Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is finally coming to PC on January 23rd, almost a year since launching on PS5. Between all the awards and overwhelming critical support, there are a lot of expectations from this port.
It’s pretty much the same in terms of story and content with no DLC forthcoming, but there are several new graphical options to put it over the console version. Here are 15 things you should know about the acclaimed RPG before picking it up on PC (which is currently discounted by 30 percent until launch).
Setting
Without getting into spoilers for the first part, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth ventures beyond Midgar into the wider world. From the quaint village of Kalm, players will navigate extensive plains, visit cities like Junon and Costa del Sol, and much more. Some locations from the original aren’t present in Rebirth, though they will appear in the third part. The same goes for Cid’s airship, the Highwind. Nevertheless, the world is teeming with side quests and secrets, including the usual towers to uncover neighboring activities.
Exploration and Traversal
While Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth does feature a fair number of linear areas, the larger open regions are arguably the main highlight. The size and scale of these locations are such that there are even different Chocobo types with unique movement abilities to help get around, from climb climbers to flyers. You even get a buggy at one point which can traverse all kinds of terrain.
Characters
Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, Aerith and Red XIII return from the first part, with new abilities and skills to their repertoires. This time, Red XIII is playable and packs Vengeance Mode, which improves his damage and speed while allowing him to leech health from enemies. Yuffie joins the party after appearing in Episode INTERmission and still carries over the ability to imbue weapons with different elements.
Finally, there’s Cait Sith, who’s skills change depending on whether he’s on his Moogle, and whose name you’ve probably been pronouncing wrong since the original Final Fantasy 7. Of course, there are other characters you’ll encounter, even though the likes of Vincent Valentine aren’t playable, but you’ll have to play it yourself.
Combat Improvements
Though it uses the same combat system as Remake with the ATB Gauge and Limit Breaks, Rebirth expands on it in numerous ways. You can acquire dual-type Materia to harness, say, two different elements on top of various other options. Folios are utilized to upgrade your character with SP and are the key to unlocking Synergy Abilities. New Summons like Phoenix, Bahamut Arisen, Titan, and more have also been added.
Synergy Abilities
You also have new Synergy Abilities, essentially team-ups between two party members. Depending on the current party, these can unleash powerful attacks that deal massive damage up close and at range (with a few defensive options also available). The best part is that they don’t require spending ATB bars, thus providing another resource to decimate enemies.
Mini-Games
If there’s one another pillar that defines the Rebirth experience, it’s the mini-games. Queen’s Blood is a standalone card game with its own side quest chain while Fort Condor offers some tower defense fun. The Junon Parade has also been expanded into something spectacular and the Gold Saucer is jam-packed with the likes of Galactic Saviors, G-Bike, 3D Brawler, and more. Do you need to ace them all? No, but they offer tons of additional fun regardless.
Nvidia DLSS and VRR Support
Nvidia DLSS is available out of the box for improved frame rates, which should also help those struggling with performance. The developer also confirmed that Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) is supported, which is a good thing given the higher frame rates.
Up to 4K and120 FPS support
For all its visual beauty on PS5 and even PS5 Pro, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s upper limit is 4K/60 FPS (and that resolution is achieved with PSSR’s upscaling). The PC version also supports resolutions up to 4K but it also offers frame rates up to 120 frames per second. Long story short, if you want to experience the RPG in the most visually pleasing way possible, the PC version looks to be the ticket.
Graphics Presets and Options
While the full range of graphics settings has yet to be revealed, there will be three presets: Low, Medium and High. Players can also adjust the background model level of detail and texture MIPmaps to enhance the visuals more. This should result in the PC version offering the highest level of graphical fidelity.
Lighting Improvements and Customizable On-Screen NPC Count
The developer touts lighting adjustments for the PC version alongside “significantly improved” light rendering. The results also apply to cutscenes, making them look even better than before. You can also customize the number of on-screen NPCs for further performance gains.
DualSense Support
Like many of Sony’s ports of first-party PS5 exclusives, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC will support the DualSense controller. Furthermore, it features the same controls as on console, allowing fans of the console version to seamlessly translate their experience over to PC.
Keyboard and Mouse Support
Those who prefer to play on a mouse and keyboard are also in luck as Rebirth supports both on PC. Furthermore, you can remap them according to different activities with separate configurations for combat, mini-games and exploration.
Steam Deck Support
Having an experience like this on the go would be truly something. And while the developer hasn’t quite given it the “Steam Deck approved” label, it is “working diligently on optimizations” to ensure the Steam version is playable on the handheld.
PC Requirements
With everything that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth offers on PC, it’s no surprise that the requirements can be hefty, especially on the low end. To play at Low settings and 1080p/30 FPS, you need a Ryzen 5 1400 or Intel Core 14-8100, a Radeon RX 6600, Intel Arc 1580 or Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, and 16 GB of RAM. For Medium settings and 1080p/60 FPS, a Ryzen 5 5600, Ryzen 7 3700X, Core i7-8700, or Core i5-10400, a Radeon RX 6700 XT or GeForce RTX 2070, and 16 GB of RAM are necessary. It’s worth noting that playing at 4K on either Low or Medium requires a GPU with at least 12 GB VRAM.
As for High settings at 2160p/60 FPS, a Ryzen 7 5700X or Core i7-10700, a Radeon RX 7900 XTX or GeForce RTX 4080, and 16 GB RAM are needed. This time, a GPU with 16 GB VRAM or higher is required for playing in 4K. Windows 11 64-bit is mandatory for the Recommended and Ultra requirements, and if that wasn’t enough, you need a whopping 155 GB of installation space on a solid-state drive.
Playtime
Much has been made about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s extensive playtime – the developer revealed before the PS5 version’s launch that it had double the side content of Remake. Sure enough, HowLongToBeat reveals that the main story and extra content take about 91.5 hours on average to beat (with the main story only requiring 47.5 hours). And if you opt to complete everything? It could easily take about 167 hours.
