Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth release date in a shiny new trailer during the September PlayStation State of Play. We knew previously that all two discs of the meaty PS5 game were planned for launch sometime early in 2024 – near Granblue Fantasy and Persona 3 Reload – and “early” means “Feb. 29, 2023.”
It seems fitting, somehow, that the next chapter of Cloud and Sephiroth’s reality-bending adventure launches on Leap Year day.
Anyway, there’s a lot going on in the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth release date trailer. Midgar is still in shambles from the tornado, though when this happened is anyone’s guess. Zack Fair is distinctly not dead and carts an unconscious Cloud around. The two are outside what looks like Midgar or perhaps a ruined reactor, so this might be a flashback – but then again, it’s FF7 Remake, so it might be anything.
The team visits the Gold Saucer and its eclectic mix of mini-games, chocobo racing, raucous crowds, and horny dancers – the Honeybee Inn stage crew is back – Tifa takes a swim in the Lifestream, the iconic Nibelheim reactor scene unfolds in much the same way as the original, and Yuffie teams up with everyone – presumably without stealing their stuff first.
You won’t be going to Wutai, though. Square Enix said in a PlayStation Blog post that Wutai is locked until the trilogy’s final game. There’s still plenty to see and do in Rebirth’s open world, enough that Square Enix says there’s at least 100 hours of game here – hence the two discs.
Sephiroth is also working toward something rather different. “Reunion” in the original Final Fantasy 7 from the PS1 era meant all the different failed Sephiroth projects coming together. In Rebirth, Sephiroth calls it the “reunion of worlds,” which explains all the different timelines, Weiss in the basement, and Zack being undeaded.
Don’t expect Rebirth to end with answers, though. Square Enix said the story draws to a close at the Forgotten Capital, where a Very Big Event happens in the original game. How it unfolds in Rebirth, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
