A fan has compared the recently launched Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo with cutscenes from the original game to show what has changed since players last explored the doomed town of Nibelheim. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth isn’t set to launch in full until the end of February, but eager fans can experience part of this next chapter ahead of time thanks to a playable demo released following last week’s State of Play livestream. Said demo features one of the most important sequences in the sprawling Final Fantasy 7 lore: Cloud Strife’s flashback to the fateful mission in his hometown of Nibelheim.

What begins as a simple investigation of some monster sightings near one of Shinra’s Mako reactors soon takes a tragic turn as Sephiroth, once considered to be the greatest hero Midgar had ever known, discovers his true nature as the “son” of the dreaded beast Jenova and embarks on a new mission to destroy the Planet - starting with Nibelheim itself. The image of Sephiroth standing amid the flames of the ruined town remains one of the most iconic scenes in the Final Fantasy series, and it and the events leading up to it have been depicted in multiple Final Fantasy 7 spin-off projects over the years.

Now it is time for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to tell its own version of the Nibelheim incident, and a YouTuber by the handle of Final FanTV recently posted a video comparing the demo to the original Final Fantasy 7. It begins with Cloud and Sephiroth’s ride to Nibelheim and continues through most of the flashback sequence, showing a young Tifa guiding SOLIDER to the Mako reactor on the outskirts of town, Cloud and Sephiroth discussing the nature of Materia, and finally, Sephiroth discovering his twisted origin and embracing the path of villainy that would lead to him threatening the Planet in the present day.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Nibelheim Flashback Updates The Original


Throughout Final FanTV’s video, viewers can see the corresponding moments from the original Final Fantasy 7 in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. This gives fans a good look at how gaming technology has evolved since Final Fantasy 7’s initial PS1 release in 1997, with the FF7 Rebirth demo adding shifting camera angles and fully voiced dialogue to the ongoing drama. Much of this dialogue is changed somewhat from the translated text of the original game, but the overall events play out pretty much the same across both versions, give or take a few rearranged passages.



The developers behind Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have stated that certain events and character fates might be changed from the original Final Fantasy 7, especially following the timeline-altering ending of 2020’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake. However, it looks like the Nibelheim sequence, a pivotal moment in the lives of Cloud, Tifa, and Sephiroth, is more or less the same as it was in the old FF7 and its various retellings - albeit with a few changes here and there. Fans can play through Cloud’s flashback in the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo, before seeing its ramifications in full when the game launches on February 29.

Posted: Feb 16, 2024 1:33 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://gamerant.com/ff7-rebirth-nibelheim-changes-demo-comparison-video-final-fantasy/