Final Fantasy VII Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi has clarified that while he recently assured fans that Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 would “strike a balance” when it came to pacing and be “more concise,” that didn’t mean he would change anything about Rebirth’s pacing.
As we reported last week, the director reflected on criticism of the series’s pacing and lengthy instalments. Asked if he agreed with the feedback that “certain sections” in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth felt a little long, he disagreed, saying: “Regarding time management in certain sections, especially in FF7 Rebirth, I honestly don’t believe that they were longer than necessary. I feel like nowadays, players just have too much to do and too much to play; so they often feel the urge that something has to be concluded quickly.”
In a new interview with VGC, Hamaguchi expanded further on this, saying: “Just to explain, the original question I was asked there was, they said that there are some people who played Rebirth, the second game in the series, and they felt that because we’ve added in new story content, which wasn’t in the original Final Fantasy 7, to them it felt like the story was being stretched out,” he explained. “So they asked whether we were considering doing anything related to that in the third game.
“I feel that the pacing, the content, and the balance in Rebirth is exactly as I wanted it. I personally don’t feel it’s been stretched out; it doesn’t feel unnecessarily long. To me, I think I got that right, and I think a lot of people would agree with me.”
Hamaguchi explained that while he is looking at pacing and ensuring “that the story developments move forward in a fairly speedy manner and with the right pace essentially, rather than feeling slow and drawn out,” his comment may have been “misconstrued.”
“I think that may have been misconstrued by people; they may have said, ‘Okay, that means they’re going to cut down on the volume and they’re going to remove story content, it’s going to be a shorter game, they’re going to cut it down’, and that’s not what I’m saying at all,” he added.
“It’s about making sure the pacing feels right, it’s not about cutting out content, it’s making sure that it feels right, the speed that the story progresses at feels right, and it is fairly quick and feels like you can get through it at a reasonable pace. But it has to feel right, so that’s what I mainly intended to say there.”
RPG fans have been on the hunt for news about the next entry in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy since its last installment, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, launched in early 2024. We know development started as early as June 2022, with Square Enix saying last year that its goal was to see it launch by 2027. Excitement for the third and final chapter in the trilogy grew even more when the team revealed that it had completed its story earlier this year.
While we wait, you can read up why the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 team “will not cheat” when it comes to Final Fantasy 7’s iconic airship. And as for if Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 will have turn-based combat? Hamaguchi said it had not been “pre-determined yet” despite the success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which boasts traditional JRPG-inspired turn-based combat and recently confirmed sales of 5 million copies in five months.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
