The part of rebirth makes it so good is that we just get to enjoy the cast. They probably shoved most of the bonding in rebirth so that part 3 can be serious, high stakes, and an insane finale
Yup, the story of FF7 was never any better than the othee FF games, but the characters were. Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, Nanaki, Cid, Sephiroth all made the game. I'd personally argue that FFX and FFXVI has the best story of all the games. But FF7 has the best characters.
Dude - I've had to avoid so much content because I'm only at Cosmo Canyon, and I have over 110 hours into my game. That's how much I've been looking around and just enjoying it. They put so damn much into this game it's insane.
Nobody cares about Max as much as SE team, and somehow Max always ends up stabbing them in the back. He tried so hard to not say this game is a 10 but saying it deserves a 10. Is weird. For comparison Returnal, great game. But repetitive mechanics, repetitive bosses it is basically the same all across the game, still great! And Max drooled all over. Yet somehow every time and I mean seriously every time Max hypes an FF game immediately after he behaves like this. I don't know if his expectations are way too hard, but I swear he diminishes the value of the entirety of the game, because one dungeon was mildly boring and at some point a character didn't behave as he wanted.
@@thesocialmediagame I kinda agree with you on this video, ratio wise this mostly seems Max's critical thoughts and what improvements he wants to see. the title is wrong imo. He does drop in the begining the game is 10 out of 10 (2 or 3 phrases max ) and praise it 1 minute in the end, but as a review I was expecting him do better than the SkillUp review on this title specifically and praise the game more just like in his live streams, this video doesn't capture his full experience or doesn't give a vibe of giving a game a 10 out of 10.
One of the coolest most impressive and quite frankly heart warming things about these games for me is the team behind it. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that over 80% of the team that worked on remake put their blood, sweat and tears into rebirth and from what has been revealed recently that same team will see it through with part 3. Over 12 years working on the same project is some insane dedication, what an awesome group of people!. Its clear that this team is incredibly passionate about ff7. Its no wonder that when passion and staff retention become building blocks of a project, that in turn will produce an incredible video game.
Couldn’t agree more! Plus they have full backing financially without any EA/Activision style bullshit rushing, which makes a huge difference too. FF7 3 I cannot fathom what they can achieve for it to be.
@@ArashiKageTaro Do you know how large of a team it takes to make a game like this?...it's in the thousands. 4 years is already a big commitment and naturally some people might want to move on for any number of reasons. It's totally unreasonable to expect every member to stay for 8 years (remake/rebirth)..and now 11-12 years for all three games
part 3 is going to be insane. we are going to space, gathering huge materia, going to mideel, going to get a deep dive into the wutai v shinra story, going to see and fight all the weapons, going on a submarine, using the highwind, getting to play as cid and vincent, getting the whole northern section of the map, knights of the round summon materia. part 3 has potential to surpass rebirth... cant wait
@@Enwickote That is sad, but that's the downside of their decision to hold back characters so that the second and third parts would be able to introduce fresh new mechanics and playstyles. We got Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith, and each one adds a completely different dynamic to combat, and I enjoy all three quite a bit. I'm very much curious, keenly interested you might say, to see how Cid and Vincent will play. That's the point.
Part 3 is going to look even more dated than this did. I don’t underhand how a PlayStation 5 games can look like a game that came out in 2015 and can’t even sustain a good resolution. (FFXV came out in 2015 and could sustain a solid resolution when rebirth came out in 2024, looks blurry and no better graphically than FFXV) When the remake came out on PlayStation 4 in 2020 and didn’t have the same technical issues as this. Absolutely ridiculous and everybody is just glossing over it. This is a terrible example of what the PlayStation 5 can do. It falls well below the standard.
I did the same thing, playing remake right before rebirth, and rebirth is a step up in so many ways. If you're loving remake, you're going to LOVE rebirth
march? april too. i beat the story 5 days before two months since release. both rebirth and granblue fantasy relink has made 2024 an incredible gaming year for me
I savored and milked my first playthrough starting early March and finished this morning. That's almost 3 months with a playthrough timer of 178 hrs. I was close to finishing it but decided to go back to before the temple and do more quests, nearly finishing all of them minus the final prototype quest. So I actually played for about 228 hours and Guess what. I loved every minute of it.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your take about people feeling burdened by the game by rushing it. I personally took my sweet time with it and now, 2 months later and 210 hours later, I got my platinum. No matter how I look at it it's easily a top runner for one of the strongest games in the entire franchise. I ended up just wanting to to keep going, keep doing the next thing, and when I got to the super difficult hard mode combat challenges, I felt pushed to experiment and improve. They really took all the highs of remake and pushed them higher, and then the lows and just fixed them. There wasn't a single point in the game that I felt burdened by completing it. I always felt compelled to see what was next, to rise to the next challenge, and to want to just continue existing in the world.
this is me. i beat the story 3 days ago. 150 hours. i forced myself to stop doing sidequests cuz i was itching to see the finale. now that i can be spoiler free i can focus on the daunting platinum....man it looks hard. some of those mini games i hate. like the gliding chocobo side quest.
Hey, I didn't even think about this, but yeah. You're right. The only issue I see with this is how they'd reconcile it with the limited materia in the game. Because a player might put the same limited materia in two different loadouts for different characters, and forget about it when they go to use those specific loadouts against a tough boss or something.
@@zeropolicy7456All they’d need to do to fix that is have a pop up ask which character you want the duplicate materia on. Just like they do it when you select an already equipped materia from the menu.
This game has literally taken over my life at 200+ hours. The hard mode boss fights were so thrilling but the last sepiroth fight took me way longer than it should have and hitting up the last bit of chadley missions. I am absolutely in love with this game.
@@zacatkinson3926 nope I have a full-time job so I don’t get to play every day. But I finally beat it the other day got about five more trophies to get the platinum. I play at my pace
I absolutely love the combat system.hard mode not being able to use items opened up a new way of playing for me, using synergy attack granting unlimited mp to conserve mp, magnify manawal. Mako shards were scarce for me, and I learned to Parry better, watch attack patterns that turned up even crazier.
@@chalupakingsama ok fair enough.., but actually you don’t feel frustrated with Gbike or virtual brawler? The piano? Those three I think have horrible controls makes me not want to play them
I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I took my time and am at 150 hours since launch. Almost at platinum. Take your time, since you will need to master your characters combat for the end game sims.
First game in probably 20 years that I immediately started over as soon as I beat it. Haven’t had that itch since the original FFVII, Halo CE, FF Tactics, and Ocarina of Time
The 3rd game can be a fresh experience too and avoid the sequel syndrome. By making the open world experience more organic. You could find great materias with optional hidden places like mini-dungeons, hidden paths, caves, instead of Chadley's world intel. By having a jump button(as Max said) and less guided climbing (With Northern Creater, this could be a great opportunity). Also there will be the Airship, Golden Chocobo(hopefully) and Submarine. Rebith's open world was neither a pro, nor a con (some people are making a big deal with "Ubisoft Towers" and they are exaggerating, like it's the end of the world) but 3rd game's open world could become a true strength, this time.
Agreed! I also think it would be cool if the climbing was like what Nomura did in Kingdom Hearts 3, where the character uses parkour skills and climbs mountains and buildings while running! Or maybe something more realistic like an improved version of the grappling gun(Which you can use anywhere like in Batman Arkham)
If games needed to be perfect to be considered masterpieces then only very simple games would qualify. The more complex and ambitious something is the larger the odds of something going wrong, even if only in the eyes of part of the audience. It's hard to name a flaw in NES Tetris. Is it the best game of all time?
As someone with no childhood nostalgia towards OG FF7 (only played it for the first time before Remake released), Rebirth made me feel like a kid again in the best possible way
Game simply remind of me what playing a RPG feels like, it is not only the story (which is amazing), it's ability to travel the world and do all side things and mini-games that makes you feel like you actually live in that world, that's what all old FFs always got me amused, from ff4 to ff9. I honestly couldn't believe this nostalgia feeling of playing RPG game could be felt again on modern game age. hats off to this master-piece, can't wait for the 3rd part
In regards to Part 3; the *tools* are there, for something incredible (spoilers for Rebirth & FF7 OG ahead): -Wutai (now obviously expanded with the narrative we're given in Rebirth). -The Northern Crater. -Sephiroth summoning Meteor, which could alter the entire map drastically. Making revisits a totally new experience. -The W-Materias. -The Weapons (creatures). -The entire party's Ultima Weapons. -Level 4 Limit Breaks. -Bahamut ZERO & Knights of the Round. -Mideel & Cloud's "awakening". -The Icicle Inn & mountain. A telling of Gast & Ifalna. -Backstories for Vincent, Yuffie & Cid, which include Sephiroth's real mother & more Shinra stuff. -Fighting & [essentially] killing Don Corneo, Scarlet, Heidegger & Hojo. -More stuff with Turks & Rufus. -Exploring the seabed of the Ocean. -Huge Materia & redeeming every party member's baggage/backstories. -Chadley's potential master plan &/or just another plethora of Combat Simulation Challenges. -& of course now, MORE ZACK & MORE SEPHIROTH!! (Praying they're both playable again & even more fleshed out) & I know I'm missing stuff from OG, but it's safe to say they'll include it & then some. I think it's safe to say that Part 3 will AT LEAST match Rebirth in terms of quality. I also have hopes that they'll manage to surpass. Considering they’re keeping the same staff once again, from Rebirth to Part 3, I have high hopes.. Great review, Max!
I was a bit surprised that Mt Corel didn't have a sunset like in the original. I hope next game will have a "sleep until later" or "sleep overnight" option so that we can get more variety. Doesn't have to be everywhere but there are some places that could really use it.
My main complaint was the crafting. Not the crafting itself, but that there was so much emphasis on it that it made other things dull like drops, steals, and morphing enemies. They're all just the same crafting mats you find out in the world and reached the point were I wasn't even looking at what you could get from the enemies. Most interesting item I saw was an elixir that could be stolen from a boss, but that's nothing special when Hard Mode doesn't allow items anyway, the one place I would want those most.
Steal/mug is meant to be a Yuffie thing, since she gets faith and an ATB boost from it. Morph is of very limited use, just for the beginning of the game. I used it up til I was done with Junon, from that point onward I either had too many materials, or enough gil to fork over to the nearest vendor. Ideally, Morph should have its own side quest, with some serious bling as a reward, especially since it's so hard to use in real-time action.
@@TubbyBubbleLove42the ONLY example I can think of outside of the Tonberry Crown is the ring you can steal from Reno at the end of the game, the fortitude ring I think it was. You can also get it from the advanced battle square challenges though, so there's no real exclusivity there either way..
Critically 9.3 Personally 10 (Ive bought both, will absolutely buy 3rd) Couldnt be happier, I was very satisfied. Worth every dollar, thank you Sony and Square. I appreciate the love and respect that was put into it.
Critically 9.3 is honestly fair, considering someone who isn't an FF7 fan would probably not give it a 10 like us FF7 fans (I'd still give it 10 critically because it's a JRPG masterpiece in my opinion)
As an action game yes its a 10/10. But in terms of the RPG genre? nah I can't possibly give this game a 10/10, the open world in this game gets repetitive too easily and not to mention the abysmal post game content and a snorefest of a sidequests
My concern about part 3 is if they make us clear the fog of war and the towers in the overworld all over again its going to feel weird and be a huge break of continuity, i hope they find a different way to incentivize exploration...
