The development of "Final Fantasy VII Revelation," the third installment of the remake trilogy, eschews two common patterns in the gaming industry. Director Naoki Hamaguchi rejects both the dilution of the story through community feedback and artificial accessibility for newcomers. Those who want to understand the story must start from the beginning.
The danger of the average game
In a recent interview with Giant bomb Hamaguchi warns against unfilteredly incorporating negative criticism into design decisions. According to the director, trying to cater to the average mathematical taste of the community does not lead to a better product.
When developers try to reconcile extreme opinions from both ends of the spectrum, the game's identity suffers. The result is a bland, unpolished product. That's the risk. Square Enix wants to avoid this mistake with the trilogy's finale.
"If you respond to every piece of negative feedback and even take positive feedback into account, you sometimes end up seeing both extremes of opinion, and if you consider all of that, you might end up developing a product that actually has no character."
Hamaguchi describes the result of such a design philosophy drastically as a blank page without any real appeal ("It's just a blank state that doesn't really have any strong appeal"). In practice, this means that Square Enix retains creative control and trusts its own vision, instead of feeding algorithms from internet forums.
No compromises on story continuity
At the same time, the studio rejects the typical publisher logic that insists on making every sequel appealing to a mass audience. Despite Square Enix's strategic shift towards more multiplatform releases, the third installment will not be an entry point for newcomers. The director makes it clear that players must start with the first game to understand the overall storyline.
"It's not the right approach to say that players can start the FF7 remake series with 'Revelation'. You probably have to start with the first part, the FF7 remake, to fully understand the story."
This move is bold, but economically risky. It ignores the classic marketing doctrine that aims to break down barriers for latecomers. PlayStation console gamers have been familiar with the structure since 2020. However, for PC gamers and potential users of other platforms, this decision represents a significant barrier to entry. They will have to invest time and money in two monumental predecessors.
Square Enix's stance is nonetheless consistent. Hamaguchi is protecting the project from the typical watering down that often renders sequels unrecognizable. This is good news for players: the final installment retains its character.
This is a setback for the mass market. Those just getting into the game now aren't buying a single title, but rather a three-part must-have. Creative freedom trumps rapid monetization here. A rarity in the modern AAA market.
“Final Fantasy VII Revelation” will be released in 2027.
Screw the newcomers. Who in their right mind starts a trilogy with the third installment? Especially when the story is as interconnected as in Final Fantasy 7 🙏🏻
Anything else makes no sense either.
That's exactly right 😍
What can you say? If the game had been released as a single unit, there would have been no need to adapt to anything. I'm also in favor of not making it easier, but if the game weren't divided into three parts, you wouldn't have to learn a new way of playing each time just to get the hang of it. Now they're adding suits that are even crucial to gameplay; this is only being done so that each part can stand alone and have 300 hours of endgame content. I also don't know if it makes sense to play all three parts consecutively. I would advise people to wait until a version comes out where all three parts are combined into one continuous game experience.