Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will arrive in 2024 across two discs

After months of speculation, Square Enix has finally announced that the second part of the Final Fantasy VII remake will be coming in early 2024, with it releasing on PlayStation 5 across two discs.

The details:

• Square Enix released a trailer for FF7 Rebirth as the final announcement at the Summer Game Fest showcase, giving us a look at the world of Gaia outside of Midgar after Cloud and friends escape the city following the events of the first part of the trilogy. The open-world setting will allow the characters to explore a variety of natural and industrial settings, with the party-riding chocobos.
• Yuffie, who was introduced in the Intergrade DLC, as well as the lion-like Red XIII, are all playable alongside Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and Barrett. In terms of gameplay, it appears that little has changed since Part 1, with the same real-time battle system being used, though some of the new abilities appear to be even more flashy than those previously seen.
• The trailer appears to cover the events up to the end of the first disc of the original game, including visiting the village of Kalm, meeting Seto, Red XIII's father, at Cosmo Canyon, and witnessing the events of Nibelheim. The game is being marketed as a "standalone adventure" by the developers, which means that those interested in the sequel will not need to play the 2020 game first. The Turks also make a return, with Elena, the organization's newest member, making her debut.
• Square Enix previously stated that the game would be a PS5 exclusive at launch; however, it has now been revealed that the second entry is large enough to warrant the need for two discs, implying that it will be far larger in scale than FF7 Remake Intergrade. Given that the PS5 uses 100 GB Blu-Ray discs, this could be one of the platform's largest single-player titles when it launches in 2024.

More upcoming games:

• Pikmin 4 will include a character creator, allowing players to customize their protagonist for the first time in the series. Although the creator appears to lack depth, it will undoubtedly make the adventure more personal for the player.
• Multiple credible sources have claimed that rumors of a Final Fantasy IX remake being developed by Square Enix are "real" and that the game will retain the traditional gameplay style, but that it "isn't on the same level as FF7's remake."