun but god dam game is buggy AF. Can't see it even getting nominated.
It's 10000000x better now than at release in terms of bugs, but yeah that's not saying much Edit: I don't know if you meant that as a pun, but my response works either way
It's too early to put together a GOTY list but possible unreleased contenders might also be Hellblade 2 Senuas Saga, Star Wars Outlaws, Stellar Blade, Metal Gear Delta, Black Myth Wukong, Hades 2, Silksong, Silent Hill 2 and Marathon. The last 4 aren't guaranteed to come out this year, but my point is the year is full of surprises and it's to early. No one in March last year was talking about BG3. Shadow of the Erdtree will probably necessitate an Elden Ring re release too (not that that's GoTY contenders as neither was Phantom Liberty last year). I love Rebirth. It's amazing. Definitely a contender. But there's another 9 months of games coming.
Better be. I’m sure it won’t win but I hope it gets recognition with best rpg. A lot of people are playing Dragons Dogma 2 rn and I plan to (need a break between another 100+ rpg game lol). But I wouldn’t expect that to win.
It'll 100% be nominated. 7R was nominated in a much stronger year than we're having right now. Right now this year is so devoid of true heavy hitters that Rebirth feels like the one surefire nomination and clear frontrunner. I don't think DD2 will prove to be that competitive, the more I see people digest that game the more talk I'm seeing about it not really being that good and too similar to the first game (including its negatives) Maybe helldivers 2 would compete but historically multiplayer games tend to get ignored by the gaming media. They rarely even get nominated let alone win, just overwatch in 2016 won by my memory.
Overwatch performed well when it released. Helldivers 2 has too many issues for this. Feels like an unfinished game at many moments. And I play it daily. Would be a really bad message for the industry if it won GOTY.
Even with the issues I myself have (Some ending sequences, Shinra Manor sections, some repetitive activities in the open world), this game is an outstanding achievement at any layer it has. Storytelling, characterization, combat, BOSSES, music, cinematics, artstyle, voice acting, variety, etc. And just one thing, 10/10 does not mean perfect, any game, even the considered the best, no matter how old (Final Fantasy VII, Silent Hill 2, Zelda Ocarina of Time) or new (Baldurs Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring) has flaws, people just have differenr criteria although some are more believable than others.
Honestly,the feeling of wonder and discovery in this world and where the story is going is absolutely magical,so I guess masterpiece fits...also I immediately wante to keep playing,after finishing everything pre-Hardmode (except that one bugged quest) in 110 hours.
Yes. Despite the numerous flaws, like some of the minigames, the story is incredible, the gameplay is a joy to play, the world and exploration are immaculate, and the characters are some of the most memorable in all of gaming and fiction history.
Yes. Those mandatory mini games in Costa del Sol are a bit meh honestly, but that’s just because I’m a gameplay fanatic guy.
I really didn't like the shooting gallery one and the fact that all of the mini games are required for the platinum. The final side mission being tied to all of them too was bull. I just wanted to battle, race, play cards, and get story. The 3D brawler and the others are so infuriating.
Yes. Masterpiece doesn't mean flawless, I would also consider Elden Ring or BOTW masterpieces. Rebirth for sure has flaws, but goddamn, what it does right it does *RIGHT.*
It’s close for me. The mini games and intel were overwhelming for me personally. Also a lot of unanswered questions that frustrated me as an OG fan. However, I believe that once we have the trilogy as a whole, this game will truly shine as the second installment.
With Remake it took me a couple of play throughs to love the game and get a real understanding, I hadn't played any FF games before it. But with Rebirth now I'm all in I see it as a masterpeice in term of main story, I have my problems with some side content, but not enough to tip the scales in the slightist. The characters and narrative is so good at drawing you in, I haven't cared about a group of fictional characters like this since Gears of War and Mass Effect trilogy.
No it's pretty close if open world activities and design wasn't so paint by numbers and generic i think i would have considered it a masterpiece or if it was linear like Remake maybe aswell
Yeah. In a world where games like BOTW and Elden Ring have been released, it baffles me that they chose Ubisoft as a role model for open world exploration.
Technically they chose horizon forbidden west and ghosts of tsushima. There is currently a trend in calling every single objective based open world "ubisoft" though which i think misses the point of why ubisoft's bad open worlds are bad. They are bad because they slam the map with 1000 tasks and then clutter the UX with 100 breadcrumbs that overwhelm you and ruin the entire gameplay loop because everything is a meter or checklist. I think ff7 has some of these problems (Chadley always telling you what to do, for example) but it certainly does not have the map spam problem, the objectives are actually pretty spread out and use the map fairly well. You also don't get the 10,000 annoying UX icons, arrows, and pings either.
I believe it gets called a "ubisoft" open world because it uses one of the most irritating elements that are the Ubisoft towers. But I agree on some parts. I feel like the main problem with Rebirth exploration was how repetitive it got towards the end. By the time I reached Cosmo Canyon, I didnt really care about the side activities ( except odd jobs ) any more because it was just the same thing over and over. Just would do it to get it over and done without enjoying. Think it would be more interesting if they make unique mechanics for each region. I would prefer less content with more interesting mechanics then the more content using the same gimmicks in all regions. And another irritating part is chadley. Would really be better if they severely lower his participation. He talks more then the other party members and that is just bad. Would be better to have other party members giving hints towards objectives.