Same. I was thinking that they should add dungeons in the over world like elden ring, and have the players discover these points of interests with partial hints, but not through towers that provide the markers for you. That’s what I would want personally.
@@robitussinbrohan718 I agree. They said they wanted to make part 3 even more open, I hope they adopt this philosophy. Obviously at some point will also get the highwind(but that will be the later) so I am hoping when we do get it that there will be places you only can get through the highwind and the submarine.That will make the exploration feel fresh and unique.
I dont mind a bit of fog of war. For me, that is "Let's explore!" which i love. But i fully agree with the towers and similar stuff. Those have played their parts. So i too hope they have found a solution for that
@@robitussinbrohan718 That would be amazing i agree but unfortunately i don't think SE is going to deviate from the checklist system of the first two games, they clearly don't want any content to be too hidden from the player, i expecting clear icons on the map again, we'll see. Worst case scenario would be a repeat of what we already did in Rebirth though.
Playing Remake actually made me go back and play the original for the first time and damn I now understand why its considered one of the best final fantasy games, I finished Rebirth yesterday and am now sad that I dont want the journey to end, I love this world and its characters so much
I absolutely adore this game. One of my favorite Jrpg's ever there's so much fun content here it's actually overwhelming for some from what I've seen. I haven't enjoyed a FF game this much since FFX and while I did enjoy FF13 and FF16 there was some major flaws that held it back for me. This felt like Square getting themselves together and I can't wait to see what they have cooking within Part 3
@@bungifish2227 FF XV actually helped bring about rebirth so it was a stepping stone. Honestly I still want to see FF XIII Versus it could be done as a parallel universe to FF XV.
I just wanna say, thank you max for introducing me to FF7. I was born after ff7 came out and I just wanted to join the hype for remake and now it’s probably my favorite game/series of all time.
Anyone remember playing OG for the first time and getting stuck for a very long time trying to beat Emerald and Ruby weapon? I'm fine with a challenge. Still haven't completed the combat sims and I'll admit they are hard but that's the point.
@@nathanking5137 Yeah but if you died to Emerald Weapon, you could start fighting Emerald Weapon again. You didn't need to fight 2 Giant Cactuars and 10 Tonberries first.
@jcarson3721 valid point. I haven't got to bonds of friendship yet so can't really have much of an opinion. But I completed all the brutal challenges and enjoyed it. Then I tried Clouds legendary one and I swear that wolf is harder than Virtual sephiroth... I kinda get what people are saying now 😅
@nathanking5137 There's just SO much stuff to do in this game that five rounds probably would have been fine for the bulk of the challenges. And then for Bonds of Friendship and To Be a Hero you could do ten. most of them were quite a bit easier if you took the time to set your materia up. But unless you looked it up you would have no idea what was coming.
Hey Max. I hope you see this comment. I know you're stepping back from ff7 speculation and qualifying yourself as "not a HUGE fan" for certain community reasons. Although I think that's sad, I respect your reasons for doing so. In my view you are more of a true fan than these toxic anons ever can be. Your passion is infectious and a blast to watch. Your love of the series goes deep and it very much shows. It's more of an unconditional love and faith in the vision of the devs. All this to say, your ff7 content, reactions and speculation and theory videos have made my, and so many other people's lives better, in no exaggerated terms. Thank you so much Dood, for all of your content, past, present and future. Here's to waiting for Part 3!
I enjoyed being put into situations where I had to play characters I didn’t usually play. Everyone plays very differently and it was nice to showcase that
Underrated comment for sure. It was great because their sequences didn't drag too long and gave you a flavour of their gameplay style. Each character definitely feels very viable.
So I think I've got a unique go of ff7. Never played the original but watched my brother play through the entirety of multiple times and of course listened to the music all the time growing up. Recently (last year) played through ff7 remake and loved it so much even though I technically never played the original. Thanks for posting a non spoiler review as I'm waiting for rebirth to be released on pc and don't want to know too much about it.
The problem with he jump button is that it would make it infinitely more complexe for devs to manage the cliff edges you're not suppose to go down from. But smoothing out collisions on the grounds is definitely a must have
I think you would have even enjoyed the Cait Sith stuff if the controls for throwing boxes were better. The way they did it here would sap the energy from even the most diehard fans. It also could have been shorter. I was also thinking today that if a player goes into that part of the game not having used Cait much, they might have a real problem getting past the fights. The other parts of the game where it forces you to use one party member that's not Cloud, those characters are easier to do well with if equipped right.
As with most of the players, I strongly disliked the Cait Sith sequences on my 1st playthrough (taking 67 hours to finish) Rebirth has done what no game has done before. I immediately started a 2nd playthrough after finishing the game. Currently just started up Chapter 12 with 110 hours. Oddly enough, I had a BLAST during the 2nd playthrough with Cait Sith in Chapter 11. Maybe because I knew how to perfect the throwing from the very beginning? Or how I simply love his character now in Rebirth? Now back to what will be 200+ (QUALITY) hours of gaming...which is Rebirth. Game of the DECADE!
I just thought cait siths level felt super slow. Throwing the boxes felt like a chore and it just really was "clear level 1, vent up to level 2, clear, repeat till boss fight" though I liked his traversal.
yeah the Cait Sith part was, at least so far (I'm almost done with the main story), the worst part of the game by far. it is quite slow, throwing the boxes is annoying as hell, and I don't particularly like fighting with Cait so when I had to use him in fights I struggled quite a bit. is a bit of a skill issue tho admittedly. I just don't find him very fun to fight with
@@Huurmetrue, the throwing boxes part was okay until you har to do it a lot and it got exhausting and hard. The caith sith fights also has some skill level requirement. Caith sith is actually the hardest one to play among them, i think they did that on purpose if people wants challenge. As some characters as just too OP that when you have them in your party, fights are just way too easy even on dynamic difficulty. And i like that idea, if you want challenge add caith in the party. To me the whole section wasnt bad, it was hard and games need some of that sometimes.
So I started the game a little later than Max did, but I was practically perfectly on pace with his videos - I’d complete to a point, next day I’d see a video with the thumbnail almost exactly where I was. This was to the point that I unsubbed towards the end of the game to not get spoiled. I just finished this game and watched this review and it sounds like we had the exact same experience. This review could be my exact thoughts it blew my mind. This game blew my expectations out of the water. I haven’t had an experience like this in ages - it really did feel like I was transported back in time. And no game has ever made me tear up as much. Part 3s got massive shoes to fill. 🎉
The absolute worst thing you could ever do to a story about accepting loss is to do tired multiverse tropes. As anyone can see almost everyone praising the game here is ignoring the story and only focusing on the technicals aspects, wich is very fair to some extent. Sadly the cope blinds people critical thinking and this comment section is a very good example of that. Rebirth ended without any answers and only confusion either to OG or new fans, nobody understood anything for sure since the game kept everything open wich makes the entire journey to this point feel empty and pointless, luckily the gameplay,voice actors and characters designs carry the game on its back and thats more than enough for the "Modern audiences"(wich is filled with older gamers aswell dont let that term trick you) .
It is definitely a high quality game. I played all the main final fantasy games except Lightning Returns, and can confidently say this is one of the higher quality ones. Very well done, strongly recommend people to give it a shot. And the one suggestion I can make, because I see this so often, if you are bogged down by mini games and side quests, don't do them. It is an open world experience; handle your journey however you please. Enjoy!
Well said, appreciate the insight. FF7 is my all time favorite game, and can honestly say that Rebirth has joined the ranks of an immediate favorite game ever. You were spot on about feeling burnt out in moments... just for the game to throw something fresh at us to change our feelings
FF VII Rebirth is a 9.3 for me. My take is that its better than remake in almost every aspect except for the ending and probably the optimization. What I mean is that FF VII remake integrade looks better imo, maybe its the lighting and the shadows i dont know. They really improved on level design, characters, side quests, gameplay. Its an overall fantastic game and 2024 goty for me, no doubts.
FF6 is so good, I know it's dated and not very long but it's mechanics for learning abilities and each characters individual abilities made it so much fun 😊
so true every 10 minutes i would find myself stopping and just listening and looking around like WHAT AM I HEARING AND SEEING RIGHT NOW. couldn't believe it
I think one of the biggest strengths of the game is actually the fact that the next game is gonna be the big story pay off- part two let us live in the world, endear us to every single character and story in it and now its a case of- you love everything about this world, so go save it
I find it kind of funny when some people complain about stuff like "there are too many minigame!" Like did ya play FF7? Motorbike minigame, chocobo racing, the boxing minigame, Snowboarding, Fort Condor, the Sub minigame etc. were all over the place. Sidequests I can kinda get complaining some, but most of them do feature one of the party members so they get some extra screen time so that helps me give em a pass. Also helps they are optional so if you don't want to do it don't.
I had the same criticisms about the story pacing mixed with the sheer volume of game aside from the main scenario. BUT upon my second play thru, I did a main story run and the pacing is wayyy better than my initial thoughts/feelings. Highly recommend it.
That's basically exactly how Remake felt too. If you just do the main story of Remake, it's a tight like...20 hour game, the pacing is pretty good (even taking into account Train Graveyard, Second Sewer Visit, and the Sunlamps bit).
Max’s love for this game over the past few years has finally gotten me to play FF7. A couple months ago I worked my way through FF7 original for the first time, then I played the fan remake of Before Crisis, then watched Advent Children, then played Dirge of Cerberus (which I actually really liked btw lol) and I’ll be finishing up with Crisis Core tomorrow before getting into Remake and Rebirth.
@@Lakross101 I’m kinda past that point now myself haha except for Remake and Rebirth, which I’m super excited for but I’m also a bit nervous. Maybe I’m just giving the critics too much attention. I’ve also been trying to 100% the games and experience as much of them as I can, so I’ve been working my way through all 300, repetitive-ass Crisis Core missions and I worry I’ll feel burnt out when I get to Remake. My biggest issue with Crisis Core is the level-design and boring repetition, and I’ve heard Remake is similar. It may be a stupid question, but Remake is considerably better than Crisis Core Reunion, right…? lol I don’t want it to feel like more Crisis Core.
@brennanbarber7469 Remake has something to offer that you don't know you're starved for. Character interaction that doesn't just make sense, but is fun to experience. Remake will be the last you hear of the gratuitous plates of anime grunts. I'd say take your time tho and let things settle after CC. Play something else and let things simmer. Rebirth is a must but you don't wanna make it feel like a slog. What Max said here is very true, Rebirth throw things st you to make sure that you're enjoying the ride and not just bolting to the end. That can make things very frustrating if you're wanting to do all the CC missions etc.
For me it's all the little details that make *_Rebirth_* a really special experience. For example, your ENTIRE adventuring party is present at ALL TIMES. This leads to really incredible interactions (I speak the bartender to complete a quest. As I turn to leave, Aerith & Tifa are standing awkwardly in a corner, while Barrett & Red are toasting some beers table side)
Most humans don't have the time to put into it. Having more should never be a factor when the storyline can be followed easily, it'll always be a benefit on top imo
100% agree. But for me I would say that playing through this game is almost as close to a spirtiual experience? Idk probably crazy but the emotions through some of the chapters, the nostalgia, the fun new exploration, and the iconic music all woven together. The feelings I got playing through this brought up feelings of joy and loss I can only compare it to the real joys and loss I've felt in my personal life. No other game has made me feel like that. Even playing the OG FFvii when I was 11. I loved the OG but having only been 11 years old at the time and not having experience some of the things I have now just didn't feel like it does now as a grown adult.
