When I wrote my initial impressions on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, I added the screenshot of the Chocobo Stop because of its Loveless poster. I gave the caption, “For those who played Crisis Core: that is exactly what you think it is.” Crisis Core is the universe’s prequel game, and the aforementioned poster features Loveless, the in-universe play referenced heavily in Crisis Core.
Loveless is one of Rebirth’s many examples of proper fan-service. Frankly, even though I’m only at Chapter 9 of at least 15, this is an exceptional example of how to make callbacks appeal to both longtime fans and general audiences.
Writer’s Note: Rebirth and Remake spoilers throughout this article.
Rebirth Knows Final Fantasy History in Finite Detail
As a Final Fantasy fan through Kingdom Hearts, I went into both Remake and Rebirth ready for the callbacks and whatnot to the original. Remake had many on its own but Rebirth is another class of them.
Every time I tried to march in time for Rufus Shinra’s inaugural parade, I bomb so badly I got a grenade. Fast forward to Rebirth, and I did a pretty decent job.
Then, when I got onto the ship right after, I found Red XIII dressed as a Shinra grunt with his tail sticking out. So when I got through Rebirth’s cruise ship Queen’s Blood tournament, I giggled in delight at my final competitor.
In the original release, Red XIII dons this outfit to sneak onto a ship. In Rebirth, he’s just sneaking into a card tourney
This even goes as far as level design. Right before you reach Barret’s hometown on Mt. Corel, you need to go through abandoned mines and their rail system. One half of the team needs to get the drawbridge down for the other half. Said other half needs to set the tracks for a mine cart the first team rides that either takes the safe route or the dangerous route.
I’m not sure how many people caught it, but both of these are parts of the original game. Since you travel in split parties, you need to get the drawbridge down for the other team when you arrive.
These Callbacks Don’t Exclude Newcomers
Rebirth gives longtime fans so many goodies, but doesn’t leave out newcomers. Instead, those goodies are just goofy moments throughout the story or minor world building.
Many established stories in gaming and more put a slew of callbacks in later installments. Like Rebirth, many of these are meant for the longtime fans but can leave the general audience in the dust. Sometimes it’s a small moment out of context, but other times its a relatively important plot point.
Remake erred on the lesser of this debate a few times. Two seemingly random easter eggs stand out in Chapter 12, when Shinra destroys the Sector Seven plate. The final fight of this sequence is Cloud, Tifa, and Barret versus the Turks, Reno and Rude. While hinted at in Remake, most players don’t realize that Rude has a crush on Tifa as called out in the original.
So if you control Tifa the entire fight, Rude won’t attack her. Right after, when the trio escape the wreckage, the camera cuts to a bipedal cat falling to its knees in defeat. Anyone who got past the Gold Saucer in the original knows that’s Cait Sith. Nobody who only played Remake knows him (yet).
Callbacks are Great When they Don’t Detract
Proper callbacks can be very good, but out of context ones don’t land equally for everyone.
Tying an easter egg to a main boss mechanic especially doesn’t land for general audiences, nor does a cat that never appears in that game again.
If you want to make something explicitly for the fans or want to step up points for down the road, no one’s stopping you. However, there’s a way to walk the tightrope of honoring the past while entertaining the present audience that Rebirth excels at.