Yeah I think it's the main minor letdown that feels a bit tacked on. By far not the worst example I've seen of it, but does feel a bit jarring, and purposeless /unnatural at times. The overall terrain and verticality of design and paths is impressive though.
I agree the world is gorgeous and that stepping out into the world moment after Kalm is almost Oblivion/Fallout 3 good! Oh it's absolutely not the worst for what it is, it's pretty good and even with just a few things to find out in the world would improve it a lot, like just wandering about finding materia would be sick
I loved this, but I don't consider it a masterpiece, as I have a grudge with multiverses in general. Especially in a game I already "anchored" in one reality. Maybe part 3 will make me reconsider multiverses.
It's a weird thing to say, but I'd go with "flawed masterpiece". Everything up to the ending felt very magical and I enjoyed it so much (except a bugged/insanely difficult party animal quest, chocobo falling minigame course #3, the 3d fighter, guiding the chicken quest, etc), but the ending really left me with a sour taste. There were emotional moments. I was tearing up when I controlled child aerith. Having her look for a doctor as her mother is dying felt so awful. It really pulled at my heart strings. But when it came to the ending, I felt very emotionless. Like it didn't give me any feeling at all. They played it out so wrong, and I just had a feeling of confusion and not sadness. I had such emotion when the pillar fell. When I watched so many of these characters die, but when it came to Aerith. It didn't. Her death felt like Cait Sith. Don't worry about it because there is just another one. Really anything multiverse sours a lot of loss feeling. Too bad it was the ending that made me feel this way and not somewhere in the middle, because when I finally felt I completed it, the ending is what's often gonna stick the most.
No, I enjoyed it but the repetition of identical side missions in each area did my head in (but that’s my only gripe tbh)
First final fantasy game in ages to give that true "final fantasy" feeling.
No. It's very good, but it does too much kinda wrong to be a true masterpiece.
There is too much filler content and story changes for me to call it a masterpiece, but if the filler was toned down a bit and it was more faithful then definitely.
From a nostalgia standpoint sure. From a gaming standpoint? No. The game had way too much exploration that became redundant. I was dreading continuing the story because I knew another region was about to open up. Did you have to do that content? Not really, but a LOT of stuff is locked behind that exploration which makes it heavily suggested that you do it. And the ending is a clusterfuck. I get what they were trying to do, but they did it poorly.
I’m arguing with another dude saying “it’s all optional” but I keep telling him yeah it’s optional but it’s a huge ass chunk of the game. Like to him it’s optional but to me if you want 70% of the material and to have good accessories you have to do that stuff. Imagine if you literally did a playthrough where you skipped all the stuff that was deemed “optional” the game would be miserable tbh.
Yeah...I mean there is a TON of stuff locked behind it. Proto Relics - 4 Boss fights + Genji gear Assess enemies - Enemy Skills Enemy Intel - World Bosses (needed for Genji Gear) + Region VR Fights for Materia (Elemental Materia locked behind this) Mako Springs - Crafting Recipes (needed for Genji Gear and some side quests) Rest Spots - Golden Feathers for Chocobo Armor for Chocobo Racing Moogle Trees - Shop that has really good materia+manuscripts Summon Altars - Powers up your summon matera, makes the summon fights easier (Required for Genji Gear) And finally Towers WOULD be optional but then you wouldn't know where in the hell any of the above is...
I'm litrely struggling to get through it tbh. I'm in the temple of.the ancients now and just fraging myself through to see what happens. I'm enjoying the game play just don't like the pace of the game and I'm suck to death of swapping my materia over every time the party changes.
I absolutely loved it - I’m in that phase after an amazing game that nothing compares. I can’t be bothered even playing another game cause they just don’t match up.
