EveryFinal Fantasyis someone’s favorite. It’s a long-running series with plenty of mainline entries, so there’s something for everyone in there. That said,Final Fantasy 7resonated with people in a very particular way, with the Remake recapturing so much of that sensation.
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WithFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirththough, Square Enix has the chance to take Final Fantasy 7 in a dramatically new direction from both its predecessor and the original. Though both of them are incredible games in their own right, Rebirth is a chance to, well, let many aspects of the game be born again.
10No More Loading Corridors
Final Fantasy 7 Remake was and is an incredible game, a fascinating success story following a very lengthy development cycle. The art direction of the game was immaculate, with an engaging combat system, developed characters, and a story that kept the heart of the original.
And yet, it had loading corridors. They are a scourge in a day and age when developers try their hardest to hide their existence, yet FF7 Remake has so many of them. A wonderful change would be to simply remove them. Hopefully, the PS5 affords them that.
9Seamless Areas
Transitioning seamlessly along, corridor loading screens used to be a way of hiding a literal loading screen so it seemed like you never left the world. A means to increase immersion, except it became too obvious.
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For FF7 Rebirth, it would be great if this vast and expansive world they’re promising felt truly massive, free of anything holding us back. In that regard, it would be great if the transition between towns and the world was all without hitting a loading screen. Or at least a very obvious one.
8Improved Aerial Combat
One of the major challenges posed in remaking Final Fantasy 7 was how to transition from the ATB system to something almost fully real-time. The developers of the Remake achieved it wonderfully, balancing the real-time elements of the ATB system smoothly into an action game.
That said, the combat still had its pitfalls. While it didn’t show as much for Aerith and Barret, it felt jarring how Cloud and Tifa would just shoot into the air like a rocket after any enemy that could fly. Worse still was the complete lack of tactics once you were in the air. With the world seemingly taking on a much larger scale, it would be great for aerial combat to expand with it.
7A Diverging Story
The most wonderful trick Final Fantasy 7 Remake pulled was truly making you believe it was just an expanded remake. Yes, it does follow much the same story up to a certain point, though aspects still stand out as…different. Until the ending hits and you learn the game is actually a parallel universe sequel thing.
With all that established though, it would feel fairly odd for Rebirth to follow the original game’s post-Midgar story closely. So here’s hoping it goes all out anddelivers us a storythat’s dramatically different from the original, playing off the strongest aspects of the Remake.
6Better Side Content
Considering the goal of FF7 Remake was to expand the city of Midgar into a whole game, it was a massive success. You feel the density of the city, the class divisions between top and bottom, the retro-futuristic reactors mixed with the resource-deprived underbelly.
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Of course, that did make some of those more open-ended sections a bit drab. For as gorgeous as the curated segments in the city were, the more free areas with side content felt a little boring. So, hopefully, the NPCs and the areas they dwell in are a bit more lively this time around.
5Greater Limit Break Diversity
One of the calling cards of the original FF7 was Limit Breaks. While Materia allowed you to flexibly build any character into any role, Limit Breaks meant they still had some defined personality that gave them a unique gameplay experience.
This is the one side of the Remake that’s slightly lacking. While Aerith actually has very distinct Limit Breaks, Tifa, Cloud, and Barret all end up having simple damage dealers. With each having distinct fighting styles, Limit Breaks need a pretty big overall to show as much character as they did in the original.
4Even More Materia Combinations
Final Fantasy games have always had somewhat atypical leveling systems. For FF12, it was the license board, or in FF10 it was the Sphere Grid. And for FF7, it came by way of Materia, a means of combining magic stones to create absurd combos.
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For the Remake, this was understandably downscaled. The number of combinations you could perform would’ve been impossible to recreate. For Rebirth though, a game with an already firm understanding of its core combat? Well, Materia combos seem like the perfect area to expand.
3Functioning Aggro System
Aggro systems are pretty essential toparty-based games. If you have a weak healer, you’re going to need someone who can take the damage away from them so they can keep the rest of the party thriving. It’s a pivotal system, but one FF7 Remake fumbled.
For some reason, the aggro system in the game is simplistic, targeting whoever is the controlled character. Even the Provoke Materia doesn’t fully solve this. Hopefully in Rebirth, with the promised improved coordination, aggro will be a dedicated system.
2In-Depth Armor
In most Final Fantasy games,characters simply look how they look. You usually can’t physically change their outfit outside of key story moments. FF15 and Lightning Returns are the major exceptions to this. Different weapons, on the other hand, have always appeared on characters, with FF7 Remake even giving them whole skill trees.
With the same director as Lightning Returns, FF7 Rebirth seems like the perfect opportunity to give armor the depth it deserves. Not only should it visually reflect on characters, but it should also have unique stats. Maybe an armor auto-casts reflect or has additional materia slots. Great opportunities there.
1Sephiroth As A Companion
Leaving Midgar in the original Final Fantasy 7 is a major moment. You see the dead land around Midgar stretching out into a vast green world. The world is bigger than you realize, and the party navigates to Kalm to bring everyone up to speed.
Here is one of the greatest moments of the original, where you get to fight alongside Sephiroth as Cloud recounts the tale of Nibelheim. Sephiroth is terrifying, having an immense repertoire of skills at his disposal. Even if this scene is removed, it would be great to see the power of Sephiroth in battle alongside you.
