How to sprint in Final Fantasy VII Remake demo

The demo for the Final Fantasy VII Remake dropped early this morning into the PlayStation Store. If the demo is anything to go by, the remake has a lot of potential to be a fun game that stays true to the original.

The design of the DualShock controller has changed a lot since the original game released for PlayStation back in 1997. As a result of the changes, Square Enix has had to alter the control scheme for FFVII a bit to accommodate the newer DualShock 4 controller. One of these changes includes the inclusion of sprinting, or dashing.

Sprinting makes moving through some of the familiar areas of FFVII a lot easier, and it makes certain puzzles almost too easy to dash through. We figured out how to dash after doing some button mashing in the opening minutes of the game, but there is a more complete description in the tutorial later in the demo.

There are three ways to dash outside of battle: You can press the right trigger (R2) or the right bumper (R1). You can also hold the left stick (L3) to dash while moving.

Being able to dash is convenient when you want to rush through areas of gameplay, but it is particularly useful for getting through the timed laser puzzle just before the battle with the sweeper. Dash also allows you to quickly slide down the normally slow ladders and allows you to skip over some NPC dialogue in the process.