A sensational return to FF\u2019s open-world roots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chocoboing around.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/ff\/news\/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-preview-a-sensational-return-to-ffs-open-world-roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth preview: A sensational return to FF\u2019s open-world roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chocoboing around.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/ff\/news\/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-preview-a-sensational-return-to-ffs-open-world-roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" 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In 2015, Adam graduated from the University of Aberystwyth with a bachelor's in Media and Communications. Working in the industry for over ten years. If it has anything to do with Nintendo and Pok\u00e9mon chances are you will see me talking about it, covering, and likely not sleeping while playing it.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/MonkeyKingHero"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/adam-newell"}]}},"raw_content":"At a recent preview event on Jan. 24 hosted by Square Enix, I got to sit down with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to experience the first three to four hours of the game. I went into the preview not expecting much. For the most part, I completely ignored the trailers as I wanted to experience the world for myself, and it was probably the best decision I\u2019ve ever made. My short time with FF7 Rebirth rekindled a burning nostalgia inside me for the older Final Fantasy games of my youth that I simply didn\u2019t get playing the first part of the remake trilogy. In Final Fantasy 7: Remake, the adventure wasn\u2019t an open-world experience; it was very linear, with most of the action locked to a single path. But in FF7 Rebirth, things are very different. You might say it\u2019s a brave new open world. Pick a direction and start walkin\u2019! There\u2019s something magical about seeing the FF7 remake trilogy evolve into what it is now. As someone who played lots of NES, SNES, and PS1 Final Fantasy games, I\u2019m used to traveling from place to place using an overhead map without much detail aside from the usual trees and towns. So, the idea of FF7 having a sprawling, expansive, open world that gives you almost total freedom was a sheer delight I was keen to take advantage of. I spent most of my time during the FF7 Rebirth preview session immersed in its world. Within it, we were given free rein to explore at our own leisure. While most attendees were keen to rush through the main story to unlock a faster means of travel (a Chocobo), I opted for a more relaxing approach, taking the time to savor the marvelous world Square Enix created. And I\u2019m so glad I did. Upon searching the furthest corners of the map, I came across a slew of treasures, including points of interest housing precious valuables waiting to be found, and interesting world details off the beaten path. It's nice to see the game not only rewarding you for going where your heart desires but actively encouraging you to search for side quests and other content between missions. You\u2019ll also come across small settlements and villages that don\u2019t even appear on the map. In fact, for the most part, the map you\u2019re given at the beginning is completely useless at telling you what\u2019s in the vicinity. It's only by exploring and uncovering undiscovered areas you start to understand what you\u2019re in for. Wait... it\u2019s an open world!? The more I experienced the open world in FF7: Rebirth, the more I realized this is the first Final Fantasy game in a long time to give you such a vast open world to explore\u2014at least at the very beginning. If I\u2019m not mistaken, the last Final Fantasy game with a true open world was FFXV, released in 2016\u2014eight years ago. FF7 Remake was frustratingly linear, and while Final Fantasy 16 had a few \u201copen\u201d areas, they don\u2019t hold a candle to FF7: Rebirth, and were mostly just towns without much to explore. Not to mention the titles that came before, like FF13, which were completely linear and soulless. Having this enormous open area to explore, with feathered Chocobo friends you unlock early in the main story to speed things up, was quite a treat. In fact, after getting a Chocobo, I took it upon myself to simply run around and re-experience those nostalgic feelings for older Final Fantasy games, albeit with a far more expansive world to explore instead of the classic top-down perspective. It was through my exploration of the world that I finally felt like I was not only returning to Final Fantasy roots but something beyond that. If Rebirth has an entire map to explore, places to see, and secrets to discover, I\u2019ll probably hit max level just by doing side quests before I even make it through half the story.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image_fcfd63.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/916"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1118636"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1123505,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118636\/revisions\/1123505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1118661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1118636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1118636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

