Mountain Chocobos, A Playable Sephiroth, And 11 Other Things We Know About "FFVII Rebirth" So Far

BuzzFeed was provided a hands-on sneak peek demo of the sequel to FF7 Remake, and fans will be happy to know that, yes, you can ride a Chocobo.

In case you missed it, a brand-new trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth came out last week, revealing the release date (February 29, 2024!) and a bunch of new footage. BuzzFeed was given the opportunity to play a hands-on demo providing a sneak peek at the game, and there's a lot to discuss!

youtube.com / Square Enix

Here's everything we know about the sequel so far, based on my experience playing the demo, and based on the trailer:

1. You can play as Sephiroth.

Square Enix

Part of the demo includes the Nibelheim flashback sequence, which fans will remember from the original game. And just like in the original, Sephiroth is playable during the sequence as you travel through the mountains, but this time, you have full control over his abilities! He has powerful, flashy attacks and is a lot of fun to play in tandem with Cloud.

2. You can ride Chocobos.

Square Enix

Not only that, but you can equip custom armor on them! In the demo, you're able to call your Chocobo to you when you're in an open area, which makes traveling around a lot faster.

3. The Golden Saucer is BACK!

Square Enix

The trailer shows the gang riding the tram up to the Saucer, and also shows off some of the classic mini games like the boxing one (which features holograms in PS1-style graphics).

4. Chocobo racing is back, too!

Square Enix

It looks like it's been revamped a bit, and it's unclear as of yet whether Chocobo breeding will be part of the game. This was just part of the trailer, so we might just be looking at the race to get out of the desert prison.

5. There are new synergy moves in combat, allowing your characters to team up.

Square Enix

Each character combo has their own unique synergy move (even Cloud and Sephiroth!) which helps vary up combat and keeps things visually interesting.

6. There's a new crafting system.

Square Enix

As you travel the open areas of the world, you'll find crafting materials that you can use to create items. The demo only showed basic healing items like potions and phoenix drafts, so we'll see if you can end up crafting rarer stuff.

7. There will be an open world.

Square Enix

Now that the gang is outside of Midgar, there will be more freedom to explore the map. The demo had a limited open area outside Junon to explore, but it included "fiend hunts" (where you find a strong enemy on the map and attempt to defeat it within a time limit), Chocobo stops for fast travel (which you find by following adorable baby Chocobos), and a Chocobo ranch.

8. The story will continue to be faithful to the original, with some changes.

Square Enix

Since Cloud and the gang broke free of their fate in FFVII Remake, it's likely that we'll continue to see new and different twists on the original story, even though many classic moments remain the same. For example, the demo took me below Junon, where you meet Priscilla and her dolphin, just like in the original game. And as you can see from the above screenshot, the boss you fight there is just like the original as well! But it seems as though this time, the gang meets Yuffie in this spot and saves her from this boss fiend as opposed to outsmarting her in the woods near Fort Condor.

9. Apparently, you can ride a Segway at Costa Del Sol?

Square Enix

Loving Cloud's casual beach look here. Just a dude in capri pants with a gigantic sword on his back, NBD.

10. Mountain Chocobos are back.

Square

The trailer showed a black Chocobo scale up a marked wall of a mountain, and in the demo, my (also black) Chocobo was able to swim through some shallow water to reach an island. So it looks like black Chocobos are once again able to traverse terrain that Cloud and the gang can't otherwise.

11. There are flying Chocobos?

Square Enix

Now, this is interesting...the aqua-colored Chocobos in the original FFVII were "river Chocobos" that could traverse shallow water. But the trailer showed a quick glimpse at the whole gang riding on aqua-colored Chocobos that could fly! Or...glide, at least. It does look like there's some kind of air vent that might be giving them a boost, so maybe any Chocobo can get some air from these vents.

12. Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Vincent will be joining the party.

Square Enix

I didn't get any hands-on time with any of the "new" characters, as the demo ended before any of them join the party, but the trailer shows some combat featuring Yuffie and Cait Sith. Vincent is more of a question mark, as he shows up in the trailer, but isn't shown in combat (yet). So we'll have to see if he's playable, or if he tags along in the way Red XIII did toward the end of Remake.

13. The game will release on February 29, 2024, initially priced at $69.99. There will be a digital deluxe edition for $89.99, and also a "twin pack" that includes Remake Intergrade for free, for those who maybe played the first game on PS4.

Sony / Via store.playstation.com

That's all for now! We'll see what new stuff we learn about the game between now and February... I know I'll be counting down the days!