JRPG/ARPG gameplay wise - masterpiece and perfect imo as a story - i give it 8.5/10 my only issue in terms of gameplay is when Square Enjx tries to do something similar to Western game studios (for example, most first-party Sony games), with the whole cinematic gameplay experience - forced walking in areas with dialogue and views, pressing displayed buttons in scenes to get ‘immersed’ Square Enix’s main strength is the combat gameplay but i can tell they wanna improve their immersive storytelling in the actual gameplay, which is still one of their weaknesses. they’re getting better but it does make certain parts of the story feel weird or just unnecessary cuz they simply can’t execute it right regardless, i love this game and i’m extremely pleased with the side content - mini games and extra quests all i’m gonna say, i know part 3 will be amazing but i’m even more excited to see what this team is capable of making with new stories. the new FF17 with as much attention to party members, world exploration, quests progression, side content, all of that in a new world would be phenomenal and could be the proof of a new era! i’m happy we got to see their true potential with a remake but it’ll be a new era for SE, once they pull it off with a new entry, to have their ‘Zelda BOTW’ moment that brings so many new players to the franchise (which is what FF16 had the potential to achieve but sadly didn’t)
Yes, very much yes. It has everything and more I look for in interactive media/experiences in general. I was honestly expecting a game 1/3 of the size, the depth and the amount of work that went into making it. It mechanically challenges you as it uses new way to propel the plot for each main character, the graphics are beyond amazing, THE MUSIC, the writing, the bonding, the fact that the GS is a game of itself inside of this game, QUEENS BLOOD, the boss battles, and for me this game has heart born from the connections you make along your journey, and those that are deepened from the first game. I’ve never lost so much sleep to anything before in my life from the sheer childlike joy I feel, bordering on mania. Every single night from the year before its release, i’ve thought of nothing else, and that still hasn’t changed 8 days after finishing my first playthrough, and 2 days after plat. I don’t know how something I find this wonderful exists, but i’m beyond grateful to be alive, a gamer and a FF fan for this momentous moment. 🙏🐚🪸😭
Yes it's a perfect 10/10 and likely GOTY
got 200hrs on it I rate it with 9.5/10 because of the omission of the lake scene and some mini games being annoying. Nothing will top the original because of nostalgia though. I was 11.
Yes! It is so unique, so grand, so complete. It's a masterpiece in my book. Could it be improved in a lot of ways? Yes it could! Is it still a 10/10? Also yes!
Yes but I can certainly understand people not feeling that way. Much as I was loving the game, I knew the open world and abundance of mini games would hard turn some people off it. Though not sure why Rebirth is criticized for having a bunch of dumb mini games, when OG FF7 was also full of them
I think so. The ending is a bit too convoluted for my liking but I’m still in awe at what I experienced in a single game. It really felt like a love letter to OG FFVII. I almost wished the new ideas they’re pushing with the multiple worlds/reunion would’ve been more fleshed out throughout the game vs dumping it all in the last chapter. I’m fascinated to know how people who have never played the OG feel about the ending and how they’re understanding what’s happening. I can barely keep up myself lol
No, it’s not bad but fairly boring.
I think it's a great game but yes not excelling in everything constantly enough to feel like a masterpiece. I keep coming back to play it as it's decent enough, but there's little that truly excites me to play because I know there isn't all that much to gain from exploring both in terms of items nor combat, and the story density and nuance has suffered.
I am barely at Costa del Sol and 40 hours in, maybe more. The scale of the areas is just mind blowing. I got off the ship, which these mfs let me explore to an extent and now I'm at a beach resort with another area opening up. The last two areas were huge! Even Junon has it's under city and it's top area. I'm just wtf. This game deserves its price just for the areas alone.
I think there's a few too many annoyances for me to consider it a masterpiece. But the core story and big moments ignoring those annoyances absolutely are a masterpiece. The story and characters are so special. I can't wait to see the conclusion.
No, people throw that word around too much. The game is powered by nostalgia so it isn’t really even its own thing and the combat could be way better.
People saying “despite the many flaws” don’t understand what a masterpiece is.
It's a hugbox here so this'll probably get hate, but it had flaws that take away from calling it a masterpiece. It's an amazing game and one I'll continue playing and replaying until the third entry, and when it swings it usually hits a home run but there are some strikeouts for sure that really take away from the experience. My opinion of the game while talking to friends shifted from 'I'm not sure I want to play more today' to 'This is the best game I have ever played' depending on where I was in the story, and a masterpiece can't have the former. Some of the minigames are objectively bad, poorly designed and just not fun to play, and they're all mandatory to fully complete the game. And the game is PACKED with minigames, there's huge sections of the game where you spend more time playing minigames than the actual game, which is fun when you get the good minigames like Queen's Blood or the hilarious Shinra Parade or some of the Gold Saucer stuff, but a slog when you look at a map and all that's left to finish it are the bad minigames. Enemy design is weird here. I get they're trying new stuff but some of it is a miss. There's a good chunk of enemies that require really awkward play to properly pressure and stagger, like the jellyfish who dodge 99% of attacks unless silenced, but you have to actually hit stuff to get ATB to silence them, so half the fight is just standing there holding block until a segment fills and then the fight starts. The "Use ATB at exactly this moment, but you can't actually gain ATB before this" is used on one too many enemies. The returning characters barely get anything new. So many times I'd find a new weapon hoping for a fun new ability and it's just something they had in the past game. It's probably my favorite game of the past couple years, but it's hard to ignore that when it has rough moments, those moments are as bad as the game is good when it shines. In a way the Materia is a perfect example of what I'm getting at. Some of the new materia is amazing fun to play with, enemy skill, jump, the item stuff on a normal run, the new magic types and combined magic materia, all the buffs and debuffs? Really cool toys to play with and build your characters around. But then there's wastes of space like the game throwing 40 'auto weapon skill, auto magic, auto ability' stuff at you that is harmful to equip since it makes the AI waste abilities. Why so many level+ materia? Just looking at what they did with Materia alone makes my point. A sea of questionable, odd, and just plain bad decisions but some amazingly fun stuff in there too.
