'Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth' Release Date: Story, Gameplay, and More

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth begins right after the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake and sees the group of Cloud, Barrett, Tifa, Aerith, and Red XIII embark on a journey to find Sephiroth outside "Midgar." The entirety of their journey will take them to familiar areas from the original game, such as the open-world fields of the "Grasslands," the rocky terrain of "Junon," the port town turned small fishing village known as "Under Junon," and the beloved theme park locale known as the "Gold Saucer." For fans wanting to know where Rebirth will bring its journey to a close, that location will be the "Forgotten Capital" (also known as "The City of the Ancients"). Longtime fans know that happens to be the place where Aerith was killed by Sephiroth. Here's hoping that her destiny will be changed this time around!

Rebirth will start players on an entirely new journey where their previous Remake progress won't be shared, which means your party will have to start their combat progress from scratch. From a combat perspective, a debuting feature called the "Synergy Ability" will allow the game's party members to pull off flashy two-person maneuvers that either do damage or grant beneficial support buffs. For example, Red XIII can pull off "Planetary Roar" with Aerith, "Savage Assault" with Cloud, and "Overfang" with Barrett. The climactic Limit Break attacks from Remake are thankfully making their welcome return here. During the game's explorative sequences, you'll be able to explore on foot and also hop onto the backs of "Chocobos" to make your way across outdoor expanses in a much quicker manner. When you encounter baby Chocobos, you can follow them as they take you to "Chocobo Stops" where fallen signs can be lifted back up to be turned into fast travel points on the map. You'll also be rewarded with "Golden Plumes," which can be exchanged for Chocobo gear at "Chocobo Ranches."

As you make your way across various locales, you'll pick up all sorts of random materials that can be utilized by the new "Item Transmuter" to craft new items, improve your craftsmanship, and grant you new formulas that then be used to create rare items. Besides the main campaign of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, players will be able to indulge in side content such as completing random odd jobs for assorted NPCs, hopping into special combat assignments that pit you against powerful "Fiends," discovering treasure-laden excavation sites, and re-activating "Remnawave Towers" to open up new research opportunities given to you by the returning character known as Chadley. Minigames will be implemented during your playthrough and they include a collectible card game called "Queen's Blood," a cute "Moogle" game called "Moogle Mischief" that challenges you to round up a bunch of Moogle kids, and a rhythm game known as "Piano Performance" that lets you play collected sheet music.

The rest of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's minigames suite includes the following on the list posted below:

• "Chocobo Races"
• "G-Bike"
• "3D Battler"
• "Dolphin Show"
• "Minecart Adventure"
• "Galactic Savios"
• "Jumpfrog"
• "Pirate's Rampage"
• "Run Wild"
• "Desert Rush"
• "Rufus's Inauguration Parade"
• "Fort Condor"