Speaking to Denfaminico Gamer (translation via DeepL), game director Naoki Hamaguchi said that unlike Rebirth, the entire map is open from the start. Of course, the main story still requires following a “predetermined sequence.” “However, this doesn’t apply to the side content. For example, whilst there is a set order in which you must defeat the WEAPONS that appear in the story, you can take on WEAPONS that aren’t tied to the story at any time.”

You’ll most likely get curb-stomped, but hey, it’s still possible. Plenty of side content is also “nearly on par” with the main story’s difficulty to let players “choose when to play it, whilst keeping an eye on the main story.”

“Even when we’re really focusing on the story in specific scenes, we don’t really stop you from playing the side content. However, we’ve included phases where we say, ‘Please follow the story on this continent for now,’ so in that respect, the structure is similar to the previous game.

“That said, there are some clear differences from the previous game. In the previous title, areas opened up one by one, and it wasn’t until near the end that you realised ‘all these spaces were actually connected’. In this game, however, once you obtain the Highwind early on, you’re free to explore every area as you please using it.”

And while you may not get immediately destroyed as you would against the WEAPONs, the difficulty level will vary quite heavily. “It’s entirely possible that you might think an area is easy, only to find that the one next door is incredibly tough. Rather than clearing a single area in one go, the idea is to progress by picking and choosing what you want to do in different areas as you go,” said Hamaguchi.

“Once you’ve progressed through the main story and grown stronger, you might think, ‘I’ll give this content another go,’ or whilst wandering around, a new quest might pop up and leave you wondering, ‘What should I do?’

“As for the content, there’s at least as much as in the previous game, so just like with Rebirth, I think you’ll find yourself playing whilst wondering where to start.”

This approach also helps mix up the monotony of the previous game, where completionists wouldn’t move on from an area until it was fully completed. Hamaguchi believes that isn’t possible this time because, “There are so many areas to explore, and plenty of content you can’t tackle straight away. I think it’ll come down to deciding ‘where to draw the line for now’.

“Even during our development playthroughs, it takes a considerable amount of time to see all the content. So we set conditions like ‘just the main story this time’, but if you do all the side elements, you simply won’t make any progress on the main story.”

It remains to be seen if this approach will allow for ignoring all side content and focusing entirely on the story. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation doesn’t necessarily do away with minigames, after all, so time will tell. The sheer freedom is still enthralling though, even if Hamaguchi wouldn’t consider it a true open-world game.

Out in Spring 2027, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is the first entry in the Remake trilogy to launch simultaneously on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.

“The Highwind is on a massive scale. If you try to land it on the ground just like in the original version, you run into all sorts of problems—such as the Highwind looking ridiculously huge compared to the land, or the fact that it can only land on flat surfaces,” he said. It was a problem that emerged when development began, and thus led to him looking at “various ways to let players experience the game’s sense of scale.”

“Nowadays, in battle royale-style titles and the like, descending by parachute is something people are quite familiar with, isn’t it? I thought that if we had such an easily recognisable symbol, players would find it more accessible, so I decided on the current system of jumping out with a parachute. That was right at the very start of development. I told the team, ‘This is the way we’re going,’ and we’ve pushed forward without wavering ever since.”

Thankfully, returning to the Highwind is very straightforward – simply fast travel. After reaching a location, the choice is yours whether you want to use a Chocobo, walk or dive from the airship once more. The latter isn’t mandatory every time.

“It’s the same when crossing continents,” added Hamaguchi. “Whether it’s Kalm or Cosmo Canyon, if you’ve been there before, you can fly there, but if you haven’t, you’ll need to parachute down initially. The design is such that if there are unexplored areas within a region, you can parachute down nearby and then explore from there. We’ve prioritised high usability, but of course, if you want to use the parachute, that’s still an option.”

He also confirmed that the Highwind is unlocked early on, and that you’re free to travel with it from the start. Yes, the entire world is free to explore, including Midgar, though some areas (perhaps referring to the Northern Crater) are unreachable. The ship’s interior has also been lovingly recreated and will change as you explore more, with new decorations. You might even pick up some new requests from crew members. It’s like a hub in that sense and a decent way to decompress after major missions.

