Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has a deck-building minigame that's giving me major Witcher 3 vibes

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will feature a card-based deck-building minigame.

Game Informer has published an exclusive preview of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, guided in a hands-off session with co-director Naoki Hamaguchi. In the town of Crown's Nest - a brand new location created just for Rebirth - Hamaguchi walks past a man offering to play Cloud at an intriguing card-based minigame.

It sounds like, from Game Informer's comments, that we'll be adventuring around to collect cards from opponents in this Rebirth minigame. Did someone say Gwent? This is sure bringing back some memories of CD Projekt's excellent card-based game from The Witcher 3, and it could be just as big a time-sink.

We already knew Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was going big on the minigames, what with Cloud battling Soldiers in a boxing minigame, and all the wildness of the Gold Saucer. Leads like producer Yoshinori Kitase previously said the remake just wouldn't be the same as the original game if it didn't include some of the wackier aspects of the original PS1 game.

Elsewhere, Final Fantasy 7 is bringing back the series' open-world map, which we haven't properly seen in action since Final Fantasy 9 in 2000. It's just another way Square Enix's developers pay homage to what came decades before, while still putting their own spin on the new RPG.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.