FF7 Remake
I have played FF7 Remake on the PS4. I don't yet have a PS5 (I hope to get one by the end of this year, but with home repairs [namely a leaky roof], it may have to wait), so I haven't played Rebirth. I really want to, though. Admittedly, the nostalgia is strong for me.
As for my thoughts on FF7 Remake: Overall, I like it. I think the battle system is a huge improvement over what we had on the PS1. I don't mind turn-based (or Active Time Battle), but it's admittedly a relic of its time (granted, I play tabletop games these days, so even now, turn-based combat doesn't bother me, and I guess even in the world of video games, Clair Obscur has shown that there is still a place for turn-based combat in the modern gaming world). The new combat is real-time and faster-paced, similar to modern RPGs like The Witcher or The Elder Scrolls. (Is The Elder Scrolls still modern when Skyrim came out 14 years ago? I don't know. And yes, I know the first few installments came out in the 90s.) The graphics are obviously a lot better, and the voice acting is very good (in that regard, the series has come a long way from HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!).
As for the story, it largely follows the Midgar section of the original game, with the main story beats mostly intact. However, the different sectors are much bigger, there are more NPCs mulling about, and the little moments are made much bigger and grander. Minor characters like Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, who largely existed to be cannon fodder in the OG game, are given a lot more spotlight and backstory. Brand new content is added surrounding them and other new characters. Also, there is actively a war between Shinra and the town of Wutai, which in the original game was an optional area of little plot significance, though it did a brief lore drop in the original game about having lost a war with Shinra, as I recall? Its main significance was being Yuffie's hometown (and Yuffie was, herself, an optional character in the original game, so all this content was skippable in 1997). Yuffie doesn't even appear in the first installment of the Remake trilogy. She apparently appears in the DLC Intergrade, which I've never played, as well as in part 2, Rebirth.
But yeah... as far as big changes go, there are these things called whispers, I think it was? They seems to be there to ensure that the game doesn't deviate from the original game's path, as if preserving the authentic timeline kind of like the TVA from the Marvel series Loki. It's... honestly kinda lame. From what I've heard about Rebirth, it sounds like they're doing some multiverse crap, and... I don't know how I feel about that. It's not that I need these games to be a shot-for-shot recreation of the OG game, and some of the changes they've made are good. (For instance, I like that Jessie was a performer at the Gold Saucer. That's some fun new lore.) But where the changes fall flat for me are when the whispers literally act as a deus ex machina to keep the characters from dying at the wrong time. That's just... not good writing.
The ending sequence (right after the motorcycle minigame when Cloud and the gang are escaping from Midgar) results in a weird Kingdom Hearts-esque boss fight. I don't want to give too much away. It was a little out of place, but I can see why they felt the need to make the ending to the Midgar section more climactic than it was in the original game given that this is the end point for Remake itself.
I've seen clips from Rebirth, particularly from the Gold Saucer dates, and I'm honestly excited to play it. I'm in no big hurry, though, given how long we had to wait after Remake for Rebirth's release, so I anticipate that the third installment won't be out for a while. Maybe when all three parts have been released, they'll eventually release a complete collection including all DLC. We'll see.
As for my thoughts on FF7 Remake: Overall, I like it. I think the battle system is a huge improvement over what we had on the PS1. I don't mind turn-based (or Active Time Battle), but it's admittedly a relic of its time (granted, I play tabletop games these days, so even now, turn-based combat doesn't bother me, and I guess even in the world of video games, Clair Obscur has shown that there is still a place for turn-based combat in the modern gaming world). The new combat is real-time and faster-paced, similar to modern RPGs like The Witcher or The Elder Scrolls. (Is The Elder Scrolls still modern when Skyrim came out 14 years ago? I don't know. And yes, I know the first few installments came out in the 90s.) The graphics are obviously a lot better, and the voice acting is very good (in that regard, the series has come a long way from HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!).
As for the story, it largely follows the Midgar section of the original game, with the main story beats mostly intact. However, the different sectors are much bigger, there are more NPCs mulling about, and the little moments are made much bigger and grander. Minor characters like Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, who largely existed to be cannon fodder in the OG game, are given a lot more spotlight and backstory. Brand new content is added surrounding them and other new characters. Also, there is actively a war between Shinra and the town of Wutai, which in the original game was an optional area of little plot significance, though it did a brief lore drop in the original game about having lost a war with Shinra, as I recall? Its main significance was being Yuffie's hometown (and Yuffie was, herself, an optional character in the original game, so all this content was skippable in 1997). Yuffie doesn't even appear in the first installment of the Remake trilogy. She apparently appears in the DLC Intergrade, which I've never played, as well as in part 2, Rebirth.
But yeah... as far as big changes go, there are these things called whispers, I think it was? They seems to be there to ensure that the game doesn't deviate from the original game's path, as if preserving the authentic timeline kind of like the TVA from the Marvel series Loki. It's... honestly kinda lame. From what I've heard about Rebirth, it sounds like they're doing some multiverse crap, and... I don't know how I feel about that. It's not that I need these games to be a shot-for-shot recreation of the OG game, and some of the changes they've made are good. (For instance, I like that Jessie was a performer at the Gold Saucer. That's some fun new lore.) But where the changes fall flat for me are when the whispers literally act as a deus ex machina to keep the characters from dying at the wrong time. That's just... not good writing.
The ending sequence (right after the motorcycle minigame when Cloud and the gang are escaping from Midgar) results in a weird Kingdom Hearts-esque boss fight. I don't want to give too much away. It was a little out of place, but I can see why they felt the need to make the ending to the Midgar section more climactic than it was in the original game given that this is the end point for Remake itself.
I've seen clips from Rebirth, particularly from the Gold Saucer dates, and I'm honestly excited to play it. I'm in no big hurry, though, given how long we had to wait after Remake for Rebirth's release, so I anticipate that the third installment won't be out for a while. Maybe when all three parts have been released, they'll eventually release a complete collection including all DLC. We'll see.