Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth & The Re-imagining of Gaia
Gaia, on the other hand, took a little more getting used to. It wasn't exactly how I remembered it, but it came pretty close to how I'd like to view it now.
I recently wrapped up a delightful 70 hours with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and followed it up with a brief, but equally entertaining, return to the original Metal Gear Solid, via the Master Collection Vol. 1.
Rebirth is an improvement over Remake. Freed from the confines of the Midgar slums, a setting that was never intended to host the player for more than a few hours, Rebirth allows us to explore a much larger and vibrant slice of Gaia. Avalanche and friends are lovingly realised and expanded upon, and the combat is up to the challenge of keeping us entertained across a typical RPG runtime. Most crucially, Rebirth successfully balances the need to meet narrative expectations while also serving up the changes needed to justify a three-part remake. Yes, the mini games are overly frequent and the majority of them are utter dross, Queen's Blood aside, but when it focuses, Rebirth is a stunning re-imaging of a core text.
Besides spending time with Cloud and company, I derived the most pleasure from visiting re-imagined and newly beautified towns and attractions. The momentum to keep pushing forward was ever-present, to keep rediscovering a world that I know back to front. It was with great excitement that I arrived at each location and had a good poke around, seeking out familiar features, nooks and crannies, in town and out. I was impressed by the ludicrously high production values and the care shown to a universe that means so much to so many. I found comfort in shapes and layouts recognised, and revelled in the glow up.
I approached Rebirth as a form of virtual tourism, a guided tour fuelled by heavy nostalgia. It wasn't an irresistible sense of wanderlust that had me exploring, rather a wish to see how things had changed. I gawked at iconic settings, but I never hung around. I had the energy, and attention span, of an excited tourist on a sightseeing tour, with an itinerary and schedule to be adhered to. Be back on the bus by 3 p.m. or we leave without you! The Gold Saucer is a prime example. I was beyond excited to visit, but had no desire to return once I'd gotten it out of my system. I played everything once, nosed around each area with a big smile on my face, and then moved on to the next destination.
And this isn't meant as a knock on Rebirth. I loved playing the tourist in Midgar, Cosmo Canyon, and Costa del Sol. Sixteen-year-old me would've been delighted at the prospect of a FFVII sightseeing tour; forty-year-old me had few complaints.
Once my tour had ended, I shifted to The Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, Metal Gear Solid and Shadow Moses, which looks just as out of focus, grey, dismal, and industrial as I remembered it. Presented as if it has been on ice since '98, it offers no beatification and few compromises for the HD generation. It was the perfect contrast to Rebirth.
I hadn't been back since the late 2000s, when I rushed through the entire series up to that point, in advance of the hotly anticipated release of MGS4: Guns of the Patriots. It might have been the best part of twenty years since I last set foot on Shadow Moses, but it all felt very familiar. Each corridor, hangar, ventilation shaft and outdoor space burnt to memory; every trick, haunted waterfall and Kojima sleight of hand still well remembered.
Following my purchase of a Spice Orange GameCube, I now have access to The Twin Snakes, and I fancy getting to that while the original is still fresh in my mind. Perhaps I can recapture some of that same sense of new rediscovery that I experienced with Rebirth? Failing that, I could always go back to Act 4 of Guns of the Patriots and the hopelessly nostalgic return to a very empty, and very haunted, Shadow Moses.
The world of Gaia, and Shadow Moses island, are two of the most iconic settings in games, and probably the two that I hold most dear. In their original form, or re-imagined, I'll always be up for another visit.
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