As the journey of Cloud and friends nears its conclusion, players can be assured that the finish line won’t be too far away. Part 3 of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy looks to be “a bit more concise” than 2024’s FFVII Rebirth, with co-director Naoki Hamaguchi highlighting that the team is working on “striking a balance” between narrative development and the overall pacing.
In an interview with ScreenRant, he reflected on feedback levelled at the sequel, including its lengthy storytelling. While Hamaguchi disagreed with the outlook, it’s being taken into consideration for ongoing development on the untitled threequel, saying:
“Regarding time management in certain sections, especially in FFVII 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.”
He added, “As we work on the conclusion to the trilogy, we are striking a balance on how story arcs are told and spread out so as to ensure that the game feels a bit more concise.”
Other details about the project, including plot specifics and a release window, remain under wraps. However, the story has already been completed, with plans to freshen up the gameplay experience, much like how Rebirth introduced Synergy Skills and Abilities to the combat system.
“But moving forward to the third game in the series, obviously, I can’t say exactly what it is, but I don’t want to deliver just exactly the same style of gameplay experience as we had with Rebirth again. We’re going to evolve it and change it again to give another different and fresh take on the Final Fantasy VII gameplay,” Hamaguchi said.
“Again, that will be revealed in the not-too-distant future. I can say we’re working on it and we’re trying to change that because we’ve actually got a build up and running in the development team right now where you can experience that new style of gameplay.”
In the meantime, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is due to bow on the Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox on PC on 22 January 2026. Instead of the base game, it will be a port of the enhanced version that includes a bonus adventure starring Yuffie Kisaragi.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
