Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

Play it on: PS5, Windows (Steam Deck OK-ish)

Current goal: Prepare for Hard Mode

Was 120 hours of FFVII Rebirth last year enough for me? Hell no.

All it took was firing up the recently released PC version of Rebirth and hearing the gentle swelling strings of its main theme to make me ready to jump in all over again.

Read More: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: The Kotaku Review

This time around, I’m looking to put this wonderfully messy and strange alternate-dimension revision of one of my favorite games of all time through its paces on Steam Deck (and I’ll report my findings next week for ya’ll). Initial impressions are, well, interesting. The game does look quite blurry and soft, with some texture pop-in here and there…but it also plays quite well, typically sitting at a decent 30-40 FPS during combat. And speaking of combat, that’s probably the most appealing aspect of replaying Rebirth

While I loved this game dearly, I won’t disagree with much of what its critics have had to say. The story can be wildly confusing, and jeeze, the mini-games are just too much sometimes. But the combat is a ton of fun, both to play and to see in motion. And thus far, it doesn’t look and feel too bad on Steam Deck (for my tastes, at least). We’ll see how that pans out when I get to the more substantial boss fights and the open-world roaming. In any case, I’m looking forward to rebuilding my characters and immersing myself in the explosive theater of combat Rebirth has to offer. — Claire