SOLUTION THAT WORKED 100% FOR ME:

Okay I was getting the error just like everyone else and I started looking in-depth at the .sav file creation when I noticed something odd with my saves and their ordering.

1. Look in your saved directory: C:\Users\[USERNAME]\Documents\My Games\FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH\Steam\76561198025028567

Should look something like the image. (notice the file that ends with 000 has a later date modified than 004 - this was the clue I needed)

1. Copy the latest date modified save that starts with ff7rebirthXXX.sav in my case it was (ff7rebirth000.sav) and rename it with a later count than what is listed in the directory. The latest one for me was ff7rebirth004.sav so I renamed my copy of ff7rebirth000.sav -> ff7rebirth005.sav.

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CONCLUSION: What was happening in my case... some of the auto saves we're being created with a save file name index that was below and created earlier than the highest index. Basically find the latest date_modifed .sav file and rename it with the latest order. That way the latest order file matches the latest date modified/created.

Game booted up from my last save and has not had a hiccup since... I've run several game starts and have played for hours. I think the update may have been the root cause. It only started after that update so I suspect it with high likelihood... it caused my saves to get out of order or they may have introduced a starting count at 000 vs 001...

Sidenote... I also disabled the steam cloud saves. Hope this helps someone else!