Recently, Naoki Hamaguchi, director of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, revealed details about the game's world design. The title will feature a complete planet-scale open world for exploration and will be available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2.
The trilogy's exploration experience follows a progressive design philosophy: Remake focuses on a linear narrative, while Rebirth expands the horizontal breadth of the open world. Rebirth further builds upon this expansive map by emphasizing vertical exploration through elevation changes. Players can utilize the classic airship, the Highwind, and high-performance Chocobos to travel to every corner of the planet, truly achieving free roaming across the entire world. Many areas from Rebirth will reappear, offering fresh gameplay experiences through terrain modifications.
For the airship, the development team designed skydiving as a core mechanic. Since the game features a high-fidelity seamless open world, it is difficult to pre-plan numerous suitable landing spots for the massive airship across the entire map. Therefore, players can jump directly from the airship and use a parachute to seamlessly descend from high altitudes to the ground, enabling a smooth transition from sky to surface without black screens. Previously visited locations can later be accessed via fast travel back to the airship, eliminating the need to repeat the skydiving process. Chocobos also support high-altitude jumps and gliding, complementing the parachute to enrich three-dimensional movement options.
Naoki Hamaguchi also mentioned that although Final Fantasy VII Rebirth features an unprecedentedly vast map, the team will implement moderate guidance to prevent players from experiencing open-world navigation fatigue, balancing freedom with gameplay experience.