FF7 Revelation Director Explains Why Remaking Classic RPGs Needs to Be in Trilogies
Key takeaways
- Due out next year, FF7 Revelation has a lot of story left to explore, plot promises left to deliver on and fan expectations to meet.
- Nobody knows that better than Naoki Hamaguchi, who has led the decade-long effort to retell FF7's story on a grand scale.
- Days after Hamaguchi took the stage at the SGF showcase to introduce FF7 Revelation to the world, I visited Square Enix's Los Angeles offices to chat with the director about the final chapter in the FF7 remake trilogy.
Summer Game Fest's showcase was filled with a lot of trailers, but arguably saved the biggest for last: the first reveal of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the third and final game in a trilogy that expansively remakes 1997's seminal roleplaying game, Final Fantasy 7. Due out next year, FF7 Revelation has a lot of story left to explore, plot promises left to deliver on and fan expectations to meet.
Nobody knows that better than Naoki Hamaguchi, who has led the decade-long effort to retell FF7's story on a grand scale. As co-director of 2020's Final Fantasy 7 Remake that kicked the trilogy off, then director of 2024's Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the upcoming FF7 Revelation, Hamaguchi has led studio Square Enix's unusual efforts to expand a single PlayStation One-era game into a trio of titles, the first two of which have been big successes.
Days after Hamaguchi took the stage at the SGF showcase to introduce FF7 Revelation to the world, I visited Square Enix's Los Angeles offices to chat with the director about the final chapter in the FF7 remake trilogy. Through an interpreter, I asked him about what's waiting for fans and how he feels about closing the door on the largest Final Fantasy project to date -- and what it would take to remake another game in the legendary RPG series.