Naoki Hamaguchi Explains Why Wutai and Rocket Town Were Saved for Final Fantasy VII Revelation
- ⚡Xe⚡
- 1 minute ago
- 3 min read
In an interview with The Gamer, Naoki Hamaguchi discussed the decisions behind Revelation's world structure and exploration.
Looking back on Rebirth's development, Hamaguchi explained why Rocket Town and Wutai were intentionally left out of the second game:
“As for the layout of regions in Rebirth, it wasn’t so much a matter of splitting things up with the idea of saving some for the next game... Rocket Town and Wutai are certainly memorable in the original game, but when we looked at the plot and overall gameplay experience of Rebirth, we felt that they contained a very high density of information, and that including them at this stage would actually hinder the flow and pacing of the main story. Therefore, we made the decision to exclude them from Rebirth from the outset.”
“As a result, this created room for Rocket Town and Wutai to be treated as locations of significant importance in the third instalment, both in terms of story and gameplay experience. Looking back now, I believe it was the right decision in that it maintained the experiential depth of each individual title.”
Hamaguchi also explained how Revelation changes the approach to world exploration with the early Highwind:
“Our approach will shift slightly for the third instalment. Because players will be able to travel via the Highwind from an early stage, we believe a game design where players can choose their own order of approaching the world map — even more so than in Rebirth — would be a better fit. In that sense, rather than repeating the same experience across the trilogy, each title will change the very way of engaging with the world.”
He added that returning locations will have strong narrative reasons to revisit and contribute to a much larger sense of scale:
“It wasn’t an easy task for the team, but I feel that, as a result, we’ve created a world map that feels truly substantial.”
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About FINAL FANTASY VII
First released in 1997 on the PlayStation® computer entertainment system, FINAL FANTASY VII will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2027. The game is universally regarded as a landmark 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 15.7 million copies worldwide and continues to receive widespread acclaim from critics and fans around the world. The popular game has expanded into spin-offs, films and merchandise.
Now, Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY VII Remake Series, created by a team of original and new developers, retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. The first game of the trilogy, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, is available for PS4® consoles. The expanded edition, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE, and the second entry, FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, are now available for Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series X|S, XBOX PC, PS5® consoles and PC. FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION, the climactic conclusion of the series, will release for PS5 consoles, Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series X|S and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store and XBOX PC, in Spring 2027.