Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth release date, gameplay and trailers

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

is coming next month and will bring the next chapter in the three-part remake of the original

Final Fantasy 7

. Part two of the remake trilogy,

Rebirth

follows on from

Final Fantasy 7 Remake


,

continuing the story of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII on their mission to save the planet.

Like

Remake

before it,

Rebirth

gives

Final Fantasy 7

the full modern graphical treatment, with eye-watering cinematics and astounding graphical fidelity. The game also makes use of a hybrid combat system, which combines real-time action with strategic role-playing game (RPG) elements, letting you pause to give orders to your party and execute attacks on the fly. I was very impressed with my hands-on with an early build of the game, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the full release.

Should the quality of the title as a whole be up to the standard of the preview,

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

could be one of the best RPGs and best JRPGs of the year. With the title less than two months away, there are plenty of details out there about the game, too. We’ve gathered them all in one place for your convenience and reading pleasure. Read on to find out everything there is to know about this keenly anticipated upcoming game.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: cut to the chase

• 
  What is it?
  
  The sequel to
  
  Final Fantasy 7 Remake
  
• 
  When is it coming out?
  
  February 29, 2024
• 
  What can I play it on?
  
  PS5

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

is due to release on February 29, 2024 for PS5. This was revealed during a brand new showing at a Sony State of Play event that aired September 14, 2023, alongside a new release date announcement trailer.

Unfortunately for PS4 owners,

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

won’t be a cross-gen release like part one of the trilogy. We expect, however, that like

Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Rebirth

will also arrive on PC at a later date once its PlayStation exclusivity deal runs out. Though, it’s worth noting that this hasn’t been confirmed yet. Conversely, the game is unlikely to come to Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, given the fact that

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

still hasn’t made the trip to Microsoft’s consoles.

The latest trailer for

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

may be short, but it packs plenty of tantalizing tidbits, including a few jaw-dropping frames from the Nibelheim Incident – one of the most important set pieces in the game. We also get to see more of Zack, as well as Shinra’s military parade in Junon.

We also see the villainous Doctor Hojo make an appearance, alongside a deadly-looking lizard creature that just might be a Zolom – a famously tricky boss from the original

Final Fantasy 7

.

We also saw the release of

a trailer for the game’s theme song

,

No Promises to Keep,

which was revealed in December 2023. The trailer shows off scenes from the upcoming game as well as its tear-inducing theme song. We advise bringing tissues for this one.

Those keen for more

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

content can find the

2023 Summer Games Fest

trailer as well as the

Release Date Announce Trailer

and the

first-look trailer

on

Final Fantasy’s official YouTube channel

.

The

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

trailers have all shown off the game’s combat mechanics. At a glance, we seem to be in for more of what we got with

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

: a satisfying action RPG with slick swapping between characters and a pause mechanic to help with decision-making.

As you carry out normal attacks, you’ll build up an action gauge which can be cashed in for more complex techniques through the command menu. These might be spells or more specialized attacks tied to your character’s weapon. Just like in

Remake

, every character in

Rebirth

handles differently, each with their own sets of abilities and approaches to battle.

During our hands-on with an early build of the game, we got to experience

Rebirth

‘s battle system first-hand. More polished than its predecessor, the responsiveness of the controls and freedom of movement gave the likes of

Devil May Cry 5

and

Final Fantasy 16



a run for their money.

What’s more, improving on systems tentatively introduced in

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade

,

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

introduces powerful synergy attacks – special moves performed by two characters at once. In addition to run-of-the-mill tag team moves you can use by spending action points as usual, you also have access to a suite of more powerful synergy attacks that not only offer strong effects but also show off the emotional dynamic between the two party members using the technique.

Off of the battlefield,

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

introduces new Chocobo riding mechanics as well as a range of new minigames, all of which were teased in the release date trailer.

In terms of story, we don’t know much about

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

. If it were more of a straight-up remake, then we’d have a far clearer idea about where the narrative is headed. Though

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

mostly stuck to the script of its original counterpart, there were a few significant differences that could signal a radical shift for the plot. Either way,

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

will be taking us out of the sprawling dystopian city of Midgar, across lush forests and foreboding badlands on a quest to pursue the villainous Sephiroth.

The Whispers, ghostly antagonists keen on preserving the original

Final Fantasy 7

timeline, were a key element in

Remake.

According to a

blog post

in which co-director Motomu Toriyama spoke about

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

, these ethereal meddlers aren’t going to be around to keep the timeline in order this time around.

“As it says at the end of the game ‘The Unknown Journey Will Continue’, and Cloud and his friends will be on that journey for a while yet,” co-director Motomu Toriyama says in the final installment of

Square Enix’s

FF7 Remake

blog series

. “From here on in the Whispers cannot act to maintain the destined timeline, so fans can look forward to seeing what kind of future awaits the team.”

