Here's How New Game Plus Works In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a great game – you can read Game Informer's review here to find out why we liked it so much. However, it's massive. Taking place over multiple continents on the Planet (or Gaia as it was retroacively called) with various party members, a bunch of open-world areas, and lots of side activities and minigames to partake in, you're going to be playing this game for at least 50 to 60 hours before you roll credits (I reached the ending at 80 hours). 

When you've seen the story through, you might not be ready to hang up the ole' Buster Sword. Fortunately, Rebirth has New Game Plus. Well, kinda – it's complicated. 

Here's How New Game Plus Works In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

After you beat the game, you'll be prompted to make a save file (heads up, you can only make 10). This will be your completed run save file and it will be marked forever with a teal tag that says Chapter Selection when viewing the file. We won't show it here because it would spoil some details about the final chapter. 

This will be your New Game Plus file, as it were, moving forward. At this point, you won't be able to explore or do anything with this file. It will keep you on the main start screen of the game that shows your party and various menu options like Item Transmuter, Materia & Equipment, Combat Settings, and so on. To actually partake in New Game Plus-like activities, you need to go down to Settings, then Chapter Selection. 

You'll receive the following prompt the first time you do it: 

Replaying a portion of the game via Chapter Selection will return you to the start of the chosen chapter. Your current characters' levels, weapons, materia, and relationship status will carry over.  You can also choose how to carry over your quest data. Note that any odd jobs you have yet to complete will automatically reset.  When you select a chapter, you will be given the option to play it on Hard difficulty. Be warned that you cannot change this setting once you begin the chapter.

This is essentially how New Game Plus works in Rebirth – from this point onward, whatever chapter you select will carry over all of your data from your completed run save. Notably, this chapter selection method is the only way to play the game on Hard difficulty (and if you're after the Platinum trophy, you'll need to complete every chapter on Hard amongst other things). 

I've been playing Rebirth via this New Game Plus chapter selection and it works great. I'm crossing the 95 hour mark soon and still finding things to do. 

• Pro tip: If you're looking to complete all of the open world activities, Chapter 13 is the best chapter to do that. 
• Heads up: There are "certain manuscripts" that can only be obtained on Hard difficulty so if you're trying to obtain every single thing in the game, there's a Hard mode chapter playthrough in your future. 

And that's Rebirth's New Game Plus functionality explained. 

For more, read Game Informer's Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review, and then check out Game Informer's Final Fantasy VII Rebirth coverage hub for exclusive behind-the-scenes features, video interviews, and more. 

Let us know if you have any other questions about it or the game in the comments below!

Source: Game Informer