Square Enix says you can play Final Fantasy VII Rebirth without playing Remake

You will (not) have to Remake

Square Enix has been dropping some questions and answers about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, its second entry in the remade Final Fantasy VII timeline. And while it’s a follow-up to 2020’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix is saying you won’t have to play the remake to enjoy Rebirth.

In response to whether players will need to play one before the other, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth co-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 enjoy Final 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. A recent one confirmed 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 Rebirth
Developer comment number 4#FF7R pic.twitter.com/vsmJZvDljw

— FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii) June 5, 2023

Notably, Square Enix has confirmed that development is progressing and the FF7 Rebirth team is looking to nail down a release date. Last we heard, it was set for this coming winter.

Return to the remakes

We haven’t seen too much of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth since its big reveal, but it’s also had some set-up to do too. We did get confirmation that Rebirth is the second in a planned trilogy. And, as you might have figured out from playing Final Fantasy VII Remake, this trilogy looks to buck the canon of its original text.

So in one sense, I get how one might be able to jump into Rebirth without 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 the Evangelion remakes here.

Still, if you’re holding off on Remake for whatever reason, Square Enix has said it’s made preparations. And if you’d rather get some backstory, FF7 Remake is available on a few platforms now. Regardless of whether you need the background prep or not, it’s a pretty good game.