In an interview with Game Informer magazine, Hamaguchi said: “One of the identifying aspects of Final Fantasy 7 is the abundance of minigames and side content, so if I weren’t to stay true to that, I don’t think I would be able to call this a faithful remake that stays true to the original. So, yes, we are going to have a lot of minigames and a lot of side content.”

He went on to note that the development team has been “very mindful” about the feedback they got from Rebirth’s minigames. This means that, along with the minigames being more polished, they will also include things like difficulty settings and the ability to skip a minigame. He also revealed that most rewards from the minigames won’t provide combat benefits, so that players who don’t like them can simply avoid them rather than being forced to play them due to the potential for gear improvements.

“With that being said, we’re very mindful of the feedback we received for FF7 Rebirth, so we did make a lot of adjustments so that fans can play the minigames and side content sections a lot more smoothly. There will be difficulty settings implemented into the minigames now, and if players feel that it’s not their cup of tea, they have the option to just skip the minigame section, too. And also, most of the rewards are not going to be tied to combat items, either, to give them a feeling of ease.”

The decision likely ties into Hamaguchi’s desire to also ease open-world fatigue despite Final Fantasy 7 Revelation having a world that’s “even bigger than it was in Rebirth.” Just last week, the director said that, due to the larger world, the team wants to ensure that players have enough guidance throughout their time with the gam that they don’t have trouble finding gameplay aspects enjoyable to them.

“There are a lot of open world games out in the world right now, and [the idea of ‘open world fatigue’] is a very important concept to me. It depends on personal preference and different perceptions, but for me personally, I know I’ve had the experience where I’ve been thrown out into an open world game and not known where to go, not known where to begin, and not known what to do. But at the same time, the concept of being thrown into this wondrous world where anything goes is amazing.”

This aspect of providing players with guidance about where they can go to discover things more easily is especially important since the open world in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will allow players to jump off the airship Highwind with parachutes to go just about anywhere.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Everything we told you before about subscribing still stands, so you’ll want to keep in mind it requires a separate subscription, though the first month is free to “ensure server stability,” per the development team. For a game that launched in 2013, we really liked it back in the day, and it’s still a favorite among franchise veterans while remaining a great time for newbies.

Of course, now would be a great time to join in on the fun since the Evercold expansion is set to arrive early next year and is bringing a ton of new content to the table (including the new Bastion class). It’s a good idea to get some momentum in this one over the next few months so you can enjoy everything it brings to the table. Fair warning, though: According to the Nintendo eShop, this may be the biggest Switch 2 release yet, weighing in at a whopping 117.2 GB. So unless you have nothing else on your backlog for the year, it may be worth playing.

https://x.com/FF_XIV_EN/status/2081043051347337393

The new trailer’s a bit long, although it’s more cinematic than informative. It’s still a great glimpse at the world that’s on offer in Evercold, and it’s great stage-setting for the Warrior of Light and whatever awaits them on their way in the new story arc. Announcements accompanied the trailer, with details on some quite robust expansions to character customization, along with news of a planner crossover raid series with Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Bastion, a new job with some ferocious moves on the field, also makes an appearance in the trailer.

There are also changes to the narrative structure designed to give you significant agency over the order in which you’re tackling the expansion’s content. All in all, there’s a lot to take in as far as Evercold is concerned, and it’s hard to believe that this one still isn’t even out yet. Talk about hype! Let’s hope this one can live up to expectations.

Of course, for those looking forward to the Nintendo Switch 2 version, it’s out on August 4th.

Since Revelation’s world is slated to be “even bigger than it was in Rebirth”, Hamaguchi said that it was important for the team to make sure that the players don’t have too much trouble finding parts of the game they enjoy. “The world is even bigger than it was in Rebirth, so it is more important than ever for us to ensure there’s enough guidance here, so people have no issues enjoying what this game has to offer,” he said.

“There are a lot of open world games out in the world right now, and [the idea of ‘open world fatigue’] is a very important concept to me. It depends on personal preference and different perceptions, but for me personally, I know I’ve had the experience where I’ve been thrown out into an open world game and not known where to go, not known where to begin, and not known what to do. But at the same time, the concept of being thrown into this wondrous world where anything goes is amazing.”

“But for me personally, as a creator, I think it’s very important to offer proper guidance for the players in open world games. It’s important for players to know what to do, and know where to go. In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, we made sure to make it easy for the players to understand how much content there is, and how difficult that content is. That design philosophy is applied to Revelation: players have all the guidance that they need. This is something that both myself and the development team were very careful about when we designed the game.”

In the same interview, Hamaguchi also spoke about the combat of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and how it was improved over the well-praised system of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. While acknowledging that the team reached what it considered “a perfected state” with the latter, the former will see a further evolution thanks to its FITS system that gives players more choice in their party members’ various roles.

