Naoki Hamaguchi

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth reviews reportedly go live on February 22nd, but before that, demo players can look forward to a free update later today. “Dawn of a New Era” goes live at 4 AM PST/1 PM CET and takes place during the present-day story. Players can explore an open area near Junon with some “content unique” to the demo.

As we edge ever closer to the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, fans are getting increasingly eager about the title and what it’s likely to offer them. For those who wanted to get a “sneak peek” of everything, all they had to do was download the PS5 demo for the title. This particular demo is special because it not only gives fans a taste of what’s to come, but Square Enix will “expand upon it” via an update. That’s right, this demo will grow, and you can transfer your entire process to the main game should you get it.

The developers behind the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth recently hinted at how far along the yet-untitled third game in the saga is, giving fans a clue as to when they can expect to see it. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is now just over a week away from release, with players already able to experience a small fraction of its story in a free demo that shows Cloud’s flashback to the fateful Nibelhiem incident that serves as the backdrop for much of the FF7 plotline. A second Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo is set to launch on February 21 that will let fans explore a condensed Junon region.

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Square Enix’s developers are setting expectations on the status of part 3 of the Final Fantasy VII remake.

While the second installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, Rebirth, is mere days from launching on PlayStation 5, fans are already wondering about the status of the next game in the remake project, Part 3.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second instalment in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, is out in a matter of days, and excitement surrounding its release is sky high. Given the very nature of the series and the rabid fandom the Final Fantasy 7 in particular generally goes hand-in-hand with, it’s no surprise, that there are many who also already have their eye on the trilogy’s third and final instalment as well. That, incidentally, includes Square Enix as well.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - the second part in the trilogy remaking the 1997 classic - is just around the corner, but the inevitable third and final entry is also chugging along at a steady pace.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is almost upon us, and after countless trailers and one dedicated State of Play, we've finally seen the whole gang in action. Vincent Valentine and Cid Highwind were the final two characters to join the party, and we've been given a decent look at both heading into the release of the game. Unfortunately, if you were hoping to include either in your main party, you'll unfortunately need to wait until the third installment.

Players of the original Final Fantasy VII and its Remake returning for the upcoming Rebirth have been anticipating a particular gondola ride for a very long time. The Gold Saucer date scene is shaping up to be more dynamic and romantic than ever; the mysterious system that determines your potential partner laid bare, as it were.

In a tragic update to a story we brought you back in September, the coolest companions in the original and upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will not join Cloud and company on the battlefield after all. It was first thought that «accompanying characters» Cid and Vincent might lend a hand in an automated fashion as Red XIII did in Remake, but sadly, this will not be the case.

Final Fantasy 8 turned 25 over the weekend, prompting many fans to renew their pleas for a remake. However, it looks like they're out of luck, as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, gives a firm "No" to the offer of spearheading another remake project.

On top of bringing back the entire core playable cast of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, its upcoming sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is also set to add new playable party members in the form of Red XIII (who appeared as an AI-controlled companion towards the end of the previous game) and Cait Sith- though not all major new characters that are being introduced are going to join the main party in combat.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's creative director, Tetsuya Nomura, has revealed that the first draft of the final game in the Remake trilogy's story has already been completed.

is set to bring back numerous mini-games from the original, all enhanced for the remake trilogy's more modern spin, but one entirely new mini-game is certain to keep players occupied when they should instead be hunting down Sephiroth. follows its predecessor,, in re-imagining the iconic, and this second installment looks to be setting players free in an open-world environment now that Cloud and his companions have escaped Midgar. Alongside the expected open-world fare of side quests and treasure hunting is a brand-new collectible card game, Queen's Blood, playable all across Gaia.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will feature an ambiguous ending that will keep players wondering about the third and final part of the trilogy, according to the game's producer.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is right around the corner on February 29, so Square Enix is capitalizing on the thirst for more Cloud and Sephiroth with special screenings of the CG-animated Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children film a week ahead of launch. 

Square Enix has partnered with Fathom Events and Sony Pictures to bring the director's cut of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children to theaters for the first time. Premiering ahead of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s launch on February 29, the theatrical sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII will get its first run in U.S. theaters for just two days. 

