Here's one way to utterly destroy all of the hype that Square Enix built surrounding Final Fantasy VII Remake this weekend: the game will be episodic – or something. News comes courtesy of shaky translations from Dengeki Online, but what we know for definite is that the game will be released in multiple parts – you won't be enjoying the whole story from start-to-finish in one go.
"The idea that a remake of Final Fantasy VII would not fit into a single release was there from the very beginning," producer Yoshinori Kitase said. "We still can't share more information about its multiple parts, but please look forward to future announcements." Tetsuya Nomura added that it didn't want to "summarise" any of the original, so it's decided to split the story up.
It's a bit of a hype killer, isn't it? While we're expecting something more akin to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy than a Telltale title, the thought of potentially having to wait years between instalments has us… A bit bemused. Still, we suppose that things were already too good to be true, right? We had to be brought back down to Earth eventually.
Update (18:45PM GMT): Square Enix has clarified that, while the story of Final Fantasy VII will be broken up, each so-called "episode" will consist of a full-length game.
[source dengekionline.com, via kotaku.com, gematsu.com]
Comments 79
If they really believe this "The idea that a remake of Final Fantasy VII would not fit into a single release was there from the very beginning," then it is like they say "No new game will be bigger/better than FF VII"
I think, this excuse, is pure crap and all they want is to milk it.
We need to wait for more details, but as @ShogunRok would say: F***ed it.
They did fuc*** it up
@Melucine HD towns are hard, man.
Aaaargh, don't panic!
Truly f***ed it.
@get2sammyb
I think the real problem is with the haircuts, not enough polygons for them,
also those Mako eyes...
This is a major deal breaker this doesn't look good at all not one bit.
as i said before, FFVII is HUGE and if doing it like this means nothing will be cut then i'm fine with it
plus as they said "the story of FFVII" this could also include the other games, the movie and the books, doesn't mean it has to be the original game
i say wait and see because it will still be EPIC anyway
Seems pretty stupid but this is SE. Still haven't seen near as much disgust over this as deserved though. Imagine if Capcom announces RE 2 Remake is episodic? The hate will be nonstop. But anything Final Fantasy VII, the most overrated brand in gaming history, gets a free pass.
@Gamer83 I'm not a massive fan of FF (yet) but I think saying it's over rated is something I wouldn't agree with. Everyone I know who has played it loves them and can't speak highly enough of them. A
Didn't see this one coming, but I hate to admit it makes sense. From the very beginning I worried this game would drop characters or areas in an effort to get it done. And I would have been OK with that b/c some of those characters aren't necessary to complete the main story, but I know some people would freak. So this kind of makes sense if they want to finish the ENTIRE game.
I think Sammy is right on about it being more like 13 than a subscription model. I have The Hobbit or LotRin my head. FF7:Avalanche, FF7:Sephiroth, FF7:Mother or maybe Meteor. Each game comes out in November in successive years.
It's been 17 years since I played 7 but I'm sure they could find good places for the break. I already have the first spot in my head but I'll continue to avoid typing this games well know major spoiler.
Price would be a big concern, but all those people who have been bragging - I'd pay any am out of money for an FF7 HD remake - may get the chance to put their money where their mouth is. Maybe $60 up front for all 3 games or $30 as each releases?
Of course the big problem is this is squenix, and they couldn't hit a deadline to save their lives, so do we believe them? They do need to promise on a stack of bibles all parts release on PS4. PS5 will get the 4k collection of course.
Whatever they decide, all details - system, timeline, # of parts, price - need to be addressed.
I can live with it though, as long as they get all the parts out before I die. I'm 50, mortality
is an issue where Squenix is concerned. FFXV still doesn't even have a freaking date yet.
The only way to turn into something good is if they use Advent Child and Dirge of Cerberus as episode 2 and 3.
F***ED IT
Actually the way I understood it before was something like RE2 Revelations, i.e finished then split up into parts. This article makes it sound like it could in fact be more like FF7-1, FF7-2 etc which may not be so bad. I don't mind the narrative split over multiple games, even if there's a long wait in between, providing each game is lengthly and of good quality.
But if they go this route of boxed sequels how can your characters including levels and equipment carry over to each new game? They can't make it so someone who didn't play the first 2 can't play the 3rd. That's not how, traditionally, sequels work, as shown in FF13.
Its a surprise but I wouldn't say it's destroyed the hype, but they do need to explain it a bit more thoroughly don't they?! And hopefully soon!
@kyleforrester87 To be clear, that's speculation on my part that it will be like Final Fantasy XIII. If it's like Resident Evil Revelations then it's even worse.
I think they're going to have to clarify because it's very unclear at the moment.
