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There's been a lot of debate over just how commercially successful Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have proven to be — but I was always of the mind that the remake trilogy would have serious legs.
In short, selling the second and third parts of a planned trilogy is always going to be difficult. Plenty of players will bounce off the first game, leading to a gradual decline in interest around its sequels.
But there is a way to counteract this inevitability, at least to some extent. By actually finishing the saga off, you get to repackage the whole trilogy as a complete experience; those who missed out on the ride the first time will probably be more inclined to give it a shot once the whole thing's readily available.
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And that's why it's not surprising to see players flock to Remake and Rebirth, following on from the full reveal of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation.
Both titles are seeing a significant spike in player numbers over on Steam — the highest it's been since launch — and you would assume that it'll be a similar story on PS5.
Of course, some fairly steep (and timely) discounts have helped, but still, people are clearly wanting to get caught up on Cloud and the gang's escapades ahead of the final chapter's release in spring of next year.
And as alluded, there's so much potential for re-releases in the future. It's all but guaranteed that Square Enix will, at some point, repackage the trilogy as a single collection — and then it can obviously remaster the lot on PS6!
I imagine that player numbers will continue to jump over the coming months — and they'll probably peak just before Revelation drops. The hype's definitely real, so now we just have to hope and pray that the developer's nailed the finale.
Have you been thinking about replaying Remake and Rebirth? Or maybe playing them for the first time? Sort through your materia in the comments section below.