Remaining Fantasy VII Remake set the tone for what gamers may count on from this three-part retelling of the beloved 1997 Sq. RPG. The wonderful updates to the fight system, the improbable expansions on character relationships, and the stellar manufacturing values informed us Sq. Enix is just not taking the duty of remaking considered one of its most iconic video games evenly. Nevertheless, Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth seems to be to take a number of elements of the expertise to the following degree, largely due to its emphasis on aspect content material.
Following the occasions in Midgar, as depicted in Remake, the get together emerges into an enormous, open space. Within the authentic recreation, this was depicted by means of an overworld map, however in Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth, gamers stay in the identical perspective as the remainder of the sport as they transfer from one focal point to a different. After the extra restrictive method to Remaining Fantasy VII Remake, the brand new sense of openness is refreshing, and one thing the staff was deliberate in integrating, significantly when you think about how far more open this section is throughout the authentic title.
“Seeing that Remake is about on this planet of Midgar, through which the participant can discover inside that space, we leaned closely on story parts and have been centered on a extra narrative-driven recreation for Remake,” director Naoki Hamaguchi says. “Now that we’re getting into into the skin world and going ahead in that path, I’ve this want to depict extra of that feeling of exploration, and I very a lot really feel that this was in a position to be achieved for Rebirth.”
When you’re exploring, you need to plan on having the chance to get pleasure from a ton of aspect content material. Hamaguchi estimates that roughly 80 % of Rebirth’s exploration-based content material is aspect content material, whereas the mainline story makes up the remaining 20 %. If that makes you are worried that Rebirth lacks story content material, Hamaguchi says you’ll be able to calm down; even merely specializing in the principle storyline, he estimates it’ll give gamers round 40 hours of gameplay. In the meantime, in case you sort out a good quantity of aspect content material, gamers can count on to spend round 60 hours in Rebirth, whereas probably the most devoted sidequesters can look ahead to upwards of 100 hours of content material.
But it surely’s not content material bloat for the sake of inflating these playtime hours. The developer additionally needed to make sure it delivered a various and significant expertise to gamers. “When these bigger titles in which there’s a extra expansive world that has these massive quantities of aspect content material, some gamers could really feel these have a big amount of aspect content material, however maybe the precise expertise is just not as assorted,” co-director Motomu Toriyama says. “For Rebirth, we took care of getting this choose variety of aspect content material, which we really labored to develop in depth. This was a big consideration for us, permitting gamers to expertise varied types of gameplay by means of the aspect content material. In that means, I imagine we have been in a position to obtain a particular taste amongst comparable titles.”
After I ask Hamaguchi for his favourite RPG outdoors of the Remaining Fantasy collection, with out hesitation, he names The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Crimson’s 2015 masterpiece that many think about one of many best video games of all time. That title is thought for its significant aspect content material, which is so sturdy that its storylines even match these of the principle story.
“Relating to titles like The Witcher 3, which has that open-world role-playing sort factor, we did some intensive analysis into a majority of these titles and checked out it as a baseline through which Rebirth ought to be a kind of title that may stand alongside it and have the kind of content material that might be satisfying to its gamers,” Toriyama says.
Those that performed Remaining Fantasy VII Remake will acknowledge one of many distinguished sidequest givers: Chadley. The youthful researcher as soon as once more needs your assist studying about Materia, and he’ll reward you with further summons. As you progress by means of the world, he asks you to look into sure happenings by means of occasions referred to as World Intel.
The rewards sound price it, however from all the things I hear from the builders, the story will be the driving power behind pushing gamers to sidequests. To make aspect content material extra significant, Sq. Enix expanded the affinity system. This under-the-hood mechanic takes your actions in direction of a personality and interprets them into how sure scenes – such because the famed gondola date sequence – play out. Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth’s aspect content material is a important driver for this mechanic, with every sidequest bringing in a secondary protagonist from the get together. Finishing a sidequest improves Cloud’s affinity with the given character (to be taught extra in regards to the sidequest I noticed, head right here).
“We needed to present gamers the liberty of selection in deciding whether or not they needed to dedicate themselves solely to the principle storyline and, like, no sidequests in any respect,” Hamaguchi says. “Or there is likely to be individuals who need to delve into the aspect content material and go actually in-depth into the character relationships and perceive the story deeper, or simply the steadiness of these two. We needed to present that freedom.”
The unique Remaining Fantasy VII incorporates a ton of minigames – significantly throughout its center part – and Rebirth isn’t any completely different. One of the crucial concerned and steady minigames is Queen’s Blood, a aggressive card recreation you’ll be able to play in opposition to NPCs in Rebirth.
Whereas the staff stays tight-lipped in regards to the actual mechanics, we all know it’s a strategic card battler with collectible and deck-building parts. “When it comes to the variety of playing cards, there’s a huge quantity – sufficient to be, like, its personal card recreation nearly,” Toriyama says. “A part of the enjoyable can be amassing these playing cards. Queen’s Blood is extra of a strategy-and-thinking form of card recreation, however I took a have a look at among the gameplay when you’re towards the top, and you’ve got collected all the playing cards, and it has the potential to turn out to be a really flashy, fast-paced card recreation; it nearly has the instant-ness of a taking pictures recreation through which your opponent could put down a card, then you’ll immediately put down a card whereas placing down one other. It’s extremely quick. In fact, that is on the utmost problem degree of the cardboard recreation, so I imagine there are solely going to be a number of gamers that play at this depth degree.”
The opposite minigame I acquired a have a look at is a piano exercise. By means of exploration, Cloud can discover sheet music for compositions inside the world. He can then sit on the piano and play the songs utilizing the 2 analog sticks and a few buttons. The piano minigame additionally incorporates a freeplay mode, which lets you carry out any tune you need. I watched a developer play a well-known Japanese tune utilizing the in-game piano mechanics. It seems to be prefer it’ll take numerous apply to get that good, however the mechanics appear deep, and the staff needs gamers to embrace the flexibility to play any tune they like and share their performances on-line.
I did not get a have a look at the chocobo racing, however the staff touts its enhancements and modernizations to be extra consistent with what gamers count on from a contemporary type; gamers can equip their chocobos with stat-boosting gear, and the several types of chocobos carry out otherwise. Toriyama tells me the Rebirth staff even briefly thought of collaborating with the builders of 2022 kart-racer Chocobo GP for the minigame however ultimately determined to go its personal route. With Gold Saucer and Fort Condor nonetheless but to be mentioned in-depth, I can solely think about the minigames ready for gamers after they enterprise to these areas.
Remaining Fantasy VII Rebirth arrives on PlayStation 5 on February 29. For extra on the sport that took residence “Most Anticipated” at this 12 months’s The Sport Awards, click on the banner beneath to go to our unique protection hub!
Elements of this text initially appeared in Subject 362 of Sport Informer.