Nowadays, it feels like the industry really loves digging up critically loved games and giving them a remaster, remake and reboot. And now the legendary PS1 Final Fantasy 7 has a trilogy of remakes. And mind you, this isn’t a trilogy of 3 different stories, but of the same one. So how did we get here? The original Final Fantasy 7 dropped back in 1997 and became iconic almost immediately. Years later, in 2005 the PS3 tech demo featured the first opening scene of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. So of course it was widely appraised and hyped. , And that lead to Final Fantasy 7 having so many versions of the game, from prequels, sequels and spin-offs to the point that so many people started asking, “which version is which?”
And Square Enix decided that wasn’t enough and gave us Final Fantasy 7 Remake project. It basically reimagines the story of the original 1997 version, changes the combat and stretches the opening hours into a full game of its own. And now we have Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth which continues that reimagined timeline as the second part of a planned trilogy, expanding the world even further instead of just retelling it.
So that’s why we’re here, to break down Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s open world. The game certainly has its fair share of strengths and weaknesses, so I hope this video helps you decide whether you should buy the game or not, since this month Final Fantasy 7 Remake is finally going multiplatform being available for the switch 2 and xbox. And don’t worry, I won't spoil the story for you. So let’s take a look at how their newest version of the game actually does as an open world.
Square Enix’s modern attempt at an Open World
Talking about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's open world it’s the first time the series evolved its open world scale and structure. Earlier Final Fantasy games were centered around more linear gameplay and maps that were open but cut off from one another, the remake part 1 set in Midgar is full of corridors, so theres not much to explore. Rebirth is the moment Square Enix commits to the contemporary open world language, with one seamless map that comes together after a certain point in the story. That makes it a good reference point for evaluating Final Fantasy in today’s open world landscape.
Early on, moving between regions gives the illusion that the map is segmented, since Rebirth is very much story driven, you’ll need to progress the main story to unlock more regions. It does get plus points though since the story itself is peak, with heavy narratives and huge character lores. I know where you’re looking at.. Anyway, the game structures the map fairly well around the story in a way that doesn’t hurt the overall map seamlessness later on as well.
Each new area always gives you a fresh system to travel inside the regions, using the famous multi colored chickens called Chocobos, and each chocobo has their own gimmick. Some are fun but some can also annoy the heck out of you like in Gongaga. Traversing the thick jungle feels like a puzzle, and you need to find the correct mushroom to take the route that you want. It really is a pain in the ass, especially when you can’t even jump off a small cliff, being restricted by the gimmicks and all, or just invisible barriers. This limited freedom makes the players really explore the map, though.
But, this is also almost evened out by the way the map opens up after the later chapters, where Tiny Bronco unlocks the full scale of the map, allowing you to just swoosh through the whole map, at least through the water. I gotta give it to Square Enix for this one. The fact that this game is built on Unreal Engine 4 paired with the scale of the game, it really is impressive. So, overall still a decent attempt by Square Enix.
One of a kind Hybrid Combat and Character Bond
The map isn’t the only thing that differs Rebirth from other Final fantasies though, and even other open world games in general in this case. Rebirth blends real time action with old school JRPG thinking where you are dodging and positioning while also stopping to remember you actually have a party to manage. If you’ve played Final Fantasy 16, the game is more fully focused on action combat with nothing to manage or anything strategic at all.
So let me be clear, FF7 Rebirth has hybrid combat. I know some fans prefer the OG turn-based combat and hate this hybrid system, but some also love it and even want it implemented in their other favorite classic JRPGs. For me especially, since this kind of hybrid combat is still rare in modern open world games. You might see bits and pieces of the ideas in other games, but the overall combination itself? I don’t think I’ve seen it anywhere else.
The hybrid combat gives flexibility during fights and more awareness of who you’re controlling and why. You’ll be switching characters constantly while using ATB for spells or abilities and sometimes realizing a second too late that healing before doing the cool move might have been the smarter choice. Even compared to Remake part 1’s combat, Rebirth gives even more depth in combat like the use of synergy skills. The synergy skill lets our character have dual techs, and yes the character interactions hitting the boss together is really satisfying. It sounds like a lot to swallow at first but once you get the hang of it genuinely becomes fun.
