Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: 10 Tips We Wish We Knew | Beginner’s Guide

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After more than 80 hours of slaying fiends and swapping materia, we’ve finished Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth — and now we have to tell you all about it. Rebirth is exponentially bigger and more complex than the previous game in the remake series, with lots of new features that left us scratching our heads for way too long. If you’re new to the series or a returning playing coming back after a long hiatus and need a refresher, we’ve got 10 beginner tips we wish we knew way, way earlier.

Assess is your most important materia in all of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Equipping this orb gives you the Assess ability, which reveals all of an enemy’s weaknesses and resistances. Even more importantly, it reveals how to Pressure an enemy. Pressure and Stagger are the most important mechanics in the game. Every enemy can be Pressured, which fills a meter under their health bar until they’re put in a Staggered state. When Staggered, enemies and bosses are completely stunned and all attacks deal more damage. Fans of Final Fantasy 7 Remake will know all about these mechanics, but Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth adds a few new wrinkles to combat. 

First, enemy weaknesses are much more complex here. Guessing how to pressure an enemy can be impossible in this game, and boss mechanics can be even more confusing. Always have a character equipped with the Assess Materia and Assess every single enemy, especially bosses. Assess is also important when exploring the field. You’ll want to use Assess on as many enemies in each region as you can. The more enemies you use Assess on, the more bonus battles will unlock in Chadley’s Combat Simulator. The Combat Simulator has unique Materia you can unlock early, so you’ll want to finish these extra battles as soon as they unlock.

A totally new mechanic in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are Synergy Abilities and Synergy Skills. As you level up your characters will earn SP. You’ll be able to spend SP at book stores and book vending machines. These allow you to customize your