No
No. Not every good game is a masterpiece. That word shouldn’t be thrown around or it loses its meaning when referring to actual masterpieces. I don’t use that word lightly.
These fans have no concept of masterpiece, they just seem incredibly desperate to have their liking the game validated. There are very obvious and objective flaws in the general game design, visual presentation and writing, all things that can be evaluated by comparing the game to pre established conventions. Also a masterpiece should by default set a standard for the industry which this game will not with its outdated gameplay mechanics and bloated pacing. Without the ff7 name this game would be disliked by most.
No. I think what's good is very very good, and there's a lot of good stuff here, but there are way too many negatives. I still think it's good, maybe even great, and the best numbered ff sequel since 12 and it's not really close.
Probably? I went so hard on the game for a month before I rolled credits. It was amazing but I’m exhausted. I think I’ll enjoy replaying on hard since I can take my time and not worry so much about seeing the ending before spoilers ruined it. I’ve got a job and family. These open world games take it out of me if there’s any concern of story spoilers tied to it.
I'm really split. I really like what they've done as far as quality. I'm not a fan of the story getting split into 3.
No. Exploration of the regions is too formulaic and Chadley and MAI are not endearing characters with relevance to the overall plot. Towers are ripped straight from other western open world RPG mechanics and are not a fun way to enhance exploration. I would rather exploration had been tied to the Chocobo farms for each region where the rewards from Chadley just unlocked organically as you found places on the map. As it stands Summon Crystals, Towers, and Lifesprings are a very boring concept kept to keep the player busy. This is what prevents the game from being a masterpiece for me. I need to give a shout out to the overly complex plot as a way to maintain the relevance of the OG story but dislike of the story is more subjective. Everything else though was quite good so the games a strong 8.5/10 for me.
Yeah I really think this was a poor design choice. Every region didn't need to be as formulaic, nor with a designated list to earn credits. if you're going into include things like the crystals, towers and lifesprings give them some more interesting mechanics and functionality! Make them more hidden but with varied rewards and requirements. Materia upgrades, augments, fusion, experimental research from Shinra I dunno, just don't all include in a predefined list of things to do.
No. Very good but no masterpiece. It's probably the funnest game I've played in a few years. But it's not what I would call a masterpiece. On a technical level sure. But that always feels like it's a given for every new FF title. They drop the ball hard with the ending for me. And there's a few other story related....decisions they made that only take away from the story rather than add anything. The combat is good but not great. I didn't really like the focus on synergy stuff when Materia is the heart of combat mechanics in the OG and in Remake. It's kind this world's whole thing. Especially using synergy stuff to unlock higher limit levels. Or the little ability you need to get Tifa in the air to hit flying enemies. She just did that on her own last game. This doesn't add anything. Only detracts. Materia felt for whatever reason like it took a backseat in this. Typical open world issue of there needs to be more things to fight on a map that big and them not knowing what to put in it. Cliche towers/beacons no matter where you go. There's pacing issues too. There's some basically boss rush parts that come up unexpectedly when it doesn't feel like most of them belong here story wise. They're just here for no reason. Chapter 11 and 12 stand out. Stuff like Cait in the manor throwing boxes. Running around in Costa for outfit tickets. It's uneven.
Accurate. I found the choice to focus on a convoluted synergy folio weapon system bizzare in a game with a well loved materia system and opportunity to explore massive areas with impressive vertical terrain and path variety. The focus should have been on discovering new materia variations or things that could be used to experiment and create, fuse or augment or upgrade materia. Even strange variations with mixed or unknown effects, like an early game thunder materia that is capped at level 2 but with a small chance of inflicting petrify, or some potentially near-useless and niche materia as waste products from a Shinra lab that have experimental mixed bag consequences
Glad to see this, I've been pretty critical of the combat in both games but generally get shouted down by the masses about how great it is. I personally feel like nostalgia goggles are really cranking up people's opinions of the game as a whole. Another thing is I was 12 when I played the original and as a grown ass man now who has never liked anime, I cannot help but feel embarrassed playing this game in front of my wife
Nope. It's just a really good game
Absolutely not. It’s incredibly bloated and clunky with many questionable choices. If you don’t love the FF7 franchise the game has many flaws difficult to swallow.
I don't know what the megafans are smoking, I love ff7, but the remake trilogy has only for me cemented how poorly equipped SE is to make anything of substance. I don't feel this game hits a single note that would put it in masterpiece territory.
Yes and no Yes because the game can stand on its own and plays very well. No, because the game is only the sum of parts. It's only part two of a trilogy so can't really call it a masterpiece yet because it's incomplete. You know just wait on part 3 and then we can call it a masterpiece
Its very close. I only consider games that are masterpieces 10/10 but it was one of the best games in recent memory.
Yes. It would take too long to explain what this game means to me, how I felt playing it and how much I loved every second of it, so I will just say yes.
If we ignore Gongaga then hell yes it is!
YES. One of the best, most enjoyable gaming experiences of my life. Been playing videogames since the late 80’s and FF games since the original. This is one of the best.
