Final Fantasy VII Revelation closed out this morning’s State of Play showcase, and while the April 8 release date is the biggest news, we also got an extended look at how the final game in Square Enix’s Remake trilogy will let you explore its open world, give you more control over how you play and who you play as, and shift the story around depending on who you choose to bring with you on quests. You can watch the nearly 10-minute deep dive below, but if you can’t stop to watch a video, we’re here to break down everything we learned.
The Highwind lets you Fortnite-dive onto anywhere in the world
Revelation looks set to offer by far the most freedom in how we travel through the world of Final Fantasy VII in the Remake trilogy, and it’s all thanks to the Highwind airship. The deep dive begins with footage of a player flying around the open world and dropping down on an area below, Fortnite style. It looks like an open-world RPG in the truest sense of the term. Whether that looks wonderful or tiresome is in the eye of the beholder.
Your Chocobo companion Pico will get you where you need to go
Once you’re on the ground Pico, your Chocobo companion, will act as both a steed to ride on and as a playable party member, essentially. You can ride the bird and fight on top of it, or dismount and fight as normal on foot.
The FITS system changes up your characters’ playstyles
New in Revelation is the FITS system, which are four outfits that alter each character’s abilities set. The options are Warrior, Knight, Black Mage, and Summoner, which each give characters new outfits and techniques alongside their typical arsenals of abilities. We only saw two in action in the trailer, but we know that Summoners can work with summonable entities and Knights are a more defense-focused class.
The Highwind is your base of operations
The airship gets you around the open world, but it’s also where you’ll return to throughout Revelation to check in with your crew, and it’ll change as the story unfolds. This could perhaps mean people come aboard and depart the ship as the game goes on, or perhaps that new functions will become available throughout the story, but the video didn’t get too into specifics.
You can play as any character you want at any time while traveling
Revelation is really leaning into the “Everyone Is Here” vibe, allowing you to finally play as the full party (sans Aerith, but, ya know), and it looks like, with the exception of big story moments, you can play whoever you want and customize your party accordingly. The player is seen swapping between characters on the fly, so if you have a favorite, you can play much of the game as them.
You can take pics of the local wildlife (domesticated cats)
At one point we see Yuffie running around Wutai’s capital and using the game’s camera feature to take cute pics of some of the cats in the city. I’m just waiting to see if we’ll be able to take selfies with bosses, Kingdom Hearts III style.
A new grappling hook helps you get around quickly
I’m glad to see Square Enix is putting some effort into the traversal mechanics in Revelation, especially if it’s going to be as expansive an open world as it looks like. Yuffie is shown using a grappling hook to get around the capital, and is able to cross a lot of space fairly quickly with it.
Rocket Town finally makes an appearance
Revelation will let you fast-travel to anywhere you’ve already been, but one new place fans will get to see in the game is Cid’s hometown of Rocket Town. Though we don’t see it in the trailer itself, Square Enix mentions that it will be one of the new areas you’ll finally be able to see.
Characters from throughout the Final Fantasy VII series will appear
Square Enix mentions that characters from across the Final Fantasy VII compilation will appear in Revelation, and it’s unclear if that means it will include characters from across multiple games and external media or if this is just a fancy way of saying that characters from earlier games in the Remake trilogy will show up. The example they show is Cissnei who appeared in Rebirth, so it’s hard to say if we can also expect some deeper cuts that only those who have played or watched more of the Final Fantasy VII subseries might recognize.
You can put cutscenes on high speed
If you’re playing through the game a second time (or just don’t have the patience to let voice actors do their thing, I guess), Revelation is adding an option to play its cutscenes at faster speeds like you might with a YouTube video or podcast. The example Square gives here sounds incomprehensible, though, so go with god, I guess.
Quests will change depending on who you’re playing as
Since you can play as whoever you want during much of Revelation, some sidequests will change up depending on who is leading your team at the time. Square says this will extend to both story and gameplay changes. An example shown has the player choosing between leading a mission as Cid or Vincent, allowing you to either handle a situation on foot or on the back of a Chocobo.
Queen’s Blood is back
Rebirth’s best mini-game, the card game Queen’s Blood, is making a return. In Revelation, Red XIII will star in the game’s Queen’s Blood substory, facing new enemies that will change the game drastically from what folks know of it.
Revelation is launching in April, but it’s also been revealed that Square Enix has at least two story expansions coming to the game after launch. One will focus on Sephiroth, while the other will put a spotlight on Vincent’s relationship with the Turks prior to the events of Final Fantasy VII.