Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: Everything MAJOR Added Since Launch

[00:01] In early June, we finally got a look at

[00:03] Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the final

[00:06] installment of the Final Fantasy VII

[00:07] Remake trilogy, set to release in spring

[00:10] 2027. If you're dusting off your old

[00:12] save file, stepping beyond the walls of

[00:14] Midgar for the first time, or maybe just

[00:16] started, or even restarted your

[00:18] adventure with the classic Final Fantasy

[00:20] VII ports, if you're craving more of

[00:21] Cloud and co, the timing is absolutely

[00:24] perfect to dive into Final [music]

[00:25] Fantasy VII Rebirth. Since launch,

[00:28] Square Enix has done some serious work

[00:30] behind the scenes. This game looks,

[00:32] runs, and plays totally differently than

[00:34] it did when it first came out in

[00:35] February [music] of 2024. So, here's

[00:38] everything major you need to know about

[00:39] what's been added to Final Fantasy VII

[00:41] Rebirth since launch.

[00:45] To really appreciate how much this game

[00:48] has evolved, we need to go right back to

[00:50] what players got in that massive

[00:52] two-disc retail package on launch day.

[00:54] >> What in the hell is going on here?

[00:58] >> Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was already a

[01:00] giant, fully featured RPG when [music]

[01:03] it released. But, that's not to say that

[01:05] there haven't been major updates along

[01:06] the way. Picking up directly [music]

[01:08] where Remake left off, Rebirth took

[01:10] players from the small-town streets of

[01:11] Kalm all the way to the Forgotten

[01:13] [music] Capital across massive,

[01:14] interconnected open zones. Right out of

[01:17] the gate, it took players about 45

[01:19] [music]

[01:20] hours on average to complete the main

[01:22] story. And, while there technically

[01:24] wasn't a mode called New Game Plus, the

[01:27] post-credits chapter [music] select

[01:28] worked effectively the same way. It let

[01:30] dedicated fans carry over their

[01:32] hard-earned character and weapon levels,

[01:34] progression [music]

[01:34] mastered materia, and skill trees into

[01:37] the start of any chapter, in case they

[01:39] wanted to [music] clean up side content,

[01:40] or jump right into hard mode.

[01:43] All in all, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

[01:45] offered well over 100 [music] hours of

[01:47] content right out of the box.

[01:50] But, all this didn't come without a

[01:51] cost.

[01:56] That level of visual and sheer scale

[01:59] pushed the base PlayStation 5 hardware

[02:01] to its limits. At launch, the community

[02:03] was frustrated with the trade-off

[02:05] between graphics and performance.

[02:08] The main gripe was with its notorious

[02:09] performance mode blur. While it could

[02:12] hit 60 frames per second, its muddy

[02:14] post-processing and heavy upscaling left

[02:16] Gaia looking blurry, washed out, and

[02:19] pixely on 4K TV [music] screens.

[02:22] Then there were some frankly terrifying

[02:24] facial lighting bugs that director Naoki

[02:26] Hamaguchi had to apologize for,

[02:27] alongside some frequent texture pop-ins,

[02:30] especially whilst feeling the wind in

[02:31] your hair on a chocobo.

[02:33] But since then,

[02:36] thankfully, the developers didn't just

[02:38] leave us to complain on the internet.

[02:41] There was a steady stream of post-launch

[02:43] updates that improved the lighting for

[02:45] clearer and brighter cutscenes [music]

[02:46] and environments.

[02:48] All this led up to the PS5 Pro hardware

[02:50] release, which introduced a dedicated

[02:52] versatility mode.

[02:54] This removed the need to compromise

[02:56] between graphics and performance by

[02:58] pairing the two together for Sony's

[02:59] mid-generation console refresh.

[03:01] Players could finally get the native 4K

[03:04] target of the original graphics mode and

[03:06] the locked 60 frames per second of

[03:07] performance mode, thanks to

[03:09] PlayStation's PSSR upscaling.

[03:15] January 2025 saw the launch of Final

[03:17] Fantasy VII Rebirth on PC via Steam and

[03:20] the Epic Games Store.

[03:23] The headline addition here was the

[03:24] inclusion of Nvidia's DLSS frame [music]

[03:26] generation, an AI technology that

[03:28] inserts new frames into your gameplay to

[03:30] improve performance. Alongside it,

[03:33] Square Enix packed in AMD FSR upscaling

[03:36] and fully adjustable graphic density

[03:38] [music] slides. This means you could

[03:40] fine-tune how many background objects

[03:41] and NPCs render at once, scaling up to a

[03:44] locked

[03:45] stunning 120 frames per second if your

[03:48] rig could handle it.

[03:52] Now, when it came to traditional

[03:54] post-launch content, Rebirth took a bit

[03:56] of a different path than its

[03:57] predecessor.

