[0:01] In early June, we finally got a look at
[0:03] Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the final
[0:06] installment of the Final Fantasy VII
[0:07] Remake trilogy, set to release in spring
[0:10] 2027. If you're dusting off your old
[0:12] save file, stepping beyond the walls of
[0:14] Midgar for the first time, or maybe just
[0:16] started, or even restarted your
[0:18] adventure with the classic Final Fantasy
[0:20] VII ports, if you're craving more of
[0:21] Cloud and co, the timing is absolutely
[0:24] perfect to dive into Final [music]
[0:25] Fantasy VII Rebirth. Since launch,
[0:28] Square Enix has done some serious work
[0:30] behind the scenes. This game looks,
[0:32] runs, and plays totally differently than
[0:34] it did when it first came out in
[0:35] February [music] of 2024. So, here's
[0:38] everything major you need to know about
[0:39] what's been added to Final Fantasy VII
[0:41] Rebirth since launch.
[0:45] To really appreciate how much this game
[0:48] has evolved, we need to go right back to
[0:50] what players got in that massive
[0:52] two-disc retail package on launch day.
[0:54] >> What in the hell is going on here?
[0:58] >> Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was already a
[1:00] giant, fully featured RPG when [music]
[1:03] it released. But, that's not to say that
[1:05] there haven't been major updates along
[1:06] the way. Picking up directly [music]
[1:08] where Remake left off, Rebirth took
[1:10] players from the small-town streets of
[1:11] Kalm all the way to the Forgotten
[1:13] [music] Capital across massive,
[1:14] interconnected open zones. Right out of
[1:17] the gate, it took players about 45
[1:19] [music]
[1:20] hours on average to complete the main
[1:22] story. And, while there technically
[1:24] wasn't a mode called New Game Plus, the
[1:27] post-credits chapter [music] select
[1:28] worked effectively the same way. It let
[1:30] dedicated fans carry over their
[1:32] hard-earned character and weapon levels,
[1:34] progression [music]
[1:34] mastered materia, and skill trees into
[1:37] the start of any chapter, in case they
[1:39] wanted to [music] clean up side content,
[1:40] or jump right into hard mode.
[1:43] All in all, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
[1:45] offered well over 100 [music] hours of
[1:47] content right out of the box.
[1:50] But, all this didn't come without a
[1:51] cost.
[1:56] That level of visual and sheer scale
[1:59] pushed the base PlayStation 5 hardware
[2:01] to its limits. At launch, the community
[2:03] was frustrated with the trade-off
[2:05] between graphics and performance.
[2:08] The main gripe was with its notorious
[2:09] performance mode blur. While it could
[2:12] hit 60 frames per second, its muddy
[2:14] post-processing and heavy upscaling left
[2:16] Gaia looking blurry, washed out, and
[2:19] pixely on 4K TV [music] screens.
[2:22] Then there were some frankly terrifying
[2:24] facial lighting bugs that director Naoki
[2:26] Hamaguchi had to apologize for,
[2:27] alongside some frequent texture pop-ins,
[2:30] especially whilst feeling the wind in
[2:31] your hair on a chocobo.
[2:33] But since then,
[2:36] thankfully, the developers didn't just
[2:38] leave us to complain on the internet.
[2:41] There was a steady stream of post-launch
[2:43] updates that improved the lighting for
[2:45] clearer and brighter cutscenes [music]
[2:46] and environments.
[2:48] All this led up to the PS5 Pro hardware
[2:50] release, which introduced a dedicated
[2:52] versatility mode.
[2:54] This removed the need to compromise
[2:56] between graphics and performance by
[2:58] pairing the two together for Sony's
[2:59] mid-generation console refresh.
[3:01] Players could finally get the native 4K
[3:04] target of the original graphics mode and
[3:06] the locked 60 frames per second of
[3:07] performance mode, thanks to
[3:09] PlayStation's PSSR upscaling.
[3:15] January 2025 saw the launch of Final
[3:17] Fantasy VII Rebirth on PC via Steam and
[3:20] the Epic Games Store.
[3:23] The headline addition here was the
[3:24] inclusion of Nvidia's DLSS frame [music]
[3:26] generation, an AI technology that
[3:28] inserts new frames into your gameplay to
[3:30] improve performance. Alongside it,
[3:33] Square Enix packed in AMD FSR upscaling
[3:36] and fully adjustable graphic density
[3:38] [music] slides. This means you could
[3:40] fine-tune how many background objects
[3:41] and NPCs render at once, scaling up to a
[3:44] locked
[3:45] stunning 120 frames per second if your
[3:48] rig could handle it.
[3:52] Now, when it came to traditional
[3:54] post-launch content, Rebirth took a bit
[3:56] of a different path than its
[3:57] predecessor.
[3:59] Remake got the massive standalone
[4:01] Intermission DLC, which focused on a
[4:03] side story with Yuffie.
