Cloud and Party hit the world map at the beginning of FF7 Rebirth. As such, you’re likely wondering if it’s an open-world game or a linear experience like FF7 Remake. Unfortunately, this isn’t a simple yes or no question because of how Rebirth’s progression works. Instead, you’ll find it’s a bit of both, depending on how far along you are.
Is FF7 Rebirth linear or open-world?
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is made up of both open-world and linear sections. When the game begins, it’s linear since you have to head to Kalm and play through the Nibelheim flashback to proceed. Afterward, the world opens up, and you can explore the Grasslands at your leisure until you complete enough main story quests to head to the Mythril Mine.
Once you enter the mine, the game is once again linear until you find your way to the Junon Region on the other side. At this point, the game opens back up. You can explore the area surrounding Junon until you complete enough main quests to enter Upper Junon, at which point the focus narrows again, and you have to follow a particular path.
As you play through FF7 Rebirth, you can expect this ebb and flow. As a rule, main story content tends to be linear, but side content isn’t. For example, even if you activate a side quest, you can usually leave and go about your business between objectives and return to finish things up later.
The caveat is that you’re limited to one or two regions at a time for most of the game. It only truly opens up and allows you to fast travel between all of them relatively late in the story. Fortunately, side content remains accessible indefinitely, so if you forget to finish something up, you’ll get the chance to later on.
