Following concerns about visuals in the first demo for the upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Square Enix has announced an update addressing these issues.
Scheduled for February 21, the incoming update will improve image quality specifically in the game’s Performance Mode, both in the demo and for its full release on February 29.
While generally praised for its length (and letting players take control of Sephiroth), many of the game’s fans had expressed disappointment with the drop in the visual clarity if compared to playing the game in Performance Mode, which prioritizes a smooth 60 FPS gameplay over the sharper 4K resolution of Graphics Mode. The inconsistency became even more glaring for some players who described seeing “PS3-era-like” graphics in their gameplay.
The update to the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo scheduled for February 21st will apply improvements to the visual quality when selecting “Performance Mode” from the graphics options.
The same improvements will also be applied to the full game. #FF7R pic.twitter.com/Yt92XVuHF0
— FINAL FANTASY VII (@finalfantasyvii) February 14, 2024
With only weeks to go before the highly anticipated release of FF7 Rebirth on PS5, Square Enix is listening to the feedback and taking action. The upcoming update aims to bridge the gap between the two modes, offering improved visual fidelity while maintaining the desired frame rate in Performance Mode.
Square Enix is one of the few video game developers who continue to use demos as a way to gather feedback and apply the necessary changes ahead of a game’s release.
Just last year, the developers released updates for Forspoken and Final Fantasy 16 ahead of their respective launches based on the response to their demos.
What makes FF7 Rebirth unique, however, is that Square Enix is releasing two demos. The hour-long pair of demos reinforce the developer’s claims that FF7 Rebirth is a massive game with over a hundred hours worth of content that very nearly required three discs – FF7 Rebirth joins Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition as the only two-disc games on the market so far.
With that said, this promise should only make fans even more excited for the next FF7 Rebirth demo. The first demo “Fall of a Hero in Nibelheim” has otherwise been well-received. As previously mentioned, the demo lets players control the game’s antagonist, Sephiroth, alongside the lead character, Cloud. The game’s opening chapter offers unique perspectives on the pivotal tragic events in Nilbelheim years before the events of the start of Final Fantasy 7.
Throughout FF7 Rebirth’s development, Square Enix has been transparent about the game’s details like new characters, locations, and gameplay features. This includes areas not present in the original, innovative mechanics like a Witcher 3-inspired card game and an advanced fast travel system.
As part of the ongoing FF7 Remake Trilogy, it’ll be interesting to see how much more Square Enix can improve the graphics of the next game after FF7 Rebirth. The untitled threequel is currently in development using the same heavily modified version of Unreal Engine 4 used in FF7 Remake and FF7 Rebirth.