[03:59] Remake got the massive standalone

[04:01] Intermission DLC, which focused on a

[04:03] side story with Yuffie.

[04:05] So, on day one, the entire Final Fantasy

[04:08] fandom naturally assumed we'd get a

[04:09] similar mid-game narrative [music] DLC

[04:11] for Rebirth.

[04:13] Maybe a standalone Vincent Valentine

[04:15] chapter or a deep dive into [music]

[04:16] Zack's timeline.

[04:18] But, no such expansions came. Only Final

[04:21] Fantasy VII crossovers in other games,

[04:22] like the PowerWash Simulator DLC for a

[04:25] standalone Midgar-themed DLC pack where

[04:27] you clean Seventh Heaven and the

[04:29] Hardy-Daytona. There are also crossover

[04:31] events in mobile titles like Final

[04:33] Fantasy VII Ever Crisis. But, inside

[04:35] Rebirth? Nothing. No premium cosmetics

[04:38] or microtransactions, either. This meant

[04:39] the wardrobe stayed strictly tied to

[04:41] what players could unlock [music]

[04:42] through their own blood, sweat, and

[04:43] tears in standard gameplay.

[04:45] But, why would you need new cosmetics

[04:48] when Cloud's rocking his wild surf

[04:49] swimsuit option?

[04:54] On June the 3rd, 2026, Square Enix

[04:57] dropped a monumental update 1.005,

[05:00] which introduces a total god mode

[05:02] game-changer called Streamline

[05:03] Progression. Now, if you hit a brick

[05:05] wall at launch, these are essentially

[05:07] developer-sanctioned built-in assists

[05:09] that you can toggle on or off at any

[05:11] moment right from the options menu.

[05:13] Enabling it grants your party

[05:15] invincibility with maximum HP and MP

[05:17] regeneration, full limit gauges, and

[05:19] further assists in battles [music] and

[05:21] mini-games.

[05:22] Alongside these combat modifiers came

[05:24] progression boosts designed to skip the

[05:26] resource grind, such as double EXP,

[05:29] triple AP, auto collect, maximum

[05:31] materia, and unlock weapon abilities

[05:34] without [music] spending hours grinding.

[05:37] If you want to just skip the early game

[05:38] repetition completely, there was also a

[05:41] new head start mode. This lets you jump

[05:43] into a fresh new save file with your

[05:45] party at level 65, designed to scale

[05:47] [music] players directly into the end

[05:49] game content with 70 being the game's

[05:51] cap. The update also tweaked some

[05:54] long-standing [music] visual bugs by

[05:55] adding an in-engine and lighting

[05:57] enhancement. This cleaned up those

[05:59] lingering pop-ins [music] and smoothed

[06:00] out some harsh shadows in bright outdoor

[06:02] areas.

[06:03] So, if you hit a wall and bounced off it

[06:05] at launch, this massive update to Final

[06:07] Fantasy VII Rebirth could be exactly

[06:10] what you need.

[06:14] But, that patch wasn't the only thing to

[06:16] drop on June 3rd. In a historic

[06:18] multi-platform moment, Final Fantasy VII

[06:20] Rebirth finally dropped on Xbox Series

[06:23] X/S [music]

[06:24] and Nintendo Switch 2. Now, if you're

[06:26] team green, Square Enix packed in Xbox

[06:28] Play Anywhere support, meaning your

[06:30] progress carries over between your

[06:31] console setup and the Microsoft Store on

[06:33] Windows.

[06:35] More players who can play this amazing

[06:36] series is a win in my eyes.

[06:39] Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has come such

[06:41] a long way since launch with that huge

[06:43] streamlined progression update,

[06:45] >> [music]

[06:45] >> its technical patches, and its historic

[06:48] jump to Xbox and Nintendo hardware.

[06:51] Square Enix has given us so many ways to

[06:53] experience [music] Cloud's middle

[06:54] chapter before we stand with our

[06:56] companions against Sephiroth one last

[06:57] time in Final Fantasy VII Revelation

[07:00] launching on, and I have waited so long

[07:02] to say this, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox

[07:06] Series X/S, PS5, and PC [music] in

[07:09] spring 2027.

[07:11] To help you track down all those hidden

[07:13] secrets or just to maximize your team's

[07:15] blood deck, [music] make sure to check

[07:16] out our fully interactive map and

[07:18] strategy guides right here on IGN.

[07:22] Now, if you'll excuse me, seeing this

[07:24] massive multi-platform drop has got me

[07:26] itching to replay the original Final

[07:28] Fantasy VII ports that just dropped on

[07:30] the Switch 2.

[07:31] So, let us know in the comments which

[07:33] new platform or update feature you're

[07:34] diving into first, and for all things

[07:36] Final Fantasy, you're already in the

[07:38] right place, IGN.

[07:48] >> Party, everyone. Let's get this party

[07:50] started.

[07:59] Hope you're ready to finish.