Hey there, my tech-loving followers! It’s your funny guy Nuked here with some exciting news about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Now, if you’ve spent countless hours immersed in Final Fantasy VII Remake, I hate to break it to you, but that progress won’t carry over to the upcoming game.

During an interview on the PlayStation Blog, game director Naoki Hamaguchi confirmed that you won’t be able to port your Remake save or character builds into Rebirth. Why? Well, because each game in the Final Fantasy VII remake project is a standalone game with its own balancing and mechanics.

But fear not, my friends! Square Enix has thought of something special for those of you who played the previous game. According to their website, if you have save data from Remake on your PS5, you’ll receive summon materia bonuses in Rebirth. Leviathan awaits you if you have PS4 or PS5 save data, while Ramuh comes knocking if you’ve played Remake’s DLC expansion, Episode Intermission.

Now, let’s dive into some other interesting details revealed in the PlayStation Blog post. Get ready for new materia that weren’t included in the first game. Plus, guess who’s playable? Red XIII! And he brings along a new “revenge gauge” mechanic to spice up the battles.

But what about Vincent Valentine? Well, while we catch a glimpse of this mysterious character in Rebirth’s new trailer, it’s not explicitly stated whether we’ll be able to control him directly in battle. The creative director, Tetsuya Nomura, teases that there will be accompanying members who will eventually become official party members in the next title.

And get this – there will be a “huge number” of mini-games! I have a feeling the Gold Saucer will be an absolute blast. As for the storyline, it seems like Rebirth will take us right up to that heartbreaking moment from the original PS1 version of Final Fantasy VII (**spoiler warning… from 1997**), where Aerith meets her tragic fate at the hands of Sephiroth.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is set to release on February 29th, 2024 (yes, that’s Leap Day!). And guess what? You can already check out the new trailer for it. With Rebirth being the second game in a trilogy, I can’t help but wonder what they’ll call the third game. Any guesses?

Leave your thoughts and speculations down in the comments!