Square Enix wants to release the next part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake “ASAP”

Speaking in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Ultimania book (via Twitter) which was recently released in Japan, Square Enix has expanded upon the development of the JRPG epic. 

Much controversy surrounds the decision to release this long-awaited remake in the form of multiple episodes, a format which still doesn’t sit well with some fans. 

However, now the first part is in the wild and we have an idea of how it expands upon the original narrative in so many fascinating ways, it becomes much easier to swallow. 

Game director Tetsuya Nomura has now talked about the game’s development and how they might end up tackling the remaining parts. While we won’t spoil the ending here, we can’t wait to see where Nomura and company take the narrative next. 

“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. I hope to release the next one ASAP,” Nomura explained. 

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Producer Yoshinori Kitase also chimes in, shining a light on how many episodes we can expect going forward. Turns out, that decision hasn’t exactly been made yet. 

“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. There’s speculation that it will be three parts, but we’re just doing things one step at a time.”

So, the mystery deepens. We wouldn’t object to smaller entries if they do a more effective job of telling and expanding upon the original story. If you don’t take world map travel into account, the remaining narrative could likely be told in a smaller timeframe.

We can see Final Fantasy 7 Remake adopting open-world zones in a similar manner to Final Fantasy 15 as opposed to one cohesive landmass. There’s a lot of story left to tell,  and it remains to be seen how much it will differ from the original. So long as all the major beats are hit, we’re up for anything.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is now available exclusively on PS4. You can read our full review here, or read about why we think an episodic approach was the right decision for such a project.