Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is looking like its going to be a much more expansive game than its predecessor. Its main story alone is said to be around 40 hours long, while Square Enix says that with side content included, that can go up to over 100 hours. A lot of that is obviously going to be thanks to its vast, seamless open world setting, and speaking recently with Game Informer, the action RPG’s developers spoke a bit more about what that will bring to the table.
According to Tetsuya Nomura, director of all things Final Fantasy 7 at Square Enix, bringing back the world map, which hasn’t been included in a Final Fantasy game since 2000’s Final Fantasy 9, was something that the development team was insistent on.
“Ever since the world map disappeared, I really had this weird feeling,” he said. “I always thought it was strange without a world map. I thought that you can’t really have an RPG without a world map, specifically for Final Fantasy 7, to fully experience this world, we must have a world map. We can’t be without it!”
Producer Yoshinori Kitase said: “Starting with Final Fantasy 10, when we entered into this real-time 3D world, this is when the world map development ceased or halted to some degree.
“With 10, it was the style where a player chooses a point or an area that they would like to go, and they travel from there. The feeling was that, since it’s real-time 3D, it’s not quite possible to create this full world map anymore. Beyond 10, there is not really a clear world map within Final Fantasy, and this was the norm. I had assumed that this would be the same for Remake as well, so going into that, what [Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi] noted was going back to our origins and restoring the fun of exploring this vast world map. That was a strong feeling.”
The aforementioned Hamaguchi himself went on to talk about what Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s world map will offer, saying that players will be able to “make these different adventures and go on their own journeys according to their interests.”
“Part of our game design that we took on for Rebirth is that in the main storyline, you’ll be saving Yuffie and Under Junon, and then from there, going towards Junon, and then go forward towards Costa del Sol,” he said. “But for example, hearing the stories of the anti-Shinra people living in Under Junon, you could then feel like, ‘What about this Crow’s Nest area that I’m hearing about? Maybe I want to go over there and explore and go into a side adventure on my own to save people.’ We want the player to be able to make these different adventures and go on their own journeys according to their interests.”
Previously, Hamaguchi has said that Square Enix took inspiration from The Witcher 3 for Rebirth’s side content, with particular emphasis being placed on character-driven storytelling through the optional content.
Recently, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s developers have also spoken about Sephiroth’s expanded role in the game, and how a key scene from the original game will still surprise even long-time fans.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is due out on February 29 for PS5.
