“Well, at this time it’s best not to say whether Cissnei will appear or not, but there is one thing I can tell you,” replied Hamaguchi. “This Final Fantasy 7 Remake series is not simply a recreation of the original work, but rather, our goal is to create a single, new Final Fantasy 7 that incorporates the settings and concepts of all the previous spin-off titles, such as Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and Crisis Core. Therefore, the appearance of Cissnei and the inclusion of Dirge of Cerberus Soldiers in the DLC, all have that meaning.”

“So, since that concept will of course carry over into Revelation as well, not limited to Cissnei, for the last entry, there will be characters that have appeared in the various FF7 compilation games that I think will be there, and each of these characters has a large and dedicated fanbase, so we want to create a work that can satisfy the feelings of those people.”

He went on to talk about how Cissnei has a lot of fans. “Whenever I talk to the media or fans, they very often ask me if Cissnei will appear or say they like Cissnei,” he laughed.

Fans of the original Final Fantasy 7 and its spin-offs shouldn’t find this too surprising, since we’ve seen many references to these spin-offs and even cross-media stories like novels throughout the trilogy so far. Final Fantasy 7 Remake, for instance, featured an appearance of Leslie Kyle during its Wall Market sections. This character made his first appearance in Final Fantasy VII The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side Story – a story published in Japan back in 2011. The same game also features the main antagonists of Dirge of Cerberus – Weiss and Nero – as VR missions in its Episode INTERmission DLC, which eventually got included with the base game as Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth saw similar inclusions. Along with the appearance of Cissnei, the title also included smaller references to other stories in the same universe, such as Tifa having a cat.

Earlier this month, Hamaguchi also spoke about how he had played through Final Fantasy 7 Revelation around 40 times, and how a certain emotional scene always ended up leaving him in tears.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2, and will be coming out in Spring 2027. For more details about why Square Enix decided to call the third entry in the trilogy Revelation, take a look at what Hamaguchi had to say about potentially calling it Resolve.

Hamaguchi also noted that we will see more of his character arc evolve, especially with his tendency to talk too much when he finds a subject he is keenly interested in.

“We understand that many fans are fond of Chadley,” he said. “However, whether he’s become a playable character is something we’re unable to comment on at this time.”

“That said, Chadley will continue to play an important role even in the final installment of the trilogy. His strong curiosity and tendency to talk a bit too much – inherent traits that he’s aware of and somewhat self-conscious about – will be further explored in the third game, too. It’d make me happy if players could warmly follow how Chadley becomes involved in the story and what role he takes in supporting it.”

Chadley was introduced quite early in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, acting as the central hub for players to take on additional combat challenges through VR missions. Through him, players could also unlock new summon materia. Chadley also gave us additional side objectives that could be completed over the course of the game, like using the Assess skill on a certain number of enemies or causing specific enemies to get Staggered.

Through this, players could get their hands on powerful materia like Parry, First Strike, and Skill Master. Completing all of Chadley’s challenges also opened up a final optional boss fight—Bahamut—which rewarded players with the Bahamut Summon materia.

The character returned in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, frequently appearing in new towns that players traveled to and giving out more optional objectives to complete. Chadley, along with an AI he created named MAI, was also responsible for many of the game’s open-world activities. However, his presence in the game started to wear thin for many players owing to how often he would keep talking.

Chadley’s impact on the story in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 remains to be seen. However, Hamaguchi had previously said that the team has no plans to bring in large changes to the original Final Fantasy 7 story. He spoke about trusting the game’s writer, Kazushige Nojima, to not bring in large changes, since it was “one of the aspects of development we were most sensitive about.”

“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.”

In the meantime, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S on June 3rd. For more details, here is everything you need to know about its Xbox Series X/S release.

However, the latter serves as the MVP when it comes to overall hardware spending. At $248 million, it’s up 16 percent over the previous year, which was enough to offset declining sales for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 1. The fact that it achieved this while ranking second in dollar and unit sales is equally impressive.

The only new game release was Bandai Namco’s Code Vein 2, which reached 11th in the overall charts. However, it topped the PC sales chart that considered all storefronts. Perhaps even more surprising is that Final Fantasy 7 Remake re-entered the top ten charts, going from 225th place in December 2025 to ninth, thanks to its Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 ports.

If that’s not a good sign that Square Enix made the right move to go multiplatform with the trilogy, we don’t know what is. The next entry, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is out on June 3rd for both platforms.

“Development of the third installment is progressing very smoothly, and we’re almost exactly on schedule with the milestones we set at the beginning of the project,” he told Automaton-Media. “The game is already in a playable state, and right now, we’re in the final push phase, refining and building up the experience.

“We’re at the stage where the quality improves day by day, and each time we play it, the scenery feels different, so it’s genuinely exciting. I think it won’t be too long before we’re able to share some kind of update with everyone.” Coupled with a previous statement about sharing “more updates” on the project this year than ever before, it certainly feels like an announcement is imminent. Soon-ish.

