Delivering three independent games across over 10 years frustrates the general openness of the Final Fantasy 7 Revamp series.
Fans of the classic JRPG had high hopes that the remake of Final Fantasy 7 would live up to the high standards set by the original. Many people pondered Square Enix’s approach to remaking the epic story that was featured in the lengthy, multi-disc original Playstation release.
Splitting the Final Fantasy 7 Remake into three distinct parts was the solution. Fans were concerned that dividing the game into three separate releases would result in inaccessibility due to releases on multiple console generations, high asking prices for the three full-priced games, and large gaps in time between releases.
Sadly, it appears that those concerns have been confirmed with the release of the sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
As long-time Square Enix fans are accustomed
As long-time Square Enix fans are accustomed to, the developer struggles with lengthy development times for its larger projects. This slows down the momentum of the remake. Fans of Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest all too well understand the importance of waiting when anticipating a new game.
During Sony’s E3 press conference in 2015, the development of a Final Fantasy 7 remake was first revealed. The first part would not come out until April 2020, five years later. The second part was said to be in the works in 2022 and should come out in 2023 or 2024.
Fans will have to wait a long time to see how a plot that has been going on for nearly 30 years is resolved in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, which comes out every 5 years. A game of this size should be expected to take some time to complete.
However, taking ten years to complete a single story arc alters the game’s impact in an industry where technological capabilities are constantly evolving. Releases that span nearly a decade will detract from the pacing of the original narrative unless a player is already a fan of the game and familiar with the story beats.
Players who want to play the entire Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy will find that the addition of DLC significantly increases the cost of doing so. For those who purchased the base game, Square Enix released the standalone Episode INTERmission DLC as part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade for the PlayStation 5.
Presently proprietors of the game on PS4 needed to lay out another $20 to get to extra story content and interactivity including Yuffie and Sonon if they had any desire to find out the latest with the total experience up to this point.
If the story DLC is included in the other parts of the remake trilogy, it will only increase the total cost of the experience and further divide the player base.
The greatest obstacle to accessibility is the release of the remake trilogy on multiple console generations. Although the PS5 has only been around for a year, many people are still having trouble obtaining the elusive console.
The remake of Final Fantasy 7 is now available for PC, PS4, and PS5.