@get2sammyb yeah I appreciate you're just speculating. At the end of the day either are OK for me but I don't want to just be playing segments from the game with cutscene filler between each section to pad it out. If that's there reason for going episodic I'll be disappointed.
lolol. i thought about maybe getting this, but now..... hahahahaha no.
@kyleforrester87 Just to add, from what they're saying, it can't be like Resident Evil Revelations 2. Those episodes came out pretty quick, suggesting the whole game was done and they cut it up. Even Telltale there's a maximum of six months between episodes. But they're making it sound like Final Fantasy VII is so big that they can't possibly make it all at once... So surely that suggests there's going to be at least a year between parts?
I dunno! Weird...
If that is truly the reason, then fair enough. They always said it would be a very difficult game to remake due to the sheer scale so if, to deliver a complete experience, this is how they need to do it then fair enough I guess.
Modernise the game how you want SE but don't be cutting story content!
Well it seems that I won't play FF7 for the first time lol
It kinda ruins the hype somehow...
Dun goofed
Well there goes that, with that statement all my interest is completely gone.
@mrobinson91
I don't think Final Fantasy is overrated. FF I-VI are some of the greatest RPGs of all-time. Some of the ones that have followed are also very good. I'm talking VII specifically, which has become it's own brand. Not that it was a bad game but it is no where near deserving of being on the pedestal people put it on.
Until we know more details, this is the stance I'm taking:
@Gamer83 Apologies, I must have slightly misunderstood your comment. I do see where you are coming from, in fact some of my friends say they prefer 6 or 8. I'm playing through 7 now so I'll have my own opinion on it soon
@mrobinson91
Cool. Hope you enjoy it.
@Gamer83 It's totally deserving of that pedestal, imo
F***ed it.
Least they waited til after the press conference though.
Ahhhh I'm giving em the benefit of the doubt now! Just do it justice, I guess.
@kyleforrester87 Lol - I was just going to post a comment saying that this news story is only half of it. It is now timer to ask gamers this; what would you like? A complete story or one that has had things missing or cut short? Myself, I would rather have the full story but that is my opinion.
Yeah, doesn't sound really good. Guess since this joins FFXV and KH3 as the forever-in-development SE games, then they want to have something out not too far away so the hype does not die. And to milk it for all its worth.
If they eventually release the whole thing in one single package, I'm game. Otherwise, get out of here.
Well they do have ALOT on their plate right now, and trying to completely redo this all at once would probably be a bigger task than most of all other titles they are developing. I also think they realize that the original is compromised of any story lines so it could be interesting breaking things up. Mostly I think they are doing it to charge full price multiple times to maximize their profit.
Man, I hope they release it like 13 series. I would still get it, if it was a decent complete experience for each game. If there is a "To be continued" at the end of any, I'm breaking discs. (Still smarting from 13-2) Tell Tale episodic...no thanks. On a lighter note, I saw the announcement of Ni no kuni 2. Never played the first, but I'm looking for the first one now to get ready for 2. Looks absolutely fun!
I'm not too concerned except when it comes to the physical release, how would that work? I'd rather not go digital on a huge triple A game. I want it on disc. And with a game I love this much I might even consider a special edition. Maybe.
Yep, cussed it. If this is like full releases each with 80 hours of content, I'll might be able to understand. If it's like Telltale then I se backtracking from a horrible idea. My other big concern is the coherence of the experience. The characters leveling up and side-quests with long reaching affects could be quite troublesome. The was never designed to be multiple releases, and that's where a potential problem is.
I'm happy to wait years for an entire collection on one disc or whatever - there will be tons of games to play in the meantime and I would want to play this properly, from start to finish.
Meh, I'll wait for the full release, its not like its going to arrive this decade anyway.
@kyleforrester87 I'm with you and it looks like they are rebuilding the original in chunks essentially, probably with a reasonable gap between releases. As long as stats and weapons and everything else carries over and not not have each one a stand alone. It actually makes sense thinking about it, how long would we be waiting for them to make the game in its entirety? This would also solve the problem of how to get rid of the world map, I just hope there is some exploration left.
They really should have clarified what it is though instead of leaving it up in the air. I must say initial disappointment has gone and after watching the trailer I am still really excited for this and at the end of the day I now have the original FFVII sat on my PS4 ready to be played at any time
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi
Freaking FF XV might not even arrive this decade at its current rate.
Poor FFVII. Why on earth all these big companies want always more and more money? So greedy !!! Unless if this game is so difficult to develop for new remastered graphics and that's why they want to deliver episodes every a couple of months... I don't know but I hope that at least eventually some day to be released as ONE full game in ps4 and not in ps5..
