Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to Include Tons of Side Activities, Including a Card Collecting Minigame

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo shows off a new hub area, minigames, and more! 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to Include Tons of Side Activities, Including a Card Collecting Minigame

GameInformer has unearthed many details for the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in an exclusive hands-off demo. The main cast has finally broken free from the shackles of Midgar, opening up a massive world to explore. While they may not be fully free of Shinra, the newfound freedom will let the group dip into even more nooks and crannies than was possible in the first part of the remake. 

The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hands-off demo was controlled by none other than game director Naoki Hamaguchi and showed off just some of the major sections of the sequel. 

Crow’s Nest

One new addition that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is bringing to the table is a new hub area called Crow’s Nest. This unique town was not previously seen in the original game, allowing the developers to flesh out more parts of the characters and lore. It also gives them a chance to give more plot and character development to the main cast. 

Hamaguchi also notes that the Crow’s Nest is not the only new city in the game – there are more to discover and explore. 

Initially, this town won’t be available to players as access to it is locked behind a quest. Sidequests will be extremely plentiful in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and will provide a lot of distractions to keep players taking in all the sights. The new side activities will also flesh out Cloud’s relationships with various characters, as a lot of them will have a “primary” companion that will tag along for the ride. 

The Magical Caith Sith

During the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth hands-off section of the demo, some combat footage of Cait Sith was also shown off. This odd creature’s fighting style is even odder, as they don’t play as straightforwardly as the rest of the cast.  Succeeding with Caith Sith will require a fair bit of luck to pull off their stronger abilities. 

Just like in the original game, Cait Sith can summon a Moogle to aid them in battle. Specifically, players can choose how the Moogle will operate in combat – Cait can either ride around on the shoulders of the creature, barking commands and (hopefully) providing moral support or they can choose to let the creature fight on its own and go wild with white puffy furry. As much fury as a marshmallow could inflict. 

The Moogle in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will have its own independent HP bar separate from Cait Sith’s, so that’s another gauge that players will need to take note of. It looks like even Cloud can join in on the fun, as there are some synergy skills that he can do with the Moogle. One attack in particular displayed how adept the Moogle is at wielding Cloud’s Buster Sword, swinging it around like it was nothing. 

GWENT? In My Final Fantasy VII Rebirth?

One small reveal was shown off in passing but is enough to strike up a lot of speculation. One NPC in the Crow’s Nest revealed that there is an in-game card game that exists, with full mechanics. Now of course games are known to have minigames integrated into them, like Sea of Stars’ Wheels or even Triple Triad in Final Fantasy VIII. 

What makes this exciting, however, is the possibility of depth that this minigame could provide. As expected, there will be several NPCs that players can challenge to a duel. However, there are strategic elements to keep in mind, and there will also be a deckbuilding component that Hamaguchi hopes Final Fantasy VII Rebirth players will enjoy. 

Other minigames include a piano that Cloud can try to see if he has any hope of making it big on Broadway. At first, it looks quite simplistic, offering simple button taps that require some semblance of timing and rhythm. However, this quickly changes as some of the prompts start becoming more and more complex. There’s even a free mode wherein players can fully play whatever tunes they wish to crank out. 

Finally Fantasy

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is shaping up to be a massive change in size and scope compared to both Remake and the original game. The game is so big that it will come in two disks. Creating a massive Midgar looks to be a huge undertaking that Hamaguchi and his team are sure to perfect. The game launches exclusively on PS5 (at least initially) on February 29, 2024.

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