The ongoing remake series of Square Enix’s seminal 1997 classic, Final Fantasy VII, still has a lot more ground to cover. The first entry, Final Fantasy VII Remake, is set in the smoggy metropolis of Midgar where it stinks of Mako. It expands the first several hours of the original game into an epic 40-hour adventure. So there’s still a whole lot more ground to cover in this world, and after an epic FF7 25th-anniversary stream held in June 2022, we now have a clear picture of the scope and scale of the remaining games! Here’s everything we know about the second entry.

What is the FF7 Remake Part 2 title?

In a January 2022 post celebrating the 25th anniversary of Final Fantasy 7, producer Yoshinori Kitase confirmed Square Enix would reveal Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 sometime this year. Sure enough, he made good on that promise in June 2022 during an anniversary livestream that lifted the curtain on the game.

Among several tidbits of important information, we learned that the second game is called…

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth! Notably, this ditches the “Remake” term entirely, which makes sense for story reasons.

When is the FF7: Rebirth release date?

During the anniversary livestream, the hype trailer confirmed that the game will be released “next winter,” so the potential window is any time between Wednesday, December 21, 2022 and Monday, March 20, 2023. If it helps, it will probably be released on a Friday.

It’s also worth noting that the first remake game was originally supposed to launch in early March of 2020 but was pushed back to April. For all we know, early March is the “next winter” window Square Enix is aiming for right now.

What are the FF7: Rebirth platforms?

Although originally released exclusively on PlayStation 4, FF7 Remake eventually came to PC with the release of Intergrade. The game had a year-long exclusivity window but has yet to appear on any Xbox consoles.

Though unconfirmed, the “next winter” release tease included in the trailer includes the PS5 logo but not the PS4 logo, so this one is likely next-gen only.

Is there a FF7: Rebirth trailer?

Yes! Check it out in all its glory:

The trailer opens on a white feather drifting through the skies near Midgar as the camera focuses on a barren area outside the metropolis. Aerith delivers a convoluted voice over about how the future may be written but can now be changed. (Spoiler: At the conclusion of the first game, the squad kills the arbiters of fate, rendering them free from the original game’s sequence of events.) We get jittery flashes of Meteor striking the planet, Aerith praying, and a flashback to Zack Fair and Cloud.

The bulk of the trailer, however, is a very chill hike between Cloud and Sephiroth in the past outside of Nibelheim that never actually happened.

If we compare FF7 Remake to the story of the first game, then the first thing that should happen in Rebirth is that the core cast of characters travel to Kalm village where Cloud tells them a story about the time he and Sephiroth visited Nibelheim. After they crest over the top of a slope, we see the local Mako reactor in all its planet-killing glory.

What is the FF7: Rebirth story?

Spoilers follow for the original Final Fantasy VII, so skip this section if you don’t want to know more.

FF7 Remake’s credits roll when the party leaves Midgar. In the original title, this is when Final Fantasy VII transitions to an open-world, globe-trotting adventure. The most likely possibility is that the second part of FF7 Remake will end where the original’s first disc concludes: the Forgotten City.

Right after Midgar, the party hunts down the Black Materia — a magic spell capable of destroying life on the planet. Disc 1 culminates with Sephiroth getting the Black Materia and then murdering Aerith at the Forgotten City while she’s praying to cast Holy magic to counteract Meteor.

However, we can’t expect the sequel to mirror FF7’s original story exactly.

In a July 2020 interview, Kitase suggested there will be narrative upheavals ahead: “I’m sure there are people who wish to experience the exact same story and relive memories,” he said. “However, if we were to do that, then all we would be doing is just adding to the original experience, which would cause the Remake to lose its significance.”

Expect future entries to pull heavily from the animated movie Advent Children and other spin-off games like Crisis Core, particularly after Part 1 grappled heavily with these characters defying “Destiny.”

Will FF7: Rebirth have any new features?

Judging from the original saga, players will gain access to a host of new vehicles as Cloud’s journey unfolds. Players will almost definitely get Chocobos, the ridable avians that appear in every Final Fantasy game. There’s also a Buggy car along with the Tiny Bronco airplane that can only fly in shallow water. The player gets full control over an airship at one point, but that probably won’t happen until later entries in the Remake series.

Final Fantasy VII Remake changed up the original’s combat in significant ways, emphasizing combo-driven action and giving all four playable characters their own unique fighting styles. The addition of new party members will also likely mean more combat styles. The ability to synergize attacks from Intergrade could also add an extra level of complexity in the combat of Part 2 and beyond.

Who are the FF7: Rebirth party members?

If this covers the story portions we’re currently expecting, you should meet all of the original party members by the end of FF7: Rebirth. Red XII, who only appears as a “guest character” in FF7 Remake, should join your party right at the beginning of the second entry as a full member.

Yuffie stars in a two-chapter sequence included in the PS5 Intergrade upgrade, and based on that game’s ending, it seems likely that she’ll meet up with the rest of the party very early in Part 2. Beyond that, players should encounter remaining party members Cait Sith, Vincent Valentine, and Cid Highwind in rapid succession. Based on Part 1’s ending it’s even possible Zack could join the party.

Will there be an FF7 Remake Part 3?

Yes! As part of the 25th-anniversary stream, it was confirmed that the remake saga will be comprised of three parts. After Rebirth, there will be a third as-yet-untitled game.

The original Final Fantasy VII was released on three discs, so this feels fitting. The FF7 Remake Part 1 ends when the gang leaves Midgar, which occurs less than halfway through Disc 1. There’s a lot of plot for these two games to get through. Considering the fact that “Remake” has been thrown out the window and this is a literal “Rebirth,” then there’s really no way to know what changes are ahead.

Is Zack alive in FF7 Remake Part 2?

In FF7 Remake’s closing scenes, Zack Fair is revealed to have survived his previously fatal attack. FF7 Remake Ultimania implies that this Zack is one from an alternate timeline, using the alternate representation of Stamp the dog as proof. Zack’s profile in the book refers to him in both present and past tense, further confusing the situation.

Another wrinkle was added to the mix when Square Enix revealed the logo for Final Fantasy 7’s 25th anniversary. The logo prominently features Cloud, Sephiroth, and Zack. There could have been any character featured on the logo, but the fact that it’s Zack seems to suggest that he’ll play a vital role in the story of Final Fantasy 7 going forward.

All that being said, both Cloud and Aerith remember Zack in lines of voiceover in the Rebirth trailer, but what could that mean?

FF7 Remake Part 2 is currently in development.