Final Fantasy VII Remake Devs State Third Game Already In The Works
Recent interviews with Square Enix heads have revealed lot of interesting information regarding the future of Final Fantasy VII.
Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshinori Kitase, long-time big names within Square Enix, recently sat down with some Japanese publications to discuss the titles announced in the Final Fantasy VII 25th Anniversary Celebration. They spoke with relative candor and dropped quite a few interesting details regarding these upcoming FF7 games, and the future of the brand as a whole. These interviews were done in Japanese and were roughly translated, so please note that the translations may not be completely accurate.
Nomura, creative director of the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was asked, by website 4gamer, why they chose this title instead of ‘Final Fantasy VII Remake 2.’ Nomura seemingly responded that, for him, the term ‘Remake’ in the first game’s title did not align with the traditional definition of a remake. He stated that ‘Remake’ and ‘Rebirth’ have similar meanings to him, simply meaning to play anew, which is why he went with the latter for this upcoming title. He also didn’t want to add a ‘2’ in the title since he felt Rebirth could be enjoyed on its own.
This Final Fantasy VII reimagining was confirmed to be a trilogy in the 25th-anniversary stream. When asked if this was always the plan, Nomura appeared to say that he couldn’t announce Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, because he was wondering whether to make it a duology or a trilogy. He ultimately went with the trilogy because he felt that otherwise the second title would have been too long, and would have taken too much development time.
One of the juiciest pieces of information, that gives insight into the far-off third title in the series, was relayed when the pair discussed development speed. Kitase stated that the team had been making Remake and Rebirth in conjunction, which is why Rebirth would be coming so quickly (next winter). Nomura then seemingly stated that they are already working on the third game, in regards to plots and scenarios, and that for him, it feels like they’ve been making the whole thing at once.
Nomura appeared to directly address concerns regarding whether they could fit the entirety of FF7’s original story in a trilogy, affirming that the story won’t feel abridged, but instead will make players feel like they’ve managed a lot in a short time. When asked about the changes in the story, he purported that the axis of the story hasn’t changed, there is just a new mystery that those who played the original can freshly enjoy. However, he did say that there would be some changes in the story’s order, that may make players think a certain part was scrapped, but it will simply appear later, as they prefer not to remove content.
In an interview with Famitsu, when asked about possible Dirge Of Cerberus & Before Crisis remakes, Nomura responded, as relayed by translations, that some staff said would like to remaster both titles, but there are currently no plans for such projects.
Final Fantasy VII Remake was a big hit for the PlayStation platform, and the future titles will probably be no different given the excitement around their reveals. It’s clear the story will suffer adjustments, which some hardcore fans of the original FF7 may not appreciate, but we’ll only know the full degree of the changes once the next game releases.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will launch exclusively on PlayStation 5 in Winter 2023-2024.
Jose Garcia
Jose is an experienced video game analyst and reviewer, who earned his chops producing long-form video essays about the industry, those getting him his first bit of online recognition. His thousands of hours into Smash and Pokemon earn him the well-deserved title of “Nintendo Nerd” (he likes to say expert), but at heart, he, like many of us, is someone who appreciates the art of games in all its forms.
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