CBS News
‘Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’ review: A magical materia tour Final Fantasy fans will love
Square Enix
After a long wait, fans of the Final Fantasy role-playing game series have something big to look forward to this February: the release of “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.”
“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” is the second in a trilogy of video games adapting the 1997 PlayStation role-playing game “Final Fantasy VII” into a modern epic. “Rebirth” is set to debut on February 29, 2024 as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. It’ll appear on the PC for gamers who prefer to play on their desktop or laptop computer (or even the ROG Ally) by May 2024.
Square Enix provided me with a code to explore “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” ahead of the game’s release. I completed the game so I can share my thoughts on the latest entry in the Final Fantasy RPG series — and whether I think it’s worth your time.
Read on for my take on the second game in the “Remake” trilogy. You can tap the button below to pre-order a copy of the game.
Why I love ‘Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’
Square Enix
“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” begins exactly where the prior installment “Final Fantasy VII Remake” leaves off. That means knowledge of the previous game is required if you want to understand or appreciate the narrative the way it was meant to be experienced. It’s a heavily story-driven adventure, and this is the second game of the trilogy.
At the beginning of the game, Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Aerith Gainsborough, Barret Wallace, and Red XIII have escaped the slums of Midgar and are on their way to the nearest settlement: Kalm. There, Cloud recounts his version of the incident that took place in his hometown five years prior and emphasizes why the villainous Sephiroth, Cloud’s old comrade from SOLDIER, is a threat — not to mention his relationship with the horrifying Jenova.
Square Enix
From there, the game follows the story beats from the original PlayStation “Final Fantasy VII” pretty closely — everything important, story-wise, makes the cut. You’ll still head down the same narrative path, though there are some significant alterations in the form of “alternate universe” whispers.
Some areas, like Kalm and Gongaga, feel like almost completely new locations with new setpieces and side quests to explore. In the original “Final Fantasy VII,” Kalm took up a single panning screen. In “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,” it is now an expanded area full of people. While still smaller than Midgar, these once-minor locations now feel vital and alive in a way that couldn’t be expressed on the PlayStation in 1997.
Square Enix
The treatment Kalm receives extends throughout the game. You still follow the party’s journey across the massive world map, but it’s been scaled up appropriately and filled with side activities to complete. While “Remake” was a linear experience, “Rebirth” is much more of an open-world odyssey that encourages you to pause your hunt for Sephiroth and explore. So often, in fact, that I amassed 40 hours of gameplay before the final third of the game due to my insistence on seeing everything there is to see.
While I appreciate the ability to break away from the storyline to do my own thing, the game faces some pacing issues. If you’re a completionist, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with how much there is to do. There are combat challenges, special locations to explore and tons of story-based side quests. There’s also a collectible card game called Queen’s Blood that encourages you to challenge players around the world. This alone can add hours to the adventure if you want to collect all the cards and best every single opponent (it’s tempting to want to do so).
Square Enix
Because there’s so much to do, I was feeling a bit fatigued between main quest segments. As soon as I stopped trying to complete every little thing that popped up, the game became much more enjoyable. Fortunately, aside from times when fast travel is locked for story reasons, you can always go back and complete side content at your leisure.
The world of “Final Fantasy VII” has never looked or sounded better. So much care has been put into presenting each of the characters as their own living, breathing person that it’s almost laughable to think they were so identifiable back when they were polygonal sprites. While I loved and appreciated the characters back in the ’90s, their glow-up for “Rebirth” is undeniable, from Cloud’s every visible pore to Tifa’s shiny loose ponytail.
Square Enix
The only real design change I didn’t like was to the moogles, one of “Final Fantasy’s” many mascots. They were made to resemble Ewok-like teddy bears in “Rebirth” with their eyes open, shining black voids that give them a creepy quality. Everything else, down to Red XIII’s various collars and Barret’s changing gun arms, looked fantastic – even if the visuals don’t always match up with the weapons’ descriptions.
I found some of the voice actors’ performances a bit grating, namely a very startling change-up from a particular character later on in the game who begins using a completely different affect. While the voice change was on purpose, it didn’t quite seem a good choice for the party member. The soundtrack, on the other hand, is beautiful and expansive, from the original orchestral arrangements to the game’s iconic tracks to the fun, poppy vocal tracks from side characters that came up unexpectedly.
‘Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’ final thoughts
I had gone into playing “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” expecting a lot, since the original game was such an important part of my “career” as a gamer, and since “Final Fantasy VII Remake” felt so special. But I came away pleasantly surprised. It’s been a major experience to see the game brought to life once more with such love and care.
Though I have my own nitpicks with the overall structure and things like voices and character designs, overall I found “Rebirth” to be a fantastic value, with a beautiful storyline, memorable characters and plenty of reasons to return to the game again and again. If the story of “Final Fantasy VII” has become this beautiful and expansive by its second entry in the trilogy, I can only imagine where the third game will take us.