“If we were to just continue to adopt the same exact hybrid combat system from Rebirth into Revelation, a lot of people are probably going to feel that it’s a bit stale [laughter]. It’s not offering anything new or refreshing, so we did want to add something new,” he said.

“I guess you become guided to select certain characters in certain situations. [The system] didn’t truly offer that freedom of choice when it comes to the character choice. So we were thinking, what could we do to address that?”

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is slated to cap off the Remake trilogy when it comes out next year on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Rumors have indicated that the team might even be working on some post-launch story DLCs for it. In the meantime, Hamaguchi has spoken about how it’s going to be an emotional journey for players, with the same sentiment being echoed by Cloud Strife’s voice actor.

There are differences, sure, whether it’s the gorgeous 3D environments and lighting or the special effects resulting from many screen-filling attacks. Nevertheless, it definitely fulfills the promise of pushing the “limits of pixel art” while retaining the series’ penchant for incredible music.

But what is Resonance even about? Starting in the Kingdom of Grandshelt, it sees two knights, Rain and Lasswell, embarking on a perilous quest, and believe it or not, crystals are involved. Their journey takes them across the world, including “dangerous dungeons” and massive cities while “fearsome foes” await.

Many other classic tropes, including Chocobo, Moogles, airships, and whatnot, are also included, but the combat system is more shades of Persona 4/5. By using the right elemental attack, you can stagger foes and gain extra turns. There are even Visions of legendary heroes from previous titles that lend different abilities to your cause.

Final Fantasy Resonance is out on October 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. As gorgeous as it looks, the development team at Lancarse had to take extra care to ensure the camera didn’t break. You can learn more about that process here.

Starting at 4:30 PM PT and running for an hour, its purpose is to “commemorate 25 years of Kingdom Hearts. Discover how this saga united Disney, Pixar, and Square Enix, with insights from the creative minds, character voices, and more behind the magic.”

Interestingly, a Disney Entertainment Showcase is also planned for August 14th, highlighting “what’s coming next across Disney’s movies, television, games, and live stage productions.” Could Kingdom Hearts 4 appear at either of these, even if it’s just to showcase the most recent trailer? Probably, but it’s just as likely that it skips them entirely. Never underestimate how unpredictable Square Enix, especially creative director Tetsuya Nomura, can be.

Even if new information were to be revealed, it’s looking more and more likely that Kingdom Hearts 4 will launch in 2027 or later. Confirmed for a simultaneous release on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, EB Games and JB Hi-Fi both listed the title for next year. That could very well be a placeholder, but considering the team’s statement about working towards the series’ 25th anniversary – which is next year – it wouldn’t be all that surprising. As always, time will tell, so stay tuned for more updates.

We must say it’s looking quite good, with the unique HD-2D art style really coming to life on the console while improved frame rates help things move along quite smoothly. However, we’d have liked more news about improvements and Switch 2-exclusive features that might be coming (especially with no paid upgrade path for Switch 1 owners).

Regardless, this one might be very interesting to those of you who like parallel storylines that eventually connect to the main narrative. We can tell you that the payoffs in both games are worth diving into the story and their many playable characters.

The combat’s pretty interesting too, and you’re sure to find something you like doing with the many synergies you can build between different members of your party. All in all, you’re looking at a lot of fun if you decide to dive into this one when it launches on October 1. The trailer’s below if you want to check it out before you pre-order either a physical or digital copy of either title, or pick up a digital-only bundle of both.

“We did a lot of experiments, including voxel representations (3D cubic pixels). We also tried superimposing 2D effects on other 2D effects,” said Nakashima, according to a transcription by Reddit user Confident-Line5916.

“But ultimately, we felt that HD-2D – this fusion of dots and 3D – was the most suitable way to represent both the challenge of new expressions and a cinematic game experience. We wanted to go further in representing things. We played with scale for enormous creatures like Bahamut or airship arrivals, and we also played with camera work, which we didn’t think was possible in 2D.”

When discussing the challenges faced by the team during the development of Final Fantasy Resonance, Nakashima said that, besides ensuring that all the characters feel appropriately balanced, getting the camera to work with the HD-2D style was quite tough, since even slight changes could potentially break the game’s look.

“The biggest challenge was balancing. There are 26 Visions, all beloved characters, and we couldn’t have any of them feel weaker than the others. Every single one had to be interesting and well-balanced. The other major difficulty was blending 2D and 3D. Adjusting the camera even slightly could break the 2D look, so we had to adjust everything pixel by pixel. It was real craftsmanship.”

On the subject of core gameplay, Nakashima said the focus was on staying with the franchise’s traditional turn-based action, albeit with a few modern touches.

“I obviously wanted to keep the traditional side of turn-based combat, but I also wanted to modernize it, so we added two key concepts. The first was satisfaction and fun. I want players to pick up a battle and immediately feel great about how fluid the actions are and how you can chain super attacks,” he explained.