In the same interview, Hamaguchi spoke about how developing for multiple platforms wouldn’t impact the title’s visual quality. But what about bringing Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade and Rebirth to Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S, potentially affecting the team’s attention on the finale?

Thankfully, that’s not a concern, says Hamaguchi. “We have a dedicated unit within my team that handles porting work, and they operate separately from the team developing the third installment. The porting unit is deeply committed and has been tuning those versions with meticulous care, so I trust them and oversee their work from a distance. That allows me to focus on the third game.”

So what do we actually know about Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 from a gameplay perspective? It includes a “powered-up version” of Queen’s Blood, Rebirth’s popular card game, and despite offering a “more concise structure,” it won’t be a shorter experience than its predecessor. The airship, Highwind, is also featured, with the world seemingly rebuilt to accommodate it. As always, however, we await concrete details on where the story could go next.

“Both the Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox versions have been incredibly well-received and generated a lot of buzz online, and that attention has also made me realize how many people are worried about this issue. However, our decision to go multiplatform with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series will not in any way lower the quality of the third installment. Our development structure simply doesn’t work that way to begin with. …I suppose I’ll just have to keep saying it,” he told Automaton-Media.

While it’s all well and good to say it, how can Hamaguchi be sure that this will be the case? After breaking down the “four key points” to consider across all platforms – CPU, GPU, RAM, and ROM – he revealed that the team focuses on achieving 30 FPS on lower-end platforms while achieving 60 FPS on the higher-end. “In other words, we don’t design the game to fully saturate a high-end CPU at 30 FPS.

“Instead, on hardware that lends additional CPU headroom, we scale density elements, like increasing the number of NPCs in towns. As a result, towns feel more alive on higher-spec hardware, while lower-spec systems may display fewer NPCs. So even when factoring in Nintendo Switch 2 or Xbox Series S support, CPU-related bottlenecks are unlikely.

“Finally, the area most people are concerned about is the GPU, the graphics processor. When a game launches across multiple platforms, many enjoy comparing the visual differences, like in those side-by-side comparison videos. The main concern is that if development assumes hardware of a certain level as the standard, all platforms might be pulled to that level of quality. What I’d like to clarify first is that the highest-end gaming environment is PC.

“While PC gaming is gradually expanding in Japan, overseas growth has been even more rapid. The market has broadened tremendously across both consoles and PC. The Final Fantasy 7 Remake series has sold very well on platforms like Steam and the Epic Games Store, so we develop assets with the broad PC market in mind. In fact, our 3D assets are created at the highest quality level based on PC as the foundation.”

Hamaguchi goes on to recount how Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC was considered visually superior to the PS5 version. “As our fundamental principle, we do not design assets to meet the lowest baseline. Instead, we create them for high-end environments first.

“We then apply what we call ‘reduction,’ adjusting assets and tuning them appropriately for each platform. This means that we avoid negatively impacting high-spec platforms. This isn’t unique to us, either. I believe it’s become fairly common practice among developers in recent years.”

Of course, some may point out that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launched with several issues on PC, which required patching to reach an acceptable state. Then again, one hopes that the experience will carry over to the finale and produce better results.

The real litmus test will be on June 3rd when the second game becomes available for Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S. While Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 doesn’t have a release date, its title and reveal date have been decided internally. All that’s left to do is wait and hope that it truly matches Hamaguchi’s vision.

Along with a release date for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on the Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox (as announced at the recent Partner Showcase), Hamaguchi also promised more news, potentially ending a long period of relative silence about how things were shaping up for the highly anticipated sequel to Rebirth.

“This year, we plan to share more updates on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Project than ever before. We look forward to celebrating together with even more players around the world.”

Since Rebirth is making its Switch 2 and Xbox debut on June 3, 2026, it seems feasible to expect updates on Part 3 later this year. Of course, with no timeline explicitly offered up by Hamguchi, that could very well vary.

With fans eager to resolve the cliffhanger that it ended on, news – and possibly a reveal – is going to be most welcome, and could potentially end speculation about the new game’s title. It might be hard to outdo the top-notch experience on offer in Rebirth, but Square Enix is sure to be on top of its game with this one. Even Hamaguchi has expressed confidence in it himself.

https://x.com/nhamaguc/status/2019428998875590885

Speaking to GamerBraves in a new interview, he said. “Even from members such as creative director (Tetsuya) Nomura and producer (Yoshinori) Kitase, they didn’t just want to make a remake. They wanted to make a story that could include the compilation of the spin-offs and the soul that they have birthed across the years into this new project, and bring a fresh feel to Final Fantasy 7.”

Obviously, it’s not a simple matter of simply shoving in their stories – context matters, especially when it comes to characters who didn’t exist in the original. After all, where would that leave fans who never played the spin-offs (and given the quality of offerings like Dirge of Cerberus, you can’t really blame them)?

Hamaguchi said, “As a compilation of all these new stories that came post the original Final Fantasy 7, one of the things we sort of grappled with is how much do we show, how much do we include [for] players who wouldn’t know these new characters from the spin-offs.

