As Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth finally escapes PlayStation prison, the JRPG's director says "I recommend the PC version" for the "improved lighting"

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Aerith and Tifa suited
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Square Enix revealed at The Game Awards that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is at last receiving a PC version on January 23, and director Naoki Hamaguchi is looking forward to what that means for the JRPG's fancy lighting. 

"I recommend the PC version of FF7 Rebirth," Hamaguchi says in a Twitter post, "because of the improved lighting. I'm looking forward to many game fans getting to experience this game."

Prettier sunsets are certainly a welcome token of appreciation for PC players; Final Fantasy 7 has been locked away in PlayStation purgatory for nearly a year, ever since Square Enix first released the earth-shaking remake in February. 

PS5 players, however, are anxious to discover where their Christmas present is. For months, they've complained of unnatural lighting plaguing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, anguished over the fact that any of Square Enix's patches have only exacerbated the problem.  

"I've never seen worse lighting than in Rebirth," one frustrated player writes recently on Reddit. "Walking outside looks like I'm walking into Bahamut's [practically atomic attack] Gigaflare every single time. Visually, this game is incredibly disappointing."

"Put your sunglasses and sunscreen on," instructs one generous commenter in a separate Reddit thread about the same issue.

So Hamaguchi's pleasant acknowledgement that Final Fantasy 7's PC version cures it of its pervasive lighting problems is hitting PlayStation cops like an asteroid. "PS5 should have this lighting update, too," one fan replies to Hamaguchi on Twitter. "Now that's really not normal." Though, to be fair, neither is naming a man "Cloud."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake director had to swap his inspirations from The Last of Us to The Witcher 3 to make Rebirth's open world.

Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

Read more
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Aerith and Tifa suited
PC gamers really ate at The Game Awards: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC release date finally set for next month
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's Steam launch was "fantastic" analyst says after PC players sent the JRPG port flying to the US best-selling spot in the week of its release
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director wanted to add an "episodic story" DLC, but decided finishing Part 3 was the team's "highest priority"
Barret Wallace in a screenshot from Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC trailer sells the beefier version of one of 2024's greatest JRPGs with better lighting, DLSS, 120 FPS, and a crucial shot of Barret's ass
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth producer says the JRPG sold well, but future games "cannot be exclusive to a single platform" anymore
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth trailer screenshot showing a young woman in a green ceremonial dress dancing, a determined look upon her face as she smirks while staring ahead
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is Steam Deck verified ahead of the JRPG's PC launch next week so that you can play "in the bathroom… wherever you want"
Latest in RPG
Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon says he "got rid of" agents who deliberately kept him away from video game gigs: "They just didn't want me to do it"
Mass Effect
Jennifer Hale says she didn't see a single line as Mass Effect's Commander Shepard until it was time to record: "It was all cold reading on the spot"
Baldur's Gate 3 screenshot of a boss turned to gold surrounded by blood
5,000 gold, 2,500 hours, and one priceless scroll: Baldur's Gate 3 player cooks up a "Midas run" by turning the RPG's bosses into solid gold trophies, because "why not"
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Stardew Valley player bringing a bit of Baldur's Gate 3 to ConcernedApe's farming sim, now with Larian's seal of approval, says they've played over 1,500 hours and will improve the mod
Avowed screenshot showing two companions assisting in combat
Avowed director says Xbox and Microsoft are "very happy" with the reception to its new Obsidian RPG
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Horses
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has another secret skill, and this one is an absolute game changer - looking down makes you duck under branches while riding your horse
Latest in News
Overwatch 2
My hopes for an Overwatch anime or Diablo horror movie are going strong as Blizzard president points out "we are Blizzard Entertainment, and not simply Blizzard Games"
The New Thunderbolts leaping into action
Marvel's New Thunderbolts* comic steals the MCU's asterisk, and the reason why is just as big of a mystery
Pokemon Go players brace for the worst as Niantic is sold off for $3.5 billion: "This game is entering its death knell"
Stamp PSP
A 16-year-old pitch for a newly discovered first-party PSP game has me mourning the death of PlayStation's Japan Studio all over again
Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon says he "got rid of" agents who deliberately kept him away from video game gigs: "They just didn't want me to do it"
Mass Effect
Jennifer Hale says she didn't see a single line as Mass Effect's Commander Shepard until it was time to record: "It was all cold reading on the spot"