Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Director Wants World to Feel Seamlessly Connected

News outlet BBC recently interviewed Final Fantasy VII Rebirth staff, including director Naoki Hamaguchi. Several topics were briefly discussed, such as implementing the open world.

Firstly, players won’t have complete freedom to go or do whatever they want at any time since there will be limitations in place preventing access to certain areas. However, you’ll gain the capabilities to unlock said areas as you progress throughout the story.

Additionally, a crucial focus for development was to make the open world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth work as “one single space” where everything linked together seamlessly.

You can view Hamaguchi’s quotes about this matter below:

Mr Hamaguchi says the developers want the open world to work as “one single space” with “all of the towns, all of the dungeons and everything linked together seamlessly in one space”.

“It was a really important feature that we wanted to add to this game and one thing we wanted to focus on was the idea that you’re giving the player the opportunity to explore and experience the world,” he said.

Of course, it should be abundantly evident here that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is not aiming to replicate the successes or designs of fully-fledged open-world experiences like Tears of the Kingdom. Instead, based on Hamaguchi’s comments, the open world is being attempted to be depicted as compact in a way, which seems like a challenging task.

Check out BBC’s coverage for additional details.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the sequel to the first entry in this ongoing Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy effort. This new entry is far more ambitious than the first, set to occur until The Forgotten Capital from the original game.

Players can look forward to playable Cait Sith and Red XIII, with Vincent also revealed, though not extensively. Gold Saucer will be a prominently featured location with plenty of minigames.

Speaking of, the Junon infiltration minigame has been significantly enhanced, with Cloud directing soldiers to form specific compositions. Further, Sephiroth will be playable during the Nibelheim flashback. Combat has undergone a shakeup, with new synergy attacks utilizing multiple party members, and Red XIII has a unique revenge gauge mechanic.

• Check out our September 2023 State of Play coverage for additional details.
• View our website for our extensive coverage of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will launch for PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024, on two discs.

Pre-ordering the game digitally will grant the Moogle Trio Summoning Materia. Further, carrying over save data from Final Fantasy VII Remake will give the Leviathan Summon Materia, while carrying over save data from the Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Yuffie episode will grant the Ramuh Summon Materia.

Final Fantasy VII Remake is available on PlayStation 4, with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, which includes the Yuffie episode, available on PlayStation 5 and PC.