Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Xbox Series X Review – Expected Excellence

Well, folks, it’s finally here. I’ve waited a long time to say it, but Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is finally available on the Xbox Series X. I’ve always taken issue with the fact that this one wasn’t available to an entire section of the gaming world, what with it being one of the biggest RPGs of this generation, its ambitions soaring high, while the experience backs them up quite well. Yes, it’s been around for a while, but I can safely say that time hasn’t dulled this one’s edge, not in the slightest.

Rebirth continues to be a confident, emotionally charged Final Fantasy title, and it’s easy to see why it’s among the franchise’s top earners. Let’s begin with the story, which feels familiar but not entirely predictable. It continues to sustain the challenge of balancing the old and the new that Remake began, taking the time to honor iconic characters, places, and emotional beats without being a scene-by-scene recreation of the original game.

"Of course, the people you meet along the way are a huge part of Rebirth’s allure."

It constantly toys with your expectations by leaving enough of the game for long-term to leaving enough for longtime fans to recognize, while managing to remain as cryptic as it can be about where things are headed. That’s not an easy feat to achieve, but this one does it with style. I do think you’d have a better time making sense of it all if you play Remake Intergrade, but there’s enough on offer in this one to make it stand on its own two feet. It brings a sublime blend of mystery, momentum, and sheer scale to make it quite hard to put down, even on a replay.

Of course, the people you meet along the way are a huge part of Rebirth’s allure. Cloud, Aerith, Barret, Tifa, and all the others from the game’s cast are brought to life in ways that differentiate them from their appearances in the original game. There’s a lot of new dialogue between various characters, all of which injects them with more personality than you might remember through additional lines of banter as you make your way across a gorgeous map.

They’re more vulnerable and willing to lean on their comrades when their conviction seems to falter, and some of the game’s best moments leave the spectacle of it all behind to bring more quiet, meaningful interactions that add emotional weight to the party’s dynamics and specific scenes. That makes the entire adventure feel like an insightful look into their motivations, and it’s an expansion of the original game that continues to be a welcome presence. They feel like a travelling group of comrades now more than ever, and that’s a very good thing in any RPG.

Of course, that isn’t to say that there isn’t any spectacle on offer. It wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy game without it. This is a massive game, but it manages to consistently bring new ideas and mechanics to keep you entertained for the entire experience. You could spend a quiet moment relishing an emotional story beat before being whisked away into a massive set-piece that has your heart flitting between empathy and exhilaration, with you being none the wiser.

"It’s rare that an RPG manages to pack in so much into its runtime, giving us an adventure that actually feels like we’re on a mission across a vast world."

It brings incredibly designed boss fights, addictive minigames, and a LOT of detours to take as you explore the open world, all of which serve character-driven moments very well. It’s rare that an RPG manages to pack in so much into its runtime, giving us an adventure that actually feels like we’re on a mission across a vast world, our only comfort being the ones who choose to travel by our side against forces that seem overwhelming, but cannot be left free to achieve their nefarious schemes. It’s deliciously old-school but with a layer of modern production values that make it a very potent blockbuster.

The revamped approach to the world design on offer helps with that, and the decision to move away from a rather linear structure in Remake to more open regions that come with so much variety that they feel distinct in their identity while providing visual splendor that continues to have me stopping to admire the sights every now and then, despite several playthroughs already under my belt. From The Grasslands to Costa del Sol to the Gold Saucer, each environment has its own identity, a facet that’s made possible by unique side activities, traversal quirks, and atmospheric touches.

It’s a world that feels like there was a lot of intent behind it, which makes it feel like it was lovingly crafted as opposed to being mechanically built to fill up vast swathes of land with things for players to do. That brings me to the nearly overwhelming amount of side content there is, most of which is purposefully baked into the experience to either expand what you know about the world, deepen the bonds you foster between your crew, or simply reward your curiosity while feeding progression.

All of that makes for a gameplay loop that continues to be quite hard to put down. Start a playthrough of this one, and you’re going to be thinking about it even when you’re away from your consoles. I will say that the activities you take on will depend on your personal tastes, but you’re sure to find something to like amid stuff like hunting down intel about the world, the Protorelic questlines, chocobo activities, or all the things you can do in the Gold Saucer. This one’s dense as they come, and it’s also generous enough to make the RPG side of things feel very rewarding indeed.

"There are more playable characters, which brings a wider range of tactical options for you to utilize. Combat encounters are similarly flexible, letting you take varying approaches to problem-solving on the fly."

That’s because this one’s not just an action game with a bit of customization thrown in to make it feel like an RPG. Instead, it’s an RPG through and through, with a bunch of mechanics that feed into the options you have at your disposal to create synergies between party members. You’ve got Materia, weapon upgrades, Folios, crafting, transmutation of items, a great gear system, and a lot of build potential to let you decide how your party operates when they come under enemy fire. If you’re the type who enjoys finding unique ways to take advantage of well-crafted systems, this one’s probably going to keep you occupied for a while.

Of course, all of the energy you spend on creating the perfect party setup has to feed into something, and that’s where the combat system comes in. It’s easily my favorite part of the entire game, building on the hybrid between action and the ATB system from Remake. There are more playable characters, which brings a wider range of tactical options for you to utilize. Combat encounters are similarly flexible, letting you take varying approaches to problem-solving on the fly.

Your party members’ abilities synergize very well once you sink a little time into enabling such interactions, and with options like character switching, managing your stagger bars, blocking, and dodging based on your enemy’s attacks forming the crux of your basic toolkit, that’s already a lot to wrap your head around. Throw in features like Limit Breaks, Synergy Abilities, Summons, and Materia combinations, and you have a combat system that feels like you’re the conductor of a very talented opera, one that manages to sustain a spellbinding performance on the grand stage that this one offers you.

It all comes together so beautifully that you can’t help but marvel at it all. Between the story, combat, and all that the world has to offer you, Rebirth is a title that delivers the best combat in the series while framing it within a narrative and exploratory loop that makes it stand out instead of diminishing it. Everything you do in this game feeds back into an important layer of the experience, and it works very well to make you fall in love with it.

"If you’ve got an Xbox, know that this one isn’t a compromised late arrival, but a strong offering in the platform’s RPG space, and a title that’s very easy to recommend wholeheartedly."

The Xbox Series X port of the game offers three different graphics modes. One is the Graphics mode, which pushes the game to its maximum visual fidelity while rendering at 4K resolution. There are two performance modes, one that sharpens the rendered image and the other that smooths it out. All modes did a decent job with regard to their performance targets, but we preferred the Graphics mode since this is where the game shines the best, thanks to overall high-quality visuals and assets.

With all that’s been said about it, and not for the first time, you’ve probably already guessed that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a superb RPG and a very welcome addition to your library of Xbox games. It brings a bold story, a very memorable cast of characters, a world that does not let you remain idle for too long, and outstanding combat, all of which are woven together so seamlessly that it makes this one among the most impressive titles in years.

Yes, flaws like a bit of stiffness to traversal mechanics, and some slightly exaggerated moments in the story are there. But they’re largely ignorable in the face of an experience that does everything else so darn well. If you’ve got an Xbox, know that this one isn’t a compromised late arrival, but a strong offering in the platform’s RPG space, and a title that’s very easy to recommend wholeheartedly.

It aims for the clouds, with little strife to be found on the gameplay front (pun intended), and it’s been a pleasure to return to it once again.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X.