Final Fantasy VII Rebirth revealed: what is it like to play with Sephiroth, what is the size of the game and the advantages if you played the Remake

Contents

Why Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes on 2 discs
How far does Final Fantasy VII Rebirth go in the story of Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII Remake Save Data Transfer
Vincent Valentine will not be a playable character
Sephiroth will be a playable character
You can explore using a Chocobo as a mount
Minigame Expansion
When Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes out

Last week during September State of Play, Square Enix took the opportunity to reveal a stunning new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, as well as its release date as a PS5 exclusive. Some media have already had an approach to the game and within the framework of TGS 2023 that is being held in Japan, both first impressions and very interesting data about it were published.

This is everything we know about the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII Rebirth after these revelations that we compiled from the article published by GameInformer.

Why Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes on 2 discs

It has been announced that Final Fantasy VII Remake will have a size of 150 GB, so it was not possible for all the game data to fit on a single disk. The first will include 100 GB and the second the remaining 50 GB.

Unlike the classic games in the series in which you had to insert the correct disc depending on the part you were in of the game, here you will first have to insert both discs to do the complete installation and, later, only use the first one to activate it.

Game director Naoki Hamaguchi told GameInformer that they wanted what was shown in Rebirth to be massive compared to the version of Midgar we saw in Remake, and that they made the decision not to force the designers to make every detail that they wanted to introduce into the game fit on a single disc.

How far does Final Fantasy VII Rebirth go in the story of Final Fantasy VII

In Game Informer’s interview with the developers, Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that this second part of the Final Fantasy VII remake will reach the end of Fogotten Capital, also known as The City of the Ancients.

It’s important to note that there might be some elements of Rebirth’s story that don’t follow the same order or are told in the same way as they did in the original game.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Save Data Transfer

Tetsuya Nomura has been very emphatic in the past that this new reimagining of Final Fantasy VII is not a single game divided into 3 parts, but rather different games, each with its own identity and elements that differentiate it from the others.

That said, it’s no surprise that it’s fully confirmed that we won’t be able to transfer save data from Final Fantasy VII Remake to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. There is no shared progression, so you will not be able to take your equipment or material with you.

However, the game will reward those who played Final Fantasy VII Remake, because if Rebirth detects save data from the past game they will obtain a summon material from the beginning of the game.

Vincent Valentine will not be a playable character

In the interview with GameInformer, Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that, as we saw in the trailer, Vincent Valentine will join the group in the main story, but not as a playable character. The approach will be similar to what we saw from Red XIII in Final Fantasy VII Remake. According to GameInformer, the Square Enix creative’s response suggests that we could play with him until the third installment of this new reimagining of Final Fantasy VII.

Sephiroth will be a playable character

Although we learned about it in the trailer that was shown last week, the demo that is being presented at TGS 2023 has already let people try first-hand two of the most significant elements of this sequel to the remake: Sephirothh will be a playable character and can be explored using a Chocobo as a mount.. The player has the option of having Sephiroth simply accompany them when taking control of Cloud, but it is also possible to change characters to control him.

The two-part demo, as reported on the official PlayStation blog, offered about 20 minutes of exploration in Nibelheim with Cloud and Sephiroth in a section heavily focused on combat. It was here that attendees of the Japanese video game fair could experience firsthand what it’s like to control the franchise’s famous villain. The player has the option to simply have Sephirot accompany them when taking control of Cloud, but it is also possible to switch characters in order to control him.

This is what Guillen McAllister from the PlayStation Blog says about it.

Along with some fancy and unique abilities you can deploy during fights, you can also collaborate with Cloud to execute one of FFVII Rebirth’s flashy new features: Synergy moves. Unfortunately, this demo sequence is too short, but the embellished combat and story moments from the original leave me with the same sense of awe towards Sephiroth that it did back in the day.

Synergy Moves are powerful team attacks that you can perform in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and are described as follows:

They’ve been developed with each member’s fighting style and strengths in mind, meaning there are unique Synergies for each pairing – another reason to constantly change your active party as you explore.

You can explore using a Chocobo as a mount

The TGS 2023 demo also allowed players to freely explore Junon. From the PlayStation Blog it is said that this section stood out for its graphics and, as it is very extensive, it can be explored with a Chocobo as a mount. You can personalize your adorable mount at the Chocoboutique, with accessories for its head, chest and legs.

Minigame Expansion

As expected, many of the minigames we originally saw in Final Fantasy VII have been expanded for this new version. Specifically, the GameInformer article refers to Cloud’s infiltration of Rufus Shinra’s parade. In this minigame we can recruit soldiers to decide how to order them and thus have a new approach to the way the parade develops.