Final Fantasy VII Revelation Preview – A First Look at the Grand Finale

With the recent statement that Square Enix is interested in continuing to explore the Final Fantasy VII universe beyond the impending conclusion of its trilogy of reimagined remakes, it’s safe to say that there’s a lot riding on Final Fantasy VII: Revelation. Coming only a few years after its predecessor, in a world where most franchises get maybe a single entry in an entire console generation, it’s easy to assume the development team is taking it easy and letting Rebirth’s momentum carry the remake over the finish line. However, getting my hands on the first preview of the game at PAX West proved to me that they’ve still got big ideas left in the tank.

To clarify what I got to play, I had an hour-long session of part of Revelation’s fourth chapter, which appears to be the one where the game’s open world properly manifests. This part of the game stars Yuffie as the party leader, accompanied by Barret, Cait Sith, and the newly playable Cid and Vincent. The demo was wide open, letting me go anywhere in the game world except Midgar and the arctic, but I stuck to the main story in Wutai and saw what I could in the time I had.

Final Fantasy VII: Revelation Opens Its World With the Highwind

The demo opened with an introductory sequence that introduces the Highwind, Cid’s airship, which will be the player’s primary means of traversal across the breadth of the planet. I skipped the customization features in the interest of time, but centering the proceedings on Yuffie and her decidedly different energy from Cloud lent the experience a very Final Fantasy X-2 energy, one that I appreciated after the heavy tone of Rebirth’s ending. The airship can zoom around an overworld map that offers a seamless transition back to the ground-level maps featured in the previous titles. However, I didn’t experience the parachuting system that handles the transition between air and ground levels, as flying toward Wutai automatically triggered a cutscene that brought me right to the outskirts of the city.

The FITS Job System Expands Final Fantasy VII: Revelation’s Combat

Journeying toward Wutai proper gave me my first chance to try out the small but meaningful changes to Revelation’s combat, which is mostly preserved from Rebirth. Players can still attack at will, but use basic attacks to charge their ATB gauge, which they then spend on more specialized and powerful attacks. However, keen-eyed players may have noticed that none of the characters are wearing their original, iconic outfits. This is thanks to the game’s new FITS system, an outfit-based job system that pushes the X-2 vibe even further, though the similarities are mostly aesthetic.

Any of the party members can be equipped with one of four FITS, each granting a corresponding job: Warrior, Black Mage, Summoner, or Knight. My ability to properly test these out was fairly limited, as I didn’t come up against any tough foes in my session that would have really given me enough time to build up the ATB gauge. However, I did note that Black Mage, interestingly chosen by default for Cid, could utilize both a magical combo system that allows for devastatingly powerful finishers and a ward system similar to Aerith’s playstyle from the previous games. Cid himself has uniquely timed regular combos that rely on player input to maximize their potential, and while I didn’t spend a ton of time as Vincent, he combines rapid-fire pistol gunplay with the ability to transform into his Chaos Beast form, which gives him access to its own powers at the cost of his maximum HP.

The other FITS I tested a little more was Summoner, which had been selected for Cait Sith. I’m personally pretty outspoken as a Cait Sith fan, but I was curious to put some time into playing as him in this demo, as his playstyle in Rebirth was met with a fairly mixed reception. I’m very glad to report that Cait Sith’s combat feels much better tuned in this game despite not being massively different, with his regular and strong attacks feeling more consistent. The Summoner can draw on the power of iconic Final Fantasy creatures to augment basic attacks, unleash their own special Synergy moves, and, of course, finish with a big finisher. However, as I mentioned, I couldn’t fully test the playstyle within the confines of the demo.

Wutai Points to an Even Larger Open World

As I mentioned, much of Revelation will take place across the same landscape that players of the last game will be familiar with, but it quickly became clear as I proceeded toward Wutai that exploration is even more of a focus than before. Entering an area immediately presented me with a multitude of things I could do and explore, all tracked through in-game progress meters and a bevy of optional sidequests. While it seemed a little overwhelming, it was also clear the full game will probably ease players into all of this more gradually, and most of the activities were familiar ones with a flashier presentation. Still, the fact that the game is even more upfront about all of it than Rebirth indicates that Revelation will almost certainly be just as big as its predecessor.

One feeling united the entire room during my play session: we all wished we’d had more time, along with a chance to re-explore everywhere and spend even longer with this newly expanded cast. The addition of Cid and Vincent to finally round out the party and the promise of an even more fleshed-out world and combat system already have me foaming a little at the mouth, even more so when I remember all the mysteries left unsolved after the climax of the trilogy’s second entry. Don’t try to find me come next April, as I’ll likely be in a top-secret location beaming the finale to one of gaming’s most ambitious projects directly into my brain.

Final Fantasy VII: Revelation releases April 8, 2027, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.