Apex Legends FF7 collab gets release date, trailer, skins

Get hyped for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

• By
  
  Michael McWhertor
  
• on January 4, 2024 11:58 am

Apex Legends’ crossover with the Final Fantasy 7 franchise, teased last month at The Game Awards, is much more than just a handful of skins. Electronic Arts’ collab with Square Enix will bring Cloud’s trademark Buster Sword, Materia drops, and even a Nessie summon to the Apex Games next week, developer Respawn Entertainment revealed Thursday.

To hype up the February release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth — part two of the planned FF7 Remake trilogy — a Final Fantasy 7 Takeover will replace unranked battle royale in Apex Legends Jan. 9-30. In that limited-time mode, players will be able to wield a version of Buster Sword to block bullets, dash-and-slash, and unleash a devastating Limit Break attack. Players will also be able to grab Materia Hop-Ups from Apex’s walking loot boxes, known in this mode as “Cacticks,” a portmanteau of Cactuar and Tick.

That Materia will confer special powers upon Legends, thusly:

• Blue Materia (HP Absorb) — Damage enemies to heal yourself
• Green Materia (Lightning) — Reload an empty weapon to emit a shock nova, damaging and slowing nearby enemies
• Purple Materia (Crit Rate Up) — Random criticals provide extra damage
• Red Materia (Summon) — Summon a Nessie companion to attack your foes
• Yellow Materia (Assess) — Damage enemies to see their remaining health

Yeah, you can spawn a fluffy Nessie to viciously attack your opponents. Good stuff.

Of course, there are also ample cosmetics to earn and unlock. That includes Crypto as Cloud Strife, Wraith as Tifa Lockheart, Horizon as Aerith Gainsborough, Newcastle as Barret Wallace, Valkyrie as Yuffie Kisaragi, and Wattson in Moogle gear (with some FF7 Remake Yuffie flavor). There are 36 items available as part of the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth event, and a separate currency (Gil) to earn as part of the crossover. Full details are available at the Apex Legends website.

Apex Legends is available — and free to play — on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is heading to PS5, exclusively, on Feb. 29.

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