Look, I get it, people are going to be gushing about how amazing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth looks. I shouldn’t say that before playing, but man, I can’t help myself. But it’s just such a solid foundation, and now we’re kicking off the planetary journey with huge open zones, tons of side quests… and the return of an in-game Final Fantasy card game, which is something I’ve waited, oh, 23 years for? And Cloud backflips off of a dolphin? This has GOTY 2024 written all over it.
I realize I’m going on about Remake, rather than the upcoming second part of the trilogy. The battle system is sublime, and coming back to Remake after this year’s Final Fantasy 16, I think this is still the gold standard for modern FF combat. Say what you will about the weird additions to the classic FF7’s Midgar arc, but goodness gracious, the banter between these iconic characters makes up for it in spades. I’m on my fourth playthrough of what was, for my two cents, 2020’s Game of the Year, and it gets better every time. Even as I type this, my living room TV has Final Fantasy 7 Remake on it.
