Whenever Sony events roll around, there’s always a twinge of anticipation among players that we may see new footage of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Square Enix’s sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake, which itself was the first chapter of its trilogy of games that are not-so-faithfully remaking the 1997 classic. And that’s exactly what we got during today’s State of Play event stream.

The new trailer shows new footage of Cloud meeting everyone’s favorite human-sized plush cat, Cait Sith, who joined Cloud in battle alongside Sephiroth (as an ally?), as well as some choice scenes of Zack carrying a K.O.-ed Cloud, and the teensiest peak at Cloud’s red-cloaked, gun-toting companion, Vincent Valentine. Or at least his back. And what a glorious back it is. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which was initially slated to release this winter, will now be released on February 29 2024 for PlayStation 5. You can check out the trailer below.

The last time we got a crumb of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth footage was during this year’s Summer Games Event. In it, we saw pleasant scenes of Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII traversing Juno, visiting Cosmo Canyon, and riding some Chocobos. We also saw less pleasing sights, like Shinra TV news footage of Barret and Tifa carried into an ambulance and Tifa on her back foot in a fight with Sephiroth. Suffice it to say, FFVII Rebirth looks to continue to remixing story beats from the original game, which’ll have fans on the edge of their gamer chairs.

Read More: A PS5 Game On Two Discs Is Giving 1995

A Quick FAQ About Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Now that we’ve gotten an eyeful of some new FFVIIR scenes folks are sure to be fast at crafting intricate fan theories, art, and memes, so here’s a quick recap of everything we know about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth takes place after the events of Remake, in which a bunch of events from the original game—like the deaths of Zack Fair and Aerith —seem to not be happening this time around. Or at least not yet, god forbid. Rebirth appears to continue to play with scenarios that deviate from the original 1997 game, chief among them being a scene where Cloud and Sephiroth are traveling through the wilderness together. Weird.

According to a series of posts answering fans’ questions on the official Final Fantasy VII Twitter account, we know that the remake’s take on the original game’s planet-spanning world will be large enough that “players will be able to journey across the wide and multifaceted world with a high degree of freedom.” A part of that odyssey will include a “chain of narrative developments” involving “each character’s destiny.” The account went so far as to claim Squeenix “made preparations” so that players won’t necessarily have to play Remake to “fully enjoy” playing Rebirth. Given the bonkers timeline changes at the end of Remake, I reckon players should play Remake before Rebirth.

Read More: Final Fantasy VII Remake Will Be A Trilogy

Something else players can look forward to with Rebirth is that the game will feature “new comrades.” However, the official tweet saying, “new comrades will join you in battle and you can cooperate with other party members in even closer ways than before” is vague as all hell, so it remains to be seen what that all indicates.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is due out for PlayStation 5 on February 29 2024, while the third, currently unnamed entry in the FFVII Remake trilogy will be released in the future.

During Sony’s latest State of Play on Thursday, Square Enix revealed a new gameplay trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the next entry in its FF7 Remake trilogy. The game looks very good and I’m excited to play it. Also announced Thursday: A $350 Collector’s Edition of the game. I’m…less excited about that.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues after the events of Final Fantasy VII Remake, which took the first major section of 1997’s classic RPG Final Fantasy VII and translated it into an action-RPG. Remake’s storyline also changed up some details, both big and small, to create what appears to be a new timeline that is both separate from but somehow connected to that of the original game and its many spin-offs.

Today’s trailer for the upcoming Rebirth shows this new sequel will continue to shake things up, depicting Zack from Crisis Core carrying Cloud into a city, something that doesn’t happen in the original game. (Also…Cloud riding a Segway?)

Interesting stuff! Anyway, the new trailer looks cool, so you might be excited to pre-order the game ahead of its February 29, 2024 debut. About that. The standard edition of the game will cost $69.99, and the “deluxe” will be $99.99. But the biggest, most expensive version of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the collector’s edition…and it costs more than a Nintendo Switch.

What’s included in the Collector’s Edition of FF7 Rebirth?

According to Square Enix’s official store, this pricey, $349.99 edition of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth comes with the following:

•Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – Deluxe Edition
Art BookMini SoundtrackSteelBook® Case

•Large Collectible Statue
Approx. 48cm / 19 inches tall and depicting the iconic antagonist Sephiroth in highly detailed sculpting. The wing can be detached.

•Moogle Trio Summoning Materia (DLC)
A summoning materia that can call “Moogle Trio” in the game.

•Magic Pot Summoning Materia (DLC)
A summoning materia that can call “Magic Pot” in the game.

•Accessory: Reclaimant Choker (DLC)
A choker with an effect of restoring HP when an enemy is defeated.

•Armor: Orchid Bracelet (DLC)
A bracelet that gives courage to traverse an expanding world.

•Armor: Midgar Bangle Mk. II (DLC)
A bracelet worn by travelers leaving Midgar.

