A recreation of the original 1997 RPG, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth lets us revisit more than a few classic video game locales. The demo is set in Nibelheim, Cloud’s hometown, and it has been beautifully recreated, featuring his and Tifa’s home, the Mt. Nibel reactor, and, of course, Shinra Manor.
This version of Shinra Manor is not only a little different from the original, but it’s less explorable this time around (at least during the flashback sequence in the demo, which may or may not change in the final version). Still, there are a couple of little interesting tidbits you might’ve missed as you relived Cloud’s traumatic past.
Read More: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Demo Launches On PS5 [Update]
Rebirth’s photo mode is a decent way to see some of these details yourself (especially the last one here). Hit the menu button and then press square to enter photo mode. You can zoom in with R2 and using the up and down d-pad, select “Exposure” to brighten the image (some filters also might help). Here are a few of the best details we’ve found while playing theFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo.
Young president Shinra
While the former president’s son, Rufus, is the youthful face of the family, you can spot a young version of his father in a portrait just above the fireplace. It’s in the room immediately to your left when entering the manor, and will be behind you to your right as you enter the room.
Mt. Nibel’s treacherous bridge
After entering the manor, if you turn and look to your right, you’ll spot a painting of Mt. Nibel with a bridge that causes trouble for our characters early on in the demo. There’s another painting of Mt. Nibel on the other side of the door, as well.
I keep thinking about this statue…
When you enter the Shinra Manor, you’ll see a statue with wings immediately above you Climb up the stairs and it’s clearly a feminine humanoid figure. Wings and feathers are a common visual motif across Final Fantasy 7’s various games and expanded media, but it also bears a close resemblance to the statue in front of antagonist Jenova in her chamber in the reactor.
Basement graffiti translations
When you get down to the basement of Shinra Manor (RIP spiral stairs from the original), you’ll see some ominous graffiti on the walls just before the lab and study area. Some of it spells out “Turn Back” and “Pandemonium” (a word commonly used across different Final Fantasy games), but there’s also some graffiti written in Japanese. One translates to “Death,” while the other one, positioned above a locked door, translates to “Drowsiness,” or “get rid of sleepiness” if you use Google Translate.
Read More: I’m Convinced FF7 Rebirth Is A Sequel To The 1997 Original
It’s hard to say for sure, but this might be a reference to a certain character we’re expecting to meet in Rebirth, one who has a proclivity for sleeping his miseries away.
Painting of Nibelheim
After walking into Shinra Manor, on the wall facing your left, you’ll see a painting of Nibelheim that’s reminiscent of the original Nibleheim scene from the 1997 version of Final Fantasy 7.
Is that Hojo and…??
Finally, perhaps the creepiest image yet can be found on the first and second floors of the Manor. Just to the left of the Nibelheim painting, is one depicting two people. One looks very much like a younger Hojo standing next to a woman who’s sitting down. We’re not sure who this woman is, but as Reddit speculates, it might just be someone’s real mother. You can also spot this image on the second floor, past the rubble that blocks you from going upstairs.
Shinra Manor is where the company hid a ton of its dark secrets. While we only get a brief look at this iconic location in the demo, hopefully there are still greater secrets awaiting us in the full game. Are there any details you’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below.
Leave a Reply