When Square Enix announced the “remake saga” for their all-time classic RPG and then noted that the game would be “cut into sections” to ensure quality throughout, gamers were a bit concerned. The game was in “full form” back on the PS1 and obtained legendary status, so why wouldn’t it be “In full” here? Well, their gambit paid off, and the first title featuring the “Midgar Saga” was a hit, not just because of the graphical upgrade but also because of the new elements fleshed out that part of the story. So, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, gamers are expecting more of the same.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is little over a month away from release, and, in addition to the game's highly anticipated continuation of Remake’s story, players can also look forward to a whole host of lighthearted side content.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi reckons chocobo smell like horses.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, has revealed what the infamously stinky Chocobos actually smell like, and the answer isn't too surprising.

It's official: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will not have any snowboarding. While fans of the original Final Fantasy 7 won't find this particularly surprising, it confirms when exactly Rebirth's story will end - and perhaps more importantly, it gives us a hint on when Part 3 will begin.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is promising to be a massive experience, and while a significant portion of its optional content is obviously going to be focused on characters and storytelling (what with its Witcher 3 inspirations), there will, of course, be plenty of minigames for players to dive into as well.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, has revealed how Red XIII can even ride a Chocobo despite not having opposable thumbs and previously struggling to stand in the original Final Fantasy 7.

Following the events of 2020's Final Fantasy VII Remake, Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII have escaped the confines of Midgar and gotten rid of the Whispers, meaning the possibilities as they step out into the vast world depicted in the middle portion of the original Final Fantasy VII are endless. In contrast to the corridor-heavy structure of Remake, the openness of Rebirth is immediately refreshing, but as I found out during both my hands-on and hands-off demos, the improvements don't even come close to stopping there.

Final Fantasy VII Remake set the tone for what players could expect from this three-part retelling of the beloved 1997 Square RPG. The excellent updates to the combat system, the fantastic expansions on character relationships, and the stellar production values told us Square Enix is not taking the responsibility of remaking one of its most iconic games lightly. However, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth looks to take several components of the experience to the next level, largely thanks to its emphasis on side content.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a little over a month away, yet Square Enix isn't quite done teasing us with what's to come. A new trailer for the game was uploaded to the Final Fantasy YouTube channel earlier today, which showed off some never-before-seen fights and once again teased the potential death of a beloved character. However, one eagle-eyed fan spotted an even more important detail - Roche is back.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s latest trailer is here, and although it’s a relatively short one, it’s a minute of story-packed goodness that’s sure to get fans excited. 

In Final Fantasy VII Remake, players had the chance to thoroughly explore the movesets of Cloud, Barret, Tifa, and Aerith through an extended stay in Midgar. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth adds several new playable party members. While we already covered how one of those new playable characters, Red XIII, controls (read more here), this time, we're talking about another playable party member: Cait Sith.

Back in 1997, Final Fantasy VII established Sephiroth as one of the most iconic antagonists in gaming history. In 2020, Final Fantasy VII Remake greatly expanded his role in the first act of the beloved RPG, and in 2024, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hopes to give us even more context for the One-Winged Angel. We played a portion of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and spoke with several members of the development team to learn how Sephiroth is depicted in the upcoming second act of the Remake trilogy.

Just as Final Fantasy VII Remake featured a predetermined endpoint – the escape from Midgar – Final Fantasy VII Rebirth players also know when their adventure will culminate in this game. The Forgotten Capital, the location that plays host to one of the most impactful moments in any video game, is the destination for the story contained within Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Final Fantasy VII is full of iconic scenes. Whether you're talking about the well-known sequences already depicted in Remake or the upcoming gut-punch at the Forgotten Capital, the Remake trilogy allows fans to experience these moments in their most fully realized forms. While this middle portion of Final Fantasy VII, which Rebirth depicts, focuses on Aerith and the looming specter of Sephiroth, so much of Rebirth's depiction emphasizes the deepening of relationships.

