Hands On: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Brings Superb Action and a Massive Open World

pcmag.com:

Square Enix is touring its highly anticipated RPG, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, to let the world sample what was demoed at Tokyo Game Show a few weeks ago. Its most recent stop brought it to New York City during New York Comic Con. Behind closed doors, Square Enix invited select media to give the upcoming action-RPG a spin. Our early impressions are incredibly promising, as Rebirth builds upon Final Fantasy VII Remake's excellent foundation by widening the game's scope and combat options. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is shaping up to be a monstrously large PlayStation 5 game, and one we can’t wait to play when it launches on February 29, 2024.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake was set entirely in Midgar, a sci-fi metropolis fueled by the planet’s literal lifeblood. Shinra, a corrupt megacorporation, owned the city and influenced every aspect of Midgar life. Cloud and his ragtag party of eco-terrorists explored Midgar’s affluent upper city, as well as its tragically impoverished slums, on a mission to dethrone the corporate overlords. Due to its Midgar focus, Final Fantasy VII Remake had linear story beats.

With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Cloud and company venture beyond Midgar and into a wide, open world that's packed with optional activities to enjoy as you journey to your next objective. This includes monster hunts, side quests, hidden secrets, and simple resource collecting and crafting. For context, Remake also had optional elements, but they often required a trip to a particular NPC or VR simulation to initiate.

The Rebirth demo I played mainly focused on exploration outside of Junon City. It featured four optional monster hunts, a quest-giving NPC, treasure to find via your loot-sniffing Chocobo, and innumerable materials