Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC review

There aren’t many games that are more important in the history of video games than Final Fantasy 7. Thousands upon thousands of gamers of my generation fell in love with RPGs thanks to this masterpiece, and when thinking about the most iconic and beloved video game characters of all time it’s impossible to ignore Cloud and Sephiroth. A remake of this PS1 classic has been desperately desired by fans for decades, and even when Square Enix announced it was actually happening it never really felt real. Finally the first part of the reimagined story released back in 2020, took the world by storm, and personally sat atop my GOTY list. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was similarly beloved last year, and now you can play it on PC (and even Steam Deck).

2024 was a year that was packed full with all sorts of delightful gaming experiences, but one that rose above the rest was Rebirth. Despite being the awkward middle part of the remake trilogy, critics and fans alike were more than impressed with what it had to offer. Everybody on the team here loved it too, with it rising high on our collective Game of the Year list and rightly so.

For those who haven’t played Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth yet though, let’s set the stage. Set immediately after the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake, you begin the game on the highway out of Midgar. Dodging the potential spoiler minefield here, the party of heroes escape to the nearby town of Kalm, have a chat about the backstory of Cloud and Sephiroth (which serves as a rather nice tutorial of sorts), and eventually head out into the wider world on a quest to stop the silver haired baddie himself. Essays could be (and have been) written about the narrative of Rebirth and the changes it made to the classic story, but as an overall package without going too in depth it’s just wonderful.

What Rebirth does even better than the storytelling though is the combat, which is without hyperbole some of the greatest combat in all of gaming. Attacking with that ridiculous Buster Sword just feels perfect, weighty yet effortless, and launching attack combos to build up points for your action meter is as clever now as it was four years ago. It’s the perfect way to blend the classic battle system of Final Fantasy VII with a more modern action game, and makes every enemy encounter a dream.

The combat is only made more exciting by the sheer amount of offensive options at your disposal, from exciting synergy attacks to ridiculously over the top summons that wreck everything in their path. Even just being able to switch between party members who all play totally differently is astounding, and with more party members than your adventure in Midgar that means even more to play around with (and even more depth to go into with Materia builds and the Folio skill tree).

In most ways the combat of Remake and Rebirth is fairly similar (albeit definitely improved upon by the latter) but that’s not the case when it comes to the overall structure of the game. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is much much more open than Remake, with a whole luscious world to explore. Areas open up full of icons on your map to investigate, side quests to jump into and materials to gather, which means there’s a lot more to do this time around.

This is only made more impressive when you dive deep into the optional mini games of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, like my beloved Queen’s Blood. Final Fantasy is no stranger to optional card games, but this one hooked me harder than any other and ate up a ridiculous chunk of my playtime.

No matter what activity you’re embroiled in while playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the one constant is that it will look and sound sensational. The visuals of this game are frankly unmatched, and some of the specific visual spectacles (like for example The Gold Saucer) simply must be seen to be believed. The soundtrack is even more emotional and empowering than the previous game too, as hard as that is to believe, and it manages to do this with less recycled tracks than you’d expect and without making you long for the songs of the last game.

That being said all of this was true back in February of last year, and what we are here for is the PC performance. If you’re lucky to have a rig that can handle it Rebirth can be played with a framerate of 120fps, all while sporting the level of graphical fidelity that the PS5 Pro version of the game blew people away with last year. If portability is more important to you then you’re in luck, as the game is fully playable on the Steam Deck. Obviously this means you’ll be dealing with a framerate of 30fps (with some occasional drops) and less spectacular visuals, but the fact it’s possible to play on the Deck at all is a bit mind-blowing.

Despite being one of the best games of 2024, I must admit that I personally enjoyed Final Fantasy 7 Remake a touch more than Rebirth. I’m more of a fan of the focused approach of the first game than the open world of the sequel, although frankly this is more a matter of taste than anything. Not everyone will love all of the story changes either, but without spoiling any elements it’s rather difficult to say why.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC is a breathtakingly beautiful and consistently engaging game, which continues the story of Cloud and the gang with confidence. Replaying this sensational game has only made me more desperate for the next part, and in a few years time when the story is complete we’ll likely be talking about one of the greatest trilogies in the history of the medium.