The Tokyo Game Show has kicked off, granting fans the opportunity to get their hands on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for the first time.
Square Enix developers are releasing a demo of the highly-anticipated sequel to FF7 Remake at the annual Chiba, Japan convention.
Critics have already had the opportunity to experience the open-world landscape and a brief story mission with fan-favourite characters Cloud Strife and Sephiroth.
The consensus? “The same as before, but with greater power.”
It was Eurogamer's Ed Nightingale who noticed that the demo was "familiar yet fresh... something that fans will surely be delighted by".
Oli Welsh from Polygon had similar thoughts when it came to Rebirth's gameplay, suggesting that while there were additional features, the game still largely kept what made the original version enjoyable.
IGN's Bo Moore commented on the game's narrative, stating it was "very familiar, yet distinct" with its "tremendous contrast in size and display" on the PlayStation 5.
BBC Newsbeat interviewed Yoshinori Kitase (producer) and Naoki Hamaguchi (director), two of the game's innovators, for more information.
Prior to the 14th of September trailer launch, five different things were mentioned during our meeting.
The original Final Fantasy 7 is renowned for having one of the most shocking plot twists in video game history (no spoilers given).
The release of FF7 Remake resulted in alterations to the original plot, raising questions from fans as to whether that particular moment would be changed as well.
Mr. Kitase, the producer, informed Newsbeat that the story of Rebirth will reach its peak in the Forgotten Capital - the place of the memorable scene from the 1997 version.
He stated that there would be an unexpected twist, which would act as a draw to get viewers to watch the concluding installment of the series.
Will we be presented with a cliffhanger, similar to that of The Empire Strikes Back in the Final Fantasy series?
He mentioned that the second installment in the trilogy is of great importance and is sure to not let down.
It typically takes gamers between 30 and 40 hours to beat the main story in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Mr Hamaguchi was inquired if players should anticipate a comparable playtime from Rebirth.
He estimated that completing the main story alone would take around 40 to 50 hours, without any extra activities.
On top of the primary storyline, there is an abundance of side content and activities to explore in the world. In fact, there is more of this type of content than there is plot content.
If you delve into every element, deeply searching for all that you can find, you may end up spending up to 100 hours to do everything.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Square Enix's most current PS5 title within the mainline series, will showcase a vast open-world setting, similarly to Final Fantasy 16.
But Mr. Hamaguchi informed Newsbeat that it would not be a "travel wherever you want, do anything you desire" type of game at the start like Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
He indicated that the beginning area was expansive, yet there were still restrictions on it.
As the tale develops, you gain new skills and unlock fresh locations, thus allowing the game to extend even further.
Mr Hamaguchi declared that the developers wish for the open world to be unified in a "single space" with the integration of "all of the towns, all of the dungeons and everything" without any discontinuities.
He emphasized that it was of great importance to include a feature in the game that would give the player the ability to explore and immerse themselves in the game's environment.
Square Enix declared this week that it has achieved a seven million sales milestone with the combination of both FF7 Remake and its enhanced update, Remake Intergrade, across PlayStation and PC platforms.
Based on prior studies, approximately five million of the items were sold on PlayStation 4.
Sony stated that their console had sold nearly 120 million units, and of those, more than 40 million have been purchased since its release in November 2020.
BBC Newsbeat wanted to know if there were any plans to make Rebirth available for other platforms like Xbox or the anticipated new Nintendo console.
Mr. Kitase informed us that the matter currently requires further verification.
A slide in the last trailer showed that the game won't be available on any other platform until at least 29 May 2024.
This gave rise to speculation that we might witness the release of Rebirth on other platforms shortly after it launches on PS5.
But Mr Kitase said to Newsbeat that Rebirth has been designed specifically for PS5 hardware.
At this point, we hope all players can take pleasure in playing the game on PS5.
Initial reactions to Synergy, as seen in the previews of Rebirth, were not overwhelmingly positive. This system, which permits two combatants to collaborate in order to execute combo attacks, did not win over critics right away.
Most thought that the limited demo period was insufficient to evaluate the new feature adequately; however, there were concerns that it could make matters too complex.
Mr Hamaguchi informed Newsbeat that his team had a greater emphasis on character relationships, and the new fighting system would be a factor in that.
He remarked that throughout the narrative, one sees the characters developing in unison and getting to know one another better.
We wanted to make it a fundamental part of the experience."
We felt it was essential to incorporate that into the entirety of the game. We sought to make it a significant aspect of the game.
The synergy system originated from the notion that a team's performance in battle will be influenced by the degree to which its players understand and get along with each other.
Despite winning huge acclaim and multiple awards, FF7 Remake received some criticism, mainly regarding its linear narrative and certain sections being overly extended.
Mr Hamaguchi has emphasized the significance of retaining humility and taking lessons from the previous match.
We inquired as to what knowledge the team had acquired to use in its rebirth.
He stated that the fans gave a positive response to the game's story and drama, thus there was no requirement to change anything. "
"It is important that we keep that up."
However, some people proposed that it was weak in terms of options for players or autonomy. That's something we've looked into and have worked to repair and resolve.
Tune in to Newsbeat on weekdays at 12:45 and 17:45 - or catch up here.
Comments