When Final Fantasy X exploded onto the PlayStation 2 in 2001, it revolutionized not just the Final Fantasy series but the role-playing genre as a whole. The tuned-to-perfection turn-based combat, the beautiful soundtrack, the heartfelt story, and the eye-popping-for-the-time visuals created one of the most important entries of one of the most important franchises in video game history. However, one element was absent from Final Fantasy X that several of the key developers involved with the project lamented: an explorable world map.

Final Fantasy VII Remake gave fans of the original game quite a shock as Cloud and the party exited Midgar. Zack, the protagonist of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and a key figure in Cloud, Aerith, and Sephiroth's past, appears to be alive, and helped an injured Cloud reach Midgar. This stands in stark contrast to his fate in the original continuity, where he was killed and his Buster Sword was handed over to Cloud. 

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, has opened up about Zack Fair's involvement in the game, noting that he is an "immensely important" character who plays a "crucial" role in the story.

There are spoilers ahead for Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

With the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth fast approaching, co-director Naoki Hamaguchi has opened up a little on what players can expect from Zack Fair’s inclusion in the game.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is looking like its going to be a much more expansive game than its predecessor. Its main story alone is said to be around 40 hours long, while Square Enix says that with side content included, that can go up to over 100 hours. A lot of that is obviously going to be thanks to its vast, seamless open world setting, and speaking recently with Game Informer, the action RPG’s developers spoke a bit more about what that will bring to the table.

Unsurprisingly, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is going to continue to expand and recontextualize the original PS1 classic in more ways than one, from its seamless open world map to the content it will house to just how long the game will be. That, unsurprisingly, will mean added screentime and narrative content for a number of characters, among which fan-favourite villain Sephiroth will seemingly be one of the most prominent.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going to feature a scene that made the game's Creative Director cry, but it's not what everybody may think.

Final Fantasy 7 RebirthcreativedirectorTetsuya Nomura has revealed that there's one particular scene in the game that makes him want to cry. This article may contain spoilers for the original Final Fantasy 7.

Since Final Fantasy 7 Remake launched in 2021 and given how events played out, everyone has had the same question regarding a particular character’s fate Speaking to Game Informer, director Naoki Hamaguchi and creative director Tetsuya Nomura talk about how the team approached. Spoilers follow for Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the original game, so be warned.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is shaping up to be a pretty emotional game, as fans of the original will know that there are some proper tear-jerking scenes set to appear. Most of the speculation rightly surrounds the fate of Aerith and whether she'll get skewered by Sephiroth, but there are plenty of other highly emotional scenes in the run-up to that iconic moment.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn’t just remaking the classic game’s middle portion, it’s expanding every single aspect, including how much the iconic Sephiroth shows up in the world map.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, says that players will get a deeper understanding of Sephiroth than they ever have before and that they might "truly feel bad" for him after getting to know him.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, says that one of his biggest aspirations for 2024 is for fans of the series to get to see "Aerith's fate unfold".

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, has revealed how Cait Sith plays in a recent preview, confirming that he'll still have luck-based abilities.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, has reignited the great debate about how Cait Sith is pronounced, as his own pronunciation goes against the infamous Twitter post that started it all.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s director has once again reignited the almost three-decade debate over how to pronounce Cait Sith’s name.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will introduce entirely new cities that weren't in the original 1997 JRPG in order to, in Square Enix's words, "go deeper and create this whole worldview of Rebirth."

Let’s be honest here for a moment. 2023 had many ups and downs in gaming, even if Geoff Keighley doesn’t want to admit it! One of the biggest “downers” of 2023 was a host of games coming out before they ever should’ve been released. Not only does that look bad on the industry, but on the people who worked on the games that should’ve known it would’ve been bad if released then. Yes, some of them might have been fighting back, but other times, it was clear that they were fine with those early releases. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s director won’t be among that cast of “characters” when the game releases next year.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, has said that there's one scene in the game that's going to make players "lose their minds".

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's co-director, Motomu Toriyama, has revealed that the game's side quests were inspired by the ones found in The Witcher 3, which are still held up as some of the genre's best.

Zack Fair will have an "immensely important" role in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Square Enix has proudly proclaimed how big Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is, offering a main story that’s 40 hours long and 100 hours of gameplay for completionists. However, the development team has also emphasized the side content, which makes up about 80 percent of the exploration-based gameplay.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Queen's Blood card game sounds a lot like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's beloved minigame Gwent.