As for where Revelation begins, Hamaguchi is keeping those details close to his chest. “I imagine you’re all very keen to know where the game begins, and we’ve come up with an interesting opening that’s very much in keeping with the third instalment, so please look forward to that.” Hilariously, flying across the edge of the world will bring you right back around, just like in real life.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is out in Spring 2027 and will launch simultaneously on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Players can traverse the world map by directly controlling the airship, and you can dive off, Tears of the Kingdom-style, to reach the ground at any moment. Other notable sights include the return of Jobs, with new outfits for Cloud and Tifa, alongside the skills for Vincent and Cid. Valentine’s transformation looks pretty great but Cid is no slouch either with his staff strikes. Overall, Square Enix promises its most expansive open-world yet, as players explore the outskirts of Midgar, the city of Wutai, and much more.

Even if it’s only been two years since the release of the acclaimed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (out now on Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2), the wait for Square Enix’s climactic finale has felt unbearable. Hamaguchi has provided sporadic updates here and there, including that he has over 40 playthroughs.

Besides introducing the Highwind and effectively changing how the world map works, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation also marks the Remake trilogy’s simultaneous launch on Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

As for all the theories on how it will end, well, Hamaguchi didn’t want to confirm or deny anything since that would ruin the fun. Either way, it’s possible that the end really isn’t the end since there’s some interest in developing DLC. We’ll find out if that happens in the future, so stay tuned.

Rebirth continues to be a confident, emotionally charged Final Fantasy title, and it’s easy to see why it’s among the franchise’s top earners. Let’s begin with the story, which feels familiar but not entirely predictable. It continues to sustain the challenge of balancing the old and the new that Remake began, taking the time to honor iconic characters, places, and emotional beats without being a scene-by-scene recreation of the original game.

"Of course, the people you meet along the way are a huge part of Rebirth’s allure."

It constantly toys with your expectations by leaving enough of the game for long-term to leaving enough for longtime fans to recognize, while managing to remain as cryptic as it can be about where things are headed. That’s not an easy feat to achieve, but this one does it with style. I do think you’d have a better time making sense of it all if you play Remake Intergrade, but there’s enough on offer in this one to make it stand on its own two feet. It brings a sublime blend of mystery, momentum, and sheer scale to make it quite hard to put down, even on a replay.

Of course, the people you meet along the way are a huge part of Rebirth’s allure. Cloud, Aerith, Barret, Tifa, and all the others from the game’s cast are brought to life in ways that differentiate them from their appearances in the original game. There’s a lot of new dialogue between various characters, all of which injects them with more personality than you might remember through additional lines of banter as you make your way across a gorgeous map.

They’re more vulnerable and willing to lean on their comrades when their conviction seems to falter, and some of the game’s best moments leave the spectacle of it all behind to bring more quiet, meaningful interactions that add emotional weight to the party’s dynamics and specific scenes. That makes the entire adventure feel like an insightful look into their motivations, and it’s an expansion of the original game that continues to be a welcome presence. They feel like a travelling group of comrades now more than ever, and that’s a very good thing in any RPG.

Of course, that isn’t to say that there isn’t any spectacle on offer. It wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy game without it. This is a massive game, but it manages to consistently bring new ideas and mechanics to keep you entertained for the entire experience. You could spend a quiet moment relishing an emotional story beat before being whisked away into a massive set-piece that has your heart flitting between empathy and exhilaration, with you being none the wiser.

"It’s rare that an RPG manages to pack in so much into its runtime, giving us an adventure that actually feels like we’re on a mission across a vast world."

It brings incredibly designed boss fights, addictive minigames, and a LOT of detours to take as you explore the open world, all of which serve character-driven moments very well. It’s rare that an RPG manages to pack in so much into its runtime, giving us an adventure that actually feels like we’re on a mission across a vast world, our only comfort being the ones who choose to travel by our side against forces that seem overwhelming, but cannot be left free to achieve their nefarious schemes. It’s deliciously old-school but with a layer of modern production values that make it a very potent blockbuster.

The revamped approach to the world design on offer helps with that, and the decision to move away from a rather linear structure in Remake to more open regions that come with so much variety that they feel distinct in their identity while providing visual splendor that continues to have me stopping to admire the sights every now and then, despite several playthroughs already under my belt. From The Grasslands to Costa del Sol to the Gold Saucer, each environment has its own identity, a facet that’s made possible by unique side activities, traversal quirks, and atmospheric touches.