I definitely plan to play this after I beat Persona 3 Reload. I got Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Persona 3 Reload, and Spider-Man 2 recently as birthday gifts so it's gonna be a minute til I play Rebirth. It looks so good though.
In a similar boat. I picked up P3 R at launch, but knew I wouldn’t be able to complete it before Rebirth, so I waited to get Rebirth completed, then used Spider-Man 2 as a buffer to save myself from RPG fatigue.
I wouldn't ever rush through any of these games especially because of the many years we waited i have not beat part two yet i am going for the 100% content completion but hands down 10/10 for me and we get a part three lol its still not over yet more to come i appreciate every aspect of it.
Gotta say that I agree with pretty much everything Max said. Remake was absolutely wonderful, but Rebirth is my favorite game of this generation so far. It truly felt like going on a adventure with friends. It has quickly become one of my favorite games ever. I do think that what Max said about sequels not having as much impact as the first game will probably happen from Rebirth to Remake Part 3. Remake to Rebirth remained fresh because gameplay-wise, it had a lot of noticeable improvements and additions, specially the open-world. To me, that's not a problem, as long as the quality is there, I don't really mind not feeling as fresh. And yes, since Rebirth is almost impossibly good, Part 3 could very well not be as good. But all I need is that it will be good, doesn't have an obligation to be better than Remake and Rebirth.
I agree too, part 3 probably wont be as good and impactful because rebirth covered the fun part of the game until the most important and iconic part. Part 3 is just adding more stuff but everything isnt fresh anymore because rebirth already introduced it. But as long as it is good not, I am happy with it.
I never played the original (I tried but I just couldn't do it), and I skipped Remake cause I didn't think I would be that interested, but after watcging Max play through Remake a while ago, and then watching his Reunion playthrough, I fell in love with this world. I bought Rebirth day 1, I feel like I've got 200 hours, but I'm only 50 hours in at this point, and just finished 100%ing Gongaga region. This game is truly special. I don't even like open world ganes very much cause they feel empty, but they really made this game a masterpiece. There's so much to do, and while it's technically very repetitive, it doesn't feel like it because the areas are so beautiful and fun to explore. Seriously one if the best games I've ever played so far.
i kept seeing people complain about how repetitive the open world was by doing the same things over and over. Thing is, while that could be true, i didnt get bored with it because each region was vastly different from each other, and seeing the sights while exploring really felt like an adventure. I haven't even talked about the music for each region, man, the music of this game.
@@JameboHayabusa You seem annoying, so I'm just gonna scare you away form the community. We're all exclusive pronoun users, we only call each other by pronouns, and we are all gay
@@allan9336 I truly love all the regions so far! And yes, the music is just phenomenal. While I have no interest in Breath of the Wild or the sequel, I know people complained about the lack of music while exploring, and this is how it should've been done.
Got the game around launch, and finally beat it last week! Long ass game, with tons of things to do. I will say, some of the side stuff I did not find all that fun (like the towers, life stream crystals, and the summon shrines, IE the stuff where you just "go here and press a button or two.") But I was so enthralled by the world and especially the characters, that I still wanted to do it. Even still, I'd say most of the other side content was a lot more engaging. I also have to agree with Max where as soon as I felt a little burned out on it, I'd go and try something else and my interest was reinvigorated due to the variety and level of fun. I eventually did start to rush it a bit towards the end, something I regret doing as now that I've beaten it, I still wanna play it! And that's really the best compliment I could give to the game; after ONE HUNDRED HOURS of playing I still wanna come back to it. My main complaint I'd say, is that all the big cinematic moments felt so stretched out. I mean, it took months for me to complete this game, ate up my whole summer and a couple months before it. But those crazy awesome moments felt so rare in the grand scheme of things. That's not to say the side stuff was bad, it's just with SO MUCH of it, it almost detracts from the actual story.
One complaint that I have about the mini games in Rebirth is specifically about the Protorelic one in Cosmo Canyon because it locks very good character-focus scenes behind a frustrating mini game IMO. It wouldn't be so bad if the scenes after the mini game were very minor and just lighthearted interactions that you don't feel the pressure to complete those optional mini games.
It wasn't the greatest mini game for sure, but it was also literally beatable by using the default AI settings, because that's exactly what I did. I do hear you about locking such important character scenes behind it though.
I disagree in a way. I think those scenes are a great reward for doing something otherwise annoying for no reason. If you think about it the development that happens is for characters from the previews game for the most part.
@@ltlsWhatltIsThis is so interesting to me. I had fun with every mini game, and completely smashed through them, easy and hard. I mean, I even got a star in every piano piece for the heck of it (even the last one). But this one, I really could not be bothered to spend time in hard mode to do. I just looked at a guide to get an idea on how to approach it, and brute forced it through multiple tries.
I find it really strange how many people are having difficulty with gears and gambits. It seemed very simple to me - if weak to fire then use fire, if health low then heal. It felt kind of difficult to not understand, and you only do it 4 times. I think maybe the UI presentation and quick tutorial made it seem more complex than it actually was, and put people off.
I agree 100000% with the impact of a sequel max mentioned , and how rebirth is one of few sequels that actual gave a big impact other than upgrades and technical mechanics. I fully noticed that too when playing it
GoTG was such a good experience. The gameplay can get a little repetitive, I kinda wish you could properly control any of the characters in combat like ff7 remake and rebirth does, but the story of the GoTG is so good and has a awesome track list
Excellent review Max. I loved this game, my 1st playthrough took 162 hours and I did not finish all the side quests and mini-games. I think people critical of the mini-games are just like me, I was so hungry to absorb the story, but found the side quests and mini-games to be tremendously fun that at times I was frustrated with what to do next because there is SOOO MUCH CONTENT. Rebirth blew me away, best game I've ever played! Been playing since 1987 on the 8-bit Nintendo.
I was burnt out about 60% through with side quests/exploration etc. After that I decided to push through story only until the end. By the end I was pretty under-levelled which turned out to be great because everything was a bit more challenging. Finished the game at about 100 hours and now I'm straight back into exploration because I was so. Not. Finished. The game is so good when you realise you can play it however you want.
I'm 147 hours in on chapter 13 and I'm taking my time, I don't want this game to end Kupo ❤️ I agree with some of your points and can't say all yet as I haven't finished it. Thank you for your non spoiler review
Thanks Max, I recently completed the game and was stunned at how good it was, real nostalgia. I also watched your playthrough and enjoyed your commentary. Its going to be a long 3 years!
I finally finished my 1st playthrough about an hour ago! ... took waaaaaay longer than I thought bcause life and mainly work ... but what an amazing experience. Can't wait for part 3!
The combat flabbergasts needs how damn good it is. Like… the longer bigger hard bosses like summons are soooooo damn good. Most fights end too fast to get really into it, but the big bosses are phenomenal. When you’re managing resources and weaknesses and what not it’s amazing.
I just finished FF7 Rebirth last night with 149 hours. Throughout my own experience I would play so far into the game and then watch your play through, I usually run the story only and skip side missions unless I'm interested enough. I want to thank you Max for convincing me to play at my own pace and enjoy the game, I don't think I would of appreciated the game as much as I do now if not for that. I at least made sure all region missions were completed including all of the Chadly stuff. FF7 was my Deceased brother favorite game and being able to experience the game the way I did I hope that somewhere in the lifestream my brother enjoyed it with me. Thank you Max,
To all those who hate the multiverse stuff, I just want to let you know that Nomura was holding back the multiverse shenanigans and wanted a faithful remake while Kitase wanted to go bonkers with the story. Let that sink in.
@@ShirouBrando And to think people thought the multiverse changes in remake and rebirth were all done by Nomura because of how much his Kingdom Hearts stories are convoluted only to show that Nomura was holding back the changes and wanted a remake.
If we had a 1 to 1 remake. Nobody would be talking about it as much as they are. There would be no spoilercast or any speculation videos. I actually enjoy it this way.
@Leo-pt5rl I agree Im glad there is a healthy balance the majority of the game is the story we know but more fleshed out while there is still new content to Theorize over Heck I cant get the ending of rebirth out of my head
I really wanted to watch max’s playthrough of remake and rebirth. But i wanted to play it first myself. I am about 20 or something hours into the game. Still dont understand how to fight properly and the pacing seems a bit slow. Hopefully it gets better. Thank you Max for itroducing me into world of FF7. Love your content.
I have barely played the original FF7, but grew up around it enough to have nostalgia and appreciation. That said, Rebirth is INCREDIBLY special and really pulled me into the franchise on a deeper level. As Max said, the sheer amount of things they had to account for and translate and execute in a more detailed manner. It's absolutely insane to me that it was managed. It's no wonder it took so many people so many years to make it. As an artist myself, people underestimate how HARD it is to write and convey a truly compelling piece of media in story, aesthetics, presentation, direction. They underestimate how hard it can be to faithfully translate the "feeling" of something less detailed/more abstract while making it incredibly detailed. On top of that, ignoring the whole "translating" part of it, the game just has great gameplay, great story, great voice acting. It might be "cheesy" in some parts, but it's in the spirit of the original and completely intended. The visuals are ABSOLUTELY stunning. If the economy weren't so fucked, it would motivate me to buy a PS5. EVERYTHING is mindblowingly-good to look at. And that's from seeing it on UA-cam. I can't imagine how good it looks in person. Rebirth is definitely special and deserves more praise and recognition. Even if sales aren't meeting expectations right now, it's building an audience and a great foundation for new fans to come in.
Rebirth utilized its spacious open world feature so exceptionally it blows my mind…some of the added new elements to the story is engaging, the mini games, and hours in trying to do everything is tremendous , but what really stands out is the characters…the VAs did such an incredible job, you can tell they took this project so serious, and understand what this game means to the fandom…Respect to Cody, Britt, Briana, John, Suzie, and Max, I know I speak for everyone in this Fandom when I say, they couldn’t have picked a better cast. 10/10 GOY for me
didn't even arrive at gold saucer and Rebirth already blew my mind multiple times. I couldn't believe my eyes when playing through the Junon Parade sequence.
@@upon-fe2720He also messes up his grammar literally any time there’s a plural. Love him but it gets me every time. I could see dyslexia though, I had a dyslexic friend that would misspeak words like that often.
10:00 great take and also something that has rarely been consciously discussed even though It's something everyone has felt, Max often has these great moments where he shines the light on a new topic or way of seeing things, always worthy of my time to listen to him speak. which can't always be said about other content creators lol
Part 1 review: "This is the best shit ever!" Part 2 review: "This is the best shit ever! Part 1 had some rough spots." Part 3 review: "This is the best shit ever! Part 2 had some rough spots. Part 1 was trash."
I had low expectations since SE never succeeded with open world games before. And out of nowhere they deliver the best open world game design, it’s fun to explore the world for over 100 hours! Incredible game 10/10
I beat the game in 55 hours and I have ADHD. I know that sounds super short, but for me that's actually a REALLY long time. I can count on like 1 hand the amount of games have kept my attention that long. Even the first game, Remake didn't hold my attention and I came back several months later to complete it. This game feels built for people with ADHD because their is CONSTANTLY new things to do. New traversal elements, new minigames, new characters, new storylines, etc.
A big reason why so people (myself included) think it's too long is because we were all trying to beat it before we get spoil. If you play this game without that weight, you'd have a much better experience. I only did the main quest with some minor side quest and I spent 57 hours on this already.
