We demoed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth — and it’s incredibly promising

The release of Final Fantasy 7 was a hallmark for Japanese RPGs back in 1997. So when Final Fantasy 7 Remake launched in 2020 for PS4, there were high expectations. Needless to say, the remake surpassed them. With its updated battle system and incredible visuals, it was one of the best games of that year.

In 2021, Square Enix rereleased an upgraded Intergrade version on PlayStation 5, which included the Intermission episode that focused on Yuffie, a young ninja from Wutai — it bridged the gap between her introduction and her upcoming role in later games.

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake project is split into three installments, with the second one, called Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, scheduled to launch on Feb. 29, 2024. Square Enix gave CNN Underscored an opportunity to check out Final Fantasy Rebirth In a behind-closed-doors hands-on preview. After playing about an hour of the game, we can confidently say that it’s promising. It builds on the gameplay systems introduced in Intergrade, and the presentation looks as striking as ever.

Old friends

There were two gameplay demos, with the first one taking place in the past with a younger Cloud, Sephiroth and Tifa as they make their way toward the mako reactor in Mt. Nibel. This demo introduced the basics of the real-time battle system. An exclusive mechanic in the Intergrade version of Final Fantasy 7 Remake was the Synergy Abilities, and they make their way back into Rebirth — this adds a brand-new dimension of gameplay that wasn’t found in the original PS4 release.

This mechanic allows for two characters to execute dual attacks that look incredibly flashy and cinematic, heightening the excitement of the minute-to-minute gameplay. Players must hold down the R1 button on the PS5 controller to pull off Synergy Skills, which are smaller attacks that help build the Synergy between two characters during battle.

In the demo, Cloud was paired up with Sephiroth, and one of their Synergy Skills was Dualblade Dance, an attack where they both sent a flurry of slashes onto the enemy. In the demo’s case, it was the Materia Guardian boss. Eventually, you’ll be able to pull off Synergy Abilities like Cloud and Sephiroth’s Double Helix, which is like a beefier version of Dualblade Dance but with some cinematic close-up shots of each character. That was only a small taste of Synergy Abilities available, but I’m excited for more.

Like Remake, you can also switch between multiple characters. In this demo, I was able to control Sephiroth and I had a lot of fun playing as him, especially as he’s seen as the primary antagonist of the game. Sephiroth’s vastly longer and thinner Masamune emphasized faster slashes and contrasted with Cloud’s bulkier and more hard-hitting Buster Sword.

It was also really interesting to see how Cloud and Sephiroth got along together as friends before they had a falling out — they had a great sense of camaraderie with them, especially when pulling off Synergy Skills and Abilities.

The gang grows larger

The second demo takes place in the present day and after the events of Remake. Here, the red dog named Red XIII joins the party as a playable character. The party heads to a village named Junon, where they come across a young girl in trouble. That girl turns out to be Yuffie, and she’s being chased around the water by a huge aquatic monster called Terror of the Deep.

This demo had some particularly funny moments too. In particular, Mr. Dolphin shows up and rescues Yuffie from the monster, and even lets Cloud ride on him in order to deal the final blow to it.

For the purposes of the demo, I was only given certain party presets, but I was assured that I’d be able customize my party in the full game. My party consisted of Red XIII, Cloud and Barret as they defended Junon from the Terror of the Deep. This boss was a much bigger challenge than the Materia Guardian, as it hid underwater and popped out in numerous holes around the dock area — it was a test of skill to see if you were paying attention to the previous demo.

At first, I took advantage of Red XIII’s availability during the demo because he was only an NPC companion when the party met him at the end of the first game. However, I soon realized that Red XIII wasn’t the best character to control during this particular boss fight. I needed to be able to attack from long ranges, so I switched to Barret. His machine gun arm was incredible for putting up the pressure against the boss and letting me build up my Synergy with Red XIII.

Barret and Red’s Overfang Synergy Ability looked equally mesmerizing as Cloud and Sephiroth’s Double Helix. Barret shot in a cross pattern, while Red XII followed up with quick slashes of his own claws, finally culminating in him landing on Barret’s arm as he launched him into the enemy like a missile.

During the course of battle, the Overlimit gauge will fill up, allowing you to pull off a Limit Break, which is essentially an ultimate attack. Each character has one, and Red XIII’s Howling Moon looked incredible. He let out a noble howl and unleashed a huge slash onto the enemy, then twirled around in the air to form a moon. Square Enix did an amazing job with Remake to make the battles as fun and visually appealing as possible, and Rebirth definitely dials it up a notch with the Synergy mechanic.

The takeaway

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is shaping up to be a great follow-up to Remake. While many of the gameplay mechanics remain largely the same, the addition of Synergy at least adds a new element. I’m also curious to see how the story shakes out, as we’ve seen Remake deviate quite wildly from the original. Perhaps Rebirth will take more risks in its story and stray even more so from the original.

I came away excited to play more of the game in the future. The first few months of 2024 are still relatively light with game releases. Within the Japanese RPG genre, it also has to compete with Persona 3 Reload and Granblue Fantasy: Relink in February. However, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will no doubt stand out amongst its peers, and will most likely set the bar for being considered one of the best PS5 games — and one of the best games of 2024 — when it launches for PS5 on Feb. 29.