Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is shaping up to be an ambitious project that recreates the original game’s various locations, events and characters for the modern era. However, the snowboarding minigame from the original will not be present in Rebirth. Square Enix confirmed this in a recent interview, though didn’t elaborate any further as to why it had to be cut from the upcoming sequel.
Answering Game Informer’s rapid-fire questions recently, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth game director Naoki Hamaguchi revealed that the snowboarding minigame from the original title will not be present in the remake sequel without giving a reason. Perhaps it’s due to development on the game simply not having enough time to implement it, though it’s already a ridiculous tonal shift and detour in the original game.
READ MORE – Final Fantasy XVI Reportedly Coming to Xbox Series X/S
The snowboarding minigame can be encountered in the original game shortly after the Gold Saucer section in the Icicle Inn. In this game, players can choose from one of three obstacle courses and snowboard down a mountain while collecting balloons and avoiding obstructions. As fun as it would be to see Cloud unleash his inner Shaun Palmer again (when he isn’t riding dolphins), it looks like we’ll be missing out on it in Rebirth.
Considering that the ending of Final Fantasy VII Remake left the door open for the story to spin off in any direction it wants now instead of following the original game beat-by-beat, it will be interesting to see which aspects Square Enix will want to deviate from and where it might catch us by surprise.
In related news, last week Square Enix released a bunch of new screenshots for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth as well as a short trailer that highlights Sephiroth as the primary villain of the sequel. Another recent report claims that Final Fantasy XVI will be coming to Xbox Series X/S in addition to PC.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth launches on 29 February 2024 for PS5.
Source: Game Informer
