First Impressions
Final Fantasy VII Revelation Fulfills the Dream of Exploring this Gorgeous World
Pros
- Flying the Highwind is perfect
- Freedom to explore anywhere
- Cid and Vincent feel great to play as
- FITs adds a lot more to the combat system
- Fantastic character relationships continued
Cons
- If Rebirth was too overwhelming, Revelation won't change things for you
It’s safe to say I’m a huge fan of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, and Rebirth especially was fantastic, but one question had always lingered when it came to this project when it was first announced. How do you adapt the PSX-style world map and cover all of that exploration that comes with the Highwind in the final third of the game?
Rebirth, at least, hinted at how the field may be presented, with large regions to explore based on each of the game’s major areas, acting like a pseudo-open world. Still, how would that even work once you have an airship, and could you freely go anywhere you wanted? All these questions and more have been swimming around my head for a very long time.
Recently, I got the opportunity to head to Square Enix and be one of the first people to go hands-on with Final Fantasy VII Revelation. Going into the event, I must admit, I was expecting a combat-based demo similar to the one we got to play in Rebirth, so imagine my surprise when I learned that we would be given free rein of the Highwind to explore everywhere that was available to me in Chapter 4, which was a lot!
Yuffie gets her chance to shine in Chapter 4 of Final Fantasy VII Revelation.
Taking the Highwind for a Spin
After taking a brief tour of the Highwind (which is a lot larger now), I got to control the Highwind as I flew across the planet. Immediately, it invoked nostalgia for the PSX classic, and the first thought that came to mind was, “Can I leap off here?” You see, as you fly across the planet, you can see the regions below and be shown how many quests, Intel, Queens Blood matches, and more await you there. As I approached each region, Suri, the Highwind’s pilot, delivered a speech on the region and the current situation, adding a bit more context to everything.
Once you’ve settled on a region you want to visit, you can hover over a part of the land that looks interesting and leap off the side of the Highwind. As you’re falling, you can freely control your chosen character and then activate the parachute when you’re ready, slowing your descent to your desired landing point. I had a shocking amount of freedom in this, letting me drop off almost anywhere I wanted to go, outside of any regions that may be cut off due to the story (for example, Midgar wasn’t available to me during this Chapter).
For each of the regions I landed in, MAI (yes, she’s back) got in touch to update my region map with a bunch of Intel. While she doesn’t mark everything on your map, she marks enough to get you started, and this essentially replaces finding towers to populate the map from Rebirth. You can then see all of this Intel on the menu screen, complete with level recommendations (which play a much larger role in Revelation).
You can pilot the Highwind all across the planet.
I was surprised at the freedom I had in where I could land.
Merc World Tour
Once you land in a region, you’ll immediately see that they work very similarly to how Rebirth handled them. Every region gets its own map and Intel, and there are both main scenario and side quests to undertake, along with Discoveries. More importantly, I immediately noticed that traversal is so much easier than what it was in Rebirth.
At almost any time, I could call out my Chocobo, Piko, who retains the abilities you obtained from all of the other Chocobos in Rebirth, such as being able to use Choco Jet. There was also an Air Dash ability; this lets you manually target a location, and your Chocobo will fly off in that direction. Piko was Level 20 when I had control, so it looks like there may be even more abilities to unlock for it as the game progresses.
You also have a Toolkit; this lets you open a radial menu to access a host of useful tools that make navigating the world a lot easier. There’s a Tracking Module, which will create a path for you to follow when you track something on the map; Field Glasses, which let you see any places of interest nearby; and a camera to snap pictures, of which there is now Intel related to taking pictures of the local wildlife.
Perhaps the most useful of the bunch, however, is the new Grappling Hook, which massively increases the verticality of the areas you can visit. You don’t always have to select it to use it; if you are near a grapple point (which is indicated with an icon), the game will let you automatically use it without having to choose it first, speeding up the process. Beyond this, you will also find other tools that are needed for specific situations; for example, I had a Makolight from Costa del Sol to get the lanterns working on the beach.
You can choose who takes the lead in some quests.
This influences how they will play out.
Outside of the comforts of town, there are plenty of activities to undertake, many returning from Rebirth, such as combat assignments, chocobo digging, and treasure hunting. One particular treasure hunt led me to find a map that started a worldwide treasure hunt, allowing me to discover new furniture to place in the Highwind in the process. There were also some new activities, such as taking down Chocobo Poachers and letting me send the liberated birds over to the Highwind’s farm. What effect this had, I didn’t have time to check out, but it seemed like another fun activity to work on as I explore this massive world.
Side Quests took a bit of a new direction too, as I immediately noticed that when beginning quests, you have the opportunity to decide who will take the lead. This will slightly change how that quest plays out; whether that impacts rewards or relationships remains to be seen, but I did like how it made quests feel a bit more dynamic and interesting.
Your Chocobo retains the abilities from Rebirth and adds an Air Dash.
The grapple adds a lot of verticality to the game.
