Highlights

  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will introduce a new feature called the "chocoboutique" to chocobo ranches, allowing players to customize their chocobos' equipment
  • The new customization options, such as bardings, saddles, caps, and feather colors, will impact the chocobos' performance in races at the Gold Saucer.
  • Initial reactions to the chocoboutique have been positive, and along with features like the new dynamic difficulty mode, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth aims to surpass its predecessor in various ways.

Fans of chocobos got some good news from Square Enix, as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth revealed that a new feature called the "chocoboutique" would be added to chocobo ranches throughout the game. This new feature coming to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will add some new layers of customization to the feathered steeds that were not in the original Final Fantasy 7.

As one of the eponymous mascots of the Final Fantasy series alongside moogles and cactuars, the chocobo has been a mainstay since its debut in Final Fantasy 2. While most chocobos across the Final Fantasy series are used as land-based mounts or as faithful feathered companions in combat, some of these ostrich-like birds have taken flight in order to achieve bonus objectives. In the original Final Fantasy 7, chocobo breeding and chocobo racing were two of the game's major side features that players took part in at various points in the game. However, completionists who wanted to collect every materia, including the Knights of the Round summon materia, would spend plenty of time dealing with those features in order to access the fabled gold chocobo.

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But come February 29, chocobo enthusiasts will soon have another form of gameplay to look forward to. On social media, the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth development team shared a picture of a dark-feathered chocobo wearing some unique barding and a cap as part of the chocoboutique feature. As chocobo taming and treasure hunting were confirmed for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth in previous posts, the new boutique will add a new layer of customization for players to interact with. It remains to be seen how chocobo bardings, saddles, caps, and feather colors will be obtained in FF7 Rebirth, and how many options there will be to pick from.

While other games in the series such as Final Fantasy 14 have allowed players to choose and customize various chocobo bardings, saddles, armor, and feather colors in the past, they were purely for cosmetic effect and for posterity. As for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's take on chocobo customization, Square Enix stated that a chocobo's gear sets will affect how the bird performs at the chocobo races in the Gold Saucer. Only time will tell what that will entail.

On social media, initial reactions to the new chocobo boutique have been positive. Between the chocoboutique and the new dynamic difficulty mode that will add a new flavor to combat, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth looks to top its predecessor in various ways.