I played rebirth for 4 days at launch 12 hours per day just going through the main quest not worrying about side content and i loved it, 48 hours to get through the story and now i am at about 90 hours through the side content. loving the game.
Cloud being visibly irate and verbally groaning at the prospect of having to do basically a mandatory side quest was felt by EVERYONE and honestly that was made ever apparent during the mini games for Rebirth...
Rebirth is my favorite game. I knew it was going to be special halfway through the mythril mine and Junon just solidified that. The fact that it kept that high level through out is insane, the game knows no chill. It took the great things from Remake and made them better, and made the weaker elements better. It is full of character and charm. Most of all, I want to keep playing it, I just have other things and games I want and need to do. This is how I thought Final Fantasy games were going to start evolving towards with X onward. Not to the scale of Rebirth, but the formula in Rebirth is what I imagined the series going towards,. I hope that it does in the future. Between the battle system, and how the world is built, there is just so much you can do to make them different , yet keep the formula. I don't know how they can top this with the third game, but I'm not going to be surprised if they manage it. As for the story, I love it. If you went into this expecting 1:1 with the OG you were going to be disappointed. You need to divorce yourself from that (doesn't mean you need to like this), the end of Remake told you this is different. The remake universe and the og universe are separate things. As I said, doesn't mean you must like this, that is a subjective thing, but we're far past the point of it just being a reskin of the original. I think the third part will be mainly carried by the story and how all the pieces are put together to make the whole. Remake introduced the split from the OG, Rebirth needed to put the pieces on the board, and Reunion (my bet for #3) will put it together. Loved the game, can't wait to go through it again soon, and can't wait for a PC version. Now to fight the urge to play it right now, because I actually have shit to do.
6:18 this is a great point. When you cram so many different things into a game, you are also increasing the probability people won’t like one of them. Which is an awesome complaint to have really. I just really wanted to do all the side quests but haaaaated the chocobo racing so much. For no other reason than I just don’t enjoy racing games
I didn't really care much for the OG FF7, am not a FF fan overall, so I don't have a nostalgia factor going into these titles. Rebirth is still a 10/10 experience. The amount of content and quality is off the charts. People i've seen complaning about the game legitimately come off as insane.
You shouldn't be talking. Your not a ff fan, so you don't really know nothing about it, your not a fan. The real ff fans complain, cause honestly the game has a lot of useless stuff in it, yes I'll give it a 10, but some of the bull shit quest and mini games kill it for a lot of people
@@akeelfrancis1311 The only people I've seen complain about any of the content in the game are people who quite honestly probably have undiagnosed ADHD and can't sit still for more than five minutes at a time. I don't know of anything in the game that brought it *down*, there's only stuff that made the experience better and stuff I didn't feel like doing and didn't have to. This is easily the best FF game that has ever been made because it has both width and depth. It's not just hallways for 100 hours, it's not pictures vs. Chibis, it's not a fragmented, poorly told story, it doesn't have generic characters, it doesn't have overpriced DLC... one hasn't had to play FF games over the last 30 years to have seen all the reviews and jokes about the franchise.
Thank you for your comment megaman. It’s cool to see a take from a non FF fan to get objectivity of what the game felt like to others. @akeelfrancis1311, you’re the worst type of fan 😂. You don’t get to gate keep the game because you’re an FF fan and others are not. I’m a huge FF fan and anyone complaining about this game after the love and care that went into it are unequivocally awful. The story, the music, the plot, the post game content…just absolutely magical. Grateful for what they put out and to be alive during this time period. People complaining about mini games they don’t like…shhhhh. These are the same people that could have a sunny day on a vacation but the ice cream cone they ordered fell on the ground. Don’t let it ruin your beautiful day because you lost your cone.
Love this game. Was right around 125 hours before I rolled credits as well. Right around 160+ hours right now making my way through to the platinum. Just have to finish hard mode (chapters, mini games, combat sim). Had your play through on in the background while I worked the last few weeks and helped a lot as I mirrored a lot of your moments from mine. 🤘
When one of the criticisms of a game is that you can't possible imagine how you can make the sequel better, you know they did a good thing. Also, I'm just near the end (Temple of the Ancients) and so far, Square have surpassed my wildest dreams for this game. They did the same with Remake... I guess what I'm trying to say is, the dev team seems pretty good at making games that surpass our imaginations, so I wouldn't be surprised if they find a way to make part 3 even better. Can't fathom how, but if there's a dev team that can do it, it's this one
I’m commenting here because-by now, and for years now-Square has paid attention to Max and the fanbase. They’re watching his vids and taking notes. This game was also a 10/10 for me. I started playing games in 1989; the original FF7 blew me away. This brought back a magic I haven’t experienced with gaming in a long time. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but I believe Square will somehow one up this game-which will be an astounding feat. I think we’ve seen a hint at it with potential triple techs and Zack becoming playable. I agree with Max; spread the major new story beats out more and give us-and the characters-time to digest what’s happening. Those last three hours were nuts in what I think is the best way possible. So much to think about and discuss. Also, let’s get a chance to extensively play as Zack in this game’s world. Set up portions of Midgar we haven’t seen yet with unique creatures and bosses not in the regular world. This character has so damn much charm; let new players to this story experience it as well.
You realize immediately this a world the developers want you to take your time and get lost in. It’s a lovingly crafted homage to the franchise, demanding your attention at every turn. If you’re attempting to breeze through this experience, you’re missing the point entirely!
Just reached 30 Hours in REBIRTH, and I’m loving it! Is it perfect? NO. It has its few flaws. BUT ITS LEGITIMATELY FUN. Love the characters, the combat is fun, amazing music, the graphics are on another level!! Square Enix is going strong with the FF7 TRILOGY. 👍 ( 13:28 this moment made me laugh as well….🤣)
Yes to all... but the MUSIC tho! It's the music that did the storytelling and amplified all the emotions, and it's what made each setting feel so right.
The Cosmo Canyon chocobo bit is exactly that kind of stuff that we can choose to not do. And like Max said, the game is naturally so good, we just ended up doing most of the things naturally anyway. Nothing feels forced. Even with the gears and bits mini-game, there are default templates that we can use should we choose to not engage in that mini-game.
Finally finished the game last night after all this time! Was only able to get my hands on it last month and I’m so glad I didn’t get spoiled. Immediately watched your play through after 🤣
I don’t care about FF7 but how much max loves it I admire. I watched all the streams and seeing someone realize they’re playing a new fav of theirs is cool
Im tired of people bemoaning that there is too much to do and that they dont like the sidequests and mini games. The game is fun, its enjoyable, the story is interesting and compelling. Is hard mode hard, absolutely. It is very hard, you need to know what you're doing. And people are complaining about it. Makes me think they wouldn't have survived the ps2 era of bosses
I felt this kinda. Grasslands feels so vast, meanwhile gongaga was just kind of small circle. Cosmo Canyon just feels like a straight line from entrance to the town. I thought under junon and corel were good
The part of rebirth makes it so good is that we just get to enjoy the cast. They probably shoved most of the bonding in rebirth so that part 3 can be serious, high stakes, and an insane finale
Yup, the story of FF7 was never any better than the othee FF games, but the characters were. Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, Nanaki, Cid, Sephiroth all made the game.
I'd personally argue that FFX and FFXVI has the best story of all the games. But FF7 has the best characters.
@@Mukationit’s all personal experience
The best game I have played.
Dude - I've had to avoid so much content because I'm only at Cosmo Canyon, and I have over 110 hours into my game. That's how much I've been looking around and just enjoying it. They put so damn much into this game it's insane.
I'm going to take a shot in the dark, he loved it.
Nobody cares about Max as much as SE team, and somehow Max always ends up stabbing them in the back. He tried so hard to not say this game is a 10 but saying it deserves a 10. Is weird. For comparison Returnal, great game. But repetitive mechanics, repetitive bosses it is basically the same all across the game, still great! And Max drooled all over.
Yet somehow every time and I mean seriously every time Max hypes an FF game immediately after he behaves like this. I don't know if his expectations are way too hard, but I swear he diminishes the value of the entirety of the game, because one dungeon was mildly boring and at some point a character didn't behave as he wanted.
@@thesocialmediagame Yikes are you mad relax it's his opinion
@@thesocialmediagameCalm down lol
@@thesocialmediagameSE ain't gonna suck you off my dude lol
@@thesocialmediagame I kinda agree with you on this video, ratio wise this mostly seems Max's critical thoughts and what improvements he wants to see. the title is wrong imo. He does drop in the begining the game is 10 out of 10 (2 or 3 phrases max ) and praise it 1 minute in the end, but as a review I was expecting him do better than the SkillUp review on this title specifically and praise the game more just like in his live streams, this video doesn't capture his full experience or doesn't give a vibe of giving a game a 10 out of 10.
One of the coolest most impressive and quite frankly heart warming things about these games for me is the team behind it. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that over 80% of the team that worked on remake put their blood, sweat and tears into rebirth and from what has been revealed recently that same team will see it through with part 3. Over 12 years working on the same project is some insane dedication, what an awesome group of people!. Its clear that this team is incredibly passionate about ff7. Its no wonder that when passion and staff retention become building blocks of a project, that in turn will produce an incredible video game.
Couldn’t agree more! Plus they have full backing financially without any EA/Activision style bullshit rushing, which makes a huge difference too. FF7 3 I cannot fathom what they can achieve for it to be.
@@ArashiKageTaro Some of that bodily fluid is caffineated or pee.
@@ArashiKageTaro Do you know how large of a team it takes to make a game like this?...it's in the thousands. 4 years is already a big commitment and naturally some people might want to move on for any number of reasons. It's totally unreasonable to expect every member to stay for 8 years (remake/rebirth)..and now 11-12 years for all three games
team lead by tetsuya nomura. and he's working on 2 big series already. love it or hate it, he's realy important for the series.
I pray to the Planet(tm) that they can deliver on part 3 and the FF7R trilogy is LotR of gaming. That would be incredible.
The game they put around Queens Blood is incredible.
Queens blood was so addictive. I loved there was a full blown story with cutscenes and all built into that mini game.
Loved the card game. Really enjoyed it
Honestly Queens Blood is stupidly good for how little of it there is, and there's heaps
part 3 is going to be insane. we are going to space, gathering huge materia, going to mideel, going to get a deep dive into the wutai v shinra story, going to see and fight all the weapons, going on a submarine, using the highwind, getting to play as cid and vincent, getting the whole northern section of the map, knights of the round summon materia. part 3 has potential to surpass rebirth... cant wait
Sure but sad part is wont be ever to control all 9 party members in any of the 3 -_-
Nah, considering how this game is selling the game is mid.
@@Enwickote That is sad, but that's the downside of their decision to hold back characters so that the second and third parts would be able to introduce fresh new mechanics and playstyles. We got Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith, and each one adds a completely different dynamic to combat, and I enjoy all three quite a bit. I'm very much curious, keenly interested you might say, to see how Cid and Vincent will play. That's the point.
Part 3 is going to look even more dated than this did. I don’t underhand how a PlayStation 5 games can look like a game that came out in 2015 and can’t even sustain a good resolution.
(FFXV came out in 2015 and could sustain a solid resolution when rebirth came out in 2024, looks blurry and no better graphically than FFXV)
When the remake came out on PlayStation 4 in 2020 and didn’t have the same technical issues as this. Absolutely ridiculous and everybody is just glossing over it.
