Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Could Deviate Even Further From The Original Timeline

Final Fantasy VII Remake ended on a big cliffhanger back in 2020, teasing an all-new timeline for Cloud Strife and his party as they fought to change fate. For its upcoming sequel, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a new quote from co-director Motomu Toriyama is hinting at an even bigger divergence from the established story.

“As it says at the end of the game ‘The Unknown Journey Will Continue’, and Cloud and his friends will be on that journey for a while yet,” co-director Motomu Toriyama said in the final chapter of Square Enix’s FF7 Remake blog series. “From here on in the Whispers cannot act to maintain the destined timeline, so fans can look forward to seeing what kind of future awaits the team.”

Toriyama had previously mentioned that parts of future installments of the remake will “differ significantly from the original,” and that he hopes Remake’s Honeybee Inn scene serves as a good example. According to the developer, this scene was a great showcase on how to update and change parts of the original game for modern audiences.

During Remake’s story, players would often encounter phantoms known as Whispers, which would appear every time the plot deviated from the story told in 1997’s Final Fantasy VII. By the end of Remake, Cloud has successfully managed to step beyond the preordained path that fate had in store for him and his party. In a final encounter with Sephiroth at the edge of Creation, the antagonist cryptically mentions defying destiny and exploring a path that does not yet exist.

Some of those changes from Rebirth are massive, and we’ll likely see the ramifications of them in Rebirth. That new direction is also opening up this chapter of Final Fantasy to new players, with creative director Tetsuya Nomura commenting back in 2020 that players don’t need to play Final Fantasy 7 Remake to understand and enjoy Rebirth.

“Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is being designed so that people can enjoy this game whether they know the original game or not,” Nomura explained. In fact, new players might even enjoy starting their Final Fantasy VII journey with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Cloud and his friends embark on a new journey in this game, and I believe that the scenes that they witness after leaving Midgar will give players a fresh, new experience.”

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth doesn’t have a concrete release date yet, but it is aiming to launch in Winter 2023. To see more on the game, you can check out GameSpot’s feature on everything that we know about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth so far.