Summary

• Players who complete the first half of FF7 Rebirth's demo have the opportunity to skip the Nibelheim chapter when starting the full game.
• Most of the story events will play out before and after Chapter One is skipped, so the only reason to play through it again is for a combat refresher.
• Items don't transfer from the Nibelheim flashback to the rest of the game, but players can get two unique in-game items by trying the demo.

One of the earliest choices to make in region of FF7 Rebirth. But where the Junon half of the demo is separate, and taken out of context, the Nibelheim half effectively grants players early access to the opening hours of the game.

In an effort to streamline demo players' early hours with the full game, FF7 Rebirth allows anyone who's finished that part of the demo to skip most of the Nibelheim flashback chapter. They'll still have to play through the introductory sequence and explore the town. But once Cloud, Sephiroth, and Tifa step out the back gate of Nibelheim and make for the mountain reactor, the player will see a pop-up asking them whether they'd like to skip the remainder of the chapter.

Players Should Skip The Nibelheim Chapter In FF7 Rebirth

Yes, players should skip the Nibelheim section of FF7 Rebirth's Chapter One if they've already played the demo. In short, there's really no reason someone would play the Nibelheim section a second time. Skipping this part of the chapter doesn't gloss over any important story events: it cuts out once the characters and location have been introduced, and picks right back up with the terrible discovery that sets the events of FF7 Rebirth in motion. All players are effectively skipping when they by this demo is a few rounds of combat.

Don't expect to find anything different from the demo in the final version of the Nibelheim chapter, either. The demo of FF7 Rebirth is careful to warn players that things might differ in the full game. There may be some slight tweaks to the performance of FF7 Rebirth, and the Junon section has certainly been streamlined for the demo, but no part of the Nibelheim section is meaningfully different in the full game. Anyone who's played through it in the demo has seen everything it has to offer.

Of course, if it's been a while since they tried the demo, some players may want more of a refresher on FF7 Rebirth boss fight strategies would do well to replay the Nibelheim section.

Players Won't Miss Items By Skipping Nibelheim In FF7 Rebirth

Items Don't Carry Over From The Chapter One Flashback

And although there's a fair bit of treasure to be found in Chapter One, items found in FF7 Rebirth's Nibelheim flashback don't transfer to the rest of the game. All the gil, consumables, and Materia players find in FF7 Rebirth's first chapter are left behind as soon as the action cuts to Kalm. After all, it's been about five years - those old potions are probably expired by now. The party starts with a pretty diverse selection of items and equipment, so they should have everything they need even without the Nibelheim pickups.

In fact, players actually gain access to a couple of unique items if they play FF7 Rebirth's demo. These include the Kupo Charm, which boosts the number of crafting materials the party gathers and increases the wearer's maximum HP by 5%. The Survival Set is a simple set of consumables - potions, tufts of phoenix down, and the like. These are both available in the full game, regardless of whether the player skips the Nibelheim chapter or runs through it again.

It's not necessary to finish the FF7 Rebirth demo, or even to play both parts of it, in order to get the Kupo Charm and Survival Set. As long as save data from any part of the demo is on the same console, the player can claim both items from the DLC Bonus section of the game menu.

In the very pop-up that allows players to skip the Nibelheim section, it's outlined in black and white: "Note that skipping will not affect gameplay." This is true for all intents and purposes. Since there's no new content, no special bonuses, and no item transfers, there's no reason to play through the Nibelheim chapter again after having completed the demo. Players can skip it without fear, knowing they're in for a more streamlined experience in the early hours of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.