This is a terrible example of what the PlayStation 5 can do. It falls well below the standard.
@@axelstone3131 PS5 is just holding itself now on man, Part 3 needs to be on PS6 only
just recently started remake. i’m a little over 20hrs in and i’m loving almost everything about the game. looking forward to rebirth also😁😁
I did the same thing, playing remake right before rebirth, and rebirth is a step up in so many ways. If you're loving remake, you're going to LOVE rebirth
If you like Remake then Rebirth will blow your mind
@@annieone-trick super looking forward to it😁😁
@@alistairblaire6001 super duper excited for it😁😁 especially the music 🔥🔥
Ohhh man you‘re in for some fun times man. Enjoy the ride
This game pretty much erased the entire month of March for me. Felt like I went from Feb. 29 straight to April.
I still am not done with it yet lol
This is so relatable.
march? april too. i beat the story 5 days before two months since release. both rebirth and granblue fantasy relink has made 2024 an incredible gaming year for me
I savored and milked my first playthrough starting early March and finished this morning. That's almost 3 months with a playthrough timer of 178 hrs. I was close to finishing it but decided to go back to before the temple and do more quests, nearly finishing all of them minus the final prototype quest. So I actually played for about 228 hours and Guess what. I loved every minute of it.
I think you hit the nail on the head with your take about people feeling burdened by the game by rushing it.
I personally took my sweet time with it and now, 2 months later and 210 hours later, I got my platinum. No matter how I look at it it's easily a top runner for one of the strongest games in the entire franchise.
I ended up just wanting to to keep going, keep doing the next thing, and when I got to the super difficult hard mode combat challenges, I felt pushed to experiment and improve.
They really took all the highs of remake and pushed them higher, and then the lows and just fixed them. There wasn't a single point in the game that I felt burdened by completing it. I always felt compelled to see what was next, to rise to the next challenge, and to want to just continue existing in the world.
this is me. i beat the story 3 days ago. 150 hours. i forced myself to stop doing sidequests cuz i was itching to see the finale. now that i can be spoiler free i can focus on the daunting platinum....man it looks hard. some of those mini games i hate. like the gliding chocobo side quest.
Another thing we need in the third game Max: WE NEED MATERIA LOADOUTS.
It's kinda funny because other ff games have it. 😂😂
Hey, I didn't even think about this, but yeah. You're right. The only issue I see with this is how they'd reconcile it with the limited materia in the game. Because a player might put the same limited materia in two different loadouts for different characters, and forget about it when they go to use those specific loadouts against a tough boss or something.
@@zeropolicy7456All they’d need to do to fix that is have a pop up ask which character you want the duplicate materia on. Just like they do it when you select an already equipped materia from the menu.
@@spiraljumper74Yeah like a prompt asking you to quickly switch all materia to this character
Yes. On my hard mode chapter 13 was a nightmare thru ToTA.
This game has literally taken over my life at 200+ hours. The hard mode boss fights were so thrilling but the last sepiroth fight took me way longer than it should have and hitting up the last bit of chadley missions. I am absolutely in love with this game.
Same
You don’t get burned out at 200 hours? I’m 137 and done with it. I love the game I’m just burned out.
@@zacatkinson3926 nope I have a full-time job so I don’t get to play every day. But I finally beat it the other day got about five more trophies to get the platinum. I play at my pace
I absolutely love the combat system.hard mode not being able to use items opened up a new way of playing for me, using synergy attack granting unlimited mp to conserve mp, magnify manawal. Mako shards were scarce for me, and I learned to Parry better, watch attack patterns that turned up even crazier.
@@chalupakingsama ok fair enough.., but actually you don’t feel frustrated with Gbike or virtual brawler? The piano? Those three I think have horrible controls makes me not want to play them
3 kids 2 jobs, 50 some hours in since release day. Chipping it little by little and enjoying every minute of it.
Take ur time no need to rush FF7 Rebirth it’s a massive game enjoy ur journey man
For a second I thought you HAD 3 kids and 2 jobs since you started playing it :D That would be pretty wild!
damn take your time, might as well let your kids play some minigames for you :)
Best way to enjoy this game is to go at your own pace and not rush
I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I took my time and am at 150 hours since launch. Almost at platinum. Take your time, since you will need to master your characters combat for the end game sims.
First game in probably 20 years that I immediately started over as soon as I beat it. Haven’t had that itch since the original FFVII, Halo CE, FF Tactics, and Ocarina of Time
Same
This review is weeks, if not, months in the making. A TRUE FAN REVIEW
“Nothing from disk 2 was apart of remake” that’s where it got lost for sure
The 3rd game can be a fresh experience too and avoid the sequel syndrome. By making the open world experience more organic. You could find great materias with optional hidden places like mini-dungeons, hidden paths, caves, instead of Chadley's world intel. By having a jump button(as Max said) and less guided climbing (With Northern Creater, this could be a great opportunity). Also there will be the Airship, Golden Chocobo(hopefully) and Submarine. Rebith's open world was neither a pro, nor a con (some people are making a big deal with "Ubisoft Towers" and they are exaggerating, like it's the end of the world) but 3rd game's open world could become a true strength, this time.
Agreed! I also think it would be cool if the climbing was like what Nomura did in Kingdom Hearts 3, where the character uses parkour skills and climbs mountains and buildings while running! Or maybe something more realistic like an improved version of the grappling gun(Which you can use anywhere like in Batman Arkham)
Summarizing a comment I made on the JRPG subreddit: A game doesn't have to be perfect/flawless to be a masterpiece. FF7 Rebirth exemplifies this idea.
100%, all masterpieces have flaws
If games needed to be perfect to be considered masterpieces then only very simple games would qualify. The more complex and ambitious something is the larger the odds of something going wrong, even if only in the eyes of part of the audience.
It's hard to name a flaw in NES Tetris. Is it the best game of all time?
It's time to move on from FF7.
@@SyLuX636 bye! Good luck finding what makes you happy.
Agreed
As someone with no childhood nostalgia towards OG FF7 (only played it for the first time before Remake released), Rebirth made me feel like a kid again in the best possible way
Sure
@@mr.awesome6011 🤨
Same. It's a magical game even if you know little of the series.
@megamandrn001 oh believe me I've been obsessed since I 100% Remake. This series is never not on my mind nowadays lol
same, my nostalgia is with FF8, played og 7 after 8 and 9 so it was underwhelming for me. but this rebirth man! it has the soul of old square games
Game simply remind of me what playing a RPG feels like, it is not only the story (which is amazing), it's ability to travel the world and do all side things and mini-games that makes you feel like you actually live in that world, that's what all old FFs always got me amused, from ff4 to ff9. I honestly couldn't believe this nostalgia feeling of playing RPG game could be felt again on modern game age. hats off to this master-piece, can't wait for the 3rd part
In regards to Part 3; the *tools* are there, for something incredible (spoilers for Rebirth & FF7 OG ahead):
-Wutai (now obviously expanded with the narrative we're given in Rebirth).
-The Northern Crater.
-Sephiroth summoning Meteor, which could alter the entire map drastically. Making revisits a totally new experience.
-The W-Materias.
-The Weapons (creatures).
-The entire party's Ultima Weapons.
-Level 4 Limit Breaks.
-Bahamut ZERO & Knights of the Round.
-Mideel & Cloud's "awakening".
-The Icicle Inn & mountain. A telling of Gast & Ifalna.
-Backstories for Vincent, Yuffie & Cid, which include Sephiroth's real mother & more Shinra stuff.
-Fighting & [essentially] killing Don Corneo, Scarlet, Heidegger & Hojo.
-More stuff with Turks & Rufus.
-Exploring the seabed of the Ocean.
-Huge Materia & redeeming every party member's baggage/backstories.
-Chadley's potential master plan &/or just another plethora of Combat Simulation Challenges.
-& of course now, MORE ZACK & MORE SEPHIROTH!! (Praying they're both playable again & even more fleshed out)
& I know I'm missing stuff from OG, but it's safe to say they'll include it & then some.
I think it's safe to say that Part 3 will AT LEAST match Rebirth in terms of quality. I also have hopes that they'll manage to surpass.
Considering they’re keeping the same staff once again, from Rebirth to Part 3, I have high hopes..
Great review, Max!
Combat for Vincent???
I was a bit surprised that Mt Corel didn't have a sunset like in the original. I hope next game will have a "sleep until later" or "sleep overnight" option so that we can get more variety. Doesn't have to be everywhere but there are some places that could really use it.
My main complaint was the crafting. Not the crafting itself, but that there was so much emphasis on it that it made other things dull like drops, steals, and morphing enemies. They're all just the same crafting mats you find out in the world and reached the point were I wasn't even looking at what you could get from the enemies. Most interesting item I saw was an elixir that could be stolen from a boss, but that's nothing special when Hard Mode doesn't allow items anyway, the one place I would want those most.
Yeah they didnt utilize steal and morph items well enough. It lead to me almost never stealing or morphing, aside from Tonberry King
Steal/mug is meant to be a Yuffie thing, since she gets faith and an ATB boost from it.
Morph is of very limited use, just for the beginning of the game. I used it up til I was done with Junon, from that point onward I either had too many materials, or enough gil to fork over to the nearest vendor. Ideally, Morph should have its own side quest, with some serious bling as a reward, especially since it's so hard to use in real-time action.
One if my biggest complaints was bosses not having items to steal. They're supposed to have the good stuff!
@@TubbyBubbleLove42the ONLY example I can think of outside of the Tonberry Crown is the ring you can steal from Reno at the end of the game, the fortitude ring I think it was. You can also get it from the advanced battle square challenges though, so there's no real exclusivity there either way..
I do not care for things being scattered all over the floor to constantly pick up. It reminds me of MMOs in a bad way.
Idk why but when I played tifas theme on the piano in the rebirth demo, I immediately fell in love with
Same dude. If you like the Piano mini-game, try mastering Let the Battles Begin. It's just so much fun to play
Remake made our Dreams come true.
Rebirth... we couldn't dream this big.
It totally surpasses what anyone of us could dream of. 10/10 game is right.
3/5 tops. This could have easily been a 2015 game.
@@axelstone3131my guy is out of reality 😂
Really depends if you liked the story changes and how the open world content works. Game was a 7/10 for me.
@@nebojsavelickovic5388 nah you just have no standards. Looks no better than FFXV and that game could actually sustains a solid resolution
Well said 👏🏼
Critically 9.3
Personally 10 (Ive bought both, will absolutely buy 3rd)
Couldnt be happier, I was very satisfied. Worth every dollar, thank you Sony and Square. I appreciate the love and respect that was put into it.
Critically 9.3 is honestly fair, considering someone who isn't an FF7 fan would probably not give it a 10 like us FF7 fans (I'd still give it 10 critically because it's a JRPG masterpiece in my opinion)
As an action game yes its a 10/10.
But in terms of the RPG genre? nah I can't possibly give this game a 10/10, the open world in this game gets repetitive too easily and not to mention the abysmal post game content and a snorefest of a sidequests
@@KunNoctis Most of the sidequests are plot relevant. Which didn't you like?
It's dumb how people like to be milked. There are reasons I hate FF7 fans.
@@SyLuX636 hey buddy, if that causes you to hate, maybe go outside
My concern about part 3 is if they make us clear the fog of war and the towers in the overworld all over again its going to feel weird and be a huge break of continuity, i hope they find a different way to incentivize exploration...
