You will (not) have to Remake
Square Enix has been dropping some questions and answers aboutFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth, its second entry in the remadeFinal Fantasy VIItimeline. And while it’s a follow-up to 2020’sFinal Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix is saying you won’t have to play the remake to enjoyRebirth.
In response to whether players will need to play one before the other,Final Fantasy VII Rebirthco-director Motomu Toriyama says:
“No—we have made preparations so that players who did not get a chance to play the first game can fully enjoyFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth.”
What those preparations look like is anyone’s guess. The answers in these social posts have been fairly vague so far, though. Arecent oneconfirmed that players can journey across the world with a “high degree of freedom” and experience a “myriad of different stories,” for example.
— FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii)July 14, 2025
Notably, Square Enix has confirmed that development is progressing and theFF7 Rebirthteam islooking to nail down a release date. Last we heard, it was set forthis coming winter.
Return to the remakes
We haven’t seen too much ofFinal Fantasy VII Rebirthsince its big reveal, but it’s also had some set-up to do too. We did get confirmation thatRebirthis the second in a planned trilogy. And, as you might have figured out from playingFinal Fantasy VII Remake, this trilogy looks tobuck the canonof its original text.
So in one sense, I get how one might be able to jump intoRebirthwithout a massive wealth of knowledge. Still, it does feel like a series that’s in conversation with itself. It’s hard not to draw comparisons to theEvangelionremakes here.
Still, if you’re holding off onRemakefor whatever reason, Square Enix has said it’s made preparations. And if you’d rather get some backstory,FF7 Remakeisavailable on a few platformsnow. Regardless of whether you need the background prep or not, it’s apretty good game.