So, does all of this sound like it’s worth $350? For some, the answer is probably yes. For others, a solid maybe. And for many out there, like me, the answer is a strong “nope.”

Personally, the prospect of a $350 edition of a video game makes me roll my eyes so hard they fall out of my head and I have to scramble around on the floor for a few minutes to pick them back up. But I’m also not a person who cares much for statues or collectibles. At the very least it’s nice that Square Enix is including a physical copy of the game in this pricey package!

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches on February 29, 2024 exclusively on PlayStation 5. The base game costs $70. The deluxe edition is $100. And as mentioned, the Collector’s Edition, at $350, costs more than an Xbox Series S.

Pre-order Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

Square Enix has recently unveiled a lot of new details about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the next chapter in its three-part remake trilogy of the classic 1997 RPG. One key bit of info is that players won’t be able to import their saves from Final Fantasy VII Remake into Rebirth, but there will be a reward for those who played the last game and its DLC.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, out exclusively on PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024, takes place after the events of 2020’s FF7 Remake and its Intergrade DLC. Like the first game, this new sequel seems to be a visually stunning remake of Square’s beloved PS1 RPG megahit, Final Fantasy VII. As before, in Rebirth small and big details of the original storyline seem to have been tweaked, leading to interesting results. And with Rebirth directly continuing the adventure of Cloud and gang, some might assume they can carry over their saves into the sequel, but that isn’t the case.

Buy Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Amazon | Best Buy | Gamestop

In an interview with the Official PlayStation Blog, Rebirth’s director Naoki Hamaguchi explained that players won’t be able to import their leveled-up and super-powerful characters from Remake into the new sequel, suggesting that each entry in the FFVII remake trilogy will be a “standalone game in its own right.”

“Because of this, each game’s balancing is done independently,” explained Hamaguchi. “And a player’s levels and abilities will not carry over from one game to the next.”

While some might be disappointed that they can’t trample through FFVII Rebirth’s enemies and bosses with their OP Cloud and Aerith, this decision makes sense. These remakes are large RPGs of their very own, and trying to design them to support high-level characters would likely be challenging and ruin the overall balance.

But, if you did play Remake, Square Enix has “special bonuses” for you, as confirmed by Hamaguchi. On Square Enix’s official website, the publisher revealed what those bonuses are: Leviathan Summon Materia for folks with Remake save data and Ramuh Summon Materia if you’ve got Intermission save data. Just keep in mind that this save data needs to be on your PS5 when you play Rebirth.

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Sonic Frontiers, Sega’s latest (and surprisingly well-received) entry in the speedy hedgehog franchise, received its final free content update on Thursday. It seems this new update is proving to be way more difficult than the base game, as players who once bragged about how easy the game was are getting their generous blue asses handed to them.

Sonic Frontiers’ final update, appropriately titled The Final Horizon, advertised itself as bringing a new story; new playable characters in the form of Knuckles, Tails, and Amy, and new challenges. Apparently, Sega meant that last part with its whole chest because players are struggling to get to the finish line of The Final Horizon.

Since the update’s release, players have taken to social media in a mix of frustration and excitement over how difficult it is to either:

– Adjust to how differently Sonic’s companions move while completing challenges

– Complete trial towers (which don’t have checkpoints)

– Defeat the update’s tough-as-nails new boss Tank+, a spider tank that’ll riddle Sonic with bullets on sight, exploding the blue streak into a fountain of coins

Buy Sonic Frontiers: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

To add more kindling to the blazing difficulty fire players are experiencing, some players are reporting that the game now requires them to perfect parry enemies during trials. That’s rough, buddy.

Read More: That New Sonic Game Is A Weird, Lonely Mess (That I Can’t Stop Playing)

While some players are finding The Final Frontier’s evident difficulty spike as a welcome update to the game, others are hoping Sega patches the free update to make its boss fights less of an uphill battle.

“God damn, [Morio] Kishimoto seriously took offense to people calling his game too easy. I love the challenge, but god DAMN,” SonicFanatic67 wrote on the r/SonicFrontiers subreddit.

“Sonic Team really took everyone’s complaints on how OP the parry was and just said ‘Aight, bet. Now you gotta time your shit. Have fun, jackasses.” xXWarriorAngelXx added.

“This shit ain’t even fun. There’s fun/challenging difficulty and then there’s spiteful/cheap difficulty. This feels like the latter,” YesHai wrote on Reddit.

“Hit the last challenge before the final boss in Sonic Frontiers DLC and yeah it’s probably the most difficult thing they’ve ever put into their games,” KZXcellent tweeted. “DLC has been the most fun I’ve had playing a Sonic game, but it’s not gonna be for everyone.

On the upside, The Final Horizon has a new Super Sonic form for players to enjoy. Hopefully, aside from being aesthetically pleasing, the newly minted superpowered Sonic will functionally aid players in conquering Sonic Frontiers’ final slew of challenges.

