PAX West 2026 — SQUARE ENIX made their presence known with widely anticipated titles such as Final Fantasy: Resonance, Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, and perhaps most importantly, Final Fantasy VII: Revelation. It’s the final installment of Hamaguchi-san and teams’ epic project to remake the iconic 1997 game.

My colleague, Sofi and I were honored to get an exclusive look at Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, which releases April 8th, 2027 on all modern platforms: PlayStation5, Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series, and PC (Steam, Epic). We were provided a generous portion of time to navigate the Highwind airship, meet Piko, our trusty Chocobo sidekick, and parachute down to any location we pleased.

The graphics and orchestral music stunned from the minute my demo booted up. Then, I settled as Yuffie as Cid introduced the Highwind. The Highwind was massive and highly detailed, serving as the tutorial. I opted to explore the ship, where I met various NPCs who provided tutorials on things such as Queen’s Blood (a battle card minigame), the FITs system, and the MAI Intel system. MAI provides intel related quests throughout your journey, and of course, the more you explore, the more data is provided and shared.

The FITs system is tactical suit wear, new to the Final Fantasy VII trilogy, and it each “FIT” provides additional power and new abilities via one of four specialized roles: Summoner, Black Mage, Knight, and Warrior. The games’ Battle Director, Teruki Endo, spoke at the PAX West panel, “From Reunion to Resolve: Designing the FFVII Remake Trilogy” in depth about the FITs system. He explained that he selected four FITs with intention, focusing on quality over quantity. The Warrior focuses on providing more on strong attacks by providing their own special move, which in turn makes limit breaks easier to use. Knights are your defense and party support FIT. Knights have commands to draw enemy attention and possess an added effect to protect nearby allies. They also have special moves that can deals heavy damage but also supports party. Black Mages provide a more aggressive battle style based on four elements. When casting spells with this FIT, you get a reduced MP cost of that element. Lastly, the Summoner FIT provides access to summon commands. In a summon state, your summons can attack along with your character. This allows lots of coordination with the summons.

After completing the tutorial, I was able to explore one (or several) areas. I was able to navigate the Highwind until I was able to jump, literally anywhere, and freefall until it was time to deploy my parachute. The transition was impressively seamless, and I even had the option to land on Piko! While Sofi chose to explore Yuffie’s homeland of Wutai, I landed in Mideel, which is a lush jungle-like area. I was drawn in by the bright colors, fully immersed in the environment. I was not surprised to see that the Final Fantasy VII trilogy continues to be a feat for the senses, and yet, I was still left speechless. Frankly, I kept finding myself stopping to pan my camera around and soak in the music.

As I explored further, the MAI Intel system went to work. Lots of notifications popped up, indicating various things to take note of. For example, I started a quest called “Her Chocobeau”, where I had to locate a missing, pearl-white Chocobo named Cocona. During this mission, MAI popped up to point out a baby Chocobo, unrelated to the mission, and what would happen if I followed it. There was a lot of information popping up on screen, although that isn’t new for the starting hours of these games, because outside of that Final Fantasy VII: Revelation was not here to hold your hand. I freely explored, truly given the reins to my adventure.

I also obtained the grappling hook in the demo and tested it out in the town area. It was a TON of fun zipping up and down different levels to the point where I felt like Spiderman and completely forgot about my mission. It’s a fun mechanic that I know players will enjoy.

The combat was smooth like butter. I played around with the more action-based combat and even the menu-based approach. The FITs system really added that extra layer of depth to the fights, which was an impressive way to keep players like me engaged after two installments of the game thus far. Cid was a lot of fun. This Dragoon-like fighting style with the lance was effective on airborne enemies. I really took to his fighting style. However, because I spent way too much time exploring, I didn’t spend as much time in combat as I hoped (which is my own fault).

Overall, my almost hour-long demo flew by in what felt like minutes. The added navigation with the Highwind airship, FITs system, and new party members in Cid and Vincent are all ingredients in what I anticipate being an impactful final installment in the remake trilogy. I’m confident on how Final Fantasy VII: Revelation will turn out in April and will be received very positively by players around the world. Moreover, I’m grateful to preview this demo and share my experience!

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Featured Image Credit: SQUARE ENIX