Game news Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: release date, excluded PS5 … We take stock of the sequel to FF7 Remake
After hearing about Final Fantasy 16, fans of Square Enix’s flagship franchise were treated to another little treat. During the event celebrating the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy 7, the Japanese firm unveiled a trailer for the long-awaited sequel to FF7 Remake, renamed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Now that we’ve finally seen the title, it’s time to take stock of everything we know.
What is Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth about?
Spoiler alert
This part contains Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Intermission spoilers. If you want to continue reading but have not yet played the game and its DLC, we recommend that you skip to the next paragraph.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth picks up where INTERmission, the Yuffie-centric DLC left off. As a reminder, the latter ended with a cutscene showing Cloud, Aerith, Barrett, Rouge XIII and Tifa on the outskirts of the village of Kalm. In Final Fantasy 7, it is in this place that Cloud reveals to his companions the tragic fate of his hometown. We can therefore expect flashbacks galore to make us relive it (which would explain the trailer presenting Sephiroth and Cloud side by side)… at least in theory.
Because in practice, Final Fantasy 7 Remake took great liberties with the original story. It is therefore difficult to predict what will happen in this sequel. What we do know is that Yuffie will cross paths with Cloud and his friends. For the rest, some hope the return of Vincent Valentine, the iconic character of the unloved Dirge of Cerberus. The latter’s first mission takes place in Kalm.
The others are waiting for answers as to the presence of a character supposed to have died a long time ago: Zach Fair. Cloud’s former comrade indeed appears at the end of FF7 Remake and INTERmission. Suffice to say that it is more than likely to see it take on a very particular importance in this FF7 Rebirth and obtain explanations on the different temporalities which seem to coexist.
And then there is also the fate of this character who had marked the players so much when Final Fantasy 7 was released. In case you are not familiar with the story of the original game, we will not say his name, but the others know very well what we are talking about. Will the remake also take liberties with this event, which is probably one of the most famous and impactful in the history of video games? Nothing is less sure. Far from Midgar, many things can happen and the precise history of this FF7 Rebirth still remains a mystery.
A more open world for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?
If Final Fantasy 7 Remake was set in Midgar, Rebirth passes through the gates of the megalopolis to venture into “the wide outside world”. A script fact that can only influence the structure of the game, so far very linear. Naoki Hamaguchi (game director) confirmed this to IGN in 2021:
Regarding future improvements, or should I say “changes”, since the next episode will involve Cloud and company leaving Midgar and exploring the world map, our next challenge will be to create gameplay that exploits the vastness of the world, unlike what we did with the current game.
The word open world has not been pronounced and the experience will undoubtedly be a linear minimum. Nevertheless, it will take place on a world larger than that of Midgar. We hope to see images of the different environments present soon and, who knows, maybe a small map of the world of FF7 Rebirth.
Will Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth feature new gameplay?
Final Fantasy 7 Remake had made an impression with its overhaul of the original combat system. By mixing turn-based and real-time, this new version of Final Fantasy 7 gameplay was able to hit the mark with most players. But Square Enix did not stop there and offered us with the DLC INTERmission even more dynamic and visually impressive fights. In addition to the energetic character that is Yuffie with her twirling attacks, the combo and synchronization system introduced with the arrival of Sonon gave a good boost to the gameplay. Simple interlude or launch pad for future changes? Naoki Hamaguchi touched on this point in July 2021:
With Intermission, a new element is introduced: the chain sequences where Yuffie and Sonon fight in pairs. This causes a different impression regarding the strategy. I would like to exploit that, along with other things integrated into Intermission, into our new story.
We can therefore expect to see these famous sequences again in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which should take up the gameplay of the remake by pushing it towards ever more action. Another point that questions fans of the original game: will we see certain mini-games hitherto absent from the remake? If INTERmission was marked by the return of Fort Condor, Will FF7 Rebirth honor the Gold Saucer, this amusement park allowing you to participate in chocobo races or play Triple Triad? If fans have high hopes for this, Hamaguchi has yet to comment on it.
Will Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth be a real next-gen and PS5 game?
Besides the fact that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will be released on PS5 and not PS4, there are good reasons to believe that the title will fully exploit the capabilities of PlayStation’s next-gen console. The InterGRADE version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake was also openly presented as a kind of training for the development teams, so that they could master the technical capabilities of the console. To players disappointed to see that InterGRADE only half exploited these, Tesuya Nomura (game director) replied that if they wanted a real next-gen and PS5 experience, they had better wait for the release of part 2 of the remake. We still don’t know more, but Square Enix promises us a new experience on PS5. What to expect from this FF7 Rebirth at the turn technically speaking!
Who is working on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth?
If Final Fantasy 7 Remake was overseen by Tetsuya Nomura (character designer on FF7, director of Kingdom Hearts…), the latter left his post to Naoki Hamaguchi. A great promotion for Hamaguchi, which has worked with Square Enix for almost 20 years. If he notably worked on Final Fantasy 12 and Final Fantasy 13, the guy will not be out of place since he was co-director of Final Fantasy 7 Remake alongside Nomura.
Do not panic for fans of the well-known Japanese developer, he is still involved in the development of Rebirth. He only chose not to occupy too important a position, since he is also working on a number of projects. These were also revealed during the FF7 anniversary party: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, remake of the PSP episode scheduled for the end of the year, and Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis, mobile game bringing together the events of Crisis Core, Before Crisis and Dirge of Cerberus.
Will Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have a sequel?
As early as 2016, we learned that Square Enix was considering applying the model of Final Fantasy 13 to its remake of Final Fantasy VII. As a reminder, the episode featuring the adventures of Lightning was divided into three parts. We thus had the right to Final Fantasy 13 in 2010 (European release), then Final Fantasy 13-2 in 2012, to finish with Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 in 2014.
Following the Final Fantasy 7 25th Anniversary Celebration Event, Tetsuya Nomura has confirmed that a third part will be offered by Square Enix. According to him, its development has already started in parallel with Rebirth. If the studio decides to keep the same pace, we can expect to see this third part in 2026.
When will Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth be released?
The sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake is scheduled for winter 2023, on PS5 only. This is a temporary exclusivity, even if it is not yet known which platforms will be concerned at the end of the latter. As a reminder, FF7 Remake (and Intergrade recently) is also available on PC, but still shuns Xbox consoles.