Buy Sonic Frontiers: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

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Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, due out on February 29, will be giving Cait Sith, a cat-like party member from the original Final Fantasy VII, his proper introduction in the Remake timeline. We’ll be getting a lot of face time with our feline friend in the sequel, but that naturally means people are going to be saying his name, so Rebirth will have to deal with a long-simmering fan debate about how you pronounce “Cait Sith.” Now, Square Enix has finally revealed the name’s pronunciation in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and it’s causing some conflicting emotions among fans.

While the background is obviously different, the name Cait Sith originates from a creature in Celtic mythology. But a lot of fans didn’t realize this when they met the character in the original Final Fantasy VII, which didn’t have voice acting. As such, swaths of the community have pronounced his name the way it looks, but it sounds like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is taking a hard stance. Square Enix made a post on Twitter (now known as X) saying Cait Sith will be pronounced like “Kate Sihth,” which is more or less how many fans have been saying it, as opposed to using the original Scottish Gaelic pronunciation “Ket Shee.”

Pre-order Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

The response to this announcement has been mixed, as you can see in the responses to Square Enix’s tweet. For some players this affirms the way they’ve said Cait Sith’s name for over 20 years. Others argue this is erasing the actual term’s history, which is embedded in an entirely different culture and folklore. The Japanese pronunciation is much closer to the original Gaelic, but English-speaking territories will get the more anglicized pronunciation. In theory, Square Enix’s ruling could have ended a decades-long debate, but instead it seems to have added more logs to the fire.

Even when Final Fantasy VII extended universe works like the Advent Children film gave voices to the characters, they often talked around Cait Sith’s name instead of saying it. In Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, Cid pronounces Cait Sith like “Kate,” but given this was a spin-off game, it’s likely several fans have never heard this exchange. Here’s the clip of the scene. The name drop happens at the 40-second mark:

Pronunciation debates in Final Fantasy aren’t new, especially pertaining to character and concept names most people read in the early days of the franchise before 2001’s Final Fantasy X gave its characters voices. Even that game still has a raging debate surrounding how to pronounce its protagonist’s name, because you could rename Tidus however you wanted and dialogue was carefully written to never name him out loud. Later spin-off games like the Dissidia franchise and Kingdom Hearts pronounced his name “Tee-dus,” but even Kingdom Hearts II confused the issue by calling him “Tide-us.”

Final Fantasy XVI ran into this as well with protagonist Clive pronouncing series summon mainstay Ifrit like “If-reet,” as opposed to “Eef-rit” in some past iterations. Basically, Final Fantasy fans have been working with inconsistent information on a few fronts, and Cait Sith is just one of a few examples.

While we can debate how to say “Cait Sith” all day, one thing we can all unanimously agree on is that Andrea Rhodea is the best character in the Final Fantasy VII subseries, am I right?

Pre-order Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop

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Lauded for its story, characters, and density of quality fantasy narrative, BioWare’s 2000 RPG Baldur’s Gate II is one of the most celebrated computer games of all time. An adaptation of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, it aspired to digitize the rich experience of playing at a table among friends, dice and character sheets in hand. But while D&D is often a wellspring of inspiration for deep narrative and rich characters, it turns out a certain Japanese RPG’s late ‘90s crew of misfit environmentalist rebels provided the necessary inspiration to take BG2’s characters to the next level.

In a recent interview, James Ohlen, BG2’s director of writing, said that Square’s Final Fantasy VII served as the inspiration for his game’s now-iconic characters. The experience, as he describes it, sounds rather intimidating, but it sparked his competitive nature.

Read More: Let’s Mosey: A Slow Translation of Final Fantasy VII

“I went and played Final Fantasy VII,” Ohlen told Rock Paper Shotgun, “and was like, ‘Oh my good god, these character’s make ours look like a bunch of cardboard cutouts.” Ohlen was encouraged to check out Square’s generation-defining PlayStation exclusive after hearing about it from a producer at Interplay and was immediately blown away by the depth of the characters.

To anyone who’s played the original FFVII, this is probably of no surprise. Despite a lackluster language translation here in the west and dialogue that amounted to little more than short sentences in tiny blue boxes, FFVII’s protagonists are a group of troubled people struggling under the weight of a complicated world history, forced to navigate delicate interpersonal relationships. It may be a story about super soldiers, magic orbs, and a dying planet, but FFVII’s characters often contend with relatable human emotions like regret, loss, and love.

Read More: Sony Deletes Mentions Of Troubled Star Wars: KotOR PS5 Remake, Hides Trailer [Update]

In the same interview, Ohlen recalled his “20,000 hours of dungeon mastering” as an essential foundation of his work in video games. He ran multiple gaming groups while working at a comic shop. “I didn’t really have much of a life outside of Dungeons & Dragons,” he told Rock Paper Shotgun.

The rest of the interview makes for a great read if you’re interested in the inner workings of some classic BioWare titles, which has some anecdotes about how Ohlen “actually totally, entirely ripped off The Empire Strikes Back” when writing the story for Knights of the Old Republic.