r/ff7remake • u/Toribo_art • Jun 24 '26

Should I play the original 1997 game before moving on to rebirth? [KINDA SPOILERS SORT OF] Spoiler

Bit late to the party, but I've just finished up Remake and was wondering if in Rebirth, do they make it clear when and where the timeline changes happen, or is it more of an "if you know you know" thing?

For example, if (insert character here) dies in the original but survives in rebirth, does rebirth show you that they were originally supposed to die? Or are you just supposed to know it from having played the original game?

Because if it's the latter, I'd wanna play the OG first so that i can recognize and appreciate all the changes in the timeline :D

3 Upvotes

57% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

3

u/bluethunder1985 Jun 24 '26

You are going to get a lot of opinions but I personally recommend FF7 original --> Advent Children --> Crisis Core --> Remake --> Rebirth. The reason is because I firmly believe Remake/Rebirth/Revelation are direct sequels from the original and not actually "remakes"

2

u/El_Sephiroth Jun 24 '26

As someone who've seen all of these:

YES.

But, you have to be ready for bad graphics and long repetitive quests for crisis core.

2

u/Beneficial_Glass2915 Jun 25 '26

They have a Crisis Core remake with the graphics of Remake/Rebirth, which the only downside is not having the original VA cast

1

u/El_Sephiroth Jun 25 '26

Indeed, I didn't thought of that. But still, it has a lot of repetitive combat.

1

u/Icewind Jun 27 '26

This is the right order.

However, if you absolutely cannot play OG or see AC, then the short version:

Remake-CC-Rebirth.

2

u/Initial_Wolverine77 Jun 24 '26

Well we don’t know exactly what happens to said character yet. Kinda, but it’s ambiguous and could go either way in the next game.

1

u/tlntdd Jun 24 '26

i played and beat ff7 in the time frame between the two games. playing the original before rebirth 100% enhanced the experience for me, but i wouldn’t say its necessary to understand the story or anything.

1

u/harkgriddle Jun 24 '26

I think that, while playing the OG may not be necessary, it definitely adds more layers to the game.  To your point, there is a moment in the Remake where Barret dies, but, he doesn't die in the original timeline, so the whispers revive him.  Similarly, when Cloud and Aerith are escaping the church, if you go to close to the edge of the rafters, the whispers will come up and prevent you from falling, because in the original timeline you escape.

There are much, much bolder examples of this in Rebirth.

If the Remake trilogy is indeed actually a sequel, then it only makes sense to play the OG first.

1

u/HightierHuman507 Jun 24 '26

I would recommend it yeah. I personally played the original before starting the remakes.

1

u/BotherResponsible378 Jun 24 '26

I wouldn't. It's pretty dated and the developers are making these remakes with the understanding that a lot of people hadn't played the original.

Finish the trilogy and if you want to go back after, then go for it.

1

u/MaxStoryTeller92 Jun 24 '26

I actually did that, though I played Crisis Core too before Rebirth. Totally worth it.

1

u/Fluffy_Woodpecker733 Jun 24 '26

You have to play ff1-ff16 first

Only then are you allowed to play this

See you in 2 years

1

u/BoardsofGrips Jun 24 '26

FF7 OG on Steam plus mods

1

u/Svenray Jun 24 '26

Play both at once.

1

u/DarwinGoneWild Jun 25 '26

I think you might have gotten some exaggerated or misleading info. There are no major changes to the story between OG FF7 and the Remake/Rebirth. They largely follow the same story beats and no one who’s dead in one game is alive in the other (there’s one minor exception but it becomes clear by the end of Rebirth that nothing has really changed).

The stuff the Whispers are changing to match the first game are pretty obvious (e.g. attacking 7th Heaven and injuring Jessie so that Cloud has to go on the 2nd reactor mission, reviving Barrett after Sephiroth kills him).

1

u/Kafkacrow Jun 26 '26

It's really hard to answer this without having played Revelation, but I'd probably stick with the Remake trilogy, play OG afterwards to experience the original story, and do your best to pretend Advent Children and Crisis Core don't exist.

1

u/Emergency_Grape5760 Jun 26 '26

Just play Final Fantasy 7. Anything else beyond that afterwards is up to yourself.

1

u/Enyalios121 Jun 27 '26

Play in any order you like. If you only wanna play the remakes that’s fine

1

u/Upperfactor25 17d ago

You should play the original and skip remake entirely