When it comes to video game hype, game developers will do all kinds of things to get their fans ready for what’s coming, including leaving plenty of clues or “insights” into various promotional materials for the game to see if they notice them. For Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Square Enix has already dropped a couple of trailers highlighting the game world’s larger scale and the characters you’ll see in it. They’ve also dropped hints about the game’s story, including whether a certain character will die at the end of the title. But now, Square Enix has revealed something interesting about a key piece of art.
The image above is one of the main promo images for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it features the “trinity” of Cloud Strife, Sephiroth, and Zack Fair. All three are eternally linked thanks to the event of the main game and its prequel, but the “remake saga” has made it clear that there’s more going on this time around with these three. On Twitter, the game’s official handle showed off the full version of the picture and revealed that Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura made the image and that he designed it to reflect the “three worlds” that are central to the game, while also noting that Sephiroth is the one that broke the worlds of Zack and Cloud and forever changed their destinies.
In another Tweet, they said: “Cloud and Zack are on the side as they represent their destinies being torn apart by Sephiroth. The image of blood, fire, and red that evokes Sephiroth, stains the sky and spreads over the world. The subtle red shade in the logo is also inspired by the same imagery.”
The twist here is that, unlike in the original title, Zack Fair is alive. Fans got to see him not just in flashbacks but in a special ending scene where he returned to the church that Aerith called home, hoping to surprise her, but she was already with Cloud and the others at that point. Zack will appear in the sequel via flashbacks and apparently will have an episode dedicated to him. So the question becomes, will the presence of Zack Fair be the difference that helps save Aerith’s life?
Or will he be just another “pawn” in this game of destiny that Sephiroth is trying to undo? We likely won’t get answers until the game arrives.
As for when that is, it’ll drop on PS5 on February 29.
