“4 or maybe even 5 instalments” If you want Remakes of older Final Fantasy games, prepare for them to be even bigger than the FF7 Remake trilogy

This weekend, Final Fantasy fans from around the world converged at an exhibition centre in Berlin, celebrating the massive Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest. It was an interesting celebration; not only was Final Fantasy 14’s iconic lead, Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida, in attendance, but the show also brought Final Fantasy 7 Remake lead Naoki Hamaguchi back to Europe, too.

At the show, the two hosted a panel talking about all things Final Fantasy (thanks, GamesRadar) – straying away from the confines of just the hugely popular MMORPG (which, we learned, is getting a Nintendo Switch 2 version much sooner than expected). During the panel, one fan asked whether future remake games are on the cards in the wake of the huge success of both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

“Of course I understand the feelings of the players, but you gotta think about it,” Yoshi-P replied (via translator). “Look at Final Fantasy 6, it’s such an incredibly huge game. The scale is just immense. And the same applies for other titles like Final Fantasy 8, Final Fantasy 9.” He then turns to Hamaguchi and says: “So, of course, now because you are working on the Final Fantasy 7 series, I do get that people would be asking for remakes of other titles. But if we did remake those other titles, we’d probably end up having to release them in four or maybe even five instalments.”

Hamaguchi then chimed in saying how he feels remarkably grateful that a lot of his team have stuck around for the full FF7 Remake trilogy (something we touched upon in my big interview last week), noting that is actually not that common in the games industry. “That’s why I can’t just sit here and go, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ll remake [FF6],’ because it’s not quite that easy,” he continued.

He goes on to note that he’s spoken about Final Fantasy 6 in the past, and whenever he does, there are eventually stories about him working on a remake of the game. “Every time I give that answer to a journalist or someone, the next day there’s an article online saying ‘Hamaguchi will be remaking Final Fantasy 6’. So I also say ‘no, I am not’ at the same time.”

So, despite the insinuation that Final Fantasy 6 remakes (or maybe even 8 or 9 remakes!) would take plenty of instalments to complete, we can probably count them out any time soon. Interestingly enough, Hamaguchi may end up working on something else entirely. Elsewhere in the panel, Yoshi-P says: “I think it’s one of the biggest compliments people were saying in the comments that they wish Hamaguchi is making FF17.” He turns to Hamaguchi and says “But you don’t have to answer!”

“If I answer…” replies Hamaguchi. To which Yoshi-P says “No, no, don’t!” Does this suggest that, maybe, Hamaguchi’s sights are set on a prospective Final Fantasy 17 once FF7 Revelation is all done and dusted? The seeds appear to have been planted.