Same. I was thinking that they should add dungeons in the over world like elden ring, and have the players discover these points of interests with partial hints, but not through towers that provide the markers for you. That’s what I would want personally.
@@robitussinbrohan718 I agree. They said they wanted to make part 3 even more open, I hope they adopt this philosophy. Obviously at some point will also get the highwind(but that will be the later) so I am hoping when we do get it that there will be places you only can get through the highwind and the submarine.That will make the exploration feel fresh and unique.
@@pimentx3253 imagine you use the Space to find some hidden spots over the world like dungeons or anything else (would be nuts)
I dont mind a bit of fog of war. For me, that is "Let's explore!" which i love. But i fully agree with the towers and similar stuff. Those have played their parts. So i too hope they have found a solution for that
@@robitussinbrohan718 That would be amazing i agree but unfortunately i don't think SE is going to deviate from the checklist system of the first two games, they clearly don't want any content to be too hidden from the player, i expecting clear icons on the map again, we'll see. Worst case scenario would be a repeat of what we already did in Rebirth though.
Rebirth is now my favorite Final Fantasy ever! Please Max keep FF7 content coming, I never get tired of hearing you talk about FF7!
@Danthelion check max on easy allies spoilermode
Yeah!!
What a fanboy
Agreed! I can't wait for his video predictions for part 3. Keep the theories coming, max!
@@washoywa You are a LOSER bruh, why do you keep going on other comments trying to ruin people's hype?
Playing Remake actually made me go back and play the original for the first time and damn I now understand why its considered one of the best final fantasy games, I finished Rebirth yesterday and am now sad that I dont want the journey to end, I love this world and its characters so much
I'm doing the same and now the OG feels like an abridged version of the story lol
FF4 is better
I absolutely adore this game. One of my favorite Jrpg's ever there's so much fun content here it's actually overwhelming for some from what I've seen. I haven't enjoyed a FF game this much since FFX and while I did enjoy FF13 and FF16 there was some major flaws that held it back for me. This felt like Square getting themselves together and I can't wait to see what they have cooking within Part 3
It's definitely worth the price. Least we can say that lol
Personally I loved FFXV despite the problems.
@@bungifish2227 If only we got the last 3 DLCs...
@@TravaillesDuChanson agreed, but sadly people would still be hating on XV
@@bungifish2227 FF XV actually helped bring about rebirth so it was a stepping stone. Honestly I still want to see FF XIII Versus it could be done as a parallel universe to FF XV.
I just wanna say, thank you max for introducing me to FF7. I was born after ff7 came out and I just wanted to join the hype for remake and now it’s probably my favorite game/series of all time.
For me, the ONLY nitpick is that I don't know if some of these VR challenges needed to be ten rounds long.
lol yeah. 5 is already a lot and then they went all out and make it a fxking 10 rounds. If you die once you have to restart from the very beginning !!
Anyone remember playing OG for the first time and getting stuck for a very long time trying to beat Emerald and Ruby weapon? I'm fine with a challenge. Still haven't completed the combat sims and I'll admit they are hard but that's the point.
@@nathanking5137 Yeah but if you died to Emerald Weapon, you could start fighting Emerald Weapon again. You didn't need to fight 2 Giant Cactuars and 10 Tonberries first.
@jcarson3721 valid point. I haven't got to bonds of friendship yet so can't really have much of an opinion. But I completed all the brutal challenges and enjoyed it. Then I tried Clouds legendary one and I swear that wolf is harder than Virtual sephiroth... I kinda get what people are saying now 😅
@nathanking5137 There's just SO much stuff to do in this game that five rounds probably would have been fine for the bulk of the challenges. And then for Bonds of Friendship and To Be a Hero you could do ten. most of them were quite a bit easier if you took the time to set your materia up. But unless you looked it up you would have no idea what was coming.
I finished Rebirth 3 days ago and man, what an unforgettable experience. I can't stop thinking about this game so this is perfect timing.
Hey Max. I hope you see this comment. I know you're stepping back from ff7 speculation and qualifying yourself as "not a HUGE fan" for certain community reasons. Although I think that's sad, I respect your reasons for doing so.
In my view you are more of a true fan than these toxic anons ever can be. Your passion is infectious and a blast to watch. Your love of the series goes deep and it very much shows. It's more of an unconditional love and faith in the vision of the devs. All this to say, your ff7 content, reactions and speculation and theory videos have made my, and so many other people's lives better, in no exaggerated terms. Thank you so much Dood, for all of your content, past, present and future. Here's to waiting for Part 3!
I enjoyed being put into situations where I had to play characters I didn’t usually play. Everyone plays very differently and it was nice to showcase that
It made it feel worth putting effort into their enhancement throughout the game.
Underrated comment for sure. It was great because their sequences didn't drag too long and gave you a flavour of their gameplay style. Each character definitely feels very viable.
So I think I've got a unique go of ff7. Never played the original but watched my brother play through the entirety of multiple times and of course listened to the music all the time growing up. Recently (last year) played through ff7 remake and loved it so much even though I technically never played the original. Thanks for posting a non spoiler review as I'm waiting for rebirth to be released on pc and don't want to know too much about it.
The problem with he jump button is that it would make it infinitely more complexe for devs to manage the cliff edges you're not suppose to go down from.
But smoothing out collisions on the grounds is definitely a must have
I think you would have even enjoyed the Cait Sith stuff if the controls for throwing boxes were better. The way they did it here would sap the energy from even the most diehard fans. It also could have been shorter. I was also thinking today that if a player goes into that part of the game not having used Cait much, they might have a real problem getting past the fights. The other parts of the game where it forces you to use one party member that's not Cloud, those characters are easier to do well with if equipped right.
Cait's throwing boxes just had poorly implemented controls, which is baffling considering how many other minigames they got right
As with most of the players, I strongly disliked the Cait Sith sequences on my 1st playthrough (taking 67 hours to finish) Rebirth has done what no game has done before. I immediately started a 2nd playthrough after finishing the game.
Currently just started up Chapter 12 with 110 hours. Oddly enough, I had a BLAST during the 2nd playthrough with Cait Sith in Chapter 11. Maybe because I knew how to perfect the throwing from the very beginning? Or how I simply love his character now in Rebirth?
Now back to what will be 200+ (QUALITY) hours of gaming...which is Rebirth. Game of the DECADE!
I just thought cait siths level felt super slow. Throwing the boxes felt like a chore and it just really was "clear level 1, vent up to level 2, clear, repeat till boss fight" though I liked his traversal.
yeah the Cait Sith part was, at least so far (I'm almost done with the main story), the worst part of the game by far. it is quite slow, throwing the boxes is annoying as hell, and I don't particularly like fighting with Cait so when I had to use him in fights I struggled quite a bit. is a bit of a skill issue tho admittedly. I just don't find him very fun to fight with
@@Huurmetrue, the throwing boxes part was okay until you har to do it a lot and it got exhausting and hard. The caith sith fights also has some skill level requirement. Caith sith is actually the hardest one to play among them, i think they did that on purpose if people wants challenge. As some characters as just too OP that when you have them in your party, fights are just way too easy even on dynamic difficulty. And i like that idea, if you want challenge add caith in the party. To me the whole section wasnt bad, it was hard and games need some of that sometimes.
So I started the game a little later than Max did, but I was practically perfectly on pace with his videos - I’d complete to a point, next day I’d see a video with the thumbnail almost exactly where I was. This was to the point that I unsubbed towards the end of the game to not get spoiled. I just finished this game and watched this review and it sounds like we had the exact same experience. This review could be my exact thoughts it blew my mind. This game blew my expectations out of the water. I haven’t had an experience like this in ages - it really did feel like I was transported back in time. And no game has ever made me tear up as much. Part 3s got massive shoes to fill. 🎉
10/10 What an experience! A part of me didn't want to start the last chapter, knowing I'm near the end. Same feeling I got with Red Dead Redemption 2!
The absolute worst thing you could ever do to a story about accepting loss is to do tired multiverse tropes. As anyone can see almost everyone praising the game here is ignoring the story and only focusing on the technicals aspects, wich is very fair to some extent. Sadly the cope blinds people critical thinking and this comment section is a very good example of that. Rebirth ended without any answers and only confusion either to OG or new fans, nobody understood anything for sure since the game kept everything open wich makes the entire journey to this point feel empty and pointless, luckily the gameplay,voice actors and characters designs carry the game on its back and thats more than enough for the "Modern audiences"(wich is filled with older gamers aswell dont let that term trick you) .
It is definitely a high quality game. I played all the main final fantasy games except Lightning Returns, and can confidently say this is one of the higher quality ones. Very well done, strongly recommend people to give it a shot. And the one suggestion I can make, because I see this so often, if you are bogged down by mini games and side quests, don't do them. It is an open world experience; handle your journey however you please. Enjoy!
Whatever comes to part 3. We all have to be ready for it.
Im excited and ready
No promises at journeys end
Well said, appreciate the insight. FF7 is my all time favorite game, and can honestly say that Rebirth has joined the ranks of an immediate favorite game ever. You were spot on about feeling burnt out in moments... just for the game to throw something fresh at us to change our feelings
FF VII Rebirth is a 9.3 for me. My take is that its better than remake in almost every aspect except for the ending and probably the optimization. What I mean is that FF VII remake integrade looks better imo, maybe its the lighting and the shadows i dont know. They really improved on level design, characters, side quests, gameplay. Its an overall fantastic game and 2024 goty for me, no doubts.
Remember the scale is different though
It's honestly in my top 3 favorite FFs alongside OG FF7 and FF6, and my favorite game of the decade atm alongside Tears of the Kingdom and Elden Ring.
FF6 is so good, I know it's dated and not very long but it's mechanics for learning abilities and each characters individual abilities made it so much fun 😊
You have great taste
so true every 10 minutes i would find myself stopping and just listening and looking around like WHAT AM I HEARING AND SEEING RIGHT NOW. couldn't believe it
the Scottish highlands music in Gongaga is mind blowing.
@@Helldiver420 Not to dive in with a 'well, actually' note, but those are Irish ulliean pipes youre listening to while in Gongaga. You're welcome!
@@Peannlui not to dive in and be an prick but im going to dive in and be an prick YOU ARE VERY WELCOME SAVIOR OF THE DAY JESUS CHRIST..........
UA-cam just randomly started having issues soon as Max posted this lol
I think one of the biggest strengths of the game is actually the fact that the next game is gonna be the big story pay off- part two let us live in the world, endear us to every single character and story in it and now its a case of- you love everything about this world, so go save it
I find it kind of funny when some people complain about stuff like "there are too many minigame!" Like did ya play FF7? Motorbike minigame, chocobo racing, the boxing minigame, Snowboarding, Fort Condor, the Sub minigame etc. were all over the place. Sidequests I can kinda get complaining some, but most of them do feature one of the party members so they get some extra screen time so that helps me give em a pass. Also helps they are optional so if you don't want to do it don't.
I had the same criticisms about the story pacing mixed with the sheer volume of game aside from the main scenario. BUT upon my second play thru, I did a main story run and the pacing is wayyy better than my initial thoughts/feelings. Highly recommend it.
Yes. Exactly. Do a run on easy. Then you feel immersed all the time.
That's basically exactly how Remake felt too. If you just do the main story of Remake, it's a tight like...20 hour game, the pacing is pretty good (even taking into account Train Graveyard, Second Sewer Visit, and the Sunlamps bit).
