Final
Fantasy
VII
Rebirth
is
an
excellent
game
and
an
important
evolution
for
the
franchise.
It
mashes
together
a
traditional
RPG
with
a
large
open
world,
managing
to
feel
both
modern
and
like
it’s
sticking
to
its
32-bit
roots.
What
it
is
not,
however,
is
a
good
place
to
get
started
with
the
multipart
story
that
is
Final
Fantasy
VII
—
despite
what
its
creators
might
say.
Prior
to
Rebirth’s
launch,
creative
director
and
zipper
aficionado
Tetsuya
Nomura
talked
about
how
the
game
was
designed
in
part
to
be
welcoming
to
newcomers
(always
a
commendable
goal).
“In
fact,”
he
said
in
2022,
“new
players
might
even
enjoy
starting
their
Final
Fantasy
VII
journey
with
Final
Fantasy
VII
Rebirth.”
Meanwhile,
on
launch
day,
producer
Yoshinori
Kitase
said
the
game
would
be
“welcoming
in
newcomers
to
begin
their
Final
Fantasy
adventure
here.”
Unfortunately,
that’s
not
quite
right.
Let’s
start
with
the
obvious:
Rebirth
is
the
second
chapter
of
a
story.
Square
Enix’s
plan
is
to
take
the
original
1997
version
of
Final
Fantasy
VII
and
expand
it
into
a
trilogy
of
modern
games.
That
started
with
the
aptly
named
Final
Fantasy
VII
Remake
in
2020,
which
told
the
beginning
of
the
story.
It
introduces
many
elements
crucial
to
Rebirth
—
the
state
of
the
dying
world
you’re
trying
to
save;
the
relationships
between
hero
Cloud
Strife
and
every
major
character;
the
machinations
of
the
evil
Shinra
corporation;
and
the
motivation
of
antagonist
Sephiroth.
On
a
purely
technical
level,
you
can
play
Rebirth
first.
And
in
some
ways,
the
game
stands
on
its
own,
telling
a
story
about
a
group
of
friends
heading
out
into
the
big
wide
world
to
track
down
a
villain
intent
on
destroying
it.
There’s
a
solid
recap
video
you
can
watch
before
playing
to
catch
up
on
some
of
what
happened.
The
new
games,
Rebirth
in
particular,
also
do
a
great
job
of
expanding
on
and
clarifying
the
convoluted
story
of
the
original,
which
—
despite
its
length
—
felt
lacking
in
a
lot
of
areas.
But
things
are
still
pretty
complex,
and
that
would
only
be
exacerbated
by
skipping
the
first
chapter.
So
while
you
could
start
with
Rebirth,
the
experience
would
probably
be
a
lot
like
when
I
jumped
into
Kingdom
Hearts
with
the
third
one
—
which
is
to
say,
confusing
as
hell.
Then
there’s
the
experiential
and
emotional
side.
A
large
part
of
the
appeal
of
this
franchise
is
its
characters,
and
Rebirth
even
introduces
a
new
system
where
you
can
track
how
someone
feels
about
Cloud
and
help
improve
those
relationships
through
conversations
and
optional
side
missions.
If
you
skip
out
on
Remake,
you’ll
be
missing
a
whole
lot
of
context
covering
the
often
complicated
history
between
characters
and
why
you’d
want
to
connect
with
them
at
all.
Going
on
a
date
with
Tifa
isn’t
quite
the
same
if
you
haven’t
experienced
their
journey
together.
Look,
I
can’t
tell
you
what
to
do.
But
if
you
really
want
to
get
the
most
out
of
this
collection
of
games,
it’s
best
to
start
at
the
beginning.
In
fact,
I’ll
go
a
step
further:
if
you
really
want
to
experience
all
that
Final
Fantasy
VII
has
to
offer,
you
should
play
the
original
before
Remake
and
Rebirth.
That’s
because
not
only
do
the
remakes
expand
the
story
but
they
also
change
things
in
notable
ways,
and
understanding
those
changes
can
be
powerful.
Yes,
that
means
a
lot
of
hours
spent
fighting
monsters
and
fiddling
with
Materia.
(Hey,
at
least
I’m
not
saying
you
should
watch
Advent
Children.)
But
the
franchise
also
gets
very
meta
in
pivotal
moments,
using
ingrained
memories
of
the
original
to
subvert
player
expectations.
Nowhere
is
that
more
pronounced
than
with
the
ending
of
Rebirth
which...
actually,
I’m
not
going
to
say
anything
about
it.
Go
play
the
original
first.
Original author: Andrew Webster
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