It’s hard to overstate just how big of a deal Final Fantasy VII was when it released in North America. There was a major media push, including commercials featuring the fully rendered cutscenes (and little else) that really drew the attention of kids everywhere. A not-insignificant number of those kids would end up disappointed upon seeing the weird polygonal characters of the actual game and the lack of extensive motorcycle combat that the commercials promised, but others were instead hooked by the presentation and the promise of a story to come.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Developer: Square Enix
Platform: PC
Release Date: 10/23/2025
I was a Nintendo kid, which meant that even though I had been an avid fan of then-Squaresoft’s previous entry into the series, Final Fantasy VI, this new game was out of my reach, thanks to its debut on the Sony Playstation. Until one day, at least, on a shopping trip with my parents, where I found something I never thought possible: Final Fantasy VII, for the PC.
I could go on in an attempt to number the countless hours I spent on that game, or bemoan the control scheme that only a maniac could have come up with and/or approved. Instead, I just want to say that the PC ports of Final Fantasy games have long been a refuge for me, a trend which continues even now that I’ve had the opportunity of playing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in order to bring you this review.
Presentation
Seeing as we’ve already covered Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for its original PS5, I won’t be spending too much time belaboring things we’ve already addressed. Basically all of the magic that PS5 gamers experienced last year has made it over to the PC release, but the actual visual splendor of this game honestly bears repeating.
The graphics and overall visual aesthetic of Rebirth lend themselves well to a PC game. The characters remain expressive, the towns are fully fleshed out and feel truly lived in, and the voice acting adds a dimension to the dialogue that was (sometimes dubiously) left up for interpretation in the original ’97 release. It’s the battles that really shine here, however.
Each encounter, from the lowliest random battle to the biggest boss fights, feels like a spectacle, straight out of Advent Children. The characters fly around the screen in a flurry, and the particle effects flash out from slicing sword and striking claw. Everything looks and feels awesome as ever, and it’s great to be able to say that all of this has translated nearly perfectly from the PS5 release.
If I had any one complaint, it would be with the lighting. I have not played the PS5 version extensively enough to know if this was present in the original release, but I couldn’t help but notice quite often how strange the lighting seems to be in this version. Many buildings, caves, or other internal areas are completely obscured in shadow when looking into them from the outside, only coming into clarity after fully stepping inside. Light seems to work in strange pockets, being perfectly lit in one step and dimming extensively after taking even one step towards a shaded area. Even something as simple as moving the camera around will shift the state of the lighting, as if you were moving an actual camera and not just the digital metaphor for perspective that we’ve come to call a “camera.” If this is intentional, it’s jarring and at least mildly unpleasant, but from what I have seen it has only been an issue in the dungeon and town settings. The open world sections are beautifully lit with the kind of visibility you’d hope for when scouring the countryside for materials and hidden chests.
Gameplay
Once again, the gameplay has been very well translated to the PC release. Of course, this comes with a caveat – the game strongly recommends (on Steam, anyway) that it is to be played with a controller of some sort, making for a moot point – one controller scheme is essentially going to be the same as any other.
For those who don’t have a gaming controller for their PC, fear not, for I did brave through sections of the game on mouse and keyboard in order to provide as holistic a review as possible. Thankfully, the game plays relatively well in this format anyway! The major combat moves for every character boil down to two attacks, which map nicely to the left and right click, and dodging is assigned to the space bar for easy access. Swapping characters becomes a bit more difficult with the default keys, however, as does blocking attacks. Blocking requires you to hold the shift key, which gives it a slight pause between registering a press of the key versus a hold. This makes the game’s new perfect block mechanic a bit more tricky to get the hang of, as the timing is much different from the responsiveness of blocking on a controller. Also, the keys to change the potency of your spells are on the right side of the keyboard, which results in the awkward decision of having to remove your hand from your mouse and give up camera control for a moment to swap from Cure to Cura.
On the plus side, all of these keys are mostly fully customizable. There are three “slots” for keybinds, a primary and an alternate key for the keyboard and a slot specifically for mouse-based commands. This does end up limiting the options you can put on your mouse, but there should be enough customization for any player to find a setup they feel suits them.
Finally, the lack of the PS5’s adaptive triggers are sorely noticed in the “interactive cutscenes” the game enjoys submitting the player to. Having to pull both shoulder buttons down multiple times in a row just to shut off a valve is already tedious enough even when you get to feel the resistance of the wheel in your fingers. Without that, these sections feel much more like the waste of time that they are.
Tech Specifications
One of the biggest questions that always comes to mind with any new PC game, port or otherwise, is “Can I run it?” As games get bigger and graphics get better, PC players are always racing against their rig’s age, buying themselves time with each new processor or GPU to cover an increasingly wide range of gaming experiences.
This was something that I worried about, as I’m not running the hottest, freshest parts on the market in my PC. That being said, I’m happy to report that FFVII Rebirth still managed to run like a dream on my RTX 2070 Super graphics card and AMD Ryzen 5 3600 CPU.
Checking my own specs against those given by Square Enix, my computer was fit for the minimum specifications, but my CPU was a bit shy of their recommended level. Even so, I ran the game on high graphics settings, and can count on one hand the number of times I experienced any slowdown or stuttering. Even more relieving was the fact that none of these slowdowns occurred in combat, despite the flurry of sparks, flames and other particle effects that can litter the screen in some of the more bombastic battles. The only times I noticed any drop in quality were certain points where the gameplay gave way to in-engine cutscenes, stuttering the first few seconds of them before catching up to play the rest perfectly. All in all, I’m quite satisfied by the way the game runs on PC.
Final Thoughts
While this review may have contained a fair few points of criticism towards the PC release of Rebirth, it’s important to note that none of these things really stood in my way of enjoying the game. The lighting issues were vaguely annoying at best, and any qualms with mouse and keyboard controls are easily dealt with by using one of many PC compatible controllers that exist.
Simply put, I enjoyed my time spent with this game greatly! Fans of this Remake series of Final Fantasy VII who aren’t also Playstation 5 owners can rejoice, for its now your turn to experience the wonder, love and care that the team at Square Enix has poured into the creation of this title. I’m right there with you all, and we’ll look forward to the (ahem) final game in this new fantasy together!