Max’s love for this game over the past few years has finally gotten me to play FF7. A couple months ago I worked my way through FF7 original for the first time, then I played the fan remake of Before Crisis, then watched Advent Children, then played Dirge of Cerberus (which I actually really liked btw lol) and I’ll be finishing up with Crisis Core tomorrow before getting into Remake and Rebirth.
Dang dude you ran the full circuit.
You lucky bastard. What I'd give to forget it all and re experience.
@@Lakross101 I’m kinda past that point now myself haha except for Remake and Rebirth, which I’m super excited for but I’m also a bit nervous. Maybe I’m just giving the critics too much attention. I’ve also been trying to 100% the games and experience as much of them as I can, so I’ve been working my way through all 300, repetitive-ass Crisis Core missions and I worry I’ll feel burnt out when I get to Remake. My biggest issue with Crisis Core is the level-design and boring repetition, and I’ve heard Remake is similar. It may be a stupid question, but Remake is considerably better than Crisis Core Reunion, right…? lol I don’t want it to feel like more Crisis Core.
@@brennanbarber7469crisis core is the prequels. Remake is a new hope. Rebirth is empire. This is the way. You’ll enjoy remake and rebirth even more
@brennanbarber7469 Remake has something to offer that you don't know you're starved for. Character interaction that doesn't just make sense, but is fun to experience. Remake will be the last you hear of the gratuitous plates of anime grunts. I'd say take your time tho and let things settle after CC. Play something else and let things simmer. Rebirth is a must but you don't wanna make it feel like a slog. What Max said here is very true, Rebirth throw things st you to make sure that you're enjoying the ride and not just bolting to the end. That can make things very frustrating if you're wanting to do all the CC missions etc.
For me it's all the little details that make *_Rebirth_* a really special experience. For example, your ENTIRE adventuring party is present at ALL TIMES. This leads to really incredible interactions (I speak the bartender to complete a quest. As I turn to leave, Aerith & Tifa are standing awkwardly in a corner, while Barrett & Red are toasting some beers table side)
Most humans don't have the time to put into it. Having more should never be a factor when the storyline can be followed easily, it'll always be a benefit on top imo
100% agree. But for me I would say that playing through this game is almost as close to a spirtiual experience? Idk probably crazy but the emotions through some of the chapters, the nostalgia, the fun new exploration, and the iconic music all woven together. The feelings I got playing through this brought up feelings of joy and loss I can only compare it to the real joys and loss I've felt in my personal life. No other game has made me feel like that. Even playing the OG FFvii when I was 11. I loved the OG but having only been 11 years old at the time and not having experience some of the things I have now just didn't feel like it does now as a grown adult.
I definitely plan to play this after I beat Persona 3 Reload. I got Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Persona 3 Reload, and Spider-Man 2 recently as birthday gifts so it's gonna be a minute til I play Rebirth. It looks so good though.
In a similar boat. I picked up P3 R at launch, but knew I wouldn’t be able to complete it before Rebirth, so I waited to get Rebirth completed, then used Spider-Man 2 as a buffer to save myself from RPG fatigue.
I wouldn't ever rush through any of these games especially because of the many years we waited i have not beat part two yet i am going for the 100% content completion but hands down 10/10 for me and we get a part three lol its still not over yet more to come i appreciate every aspect of it.
Gotta say that I agree with pretty much everything Max said. Remake was absolutely wonderful, but Rebirth is my favorite game of this generation so far. It truly felt like going on a adventure with friends. It has quickly become one of my favorite games ever.
I do think that what Max said about sequels not having as much impact as the first game will probably happen from Rebirth to Remake Part 3. Remake to Rebirth remained fresh because gameplay-wise, it had a lot of noticeable improvements and additions, specially the open-world. To me, that's not a problem, as long as the quality is there, I don't really mind not feeling as fresh. And yes, since Rebirth is almost impossibly good, Part 3 could very well not be as good. But all I need is that it will be good, doesn't have an obligation to be better than Remake and Rebirth.
I agree too, part 3 probably wont be as good and impactful because rebirth covered the fun part of the game until the most important and iconic part. Part 3 is just adding more stuff but everything isnt fresh anymore because rebirth already introduced it. But as long as it is good not, I am happy with it.
I always enjoy reviews more when the reviewer really cares about the subject. Plus, it's great to hear positive things.
I never played the original (I tried but I just couldn't do it), and I skipped Remake cause I didn't think I would be that interested, but after watcging Max play through Remake a while ago, and then watching his Reunion playthrough, I fell in love with this world.
I bought Rebirth day 1, I feel like I've got 200 hours, but I'm only 50 hours in at this point, and just finished 100%ing Gongaga region. This game is truly special. I don't even like open world ganes very much cause they feel empty, but they really made this game a masterpiece. There's so much to do, and while it's technically very repetitive, it doesn't feel like it because the areas are so beautiful and fun to explore. Seriously one if the best games I've ever played so far.
i kept seeing people complain about how repetitive the open world was by doing the same things over and over. Thing is, while that could be true, i didnt get bored with it because each region was vastly different from each other, and seeing the sights while exploring really felt like an adventure. I haven't even talked about the music for each region, man, the music of this game.
So this is this guy's demographic.
@@JameboHayabusa You seem annoying, so I'm just gonna scare you away form the community. We're all exclusive pronoun users, we only call each other by pronouns, and we are all gay
@@allan9336 I truly love all the regions so far! And yes, the music is just phenomenal. While I have no interest in Breath of the Wild or the sequel, I know people complained about the lack of music while exploring, and this is how it should've been done.
Got the game around launch, and finally beat it last week! Long ass game, with tons of things to do. I will say, some of the side stuff I did not find all that fun (like the towers, life stream crystals, and the summon shrines, IE the stuff where you just "go here and press a button or two.") But I was so enthralled by the world and especially the characters, that I still wanted to do it. Even still, I'd say most of the other side content was a lot more engaging.
I also have to agree with Max where as soon as I felt a little burned out on it, I'd go and try something else and my interest was reinvigorated due to the variety and level of fun. I eventually did start to rush it a bit towards the end, something I regret doing as now that I've beaten it, I still wanna play it! And that's really the best compliment I could give to the game; after ONE HUNDRED HOURS of playing I still wanna come back to it.
My main complaint I'd say, is that all the big cinematic moments felt so stretched out. I mean, it took months for me to complete this game, ate up my whole summer and a couple months before it. But those crazy awesome moments felt so rare in the grand scheme of things. That's not to say the side stuff was bad, it's just with SO MUCH of it, it almost detracts from the actual story.
One complaint that I have about the mini games in Rebirth is specifically about the Protorelic one in Cosmo Canyon because it locks very good character-focus scenes behind a frustrating mini game IMO. It wouldn't be so bad if the scenes after the mini game were very minor and just lighthearted interactions that you don't feel the pressure to complete those optional mini games.
It wasn't the greatest mini game for sure, but it was also literally beatable by using the default AI settings, because that's exactly what I did. I do hear you about locking such important character scenes behind it though.
@@Amberle38
I agree. It was very easy even on hard mode.
I disagree in a way. I think those scenes are a great reward for doing something otherwise annoying for no reason. If you think about it the development that happens is for characters from the previews game for the most part.
@@ltlsWhatltIsThis is so interesting to me. I had fun with every mini game, and completely smashed through them, easy and hard. I mean, I even got a star in every piano piece for the heck of it (even the last one). But this one, I really could not be bothered to spend time in hard mode to do. I just looked at a guide to get an idea on how to approach it, and brute forced it through multiple tries.
I find it really strange how many people are having difficulty with gears and gambits. It seemed very simple to me - if weak to fire then use fire, if health low then heal. It felt kind of difficult to not understand, and you only do it 4 times.
I think maybe the UI presentation and quick tutorial made it seem more complex than it actually was, and put people off.
I agree 100000% with the impact of a sequel max mentioned , and how rebirth is one of few sequels that actual gave a big impact other than upgrades and technical mechanics. I fully noticed that too when playing it
Likes for mentioning GotG game. That game is so under appreciated due to being punished for the stink of The Avengers
GoTG was such a good experience. The gameplay can get a little repetitive, I kinda wish you could properly control any of the characters in combat like ff7 remake and rebirth does, but the story of the GoTG is so good and has a awesome track list
whats GotG?
@@gost3480guardians of the galaxy
It was soooo good I agree
@@gost3480guardians of the galaxy. It's amazing
Excellent review Max. I loved this game, my 1st playthrough took 162 hours and I did not finish all the side quests and mini-games. I think people critical of the mini-games are just like me, I was so hungry to absorb the story, but found the side quests and mini-games to be tremendously fun that at times I was frustrated with what to do next because there is SOOO MUCH CONTENT. Rebirth blew me away, best game I've ever played! Been playing since 1987 on the 8-bit Nintendo.
Thanks a lot for the amazing review Max!! Greetings from Mexico.
I was burnt out about 60% through with side quests/exploration etc. After that I decided to push through story only until the end. By the end I was pretty under-levelled which turned out to be great because everything was a bit more challenging. Finished the game at about 100 hours and now I'm straight back into exploration because I was so. Not. Finished. The game is so good when you realise you can play it however you want.
I'm 147 hours in on chapter 13 and I'm taking my time, I don't want this game to end Kupo ❤️ I agree with some of your points and can't say all yet as I haven't finished it. Thank you for your non spoiler review
Thanks Max, I recently completed the game and was stunned at how good it was, real nostalgia. I also watched your playthrough and enjoyed your commentary. Its going to be a long 3 years!
The amount of content this game has reminds me of when Emperor Joseph II judged Mozart’s opera for having “too many notes.”
I finally finished my 1st playthrough about an hour ago! ... took waaaaaay longer than I thought bcause life and mainly work ... but what an amazing experience. Can't wait for part 3!
The combat flabbergasts needs how damn good it is. Like… the longer bigger hard bosses like summons are soooooo damn good. Most fights end too fast to get really into it, but the big bosses are phenomenal. When you’re managing resources and weaknesses and what not it’s amazing.
I just finished FF7 Rebirth last night with 149 hours. Throughout my own experience I would play so far into the game and then watch your play through, I usually run the story only and skip side missions unless I'm interested enough. I want to thank you Max for convincing me to play at my own pace and enjoy the game, I don't think I would of appreciated the game as much as I do now if not for that. I at least made sure all region missions were completed including all of the Chadly stuff.
FF7 was my Deceased brother favorite game and being able to experience the game the way I did I hope that somewhere in the lifestream my brother enjoyed it with me.
Thank you Max,
To all those who hate the multiverse stuff, I just want to let you know that Nomura was holding back the multiverse shenanigans and wanted a faithful remake while Kitase wanted to go bonkers with the story. Let that sink in.
Dosent suprise its not the first time Nomura saved us from a kitase decision lol
^^THESE! 🤣
@@ShirouBrando And to think people thought the multiverse changes in remake and rebirth were all done by Nomura because of how much his Kingdom Hearts stories are convoluted only to show that Nomura was holding back the changes and wanted a remake.
If we had a 1 to 1 remake. Nobody would be talking about it as much as they are. There would be no spoilercast or any speculation videos. I actually enjoy it this way.
