If the Tokyo Game Show is no longer a show covered by the French media in 2023 (with some exceptions), the major video game event in Japan will allow people who go there to discover a playable demo of Final Fantasy XVII Rebirth , the second of three parts devoted to the remake of Final Fantasy VII, released more than three years ago. Fortunately, Square Enix France took pity on all these journalists and content creators stranded on French soil and organized a gaming session in its Levois premises. We were one of the lucky ones, here are our impressions and some new gameplay.
Before dissecting the gameplay of Sephiroth, an inventory of this Final Fantasy XVII Rebirth is necessary. When the latter is released, on February 29, 2024, it will be 4 years since the first chapter was released, a damn long wait, but necessary to achieve the ambitions of Yoshinori Kitase and his teams, knowing that a third part has was confirmed a few months ago. Ten years in total to make a remake, yes, that’s what to expect with this complete restoration of Final Fantasy VII. For this playable demo of around forty demos, two segments were offered, the first is none other than the flashback sequence in Nibelheim (with Sephiroth playable therefore), while the second transports us to the city of Junon, and thus discover more natural environments than the industrial atmosphere of Midgard. But let’s start with the ascent of Mount Nibel alongside Sephiroth, which is not accessible from the start, but a few tens of minutes after the launch of the chapter in question. Tifa is at their side, just like a Shinra soldier, whose intentions we have already forgotten. If we find certain dialogues from the original game, everything has been remade from scratch, and it is the feeling of a completely new game that opens up to us. We then find ourselves in a sort of cave where deposits of blue-tinted crystals emerge. It’s quite simple in terms of graphic rendering, but the whole thing is rather pretty, you have to admit it too. Very quickly, we will find ourselves on the side of a cliff and therefore the possibility of changing characters on the fly. Cloud and his big Materia blade or Sephiroth and his curved saber? The question obviously does not arise, since the whole point is to take control of the one who will subsequently become Cloud Strife’s number 1 enemy.
With his long silver mane, Sephiroth immediately imposes his charisma and as soon as he begins to draw his Masamune sword, it is difficult not to succumb to his charm. Already because he is quick, super fast and he cuts through fat without any warning. Each of his moves gives a feeling of power with the controller in his hands, not to mention that he can trigger his “Zanshin” and “Hell’s Gate” techniques when the ATB gauge is full. By pressing R1, Sephiroth can even counterattack with Square or teleport behind his opponent’s back with Round. Enough to want to control the character throughout the adventure… As for the combat system, it uses the mechanics that had already been established with the 2020 game, with this hybrid combat system which borrows as much from Crisis Core as ‘to Kingdom Hearts, so as not to alienate the entire FF fanbase, as was the case with Final Fantasy XVI and its beat’em all orientation. The game thus alternates between real-time action sequences and the use of magic spells via a menu which then freezes the action and allows us to choose our attacks and other particular techniques. We therefore find the lock of enemies and the change of targets by pressing R3, the shortcuts to use the techniques with the L1 key, the special skill assigned to the Triangle button, the Transcendence gauge and the Shock state with the gauge of Fragility. The real novelty of this episode, or rather chapter should we say, lies in the synergy techniques, which allow two characters to combine their forces to trigger a more devastating attack and necessarily more stylized as well. Moreover, know that it will be possible to obtain up to 4 synchronized actions in the rest of the adventure.
In order to prove to us that this Rebirth will offer less depressive environments than those of the FF VII Remake 3 years ago, we were able to wander a little more into the lands of Juno, in free exploration. It was possible to open the map, see the points of interest, climb on the back of a Chocobo and see that visually, it is beautiful, rich and quite detailed. The change of scenery is total and the discovery of places completely new. We don’t yet know if the game will be truly open or if it’s several areas linked together, but there was already a certain feeling of freedom. Note also that Chocobos are still equally at ease on land and in the air, but that they can now swim in shallow water. Enough to open up even more the field of possibilities in terms of exploration, knowing that we also know that another marine vehicle allows you to move more quickly.
In any case, this 2nd chapter aims to be bigger, more complete and more interesting, with the added bonus of environmental puzzles to solve, more activities in the semi-open world, the arrival of a crafting system for create potions and other objects, without forgetting this possibility of creating 3 group configurations and switching as you wish without going back to the main menu. Note that it will be possible to choose between Fidelity and Performance modes and therefore to choose between 4K 30fps display or 1080p 60 frames per second. The game will weigh 150 GB and will be released on two discs. See you on February 29, 2024 for the full test, but we imagine that Square Enix will offer other game sessions before then.