What if the biggest lesson from remaking Final Fantasy VII has nothing to do with dividing it into three games? With Final Fantasy VII Revelation approaching its April 8, 2027 release, director Naoki Hamaguchi has reflected on the decisions behind Square Enix’s ambitious project. Surprisingly, he has no intention of changing its three-part structure. Instead, his one lingering doubt concerns how much freedom players received in Midgar.
That distinction reveals an interesting tension at the heart of the remake trilogy. Square Enix wanted enough room to preserve and expand a beloved adventure, yet its first installment deliberately restricted exploration. Years later, Hamaguchi still believes the overall approach was right, even if one early design decision remains open to debate.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation completes a trilogy its director would make again
Splitting a single classic into three modern releases inevitably raised questions about commercial motivations. After all, the original Final Fantasy VII arrived in 1997 across three discs, whereas its modern reimagining requires three separate games.
However, Hamaguchi sees an important difference between extending a project for commercial reasons and giving its material enough room to develop. During an interview with Jeuxvideo.com at Paris Games Week, the director explained that compressing everything into one modern release would have meant removing too much content.
More importantly, he would make the same decision with the knowledge gained throughout development. The three-game format is not something Hamaguchi considers a mistake. From his perspective, preserving the scale of the experience justified an unusually demanding production strategy.
This also changes how the trilogy can be evaluated. Rather than judging its length purely by the number of releases, players can consider whether each installment offers a meaningful evolution in storytelling, exploration and gameplay.
Square Enix accepted a risk that could have threatened the entire project
Creative ambition was only one side of the equation. Developing three interconnected games also exposed Square Enix to considerable financial and reputational pressure.
Hamaguchi acknowledges that the remake project is already commercially successful, even before its final installment arrives. Nevertheless, he remembers how uncertain that outcome once seemed. A disappointing performance from the first game could have made investment in the second installment extremely difficult to justify.
There was another consideration beyond sales. By committing to a multipart remake of such an important title, Square Enix was also putting its corporate reputation at stake. Hamaguchi admits that reconsidering those circumstances is still unsettling.
His main reflections can be summarized in four points.
- The trilogy structure: Hamaguchi would still choose three games because a single release would have required substantial cuts.
- The financial risk: Poor sales for Final Fantasy VII Remake could have made developing its sequel a major business gamble.
- The commercial outcome: He considers the overall project a business success despite Revelation not having launched yet.
- His possible regret: He sometimes wonders whether Midgar should have offered greater freedom, although changing that design would have affected the story.
These comments highlight something easily overlooked when discussing large RPG projects. A trilogy needs more than a strong creative vision. Its first installment must also generate enough confidence to support everything that follows.
In this case, the original commitment was particularly significant because Square Enix could not know how audiences would respond to the complete project before making its initial investment.
Midgar remains the one design decision Hamaguchi still questions
While the business strategy has been vindicated in Hamaguchi’s eyes, Final Fantasy VII Remake’s linear Midgar design presents a more complicated question.
Released in 2020, Remake concentrated on Midgar and largely guided players through a tightly structured adventure. By contrast, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth expanded exploration in 2024, introducing large open areas and substantially more freedom to travel.
Looking back, Hamaguchi wonders whether he could have introduced some of that freedom earlier. However, he stops short of describing Midgar’s design as an outright mistake.
The problem lies in the relationship between pacing and exploration. Midgar’s storyline creates a persistent sense of urgency. Allowing players to wander more freely would have required changes to the script to accommodate that additional flexibility.
Consequently, the director remains undecided. Although greater freedom might have improved certain aspects of the experience, he believes he probably would have made the same choice again.
This is where his reflection becomes especially interesting. More freedom does not automatically create a better role-playing game. An open environment can encourage discovery, but it can also weaken narrative urgency if the surrounding story demands immediate action.
That trade-off is particularly relevant when considering how Final Fantasy VII Revelation is changing exploration through summons, chocobos and the Highwind. The final installment offers another opportunity to balance discovery with narrative direction.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation will complete three different approaches to one adventure
The evolution from Remake to Rebirth provides useful context for understanding Hamaguchi’s comments. Each released installment has approached player freedom differently, while the upcoming finale will bring the entire project together.
Here are the essential facts about the three games.
- Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020): The opening installment focuses on Midgar, prioritizing a largely linear experience and tightly controlled narrative progression.
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024): The second installment expands the adventure with large explorable areas, giving players considerably more freedom.
- Final Fantasy VII Revelation (April 8, 2027): The third and final installment launches on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2, completing the remake trilogy.
Viewed together, these games illustrate how Square Enix has adjusted the relationship between storytelling and player choice over time. Remake established a more controlled foundation, while Rebirth demonstrated what the project could achieve with broader exploration.
Meanwhile, Revelation has the opportunity to bring lessons from both approaches into its final chapter. That does not mean every restriction will disappear. In fact, the balance between player control and carefully designed moments remains relevant to other systems.
For example, Battle4play has also examined Revelation’s three-character combat attacks and their deliberate restrictions. These mechanics offer another example of how limiting certain options can serve a particular gameplay or storytelling purpose.
Ultimately, Hamaguchi’s comments suggest that the central question was never simply whether three games were too many. It was whether Square Enix could make each installment worthwhile without sacrificing what made Final Fantasy VII memorable.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation will put that philosophy to its final test on April 8, 2027. For now, the director’s reflections leave players with a worthwhile question: would a more open Midgar really have improved Remake, or was its restricted structure essential to the experience?
Creator of the website, Pokemon trainer by nature. Trying to report on everything related to the world of video games, series and movies. Yu-Gi-Oh is my weakness, collecting cards since the dawn of time.
