Rebirth’s Switch 2 port is creaky, but the game is still excellent and ambitious.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/75799/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-switch-2-review
Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which came out in 2020 initially and made it over to the world of Nintendo on Switch 2 earlier in 2026, is a relatively straightforward thrill ride throughout the city of Midgar. That game takes the opening hours of the original Final Fantasy 7 and spreads it out over 20 to 30 hours. In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second entry in Square Enix’s ambitious remake series, the world expands greatly as Cloud and the gang journeys outside of Midgar. The closed corridors of the city fall away into a section-based open world experience that might take you into the triple digit hours to complete. As of June 3, 2026, you can now experience that journey on Switch 2 following its initial 2024 launch.
Rebirth is an ambitious game for a variety of reasons. One of them is due to the visuals and performance, which is a little bit of a struggle on Switch 2. This game was built for PlayStation 5 (whereas Remake was made for PS4) and the Switch 2 release is a clear downgrade. That being said, it’s still a solid port without any game-wrecking drawbacks. Load times take a little while sometimes. Visuals aren’t always the crispest. The game runs consistently well though, shining best in Docked Mode. Ultimately, it’s largely consistent with the experience of playing the game on Steam Deck. If you want to play handheld, it’s a great way to experience the game. If you want to play it on a TV, I’d opt for one of the beefier home consoles if you have access.
Another way that Rebirth is ambitious is in its story. It’s wild to me that this game kicks off in an alternate timeline controlling a character most newcomers won’t totally comprehend. I appreciate that Square Enix has the confidence to tell the story they want to and embrace the twisty meta narrative of these games. A helpful “Story So Far” recap makes it so it’s not totally incomprehensible to start, but I’d very much recommend playing Remake before diving into Rebirth. The writing and performances also go a long way to make this oft-convoluted story work. It’s also regularly very funny. Despite the severity of the drama at times, there is a very playful tongue-in-cheek vibe that is present for so much of the game.
Rebirth’s story follows the plot of the 1997 game from the moment you leave Midgar up until the Temple of the Ancients where the fabled spoiler happens in the original story. A lot of the build up to that moment is whether or not that will actually happen. While Remake was more focused in its meta-sequel setup, Rebirth meanders a lot more. I’m still interested in how the story twists and turns, but by virtue of how much this game follows the path of the PlayStation 1 game, it feels a lot more happenstance. You go to certain places just because that’s the order of things from nearly 30 years ago. I also don’t know if the ending sticks the landing, but despite any complaints I might have, I’m still lining up to play the third entry as soon as I possibly can.
The open area exploration is another ambitious element. After an engaging prologue playing as Cloud and Sephiroth in the past in the Nibelheim Incident, you soon get access to the Grasslands, the first of several open areas where you can explore to complete a checklist of quests ranging from difficult monster battles to capturing Moogles. Some areas are more fun than others, but it’s generally a blast running around these environments on Chocobos and experiencing all of the various challenges and story beats.
Some of those parts are transcendentally excellent. For example, I’d play an entire game of the card game Queen’s Blood if Square Enix ever wanted to put one out. It’s an engrossing and deep game-within-a-game that also leans into the quirky aspects of the world. Other parts of the world are sometimes dreadful. Back in the original game, there were a lot of mini-games. That translated to there being a lot of mini-games in the world of Rebirth. It’s funny to see Cloud do squats. It’s less funny when you’re dealing with the asinine Glide de Chocobo mini-game in Cosmo Canyon. Switch 2 doesn’t have achievements so hopefully people don’t feel as compelled to 100% every single mini-game because my sincere recommendation is to just move along the second the mini-game annoys you. Or, if you’re so inclined, go into the options menu and toggle on some of the helpful boosts to make some of the mini-games easier. Those options also extend to the game as a whole. It’s great to have access to modifiers to tune the game to how you would like to experience it, whether it’s making yourself super powerful or just speeding up experience point gains.
The combat is very similar to Remake but is much more expansive by virtue of the added complexity of new characters like Red XIII, Yuffie, and Cait Sith. It’s a great expansion of the excellent action RPG combat of Remake and I’m looking forward to seeing how it continues to mutate as new playable characters are added in the third installment. Once again, the greatest triumph of the combat is that I legitimately don’t miss the turn-based combat. It’s fun to switch between characters mid-battle, change your party composition, and play around with synergies. A handful of story moments railroad you into specific characters and if, for example, you don’t like Cait Sith, you might have a bad time. But I earnestly appreciate those moments because even if the specific late-game Cait Sith moment I’m referring to is a weaker stretch of the game, it makes you learn how to effectively use each character’s skills and abilities. I definitely developed favorites throughout the game, but I always enjoyed spending time with all of the playable characters.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a bold game, whether it’s the direction of the story, the size of the world, or the stupid amount of mini-games. It’s a little bit messier than Remake, but the highs are higher. When this game clicks, it’s one of my favorite games in recent memory, making some of the discordant moments less egregious. On Switch 2, it’s a totally fine port, albeit not as impressive as the port of Remake. There might be better platforms to play this game on, but if you’re into the world of Final Fantasy, RPGs, or wild and weird AAA games, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a must-play wherever you can get it.
Topic: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Switch 2) Review (Read 18 times)
