Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is one of the more talked-about parts from the recent State of Play, thanks in no small part to the release date announcement and new gameplay. Speaking to PlayStation Blog, creative director Tetsuya Nomura went into more detail on the trailer and its purpose.
“Every trailer has a specific purpose. Since this is the second installment in the Final Fantasy 7 remake project, there are people who have played the previous game or enthusiastic fans who follow the built-in mysteries, but for newcomers or those who are simply interested in the Final Fantasy 7 series, we wanted to include a full overview of what kind of experience they will have with this remake project.
“So, there is less of a mysterious pretense to the story this time, but you can look forward to the next trailer.”
As for that scene where Cloud and Sephiroth are fighting together, Nomura confirmed you can control the latter. “If you played the original Final Fantasy 7, I’m sure you can guess which scene I’m talking about. You will be able to control Sephiroth in the same scene in this title as you did in the original.”
Long-time fans can also look forward to the date scene on the Ferris wheel in the Gold Saucer with high-resolution visuals. While it’s already confirmed that the order of visiting locations isn’t the same as the original game, Nomura revealed that Wutai won’t appear in Rebirth. Instead, it’s present in the next game.
“We have mentioned this a few times before, but the order in which you can explore the locations is not the same as the original Final Fantasy 7, and there are some shifts in the order. For example, Wutai, one of the major locations, is not part of the route in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and will be visited in the next one. Although there are some changes in the order of the locations, the locations depicted in this title extend up to The Forgotten Capital, where the greatest fate of Final Fantasy 7 awaits you.”
As for the soundtrack, players can expect rearrangements for classic tracks – for example, the song from the trailer is rearranged from the original game’s main theme and serves as battle music. Music supervisor Keiji Kawamori revealed that the team created a “variety of new music” to go with the much larger world.
“We’ve also expanded the variety of musical genres this time around, so I think there will be plenty to enjoy. Of course, we also have many re-arrangements of classic tracks from the original Final Fantasy 7, too, so I hope fans will enjoy comparing both iterations of the same song to see what has changed.”
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releases on February 29th, 2024, for PS5 as a three-month timed exclusive. How long it will take to come to PC (like Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade) remains to be seen.
