While director Naoki Hamaguchi has been quiet about the third part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, in a recent interview with Nintendo Life, he revealed that he has played through the upcoming title’s campaign more than 40 times.
“We’re very excited about how the game is currently progressing. I have already completed over 40 full playthroughs! I can’t wait for as many people as possible to experience the game for themselves, and myself and the team are working hard to ensure we can create an unforgettable gameplay experience.”
When asked about a potential release window, Hamaguchi remained largely quiet. However, when the publication then asked about the relatively short gap of time between the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on the Nintendo Switch 2—with the latter coming out on June 3rd—Hamaguchi teased that the trilogy might be closer to its end than we thought. He noted that releasing the titles on the platform in quick succession led to better pacing for the overarching story.
“With large-scale titles like this one, it’s common for a long gap to exist between the first and second instalments,” he explained. “However, because they were ports, we decided we could deliver them without leaving much of a gap. We want to capitalize on this cadence and moment to tie the experiences together without any gaps, from Remake to Rebirth to finally the third instalment that lies beyond them.”
Recently, Hamaguchi also confirmed that, despite the team adding its own twists to the Final Fantasy 7 story with the Remake trilogy, there are no plans to make any major changes to the overarching story.
“When it comes to the overarching story, I place my trust in what Kazushige Nojima writes and have no intention of altering that based on my judgment,” he said. “However, with the significant increase in visual fidelity in these remakes, arranging events and the passage of time exactly as they were in the original game can sometimes result in scenes that feel implausible.
“When changes in time or dates don’t feel convincing, it also breaks the player’s emotional engagement.”
Hamaguchi has also recently confirmed that the development of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 is on schedule, and that the team has already begun preparations to officially unveil the game to the world. In the meantime, you can check out the free demo for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S. Take a look at our review of its initial PS5 release while you’re at it.
