Final Fantasy VII Rebirth - Switch 2 Review

I remember seeing the original announcement for Final Fantasy VII Remake way back at E3 2015. I didn’t own a PS4 then but I knew I was going to buy one as soon as it launched. Along the way, they dropped the news that the remake was going to be a trilogy, and that was an exciting but scary proposition, but after playing through Final Fantasy VII Remake and replaying it when it came to Switch 2 and now I’m here playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth also on my Switch 2, 11 years has seemingly flown by and we Final Fantasy VII fans have been eating well!

As previously stated, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second of three planned entries in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. We kick off having just escaped Sector 7 and have entered the open world of Midgar, and it’s in this entry where the true conflicts and motifs are revealed. The obvious concern, however, is that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was a PS5 exclusive at launch, and was never released on the PS4 generation of systems. So packed with a bustling open world and over 40 hours of main story run-time, this is a summoning-level behemoth of a game, and it begs the question of just how the Nintendo Switch 2 holds up.

The Good

You buy Final Fantasy VII Rebirth knowing that it’s not going to be the best way to play the game from a technical perspective. Having this sequel run on a hybrid device is impressive in its own right, and while there are some compromises (which I’ll get into later), the port, for the most part, runs surprisingly well. I never felt hindered by performance in any way, especially in combat which, due to its fast-action nature, was likely where Square Enix spent most of their time optimising. I was especially impressed with how it ran in handheld mode which, if you’re getting this game on Switch 2, you’re likely going to want to take advantage of. It’s been over nine years since the launch of the original Switch, and while there are now other handheld options on the market, none are quite as snappy when going between TV and handheld quite like the Switch and Switch 2, and being able to do that with a game like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, technical compromises and all, feels like magic.

When I was first given the freedom to explore the open world map, I felt trauma flashbacks flood back to me from open world Ubisoft games where I’d just be mindlessly running between checkpoints with no rhyme or reason. But thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of fun distractions these tend to offer; the combat sections come with additional challenges (such as needing to stagger them within the time limit whilst avoiding a status ailment), there are moogle huts that require a mini-game to unlock a special shop, and there is an interesting mini-game with its own subplot that requires Cloud, Barrett and Tifa to enter a polygonal world where you play a mini-game called Fort Condor. I also got really into a card game called Queen’s Blood that acted as a nice breath of fresh air between story beats. And then there are all the mini-games at Costa Del Sol. The side quest stories are also meaningful and provide depth to the world, ultimately adding value instead of simply delivering items or fighting a pack of wolves. The decision to go open world with the second entry was a risky one, but it had to be done considering the source material. I’m just glad Square Enix didn’t simply phone it in with the side content.

And above everything, I don’t think I need to say much on the fact that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is just a fantastic game through and through. While purists may find its story additions a little controversial, I’m of the opinion that they add to the world-building and provide much more context to everything happening in Midgar. The combat is stellar and can be fine-tuned to suit your playstyle, somewhat replicating pseudo-turn-based gameplay if you desire that. It’s absolutely a generational game and it’s no surprise considering how many Game of the Year nominations and awards it received in its original release year on PlayStation 5.

TL;DR

• An impressive port, especially in handheld mode
• Optional world map markers offer a slew of surprisingly fun distractions
• Just an all-round fantastic game

The Bad

I mentioned it a lot in my Final Fantasy VII Rebirth preview, but while it does run impressively well on Switch 2, it’s certainly not without its compromises. Admittedly, I’m not the best at determining frame rates, but it’s certainly running at approximately 30-40 frames per second, with dips below 30 on an infrequent basis. From a visual standpoint, it’s mostly ok, but there are plenty of textures that look noticeably flat, often resulting in odd graphical juxtapositions between the main object on screen and their surroundings. These imperfections become even more noticeable in docked mode; in my case, on a 65” TV. The performance is far more forgiving in handheld mode and if you’re buying the game on Switch 2, you’d likely be more willing to suffer the downgrades for that ease of native portability. 

Having played the original Final Fantasy VII on the original PlayStation back in the day, I am fully aware that the game’s dialogue doesn’t always take itself too seriously. There are plenty of awkwardly delivered lines that would have come from a mix of lightheartedness and limited translation tools back in the late 90s, so I can understand that the remake trilogy wanted to keep this in for the sake of fan nostalgia. But some lines are truly terrible, especially when they’re written to be punchy one-liners. I’m all too familiar with this kind of dialogue in anime and other games, but Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s just doesn't seem to sit too well.

TL;DR

• Docked mode shows clear graphical compromises
• Some corny dialogue choices

Final Score: 9/10

While Final Fantasy VII Rebirth certainly pushes the Nintendo Switch 2 to its absolute limits, resulting in some occasionally questionable textures and infrequent frame rate dips, this is absolutely the most impressive port to the Nintendo Switch 2 from a sheer scope perspective. While other recent ports like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle have shown that the system can compete with more focused adventures, the bustling world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is simply mind-boggling when you have it all sitting within a tablet in the palm of your hands. 

If you’re looking for a way to play this game in all its beauty and splendor, you may be a bit disappointed with some of its graphical compromises, and should then opt for the PS5, Xbox or PC versions; but if it’s portability and ease of use you’re after (or if you only own a Switch 2), then this port of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will not disappoint.

Thank you for checking out our Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Switch review, thank you to Square Enix (via Bandai Namco AU) for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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