Should I play Rebirth next or go back and play the original first? (Already know two major spoilers)
I know this question gets asked all the time, and I've read a lot of the existing threads, but I feel like my situation is a bit different, so I'd love some advice specific to it.
I just finished FF7 Remake and absolutely loved it. It's honestly become one of my favourite games ever.
The problem is... I had absolutely no idea what was going on in the ending, which has made me second guess whether I should go on and play rebirth as I fear I won't understand what is happening.
Now I'm trying to decide whether to just jump straight into Rebirth anyway or go back and play the original FF7 first.
The issue is that I already know two of the biggest spoilers from the original: That Aerith dies and that Cloud wasn't actually a SOLDIER.
So I feel like I'm stuck in a weird middle ground. If I play rebirth, those huge reveals won't surprise me as much as a completely blind player. But I also won't have the context of the original, so I won't fully understand what is being changed
It almost feels like I'm getting the worst of both worlds. I know enough to lose some of the surprise, but not enough to fully appreciate the changes that Rebirth could make considering the ending of remake essentially sets them up to change things that happened in the original story from what I understand.
Another thing making this decision difficult is that I think I'd definitely prefer Rebirth's gameplay. I absolutely loved Remake's combat, presentation, and modern gameplay, so it's hard to put that on hold to play a much older game first, even though I know the original is considered a classic. However, my favourite part about the remake was the story so if playing the original is necessary to enjoy Rebirth's story then I think I would play it.
Without spoiling anything beyond what I've already mentioned, what would you recommend? Is Rebirth still a great experience for someone in my position, or is it worth playing the original first to get the full context?
I'd really appreciate spoiler-free advice from people who've played both.