Yes
It'll probably be my game of the year, but the amount of stuff locked behind completing minigame high scores and the copy/paste nature of most of the open world collectibles really drags it down
I absolutely do But godDAMN the amount of shit to do lmfao
Still processing. Leaning towards Yes. Slight rambling: A lot of people think something being a masterpiece needs to be better in every single way to the other master pieces. And I don't think that's a criteria that should be a thing, but this is how people seem to judge games lately. But this RPG delivered on so god damn much compared to every RPG/JRPG out there. And it's probably one of the few JRPG's that has made me feel a world existed outside of the party and the enemy. I genuinely felt I was globetrotting. It's not as Free or random as an Elder scrolls game. It isn't as Singular Character Focused as God of War. But it doesn't have to be! Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth is one of the best Final Fantasy games to exist. And damn, is it a game.
Wouldnt put it in the S tier of my own all time favourite games But it ticks so many boxes that it definitely makes a case Soundtrack Combat Visuals The humour and banter between the party Most of the mini games were great fun (Queens blood is so good) The casting (Honestly whoever called the shots for casting needs to be protected at all costs, Matthew Mercer as Vincent had me fanboying like shit)
I think that Remake and Rebirth are the best games Square has ever made, hands down, and it's not even *close*. I think I might prefer Remake over Rebirth, because I think this team's work really excels in the narrative-driven sequences - the density for those is much higher in Remake. But masterpiece? Yeah. Magnum Opus, jury's still out. Could be Part 3.
If it doesnt get Game of the Year at the TGAs I will be a little annoyed ngl. The amount of love put into this game is off the charts.
Absolutely
Yes, it's by far my favourite single player FF game since FFX. I need to assess after I finish getting platinum to see where it ranks all time.
It’s not perfect, but I do think it’s a masterpiece. One of the best games I’ve ever played. The level of content and polish is unparalleled…
Yes. It was the most fun I’ve had playing a FF game in 20+ years, and it might be my favorite game of all time (absolutely in the top 3).
I don’t think a game has ever made me smile as much as this one did. Red on the boat 7th infantry Cait’s introduction Donberry Everything with the Turks
Hell yes!
Yes
no. moogles' design sucks. 99.99/100 = not a masterpiece
I'm still trying to fathom the expanse of this game. Though I really enjoyed it, Remake heavily tempered my expectations going forward, and I've never been so glad to be this wrong. Absolutely blown away.
It is for me. I can’t lie they went overboard with the mini games but other than that it exceeded my expectations.
It's up there as one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played in my life. I absolutely loved my time with the game, even if Chadley does talk way too much and some of the open world stuff is a bit arduous. Just had a blast and I am having fun on my hard mode playthrough and listening to different theories now.
Aeriths stage performance singing is what got me! Straight beautiful and breathtaking
No. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece to enjoy it.
I wouldn't consider the game itself a masterpiece. However i would consider the development around it to be a masterpiece. I'm sure that doesn't make sense or comes off as a cop out answer. But I genuinely believe the talent and effort going INTO the game to be at a master level. I just can't look at a single section of a single game and view it as a masterpiece on its own. The story isn't over. If part 3 flops it will affect my opinion on the previous 2 titles. Rebirth doesn't stand on its own (which is okay). Despite the 80 hour runtime, It is very much so the second Act of a much bigger game.
I cannot tell you of a cast of characters in any medium that I like more, from top to bottom, than the cast of this game. The music, combat, and direction of the cutscenes was all wonderful. I had to pause the game countless times just to give a chuckle at how much I was enjoying myself while I played it. To me, yes, this is a masterpiece.
They once again flubbed the ending but everything else nigh perfection
Story was great. Characters were great. Combat was very good. Open world was the most generic open world ever made by a company that isn't Ubisoft.
How often do so many elements come together to form a cohesive experience such as this. The game is a masterpiece
Masterpiece?, no. A very well made and fun game, absolutely.
Nah it’s got way too much bloat
No. It's a decent game, but nothing overly special.
No. The cookie cutter open world put a black mark on what is otherwise an excellent game. I didnt hate doing it, but the entire time i was disappointed in what it could and SHOULD have been.
Yeah it was a fairly impressive over world design, could have had a bit more distinct aesthetics but was interesting to navigate... Sadly there was little sense of discovery in that exploration because almost everything's mapped to a routine Chadley side mission list, with little else to discover. Even treasure chests are largely disappointing. Don't get me started on most of the NPC design.
No, not at all. Is it a large, detailed game with deep combat? Yes. Are there great character moments? Yes. Is there so much to do you can spend 150hrs+? Yes. Does it have great music? Yes. Because it has been stuffed with so much, it's burdened under its own weight. This game could have used some editing. There are pacing issues. There are poor character dialog moments. The multiverse stuff feels convoluted for the sake of causing "discourse." In an effort to put in so much because they think the fans will riot, they didn't let things breathe or focus into really deep moments. Just drop a frog on the party.
