Final Fantasy 7 Remake developers want Part 2 to be released "ASAP"
After THAT ending, the developers of Final Fantasy VII Remake have commented on what the scope of its sequels will be like.
Since even before the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake, Square Enix has offered little information about the scope of subsequent entries, but the Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania book released in Japan Tuesday includes some telling comments from the developers about Part 2 and the rest of the FF7 Remake series — including the exciting detail that they want to release Part 2 "ASAP."
As part of Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania, Game Director Tetsuya Nomura and Executive Producer Yoshinori Kitase confirmed that development remains ongoing, but they have no firm grasp on how many installments the series will be, but the hope is to release Part 2 "ASAP."
"We have a general idea of how the story will play out, but we haven't decided exactly [how many parts], nor can we confirm anything," Kitase said. "There's speculation that it will be 3 parts, but we're just doing things one step at a time." Three parts could work, but an alternate plan they're considering could involve a series of smaller installments.
"If we divide the story into large parts, it'll take longer to make. If we divide it into more detailed smaller sections, then developing it will be faster," Nomura said, according to one translation. "I hope to release the next one ASAP."
Check out Inverse's review of Final Fantasy VII Remake!
Final Fantasy VII Remake ends with Cloud and co. leaving Midgar.
Despite what fans have thought since the remake's episodic nature was revealed in 2015, Square Enix does not seem to have an exact idea of how many games this remake will last.
FF7 Remake only recreates the Midgar section of the original game and takes a lot of creative liberties in the process. Square Enix still has about two-thirds of the original story left to tell, and that's on top of anything new that's enhanced or explored further. The developers now have to make a choice about how much of the game they want to remake in the next entry. The scope of each subsequent installment is very much so up in the air.
As of April 2020, FF7 Remake Part 2 does not have an official release date or window. The only thing we do know about the release is that development wasn't impacted at all by the month-long delay of FF7 Remake.
The Inverse Analysis — Nomura's comments here make it seem like the sequel is still in very early development, so don't be surprised if it isn't released until 2023 despite a reduced scope. While that kind of pace for the FF7 Remake series might seem frustrating, the first game in the series proved that this slower pace can work and still be incredibly engaging and yield a quality final product.
Nomura and Kitase are incidentally being very vague about the future of this Final Fantasy sub-series, so we probably won't know what Square Enix's plans for the next game are until they show it off for the first time. Hopefully, we won't have to wait another five years.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is available now for PS4.