It’s a world that feels like there was a lot of intent behind it, which makes it feel like it was lovingly crafted as opposed to being mechanically built to fill up vast swathes of land with things for players to do. That brings me to the nearly overwhelming amount of side content there is, most of which is purposefully baked into the experience to either expand what you know about the world, deepen the bonds you foster between your crew, or simply reward your curiosity while feeding progression.

All of that makes for a gameplay loop that continues to be quite hard to put down. Start a playthrough of this one, and you’re going to be thinking about it even when you’re away from your consoles. I will say that the activities you take on will depend on your personal tastes, but you’re sure to find something to like amid stuff like hunting down intel about the world, the Protorelic questlines, chocobo activities, or all the things you can do in the Gold Saucer. This one’s dense as they come, and it’s also generous enough to make the RPG side of things feel very rewarding indeed.

"There are more playable characters, which brings a wider range of tactical options for you to utilize. Combat encounters are similarly flexible, letting you take varying approaches to problem-solving on the fly."

That’s because this one’s not just an action game with a bit of customization thrown in to make it feel like an RPG. Instead, it’s an RPG through and through, with a bunch of mechanics that feed into the options you have at your disposal to create synergies between party members. You’ve got Materia, weapon upgrades, Folios, crafting, transmutation of items, a great gear system, and a lot of build potential to let you decide how your party operates when they come under enemy fire. If you’re the type who enjoys finding unique ways to take advantage of well-crafted systems, this one’s probably going to keep you occupied for a while.

Of course, all of the energy you spend on creating the perfect party setup has to feed into something, and that’s where the combat system comes in. It’s easily my favorite part of the entire game, building on the hybrid between action and the ATB system from Remake. There are more playable characters, which brings a wider range of tactical options for you to utilize. Combat encounters are similarly flexible, letting you take varying approaches to problem-solving on the fly.

Your party members’ abilities synergize very well once you sink a little time into enabling such interactions, and with options like character switching, managing your stagger bars, blocking, and dodging based on your enemy’s attacks forming the crux of your basic toolkit, that’s already a lot to wrap your head around. Throw in features like Limit Breaks, Synergy Abilities, Summons, and Materia combinations, and you have a combat system that feels like you’re the conductor of a very talented opera, one that manages to sustain a spellbinding performance on the grand stage that this one offers you.

It all comes together so beautifully that you can’t help but marvel at it all. Between the story, combat, and all that the world has to offer you, Rebirth is a title that delivers the best combat in the series while framing it within a narrative and exploratory loop that makes it stand out instead of diminishing it. Everything you do in this game feeds back into an important layer of the experience, and it works very well to make you fall in love with it.

"If you’ve got an Xbox, know that this one isn’t a compromised late arrival, but a strong offering in the platform’s RPG space, and a title that’s very easy to recommend wholeheartedly."

The Xbox Series X port of the game offers three different graphics modes. One is the Graphics mode, which pushes the game to its maximum visual fidelity while rendering at 4K resolution. There are two performance modes, one that sharpens the rendered image and the other that smooths it out. All modes did a decent job with regard to their performance targets, but we preferred the Graphics mode since this is where the game shines the best, thanks to overall high-quality visuals and assets.

With all that’s been said about it, and not for the first time, you’ve probably already guessed that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a superb RPG and a very welcome addition to your library of Xbox games. It brings a bold story, a very memorable cast of characters, a world that does not let you remain idle for too long, and outstanding combat, all of which are woven together so seamlessly that it makes this one among the most impressive titles in years.

Yes, flaws like a bit of stiffness to traversal mechanics, and some slightly exaggerated moments in the story are there. But they’re largely ignorable in the face of an experience that does everything else so darn well. If you’ve got an Xbox, know that this one isn’t a compromised late arrival, but a strong offering in the platform’s RPG space, and a title that’s very easy to recommend wholeheartedly.

It aims for the clouds, with little strife to be found on the gameplay front (pun intended), and it’s been a pleasure to return to it once again.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X.

Which is about all we’ve got to go on right now, but it’s far from nothing. Director Naoki Hamaguchi said the team would reveal more about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Project “than ever before,” on top of all the tidbits thus far. These include the fact that Vincent Valentine and Cid Highwind have “incredibly appealing” skills that he can’t wait for players to try out.

