Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is without a doubt set to be one of the biggest games of the year. With Square Enix continuing its Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy and following up on what turned out to be a very successful first instalment, excitement surrounding Rebirth is high, and based on everything that has been revealed about the action RPG so far, it’s easy to understand why. With its release now not too far away, here, we’re going to take a look at a few key details you should know about it.
Before we get started though, keep in mind that there will be spoilers ahead for the original Final Fantasy 7. But, you know, it’s a nearly three-decade-old game, so…
STORY DETAILS
Final Fantasy 7 Remake was focused entirely on the Midgar section of the original game, which means Rebirth is set to step out into the larger world outside of the dystopian city. Having defeated the Whispers and (seemingly) started defying fate in ways that were entirely unexpected, Cloud and co. will continue their fight against Shinra, while also stepping up their efforts to put a stop to Sephiroth’s plans. Of course, like its predecessor, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is also going to deviate from the original game’s story in some key ways. More on that in a bit.
WHERE DOES IT END?
We now know that Square Enix’s FF7 remake saga is going to be a trilogy, so what does that mean for where Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will end? As many may have guessed, it’s been confirmed that the party’s fateful encounter with Sephiroth at the Forgotten City will serve as the game’s climax. Does that mean Aerith’s death is going to be the note that Rebirth will end on? Well…
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE ENDING
Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s last few hours were full of surprises, and it looks like Square Enix wants to repeat that with Rebirth. Obviously, the details on how the game will end and how (or if) it will change things up from the original’s story are going to remain shrouded in mystery until we actually get our hands on the game- but it does look like things will take an unexpected turn. Speaking about how the game will end in an interview with Game Informer, creative director Tetsuya Nomura said, “I believe that the way we have depicted it brings about a new emotion and a new feeling for both players who have played the original Final Fantasy 7 and newcomers.”
PLAYABLE CHARACTERS
As you’d expect, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is expanding Remake’s cast of playable party members. For starters, Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Aerith are, of course, going to be playable once again, while Red XIII, who appeared in Remake as an AI-controlled companion character towards the end, will fully join the party as well. In addition, Yuffie – who we played as in FF7 Remake Intergrade’s Episode INTERmission – will also be a playable character, as will the newly introduced fan-favourite Cait Sith. Meanwhile, Sephiroth and Zack will also be playable in certain sections of the game. Oh, and speaking of those two…
EXPANDED ROLE FOR ZACK FAIR
Zack’s death in the original Final Fantasy 7 story told all those years ago was one of the most important moments in the entire series, one that went on to define essentially Cloud’s entire arc. When FF7 Remake ended, however, it did so with the surprising reveal that in this version of the story, Zack was somehow still alive. The full mysteries surrounding how that happened will be unraveled (at least partly) in Rebirth, which is set to give Zack an expanded role in the story. How much more significant of a character he will be now that he’s, you know, not dead- that remains to be seen.
EXPANDED ROLE FOR SEPHIROTH
Sephiroth already had a more prominent role in Final Fantasy 7 Remake than he did at that point in the original FF7’s story, where he really only became an active participant quite late on. Rebirth will continue that trend, with Square Enix having confirmed that Sephiroth will have a much bigger role to play. Speaking about what to expect from him in the game, game director Naoki Hamaguchi said in an interview with Game Informer, “We felt it was necessary to have this very clear depiction of how he came to be the person that he is now in Rebirth. Even as a developer creating this game, seeing Sephiroth discover the truth and fall further and further into darkness – like falling from grace – and depicting this in his expressions, I could truly feel bad for him. Throughout the course of Rebirth, I believe players will not only grow to relate to and understand Cloud, but also Sephiroth through this game much more.”
Producer Yoshinori Kitase added, “Remake covers your encounter with Sephiroth, and now within Rebirth, we wanted to make Sephiroth this very clear antagonist and target for the characters to go and pursue through their journey in Rebirth. Within the original game, Sephiroth was not seen very much in the world map, but in this title, we put this element forward.”
VINCE VALENTINE
Vince Valentine is one of the more significant characters that Cloud and company cross paths with after leaving Midgar in the original Final Fantasy 7, we of course, the former Turk is once again going to join forces with the party in Rebirth. However, he will not be a full party member. Seeing as he will be introduced in the later sections of the game, much like Red XIII was in Remake, Vince is going to accompany the party, but he will do so as an AI-controlled companion.
