Naoki Hamaguchi Explains Story Changes in Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy
- ⚡Xe⚡
- Oct 3
- 3 min read
Naoki Hamaguchi spoke with Game Developer at Tokyo Game Show about the reasoning behind the remake trilogy’s story changes. He explained that the development team wanted to ensure long-term player engagement across all three entries, not just through new elements alone but through reimagining parts of the story itself.
"We want to keep the players' interest in our game, but in order to do that, we can't simply just add new elements, that won't be enough."
"We wanted to add a new interpretation to the story, entirely new story elements, things like that to, again, sustain the player interest and have players look forward and be curious to the conclusion of the remake trilogy."
When working on the remake, Hamaguchi noted that the team considered what aspects of the original Final Fantasy VII were most important to fans. Some parts remained unchanged, while others were newly created for the modern generation of players.
"Obviously, when we look at Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I think a lot of users were interested to find out what's gonna happen to Aerith and her fate. So because of that, we tried to create a game and depict the story in a way where players won't be able to tell what's going to happen to Aerith until the very end."
Looking forward, Hamaguchi expects the third and final entry to center on how the story resolves with Meteor and the ultimate conclusion.
"The key for this project to succeed is to determine what kind of changes we would want to bring in order to sustain the player interest throughout the remake trilogy."
"Without determining where we want to change some things up in terms of the story, it's kind of hard to ensure that the project succeeds, not just Remake and Rebirth, but the entire remake trilogy. So we're sort of trying to push boundaries in that sense and trying to figure out what kind of bold changes we can bring to the story, but we're also trying to make careful decisions around that."
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-⚡Xe⚡
About FINAL FANTASY VII
First released in 1997 on the PlayStation® computer entertainment system, FINAL FANTASY VII celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2022. The game is universally regarded as a hallmark title of the RPG genre. The original title received high praise for its epic storyline, unique characters, and movie sequences that utilized the most cutting-edge technology of the time. Since then, the game revolving around iconic hero, Cloud Strife and his pursuit of the antagonist Sephiroth has sold over 15.3 million copies worldwide and continues to receive widespread acclaim from critics and fans around the world. The popular game has even expanded into spin-offs, films and merchandise.
Now, Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY VII remake project created by a team of original and new developers, retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct, and standalone games. The first game of the trilogy, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE is now available on the PC and the PS5® and PS4® consoles, will be available on Jan. 22, 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox PC, and Nintendo Switch™ 2 platforms. FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, the second game in the trilogy, has been praised by both players and critics across the globe, earning more than 125 perfect scores from media and 40 Game of the Year awards, and is available now for PC and the PS5® console.
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