The recent Final Fantasy 7 25th anniversary event was filled with tons of new content related to the franchise, including The First Soldier, Crisis Core, and Ever Crisis. The big news to come out of the event is no doubt the Crisis Core Remaster and the first official teaser of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the official name for FF7 Remake Part 2.
The event didn’t show off too much, but it did tease the more open-ended environments players will see in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s world. It also ended with the reveal that it will release in the winter of 2023. This means fans of the franchise still have quite a wait ahead of them, though the wait for part 3 could perhaps be shorter than the wait for part 2, as Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 is already being worked on. This, of course, gives fans plenty of time to check out the first game if they haven’t, but according to Square Enix, they don’t have to.
In a social media post, Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy director Tetsuya Nomura said that anyone playing the game wouldn’t need to play the 1997 original, nor would they need to play Final Fantasy 7 Remake. In fact, Nomura posted that “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is being designed so that people can enjoy this game whether they know the original game or not. In fact, new players might even enjoy starting their Final Fantasy 7 journey with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.”
This is because, Nomura continues, Cloud is beginning on a new journey and leaving Midgar, experiencing fresh and new content all the while. Final Fantasy 7 Remake was, more or less, a self-contained project that greatly expanded on the first section of the original game, so it makes sense that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth would give players a similar experience.
Of course, there’s plenty of Final Fantasy content, and specifically even Final Fantasy 7 content, players can enjoy in the meantime. Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier and Ever Crisis explore the franchise in unique ways, while the Crisis Core Remaster could offer a deeper look into Zack Fair’s new story. If someone hasn’t played Final Fantasy 7 Remake, then they still have plenty of time, but they don't have to is the nice part.
2023 will be a busy year for Final Fantasy fans regardless. It seems Square Enix intends to end the year strong with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but the hype is real for Final Fantasy 16 too, which has a summer 2023 release window. It seems next year fans will embark on Clive’s new journey and start Cloud’s new journey too, with or without prior knowledge of the subfranchise.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releases Winter 2023 for PS5.