Final Fantasy VII Revelation
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is a single-player action RPG and the closing chapter of Square Enix's Remake series, which retells the 1997 PlayStation original across three games. Cloud Strife and his companions cross an open planet toward a last confrontation with Sephiroth. It launches on April 8, 2027.
Top 3 Reasons to Play
- Series director Naoki Hamaguchi has stated that Revelation ends with a single conclusion, and that finishing the story properly is the team's goal.
- The player flies the Highwind personally, and a parachute jump from its deck drops into any region of the map. A PAX West preview described the descent from ship to ground as continuous, with no loading screen.
- Quest assignments carry weight: choosing which companion takes on a task changes how some scenes play out. Hamaguchi singles this out against Rebirth, where players could clear content in any order and still see nearly the same things.
Story and Lore
Revelation begins right where Rebirth stopped. Cloud Strife and his companions are grieving a lost friend while Sephiroth edges toward godhood, and Meteor, a spell strong enough to destroy the Planet, hangs over every decision. The Highwind carries the party to the Northern Crater and the last stand against Sephiroth.
The setting draws on the Planet's own mythology. Shinra Electric Power Company controls Midgar and exploits mako, the energy that sustains the Planet, while Sephiroth aims to unite with the Lifestream and ascend. The Planet is hardly passive: giant guardians called the Weapons have awakened to defend it, and their rampage endangers people as well as Shinra.
Resolve is the central theme this time, after the emphasis on bonds in Rebirth. Hamaguchi frames the final battle as the moment each character confronts the feelings and burdens carried so far. He has also characterized the Remake series as a single new Final Fantasy VII built from the settings and concepts of the earlier spin-offs, and characters from Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core are expected to appear. Side quests in Gongaga reveal where some of those figures ended up.
Locations shown in trailers and previews include:
- Wutai, Yuffie's homeland, which the previous game left out. A hands-on preview found it more story-driven than the open regions.
- Rocket Town, the hometown of Cid, another skipped stop.
- Mideel, a tropical site on the southern side of the map that players of the original may remember.
- Junon and Gongaga, both revisited.
The launch year also marks 30 years since that original.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Exploration
The first five or six hours are fairly linear, Hamaguchi notes, and then the world opens all at once. The Highwind arrives early and works as a hub as well as a vehicle: it is where FITS outfits are managed. Regions vary widely in difficulty, the Northern Crater stays sealed for a stretch because a Weapon has taken up residence, and some quests send the party across several regions before they wrap up. Fast travel covers any place already visited, and the player can swap the controlled character, along with the party's makeup, at any moment while exploring.
- The grappling gun hauls the party up rooftops and across city environments.
- Piko the Chocobo begins as a ground runner and later gains flight and gliding, according to Hamaguchi. A pre-TGS preview saw fights continuing while mounted, with skills such as Choco Flap and Choco Magic.
- Underwater traversal by submarine is confirmed as well.
Combat
Combat keeps the hybrid structure of the earlier games: real-time attacks and dodges, plus a tactical mode that opens a command menu of spells and abilities. Synergy attacks, which pair party members for joint strikes, and summons are present again.
The new layer is FITS, short for Function-Integrated Tactical Suitwear. Four outfits exist: Warrior, Knight, Black Mage and Summoner. Wearing one changes a character's abilities and appearance, though one preview reports that the classic look can be kept instead. Combat director Teruki Endo designed the system as a job-style extension of the existing combat. In the Tokyo Game Show demo, Cloud wore the Summoner FITS and called Ifrit, Shiva and Titan for limited periods.
Side content
Queen's Blood is back in an enhanced form. Minigames remain numerous, since Hamaguchi wants to keep that trait of the original, but each now has a difficulty setting down to Easy and can be skipped outright. Their rewards tilt toward cosmetics such as character skins, while combat upgrades come from combat-focused side content, and every activity states its reward up front.
Characters and Factions
Eight characters are playable. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, Red XIII and Cait Sith carry over from the previous game, and Cid and Vincent, supporting figures until now, become controllable party members.
- Cloud Strife: the mercenary at the center of the story. Hamaguchi maintains he is still the protagonist even as other characters get more attention, and early previews have him keeping Operator Mode for heavier attacks.
- Cid Highwind: pilot of the Highwind and a spear user built around aerial attacks. Official footage has him in the Knight FITS.
- Vincent Valentine: a former Shinra test subject who fights with firearms and a beast form. Matthew Mercer provides the English voice, and official footage has him in the Summoner FITS.
- Sephiroth: the former SOLDIER the party has chased across all three games. In English, Travis Willingham takes over the voice from Tyler Hoechlin.
Shinra occupies Wutai and still stands against AVALANCHE, the eco-terrorist group that makes up most of the party. The Turks, who work for Shinra, share the second story DLC with Vincent. Ruby Weapon and Emerald Weapon have both been glimpsed in the Gamescom trailer.
Editions
Three digital editions cover PC.
- Standard: the base game.
- Premium: the base game plus the Story Expansion Pass, 24-hour Early Access, the Reclaimant Choker accessory and a Survival Set of consumables.
- Premium Plus: everything in Premium, with a digital mini soundtrack, a digital artbook, the Polydroid Alexander Summon Materia, the Nymphwing Bracelet armor and the Risk Taker's Choker accessory.
The Story Expansion Pass covers two DLCs, one built around Sephiroth and one around Vincent and the Turks. Square Enix plans to release them between Winter 2027 and Spring 2028, with dates and content subject to change. The pass will also be sold separately at launch, and each DLC can be bought alone after its release.
Console discs come as Standard, Deluxe and Collector's versions. Deluxe adds a mini soundtrack, an artbook and a steelbook case. The Collector's Edition, sold only through the Square Enix Store, contains everything in Deluxe plus a statue of Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth, the Story Expansion Pass and the full set of in-game items. Day-one copies of Standard and Deluxe at selected retailers add a Magic: The Gathering promo card.