Image: Square Enix
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's new demo consists of a Nibelheim flashback chapter, and more playable content is coming later.
This week’s Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth-focused State of Play presentation announced the launch of a brand-new PlayStation 5 demo for the game, giving players a chance to experience a flashback chapter set in Nibelheim starring Cloud and Sephiroth. As if that isn’t tantalising enough, the publisher also confirmed that more content is coming to the demo on February 21.
Here’s a new trailer for the sequel:
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s new PS5 demo
Sony held a special State of Play presentation this week to show off more gameplay for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the highly-anticipated sequel to Final Fantasy 7 Remake and middle part of a planned trilogy. The game picks up right after the events of Remake, with Cloud and his party of friends having escaped the city of Midgar to embark on a mission to hunt down Sephiroth - wherever he might be.
Anyone who played the original 1997 game will remember a specific flashback segment starring Cloud and Sephiroth back in their military days. The remake's newly launched PS5 demo consists of this flashback chapter, where both Cloud and Sephiroth are playable as they get sent into Nibelheim on a mission. One week before release on February 21, Square Enix plans to add more content to the demo to let players explore more of the Junon region.
The demo will also introduce you to Rebirth’s slightly different combat system. While the game’s mix of real-time and turn-based combat remains intact, Synergy Abilities are new to the table this time around. These combo attacks can be used after a gauge is filled up by using Active Time Battle attacks. When two characters both have full gauges, you’ll be able to pull off a special series of combined attacks that fills your Limit Break gauge. This lets party members work together more in combat and encourages you to swap between them regularly.
During the State of Play presentation, Square Enix also teased that Cloud’s relationship with his friends can vary according to his actions and dialogue choices, having particular consequences to a certain date event that happens later in the game (if you know, you know). Be sure to treat Cloud’s friends nicely if you want to take them out later in the story. The game also has loads of minigames scattered throughout the map, such as a new card game called Queen’s Blood that will have you start deckbuilding from early on in the story.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launches on PS5 on February 29, 2024.