Legislation to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans passed the U.S. Senate early Saturday and is now headed to the desk of President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers and others with a public pension, from collecting their full Social Security benefits. The legislation has been decades in the making, as the Senate held its first hearings into the policies in 2003.
“The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake,” proclaimed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, after senators approved the legislation at 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
The bill’s passage is “a monumental victory for millions of public service workers who have been denied the full benefits they’ve rightfully earned,” said Shannon Benton, executive director for the Senior Citizens League, which advocates for retirees and which has long pushed for the expansion of Social Security benefits. “This legislation finally restores fairness to the system and ensures the hard work of teachers, first responders and countless public employees is truly recognized.”
The vote came down to the wire, as the Senate looked to wrap up its current session. Senators rejected four amendments and a budgetary point of order late Friday night that would have derailed the measure, given the small window of time left to pass it.
Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio was among the 24 Republican senators to join 49 Democrats to advance the measure in an initial procedural vote that took place Wednesday.
“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. You pay into it for 40 quarters, you earned it, it should be there when you retire,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost his seat in the November election, told the chamber ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “All these workers are asking for is for what they earned.”
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that reduce Social Security payments to nearly 3 million retirees.
That includes those who also collect pensions from state and federal jobs that aren’t covered by Social Security, including teachers, police officers and U.S. postal workers. The bill would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members. The WEP impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO nearly 800,000 retirees.
The measure, which passed the House in November, had 62 cosponsors when it was introduced in the Senate last year. Yet the bill’s bipartisan support eroded in recent days, with some Republican lawmakers voicing doubts due to its cost. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed legislation would add a projected $195 billion to federal deficits over a decade.
Without Senate approval, the bill’s fate would have ended with the current session of Congress and would have needed to be re-introduced in the next Congress.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Saturday is the winter solstice and 2024’s shortest day. Here’s what to know about the official start of winter.
The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice is the day each year that has the shortest period of daylight between sunrise and sunset, and therefore the longest night. It happens when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that circles the globe south of the equator, the National Weather Service explains.
The farther north you are, the shorter the day will be, and in the Arctic Circle, the sun won’t rise at all.
How is the day of the winter solstice determined?
The winter solstice occurs because of the Earth’s tilt as it rotates around the sun.
When the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, the nights last longer. The longest night happens on the solstice because the hemisphere is in its furthest position from the sun. That occurs each year on Dec. 21 or 22.
This year, it falls on Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m ET, to be precise.
On the summer solstice, when the northern tilt is closest to the sun, we have the longest day, usually June 20 or 21.
National Weather Service
The solstices are not always exactly on the 21st every year because the earth’s rotation around the sun is 365.25 days, instead of 365 even.
Will days start getting longer after the winter solstice?
Yes. Each day after the solstice, we get one minute more of sunlight. It doesn’t sound like much, but after just two months, or around 60 days, we’ll be seeing about an hour more of sunlight.
When will winter officially be over in 2025?
The meteorological winter ends on March 20, 2025. Then, spring will last until June 20, when the summer solstice arrives.
How is the winter solstice celebrated around the world?
Nations and cultures around the world have celebrated the solstice since ancient times with varying rituals and traditions. The influence of those solstice traditions can still be seen in our celebrations of holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Britannica notes.
The ancient Roman Saturnalia festival celebrated the end of the planting season and has close ties with modern-day Christmas. It honored Saturn, the god of harvest and farming. The multiple-day affair had lots of food, games and celebrations. Presents were given to children and the poor, and slaves were allowed to stop working.
Gatherings are held every year at Stonehenge, a monumental circle of massive stones in England that dates back about 5,000 years. The origins of Stonehenge are shrouded in mystery, but it was built to align with the sun on solstice days.
Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images
The Hopi, a Native American tribe in the northern Arizona area, celebrate the winter solstice with dancing, purification and sometimes gift-giving. A sacred ritual known as the Soyal Ceremony marks the annual milestone.
In Peru, people honor the return of the sun god on the winter solstice. The ancient tradition would be to hold sacrificial ceremonies, but today, people hold mock sacrifices to celebrate. Because Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere, their winter solstice happens in June, when the Northern Hemisphere is marking its summer solstice.
Scandinavia celebrates St. Lucia’s Day, a festival of lights.
The “arrival of winter,” or Dong Zhi, is a Chinese festival where family gathers to celebrate the year so far. Traditional foods include tang yuan, sweet rice balls with a black sesame filling. It’s believed to have its origins in post-harvest celebrations.
Researchers stationed in in Antarctica even have their own traditions, which may include an icy plunge into the polar waters. They celebrate “midwinter” with festive meals, movies and sometimes homemade gifts.