“The second important point for me was team building. As I mentioned earlier, I’m a big fan of Final Fantasy 5 and its job system. That’s why we made the system of customizing your team very deep and detailed so you can create unique abilities.”

Nakashima ended the panel by talking about how confident he is in Final Fantasy Resonance. “It’s a game I genuinely find enjoyable,” he said, thanks to how it taps into the classic Final Fantasy tropes that fans of the franchise will get to rediscover. “For newcomers, it contains everything that makes the series charming.”

With Final Fantasy Resonance slated to offer a taste of the classic Final Fantasy style of gameplay and storytelling when it comes to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on October 22nd, Square Enix was asked whether this is a sign that the series might be returning to its roots in the future. In a Q&A with its shareholder, the company said its approach tends to focus on what “truly resonates” with the market.

“While specific titles may call for specific mechanics, we will continue our development efforts by assessing what truly resonates within the current market environment for both original titles and new remakes.”

In the meantime, the company is also gearing up for the Spring 2027 release of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

“There’s so much emotionality, there’s so much vulnerability,” he said. “There are moments in this that if you haven’t cried in the first two yet, I guarantee you’ll be sobbing in this third one.” He went on to say that the title will be “a payoff” for all of the story elements that have been building up so far.

Christian isn’t the only one who has spoken about how emotional Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will be. Just last month, director Naoki Hamaguchi spoke about how, despite having played through the title around 40 times, a certain scene still manages to make him cry. This comes down to the moments of introspection experienced by Cloud and how his fate has been bound by that of Zack and Aerith.

“There’s this scene that’s quite essential to the story of Final Fantasy 7 where Cloud goes into a moment of introspection and discovers his identity and how it fits with Zack and Aerith,” he said. “I think the way we portrayed that in Revelation turned out very well, and we’re eager for fans to see it.”

“I’ve finished Revelation about 40 times, and every time that introspective scene with Cloud made me cry.”

Without going into too many details about exactly which scene he was talking about, Hamaguchi said that it was “A key scene from the original, related to Cloud’s identity” and noted that it “is one of the most memorable experiences” in Revelation.

The emotional payoffs present in the storyline of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation may have played a role in the development team’s decision for the game’s title. Hamaguchi had previously spoken about how the story is going to offer many revelations to players.

While there were questions about whether the team would go with Resolve as the title instead, since that seems to be a core theme of the story, Hamaguchi said that it “wasn’t really a candidate for our title. We landed with ‘Revelation,’ because that was the word that was the best match for what we wanted to depict in the third instalment of our series.”

“I think a lot of fans and players were just really wondering, how this is going to go down, and how the trilogy is going to conclude,” he said. “As a response to that, this is our message, to say that this is the end of everything, this is where everything gets revealed, and this is where you will find out all the answers.”

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is being developed for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2, and is slated for release in Spring 2027.

Responding to whether Square Enix will focus more on remakes being big-budget affairs with open worlds and action gameplay in the vein of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy or if there are more plans to make games like Final Fantasy Resonance, the company spoke about learning things with its trial-and-error approach.

“As part of our market-in approach, we engage in trial and error to establish what is best for contemporary customers based on current market needs and trends,” explained Square Enix. “In doing so, it is extremely important to us that we strike the right balance between our approach and the expectations of players who loved the original works.”

It also comes down to whether a game in question would benefit from its core gameplay mechanics being brought over into the modern era, or if it could be remade in its entirety. “While specific titles may call for specific mechanics, we will continue our development efforts by assessing what truly resonates within the current market environment for both original titles and new remakes.”

While the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is likely the most popular of Square Enix’s remakes, the company isn’t a stranger to the concept of bringing back some of its older games while still preserving their visual styles. A major example of this is last year’s Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, which held on to the original’s isometric camera angles and general visual art style while still bringing in a few enhancements.

Aside from that, however, Square Enix has largely focused on making use of making remakes using its HD-2D art style. First introduced with Octopath Traveler in 2018, the style would then be used in a number of Square Enix RPGs, including the remake of 1994 SNES RPG Live A Live, and even the remakes of the original Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest 2 in the form of last year’s Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake.

Square Enix has also used HD-2D for original games. Along with Octopath Traveler and its sequel, it was most recently used in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.

Interestingly, Square Enix has engaged in a radical reinterpretation of visual styles with remakes in the past. A key example of this would be the 2007 remake of 1991’s Final Fantasy 4, which made use of an entirely new 3D art style, complete with entirely new cutscenes created especially for the game.

In the meantime, Square Enix is getting ready to wrap up its Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy with the Spring 2027 release of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, which is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Recent reports have indicated that the RPG might also get quite a bit of post-launch support with DLC releases.