@ZeD I dunno. Does every single component and cutscene from the original absolutely have to be in there? I always envisioned this would be a "new game" based upon the original. The iconic scenes need to be there, of course, but do they absolutely have to remake everything?
@get2sammyb wow - this comment makes me want to delete my account here. Does everything need to be in it? I feel sorry for this world....
@ZeD All I'm saying is that they're, for all intents and purposes, making a brand new game here. I get that it's Final Fantasy VII Remake, but surely they have license to change and tweak things? Are you expecting all of the dialogue to be identical as well?
Maybe they look at the original and think, "This bit added nothing to the story." So why not cut it, right? Or do it differently? That's all I'm saying.
@get2sammyb There isn't that much guff in FF7 in fairness, you'd be talking about cutting entire towns out of the game to make it much shorter. Based on their comments they would need to remove quite a lot. And of course, how much do you cut before you're not making the remake the fans want? Because at the end of the day, it is a game for fans of the original.
@carlos82 True enough - my concern is having everything carry over. I don't see how it's possible unless they make it so you can load your saved data in, or if you didn't buy the previous game start with the average levels/equipment required. Otherwise, perhaps the customisation has been dumbed right down. Clarification needed!
@get2sammyb That is all fine and dandy but they are adding more content to thus making it bigger. So whether they cut original parts or not, it is still going to be big enough for them to release it in parts. I would love to see the reaction if they turn around and say it is not coming out until 2018 (or beyond) because we have not finished it yet. What is the issue with episodes? I just do not understand? Am I the only normal one here? People are now not excited because of this?! What the f_ck us wrong with people these days? Are we never happy any more???
This article is just click bait! It is missing half the content from the source and is used to cause a "discussion"
@kyleforrester87
This is the only issue I can see too. I hope you can transfer over but I am sure time will tell. Square are keeping a lot of details close to their chests at the moment.
@ZeD I don't think this article is missing anything to be honest, but I'm sorry you feel that way. As for the episodes, I think people thought they were going to go out and buy Final Fantasy VII for the PS4 and they'd get Final Fantasy VII for the PS4. However they cut it up, we now know you're only going to get part of Final Fantasy VII for the PS4. That's disappointing because it's not what people expected.
@get2sammyb The news was from a translated source which I don't think has helped. But in essence it reads as though whatever they are doing, they are doing to deliver a more complete experience, so I remain hopeful!
@kyleforrester87 Yeah there's no doubt in my mind it'll be a bigger game and deeper game because of this, which is a good thing. The negative is how long it's all going to take before the full, complete experience is available. If Part 1's not out until 2017, we could be looking at 2020 or later...
We need more details.
@get2sammyb but, they will be getting Final Fantasy VII-1 through to whatever the final part is. I just do not understand what is going on here. They seem to be a good way into development and have come out and told us it is in parts. It is not like they have told us 1 week before! Anyway, I will just wait to see the review score being cut due to being in episodes 😔
@ZeD Don't worry, I'm with you, still very excited for this. I think there's just a trend at the moment for people to have massive overreactions to anything & everything. Hopefully it will pass.
Just remember, the dream is happening, FF7 is getting a full remake. I can't wait
@LieutenantFatman I am so excited to play this again. Will be picking up the port soon on PS4 to help ease the pain. But yes, the dream is real 😀
@ZeD We certainly won't be lowering the score here because it's episodic - we don't do that. And I agree with you that it's good they've told us now. I just... It's just so weird. But whatever, it is what it is!
Of course, there is the financial aspect, they can make more off 3 full cost releases than they can 1. Call it greed if you like, but I suppose it's a costly endeavour, and they are in the business of making money. Again, if the quality is there I'm happy to pay.
It's like when they split the Hobbit film into 3. Clearly a money spinner - and they still managed to miss loads out (and make loads up!), but hey!!
@kyleforrester87 It didn't work for The Hobbit though. I thought they made a real mess of that. And the CG & story telling was really poor, didn't look anywhere near as good as LOTR. Hopefully FF7 turns out better.
@get2sammyb They need to address it sooner rather than later. It's going to have a lot of negative feedback, though I guess people talking about it is what they want.
@get2sammyb in Japanese, the news doesn't sound so bad.
@LieutenantFatman Yeah but the Hobbit was just an example of how they span something out for commercial gain. It worked for LOTR, because LOTR was a long book. FF7 is a long book. It can work, with care.
@kyleforrester87 This is true. Plus they have some of the original team on board from 1997 so fingers crossed they can make it better than ever.
As long as it's done well, I won't mind all that much. I haven't touched Final Fantasy 7 yet, but I've heard it's a pretty big game. To remake it properly for this generation would be difficult.
I am thinking now that the primary way to deliver episodes like this is digital only with a full physical release once done. I bet that's how they'll do it...