The third part in the remake trilogy was confirmed to be in a playable state last February, and Hamaguchi accrued over 40 playthroughs as of May. Following his statement about how announcement preparations were “steadily underway” and that fans would only need to wait a “little longer,” a reveal at Summer Game Fest seems highly likely.

Perhaps we’ll finally learn the official title, especially since it’s been locked internally for some time now. Compared to Remake and Rebirth, the third part will also launch on Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 alongside PS5. Stay tuned for more updates when Summer Game Fest rolls around.

“We cannot yet provide specific details regarding the release timing,” said Hamaguchi (via machine translation). “However, what we have strongly felt while developing this multi-platform title is that ‘users want to experience the excitement at the same time.’ We are seriously considering how to best develop the third title on multiple platforms, both for the fans and from a business perspective.”

He went on to discuss how Square Enix’s multiplatform release strategy has changed development processes for the team as well. While a development team would previously focus its efforts on making a game for a single platform and then port it over to others, Hamaguchi explained that this process is no longer viable. The varying level of hardware power between modern platforms means that teams now have to make sure that, from the very beginning, designing games based on the idea that they will be running on multiple environments.

“To be honest, the development flow itself has changed considerably,” he explained. “Previously, the general approach was to ‘complete the game on one platform first, and then consider porting it later.’ Square Enix also largely followed this approach. However, what I strongly felt through FFVII Remake and FFVII Rebirth is that in this day and age, that way of thinking is no longer viable. Including rendering, streaming, memory design, and asset configuration, it is necessary to ‘design with multiple environments in mind from the beginning.’ In other words, the era of ‘the porting team working hard later’ is over.”

While Square Enix has confirmed Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 will come to all platforms, the company hasn’t yet made any commitments about day one releases across all consoles and PC. With the team’s new development processes, however, Hamaguchi is confident that a simultaneous launch is possible.

“These days, the question of ‘which platform it’s released on’ is far less important than ‘how much enthusiasm you can put into playing it.’ We’re prioritizing that aspect with our trilogy as well. The era where ‘AAA games are only for a select few environments’ is rapidly changing,” Hamaguchi said. “That’s why we absolutely won’t leave the third installment in an incomplete state. I want to bring it to a point where I can proudly say, ‘I have completed the FFVII Remake series to the very end.’ That is the determination with which we are developing it now. Please look forward to it!”

In the meantime, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has just come out on Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. For more on that, check out its launch trailer.

In the meantime, Square Enix has a new trailer that brings a lot of style and gives you a good idea of what to expect from the game if you’re going in blind (which is no small task given how long it’s been out). There’s a reason it’s the second-highest rated game in the series, after all. Well, there are several, but we’d pick the way it brought fresh layers to a familiar story as our top one.

Those playing on the Switch 2 might want to free up a little space, though, since Rebirth could require over 100 GB of installation space. If you’re curious about trying it out first-hand, a free demo is available on Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S with save data carrying over to the base game.

As you’ve probably come to expect, there weren’t many details about Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, though the trailer started with a quick peek at all the monsters that the title would feature. We also saw the two new protagonists, both girls, who players will seemingly control throughout this new adventure.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. It doesn’t have a release window outside of “coming soon,” but series creator Yuji Horii hopes it will launch before Dragon Quest 12. Here’s hoping a much narrower window is announced soon, even if it’s sometime next year.

In the more immediate future, Switch 2 players can look forward to the launch of Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age. An enhanced version of 2017’s Dragon Quest 11, it features new content in the form of character stories, Japanese voice acting, an orchestral soundtrack and the option to play in a retro 2D format. Head here for all the details.

That includes new character scenarios, an optional 2D mode that plays more like the retro Dragon Quest games of yore, Japanese voice-acting, and even an orchestral version of the soundtrack (though you can still listen to the original). Switch 2 players can also choose between two graphical modes, prioritizing visual fidelity or the frame rate as they see fit. Fair warning, though: The physical edition comes with a Game-Key Card.

Coupled with the already massive base game, Dragon Quest 11 S: Echoes of an Elusive Age offers 90 hours of story and side content, and even more for completionists. You can check our review of the original here for more details, or play the enhanced version on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch today.

As for the future, Square Enix could finally be revealing some new details on Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate, the next mainline entry in the franchise. Very little was known until now, aside from its development on Unreal Engine 5, so stay tuned for updates.