Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is one of the best games of 2024, and as the second installment in the ambitious FF7 Remake saga, it's also a game that's expanded the universe of the landmark RPG in a big way - even with the developers putting pressure on themselves to deliver as the third installment is already on the way.
In the latest issue of Edge Magazine (issue 405), the developers of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth look back on the making of Final Fantasy 7's shift into an open-world RPG while offering some thoughts on how they managed to make two massive RPGs about remaking the classic game.
Looking back on Rebirth, lead producer Yoshinori Kitae (who was also the director of the original FF7) spoke about the impact the 1997 game has had, even adding that "so many of the original game's fans now work in the industry." One of the things the developers credit for keeping the Remake saga on track is a special creative committee within Square Enix that guides the story and experience.
What makes the Final Fantasy 7 Remake saga so compelling and widely talked about is that it's not purely a one-to-one remake or re-envisioning of the original, but rather a three-part experience that is a fundamental remaking of the original game and its lore. Similar to the Neon Genesis Evangelion's Rebuild series, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and its sequels take advantage of the mythos of the original to tell a story that expands upon the original game – even on a meta-level that's aware of the legacy that the original game has.
This expanded storytelling and scope also opened the game up to more modernized gameplay, which led to the game's open-world gameplay, which Rebirth featured front and center. Exploring the many regions from the original game, which were mostly incidental but now fully expanded with new storytelling, was exciting and thrilling in many ways.
With the impending third part on the way, there's been a lot of anticipation for sticking the landing after how well Rebirth was received - which the developers say was "hugely gratifying" to see, so much so that the developers are forgoing DLC content for Rebirth to go all in on the final installment.
"The level of excitement, expectation, and intrigue towards the third part of the series has been solidly built up," Kitase says in the Edge interview. "So yes, I am reassured. And it's certainly a weight off my shoulders to know we didn't mess it up."
In GamesRadar+'s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review, Iain Harris gave the game four and a half out of five stars, stating: "Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth delivers all the charm of Remake while making the needed improvements to side-content to ensure the original's step-out moment is worth taking once more."