@Leo-pt5rl I agree Im glad there is a healthy balance the majority of the game is the story we know but more fleshed out while there is still new content to Theorize over Heck I cant get the ending of rebirth out of my head
I really wanted to watch max’s playthrough of remake and rebirth. But i wanted to play it first myself. I am about 20 or something hours into the game. Still dont understand how to fight properly and the pacing seems a bit slow. Hopefully it gets better. Thank you Max for itroducing me into world of FF7. Love your content.
I have barely played the original FF7, but grew up around it enough to have nostalgia and appreciation. That said, Rebirth is INCREDIBLY special and really pulled me into the franchise on a deeper level.
As Max said, the sheer amount of things they had to account for and translate and execute in a more detailed manner. It's absolutely insane to me that it was managed. It's no wonder it took so many people so many years to make it. As an artist myself, people underestimate how HARD it is to write and convey a truly compelling piece of media in story, aesthetics, presentation, direction. They underestimate how hard it can be to faithfully translate the "feeling" of something less detailed/more abstract while making it incredibly detailed.
On top of that, ignoring the whole "translating" part of it, the game just has great gameplay, great story, great voice acting. It might be "cheesy" in some parts, but it's in the spirit of the original and completely intended. The visuals are ABSOLUTELY stunning. If the economy weren't so fucked, it would motivate me to buy a PS5. EVERYTHING is mindblowingly-good to look at. And that's from seeing it on UA-cam. I can't imagine how good it looks in person.
Rebirth is definitely special and deserves more praise and recognition. Even if sales aren't meeting expectations right now, it's building an audience and a great foundation for new fans to come in.
Rebirth utilized its spacious open world feature so exceptionally it blows my mind…some of the added new elements to the story is engaging, the mini games, and hours in trying to do everything is tremendous , but what really stands out is the characters…the VAs did such an incredible job, you can tell they took this project so serious, and understand what this game means to the fandom…Respect to Cody, Britt, Briana, John, Suzie, and Max, I know I speak for everyone in this Fandom when I say, they couldn’t have picked a better cast. 10/10 GOY for me
didn't even arrive at gold saucer and Rebirth already blew my mind multiple times. I couldn't believe my eyes when playing through the Junon Parade sequence.
max CONSTANTLY saying "finality" when he means "finale" is driving me insane. 🤣🤣🤣
He's dyslexic I think. He's always tripping up over words and their correct use and pronunciation.
@@upon-fe2720He also messes up his grammar literally any time there’s a plural. Love him but it gets me every time. I could see dyslexia though, I had a dyslexic friend that would misspeak words like that often.
@@suicidal_donuts6191Lol I expect from you a vid reviewing the game without tripping on something, ya asshole.
@@suicidal_donuts6191I expect a vid from you reviewing the game without tripping on something, ya asshole.
Let's also keep in mind that while streaming, your brain is kinda all over the place. He probably speaks better in a non-streaming environment
10:00 great take and also something that has rarely been consciously discussed even though It's something everyone has felt, Max often has these great moments where he shines the light on a new topic or way of seeing things, always worthy of my time to listen to him speak. which can't always be said about other content creators lol
Part 1 review: "This is the best shit ever!"
Part 2 review: "This is the best shit ever! Part 1 had some rough spots."
Part 3 review: "This is the best shit ever! Part 2 had some rough spots. Part 1 was trash."
I’m already at the point where I don’t like part 1 lol
I had low expectations since SE never succeeded with open world games before. And out of nowhere they deliver the best open world game design, it’s fun to explore the world for over 100 hours! Incredible game 10/10
I beat the game in 55 hours and I have ADHD. I know that sounds super short, but for me that's actually a REALLY long time. I can count on like 1 hand the amount of games have kept my attention that long. Even the first game, Remake didn't hold my attention and I came back several months later to complete it.
This game feels built for people with ADHD because their is CONSTANTLY new things to do. New traversal elements, new minigames, new characters, new storylines, etc.
Agreed. Also have ADHD. Didn't come back to Remake too after a large distracted hiatus till the PS5 update. Rebirth pulled me through the whole way.
I was really blown away at how great each class felt to play. I'm Really looking forward to what they do with the dragoon.
A big reason why so people (myself included) think it's too long is because we were all trying to beat it before we get spoil. If you play this game without that weight, you'd have a much better experience. I only did the main quest with some minor side quest and I spent 57 hours on this already.
Exactly this, I'm patiently waiting for the PC version to play it first of all at 60fps and take all my time enjoying it.
I played rebirth for 4 days at launch 12 hours per day just going through the main quest not worrying about side content and i loved it, 48 hours to get through the story and now i am at about 90 hours through the side content. loving the game.
Cloud being visibly irate and verbally groaning at the prospect of having to do basically a mandatory side quest was felt by EVERYONE and honestly that was made ever apparent during the mini games for Rebirth...
Rebirth is my favorite game. I knew it was going to be special halfway through the mythril mine and Junon just solidified that. The fact that it kept that high level through out is insane, the game knows no chill. It took the great things from Remake and made them better, and made the weaker elements better. It is full of character and charm. Most of all, I want to keep playing it, I just have other things and games I want and need to do. This is how I thought Final Fantasy games were going to start evolving towards with X onward. Not to the scale of Rebirth, but the formula in Rebirth is what I imagined the series going towards,. I hope that it does in the future. Between the battle system, and how the world is built, there is just so much you can do to make them different , yet keep the formula.
I don't know how they can top this with the third game, but I'm not going to be surprised if they manage it. As for the story, I love it. If you went into this expecting 1:1 with the OG you were going to be disappointed. You need to divorce yourself from that (doesn't mean you need to like this), the end of Remake told you this is different. The remake universe and the og universe are separate things. As I said, doesn't mean you must like this, that is a subjective thing, but we're far past the point of it just being a reskin of the original. I think the third part will be mainly carried by the story and how all the pieces are put together to make the whole. Remake introduced the split from the OG, Rebirth needed to put the pieces on the board, and Reunion (my bet for #3) will put it together.
Loved the game, can't wait to go through it again soon, and can't wait for a PC version. Now to fight the urge to play it right now, because I actually have shit to do.
agreed 100%
6:18 this is a great point. When you cram so many different things into a game, you are also increasing the probability people won’t like one of them. Which is an awesome complaint to have really. I just really wanted to do all the side quests but haaaaated the chocobo racing so much. For no other reason than I just don’t enjoy racing games
I didn't really care much for the OG FF7, am not a FF fan overall, so I don't have a nostalgia factor going into these titles. Rebirth is still a 10/10 experience. The amount of content and quality is off the charts. People i've seen complaning about the game legitimately come off as insane.
You shouldn't be talking. Your not a ff fan, so you don't really know nothing about it, your not a fan. The real ff fans complain, cause honestly the game has a lot of useless stuff in it, yes I'll give it a 10, but some of the bull shit quest and mini games kill it for a lot of people
@@akeelfrancis1311 The only people I've seen complain about any of the content in the game are people who quite honestly probably have undiagnosed ADHD and can't sit still for more than five minutes at a time. I don't know of anything in the game that brought it *down*, there's only stuff that made the experience better and stuff I didn't feel like doing and didn't have to.
This is easily the best FF game that has ever been made because it has both width and depth. It's not just hallways for 100 hours, it's not pictures vs. Chibis, it's not a fragmented, poorly told story, it doesn't have generic characters, it doesn't have overpriced DLC... one hasn't had to play FF games over the last 30 years to have seen all the reviews and jokes about the franchise.
Thank you for your comment megaman. It’s cool to see a take from a non FF fan to get objectivity of what the game felt like to others.
@akeelfrancis1311, you’re the worst type of fan 😂. You don’t get to gate keep the game because you’re an FF fan and others are not.
I’m a huge FF fan and anyone complaining about this game after the love and care that went into it are unequivocally awful. The story, the music, the plot, the post game content…just absolutely magical. Grateful for what they put out and to be alive during this time period.
People complaining about mini games they don’t like…shhhhh.
These are the same people that could have a sunny day on a vacation but the ice cream cone they ordered fell on the ground. Don’t let it ruin your beautiful day because you lost your cone.
@@tatebrown928 worst fan! You don't know fuck about me dude.
@@akeelfrancis1311oh come on just shut up that nonsense
Love this game. Was right around 125 hours before I rolled credits as well. Right around 160+ hours right now making my way through to the platinum. Just have to finish hard mode (chapters, mini games, combat sim).
Had your play through on in the background while I worked the last few weeks and helped a lot as I mirrored a lot of your moments from mine. 🤘
When one of the criticisms of a game is that you can't possible imagine how you can make the sequel better, you know they did a good thing. Also, I'm just near the end (Temple of the Ancients) and so far, Square have surpassed my wildest dreams for this game. They did the same with Remake... I guess what I'm trying to say is, the dev team seems pretty good at making games that surpass our imaginations, so I wouldn't be surprised if they find a way to make part 3 even better. Can't fathom how, but if there's a dev team that can do it, it's this one
Completed the main game last night and the ending hit me like a ton of bricks
I’m commenting here because-by now, and for years now-Square has paid attention to Max and the fanbase. They’re watching his vids and taking notes.
This game was also a 10/10 for me. I started playing games in 1989; the original FF7 blew me away. This brought back a magic I haven’t experienced with gaming in a long time.
I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but I believe Square will somehow one up this game-which will be an astounding feat. I think we’ve seen a hint at it with potential triple techs and Zack becoming playable. I agree with Max; spread the major new story beats out more and give us-and the characters-time to digest what’s happening. Those last three hours were nuts in what I think is the best way possible. So much to think about and discuss.
Also, let’s get a chance to extensively play as Zack in this game’s world. Set up portions of Midgar we haven’t seen yet with unique creatures and bosses not in the regular world. This character has so damn much charm; let new players to this story experience it as well.
You realize immediately this a world the developers want you to take your time and get lost in. It’s a lovingly crafted homage to the franchise, demanding your attention at every turn. If you’re attempting to breeze through this experience, you’re missing the point entirely!
Just reached 30 Hours in REBIRTH, and I’m loving it! Is it perfect? NO. It has its few flaws. BUT ITS LEGITIMATELY FUN. Love the characters, the combat is fun, amazing music, the graphics are on another level!!
Square Enix is going strong with the FF7 TRILOGY. 👍
( 13:28 this moment made me laugh as well….🤣)
Yes to all... but the MUSIC tho! It's the music that did the storytelling and amplified all the emotions, and it's what made each setting feel so right.
The Cosmo Canyon chocobo bit is exactly that kind of stuff that we can choose to not do. And like Max said, the game is naturally so good, we just ended up doing most of the things naturally anyway. Nothing feels forced. Even with the gears and bits mini-game, there are default templates that we can use should we choose to not engage in that mini-game.
Finally finished the game last night after all this time! Was only able to get my hands on it last month and I’m so glad I didn’t get spoiled. Immediately watched your play through after 🤣
I don’t care about FF7 but how much max loves it I admire. I watched all the streams and seeing someone realize they’re playing a new fav of theirs is cool
Im tired of people bemoaning that there is too much to do and that they dont like the sidequests and mini games. The game is fun, its enjoyable, the story is interesting and compelling. Is hard mode hard, absolutely. It is very hard, you need to know what you're doing. And people are complaining about it. Makes me think they wouldn't have survived the ps2 era of bosses
Open world video games need to figure out how to make the rest of their areas as good as their starting area 😂
I felt this kinda. Grasslands feels so vast, meanwhile gongaga was just kind of small circle. Cosmo Canyon just feels like a straight line from entrance to the town. I thought under junon and corel were good