Now, the best part is the social aspect of the game, characters have a bonding or relationship status with the main character. You level this status up by making dialogue choices and character specific side quests with each character. And you’d never guess that even by doing a synergy skill together it also deepens their bonding. It's a really cool system by taking our favorite character in battle and being rewarded by the game. And yes, later on, we can even go on dates with the character that has the highest relationship status, which I know some of you are obsessed with.
Good Side Narrative Depth with Unnecessary Bloat?
Let’s now talk about the elephant in the room AKA the Ubisoft style open world. It’s yet another one of those games where you gotta go to this tower to unlock countless icons on your map. It might not sound that bad at first, but when you have to do this for each of the different regions of the map? Well let’s just say enough’s enough. I’m just surprised they decided to go in this direction when their original was so good to begin with. Where they were focusing more on the exploration, getting rewarded genuinely because you’re curious about the area. Remembering that the original rewarded natural discovery with good side content like the super bosses that felt challenging, or the optional towns that came with your detour stroll.
Now I’m not saying that Rebirth is all bad, I’m just saying that the direction they went with could’ve been better, it’s just a shame if the player skipped some of the content just because they were tired of the content bloat, especially when some of the really good Materia is unlocked by doing side content from Chadley. That said, the side quests remained great to dive into with different gimmicks and narrative depth giving just as much depth as the main story. Even adding some humor into the mix, which I personally enjoyed.. This type of stuff reminds me of Fable’s type of humor, which can never go wrong.
Let me tell you something, it doesn’t truly feel like final Fantasy if there’s no super boss. Rebirth’s protorelics collecting renewed this by turning the original’s tough super boss fights into a whole journey. Each region gives different side stories and even its own mini games on getting the protorelics. Some of these mini games are cool, but some of them are just outright bad. Well, I guess nothing is perfect.
At some point, the game casually starts throwing mini games at you like it’s no big deal, when actually mini games here are A big deal. The world is packed with them, and they might be more addictive and deliberate than they seem. I know I’ve heard the community obsessing over the card games, which is understandable, since if any card game is as detailed as this one is, it adds a unique factor of its own. But for me personally, I got pulled into the chocobo races, where I found out that the detailed mechanics of your customizable chocobo stats mattered as much as your skill on the racetrack. Not all of these are created equal, and it also might bloat the world with some of its lack of depth, but the options to do them are there, giving the world a lot of activities to immerse yourselves in.
The Subtle Environmental Storytelling in its Expanses
What I love about Final Fantasy games is their visual beauty, and Rebirth does not disappoint. It does make you want to stop for a few seconds and soak it in, sometimes… I mean just take a look at Cosmo Canyon or the Junon Harbour, both completely different, but charming in their own ways. When you mix that with the NPCs of this world, it creates an atmospheric open world that just works, and I am all for it. If there’s one thing fans appreciated in the original, it’s the NPCs, and Square Enix has successfully brought that over to Rebirth.
The NPCs feel like they’re actual people, doing what people do, some of which even tie into the main story. NPCs chat with each other, telling their own different stories. I can tell they really put a lot of effort into making the town really lively. You can also really feel this when you watch the small concerts in the game. Never did I think I’d be watching a concert in a game, but here we are.
You must’ve noticed by now through the footage that the towns aren’t lacking any signs of life, which is what makes the game’s settlements so great to be in. The game improved this gradually. The Original had much fewer NPCs, which meant less activity. The Remake increased the density. And finally Rebirth added even more density, with more added hubs and small settlements across the map. However, even if the game improves and creates new things to the game, they keep the original concept of the overworld. In the original we just move from town A to town B with just random encounters in between.
So does Rebirth, there are no NPCs outside the settlements roaming around to give lore of the region they live in. Instead, now we get Chadley, who won’t stop yapping every time we get new region data by scanning a lifespring. Now here’s what I think, instead of getting data by scanning crystals, why not scatter some NPC here and there to tell what each region is about, heck they can even make a troubled random NPC for combat challenges. Games this modern should be able to make the world outside of settlements filled with both enemies and NPC, not just random enemies. I feel that this kind of design is lazy and should be improved by today’s technology.
