The immensely standard 1997 role-playing sport Closing Fantasy VII has been worshiped in its authentic kind, grafted right into a equally admired 2020 remake, and now, developer Sq. Enix guarantees a magisterial “rebirth” in a PlayStation 5 unique set for February 29, 2024. Just like the 2020 remake, Closing Fantasy VII Rebirth will act as each an effigy to the unique—a breakthrough title for Japanese-made RPGs—and a reinvention of it, with improved graphics and new narrative beats that break from established lore, together with a “shock” throughout one of many sport’s most memorable scenes, builders say.
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After you attain FFVII’s Forgotten Capital as swooshy-haired protagonist Cloud, the sport drenches you in ice water and makes you watch as antagonist Sephiroth kills Cloud’s sweetheart Aerith. Within the ‘90s, FFVII’s first disc ended right here, on this frigid notice.
At this week’s Thailand Sport Present 2023, and whereas chatting with Indonesian gaming website Gamebrott, Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi issued a message “to all of the players concerning this ‘you-know-what’ second” within the Forgotten Capital: “we are able to affirm that we will provide you with a ‘massive shock,’” he stated, based on a Google translation of the Indonesian textual content. “So you may sit up for later within the sport.”
Hamaguchi, unsurprisingly, didn’t supply up the intricacies or extent of this “shock,” and declined to interact with any fan theories (although he expressed his appreciation for them, saying “we actually settle for it and really feel pleased concerning the activeness of followers in creating numerous sorts of theories.”) But when it’s something just like the logical however potent plotline adjustments Sq. Enix made to its 2020 FFVII remake, it’ll possible frustrate these long-time followers who need to see their childhood reminiscences faithfully recreated, whereas thrilling others with its breaks from the acquainted timeline that recommend daring new narrative potentialities, all whereas maybe leaving FF7 newcomers scratching their heads over what it’s all purported to imply.
Instance: within the ‘90s, FFVII’s arcane ending—protagonist Cloud defeats enemy Sephiroth for the final time, the world is overrun by an incorporeal Lifestream of mint-green power—was spectacular, and its post-credits scene, wherein wolf-beast Pink XIII runs round a leafy, seemingly uninhabited planet, was mind-blowingly (and, to some folks, annoyingly) imprecise. The 2020 remake respects this historical past by blowing minds in the same means, preserving ‘90s ambiguity however introducing contemporary particulars to research.
Rebirth—which Hamaguchi tells Gamebrott options much more “intensive exploration” than the unique FFVII, however leaves a few of its charming options alone, just like the minigames at Gold Saucer amusement park—appears set to do the identical.