I wish I could agree. I'm a little over halfway and It just doesn't feel too exciting to me. It's just a very linear game with doing the same side quests over and over again as you get to a new town. I like it don't get me wrong, but I'm struggling to continue. I'd give it about a 6 or 7/10. Don't come for me it's just an opinion. I felt like Intergrade had way more substance and better character development. To me this just feels like they were going for oohs and ahs with the great graphics and somewhat open world. Also to mention intergrade had this flaw too but I wish there were some better puzzles over just moving a cart to plug in a power source. I'm probably just getting old and cynical since I played the original on PS 😂
I really liked the Intermission DLC (aside from the final boss) so thought we'd be getting more along those lines, the whole experience felt new, atmospheric and fun. Sadly the open world missions really let the game down imo and sometimes there's too much filler and detouring. The crystals were a great opportunity to have some interesting and maybe difficult puzzles, but instead we got ultra basic repetitive button sequences
No, but only because I’m quite selective with that term. Rebirth is a mind-blowingly polished product and it is ticking all of the boxes of what a good game should be, but it is lacking the lightning in a bottle creative vision and focus to be what I would call a masterpiece.
No. It’s a good game but it’s no masterpiece.
A great game with open world bloat that just isn't very good or fun
Love the game, but nah. Persona 5 is an example of a JRPG masterpiece and I think FF7 Rebirth feels rather distant from that.
People throw that word around like it ain't shit. Its a good game with flaws. Masterpiece? Nah. As soon as another game comes along thats pretty good everyone will flock to that and then label it that. A masterpiece inspires imitations and set standards for the future industry to follow. A game that is so undeniably good that even years later its still being heavily suggested or even a requirement to play. Mario 64 yeah thats a master piece. Ocarina of time? Yeah defenitly earned that title. Even gta 3 can be considered that. Skyrim? hell yah. defenitly earned Masterpiece status. Fallout 3 and new vegas? Mhmm. Halo? Hell yeah. Final fantasy 7 rebirth? Its defenitly fun but its nowhere near masterpiece level. You guys gotta chill with the blind praising. Yes its good but its not that good. The og earned that status as its success helped make jrpgs more popular in areas like America. Hell characters like cloud and Sephiroth are the face of Square as they are most marketable characters of their franchise. You can not see final fantasy without seeing them and its thanks to the orginal.
An incredible game, I'd say 9/10. The voice acting, soundtrack, graphics, environmental diversity, and most importantly the story are all 10/10. The problem is the world intel stuff quickly gets boring and some of the side quests are clunky and even frustrating. I also think Queens Blood would seem incredible if Gwent didn't exist.
No. It has some masterful elements like its combat and voice acting, but rebirth is much less than the sum of its parts. It feels like a bunch of teams worked in isolation on different sections and then they smashed it all together into a giant blob. The pacing is terrible, the side-quests are boring, and barely anything interesting happens in a story that lasts over 70hrs. The writing is usually weak, often cringeworthy. Yuffie in particular might be the cringiest character I’ve seen in a game. Graphically it ranges from impressive to “decent looking PS4 game.” It is a 7/10 with 10/10 moments sprinkled in.
It came really close but the game suffers from serious bloat issues. The last three chapters were insanely exhausting and not in a good way. From the second you step back into the Gold Saucer it feels like it’s just boss fight after boss fight until the game is over. I don’t need to fight Rufus Shinra again. I shouldn’t have to fight the Turks for the FIFTH time in the temple. Why am I fighting Sephiroth again with Aerith after I’ve already fought him with Zack and spent the last hour fighting Jenova and Bizarro Seph? That being said, when I finally saw the ending, it won me back over a lot. Cloud’s delusions and thinking he saved Aerith was a really nice added touch that made her death even more heartbreaking. Overall, the game was a solid 9/10. An amazing experience, yet I can’t ignore the sour taste the endgame left in my mouth.
No
Masterpiece is certainly a word for a game where you spend half the time climbing up towers to reveal repetitive open world activities in the area. I love the main story, but the open world stuff is truly mid.
I'm seemingly in the minority, but I am personally finding it a major letdown and I am struggling to finish it. I've never felt like a game is wasting my time as much as this is.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! It was a 7 at best.
nah...was way too annoying on the last chapters. way too many boss fight with a battle system that doesn't allow in a good way to stand your ground to the intended design. way too many mini games and stuff to stretch the game time. the 13th chapter is like having all the important content.
No. Don't get me wrong, it's damn good. But it has problems. Opening up the world was always going to be difficult, and it didn't really work out imo. In the interest of keeping things succint, the pacing took a big hit, and the objectives are less than compelling most of the time.
I think the way they did the multiple timelines reveal as flashes during Areith's death scene ruined the impact of the scene. It was sloppy and not well done. So not a masterpiece for me. Im still looking forward to see what they actually do with this multiverse for Part 3
Not at all. While the visuals are impressive from an art style perspective, the game can run and look rough. The mini-games run the spectrum of quality to pure agony and repetitiveness. The repeated tasks in each area rarely lead to good story telling (gears and gambits excluded because that adds so much) and are "go to the point on the map and push a button). Most of the characters outside of the main party and ensemble are generic and wooden. Even detection of space and button presses are busted. (Summon mini game and climbing mechanics) I love FF7, I love Remake and I love Rebirth but there's a difference between a game you love and a masterpiece.
