Square Enix's 2024 middle chapter covers the section of the 1997 original that everyone remembers, and it does so as a genuinely open world. Leaving Midgar opens a set of large regions with chocobo traversal, exploration mechanics and an amount of optional content that some found excessive. Combat is the real achievement: real-time action that pauses into command menus, extended here with synergy abilities that pair two characters into joint attacks, so party composition becomes a live decision rather than a loadout. Seven playable characters each play completely differently. The minigame volume is a running joke - Queen's Blood, the collectible card game, is deep enough to be sold separately. Where it will be argued about forever is the ending, which continues the remake trilogy's habit of treating the original game as something the characters are half-aware of. The Gold Saucer and the Gongaga sections are the highlights. It reached PC in early 2025 and the third part is in development.
Overall
Metacritic
“An extraordinary achievement that boldly reimagines one of gaming's greatest stories while delivering the best combat and world design in the franchise”