Over the weekend, Square Enix held a Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth livestream from the Tokyo Game Show. The hour-long presentation reveals several new details, including some regions you’ll explore, minigames, and more.
The panel featured Noda Crystal and Chiaki Matsuzawa as hosts, with developers Yoshinori Kitase (Producer), Naoki Hamaguchi (Director), and Tetsuya Nomura (Creative Director) as the team explained what was being shown on screen to attendees and people tuning in from around the world to see more of the world of Midgar.
“Each region feels unique, boasting different enemies to encounter and different methods of traversing its terrain. Search high and low to unlock new quests and unearth rare treasures.
The gameplay demo shown to attendees features our first look at the Grasslands region, an area rich with mako. These plains are dotted with smaller outposts and planetary fonts waiting to be discovered. This section is also littered with chocobo farms, where you can rent chocobos from the ranch to explore the region.
The second segment in the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo featured the area under Junon, the former capital of the republic that fell into decline due to Shinra. All that’s left now is a fishing village that’s a mere echo of its former self.
Above is Junon, a town previously serving as a beacon of hope and economic prosperity. It is now the former capital after the Shinra occupation, repurposing the town as an outpost fortified with an underwater mako reactor.
The Gold Saucer, located in the Corel Desert, is a gilded paradise, where the Shinra-owned facility is powered by mako to brighten the sky with its various attractions and distractions to the locals.
Exploration is essential to the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth experience as you visit chocobo farms to customize your bird.
Item transmuting is crucial to survival as it creates items and improves your craftsmanship.
Cloud can also pick up mercenary requests from various locations you’ll visit. People need help, and Cloud can help them by picking up the odd jobs here and there.
As you explore the world outside of Midgar, Chadley returns to ask you for a favour — reactivate the world’s defunct communications tower to facilitate his knowledge of the planet. To do that, you must activate Remnawave Towers in each region to open more research opportunities. The towers will also help expand the world map.
You can now complete combat assignments for Chadley to boost his combat simulator. Finding rare monsters and gathering intel is vital to succeeding.
Riding a chocobo can smell treasure denoted by the “?” above its head. Following the scent might lead you to unearth a valuable item or a new transmuter formula.
Repair fallen chocobo stop signs to transform them into fast travel spots. If you see a stray chocobo chick, it’s best to follow it as it will lead you to a new fast-travel point that’ll reward you with a golden plume.
The limit break system returns and works as in Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
What is new are the new Synergy Abilities you’ll use in battle. Two party members team up to activate functional abilities without consuming ATB. These commands can be executed while blocking and provide various beneficial effects. Each pairing is unique in its ability; some deal damage while others provide support.
Minigames are back in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Square Enix has added new games to the experience. A highlight of the presentation at the Tokyo Game Show was the Piano Performance game where Cloud played the piano. In-game, you’ll find sheet music where you can head to a piano and try to perform it. Some pieces feature in-game music and are challenging to complete, and you can improvise others to perform original music in a free-play mode.
Queen’s Blood is a strategic card game that has skyrocketed in popularity. Players place cards on the board to overpower their opponent by accumulating power in each lane. Collect cards and utilize their abilities to claim the crown as QB royalty.
Moogle Mischief returns as you bring the Moogle children back to their mogstools. It won’t be easy, though, as the Moogle kids will attack you, so be careful not to get hurt by them.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launches for PS5 on February 29, 2024.