I also took the time to have a look at the Intel screen, where I noticed a number of interesting things. For one, it looks like this will be where you’ll obtain a lot of your Materia again, much like Rebirth, including Enemy Skills. More importantly, I noticed that the Weapons get their own Intel category, and the recommended level for it was Level 95 (I found myself at Level 45 during Chapter 4). I was also pleased to see that all of the Weapons were there, leading me to believe we can fight all of them. Indeed, I was informed after my session was over that I could have gotten into a battle with Ruby Weapon.
The Perfect FIT
While I was trying to see as much of the game as I could during my time with Revelation, I made sure I took the time to check out the FITs system, along with how Cid and Vincent play on a basic level.
Starting with the FITs system, I noticed you can change to any of the FITs from the equipment menu at any time, and you’ll be given an explanation of the main purpose of that role. Once you equip a FIT, by default, it will change that character’s look to that theme. Fortunately, you can, at any point, freely select what costume you want your character to wear, regardless of their FIT. This means if you want to keep the characters in their default, story-based costumes, you can.
The main FITs I got a look at were Knight, Warrior, Black Mage, and Summoner, and each of them works how you’d expect them to, except for Summoner. When wearing the Summoner FIT, you can perform synergized attacks with your equipped Summon materia and even perform deadly attacks (or useful support skills), giving Summons a much bigger role in Revelation. Warrior is your typical DPS role, while a Knight has access to abilities that allow them to control enemy aggro.
You’ll be able to increase the available abilities and usage of FITs via Folios, which make their return from Rebirth. When looking around, there are nodes related to the various FITs that unlock more abilities. Usefully, when you learn a new ability for a FIT, this is unlocked for every character, rather than needing you to waste points on unlocking it for all of your characters.
You can opt to wear any costume in the game, regardless of your FIT.
The Brooding Cape Guy
I specifically made sure I got the chance to check out how Vincent and Cid play, with more of my time being dedicated to my personal favorite character in Final Fantasy VII, Vincent. I was always curious how we would be adapted to this combat system, especially when it comes to his transformations, but I was left impressed, and he immediately became my favorite character to control in battle.
Taking up the role of Brooding Cape Guy (as Yuffie so eloquently puts it), Vincent’s default combat state is using quick gun-based attacks. As you use his basic attacks, you’ll notice that there is a slight red glow on him; this indicates you can hit the Triangle button (on PS5) to have him perform a unique follow-up attack during his basic combo. This changed from Retribution to Blood Moon and Execration, with Omega variants of these attacks too, each dealing more damage.
You’re not wrong there, Yuffie.
While Vincent also had typical battle skills like Focused Fire on my shortcuts, I immediately noticed Gallian Beast, one of Vincent’s transformations, which played a role in Rebirth. When used, Vincent will seamlessly switch into his Gallian Beast form and gain new attacks, dealing far more damage than his regular form. There was a downside to this, however, as there is a circular gauge that counts from 1 to 3 on Vincent’s HP gauge; should this reach 3, he will take an HP penalty, meaning you’ll want to limit how often he stays in that form. Fortunately, using any of Vincent’s regular skills (such as the aforementioned Focused Fire) will see him instantly switch back into his regular form.
I spent less time with Cid, but I still managed to get a good look at his basic mechanics. Cid’s regular attack strings require you to time your attacks to create powerful follow-ups. For example, after a few attacks, Cid will generate a blue aura around him, at which point you can press the button again and Cid will perform his follow-up attacks, such as launching enemies in the air, juggling them, and air-dashing them.
His basic Triangle attack allows you to mark up to five enemies; you can then use his ATB abilities to deal increased damage to anyone you’ve marked, such as Dragoon Jump. Cid definitely seemed like he needed a lot more expertise to play as than Vincent, who I immediately felt how powerful he was. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time for me to spend as much time as I’d have liked on these new characters, but both felt right at home with this combat system and, more importantly, fun to use.
Vincent will glow red during his attack strings, offering powerful follow-up attacks.
Cid can mark enemies to deal more damage with his ATB abilities.
The Wait Begins
Ultimately, I never had enough time to see everything there was in this massive demo; we were told that if we were to do everything that was on offer at this point in the game, it would most likely take around 20 hours. I tried not to spend as much time on the story as I wanted to get a look at all the systems, but I was pleased to see the excellent character work was still present, and Wutai’s storyline immediately seemed interesting, with Glen Lodbrok of Ever Crisis fame playing a massive role in the scenario there.
If you felt a bit overwhelmed with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Revelation is not going to change anything there; in fact, it expands further upon that. But for those of you who wanted to live that dream of flying the Highwind across an incredibly detailed world with a boatload of content to take part in, Final Fantasy VII Revelation is shaping up to be a dream game. For me personally, this is doing everything I ever wanted out of this project, and I can’t wait to see the conclusion.
Soaring Skies
Final Fantasy VII Revelation answers the biggest question I had about this project and delivers a vision that exceeds all of my expectations. The wait for April is going to be a long one, but I cannot wait to see how this trilogy ends.
Gameplay:
Sound:
Graphics:
Story:
No Comments