Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes you beyond Midgar

We explore the most expansive Final Fantasy since the PS1 era.

Image credit:Square Enix

Like many of you probably are, I’m still surprised that Final Fantasy 7 Remake ever saw the light of day, given how it seemed like it had been in development hell since Square showed that old demo of the original Midgar intro running on PS3 spec hardware. 1000 lifetimes ago in video game terms. I’m even more surprised, frankly, that we’re seeing Part II, Rebirth, within a decade of the first instalment.

Check out our extensive preview video with loads of gorgeous FF7 Rebirth footageWatch on YouTube

It’s not actually that surprising though, as Alex notes in his preview and in the video above. Rebirth doesn’t reinvent the wheel. Rather, it builds on the solid foundation set up by Remake, which arrived at the end of the PS4’s life and proved to be one of the most impressive looking games on the machine. Assets have been reused and retooled, character models are pretty much the same level of quality.

The game’s systems and mechanics, too, have been iterated rather than rebuilt from scratch: even the new Synergy attacks are something that already appeared, albeit in a more basic form, in FF7 Remake Intergrade on the PS5.

REMAKE SPOILERS AHEAD

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That ending was certainly something.

Aside from that, Rebirth continues to plunder the rich story and lore of the PS1 original for materials to build a new, rejigged story. Following the quasi-sequel meta-narrative of the first game’s shock conclusion, this sequel can confidently take things in new directions, without being strictly beholden to the events and chronology of the original story. In short: we genuinely don’t know if Aerith’s gonna die. She might not. You might actually get to save her after all these years. Imagine that.

Maybe you can convince ol’ Seph to kill Tifa instead, she’s a rubbish healer after all.

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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC , Nintendo Switch 2

Wishlisted - Our 10 Best Steam Next Fest Demos

Another Next Fest kicks off soon, but we’ve already done the digging for you.

Welcome to Wishlisted, a showcase of our favourite demos from Steam Next Fest: June 2024. Check the video above or watch on YouTube .

Finding the Best NextFest Demos is all about the joy of discovery, but with so many Steam Next Fest demos getting released in such a short amount of time, it can be bewildering. So we’ve decided to show you our ten Best Steam Next Fest games which we think deserve your attention. These are all upcoming Steam Next Fest games that we’re genuinely excited for, and that we think should play nicely on PC handhelds too!

This is just the start of our Next Fest coverage. This week we’ll be previewing loads of upcoming demos across the entire network - right here on VG247, of course, but also over on our sister sites Eurogamer and Rock Paper Shotgun. Bookmark our Wishlisted Steam Fest hub to stay in the loop. And this is well before Next Fest actually starts, so you, dear reader, get to bask for a solid fortnight celebrating all the wonderful new games that are just around the corner. Enjoy!