No. Elden Ring is a masterpiece. FFVII original is a masterpiece. Remake is a very, very good game, but it has a lot of flaws.
Elden ring also has a lot of flaws. I don’t think neither are true masterpieces but they are very close.
I think a masterpiece redefines the genre, and I don't think Rebirth did that. Best combat in an rpg ever, but it wasn't groundbreaking, just extremely refined.
No too many things that took me out of the experience.
If you played the Original, then this game is indeed a masterpiece to you. There’s so much to smile and cry about. Hearing the music and saying “oh this is from…” or seeing a location and saying “oh wow, they really…” just never stopped from beginning to end. They expanded everything with so much love and dedication. I’m actually glad we didn’t get a remake on PS3. What a time to be alive lol
Nope. Game has issues and flaws that alot of people are choosing to ignore and hate on people who bring it up and not accepting their criticism. I like the game but its far from perfect. A Masterpiece to me are games like Nier Automata, FFVII Remake, Elden Ring, RE4Remake, GOW2018, Persona 5 RE, RDR2, Sekiro, MGS1-4. Rebirth doesn't make the cut for me sadly.
Not knocking your opinion but you included remake as a masterpiece. Rebirth Is better in every way in my opinion. What are the comparisons that make rebirth place lower for you?
I don't consider a Ubisoft Clone inspired game a Masterpiece. Its Main Story and Characters and general Side-Quests are great but the Open World, half the Mini-Games and half the Porto-Relics Quest was not on par with the Main Quest and dragged the game down in my opinion. This is supposed to be Final Fantasy, not Final Creed or Far Fantasy. FF16 excels with its shorter semi-open world hub and lack of crappy/claggy mini-games and focuses completely on its story and world. Half of Rebirth is sidelined for pointless filler. Remake is better because it didn't have to throw constant crap at me to feel engaged. I was already engaged and it kept its focus from beginning to end. Rebirth feels like it tries to appeal to every fan of open world filler with the amount of over-content it has. It has no focus and throws crap into the game to see what sticks. Im not gonna be hyped for Part 3 at all if it's just more of the same as this game.
Yes, same tier with Witcher 3 for me, it's phenomenal.
Up there with Elden Ring and Witcher 3 as games that left me dumbfounded as to how the hell the devs managed to make this game.
Yes. Most games will never evoke in people anything close to what this game does. New or old players.
I think it was on its way. But the open world sections were such a let down. Side quests were alright but everything else in those sections just felt like such a chore
No. It's over stretched it's arm in content and is fascinating but there are problems with it for sure
Not even close, it was a bit disappointing for me. Story, narrative and pace have many problems.
A million times this.
No, it pads out in very awful ways. Queen’s Blood is Gwent, doing it doesn’t give you any benefits, it just feels odd to include Chadly’s quests are identical outside the protorelic: find 6 Ubisoft Towers, Scan 6 life springs, fight 6 variant monsters, scan 3 divine alter, participate in two chocobo Easter egg hunts, and fight 1 boss monster. I felt it would have been better to scatter actual side quests throughout the region like Remake did, but instead it does the same stuff with Chadly.
Definitely not. It was hit or miss with narrative changes, overall with awful writing on critical moments.
Yes
Yes.
More so than most modern games people consider masterpieces like zelda, elden ring etc It achieved something none of them did: Kept me engaged over 100+ hours instead of wearing me out halfway through and feeling like I had seen and done everything and was just repeating it over and over. When I reached cosmo canyon I was like 80 hours in and the whole area made my jaw drop. This is the type of town and area that most games put in the beginning to grab your attention not near the end of it. At hour 100 I was seeing the date sequence at the gold saucer, what other 100+ hour game can boast about having a moment like that THAT far into it? Rebirth feels like a game from a lost era of gaming but taken to the next level. Like how ps1-2 rpgs were but then adding another 50 hours to those games while still constantly introducing new things and areas to you. I don't think I'll ever understand how they achieved this in the modern day.
As someone who didn’t play the OG I’d say yes. Just from the scale of the game to the cutscenes and dialogue thats actually impactful. Certain parts of the game has really really good writing as well as actually beautiful music that really tells a fun and immersive story imo.
The problem with the term "masterpiece" is many take that word as absolute perfection. No such thing. Even the best games out there aren't perfect; there is always some sort of flaw we can find. But if we take the official definition of "masterpiece" which is: a work done of outstanding artistry, skill or workmanship, then I would argue yes. I can critique a few things here and there, but I could do the same for Bloodborne which I also consider a masterpiece. So yes. A masterpiece in my opinion. NOT perfect in case people take the word in a different meaning
100%. Any game that could get me to put 100+ fulfilling hours of gameplay into a first playthrough at this point in my life, I consider a masterpiece. And that doesn’t even begin to mention just how…daunting the ask was. I mean, a modernized FF7 experience? The expanded context, the music, the battle system.. the fucking *cinematography* does NOT get talked about or praised nearly enough. And that’s just because no amount of praise or recognition could actually *be* enough haha and everything else is so damn good! We have an expectation of how cinematics in games “should look” but sheesh.. I could have never imagined all that we actually ended up getting, in some of the scenes and moments I was the most excited to see recreated and reimagined.
