Summary
- Fort Condor mini-game makes a return in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, mixing turn-based auto-battling with classic tower defense elements.
- The nostalgic low-poly aesthetic of the original Final Fantasy 7's graphics is faithfully recreated in the Fort Condor mini-game.
- Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's take on the Fort Condor game adds new challenges, requiring players to balance offense and defense strategically.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth reintroduces the Fort Condor mini-game in earnest following its brief appearance in the Intermission DLC for Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Players have the opportunity to engage with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's tactical battle simulator as part of the Protorelic quest in the Junon region, and afterward, it becomes an optional dalliance for players to engage with as one of the title's many mini-games. What's perhaps most interesting about the Fort Condor mini-game is the way that it updates the mechanics while retaining a presentation that clearly pays homage to the low-poly aesthetic of the 1997 original.
The Fort Condor side quest in the original Final Fantasy 7 was an important optional section that rewarded players with the Phoenix summon Materia. In order to get that valuable reward, though, players would need to first play through a brief tower defense mini-game that saw them defend the fort from encroaching Shinra troops. In Final Fantasy 7's remake trilogy, it's established that Fort Condor is a popular board game rather than an actual location on the world map, but the premise is essentially the same. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth swaps tower defense for a turn-based auto-battler, but the Fort Condor mini-game is still a compelling (if not occasionally frustrating) distraction from the main adventure.
How Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Corel Compares to the 1997 Original
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth lovingly recreates a number of iconic FF7 locations, with Corel and its surrounding areas receiving quite a hefty expansion.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Fort Condor Mini-Game Replicates the Original's Presentation
Though it was groundbreaking at the time, it's hard not to look back on Final Fantasy 7 and think that its polygonal graphics look practically primitive, especially in comparison to the stunning graphical fidelity of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth. The original Fort Condor section from Final Fantasy 7 would go even more low-poly, representing different unit types and defendable strongholds as little more than colored shapes, ultimately using rudimentary 3D graphics to present its tower defense gameplay.
As an homage to both the original Final Fantasy 7 and its Fort Condor section, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Fort Condor mini-game replicates the low-poly look of the PS1 classic.
Once Cloud and his teammates approach the Fort Condor game board as part of the Junon region's Protorelic quest, they're magically transported within its world akin to Jumanji, complete with a low-poly look heavily reminiscent of each character's PS1 renders. The same applies to the game board and all of its unit types as well, with each of them replicating the look and animations of the original Final Fantasy 7's character models. As a result, the inclusion of the Fort Condor mini-game in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a tip of the hat to both the notorious side quest from the original and the series' 3D debut as a whole.
How the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy Updates the Fort Condor Mini-Game
The original Fort Condor section from Final Fantasy 7 would see players positioning various unit types on a map to protect the titular fort at the summit of a mountain. As Shinra forces make their way up the mountain, various unit types are either more or less effective depending on their interactions with the different enemy types, and the battle plays out like a carefully crafted game of tower defense-meets-rock, paper, scissors. In updating the game for the modern Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, Fort Condor swaps tower defense for a blend of turn-based tactics and auto-battling, but the rock, paper, scissors approach to unit strengths and weaknesses is still at play.
And, unlike the original Fort Condor game, simply surviving isn't enough. In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, players must consider both offense and defense, seizing openings to advance on the enemy's stronghold when possible in order to do enough damage before the timer runs out. The inclusion of a Hard mode, where players get fewer unit types and have to challenge Chadley for Fort Condor supremacy, might just present the most difficult mini-game that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has to offer.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Released
- February 29, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Discover a vibrant and vast world in this standalone entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second entry in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, which retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. Iconic heroes Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aerith and Red XIII have escaped from the dystopian city Midgar and are now in pursuit of Sephiroth, the vengeful swordsman from Cloud’s past who was thought to be dead. This new adventure can be enjoyed by all players, even those who have yet to play Final Fantasy VII Remake or the PlayStation original. Expect a new standard of cinematic storytelling, fast-paced combat and rich exploration across a vast world.
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Franchise
- Final Fantasy
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PC
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- Metascore
- 93
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