“When discussing the limits of what we could express within a single game, we had to take timelines into account. At the same time, with many Final Fantasy spin-offs and additions including popular characters not in the original, we considered how much we could include to give players of the remake a fresh sense of life and excitement.”

Of course, other elements bring a degree of freshness to Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which have garnered mixed reactions (if you know, you know). But one thing is for sure: It’s been one hell of a ride, and fans are eager to see where it goes next.

So, when does Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3, or whatever it ends up called, actually release? Your guess is as good as ours, but last October, Hamaguchi said the project was in a “really good state,” and that’s turning into something “really satisfying.” Last month, he commented that the “core game experience” is complete, and how it’s “finally starting to match the vision.” That includes “a new experience and a new scale,” with the Highwind airship forming a “key” part of the same.

“While making Remake, there was this aspect of weight and how cloud swings it around with one hand that sort of felt like it would weaken the sense of realism, you know?” said Hamaguchi, according to a translation by Final Fantasy 7 fan Twitter account Shinra Archaeology Department. “So at the time, when we were making Remake, there was some discussion about whether we should give Cloud a more realistic version of the Buster Sword.”

Ultimately, however, the development team decided to stick with the original design of the Buster Sword owing to how iconic it was. Hamaguchi also noted that there was a chance that fans of the original would have rejected the design if it were turned into just a regular, normal-sized sword.

“But it was just too iconic, and if we‘d made it just a regular old sword, players wouldn’t accept it,” he said. “But in the end we stayed faithful to the OG, and a whole new generation of people fell in love with it, so I think it was the right call.”

In the same interview, Hamaguchi had also noted that development on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 has been going on quite well, with the “core game experience” being “almost complete”. He said this while also noting that a major keyword for the development of the third game in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy will have “Highwind” as a key word.

“In that vein one of the really important keywords this time, like you mentioned, is ‘Highwind,’ without a doubt,” he said. “And already at this point I’d say the gameplay experience itself is basically complete, and we’re really now in the phase where we’re seriously building things out to completion. And I’d say we’ve gotten to a point where I, as the director, am feeling super confident about the game in its completed form.”

Hamaguchi has also spoken about the potential title for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3. He noted that he was in discussions with creative director Tetsuya Nomura about the game’s name, and that they have narrowed the potential title down to two names. The game’s official name is slated to be decided by the end of the year.

“Me and Tetsuya Nomura have already narrowed it down to two, within the year we will decide on which one,” said Hamaguchi in the interview. “Within this year it will be set.”

In the meantime, Square Enix has also been working on Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade to more platforms – namely Xbox Series X/S and the Nintendo Switch 2. This release is slated to happen on January 22, 2026, and will be followed up with the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth later on.

“Me and Tetsuya Nomura have already narrowed it down to two, within the year we will decide on which one,” said Hamaguchi in the interview. “Within this year it will be set.”

The question of what Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 would be named has been the subject of quite a bit of speculation. Going by the naming theme established by the first two titles of the trilogy, Reunion would have been the obvious choice, since it also happens to be an important word in the overarching narrative of the trilogy. However, the word was already used in the remastered release of PSP spin-off title Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7. Since the game is considered canon to the narrative of Final Fantasy 7 and the Remake trilogy, and acts as a prequel, it is unlikely that Reunion will be re-used for the third part.

However, considering the fact that the very first release in the Remake trilogy used the word Remake in the title, there has also been speculation among the fandom that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 could use words like Reboot or Reset to serve as a grand finale to the story.

In another post, Genki_JPN also confirmed that Hamaguchi referred to “Highwind” as being an important keyword for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3. Highwind is the name of the airship that players get access to in the original Final Fantasy 7. The airship is yet to make an appearance in the trilogy, however, and will likely be the main method of transport in the open world of the third game.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 has been in development for quite some time. Why the development team has been working on it in relative silence, Hamaguchi had said in the same interview that the “core game experience” of the third game in the trilogy is “almost complete”. He said that the studio is working on refining and polishing the overall game at this stage.

“At this point, the core game experience is almost complete, and we’re now in the phase of refining and polishing it,” he said. Hamaguchi went on to talk about how more details about the title will be revealed once the development team is satisfied with its polishing efforts. “Once we go through this phase properly, we’ll be able to present it in a form we’re satisfied with. So I ask everyone to wait just a little longer, and we’ll be able to share more information soon.”

While you wait for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3, check out our reviews of the first two games in the series – Remake and Rebirth.

https://youtu.be/EKxyZ5DsgSs

God of War 

There aren’t many games that are able to deliver a stunning experience in such a smooth manner as Sony Santa Monica was able to do with the 2018 reboot. This story sets the protagonist in a new setting; new boss fights and outstanding level design. It’s both fresh and recognizable at the same time, and the new combat and the camera on offer also embodies the spirit of modern third person game while making it more intentional. The 2018 reboot is definitely one of the best games on the PS4, and is a great starting point for newcomers.