A sensational return to FF\u2019s open-world roots<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Chocoboing around.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/ff\/news\/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-preview-a-sensational-return-to-ffs-open-world-roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth preview: A sensational return to FF\u2019s open-world roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chocoboing around.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/ff\/news\/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-preview-a-sensational-return-to-ffs-open-world-roots\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dot Esports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DOTesports\/\" 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In 2015, Adam graduated from the University of Aberystwyth with a bachelor's in Media and Communications. Working in the industry for over ten years. If it has anything to do with Nintendo and Pok\u00e9mon chances are you will see me talking about it, covering, and likely not sleeping while playing it.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/MonkeyKingHero"],"url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/author\/adam-newell"}]}},"raw_content":"At a recent preview event on Jan. 24 hosted by Square Enix, I got to sit down with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to experience the first three to four hours of the game. I went into the preview not expecting much. For the most part, I completely ignored the trailers as I wanted to experience the world for myself, and it was probably the best decision I\u2019ve ever made. My short time with FF7 Rebirth rekindled a burning nostalgia inside me for the older Final Fantasy games of my youth that I simply didn\u2019t get playing the first part of the remake trilogy. In Final Fantasy 7: Remake, the adventure wasn\u2019t an open-world experience; it was very linear, with most of the action locked to a single path. But in FF7 Rebirth, things are very different. You might say it\u2019s a brave new open world. Pick a direction and start walkin\u2019! There\u2019s something magical about seeing the FF7 remake trilogy evolve into what it is now. As someone who played lots of NES, SNES, and PS1 Final Fantasy games, I\u2019m used to traveling from place to place using an overhead map without much detail aside from the usual trees and towns. So, the idea of FF7 having a sprawling, expansive, open world that gives you almost total freedom was a sheer delight I was keen to take advantage of. I spent most of my time during the FF7 Rebirth preview session immersed in its world. Within it, we were given free rein to explore at our own leisure. While most attendees were keen to rush through the main story to unlock a faster means of travel (a Chocobo), I opted for a more relaxing approach, taking the time to savor the marvelous world Square Enix created. And I\u2019m so glad I did. Upon searching the furthest corners of the map, I came across a slew of treasures, including points of interest housing precious valuables waiting to be found, and interesting world details off the beaten path. It's nice to see the game not only rewarding you for going where your heart desires but actively encouraging you to search for side quests and other content between missions. You\u2019ll also come across small settlements and villages that don\u2019t even appear on the map. In fact, for the most part, the map you\u2019re given at the beginning is completely useless at telling you what\u2019s in the vicinity. It's only by exploring and uncovering undiscovered areas you start to understand what you\u2019re in for. Wait... it\u2019s an open world!? The more I experienced the open world in FF7: Rebirth, the more I realized this is the first Final Fantasy game in a long time to give you such a vast open world to explore\u2014at least at the very beginning. If I\u2019m not mistaken, the last Final Fantasy game with a true open world was FFXV, released in 2016\u2014eight years ago. FF7 Remake was frustratingly linear, and while Final Fantasy 16 had a few \u201copen\u201d areas, they don\u2019t hold a candle to FF7: Rebirth, and were mostly just towns without much to explore. Not to mention the titles that came before, like FF13, which were completely linear and soulless. Having this enormous open area to explore, with feathered Chocobo friends you unlock early in the main story to speed things up, was quite a treat. In fact, after getting a Chocobo, I took it upon myself to simply run around and re-experience those nostalgic feelings for older Final Fantasy games, albeit with a far more expansive world to explore instead of the classic top-down perspective. It was through my exploration of the world that I finally felt like I was not only returning to Final Fantasy roots but something beyond that. If Rebirth has an entire map to explore, places to see, and secrets to discover, I\u2019ll probably hit max level just by doing side quests before I even make it through half the story.","apple_news_notices":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/image_fcfd63.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/916"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1118636"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1123505,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118636\/revisions\/1123505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1118661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1118636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"invoiceable_action","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/invoiceable_action?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"internal-label","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-label?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=1118636"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1118636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Rokurou

{"id":1118636,"date":"2024-02-06T19:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-07T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/?p=1118636"},"modified":"2024-02-06T19:02:27","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T00:02:27","slug":"final-fantasy-7-rebirth-preview-a-sensational-return-to-ffs-open-world-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/ff\/news\/final-fantasy-7-rebirth-preview-a-sensational-return-to-ffs-open-world-roots","title":{"rendered":"Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth preview: A sensational return to FF\u2019s open-world roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a recent preview event on Jan. 24 hosted by Square Enix, I got to sit down with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth<\/em> to experience the first three to four hours of the game.<\/p>

I went into the preview not expecting much. For the most part, I completely ignored the trailers as I wanted to experience the world for myself, and it was probably the best decision I\u2019ve ever made. My short time with FF7 Rebirth<\/em> rekindled a burning nostalgia inside me for the older Final Fantasy<\/a><\/em> games of my youth that I simply didn\u2019t get playing the first part of the remake trilogy.<\/p>

In Final Fantasy 7: Remake<\/em>, the adventure wasn\u2019t an open-world experience; it was very linear, with most of the action locked to a single path. But in FF7 Rebirth<\/em>, things are very different. You might say it\u2019s a brave new open world.<\/p>