Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Open Ended Approach Was a Response to Remake’s Linearity Criticism

Square Enix is touring its highly anticipated RPG, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, to let the world sample what was demoed at Tokyo Game Show a few weeks ago. Its most recent stop brought it to New York City during New York Comic Con. Behind closed doors, Square Enix invited select media to give the upcoming action-RPG a spin. Our early impressions are incredibly promising, as Rebirth builds upon Final Fantasy VII Remake's excellent foundation by widening the game's scope and combat options. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is shaping up to be a monstrously large PlayStation 5 game, and one we can’t wait to play when it launches on February 29, 2024.

It’s a big deal every time Final Fantasy VII Rebirth gets brought up. Why? Because even though it’s coming out in 2024, the game is easily one of the most-anticipated titles of next year, and it’s not hard to see why. First, the game is going to look beautiful on the PS5. Second, the PS4 title, the first entry in the “remake saga,” was easily one of the best games of its year, and fans wanted more almost from the time it launched. Third, it’s clear that the team behind the project is going all out to ensure that fans get everything they deserve. That includes bringing back a fan-favorite “vampire.”

Square Enix hosted a panel for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at New York Comic-Con 2023 hosted by Critical Role’s Matt Mercer, in which the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth voice cast discussed their experiences voicing the game’s iconic characters. During the panel, Matt Mercer confirmed he will voice Vincent Valentine, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi appeared for a surprise question-and-answer session at the end.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's Vincent Valentine is being voiced by famous voice actor Matthew Christopher Miller, better known as Matt Mercer.

Vincent is coming out of his coffin. Announced at the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth voice cast panel at New York Comic-Con, the voice actor for the gun-toting ex-Turk has been officially confirmed: Matt Mercer. This comes after fans claimed the prolific voice actor was the character when he appeared in the latest State of Play.

Final Fantasy has been such a massive franchise that spanned across decades and across multiple console generations. There’s been some truly standout installments from this long-running series as well. One of the more beloved games of the series was Final Fantasy VII, a title that blew up in multiple markets when it initially launched in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation. Since then, fans worldwide have pleaded for Square Enix to return and bring out a remake for this JRPG installment. Fortunately, in 2020, we finally got the first part of this remake. Since this game installment was so massive, the developers could only deliver the game in parts. We’re going to receive Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second installment to this trilogy remake, in 2024. 

When it comes to video game hype, game developers will do all kinds of things to get their fans ready for what’s coming, including leaving plenty of clues or “insights” into various promotional materials for the game to see if they notice them. For Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Square Enix has already dropped a couple of trailers highlighting the game world’s larger scale and the characters you’ll see in it. They’ve also dropped hints about the game’s story, including whether a certain character will die at the end of the title. But now, Square Enix has revealed something interesting about a key piece of art.

It’s interesting how much information is coming out about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in recent weeks, given that the title won’t launch until early next year. It’s possible that Square Enix doesn’t want you to forget about the game and thus build up the hype for many months until it’s at a “fever pitch.” Or they just think that right now is the best time to do the reveals! Either way works in the minds of gamers. The good news is that today was one of those “reveal days” because plenty of information was dropped about the title.

It may seem odd to do certain “countdown” posts for video game launches. But when it comes to the biggest games of the year? Ones that will likely define what the year will be like gaming-wise? Sometimes, it’s nice to get things out there and help build up the hype even more! In this case, we’re talking about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second part of the “Remake Saga” from Square Enix that will tear things up when it arrives on PS5 next year. This year has been great for getting key insights into what the game will be like, and fans are pumped.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going to be a massive game, and now we have a better idea of how bigger the Eastern Continent will be, compared to the original game.

When Square Enix decided to not only remake one of the best RPGs ever but divide it into several parts to truly flesh out the story and characters, there would always be “sacrifices” in each game that players would have to deal with. In the case of the first remake title, one of the sacrifices was limiting the story to the Midgar saga and thus restricting who you could get in your party. The original title only let you control Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and Aerith. However, in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, many more characters will be available to you for use in combat. That includes the epic Red XIII.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth may not be released until February next year, but the hype around the title grows with every new insight. The recent trailers highlighted numerous expansions into the world of the remake saga, as well as the characters that will help dominate the story. However, as with the first title, there will be expansions outside of the “expected story” that will help make things feel fleshed out. Both the game’s official Twitter handle and the creative director behind the title have shed some insights on this matter, not by focusing on main characters but key supporting ones.