How to Skip Nibelheim Chapter 1 in FFVII Rebirth

If someone picks up the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo and plays through the Nibelheim introduction, they can then skip chapter 1, but how to do that in FFVII Rebirth actually still involves quite a bit of playing. Here’s what you need to know.

How do I skip the Nibelheim part of Chapter 1 in FFVII Rebirth after loading the demo save?

This is actually a three-step process, and you will need to be patient for part of it. That’s because Chapter 1 in the full game is actually much larger than in the demo. You need to play a bit first to get to the point where you can skip over things you already did. Basically, you’ll be skipping some battles, the open-world areas, and the reactor part.

So step one is to head to the main menu when you start playing for the first time. Select the Bonuses option. You will have the option to check for Final Fantasy VII Remake, FFVII Episode INTERmission, and FFVII Rebirth demo save data on your PS5 to unlock bonuses and the ability to skip a Nibelheim part of Chapter 1. Do so. Things will all click. Then, start New Game.

From there, you need to play for a while. I’d say you’ll have to go through about 30 minutes of Chapter 1 before the option to skip comes up. This means you need to play the section in Midgar (that will be new to you and wasn’t in the demo), then go through the part in the town of Nibelheim with Cloud visiting places, meeting Tifa, and setting out with Sephiroth, Tifa, and the two Shinra soldiers for the reactor. 

You’ll get the option to skip after Cloud, Sephiroth, Tifa, and the two Shinra soldiers hit the open-world and the credits roll. After the fight, which you can skip, a box will come up that reads as follows and allows you the option to skip a section:

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Demo saved data confirmed. 

Players who have completed the demo can skip the mako reactor investigation and resume play from the village.

Note that skipping will not affect gameplay.

Skip to the village?

This means you don’t have to deal with the reactor and its battles again, as well as drag around the machine to clear the patches of mako so you can use elevators.

Note that things will pick up again once things happen and Sephiroth becomes the person we now know him to be. So you will need to play through a part of the Nibelheim experience again before the flashback ends and you can explore Kalm.

You will have to get a bit further until you can claim the save data bonuses from the FFVII Remake game and DLC.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is available on the PS5, with the exclusivity arrangement ending on May 29, 2024.