Picture: Sq. EnixI’m in a barely unusual camp in relation to Last Fantasy VII, although I would wager it is one which at the very least a few of you’ll be a part of too. You see, Remake’s Change 2 port was my first time taking part in this story — remade or in any other case.
I do know every thing there’s to know concerning the unique FFVII (sure, even that bit), however at no level have I received round to taking part in it. That is one thing I ought to in all probability treatment sometime and I promise it is on my record, however I solely have time to play so many video games, and a late ’90s PS1 RPG hardly ever appears an important, regardless of how many individuals inform me it is top-of-the-line video games ever made.
So, you’ll be able to think about my pleasure once I lastly received round to taking part in Remake Intergrade on Change 2 earlier this yr, solely to seek out that it guidelines. Certain, the efficiency is healthier elsewhere and among the textures had been a bit of harsh on the attention, however I used to be taking part in this huge, daring RPG on the go, and my Change 2 was holding up remarkably effectively as I did so.
It was with some trepidation that I went right into a latest Change 2 hands-on demo with its follow-up, Last Fantasy VII Rebirth. True, I may need missed this one again in 2024, however I keep in mind discussions of the large open world, the tremendous fast fight, and the large quantity of aspect content material. That sounds awfully grand, however wouldn’t it be too grand for Change 2?
The reply is not any. The Change 2 can sustain with Rebirth’s extra intensive sequences (at the very least, the early ones I’ve seen), although the visible trade-off feels a bit of extra disparate this time round. If, like me, this shall be your first time diving in and you understand the Remake port, this’ll hopefully be a beautiful approach to expertise ‘Half 2’ in full — however handle these expectations for those who’re anticipating it to look or play nearly as good because it does on different consoles.
Photographs: Sq. Enix
I had two saves to decide on between for this 30-minute preview: beginning issues on the very starting of the sport with Chapter 1’s flashback in Nibelheim, or leaping ahead a bit of to the start of ‘Chapter 2 – A New Journey Begins’ and the beginning of the primary story. Eager to see how that famed open world holds up on Change 2, I opted for the latter and set about rushing by way of the invasion of Kalm to get to the Grasslands as rapidly as potential.
If you happen to performed by way of Remake on Change 2, Kalm is extra of the fantastic identical. Cloud’s hair lacks the strand-by-strand element discovered on PS5, and carefully analyzing among the surrounding textures reveal issues to be barely lower-res than you may need hoped, however in movement, all of it performs very effectively. Body price caps out at 30fps once more, and it retains issues working easily, even in busier areas. All of this nonetheless will get excited on the mere prospect of taking part in this trilogy on a Change system — again in 2024, I by no means would have thought we might be right here!
However the Grasslands had been my major goal, and after evading Shinra forces and reuniting with my social gathering by way of a collection of attractive cutscenes, I lastly stepped out into them.
For many who do not know, this space is larger than something the collection has thrown at us to date, loaded with roaming enemies, hidden gadgets, minigames, and NPCs — if Remake’s Midgar is The Nice Plateau, that is the remainder of Hyrule. And to assume there’s extra past this!
I’m happy to report that issues held up effectively sufficient right here, for essentially the most half. I seen some small body price drops in busy fight situations, and, once more, the close-up textures look a bit of blurred whereas waypoints additional afield lack plenty of element, however at no level did issues really feel severely compromised.
Photographs: Sq. Enix
I’ll be aware that I used to be solely capable of play handheld, so textures and backbone drops could also be totally different on an even bigger display screen. That stated, the smaller show could not disguise the locale’s pop-in as I dashed throughout the planes. Having performed by way of huge titles like Cyberpunk and Star Wars Outlaws on the system, I am used to seeing textures load within the center distance, however it felt much more noticeable within the Grasslands. I can forgive a shrub spawning 100m away, however seeing grass sprout out of the close by floor at any time when the social gathering involves a standstill is a bit of distracting.
As I say, I solely received to see this in handheld, and I am going to gladly take pop-in over frequent efficiency drops, however it did get me fascinated with how these larger areas are going to carry up as I discover new methods to traverse them. Will a Chocobo ship issues into overdrive? Will coming into a taxing struggle weaken the efficiency elsewhere? How will issues fare in later areas like Corel and Gongaga? We’ll have to attend and see, as a result of after only a few minutes of exploration, my hands-on time got here to an finish.
Even with these worries, I used to be impressed with what I noticed of Last Fantasy VII Rebirth on Change 2. The Remake trilogy stays in secure arms on the hybrid console, and so long as these bigger areas maintain up, it ought to nonetheless be a superbly nice approach to expertise the trio for the primary time. Like Remake, there are some cutbacks right here, however nothing remotely drastic sufficient to have an effect on the general expertise. Let’s simply hope that the open world would not show too taxing in the long term.
Last Fantasy VII Rebirth arrives on Change 2 on third June 2026. Are you excited to examine this one out? Have you ever overwhelmed Remake? Tell us within the feedback.
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