An hour of hands-on time with Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is enough to convince us that Square Enix has stuffed in a frankly ridiculous amount of stuff to do.13:00, 10 Sep 2026Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is a highly ambitious JRPG trilogy ender that proves Square Enix is pulling out all the stops to make this the largest, most refined part yet.‌Square Enix is nothing if not efficient. That’s the primary thought I had when sitting down to play an hour-long preview of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation at Gamescom 2026 as I gawped at the sheer vastness of the various open worlds laid out before me. What began as a quaint, linear adventure through Midgar in 2020’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake has since swelled into what is easily the most ambitious JRPG I’ve ever played in terms of scope - and I’ve not even played the full game yet.‌But if Remake was mostly guided and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth saw Cloud and the gang’s adventure go open-world, Revelation sees the concluding part of this trilogy go what I would call full ‘open-air’, gifting players with their own flying ship in the High Wind that lets you travel to and from locations with an incredible amount of ease. As a result, even after brief hands-on time, it’s no longer a question about whether Revelation will land this literal plane, but rather how spectacularly it’ll do it.‌Picking up at the start of what I was told is Chapter 4, I had a couple of locations I could visit and explore as part of my demo. The likes of Junon and Cosmo Canyon were both tempting, of course, but given their previous appearances in Rebirth already I chose to exclusively focus on the new.For the most part that meant dropping down into a location called the Mideel Archipelago, being a totally fresh area that would allow me to soak in some of Revelation’s never-before-seen sights in a sun-drenched setting that’s heavily jungle infused. Much like Rebirth’s abundance of zones, Mideel’s map is populated with so many activities to engage in, absolutely spilling with things to scan, photograph, fight, uncover.‌In fact, in a sequel not called Final Fantasy 7, I’d go so far as to say that Mideel Archipelago’s map would be large and varied enough to make up the entirety of another AAA release. Helping to somewhat ground me in this scale, however, is the same familiar mix of real-time and tactical turn-based battles that Square Enix’s remake trilogy has all but perfected by this point - albeit with a few more tweaks. Switching to and commanding different characters on the fly continues to be a joy, especially now that the likes of Cid, the High Wind’s charismatic captain, and Vincent Valentine himself have been added to Revelation as full-fledged, playable party members.The two work seamlessly well with other returning members such as Yuffie, Barret, and Cait Sith, bringing just a touch new to what’s possible in combat. Vincent was the one I was most curious about, and I’m pleased to say that thanks to his dual pistol setup that makes him ideal for blasting away at fast and far-off enemies coupled with his ability to temporarily transform into his Galian beast form, he plays like a version of Red 13 and Barrett combined.Cid, by comparison, didn’t appear to me to be as much of a, well, revelation, but his lance weapon is certainly nothing to slouch at when taking on gaggles of enemies out in open zones as it allows him to attack with great reach.‌Fly like the windObviously, outside of the new locations begging to be explored and the newly added party members, the main new addition to Relevation is the High Wind itself. More so than just a mode of transport, though, it promises to be your hub base of sorts, full of areas to poke around in, catch up with familiar characters, and somewhere to potentially engage in a few games of Queens Blood.Rebirth, for all its successes, really lacked this sense of a home given that the story was all about moving through new lands with unprecedented momentum. The High Wind now easily solves that issue. While I didn’t get the chance to explore every nook and cranny of its rooms, I saw enough to know that it’ll be extremely substantial in size, serving as the team’s base of operations in the pursuit to defeat Sephiroth once and for all.Better yet, just as cool as the High Wind itself is the newfound sense of freedom it allows for. Because after selecting your preferred party of three - Vincent, Yuffie, and Barret, in my case - it makes it possible so that you can parachute and drop down into absolutely any part of the region you're flying above. This was exactly the case for Mideel Archipelago and the later mountainous location of Wutai I got to explore a taste of, where diving off the High Wind’s edge, barrelling down through the air, popping the chute, and then landing on your awaiting chocobo always feels like an event.‌I do wonder how Square Enix rendering locations so open and able to be approached from every angle in the sky will affect progression. Because after all, why would I want to reach an area on foot or via chocobo gliding if I could just land where I please as I wanted? It seems like a big issue on the surface, yet it’s one I can already guarantee the studio has smartly solved.I may have played an hour of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, testing out most of the High Wind’s exploration opportunities and learning of Cid and Vincent’s different fighting styles, but already I know I’ve barely seen anything that this third and final part of the Remake trilogy will have to offer.Article continues belowIt seems to be the open-world Final Fantasy game to end them all, taking the concluding events up into the air while retaining the same attention-to-detail and melodramatic yet charming brand of storytelling that has made Remake and Rebirth so beloved. Not to mention I have no idea how this thing is going to look and run on Nintendo Switch 2.Regardless of what platform you play it on, however, Revelation appears to be staying true to the PS1 original’s epic events while leaving absolutely nothing on the table by way of modern JRPG game design.Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is set to launch on PS5, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 8, 2027 .