What’s this? Another Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review? You’re not imagining things. We did review the latest installment of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy a year ago, but that was for the at-the-time exclusive PlayStation 5 version. Now, Cloud and gang’s continued journey beyond Midgar has made the jump to PC, giving us another chance to assess how it measures up for a whole new platform and audience.
I won’t waste too much time providing a deep analysis of the points presented in our 10/10 review from last year. It is the same game after all. The primary focus of the PC review will be to assess its competency, stability and anything else that makes it stand out, for better or worse, from the PS5 version. That said, here’s a brief overview of what Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is all about. Picking up from where 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake left off, with the exciting narrative shakeup leaving the door open for anything to happen in this reimagining of one of the PS1’s most iconic and adored classics. Whereas Remake contained the action to Midgar, greatly expanding on what accounted for the first several hours of the original, Rebirth ventures beyond the capital city and into a vast, open world. The driving force behind this departure is the ongoing hunt for Sephiroth, a goal that will take the team through several regions, including the Grasslands, Junon, Corel, Gongaga, and more.
Moving On From Midgar
If somehow you haven’t been following Square Enix‘s simultaneous revival and reinvisioning of Final Fantasy VII, Rebirth marks the second entry in the trilogy of games that will comprise our modern-day interpretation of the 1997 title. As such, it finds itself in a peculiar place. Given that Remake set the tone for this venture not being a one-to-one overhaul, the expectations have shifted. That’s not to say that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has zero tricks up its sleeve, because it certainly does. But it finds itself mapping out the midsection, which admittedly houses some notable story beats.
Making up the middle portion, while still engaging, does cause this expansive experience to become a bit bloated as it trends towards the ultimate conclusion. The return of Chadley as the quest-giver for the abundance of optional tasks is one of the immediate highlights of just how much there is to do, even if the scale between impressive and tedious isn’t always perfectly balanced. Depending on the type of player you are, these will either be seen as a flood of engaging side content to encourage more time with the lovable characters or an overwhelming slog of diversions meant to pad out the hours.
At the heart of it all remains Remake‘s real-time action combat pivot from the old-school turn-based encounters. Mechanics such as stagger and pressure return, alongside new inclusions, like Synergy Skills. Synergy Skills allow for the team-up of two characters in the performance of a joint attack, deepening the already “easy to learn, hard to master” combat system (depending on your chosen difficulty). The varied combat style of the colorful cast come together nicely in this new system and expand the tactical approaches available to players as they chew through the absolutely massive amount of content packed into this RPG.
That’s enough about the details with which you are likely already familiar. So what does the PC version specifically have to offer? It’s a weirdly mixed bag. From a performance standpoint, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PC has the capability of presenting the game in arguably its definitive form. Backed by hardware up to the task, seeing the memorable environments elevated by 120 fps at 4K resolution is a sight to behold. My rig’s 4080 and i7-14700K managed a frame rate between 90 and 110 fps at 1440p depending on the environment and action onscreen. Additionally, the pop-in called out on the PlayStation 5 is noticeably reduced, making for a smoother experience. When everything is running as desired, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PC is without a doubt its definitive form.
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
Unfortunately, the PC version is also held back by some odd decisions. First of all, there is a lack of a fullscreen option, with borderless window being the next best thing available. Furthermore, there is a hard frame rate cap of 120 fps. Those boasting a 4090 or a new 50 series card won’t be pushing the game to loftier heights. That’s even taking DLSS into the equation, which is also weirdly implemented. Instead of the usual quality, balanced, performance and ultra performance DLSS options, separate min and max render resolutions must be edited (e.g., 66% min is the equivalent to quality) to achieve the same effect. Although the game looks incredible, the oddly-limited and lack of graphics options are hard to overlook.
With all that said, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth does run surprisingly well, especially compared to Square Enix’s problematic PC ports of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy XVI. When I first launched Rebirth, I was concerned after the game soft-locked during the initial cutscene upon the appearance of a poorly-rendered helicopter. But that hiccup was quickly left in the past and no further issues occurred during my time with the game, making it an easy winner against recent Final Fantasy installments on PC.
Note: On February 3rd, Square Enix released a patch on PC to address some of the bugs and glitches noted in this review. Our review was conducted prior to this update and we cannot confirm its impact, positive or negative.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PC): Final Fantasy VII Rebirth presents its definitive form on PC, even when matched up against the PS5 Pro. Although the PC-specific graphics options are surprisingly limited, Square Enix has managed to far outdo their efforts with Remake and XVI. If you have yet to play Rebirth, experience its full potential on PC. – Joshua
[Editor’s Note: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was reviewed on PC, and a copy was provided to us for review purposes.]