Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is like going to the movies to see a new version of The Empire Strikes Back in which, maybe, who knows, Darth Vader doesn't end up being Luke Skywalker's father. The simile is not coincidental, since this legendary video game franchise is considered the video game equivalent of George Lucas's galactic saga. Furthermore, this installment is the second part of a trilogy, something that makes it even more related to the aforementioned film.
To finish giving context, this video game is in turn a remake – a “rebirth” – of the iconic Final Fantasy VII, published in 1997 for the first PlayStation and responsible, among other things, for popularizing Japanese role-playing games in the West. Almost nothing.
The game has as protagonists the members of an ecoterrorist organization whose mission is to destroy the huge company that is extracting the planet's energy. The ecological premise is still as valid today as it was thirty years ago, but the rest of the work has undergone an enormous evolution in both form and content.
If the first part of the new trilogy involved a reunion with such beloved characters as Cloud, Tifa, Barret or Aeris, this second chapter is the great adventure. A world of extraordinary beauty opens before the player, the combats increase in possibilities, the relationship with the characters is deeper, there are a thousand things to do.
All this without taking into account that this is not a typical remake, and that the plot – including “that” scene in which a character dies – can change. Now, despite its many virtues, not everything is perfect: the game is so self-aware of its overflowing charisma, it tries so hard to be mythical, that sometimes it loses verisimilitude. As was the case in the previous installment, on many occasions it feels like the characters are disconnected from the world in which the story takes place, something that greatly diminishes the credibility of what is being told. It is noted, however, that its creators knew at all times that the material with which they have worked is the history of the medium. Above all, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a game for its fans, and they will appreciate it.