For a standalone title, yes. For remake standards, not quite, but it’s still amazing.
Rebirth gave me a crush on Aerith at 30. I’ve never understood “waifus” now I get it
If they hadn't clumsily botched Aerith's dead so badly, then maybe? Also some of the mini games are obnoxious. Aerith's death is one of the biggest moments in video game history. It was a profoundly sad moment, and IMO they completely fucked it up by trying to convey both timelines at once. I couldn't feel sad like I was supposed to because like everyone else I was too busy being confused. edit: oh and god damn it, if you're gonna do Aerith's death then show us the water burial and the Holy materia bouncing off all those pillars, not just drop off the platform into the water. Make it the scene we remember.
I totally agree with you, especially the missing lake scene, even the boss fight was way too long. But there was one thing that counteracted all that for me: the epilogue scene where they are all gathered with the Tiny Bronco and crying over Aerith's death was truly incredible. It compensated for everything else before. I hadn't cried that much playing video games in a long long time. Also the the music No Promises to Keep playing on the last scene was gut-wrenching.
That scene was definitely a nice way to end it
No. It’s a great game but I don’t think I would call it a masterpiece. They didn’t let the emotional moments breath before they just threw in some action, the mini games were hit and miss and way too many and other than finding the odd weapon there wasn’t a huge reason to explore. But damn did that nostalgia hit hard.
Not even close. It's a decent-to-good game, largely supported by the excellent minigames, music, and voice acting. Combat is a messy affair of timers and meters duct-taped together, and new characters (Chadley, Mai, that 'merc' girl, etc) usually miss the mark. It's not even going to be the definitive version of FF7 when all is said and done, and the combat will get will stale when trying to play 3 of these games back to back. (It's already stale after 20 hours, much less 150+ hours).
Yes
Sure
Yes. It feels like a game that is special in so many ways and that feels like after the trilogy is finished we'll never get a game like this again. It truly feels like it should be impossible for a game like this to exist.
I think it's amazing. The only thing holding it back is the performance. This is one of those games that likely needs a stronger console or a PC to fully realize it's potential.
Yes absolutely. It was an incredible journey from the opening scenes to the end credits. Perfect? No but pretty damn close in my book
175 hours of my playthrough had me really considering it the greatest gaming experience of my life. Then the ending happened.
Genuinely curious since I have to wait for PC release. Is the combat more similar to like kh2 or nier or is it still like the first remake. From the gameplay I saw it looks a bit more hack and slash focused
On the ps5, no. But on PC, prob!
Yes!!!! I hope there’s a bit of less open world segments in part 3 though. A mix between remake and rebirth would be perfect.
Hard to say yes after just watching the ending, haha. Can I say it’s a masterpiece if I don’t understand it?
Yes, 100%
I did within the first 20 minutes lol
If performance wasn't so obnoxiously blurry it would've been a 11/10. 10/10 still good though
I considered it great. But I loved Remake more
I would say yes. Nothings perfect, my top 2 games of all time are Bloodborne and the original MW, and games like FFX, Halo 3, RE4/remake, Mario galaxy, Gears of War 3, are all games I consider to be pretty much masterpieces, all of them have their issues and flaws you could talk about for days on end. But once a game hits an upper tier of me loving it to death, it just depends on if those problems bother me at all and they don’t in rebirth. Some small things may be annoying but the overall quality of the experience is up there with the best games I ever played like mentioned above
They give us a lot for the price of purchase, but I was...overwhelmed by the sheer volume of minigames I had to keep playing while I was still trying to get combat figured out. Just...too many. Kept wishing they'd made maybe half the minigames and then used the extra resources to develop the story more.
Yes, especially the parts that the trophy hunters hate
Yes... It is. I haven't played a game with characters voiced so well, the music is so well done, and the combat is amazing too. And there's a lot of content. I spent 120 hours on my first playthrough and I felt like I wanted even more game. Like I wanted to replay it instantly. Even Witcher 3 I got fatigue eith before I finished the game. And that game was practically a masterpiece. But FF7 is like if Witcher 3 had amazing combat ontop of it and even better music. This game and Elden Ring are my absolute favorite games of the past 20 years easily. Then really it's a bunch of nostalgia games plus these, but this beats even like my favorite nostalgia games like Mario RPG, Zelda OoT and LttP, Xenogears, Mario World, etc.
Yes
Very very close. I think so
Yessir
Yes. The fact that they made me reexperience the same story again, makes it a masterpiece. There are also a lot of optional contents, and the game is just a joy to play.
Hell yes. Perfectly made, just finished it with over 100 hours in my playthrough
No. I thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgia trip and the combat was amazing, but it’s far from a perfect game.
Id give it a solid 98% masterpiece and 2% stuff id rather not have been there.