Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth preview: Part 2 of remake project cuts loose

Bloomberg published a report detailing some soul searching and scapegoating by Square Enix following a decline in the share price of its company and perceived underperformance. Final Fantasy 16. Sources criticized disorganized management in a landscape of unruly “fiefdoms” led by single, powerful producers. That may be true, and I wouldn’t want to underplay the frustrations of developers working under those conditions. But there’s also something to be said for letting enormously experienced, creative, big personalities run things how they please (within reason). The work may not look perfect but you never feel like it was designed by a group. The design is bespoke, extravagant and bizarre.

That couldn’t be more true of the Final Fantasy 7, The remake is a three-game expansion and reinterpretation of the 1997 original, which was conceived by Yoshinori kitase, the producer and director of the first game, with the help of creative director Tetsuya nomura, the Kingdom Hearts lord. It’s indulgent fan service that’s somehow also willing to change the script; fans were shocked by the slick real-time combat and apparently metafictional twists of the first installment, 2020’s Final Fantasy Remake, but no one could deny that Kitase’s team was really going for it.

We have a new way to get you there Final Fantasy RebirthComing to PlayStation 5 in 2024, a blockbuster, lavish recreation of the middle part of an older video game. The latest, extremely animated trailer suggests that this sequel is going to be a lot more fun than the previous one. Remake’s re-creation of the choked, dystopian city of Midgar. Rebirth follows Cloud Strife and company as they follow antagonist Sephiroth’s trail across the land, from desert to coast to gaudy pleasure park; confirmed locations include the military fortress city of Junon, the Gold Saucer theme park, and the Forgotten Capital. They hunt! They explore! They play minigames! The play mini-games Segways is what they do!

At a recent hands-on session, I got to play two sections of the game: “The Fated Mt. Nibel Mission,” a flashback sequence in which Cloud and Sephiroth are playable together, and “The Open Wilds of Junon,” a taster for the more open exploration and hunting gameplay on offer in Rebirth. before the story led me to Under Junon, a small fishing community struggling under the oppressive shadow of a metropolis.

Story-wise, RebirthThis is the direct continuation of Remake, but in gameplay terms it’s better to think of it as a traditional video game sequel: expanding the scope, adding features, but cleaving close to what made the first game tick. Game saves and character build from Remake don’t carry over — Rebirth is a stand-alone game — but Square Enix promises some bonuses for returning players.) Combat plays out just the same as the first game: a blend of issuing Active Time Battle commands, in an echo of the original game’s turn-based system, and switching between characters to run around, attack, dodge, and block in real-time action combat.

Synergy is a new feature that allows you to pair characters in your group of three together for coordinated movements. The low-key synergies are available whenever you block with R1, but the Synergy main abilities are slowly-charged showstoppers, which gradually increase on their independent gauge. They’re flashily animated and satisfying to use, plus there’s a fun wish-fulfillment dimension to watching these beloved characters team up in such a wide range of combinations. (I don’t know if every possible permutation from the game’s playable cast will be featured, but going by the demo, it seems like it.)

Square Enix

Square Enix

Square Enix

Square Enix

Synergies may make a tiered, busy combat system seem rushed. It’s not the ideal environment for exploring these features, and a short demo was no exception. However, I often found myself wondering if they were even possible. RebirthThe option is available to focus only on strategic command and automate real-time battles. RemakeCould I have it? Remake You can also find out more about the following: Rebirth’s brawling is fine, but Final Fantasy 16’s crisp, fluid, and refined combat action has rather shown it up, anyway.

The Mt. The Nibel Mission, in which Cloud and Sephiroth are seen together as SOLDIERs, investigating Mako’s malfunction, is accompanied by an older (but not playable), Tifa. Sephiroth has been tuned so that he feels overpowered, and dominates Cloud. It’s an almost uncanny kick to manipulate this iconic character, with his outrageously long locks, coat, and blade, in real time, as the pair faces a boss fight against a scorpion-like Materia Guardian monster.

Square Enix only offered a small section of the wilds outside Junon to explore in the second mission; as is often the case with the company’s games, it felt like a condensed impression of an open world, so much so that it was scarcely worth mounting chocobos to explore and sniff out treasure (although reps say the area in the final game will be much larger). In any case, the real fun here was experimenting with the three available party compositions — permutations of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and the newly playable angry cat guy, Red XIII — in hunts against powerful monsters (referred to as “fiends”) in the field. The confrontations can be replayed and have optional objectives that will increase the rewards. These include pressing or stabbing your opponent and meeting a set time limit. The battles are a perfect place to practice the uniqueness of the system, and improve your team’s strategies.

Square Enix

Square Enix

Square Enix

Square Enix

After messing about with these for a while, I followed a marker leading to the shadowy lean-tos of Under Junon — a gorgeously rendered location that, perhaps even more than anything in RemakeIt’s like walking through the low-poly maps from the original game, but now in full detail. The arrival of the Ninja Yuffie (previously introduced in the game) was heralded by another battle against a gigantic aquatic enemy, the Terror of the Deep. IntergradeThe demo ended just before I could add her to the party.

Kitase, his team, and PlayStation Blog noted in an article that there will be a change to the order the places are visited and you can return at any time to the Gold Saucer and play the minigames. They promised an expansive world map with many locations that aren’t even included in the main storyline, and Kitase said the team has challenged itself to be more ambitious with new scenes that divert from the original narrative. “I am confident these new scenes will be wildly enjoyable for fans and newcomers alike,” he said.

I’m not as confident as Kitase that everyone in Final Fantasy fandom is going to love Rebirth’s diversions from the original game. However, the impression that I received was one of a very different game. Remake, manages to be free to be itself and have some fun — even as it hits the nostalgic notes everyone is waiting for.