Despite The Controversy, I'm Glad FF7 Rebirth Used Yellow Paint

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s use of yellow paint sparked some debate about the validity of this design tactic, but personally, I’m happy the game used it. For context, when players refer to “yellow paint” in the game, they are referring to the bright yellow color used to highlight climbable sections of the game’s terrain. FF7 Rebirth is far from the only game to use this tactic. The 2023 version of Resident Evil 4, for instance, used yellow paint to highlight parts of puzzles or destructible boxes. Some feel that these signposts break immersion or make a game simpler.

I don’t think the “yellow paint” debate is as simple as saying that it’s a bad design element and should never be used, or that it is always appropriate and should be used all the time. In my view, design elements like yellow paint have their place, and I think Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is an example of a good use of it. This mainly comes down to how FF7 Rebirth uses yellow paint and what it means in terms of gameplay.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Yellow Paint Saves Valuable Time

FF7 Rebirth Is Already Long Without Wasting Time Looking For Rocks

It’s probably no surprise to say that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a massive game. The main story alone takes around 50 hours to complete, and trying to complete all the side content can easily bring playtime up to 100 hours or more. Given the massive time commitment necessary to finish the game, I was grateful for any aspect of the game’s design that helped streamline my journey and keep the pace moving. Although it may not be as impactful as the game’s fast-travel system when it came to saving time, yellow paint was one element that helped.

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FF7 Rebirth’s map is pretty sprawling, and the game forces players to check its many nooks and crannies just to find all of the side content. This means players need to be able to traverse the overworld and discover some paths that are less apparent than the main one. Yellow paint can save players a lot of time in these circumstances because they aren’t forced to try climbing every rock they come across. Instead, they can easily recognize where they are supposed to go.

While some players bemoaned the loss of immersion caused by having yellow paint show up in natural settings, like the side of a mountain, I’m happy to take a small hit to my immersion so I’m not wasting a bunch of time trying to figure out which rocks I can and can’t climb. Although that could be an interesting challenge in the right game, it isn't why I’m playing Final Fantasy 7.

FF7 Rebirth Isn’t About Climbing Rocks

Yellow Paint Doesn't Detract From FF7 Rebirth's Core Appeal

The appeal of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is not its rock-climbing action, and that’s not why I’ve spent over four days’ worth of combined time playing it. I think the combat is engaging and at times fairly challenging. More than that, I enjoy the story, the characters, and the world that I get to explore. None of the game’s core appeal is ruined by the inclusion of some yellow paint.

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It’s also worth noting that yellow paint isn't simply splashed on every climbable object in the game. FF7 Rebirth uses a variety of visual cues to show players which objects they can interact with, from the glowing rocks that show where Red XIII can scale walls to the glowing blue panels that open some of the game’s doors. Yellow paint is used sparingly and primarily to highlight climbable parts of the terrain that might otherwise blend into the background.

The original FF7 used red flags in one climbing sequence, a relatively similar way to streamline the process.

If I was playing a game where the main objective revolved around climbing, I could see the argument for ditching the yellow paint. It would take away from the challenge of an experiencce where the whole point was to locate a path up the side of a mountain or navigate treacherous terrain. However, what climbing there is in FF7 Rebirth is largely a formality. It doesn’t require perfectly timed jumps or precise aim. Because of this, all that removing the yellow paint would do is make climbing more tedious.

Yellow Paint Can Be A Valuable Tool For Accessibility

Yellow Paint Helps Players Make Visual Distinctions Between Game Objects

Another important thing to remember is that, while they may be a minor annoyance or only mildly helpful for some players, for others, design elements like yellow paint can be a necessity when playing a game. Anyone who struggles to differentiate visual elements in a game, especially something as visually similar as rocks and the side of a mountain, may rely on yellow paint to help them navigate the world of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Nobody wants to boot up a 50+ hour game only to get stuck at the bottom of a cliff for a frustrating amount of time.

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I love Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and I enjoy sharing my thoughts and feelings about the game with others. I wouldn’t want any prospective players to not be able to engage with one of the best games from last year just because its world was inaccessible and needlessly difficult to traverse. Even if I didn’t also appreciate how the yellow paint streamlined my experience, I still would be happy the game used it so a wider range of players could experience Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Not All Games Need Yellow Paint, But FF7 Rebirth Benefits From It

Yellow Paint Is More Of A Positive For FF7 Rebirth

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I can understand the frustration of yellow paint being used in ways that don’t seem beneficial to a game, or in ways that spoil the goal of the game. In a game like Uncharted, climbing is an integral part of solving the game’s puzzles, and it can sometimes feel a little too easy when all the climbable objects are highlighted. Some games, like Star Wars Outlaws, even give players the option of turning off their yellow paint to offer a more immersive and challenging experience. However, I don’t think FF7 Rebirth falls into the same category.

Plenty of players have expressed frustration with some of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s side content, complaining that some tasks felt tedious. I can only imagine this frustration would have been ratcheted up if traversing the game’s terrain was made more difficult by removing signposts like yellow paint. While I think there are some valid criticisms of yellow paint in certain circumstances, I don’t think the issue is so simple that its use in all circumstances can be labeled as bad. In the case of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, I think the game ultimately benefitted from its inclusion.