I've played Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2 - it's very impressive but not yet perfect

Getting huge games to run on the Nintendo Switch 2 is no mean feat and studios have attempted it with varying degrees of success.

Having played a number of them, there are some genuinely superb ports and others that leave quite a bit to be desired.

I genuinely believe specifically in terms of a Switch 2 port, Square Enix has the best out there right now with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade.

So, can Square Enix follow it up with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth?

Having been hands-on with an early build for around 30 minutes or so, it definitely has the potential to stand up to be as good and perhaps even surpass it as getting a game this big running on the hardware at all is hugely commendable.

However it's not yet perfect.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2 character models have a slight improvement on the ones found in Remake on the same console / Square Enix

In the 30 minutes I had with the game in handheld mode, I started a new game to see what the opening cinematics and first battles were like and then loaded up a save that started when you can fully explore Kalm. These were the two options that were available during this preview.

Off the bat, it seems Rebirth has the same specs as Remake on Switch 2 in terms of performance - handheld seemingly runs at 720p upscaled to 1080p at 30fps.

Detailing across both games look very similar and the character models do actually look slightly better on the whole in Rebirth than you see in Remake.

Again, the build I played is an earlier version than the final one that will be released at launch, but I did encounter some slight stuttering in some of the early cutscenes but in the early battles, I didn't encounter any noticeable issues.

Although I played an early build of Rebirth, I encountered more issues in 30 minutes than I have during my whole time with Remake / Square Enix

I then loaded up the early save where I could freely roam Kalm, playing the first games of Queen's Blood and chatting to companions.

Before I could even get into playing Kalm though, I did experience a crash, something which I hadn't found at all when playing Remake on Switch 2. Again, it's important to note this is not the final build of Rebirth.

During a cutscene, I encountered a black screen between scenes and I didn't even have the option to skip it. The next scene just didn't load and I had to quit the game completely and restart it. On the second time attempt, it loaded without any issues and I could dive into the gameplay.

I did notice some pop-ins around Kalm and with hair being a texture issue Switch 2 ports are renowned for, this did make Red XIII look quite foggy.

But generally, exploring Kalm, playing Queen's Blood and taking in the scenery, you can expect similar levels of performance to Remake here aside from the examples above.

Although when approaching Aerith at the top of the tower, I also kept having to run back and forth for the cutscene to load properly. At first, I thought it was something I was not doing properly and was missing, but the scene didn't load when it should have.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2 could be the console's best port yet - if Square Enix polishes it to the standard we know it can / Square Enix

So far, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2 has shown me glimpses of what it can do.

When it runs as it should, the game looks great, performance is largely stable and it's genuinely mightily impressive a game of this size and scope runs on the console at all.

I have experienced more hiccups playing this early build for 30 minutes than I did in the whole time I've played Remake on the console and I'll reserve full judgment until playing the more expansive open world sections as well as the more dense areas of Kalm.

But if Square Enix can iron out those kinks and polish Rebirth's Switch 2 port, then it has the potential to overtake Remake as the console's best port yet.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is the best Nintendo Switch 2 port yet - here's why
• Final Fantasy 9 Remake update from insider on 25th anniversary - and it's not good

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