As we wait for the third part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy to come out, director Naoki Hamaguchi has said that, when it finally releases, it will offer a new gameplay experience. Speaking at the recent Brasil Game Show, Hamaguchi said that, along with offering a new story experience with each of the three titles in the series, he also wanted to offer new gameplay experiences.
We’ve already somewhat scene the two games in the trilogy offer up different gameplay experiences from each other. Where the first game is a more linear, chapter-based story where you don’t really get to go back to previous areas very often, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth instead offered up an open world to explore. The combat also saw some changes along the way, with Rebirth offering more options for combos and synergy attacks, along with a host of new mini-games.
“The first instalment featured story-driven progression, the second part expanded upon that with an open-world design that offered greater player freedom,” said Hamaguchi at the event (via Genki_JPN). “Building upon the second part, the third part is also being created to deliver players a new gaming experience, so please look forward to it.”
As for what this means for the eventual third game in the trilogy, we won’t really know much for sure until it is officially unveiled. In the meantime, we can speculate, however, that it might end up offering an even greater level of player freedom. Even the open world of Rebirth, for instance, still gated away some of its zones with story progress. The third game might instead give players total freedom right from the beginning.
At the same show, Hamaguchi had also spoken about the decision behind turning a remake of Final Fantasy 7 into three distinct projects, noting that the development team didn’t want to cut anything out. This, he noted, came from the fact that the original 1997 release of Final Fantasy 7 has a passionate fan base that wouldn’t want to see anything missing from the core game.
“Final Fantasy 7 is a game with a truly huge fanbase,” said Hamaguchi on stage. “We could have cut some parts and turned it into one game, but the fans of the original would never have forgiven us. If we want to tell this story using new technology, it’s not possible to do so in a single title. That’s why we made the difficult decision to split it into three parts.”
He also spoke about how the studio plans on wrapping up the epic story that was started with Final Fantasy 7 Remake and expanded upon through the Intermission DLC and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. While he didn’t reveal precise details, he did note that the ending will appeal to fans of the original as well as newer fans who got into the story thanks to the Remake trilogy.
“Of course, I already have a clear idea of the ending for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3,” he said. “I think this conclusion will appeal to both those who loved the original and those who became fans of Final Fantasy 7 thanks to the Remake series. I’m confident this new game will be loved by everyone.”
