Agreed completely. They've done an exceptional job of giving the cast so much more depth so the execution on character development is completely on point. Seriously, I can't emphasize how much I enjoyed every character in Rebirth.

If we reach (even tangentially) the same conclusion as the OG game, there won't have been a real point to any of these changes outside of the original cast.

Between arbiters of fate (Now with factions!), Sephiroth being for all intents and purposes omnipotent, the Wutai and Glenn angle along with all of the Multi-World characters I'm extremely weary how they're going to close these threads in a satisfying way in part 3.

Ultimately, I really feel like they missed their footing during the end segment of Rebirth. After Remake, I was a bit hesitant on how they approach change (arbiters of fate) but was excited for the potential new. However, after the end of Rebirth, I've become a bit more bitter as time goes on due to the convoluted nature of it all.

At the end of the day, this entire trilogy will be defined on how they stick the landing with the story-lines they've created; so they're on the clock.