Since

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

ended with the defeat of the Whispers, this narrative decision by Toriyama makes a lot of sense.

The Theme Song Announcement Trailer from the 2023 Video Game Awards has given us plenty more tidbits, too. Not only does it give us a proper look at Vincent and Cid, but it also gives us a sneak peek at Zack and Biggs’ roles in this new canon. In the original timeline, both characters perished tragically, but it looks as though these two will be joining forces after the events of

Remake

. We also see Zack looking after a sleeping Cloud later on in the trailer. This means that the two will have a reunion of their own in

Rebirth

– a meeting that could have big ramifications for both of their character arcs.

We also know from an interview with

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

co-director Naoki Hamaguchi that Zack’s role in the story will allow players to “experience and understand more of the

Final Fantasy 7

worldview” including the “policies and rules governing [the] world.” This likely means that Zack’s sections in the game will deal with yet unseen aspects of the

Final Fantasy 7

setting. We can’t wait to see what this entails.

New story trailer shows off iconic Nibelhiem scene


A new trailer for

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

shows off some tantalizing frames from the Nibelheim Incident, one of the key moments of the story. In the trailer, we see Cloud prone on the floor as Sephiroth burns down our hero’s hometown. We’re also treated to clips of many of the game’s central protagonists, including Barret, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, and Red XIII playing over a dramatic arrangement of the

Final Fantasy 7

battle theme.

Zack will help players ‘deepen their understanding’ of the game’s world


Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

co-director Naoki Hamaguchi has revealed more about what we can expect from Zack’s arc in the game. “Through him, players will be able to experience and understand more of the

Final Fantasy 7

worldview and it will deepen their understanding of the

Final Fantasy 7

world.” This includes the “policies and rules governing [the setting],” too.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth



features a scene that makes the director want to cry


Creative director Tetsuya Nomura remarked that there’s a scene in

Rebirth

that brings him to tears. “There’s a scene where I truly want to cry when I see it,” he said hinting at the work he’d done “not only [on] Aerith’s arc for

Rebirth

, but even other characters like Dyne [Barret’s childhood friend and biological father to Marlene].”

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth



will include “totally new cities,” says game director


Game co-director Naoki Hamaguchi has revealed that “totally new cities” not featured in the original

Final Fantasy 7

will be making an appearance in

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

. These new locales are designed to encourage players to embark on “different adventures and [to] go on their own journeys according to their [own] interests,” he elaborated.

Making Sephiroth playable will help you “understand his point of view”


In a recent interview,

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s

co-director Naoki Hamaguchi made it clear that he wanted fans to “feel more empathy for Sephiroth” during his playable segments. “We believed that making him playable was the best way to create a bond with the user,” he continued. “Having Sephiroth as a playable character is the best way to allow the player to understand his point of view, and thus adds an additional emotional layer to all future encounters with the character.”

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth



has “violence” and a “bodacious beach bod”


The ESRB has given

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

an official ‘Teen’ rating while also revealing some of what we can expect from the upcoming sequel. In particular, the rating mentions that characters will be “impaled or slashed by swords” causing many to speculate that Aerith’s iconic death scene from the original will be taking place in Rebirth. The rating also tells us that one of the characters boasts about their “bodacious beach bod” – a quote which we feel speaks for itself (

via GamesRadar)

.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake



Part 3 already has a “tentative first draft”


Producer Toshinori Kitase revealed at the 2023 Tokyo Game Show that a “tentative first draft” has been composed for the third part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. That said, Kitase also made it clear that “although we’ve gotten some work done, there will still be parts we create by combining players’ responses and reactions and going over that feedback.”

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth



won’t have Chocobo breeding


Though the title will include Chocobo racing and Chocobo Customization, the classic Chocobo breeding minigame from the original F

inal Fantasy 7

will not be making an appearance. All of this was confirmed in an interview with game co-director Naoki Hamaguchi, where he said that, in place of a breeding system, there would be an “enhanced new Chocobo capturing feature”.






Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth



is available for preorder


As of September 1, preorders are available for

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

on

Amazon.com

and Best Buy in the US. Readers in the UK can preorder the title from

Game

. Despite preorders being available, however, there is still no word on an exact release date for the title.

Microsoft states that



Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth



may not come to Xbox consoles


While we do know that

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

will only launch on PS5, it was also hoped that the game could then head to Xbox. However, according to comments by Microsoft (

via Eurogamer

), Sony has “entered into arrangements with third-party publishers which require the ‘exclusion’ of Xbox.” The report then goes on to offer examples of what games Microsoft is talking about, which includes

Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

For now, there’s been no confirmation as to whether these ‘exclusion’ agreements are real. It’s worth noting, however, that

Final Fantasy 7 Remake

still hasn’t come to Xbox platforms, despite releasing back in April 2020.

Here’s our list of the




best upcoming games




for you to check out while we wait for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, as well as our run-down of the




best PS5 exclusives




.