Wccftech recently went hands-on with two chapters of the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, seeing the first moments of playable Sephiroth.
Wccftech recently visited the Square-Enix headquarters in Los Angeles, CA to go hands-on with the first public demo for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Those that are lucky enough to attend Tokyo Game Show will also be able to experience the same two-chapter demo that we had the privilege of running through. Both demos ran natively on PlayStation 5 debug hardware and while the option to play in Performance Mode was available, our hands-on was exclusively with the Graphical fidelity mode. Much like part one of the Final Fantasy VII remakes, the Graphics/Performance mode will target 4K resolution and 60 FPS, respectively.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s first hands-on demo offered two sections (with no third battle arena unlocking unlike the previous Final Fantasy XVI demo in the interest of time). Each of the two parts offers a slightly different gameplay experience and point in the story that each provide parts to the world and story that are experienced but briefly in the original PlayStation title. The first of two is a prequel set five years prior to the events of Final Fantasy VII with Cloud, Sephiroth and cowboy hat-tootin’ Tifa in tow exploring the Nibel Mako Reactor. This particular demo will be particular attractive to series veterans as it offers the first chance for players to go hands on with the Masamune-wielder himself, Sephiroth. Not counting rhythm, fighting and gacha spinoffs, it’s been some twenty-six years since the original game and players have been left without the possibility of a fully-playable character. As was the case with the original, Sephiroth’s inclusion into Cloud’s party during the flashback sequence was narrative alone. Sephiroth’s addition to the party was solely as an AI-controlled teammate, so players never got to assume direct control.
Sephiroth fits into the new Final Fantasy VII playstyle by adapting a more counter-focused ability set to counter Cloud’s Operator/Punisher styles. As would be expected from a character that only takes part in combat but for a single chapter, Sephiroth doesn’t have a fully ability palette at his disposal. Only the Zanshin and Hell’s Gate abilities were available during this early chapter, giving Sephiroth ranged potential for the former and an aerial helmbreaker for the latter.
The new Synergy Skills were also present for the first time in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, giving Cloud and Sephiroth a team attack called Dualblade Dance that takes advantage of their respective fighting styles while also being somewhat mandatory to use during the chapter’s final boss encounter if controlling Sephiroth (with the Double Helix skill tucked away in another combat menu to get through). Controlling Cloud offered two different Synergy attacks by way of Voidshatter and Counterfire, a ranged attack nullifying counter. Of course, Sephiroth’s limit break remained the fan favorite Octaslash. Standard attacks on the Square button unleash standard combo melee swings, while holding the attack button down yields a ranged attack.