I figured something like this would happen as big of a game that is. Here's hoping for a on disc release of the whole shebang in the future.
@TheMightyPunram True dat
I'm really sick of these damn episodic game releases! I'll wait for a full retail release, what it should actually be, not this garbage.
@kyleforrester87 I'd be okay if it was like the Hobbit. I don't think it suffered at all for being three movies. They didn't let them suffer in anyway because of it. They were all almost three hours long, just like a normal LOTR movie. If they wanted to be cheap, they could've made three moves around 2 hours, and had only needed to make the footage for two movies worth by LOTR standards. In fact, I'd say it could be better off it's like the Hobbit as I think the Hobbit benefitted from being three movies. I'm just glad I know though, because I thought there was only supposed to be one Hobbit movie when I saw the first one lol. I was so confused at the end.
From the book How to Make Money Out of Half-Baked Products, chapter Everyone will buy it, anyway. Sad, but true. Let's wait and see. Personally, I love series; hope it turns out to be one instead of 6 episodes like Telltale...
When I first saw the news I thought they somehow want to input in the core game plot points from Crisis Core, Digre or Advent Childer. The scale and scope of the Remake seem to be huge. In the end of the day they may make three parts for 60 euros each that is something I may not like even though I know that sooner or later I will biy all parts.
Looks like I was late to one heck of a party.
I can imagine this working if by episodic, they meant "Disc 1/2/3". I can see them releasing the episodes as they were on the multiple discs back in the day. That's probably too hopeful for everybody, but it's worth a shot.
Square: Creating Confusion Since 1983.
@belmont But you'll be waiting, like, five years for the full set?
To anyone who has genuine concerns over this, please remember that the game is still early in development but Square Enix recently changed there mind over the Preorder policies over Deus Ex. So they can listen, tell them constructively that we have concerns and we ideally want a full product on release or at the least tell us what exactly there plans are.
Does it really matter though? I mean if it being released in part bothers you then just wait for it all to be released? That's what I tend to do with Telltale games and I waited until Life is Strange to be fully released before getting it.
Now i know that depends on the actual release shedule, but at least its coming. I'm sure if they said it was going to be another two years development instead but you will get it all... People will complain about that too.
Personally I don't see it as a big deal even if the internets says its unbearable....
@adf86 The fact that it's in development at all means that they surely must already have a design document for it, so they know what's going into this first entry already. You don't start constructing something until you've properly planned it.
Then again, I wonder how many times the design document for FF15 has changed.
NOOOOOOO! So close yet so.... soul destroying. It's bad enough saying it's going to be episodic, but the fact they said each episode can stand on it's own means it's going to be ruined without a doubt.
I don't mind this. I wasn't expecting to see FFVII released for years, after FFXV had come and gone. Now I can look forward to the first episode a lot sooner. It also sounds like they're being very ambitious with the title if it couldn't have been done as a single release.
@kyleforrester87 @get2sammyb watching the trailer again there is both an atb bar of some kind and materia is mentioned which hopefully points to customisation. Reading the full statement it sounds like they are just trying to get the game out there, whilst not missing anything out and building upon what already exists. Also it really does look like it's been made by people who understand the essence of the game, showed by the effort in the theme too (which is causing me to take longer to start my games up) They already stated they will be making new parts of Midgar and they are including the Don Corneo section in some form.
I just had another flick through what was said and it sounds more like a few full releases than the typical episodic games, making it potentially huge. This creates the problem of how to crossover character builds but they could do what the Witcher did with its dlc for new players. Does it actually say that they can be played separately? Because at this rate from what I've read here and elsewhere there will only be about 5 of us buying it anyway
In any case I can't wait and I didn't think the original would hold up so well today making me completely addicted again
Just been clarified by Square Enix that it will be a series of standalone, complete games.
@FullbringIchigo I really hope this is the route they're going, instead of what everyone fears will be the case.
@get2sammyb That's the problem. FF7 is my favourite game so sooner or later I will buy the Parts close to the release date. If it true that each Part will be a full sized FF game you may play it to close the release of the next Part, unless they troll us and release each Part with a two year gap.
Edit: I just saw the feature article. I can't agree more.
So, just like movies taking the final installment and splitting up into 2 (Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games) or even worse, The Hobbit which was split into THREE films, now we see it penetrate video games.
So uh, the original was one release- why would this not be one release as well? It's a crock is what it is. They're just milking it. Why sell one copy of the game when you can stretch it into 3?
I'm done. I'll wait for the eventual complete edition, and if that never comes, I guess I'll just never play it.
It was at that moment that Square realized that their decision was as pointless as a screen door on a submarine. It was truly the moment they realized, they f**ked up.
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