Like the original Final Fantasy VII, Rebirth lets you play some tunes on a piano. And as is to be expected with Rebirth, it’s a far more elaborate mini-game this time around. With pianos spread throughout the world and rewards to earn, you might be wondering whether or not it’s worth investing your time into mastering this activity.
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Naturally, if you’re aiming for a platinum trophy with the goal of 100-percenting this big ‘ol RPG, then you have your answer. But if you just want to know what the rewards are before you spend more time on this pretty-okay-but-sometimes-frustrating mini-game, read on. First, however, enjoy this wonderful piano rendition of FF7’s battle music (yes, that whole album is excellent):
Fun fact: The NPC who gives you rewards for knocking out piano pieces is named after the second mode of the major scale, Dorian. We better meet someone named Phrygian for the third game, in that case (there are also seven modes…oh god).
Piano mini-game rewards
Here’s all the materia you can get from the piano mini-game:
- “On Our Way”: HP Up
- “Tifa’s Theme”: MP Up
- “Barret’s Theme”: Warding
- “Cinco de Chocobo”: Steadfast Block
- “Two Legs? Nothin’ To It”: Disempowerment
- “Aerith’s Theme”: Binding
- “Let The Battles Begin!”: Piano Virtuoso Bronze Trophy and you can play the piano as Aerith or Yuffie
- “One-Winged Angel”: Nothing!
Where to get all the sheet music
Sheet music is available anywhere you encounter a piano for the first time. The locations are as follows:
- “On Our Way”: The Crow’s Nest in the Junon region
- “Tifa’s Theme”: The Royal Crown Hotel in Costa del Sol
- “Barret’s Theme”: In a bar in North Corel
- “Cinco de Chocobo”: Gongaga Village, in someone’s house
- “Two Legs? Nothin’ To It”: The Syldra Inn, Cosmo Canyon
- “Aerith’s Theme”: Given during the “My White-Haired Angel” sidequest in Nibelheim
- “Let The Battles Begin!”: Get an A-Rank in all of the pieces above
- “One-Winged Angel”: Complete “Johnny’s Treasure Trove”
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Is the piano mini-game worth it?
As a musician, I don’t much care for the piano mini-game as the more complex songs don’t map your inputs to note triggers in the same way that playing an actual keyboard can. Still, the earlier songs are a bit better and it’s always nice to spend time with FF7’s soundtrack. But are the actual rewards worth it?
For the first two rewards, HP and MP Up, not only can you acquire these orbs in other places (see the links), but they’re purchasable from shops once you hit Chapter 9. The benefit of getting it from the piano mini-game is that they’ll come as level two materia, so you’ll get a bit more use out of it more quickly.
Warding, Steadfast Block, and Binding can also be obtained elsewhere in the game (again, check the links), and they’re also available from shops. However, aside from materia and item shops (starting at chapter 9), Disempowerment can only be snagged earlier from the piano mini-game.
Since all of these materia orbs can be purchased from shops, you don’t have to worry about missing out on limited items should you skip this activity.
So all in all, the materia on offer from the piano mini-game can easily be acquired elsewhere. Playing piano as Aerith and Yuffie is nice, but you get to do that when you’re nearly done with all this mini-game has to offer anyway. And it’s a huge bummer that “One-Winged Angel” gets you nothing.
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All in all, unless you’re platinum-trophy obsessed, or happen to enjoy the piano mini-game, this one can be skipped without too much worry.