Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Second part of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a 2024 action role-playing game from Square Enix, follows Final Fantasy VII Remake as the second part of a trilogy reimagining the 1997 original. Its gameplay blends real-time combat with strategic and role-playing mechanics. Picking up right after Remake, the story follows mercenary Cloud Strife and the eco-terrorist group AVALANCHE as they travel the Planet to stop Shinra from harvesting Mako energy and to defeat the rogue SOLDIER Sephiroth.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Square Enix Creative Business Unit I
- Publisher
- Square Enix
- Director
- Naoki Hamaguchi
- Tetsuya Nomura
- Motomu Toriyama
- Producer
- Yoshinori Kitase
- Designer
- Teruki Endo, Masanori Sato
- Programmer
- Daiki Hoshina
- Satoru Koyama
- Ryo Hara
- Artist
- Shintaro Takai
- Writer
- Kazushige Nojima
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues the narrative reimagined from the original 1997 game, set on the planet Gaia. The story follows the party after leaving Midgar as they seek to end the tyranny of the Shinra Electric Power Company, which weaponizes the Lifestream, and to defeat Sephiroth, a former SOLDIER who aims to summon Meteor and unite with the Lifestream to attain godhood. The game spans events from the departure from Midgar to the Forgotten Capital, though the order of locations is altered from the original; for instance, the visit to Wutai is reserved for the third installment. The protagonist Cloud Strife, a former SOLDIER 1st Class mercenary, leads the party alongside AVALANCHE members Barret Wallace and Tifa Lockhart. They are joined by Aerith Gainsborough, the last surviving Cetra; Red XIII, an intelligent quadruped from Cosmo Canyon; and Yuffie Kisaragi, a Materia thief and ninja from Wutai who joins after losing her partner Sonon Kusakabe in a failed attempt to steal the Ultimate Materia.
Development
Square Enix confirmed during promotion of Final Fantasy VII Remake that the project would be a multi-part series rather than a single game. Director Tetsuya Nomura cited the difficulty of reconstructing the original with current technology and the need to avoid cutting content as reasons for the multi-part approach, and he envisioned the remake as a reimagining to excite original fans. Producer Yoshinori Kitase compared the structure to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, though he noted differences due to the central protagonist Cloud Strife. Kitase later revealed the project would be a trilogy, with development initially conceived across two games; the indecision on direction caused a lack of clarification on the number of parts. Active development on the sequel began by November 2019, before Remake's release. Nomura stated the game was designed with newcomers in mind. The lead staff from the previous game returned, with Nomura as creative director instead of director and Naoki Hamaguchi as director instead of co-director.
Marketing and release
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was announced in June 2022 during the Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration livestream, alongside Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion and the Steam version of Remake Intergrade. In June 2023, developer messages promised a wide world with high freedom and multiple story routes. A trailer at The Game Awards 2023 showcased the song 'No Promises to Keep' by Loren Allred and new footage including Vincent Valentine and Cid Highwind, and a collaboration with Apex Legends was announced. The game launched as a timed PlayStation 5 console exclusive for at least three months. Editions included standard, Deluxe (with steelbook, mini-soundtrack CD, artbook), and Collector's Edition (adding a Sephiroth statue and DLC keys). It was one of the first major releases on Leap Day.
Reception
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth received universal acclaim on Metacritic, with 97% of critic reviews recommending it on OpenCritic. In Japan, it was the highest-selling new release in its first week with over 262,000 physical units, and it was the biggest-selling game at retail in March, shifting over 310,000 units. In the United States, it was the second best-selling game of February 2024 despite only one day of sales, and the Remake & Rebirth Twin Pack ranked eighth. It was the most downloaded PlayStation game in Japan and 14th in North America. The game won the Grand Award at the PlayStation Partners Awards for top sales in Japan and Asia between October 2023 and September 2024. The PC port peaked at 40,564 concurrent players on Steam, the biggest single-player Final Fantasy release on the platform, and was the best-selling game in the US in its first week by dollar sales.
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