Square Enix has said that it opted against Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PS4 version because the game is graphically intensive and needs the power of the PS5’s SSD. Rebirth is part 2 of the Final Fantasy 7 trilogy, the first part of which released on the PS4 and came on two discs. News of the second part skipping last gen disappointed some, but in a series of interviews with Japanese publications, series’ executive producer Yoshinori Kitase and Rebirth creative director Tetsuya Nomura have justified their decision to go PS5 exclusive.
Square Enix’s statement on lack of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PS4 version
“It’s exclusive to PlayStation 5 because of the graphical quality, of course, as well as SSD access speed,” the developers said, according to a translation provided by Gematsu. “Since the adventure unfolds in a vast world after the escape from Midgar, loading stress is an extreme bottleneck. We felt we needed the specifications of PlayStation 5 to overcome that and travel the world comfortably.”
Elsewhere, Kitase and Nomura explained why the upcoming installment is called Rebirth. The duo said that “Remake” (part 1’s title) and “Rebirth” have similar meanings in context. “Also, if we called it Remake 2, it might give the impression there will be a 3, 4, 5, and so on… as well as that 2 only exists because of 1,” they added. “This also means that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth can be enjoyed sufficiently on its own.”
Apparently, Square Enix took a long time to announce Rebirth because the developers were still undecided on how many installments they wanted to make. However, the team knew that there would be multiple parts from the start, before setting on a trilogy.
In other news, Western Digital’s PS5 SSD is now officially licensed by Sony, and Sony’s acquisition of Jade Raymond’s Haven Studios is now complete four months after its announcement.
