Geoff Keighley brought a bevy of compelling game announcements to his Summer Game Fest Showcase, but he saved the biggest reveal for last. Square Enix brought the heat with the first lengthy look at Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the highly-anticipated follow-up to 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake. The trailer, which clocks in at just over three minutes, is stuffed with tasty new details about the gameplay, story, and scope of Square’s massive RPG.
The trailer begins with a mysterious news report of a natural disaster in Midgar that apparently claimed the lives of Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, and Aerith. The trailer then quickly cuts back to the core crew from the first game, showing off lush, green environments wholly unlike anything we experienced back in Midgar. Voice-over dialog teases some of the revelations the team will have about their respective pasts and how they all connect to Sephiroth and his machinations.
We then pivot to a montage of battle scenes showing off new combat options like combos between different party members. The Turks also make an appearance, including their newest member, Elena. The trailer closes with Sephiroth himself making an appearance and challenging Cloud’s preconceptions about his friends and allies.
This trailer further supports the long-held belief that Rebirth will build upon the narrative changes from Remake. Sephiroth once again seems to be referencing events from the original game’s timeline while also acknowledging that things have changed. The news broadcast from the opening of the trailer also seems to suggest that part of this game will take place in the alternate timeline seen at the end of Remake where Zack Fair survives.
The final scene of the trailer also reveals a new release window for the game: Early 2024. This isn’t a drastic change from the previous Winter 2023 release window, but it does temper expectations about the game releasing this year. It will also come on two discs as a physical copy, which is significant for two reasons. The first is that the original, 1997 release was also pressed on two discs for the PlayStation 1, so this functions as a bit of meta-nostalgia.
The second reason is that for a PlayStation 5 exclusive to require two discs worth of space, it must be a staggeringly massive video game. This makes sense, as there’s still a lot of ground to cover if Square plans on finishing the entire remake project in a trilogy. Regardless, Rebirth looks to be a very large game, both in scope and file size.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is set to launch sometime in Early 2024, exclusively for the PlayStation 5. For more from Summer Games Fest, check out the first look at gameplay for Alan Wake II and the reveal of Sonic Superstars.