[4:05] So, on day one, the entire Final Fantasy
[4:08] fandom naturally assumed we'd get a
[4:09] similar mid-game narrative [music] DLC
[4:11] for Rebirth.
[4:13] Maybe a standalone Vincent Valentine
[4:15] chapter or a deep dive into [music]
[4:16] Zack's timeline.
[4:18] But, no such expansions came. Only Final
[4:21] Fantasy VII crossovers in other games,
[4:22] like the PowerWash Simulator DLC for a
[4:25] standalone Midgar-themed DLC pack where
[4:27] you clean Seventh Heaven and the
[4:29] Hardy-Daytona. There are also crossover
[4:31] events in mobile titles like Final
[4:33] Fantasy VII Ever Crisis. But, inside
[4:35] Rebirth? Nothing. No premium cosmetics
[4:38] or microtransactions, either. This meant
[4:39] the wardrobe stayed strictly tied to
[4:41] what players could unlock [music]
[4:42] through their own blood, sweat, and
[4:43] tears in standard gameplay.
[4:45] But, why would you need new cosmetics
[4:48] when Cloud's rocking his wild surf
[4:49] swimsuit option?
[4:54] On June the 3rd, 2026, Square Enix
[4:57] dropped a monumental update 1.005,
[5:00] which introduces a total god mode
[5:02] game-changer called Streamline
[5:03] Progression. Now, if you hit a brick
[5:05] wall at launch, these are essentially
[5:07] developer-sanctioned built-in assists
[5:09] that you can toggle on or off at any
[5:11] moment right from the options menu.
[5:13] Enabling it grants your party
[5:15] invincibility with maximum HP and MP
[5:17] regeneration, full limit gauges, and
[5:19] further assists in battles [music] and
[5:21] mini-games.
[5:22] Alongside these combat modifiers came
[5:24] progression boosts designed to skip the
[5:26] resource grind, such as double EXP,
[5:29] triple AP, auto collect, maximum
[5:31] materia, and unlock weapon abilities
[5:34] without [music] spending hours grinding.
[5:37] If you want to just skip the early game
[5:38] repetition completely, there was also a
[5:41] new head start mode. This lets you jump
[5:43] into a fresh new save file with your
[5:45] party at level 65, designed to scale
[5:47] [music] players directly into the end
[5:49] game content with 70 being the game's
[5:51] cap. The update also tweaked some
[5:54] long-standing [music] visual bugs by
[5:55] adding an in-engine and lighting
[5:57] enhancement. This cleaned up those
[5:59] lingering pop-ins [music] and smoothed
[6:00] out some harsh shadows in bright outdoor
[6:02] areas.
[6:03] So, if you hit a wall and bounced off it
[6:05] at launch, this massive update to Final
[6:07] Fantasy VII Rebirth could be exactly
[6:10] what you need.
[6:14] But, that patch wasn't the only thing to
[6:16] drop on June 3rd. In a historic
[6:18] multi-platform moment, Final Fantasy VII
[6:20] Rebirth finally dropped on Xbox Series
[6:23] X/S [music]
[6:24] and Nintendo Switch 2. Now, if you're
[6:26] team green, Square Enix packed in Xbox
[6:28] Play Anywhere support, meaning your
[6:30] progress carries over between your
[6:31] console setup and the Microsoft Store on
[6:33] Windows.
[6:35] More players who can play this amazing
[6:36] series is a win in my eyes.
[6:39] Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has come such
[6:41] a long way since launch with that huge
[6:43] streamlined progression update,
[6:45] >> [music]
[6:45] >> its technical patches, and its historic
[6:48] jump to Xbox and Nintendo hardware.
[6:51] Square Enix has given us so many ways to
[6:53] experience [music] Cloud's middle
[6:54] chapter before we stand with our
[6:56] companions against Sephiroth one last
[6:57] time in Final Fantasy VII Revelation
[7:00] launching on, and I have waited so long
[7:02] to say this, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox
[7:06] Series X/S, PS5, and PC [music] in
[7:09] spring 2027.
[7:11] To help you track down all those hidden
[7:13] secrets or just to maximize your team's
[7:15] blood deck, [music] make sure to check
[7:16] out our fully interactive map and
[7:18] strategy guides right here on IGN.
[7:22] Now, if you'll excuse me, seeing this
[7:24] massive multi-platform drop has got me
[7:26] itching to replay the original Final
[7:28] Fantasy VII ports that just dropped on
[7:30] the Switch 2.
[7:31] So, let us know in the comments which
[7:33] new platform or update feature you're
[7:34] diving into first, and for all things
[7:36] Final Fantasy, you're already in the
[7:38] right place, IGN.
[7:48] >> Party, everyone. Let's get this party
[7:50] started.
[7:59] Hope you're ready to finish.