Like Red XIII,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthis a bit of a strange beast. In the run up to its release, a lot of the buzz around the game centered around its open world. After the linearity of Remake, the sequel would be using modern, open-world design to recreate the feeling of exploring the world map of the original PS1 game. It was an exciting prospect in some ways, and dread-inducing in others.Final Fantasy 7 Remakewas great, but would the things that made it sing translate to a wide open sandbox? Or would it end up getting bogged down by the checklist that plagues many games in the genre?
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Is “Wide Linear”
Turns out, we didn’t need to worry. After 25 hours and eight chapters, I’ve come to the conclusion that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn’t an open-world game, at all — at least not anymore than “wide linear” games likeThe Last of Us Part 2orUncharted: The Lost Legacy. Though there are open sections, by and large, Rebirth is just as linear as Remake.
Open-world games exist on a spectrum. To paraphrase George Orwell, all of them are open, but some are more open than others. On the most extreme end, there’sThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which lets you set out to kill Ganon as soon as you’ve finished theGreat Plateau tutorial area. On the other end, there’s a game likeHorizon Forbidden West, which locks you out of exploring the full map until you’ve passed a certain story threshold.
Generally, open-world games tend to give you access to the full world, but with obstacles to disincentivize you from exploring it all at the beginning.Assassin’s Creed Originsaccomplished this with level-gating, penning you into certain areas by populating others with enemies way too strong for you.Red Dead Redemption 2similarly put a bounty on your head so that, if you entered the region it was saving for its extensive epilogue, you would be killed on sight.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Is Designed Like A Pearl Necklace
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is less open than any of those games, though it looks like a real open-world game at first. You get access to a map early on with fog covering the areas you haven’t been to, leading you to assume that eventually, through exploration, you’ll uncover it all, and be able to fast travel back to the places you’ve already discovered. I’m assuming that eventually, I’ll be able to freely explore. But, 25 hours in, that isn’t the case. Even when I hit a more open section like North Corel, I’m unable to fast travel back to previous areas.
Just like a linear game, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is structured like a pearl necklace. Each area is a pearl, beaded in strict order along a string. Sometimes you find yourself in an open-ended area, but, really, that’s just a big pearl. It isn’t one big world, it’s distinct areas you must experience in a distinct order. Fast travel doesn’t make it an open-world game any more than a shooter having a level select makes it one.
I enjoy the game in both modes, when you’re sprinting through corridors and when you’re exploring the plains. But the more I play, the more I feel like it’s really one mode, like the game isn’t one big world; it’s one big corridor.
