The official PlayStation blog published an interview with the developers of the upcoming jRPG Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which is the second part of the Final Fantasy VII remake. Questions were answered by game producer Yoshinori Kitase, creative director Tetsuya Nomura, director Naoki Hamaguchi and music supervisor Keiji Kawamori. You have written down the main points from the interview in this article for you.
- In the new combat system of Final Fantasy VII Remake, the developers paid special attention to synergistic techniques. This new mechanic allows the player to use synergistic commands and abilities at any time by draining a charge meter, similar to Limit Breaks. This way, players can further experience the relationships and connections between characters during battles. Skill trees have been added to the game, which allow you to unlock new synergistic abilities.
- There are many new Materia available with new abilities not seen in the first game. This gives players even more options to customize and create character loadouts to their liking.
- The team wanted to make Red XIII a unique character with a new playstyle. To achieve this, a revenge gauge has been added, which charges when he defends against enemy attacks. This gauge allows Red XIII to utilize a variety of abilities that require the player to balance offensive and defensive strategies.
- In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, all original party members will be available as playable characters. In the previous game, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Red XIII was a supporting character in the second half of the game, but he will be playable in Rebirth. Likewise, Rebirth has characters that are companions but will become playable in the next game.
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will feature many creatures beyond those already shown in previous videos. Some of them will also return from Final Fantasy VII Remake. In addition, the list of summons has been expanded compared to the previous part. The game also added new and expanded side content related to summons, which was not present in the original Final Fantasy VII.
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will feature a Victory Parade mini-game. Unlike the original game, in which Cloud simply joined the parade, in Rebirth he becomes a unit commander and can customize the composition of his soldiers. The choice of unit composition will affect the presentation and how the mini-game will play out.
- In one of the Golden Saucer mini-games, two fighters fight each other. The player controls the fighter avatar of Cloud Strife and can throw left or right hooks (L2 or R2), defend with left or right punches on the analog stick, or use Limit Break by holding L2 and R2. Each fighter has an ATB bar and a Limit bar, which are displayed in the lower left and right corners of the screen.
- The developers believe that the mini-games were one of the appealing aspects of the original game. Therefore, a huge number of mini-games were created in Rebirth, exceeding the scale of the original. Many of them can be completed as part of the main story, but there are also many unique games and challenges that appear as part of side stories. The developers do not exclude the possibility that some players will get so carried away by the mini-games that they will forget about the main plot.
- Players will first visit the Golden Saucer mid-game and can return there at any time. The developers made the park in such a way that it changes and gets better with each visit. New mini-games and more challenging difficulty modes will be unlocked as you progress through the main story.
- After the team leaves Midgar, Cloud and his companions travel across the vast world to pursue Sephiroth. The developers paid great attention to exploration-oriented game design to create a sense of journey and help players feel like they are following Sephiroth through the world.
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will take players to various locations around the world. To create a huge and diverse world, the authors deeply analyzed the sensations from each region and reflected them in graphics. In addition, they developed chocobos unique to each region, with their own abilities. This will allow players to fully explore each area.
- For Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the team strived for the right balance between old and new scenes. They also added more new scenes than Final Fantasy VII Remake. These scenes, according to the developers, will appeal to both fans and newcomers.
- The world map of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is huge and varied. There are many places in it that will not be used only in the main story. In terms of volume, the amount of side content in the game is almost twice the amount of main content. Players can explore all corners of the world, discovering new stories, battles and mini-games. In addition, it will be possible to return to any of the regions of the world at any time, even after the story has moved on.
- Each part of the remake is an independent project, so the player’s levels and abilities are not transferred from one game to another. However, the developers have added special bonuses for fans who played the previous part.
- The world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is much larger than that of Final Fantasy VII Remake. This required the team to create a new soundtrack that would accompany the player throughout the journey. The soundtrack features a variety of musical genres, from classical symphonic music to electronic and rock. The authors have also reworked classic songs from the original game to suit the new style of play. For example, the main theme of Final Fantasy VII now sounds more powerful and epic, reflecting the scale of the story.
- Each trailer has a specific purpose. The second trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is aimed at a wide range of viewers, including newcomers who haven’t played the first part of the remake. Therefore, the video contained fewer mysterious references to the plot to avoid spoilers.
- In this game you will be able to control Sephiroth in the same scene as in the original.
- Players will be able to experience the highly anticipated Ferris Wheel date scene in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth with enhanced graphics. The developers consider it one of the main highlights of the Golden Saucer, so it was included in the game.
- The order of visiting locations in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will be different from the original. For example, the city of Wutai will not be available in the second part, but will appear only in the next one. Despite this, the game covers events up to the Forgotten Capital, where the fate of the world is decided.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will release on February 29, 2024 exclusively on PlayStation 5.
