Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Tips And Secrets

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With a massive world to explore and countless activities to tackle, let's just say that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will have you playing for hours on end. Still, this hundred-hour-long journey starts with but a single step. Here's our Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth beginner's guide to help you with various exploration and activity tips.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth beginner's guide - Exploration and activities

While there are numerous mechanics and features to consider, we've narrowed down our Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth beginner's guide into 18 tips that truly helped us in the long run. We also encourage you to check our combat guide, which details various concepts whenever you need to face enemy threats.

Change the difficulty options and hide the Chat Log

Things getting too tough? Don't forget that you can switch between three difficulty settings in the Options - Gameplay menu: Easy, Normal, and Dynamic.
Moreover, we suggest hiding the Chat Log, which is further down the list of settings. This removes all the cluttered text when party members and NPCs make remarks as you roam around towns and the wilderness beyond.

Tag those towers and tackle World Intel activities

The Remnawave Towers in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth act just like Assassin's Creed sync points. You climb them and activate a terminal, which then reveals various points-of-interest on the map. These are all part of the World Intel concept, where you undertake various tasks to help out a pal named Chadley.
Apart from rewards, you also turn these landmarks into fast travel points to make exploration a lot more manageable. You can learn more about these mechanics in the following guides:

Look for ledges that you can use to climb or descend

Roaming around and you don't know where to go? Look for ledges with yellowish paint. These allow you to climb higher or descend down pathways. Oftentimes, these lead to treasure chests and items.

Make changes to your party as you see fit

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has seven characters that become full-fledged party members. You can learn more about them in our playable characters guide.
Now, if you do want to switch things up, you can do so by pressing the Start button and checking the Combat Settings menu (not the Party menu). Press the Square button to see your active party's lineup, then swap a character you don't want with someone else that you prefer.
You can also press the Triangle button to designate that person as the party leader. While it doesn't change the "model" of the character that's walking around, it does let you control that character first whenever combat begins instead of having to switch to them manually.
Lastly, note that there might be some restrictions where you're not allowed to change or switch to other party members. This is mostly due to storyline purposes.

Keep increasing your party level

Your party level can be increased as you gain more party XP. The resource itself comes from various activities that you tackle, such as the aforementioned World Intel challenges, various side quests, and even boss kills.

And then unlock better Folio upgrades

The reason why you want to increase your party level is so that you can unlock additional upgrades in the Folio panel. You can access this by talking to Maghnata vendors or by interacting with Maghnata machines. Higher-level perks grant better boons, such as passive buffs, Synergy Abilities, and even new Limit Breaks.

Choose your conversation answers carefully

There are moments in towns and villages when your companions take some much-needed R&R. Approaching them triggers a unique conversation where they open up to Cloud. Your response her determines whether or not your relationship with that companion increases. You can learn more about this crucial feature in our romance options and other relationships guide.

Tackle those side quest objectives

There are over 30 side quests in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, many of which are found on job boards. Some might not become available until you complete a region's main story, while others require further progression in the campaign.
These missions offer several rewards, such as party XP and Folios (skill points). More importantly, they also grant a relationship bonus with the party member who plays an integral role in said quest. You should see a particular companion make an appearance during cutscenes or their portrait will appear in the Quest panel.

Catch Chocobos and use them to find hidden items

These fabulous birds can be caught, allowing you mount them to traverse environments swiftly. Even better, some species also have unique abilities, such as being able to climb walls or spurt out jet streams that allow them to hover in mid-air.
Chocobos also have another function in that they can search for buried treasure. If ever a question mark icon appears over a Chocobo's head, hold the Up button on the D-pad to enable the "Scent" action. Then, rotate the Chocobo so that it's facing the small arrow pip. Continue following the scented trail until you see a glowing marker. When you press Down on the D-pad, the Chocobo will do its "Scour" action to reveal the hidden reward. You can learn about these majestic mounts in our Chocobo locations guide.

Fix Chocobo Stops

Chocobo Stops are blue waiting sheds that have a rundown bench and a fallen signpost. If you're near one, you should spot a Chickobo (baby Chocobo), who'll lead you to the location. Press and hold the Triangle key to fix the signpost, making the shed usable as a fast travel point. Additionally, you can recover HP and MP by resting on the bench, but you also need to use a Cushion item.

Make use of character actions and traversal skills

By default, Cloud just happily runs around while smashing and slashing stuff with his sword. As you progress further, though, you also control your other party members in their respective sections. You get to use their traversal methods and actions, too. For example, Barret can shoot obstacles with his gun-arm, and Yuffie can throw shurikens at containers. Cait Sith, meanwhile, can roll through ventilation ducts, as well as call on his Mog robot to carry and throw heavy objects.

Craft more stuff with the Item Transmuter

The Item Transmuter is a quick-and-easy way to craft all sorts of things, including consumables (i.e. potions and ether), accessories, and upgraded equipment. Each blueprint you obtain requires certain materials that you collect while exploring. Whenever you craft an item for the first time, the device also gains XP. Subsequent level ups then unlock additional blueprints.

Look for discounted items in vending machines

The vending machines you interact with sell all sorts of items, from regular consumables to materia and accessories. Still, there might be instances when certain goodies have a huge discount as signified by yellow text. Make sure you buy these to save up on gil.

Lost weapons and accessories are sold by vendors

Went through a cavern or facility not knowing that you forgot a treasure chest? Well, don't worry about it. Unique rewards, like weapons, won't be lost forever if you didn't obtain them the first time around. In fact, if you check weapon or accessory vendors, you might discover equipment that you missed earlier.

Weaken summons before you battle them

Summons are powerful entities that can completely turn the tide of battle. While a few are available by default, the rest can be unlocked once they're defeated in Chadley's Combat Simulator. These fights, however, are tough.
You can make the challenge a lot more manageable by looking for Guidestones, which are glowing rocks that spawn light orbs when destroyed. These lead you to sanctuaries that have a Summon Crystal, whereupon you need to press the correct button sequence to fully analyze the object.
Each region has three Summon Crystals, which means you can severely weaken a deity for the upcoming bout. Even better, crystal analysis would make these summons stronger once you've obtained their respective materia. To learn about these powerful entities, you can head over to our summon materia guide.

Participate in Queen's Blood matches

Queen's Blood is one of the main draws of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, a minigame that's so engaging that you could lose numerous hours just playing. The mechanics consist of building a proper deck of cards, capturing positions (or flipping them) on the board, and trying to achieve a higher score for each row. Sounds simple on paper, but there are more complex facets which we discuss further in the following guides:

Partake in minigames for even more rewards

Apart from Queen's Blood, there are countless minigames that you can try out. Some involve combat challenges, others require you to race, and there are those that have you tapping the correct buttons.

You can display your collectibles too

Every collectible item you acquire, whether from quest progression, minigames, or key actions, can be displayed eventually. However, you do need to help out Johnny, who currently manages a rundown abode in Costa del Sol. This leads to one of the more expansive side quests, which you can learn about in our Saga of Seaside Inn guide.

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That does it for our Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth beginner's guide. We hope you enjoy exploring a massive world with Cloud and the gang.