Square Enix conducted an interview with the Playstation Blog. And the developers of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth revealed a lot of information about the upcoming sequel. There are a lot of good things in store for Rebirth. However, there is some disappointing news as well. So, let’s dive into it.
New Battle Features
The biggest new addition to the battle system will be synergy attacks. Synergy moves made their debut back in Intergrade. But now they have been enhanced even further. Synergy can be used freely at any time.
Synergy allows for the relationships of the party to grow. New synergy abilities can be acquired from the skill tree. The skill tree allows characters to learn new skills.
Synergy moves are not the only things characters learn from the skill tree. Hamaguchi stated that there will be new materia and abilities. So, you will have options to customize your character’s builds to how ever you want.
Party Members
Red XIII
Red XIII will have a new play style. In addition to the ATB gauge, Red XIII will have his own Vengeance meter. The meter increase when Red XIII guards against enemy attacks. Once fill, Red XIII can activate his Vengeance Mode.
In Vengeance mode, Red XIII can use powerful abilities. He can his current abilities while they receive a strength boost. And the Vengeance meter does not have to be filled completely for Vengeance Mode to be used.
Accompanying Party Member
Good News. All of the original party members of Final Fantasy VII will be present in Rebirth. And Cait Sith is playable as well. The bad news is that a couple of these members will be accompanying party members. The role that Red XIII had in Remake.
While it is disappointing that Vincent and Cid will not be playable this time. I do get that the developers do need some party members for the third title. After all, the third game will act as the final game for the remake trilogy.
Mini Games Galore!
The Parade
Previously, I did highlight that the parade mini game would be expanded upon. Now we know that the scope of this expansion will be Cloud acting as the leader of the unit. Through Cloud, players will be able to customize the composition of the unit. And depending on the composition of the unit will affect the performance.
Hamaguchi expressed that the development team was enthused to recreate and expand Rufus’s parade. Rufus’s succession is the climax of the first disc of the original game. The development team is hoping that players will enjoy this significant moment.
Gold Saucer
More Mini Games?!
One of the highlights of Final Fantasy VII was the Gold Saucer. The Gold Saucer had a plethora of mini games in the original game. According to Hamaguchi, the number of mini games in the Rebirth’s Gold Saucer have surpassed the scale of the original game.
Another key point is that these games and challenges will be part of side stories too. A lot of these mini games can be played in the main game. But. Hamaguchi teased fans will have so much fun with these mini games that they will not make any progress in the main story.
Being someone who spent a lot of time in the Gold Saucer. And enjoy it too. There may be instances where I will not be making any progress in the main story.
Redesign of the Gold Saucer
The players will be able to go to Gold Saucer whenever they want after the first visit. With every subsequent visit, the development team designed the Gold Saucer to have ever changing and more wonderful experiences.
Plus, new mini games will be added with harder difficulty modes. These are unlocked as the main story advances. Finally, portions of Gold Saucer have been fully remade and upgraded too.
The World Outside of Midgar
Exploration
The party’s objective is to track down Sephiroth. This time, they have a whole wide world to explore this time. The development team put a lot of emphasis on creating a world focused on exploration. The team wanted to create the feel of a journey as the party pursues Sephiroth.
Recreating Classic Locations
The development team took extra care into recreating the world map of the original game. They delved deep into the feeling of each region. So, they could reflect the quality of these unique characteristics of these regions.
Thanks to the chocobos, players will be able to explore these regions fully. The chocobos are unique to these regions equipped with different abilities. We have seen some chocobos climb mountains while others were flying in the sky. It goes without saying that riding these feathery mounts will make exploration fun.
Expanding Classic Moments
Kitase answers the question by saying the team strived to achieve the right balance of old and new scenes in the sequel. And they took on more challenges to create new scenes in Rebirth. Evidently, Kitase and the development team did an exceptional job of this in Remake. I have no doubt will be the same results. Maybe the results will be even better.
The Function of the World Map
Many locations of Rebirth’s World Map will both for the main story and side content. In addition, Rebirth will have nearly double the amount of the main quest content. Players will be able to experience the world of Rebirth on a deeper level.
We will be able to explore the all corners of the world. And there will be able to experience new stories, battles, and mini games to play. Finally, we will be able to return to regions and quests at anytime especially after the main quest is done.
Porting Save Data to Rebirth
Unfortunately, we’ll be unable to carry our save files from Remake to Rebirth. Hamaguhi reiterated that the remake project is a trilogy. Therefore, each game will be standalone games. Meaning the balancing for each game will be done individually.
In response, Hamaguhi and the team created special bonuses for players who played Remake. Anybody who played Remake will receive Levithan. And those who played Intergrade will get Ramuh. It is possible that we will get other bonuses.
The Game Soundtrack
Kawamori, the game’s composer, the music team composed a variety new music for the larger world of Rebirth. Classic tracks will have many rearrangements from the original Final Fantasy VII too. The music featured in the last trailer was rearrangement of Final Fantasy main theme. The arrangement acts as a battle theme of the main theme. Kawamori states this will give us a taste of the music’s direction in Rebirth.
The Purpose of the New Trailer
Nomura says that the purpose of the newest trailer was to provide an overview of the content in Rebirth. They decided to do this for those who are interested or new to the FFVII series. Nomura informed us that the next trailer will return to a focus of mystery as the previous trailers.
Expanding Classic Moments
Kitase answers the question by saying the team strived to achieve the right balance of old and new scenes in the sequel. And they took on more challenges to create new scenes in Rebirth. Evidently, Kitase and the development did an exceptional job of this in Remake. I have no doubt will be the same results. Maybe the results will be even better.
Playable Sephiroth
Nomura teased that there is a scene in the original that allows you to control Sephiroth. He is sure that fans who played the original will recognize that scene. However, we now know that we can control Sephiroth during the Nibelheim Incident. And there is a plethora of previews from various outlets and content creators.
The Ferris Wheel Date
Nomura confirms that the Ferris Wheel Date is back. Since this is a major highlight of the Gold Saucer, the team included it in Rebirth. And we can look forward to experiencing the date Rebirth’s beautiful high-definition graphics.
Rebirth’s Conclusion
Nomura repeated that order in which you visit location will not be the same. For instance, Wutai will not be in Rebirth. It will be in the third game. Despite some of these order shifts, the game will extend up to “The Forgotten Capital.” This is where the greatest fate of Final Fantasy VII awaits you.
Uh-oh! If Rebirth is ending in the Forgotten Capital. The greatest fate that I think of it is. No, I will not spoil it here. I will write another article for my theory on that mentioned.
For now, I am pleasantly content with all of the information from this PS Blog interview. Is this the end of the info bombs? No, I feel like this is the tip of the iceberg.
Sources: Playstation Blog: FFVII Rebirth Developers, Youtube, Gematsu
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