Meanwhile, Square Enix has also confirmed that he will be voiced by Matt Mercer, who’s known for a wide variety of roles in games (among other things), including Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Minsc in Baldur’s Gate 3, Cole Cassidy in Overwatch, Goro Majima in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and more.
MORE CHARACTERS
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is set to expand on Remake’s cast of characters with several other additions, too. Ex-Shinra scientist and skilled pilot Cid Highwind will, of course, have a role to play (though he won’t be playable), while Cloud and co will also lock horns with Elena, the newest recruit of the Turks, who are continuing to hunt the party. Bugenhagen, the elder of Cosmo Canyon and Red XIII’s adoptive grandfather, will also show up, while we will also see a familiar face in the form of Biggs, who, in FF7 Remake’s final moments, was revealed to have avoided his fate from the original game and survived the collapse of the Sector 7 plate.
OPEN WORLD STRUCTURE
Final Fantasy 7 Remake was very much a linear game, something it did get some amount of criticism for, but its upcoming sequel is looking to expand its horizons significantly. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is set to be a fully open world experience, with the entire world map of the original game recreated and expanded upon. That said, though the map will be an entirely seamless one, not all of it will be accessible to players at all times. New areas will become available as you progress further in the story, while certain sections will also limit you to certain locations and regions.
TAKES CUES FROM THE WITCHER 3
Something that Square Enix is seemingly putting a much greater deal of emphasis on with Rebirth is the quality of side content. In particular, director Naoki Hamaguchi has said that the development team took cues from The Witcher 3 in the kind of side content it offers, with extra focus being placed on story-driven quests and snippets focused on developing characters and their relationships. Speaking to Game Informer, Hamaguchi said, “Regarding titles like The Witcher 3, which has that open-world role-playing type element, we did some extensive research into these types of titles and looked at it as a baseline in which Rebirth should be a type of title that can stand alongside it and have the type of content that would be satisfying to its players.”
He added, “We wanted to give players the freedom of choice in deciding whether they wanted to dedicate themselves solely to the main storyline and, like, no sidequests at all. Or there might be people who want to delve into the side content and go really in-depth into the character relationships and understand the story deeper, or just the balance of those two. We wanted to give that freedom.”
SYNERGY MOVES
If you’ve played Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, you’ll likely remember Yuffie and Sonon’s combo attacks in Episode INTERmission. That mechanic is being applied to all of FF7 Rebirth as one of its bigger combat improvements. Similar to Limit Breaks, Synergy moves will run on a gauge, which, once filled up, will let you pick between a variety of pairings of two characters, allowing them to use their combined powers to unleash different moves with different effects.
SUMMONS
It’s natural to be curious (and even excited) about the summons in each new Final Fantasy release, so what should we expect from Rebirth on that front? The game will feature both new summons and those who are returning from Remake, with the lineup including the likes of Bahamut Arisen, Titan, Phoenix, Alexander, Odin, Ramuh, and others. What’s more, it’s been confirmed that the game will also feature “new, extended side content based on a summon who did not feature in the original Final Fantasy 7.”
MAIN STORY LENGTH
As you may have guessed by now, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is going to be a noticeably larger game than its predecessor. That will extend to its main story as well. Square Enix has confirmed that even for players who’re mostly ignoring optional content and just sticking to the main story, the game will be over 40 hours long. In comparison, the critical path in Final Fantasy 7 Remake was roughly 30 hours in length.
TOTAL LENGTH
Side content is something that’s going to be central to the experience in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and in addition to trying to hit a certain level of quality, the game is also going to hit a startling level of quantity. According to the developers, players who do a “good amount” of side content will likely get 60 hours of gameplay out of the game, while completionists can even get more than 100 hours of playtime.
PS5 EXCLUSIVITY
Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 16 both launched as PlayStation exclusives, so it’s no surprise at this point that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will follow suit. Its exclusivity window, however, is just three months long, which is much shorter than that of its predecessor. Of course, that doesn’t mean the game will definitely come to other platforms three months after its PS5 release – after all, FF7 Remake still hasn’t come to Xbox, nearly four years on from launch – but we can probably expect at least a PC port in the not-too-distant future. Or so we hope, at least.
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