I’ve played the first 45 minutes Final Fantasy VII Revelation

Following its expansive Gamescom 2026 demo, I just got to experience a much more linear segment from Final Fantasy VII Revelation set right at the start of the new game — it sets Cloud and the gang up to finally face the biggest twist from the original, albeit a lot earlier than they did in 1997.

The demo itself was pretty short — I blasted through in around 30 to 45 minutes — but I got to play around with the new party members Vincent and Cid (the latter formally joined as an active combatant at the start of the demo), and most of my team were utilizing the new FITS system ( Revelation ’s version of the Job / Class system used in other Square Enix games).

Though I want to focus on the story content.

The party finds themselves in the North Crater, the impact site of the asteroid which brought Jenova to the game’s planet.

Here they find even more of the black-robed figures they’ve been following for the past three games — including Broden, the former SOLDIER and inn manager you meet in Kalm during Rebirth — and yet again Cloud is racked with headaches and visions of Sephiroth, tormenting him about his past.

Players of the original will know where this is going, but before I go into any more details, here’s an obligatory SPOILER WARNING .

We’ll be talking about Final Fantasy VII ’s biggest twist after Aerith’s death below, and if you somehow don’t know it yet and don’t want to get spoiled, you’ve been warned. (Image credit: Square Enix) While my demo cuts things a little short, it shows Sephiroth forcing Cloud to remember he isn’t really a SOLDIER, just as he does in the og FF7 .

He’s pointing out inconsistencies like Cloud’s lack of a SOLDIER ID number on his arm (something all the others have), comments that he must have the “wrong man” when attempting to reminisce with Cloud, and finally making him, Barret, and Tifa relive the Nibelheim incident one last time — and we see differences from the version from Rebirth, as Zack features, and one of the Shinra guards that was with the group before is suddenly missing… Barrett even comments on how happy Cloud looks when posing for a photo, saying he looks like a “whole other person.” SOLDIER no more… As a reminder for anyone who hasn’t relived the FF7 narrative recently, or who is unfamiliar with the plot and doesn’t care for spoilers, Cloud was actually just your regular Shinra grunt — those (lowercase) soldiers we’ve been dicing up since the opening of Final Fantasy 7 Remake .

He was there at the Nibelheim incident, but as backup for the actual SOLDIERs Sephiroth and Zack Fair.

Embarrassed that he didn't achieve his SOLDIER dreams, Cloud hides his face from Tifa and others in the village, which is why she told Aerith that she doesn’t remember seeing him on that mission during the events of Rebirth .