Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Image: Square Enix

As we get closer to June, Square Enix is gearing up for the release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on the Switch 2.

Previews, which were limited to handheld mode, have now gone live alongside the demo release. Here are our first impressions:

"The Remake trilogy remains in safe hands on the hybrid console, and as long as those larger areas hold up, it should still be a perfectly pleasant way to experience the trio for the first time. Like Remake, there are some cutbacks here, but nothing remotely drastic enough to affect the overall experience. Let's just hope that the open world doesn't prove too taxing in the long run."

And here's what other sites had to say about this upcoming release:

RPGFan: "I didn’t get too much time with the Switch 2 version of Rebirth, but playing in handheld mode showed me that it is truly enjoyable in this iteration. I played the first section in Kalm and noticed a few things about the Switch 2 version of the game. First off, the frame rate was steady in handheld mode, both in and out of combat. I didn’t notice any dips. If I had to guess, it was running at a steady 30 FPS, at least. Load times were quick and snappy for cutscenes and when initiating Queen’s Blood with the opponents around the town. It looked great as well, probably on par with how Final Fantasy Remake looked on the PlayStation 4, and in docked mode, I can only assume it looks better with the higher resolution. Overall, the game plays great on the Switch 2."

Temple of Geek: "After spending about 30 to 45 minutes with the game in handheld mode, the clearest takeaway is this: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth works on Switch 2. That does not mean it is the most visually impressive version of the game. During my hands-on time, I noticed some texture pop-in, especially in denser environments. Some areas looked like they were clearly making concessions for the hardware. However, the more important part is that the game felt playable where it needed to. Combat was smooth, inputs felt responsive, and the open-areas I played maintained the core rhythm of Rebirth’s exploration and action."

But Why Tho?: "Final Fantasy VII Rebirth runs very smoothly on Switch 2, but it doesn’t always look its absolute best. Again, my time in the game was spent with handheld mode, where the very occasional texture looked a little rough, but the most glaring issue was with hair, which often took on a fuzzy look. This has been explained in the past as an issue attributed to the Switch 2’s handheld resolution and the game’s temporal anti-aliasing. It’s honestly nothing that should detract from the experience, but it’s definitely worth knowing about going in."

Indy100: "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."

RPG Site: "Switch 2 actually holds up rather well. I did notice some slight hitching in towns, but the game feels like it mostly hits that 30 FPS target where it counts. Crucially, the game's input latency is practically negligible despite its 30 FPS target... In terms of visuals, thigs are similar. The game of course is using DLSS to output to a higher resolution, and the game unsurprisingly doesn't look quite as sharp as Remake on Switch 2 - but it still holds up remarkably well in handheld mode compared to PC gaming handhelds."

Have you tried out this demo? Will you be getting the full game when it arrives on Switch 2 this June? Tell us in the comments.