Today’s the day that the second part of the Final Fantasy VII remakes comes out – this one called Rebirth. I’ve been playing through the first part (Remake), and it’s an example of how good content can be expanded, given excellent voice acting and gameplay, and become even more than the original.

It’s funny to think of a game from so long ago – the first steps of the Final Fantasy series into more than just pixel action with moving figures – getting so big a remake, but here we are.

It’s also interesting just from a game design point of view. FFVII Remake is a very linear game. In some places, entirely on rails. In others, you get to do various sidequests and choose the order of things (or go and just try to make money by killing monsters). But it’s very much linear, as are many D&D adventures.

But with Final Fantasy Rebirth, the open world comes into view. It’s not truly open – rather a selection of open areas you can explore – but it’s far more so than Remake. I’m very much looking forward to playing it.

While we talk about players enjoying only one type of D&D playstyle, the truth is that most of us enjoy more than one – as long as they’re well presented.

That presentation is the trick. Give us a badly constructed linear experience, and we run screaming. The same with a badly constructed sandbox.

But honestly – most DMs are better than that. Go have fun!