Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a grand adventure that doesn’t let go once you get into it. Nevertheless: MyMMO author Max Handwerk would not have needed a good 6 hours in this game. Especially not twice.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a great game. That’s clear from the get-go, but that shouldn’t be news to most of you here. The story around Cloud and his group is incredibly exciting, the varied world is beautiful, and the gameplay system is captivating. At least, that’s my take on it.
I am primarily a story player: I enjoy games where the story really pulls you in. And after playing through Final Fantasy 7, Crisis Core, and of course FF7 Remake, I was eager to find out which direction Rebirth would take – and especially how they would structure the game’s finale.
That’s why there came a point where I focused more on the story than losing myself in the sprawling expanses of the game like I did in the previous 50 hours in the game. But at that point, the game hit the brakes so hard that I almost quit.
Warning, Spoilers! From here on, there are mild spoilers for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, particularly Chapter 11. However, I won’t discuss the ending or particularly important plot points.
The Cat Throwing Boxes – the Weakest Part of a Great Game
When I reached Chapter 11 of FF7 Rebirth, the moment had arrived: I wanted to know how it ends. Before that, I had spent a lot of time on side quests, “Blood of the Queen” matches, mini-games, and exploration. But returning to Nibelheim was the moment I thought: Now we’re heading towards the finale. No more stops unless absolutely necessary.
Exploring the mysterious village and diving into the past of Cloud and Tifa was still a lot of fun. It became more challenging on the way to the fateful Makou reactor in Nibelheim.
First of all, this is a path in the game that you somewhat don’t see for the first time in Rebirth. Secondly, there was also a dragon that took me way too long to defeat. That was already exhausting.
It became really tough in the reactor itself. First, there’s a challenging boss fight against the “Heretical Creation”. And then follows what I believe to be the weakest part of the entire game.
Stealth with Cait-Sith: After Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie arrive at the reactor, we switch back to Nibelheim. Here, we now get to explore the dark Shinra villa with Cait Sith and his Moogle.
And my God: This dragged on. The main mechanic in this section is throwing boxes onto switches or other things. For this, you have to step on a button with the Moogle, pick up a box, throw it somewhere, and wait for doors or similar to open.
And all of that takes time. Push a large box here, wait on a rotating platform there, stand in the elevator, throw even more boxes. This feature drags on interminably.
On top of that, the level is also garnished with some difficult fights compared to what you usually fight. Cait-Sith is on his own and not exactly the strongest fighter. As a result, I had to adjust the little cat’s equipment over and over again just to keep up with the normal enemies, but especially with the boss enemy Yin & Yang.
This section took me a really long time. Then comes another boss fight against a Hojo test subject, immediately followed by yet another boss fight against the “Galian Beast” and then the swordsman Locche shows up in front of the villa to challenge you to yet another boss fight. And that last fight, one-on-one with Cloud against Locche, nearly drove me insane.
This whole section surely took six hours, I estimate. And it was so tedious and at times difficult that I even considered abandoning my approach of just following the story. First, I wanted to ride a Chocobo again. But: The game had other plans.
Same Stuff Again? Same Stuff Again, and Go!
The next time I wanted to jump back into the game, I was really motivated. But when the game started, I suddenly found myself with Cloud in front of Mount Nibel, and the quest said: Head to the reactor.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
But indeed: This particular segment, the entire six hours that felt like a hundred – it was gone. The save file was lost, I was completely reset.
Somewhat shocked, I went online in search of a solution. It didn’t make sense, as I had saved multiple times in between, and I hadn’t played it all in one session. And indeed: I found other unfortunate souls who had the same problem (via reddit). They too were seemingly randomly reset by several hours.
Climbing mountains, throwing boxes, battling bosses – I actually had to do it all over again.
In that moment, I simply turned off the PS5 and took a couple of days off from the whole thing. I thought I might not even finish it now. But: The curiosity about the story ultimately proved too strong.
So I went through it all again. This time it was a bit faster since I still had the solutions from the previous playthrough in mind. And when I was finished and later reached the finale, the frustration was almost forgotten. But: I now compulsively created about 5 to 7 new save files in each session. Just in case, hoping that would help if things went wrong again.
In the meantime, I have completed the game, and that error did not occur again. So in the end, there is really only the joy of a great game, an exciting finale, and of course the anticipation for the third part of the remake trilogy, which unfortunately will likely be several years away. I am definitely looking forward to everything Square Enix will incorporate to bring it to a worthy conclusion. Just a cat-throwing-boxes level… I don’t necessarily need to do that again.
By the way: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was also nominated for Game of the Year 2024 at the Game Awards. However, it had to yield to a real surprise winner. If you want an overview: You can check out all the nominees and winners of the Game Awards 2024 here.
