Closing Fantasy 7 Rebirth preview: Half 2 of remake mission cuts free

A current report by Bloomberg detailed some soul-searching and scapegoating at Sq. Enix after a drop in its share value and the perceived underperformance of Closing Fantasy 16. Sources criticized disorganized administration in a panorama of unruly “fiefdoms” led by single, highly effective producers. Which may be true, and I wouldn’t wish to underplay the frustrations of builders working beneath these situations. However there’s additionally one thing to be mentioned for letting enormously skilled, inventive, large personalities run issues how they please (inside cause). What they make might not hold collectively completely, nevertheless it by no means feels designed by committee. It feels bespoke, obsessive, extravagant, and bizarre.

That couldn’t be extra true of the Closing Fantasy 7 remake mission, a sprawling, three-game reinterpretation and enlargement of the 1997 traditional, masterminded by producer (and director of the unique) Yoshinori Kitase with an help from inventive director and Kingdom Hearts overlord Tetsuya Nomura. It’s indulgent fan service that’s one way or the other additionally keen to vary the script; followers had been shocked by the slick real-time fight and apparently metafictional twists of the primary installment, 2020’s Closing Fantasy 7 Remake, however nobody might deny that Kitase’s staff was actually going for it.

Now we have now Closing Fantasy 7 Rebirth, coming to PlayStation 5 on Feb. 29, 2024: a lavish, blockbuster restaging of the center little bit of an outdated online game. As prompt by the extraordinarily energetic newest trailer, this sequel will reduce free after all of the scene-setting and moody iconography of Remake’s re-creation of the choked, dystopian metropolis of Midgar. Rebirth follows Cloud Strife and firm as they comply with antagonist Sephiroth’s path throughout the land, from desert to coast to gaudy pleasure park; confirmed places embody the navy fortress metropolis of Junon, the Gold Saucer theme park, and the Forgotten Capital. They discover! They hunt! They trip chocobos! They play minigames! They trip Segways!

At a current hands-on session, I acquired to play two sections of the sport: “The Fated Mt. Nibel Mission,” a flashback sequence wherein Cloud and Sephiroth are playable collectively, and “The Open Wilds of Junon,” a taster for the extra open exploration and looking gameplay on supply in Rebirth, earlier than the story took me to Underneath Junon, a fishing village struggling within the shadow of the oppressive metropolis.

Story-wise, Rebirth is a direct continuation of Remake, however in gameplay phrases it’s higher to consider it as a conventional online game sequel: increasing the scope, including options, however cleaving near what made the primary recreation tick. (Recreation saves and character builds from Remake don’t carry over — Rebirth is a stand-alone recreation — however Sq. Enix guarantees some bonuses for returning gamers.) Fight performs out simply the identical as the primary recreation: a mix of issuing Lively Time Battle instructions, in an echo of the unique recreation’s turn-based system, and switching between characters to run round, assault, dodge, and block in real-time motion fight.

The most important addition is Synergy talents that pair collectively characters out of your get together of three for coordinated strikes. There are low-key Synergies obtainable at any time if you maintain down R1 to dam, however the primary Synergy talents are slow-charging showstoppers that regularly construct up on their very own unbiased gauge, very like Restrict Breaks. They’re flashily animated and satisfying to make use of, plus there’s a enjoyable wish-fulfillment dimension to watching these beloved characters staff up in such a variety of mixtures. (I don’t know if each attainable permutation from the sport’s playable solid will likely be featured, however going by the demo, it looks as if it.)

My solely hesitation about Synergies is that they could push an already extraordinarily busy, tiered fight system to the purpose of feeling messy and rushed. A brief recreation demo isn’t one of the best atmosphere to discover this stuff, however greater than as soon as I discovered myself pondering that if Rebirth provides the choice to automate the real-time fight and simply deal with the extra strategic instructions, as Remake did, I would take it. Remake and Rebirth’s brawling is okay, however Closing Fantasy 16’s crisp, fluid, and refined fight motion has moderately proven it up, anyway.

Synergies had been successfully proven off within the Mt. Nibel mission, which sees Cloud and Sephiroth collectively of their SOLDIER days, investigating a malfunctioning Mako reactor, accompanied by a younger (and never playable) Tifa. Sephiroth is intentionally tuned to really feel overpowered on this part, dominating Cloud. It’s an virtually uncanny kick to govern this iconic character, along with his outrageously lengthy locks, coat, and blade, in actual time, because the pair faces a boss struggle in opposition to a scorpion-like Materia Guardian monster.

Sq. Enix solely provided a small part of the wilds outdoors Junon to discover within the second mission; as is usually the case with the corporate’s video games, it felt like a condensed impression of an open world, a lot in order that it was scarcely price mounting chocobos to discover and sniff out treasure (though reps say the world within the ultimate recreation will likely be a lot bigger). In any case, the actual enjoyable right here was experimenting with the three obtainable get together compositions — permutations of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and the newly playable indignant cat man, Purple XIII — in hunts in opposition to highly effective monsters (known as “fiends”) within the discipline. These confrontations are replayable, and include non-obligatory goals (pressuring or staggering your opponent, assembly a time restrict, and so forth) that improve rewards. They appear like an amazing place to work out the peculiarities of the battle system and excellent your get together methods.

After messing about with these for some time, I adopted a marker resulting in the shadowy lean-tos of Underneath Junon — a gorgeously rendered location that, maybe much more than something in Remake, appears like wandering into the hazy, low-poly maps of the unique, now totally realized. Right here, one other boss struggle with an enormous aquatic menace, the Terror of the Deep, heralded the arrival of the ninja Yuffie Kisaragi (launched within the Intergrade DLC), however the demo sadly ended earlier than I had an opportunity so as to add her to my get together.

In an interview with the PlayStation Weblog, Kitase and his staff famous that the order wherein places are visited will range from the unique, and the Gold Saucer may be revisited to play minigames at any time. They promised an expansive world map with many places that aren’t even included in the primary storyline, and Kitase mentioned the staff has challenged itself to be extra formidable with new scenes that divert from the unique narrative. “I’m assured these new scenes will likely be wildly gratifying for followers and newcomers alike,” he mentioned.

I’m not as assured as Kitase that everybody in Closing Fantasy fandom goes to like Rebirth’s diversions from the unique recreation. However the sense I acquired was of a recreation that, much more than Remake, manages to be free to be itself and have some enjoyable — even because it hits the nostalgic notes everyone seems to be ready for.