Story-gated Map Progression That Actually Works
Did I mention that the game’s map was gated by story progression? Well in Rebirth’s case it actually helps the game’s engagement, and it’s this smart game design decision that helped achieve that. It’s mostly through the value that the game brings as you go through the game’s many chapters. Progressing the main story doesn’t just push the plot ahead but keeps unlocking new regions, new mechanics, and new ways to approach combat.
In some chapters you will be character-locked. Each character has their own gimmick in dungeons mechanics though, and swapping their materia makes the combat always feel dynamic even until the last chapter. The game has its rough edges with some unnecessary bloat, I’ll admit that, but I won’t dismiss the fact that the game put intentional effort into making each new region you unlock feel like its introducing new mechanics and systems.
And that’s why I was surprised. The activities rarely feel copy pasted. It basically never stops teaching you new ways to play. By the time you reach the later chapters, you’ll still get new tutorials, like the treasure hunting at sea. So it becomes clear that the steady unlocking of content is what carries the engagement all the way through. I will say though, some parts might feel too slow and that can impact the game pacing. Some people might drop the game if they dislike the sluggish part and I don’t blame them if they do. The game is really big, and a first playthrough of the game can take you nearly hundreds of hours, or even more if you’re a completionist.
Quantity or Quality of Personalization?
Okay, let me ask you a question, are you the kind of person who favors Quantity or Quality? Because FF7 is clearly leaning towards one of them, the amount of weapons, skill trees for each character, to actually choosing your party members, which at the end of the day shapes your build. It’s just a shame that we didn’t get a lot of choices when it came to outfits, especially when it could’ve added real personality to your playthroughs. I would’ve liked to see a little bit more freedom here. But let’s just focus on what this game brought.
The heart of it for me is the materia system. It introduces a sense of experimentation. Take what you will with that information, because slotting materia into weapons and accessories slowly turns each character into a very different tool in combat. For me, this made me constantly tweak things instead of settling on one setup forever, which again, I’m guilty of spending a bit too much time on, but I liked that it never felt solved since changing one materia can completely shift how a fight plays out. It did get tedious at times though when Rebirth doesn’t have any dedicated loadout switch feature, like they used to have in the original Final Fantasy 7.
That’s what makes me think twice about this game, although there’s a lot of things to customize, it feels like most of them are missing something. And I’ve got another one to prove it to you. Your chocobo teases you the idea of being able to make it run faster, since gear and stats really matter during races but outside of those races it only remains as a cosmetic. This was a little odd to me because the devs already implemented it in the races, but why didn’t they implement it for the whole game as well? That will forever remain a mystery to me. So in the end, you’ll have a lot of personalization features, but are they high in quality? That’s up to you to decide.
Verdict
Given the scale of the game it's really impressive that this game was only made in 4 years. The game has a huge improvement from the remake part 1, even if they went overboard in some parts, one might even say, unnecessarily too big. Knowing there’ll be a part 3, I’m just hoping Square Enix will learn from the weaknesses of Rebirth. We expect a lot from the story continuation, and we all know what we really want to see in part 3. Some long awaited spicy content, AKA the implied sex scene.
So lets summarize the breakdown.
Uniqueness
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth stands out by blending real time action with classic party based JRPG combat, forcing you to dive into combat, while indulging in their deep social mechanics.
Side Activities
Side content goes far beyond filler, with character driven quests, deep mini games like card battles and chocobo racing, and collectibles that build toward super bosses you can eventually summon yourself.
Area of Freedom
Exploration feels structured rather than fully open, as regions unlock gradually through the story, but unique traversal mechanics like region specific chocobos keep movement fresh.
Liveliness
The world feels alive in towns and hubs through music, crowds, and ambient NPC activity, even if the wilderness itself feels noticeably quieter by comparison.
Engagement
Engagement stays high because the game constantly introduces new mechanics, regions, and combat options, making it hard to ignore side content without feeling like you are missing out.
Customization
Customization shines through the materia system and weapon abilities, encouraging constant experimentation and letting every character evolve into a distinct role.
All together, Rebirth delivers a rich, content filled adventure that rewards curiosity and earns its place in the A Tier at Gametyr.
