Final Fantasy VII Rebirth exists, it’s coming in early 2024, and the newest trailer gave fans a ton to digest, speculate about, and get pumped for as they wait until next year. Here’s every reason why the surprise Summer Game Fest kick-off showcase closer has players buzzing so much.
Spoiler warning: There’s no way to break down this trailer without lightly touching on the biggest revelations in the first part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, so if you haven’t finished that game and want to do so without knowledge of how it ends, turn back now.
You’re still here? Tight. Well, if you’re ready to get into the thick of all the juicy Final Fantasy VII Rebirth story details, read on.
Crazy Timeline Stuff Might Be Going Down
At the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Cloud and company dispatch the Whisper Harbinger, creating alternative timelines. The game shows Zack, who died in the original game’s version of events, alive, suggesting the developers at Square Enix were planning to not just create a beautiful modern remake of the beloved 1997 PlayStation JRPG but completely reinvent the possibility space for its characters in the process.
The newest trailer for the sequel, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, doubles down on that, mostly showing stunning PlayStation 5-worthy recreations of familiar scenes and environments from after the party leaves Midgar. We see Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII travelling to Juno, visiting Cosmo Canyon, and even riding Chocobos. Highwind, the Shinra airship, even appears to loom large in one split second of the footage.
FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH(2024) VS FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE(1997) #FF7Rebirth #FF7R #FF7 pic.twitter.com/by4yQBjjzj
— Haps (@huntevs5) June 9, 2023
However the beginning and the end of the trailer has fans wondering if much bigger mysteries are afoot. The trailer opens with news footage of Avalanche apparently failing to blow up a reactor, and Cloud missing from the wreckage. Near the end things pivot to a detailed look at the game’s infamous Nibelheim Incident with new dialogue by Sephiroth that has fans playing with bonkers theories.
According to one translation of the Japanese version of the trailer, Sephiroth tells Cloud, “I was the one who killed Tifa. If so, who is she?” With the dialogue appearing when Sephiroth slices Tifa with his giant Masamune blade, it can be taken as simply a modernised rendition of the original events or an alternate version that implies Tifa might have actually died back during the Nibelheim incident and the one we know from the start of Final Fantasy VII Remake is actually a clone or some other sort of imposter.
Here are my English subs for the Japanese version of the FF7 Rebirth trailer!
There are a few noticeable differences:
-Sephiroth clearly says he killed Tifa and asks who is “she”?
-Aerith says the planet feels stronger than her
-Bugenhagen says the planet requires spiritual… pic.twitter.com/PYDA293oMe— ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi) June 8, 2023
On the other hand, unreliable memories and psychological cleavages have always been a cornerstone of Final Fantasy VII’s story, and Sephiroth’s comments in the trailer could simply be Cloud’s false recollection of what happened that day, or maybe even Sephiroth trying to confuse Cloud by lying about it. The things that made Final Fantasy VII such a memorable classic in the first place are also what have laid the foundation for such a rich and varied set of guesses about where the remake sequel will take things.
The Cloud from the original game is a clone with alien cells and Mako energy infused into his body who also doesn’t remember the most important events in his life. Sephiroth, meanwhile, is on an apocalyptic crusade to bring about the planet’s destruction after learning about the personal violence, corporate megalomania, and ancient prophecies swirling the scientific experiment that created him in the first place. The Nibelheim Incident, which seems like it might be Rebirth’s climax, is the inflection point for these past events and their future repercussions.
It makes sense that it would prove the most fertile soil for Square Enix to potentially explore alternative timelines for Final Fantasy VII’s characters and stories. At the very least it’s proven to be a bountiful promised land for fans who want to round wild with their favourite pet theories about the most surprising ways the publisher could upend its own hit franchise.
Cloud Never Joins Avalanche?
One interpretation of the beginning footage in the trailer is that it’s showing the events in an alternate timeline. Cloud is missing from the group of Avalanche members’ bodies recovered by Shinra, seemingly after their attempt to break out of the headquarters or potentially during a routine reactor bombing mission. The fact that the spikey-haired hero is missing has some fans wondering if the footage is a brief look at a Final Fantasy VII timeline where he never made it to Midgar, or perhaps one where he joins Sephiroth instead of fighting him at the end of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Or Maybe The Avalanche Footage Is Fake
Another theory is that the footage is made-up altogether. We don’t actually see direct shots of the Avalanche members’ bodies. Instead it’s through the eyes of Shinra TV, an organisation with a clear and documented history of fake news and propaganda. It’s possible the footage is just showing how Shinra will eventually try to cover up the team’s headquarters rampage and ensuing car chase to keep the residents of Midgar calm and in the dark.
The Chocobos Are Coming
The trailer gives us our first look at a Chocobo out in the wild at the farm where players were eventually able to breed them in the original game. It’s unclear if that mechanic will be saved for the final game in the remake trilogy, or if players will get the chance to breed a Gold Chocobo in Rebirth and even take it to race it at the Gold Saucer. I can only imagine how many hours I’ll be spending on the Chocobo tracks if that’s the case.
So Is The Newest Turk, Elena
The Turks are on the chase again and Elena is their newest member. The reckless recruit is as much of a punk as ever in the new trailer. She has a crush on Tseng, the leader of the Turks, and her antics with Rude and the rest will no doubt spawn an endless number of memes. Her cameo in the trailer is already leading to a ton of fan art.
Bugenhagen Fans Unite
Ho Ho Hooo! Bugenhagen has made the jump to PS5 as well and the Cosmo Canyon elder looks glorious. Red XIII’s surrogate grandfather can be heard explaining how the planet relies on the Lifestream to exist, and he still doesn’t have legs and floats around instead. One of the game’s most beloved and strange-looking characters in his original 32-bit form, the glow up is real and players are loving it.
The Highwind Is Huge
The Shinra airship doesn’t get a moment to shine in the trailer, but it can be seen in the background of the initial shot of the seaside military base Juno. It might end up that only in the trilogy’s final game will players get to step inside and take the reins over for themselves, but in the meantime the Highwind is already getting fans excited for when that moment comes.
Maybe Tifa’s Dead
“I saw you lying there. I figured it was too late,” Cloud said in the first Rebirth trailer. “Wait, what are you implying? That I died? That I’m some kind of imposter?” responded Tifa. In the new trailer Sephiroth says, “You know that I killed her, so who is she?” This has fans wondering if the Tifa we know from Remake is actually a clone, or a version of Jenova, Sephiroth’s mutant alien half-mum. It’s possible that the developers are just building intrigue by how the dialogue is framed, or maybe it’s laying the groundwork for a radically different outcome to the rest of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s story.
Aerith Might Live
This all culminates in what would be the weirdest twist of all: Aerith not dying in the remake trilogy. The dream of saving Final Fantasy VII’s iconic flower girl is as old as the game itself, with urban legends that an option to stop Sephiroth from killing her or bring her back to life were hidden inside the game or cut at the last minute. If Tifa, or at least the original version of her, was killed at some point, maybe it implies that Aerith will live instead, or that Cloud will have the option to choose between different timelines where one set of tragic events is replaced with another. Or maybe this is all just the same type of wishful thinking Final Fantasy VII fans have been using to cope since the game came out. We’ll see what answers Rebirth provides when it arrives early next year. For now it’s fun to believe anything’s possible.
Kotaku is covering everything Summer Game Fest, from the main show on Thursday to other events happening throughout the next week. Whether you’re into larger-than-life triple-A games or intimate, offbeat indies, you can keep up with all things SGF here.
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