The most anticipated game of 2024, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth – the sequel to 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake raised the stakes yet again. Following its State of Play announcement, Square Enix has released a 70-minute demo which gives us a depth as to how Rebirth follows in the footsteps of 2020’s FF VII Remake.
A Soldier’s Homecoming
The demo lets players experience the first chapter of the game, Fall of The Hero in Nibelheim, where they control Sephiroth and Cloud as they investigate a mysterious incident at the Mako Reactor. In some ways, it is a re-iteration of events in Crisis Core: Reunion, the remake of the PSP original Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Story-wise, Final Fantasy Fans are in for a treat where there are no promises to keep.
This demo allows players to experience the map of Nibelheim – The home of Cloud of Tifa. You can also visit the windmill, where Cloud and Tifa forged their childhood promise. There are also cameos of other notable characters like Cloud’s mom Claudia and Tifa’s father. Throughout the playthrough, Tifa acts as the guide for Cloud and Sephiroth as they make their to the Shinra Reacter located at Mt. Nibel.
One Winged Angel
The demo features a revamped combat system that combines real-time action with strategic elements. Players can switch between Sephiroth and Cloud at any time, and use their unique abilities and weapons to deal damage and stagger enemies. The synergy moves are a new addition that allows the characters to perform powerful attacks together, depending on their position and timing. For example, Sephiroth can launch an enemy into the air with his Masamune, and Cloud can follow up with a Braver slash. The synergy moves to add more depth and variety to the combat and requires players to coordinate their actions and exploit enemy weaknesses.
The demo also showcases the improvements in traversal and exploration. Cloud can now climb and swim, allowing him to access new areas and secrets. The environments are more detailed and interactive, and players can find items, new Materias, and hidden passages along the way. However, this first part was mostly limited to climbing sections as you are confined to the wilderness of Mt. Nibel.
That being said, it does lack a slight degree in terms of these added actions as there is no jump or climb button as Cloud’s traversal actions are mostly automated. For a couch experience, it’s pretty good. More or less it follows the automated sprinting mode in Final Fantasy XVI. The QTE sections and puzzles can bog its pacing a bit, thankfully there are very few instances of it in this demo.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Demo has given us a comprehensive look at the game’s inception. It looks great and manages to deliver a rock-solid performance on PlayStation 5. Overall Rebirth looks stronger than ever. You can download the demo from the PlayStation store. More content will follow on Feb 23, when we will be getting to explore the Junon region, with Cloud and his party.