Many video games are coming in early 2024 that gamers can’t wait to get their hands on. Easily one of the biggest for numerous reasons is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The title will continue the “remake saga” and allow players to experience the “remade” story of Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, Aerith, Tifa, and so on. Like with any good sequel, the game will expand upon what the first one did and then take it to new heights, and one of the best examples of that is the exploration aspect. Within the first title, all the exploration was done within Midgar, meaning gamers were restricted overall in what they would see.
However, in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, they’re finally stepping outside the Shinra-run city and will get to explore the world of Gaia like never before. Square Enix dropped some new footage of that world through the eyes of Cloud as he wanders around it, and you can tell that the game world looks very detailed and that there will be much to explore and check out.
It might not be the longest clip, but the effect is the same. You’ll be in the true wilds of nature versus what was essentially “man-made” all around you. We also know from past insights that you’ll get the chance to activate towers to “unlock” parts of the map and see all that is within them, so exploration will be even more important than before.
In an interview with FF Dream, co-director Naoki Hamaguchi cited multiple inspirations for the open world in the sequel. First, he cited Final Fantasy XV, which was the “developmental experience” that they needed to make this open world shine. But then, he pointed to how The Witcher and the Horizon franchise were incredible in forging their open worlds, so they took inspiration from them.
It’s nice to hear that Square Enix is looking at games that helped expand and evolve the open-world genre for inspiration on handling their own title. We know that the team has promised a big game for fans when February comes around. Tetsuya Nomura noted that the game could easily reach 100 hours of content should you do everything, and the trailers have shown us numerous cities full of life and activities to do.
So once Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes on February 29th, you’ll want to experience everything it offers and see if any surprises await you around each corner.