Once upon a time, the most important question about a video game was, “When can I get my hands on it?” After all, once we had certain video games, we weren’t afraid to play them over and over again on repeat until we had our next gaming fix. But nowadays, one of the most important questions gamers ask when considering getting a title is, “How long will it take to beat?” Many gamers want long titles with dozens of hours of gameplay and side quests to do. And for those hoping Final Fantasy VII Rebirth would be one such title, you’re in luck because it will be.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's developer, Naoki Hamaguchi, has confirmed that the game's main story will take around 40 hours to beat, but that trying to complete all the side content will bump it up to more than 100 hours.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will feature a card-based deck-building minigame.

Naoki Hamaguchi, director of upcoming action role-playing game (RPG) Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, has revealed that the second act of the remake trilogy will include brand new locations not seen in the original 1997 version.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is resurrecting the series' staple world map for the first time since Final Fantasy 9, over 23 years ago.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is setting out to be a massive game, and it will require a lot of time to see everything it has to offer.

If Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth featuring vast amounts of side content and new cities not in the original game isn’t enough, there are also several mini-games to engage in. These include a new collectible card game, Queen’s Blood, and piano playing. Speaking to Game Informer, director Naoki Hamaguchi offered some new details on the two.

The scale of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is pretty absurd, with creative director Tetsuya Nomura promising 100 hours of gameplay. The amount of side content being double that of the main quest is also nuts, as is the 150 GB installation space required for the game. How long does it take to finish the story, though?

While Tekken 8 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth launch next month, all eyes are arguably on February 2024 when Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth drops. Director Naoki Hamaguchi has revealed a lot about the world, from how it’s a seamless map with the freedom to go anywhere to the sheer amount of side content. In a new preview with Game Informer, he confirmed there would also be new cities to explore that weren’t in the original game.

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth features new combat mechanics like Synergy Abilities and over-the-top classic elements like Summons, with director Naoki Hamaguchi promising new and returning Summons. After they were revealed at The Game Awards 2023, Titan, Phoenix and Bahamut Arisen have received new details and images.

As Final Fantasy 7‘s release date draws nearer, Square Enix has been revealing more information about the highly anticipated game. In a recent Tweet, we found out more about Chocobo customization and Chocobo races.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth looks similar to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. However, it also appears to hide subtle refinements underneath the surface that may make it a substantially different experience. And according to game director Naoki Hamaguchi, it seems this vibe is, indeed, by design.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is juggling an impossible number of balls. In one fell swoop it’s aiming to remake the original’s shattering second act, continue where its 2020 predecessor ended, and set up an inevitable third game. But to make the burden bearable, the game’s development team is turning to a classic Star Wars sequel for some inspiration: The Empire Strikes Back. 

Square Enix has released a new video for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, this time around offering us a recap on the events of Final Fantasy 7 Remake leading up to the upcoming sequel. The video, which you can check out below, can also be watched through the main menu of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth when the game comes to PS5 on February 29.

Final Fantasy 7's remake trilogy will ultimately link up with Advent Children, making the film part of the remake canon.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth won't feature one cat from Remake - because it probably died.

Final Fantasy 7 veteran Yoshinori Kitase has said the quiet part out loud regarding how the Remake trilogy approaches the original JRPG's story – there will be plenty of twists and turns to stop things being predictable, though it won't be wild enough to make eventually linking up with the spin-off film Advent Children unfeasible. 

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will make the original's famed 'date scene' memorable no matter who you hang out with.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director celebrated its Golden Joystick Awards 2023 win by tapping into a much-memed scene from the upcoming game.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthco-director Naoki Hamaguchi wants players to «feel more empathy with Sephiroth» during his playable segments.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's earliest memes were the products of its developers deliberately going for a more playful angle.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is looking like it’s going to expand on Final Fantasy 7 Remake in several ways, and one particular area of growth that has stood out in all that we’ve heard of the game so far is its open world setting. Previously described as a seamless map and a one-to-one recreation of the original game, what exactly can we expect from how it will be structured and the sort of content it will have on offer?