The director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comments that the remake's second part will be much more open in comparison to its first part. Fans haven't received a lot of news from Square Enix regarding the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake, with much of the publisher's focus on its Summer tent pole release, Final Fantasy 16. The latter title is set to release later this month, with Square Enix having done a lot to promote the game. However, as Final Fantasy 16's launch rapidly approaches, Square Enix has also shifted part of its marketing to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's reveal last year stated that the game would be launching within the Winter 2023 season. It wasn't until recently that producer Yoshinori Kitase answered that the developers were looking to hammer out a solid release date for FF7 Rebirth soon. While this comment likely was a big relief to fans, another developer comment indicates that the game will be more open than the previous part.This was posted to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's official Twitter account, with the question regarding how players will be able to journey throughout the world outside Midgar. The game's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, answered that players will be able to explore a "wide and multifaceted world," while also emphasizing that there is a high degree of freedom. Not only that, there will be a "myriad" of different stories to experience along the way.
One of the big criticisms that the first part of the Final Fantasy 7 remake received was how it exclusively land-locked to Midgar. While Final Fantasy 7 Remake expands upon the city of Midgar, it comes at the cost of having the plot of the remake end within the city's walls. Many fans have fond memories of the plot's twists and strengths taking place outside the metropolis and within the much more open world map. While this comment doesn't indicate if the game will be open world, it'll likely assuage fans that the game will provide more to do while exploring outside the city.
Some fans are theorizing how much freedom that could be found in Rebirth. The biggest hope that fans have regarding the second part is that it will introduce the different traversal methods that were present in the original game. This includes the Buggy and Cid's plane, which can help get to iconic FF7 locations like Junon, Mount Corel, and the Gold Saucer. Fans are also theorizing that they'll be getting more concrete news of the game in the very near future, most likely at Summer Game Fest later this month.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is scheduled to launch in Winter 2023 for PS5.
