Today, Square Enix set the Internet on fire with a financial briefing in which they outlined their future plans.
This outline included three games planned for “FY2018/3 and beyond,” Kingdom Hearts 3, the Final Fantasy VII Remake, and a Marvel game. They “plan to launch each of these upcoming titles in the next three years or so.”
Somehow, fans have taken this to mean Kingdom Hearts 3 and the Final Fantasy VII Remake won’t be out for three years.
But that’s not what Square Enix said at all!
First, these are their plans starting from fiscal year 2018. That means games on the slide could be released in 2018.
Second, these games will be released “in the next three years or so.” In other words, they’ll be released within three years, not necessarily three years from now.
Finally, the slide refers to “a robust pipeline from which 1-2 blockbuster titles as well as multiple mid-size titles are constantly launched every year.” If they hope to release 1-2 blockbuster titles every year, it makes sense that the blockbuster titles listed on the same slide could be among them.
In short, Square Enix did NOT say we have to wait 3 years for Kingdom Hearts 3 or the Final Fantasy VII Remake (or the Marvel game). This news does NOT mean these games won’t be out until then.
Instead, it means these games should be out in 2018, 2019, or 2020. One could come out each of those three years, even.
Update: According to DualShockers, a more accurate translation of the Japanese statement is: “We plan to launch them sequentially over the next three years or so.” That makes the one-per-year scenario even more likely.
Many people have chosen to interpret this announcement in the most pessimistic way, but I don’t think that’s how it was intended. I know I’ve been mistaken before (I never expected Final Fantasy XV’s structure would be so odd), but there’s no need to panic. This news doesn’t rule out a 2018 Kingdom Hearts 3 release date by any means.
I hope Square Enix provides more information at E3, maybe even with more specific windows for their upcoming games. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even get a solid release date.
Between its multi-part nature and new battle system, the Final Fantasy VII Remake has certainly caused some confusion for fans.
In a new interview, director Tetsuya Nomura raised even more questions about what the Final Fantasy VII Remake means for the Compilation.
Final Fantasy VII started as a single game, but it ended up as a small series of its own, with a movie sequel (Advent Children), a third-person shooter sequel (Dirge of Cerberus), and an action RPG prequel (Crisis Core), to name a few of the most popular additions to the Final Fantasy VII universe.
Some fans, including me, theorized that maybe the reason the Final Fantasy VII Remake needs to be released as multiple games is because it’s adapting pieces of the Compilation, too.
Well, that’s not the case. Probably.
In this new interview, Nomura gave his thoughts on the possibility of an HD remaster of Before Crisis, Crisis Core, and Dirge of Cerberus.
He said the Final Fantasy VII remake “will be different from the original Final Fantasy VII,” and that remasters of the Compilation games alongside the remake “will hardly have an overall coherence […] because there is no more continuity between the Compilation and the Remake for the moment.”
On one hand, you could that this to mean that the Final Fantasy VII Remake will include aspects of those games, which is why remasters wouldn’t fit alongside it. On the other hand, the phrase “no more continuity” suggests they won’t make sense in the new Final Fantasy VII universe.
Some fans will be pleased with this news, since the Compilation has had a mixed reception, especially for some of the more convoluted elements it introduced. At the same time, though, it raises the question of just how different the Final Fantasy VII Remake will be from the original.
Of course, he did say “at the moment,” so who knows how it will end up?
What do you think? Will elements of the Final Fantasy VII Compilation remain in the Final Fantasy VII Remake, or is the Compilation material gone from the new universe?
Between the Game Awards, PlayStation Experience, and the past few days in general, there has been a lot of exciting video game news lately. Psychonauts 2, a game I considered so unlikely to exist I didn’t even list it as a pipe dream, will become a reality if it gets enough funding on Fig. Holiday Star and Aviary Attorney both received release dates (December 15 and December 18 respectively). Ni No Kuni 2 was announced (I still need to play the first one). Live streams were announced for the Tales anniversary and the Dragon Quest anniversary.
And Square Enix released new details about the Final Fantasy VII remake.
First, they showed a new trailer during PlayStation Experience.
Before I get into my criticisms, let’s focus on the positives.
In theory, I love the concept of this remake. It’s so cool to see Wedge, Biggs, and Jessie with modern graphics. Seeing the opening with Avalanche made it really hit me that they’re going to remake the entire epic Final Fantasy VII story.
But of course, most people were concerned with the combat system.
When I watched that trailer, I honestly couldn’t tell if it was action or turn-based combat. On the surface, it looks like an action RPG, but what’s up with the menu? If it’s a Kingdom Hearts-style command menu, why is “defend” an option? What sort of action RPG makes you pick “defend” from a menu?
Since then, the producer has said it is not completely action based, but has more action than the original. Later statements placed it somewhere lower than Kingdom Hearts on the action scale and hints that it will be some sort of hybrid to appeal to fans of both systems.
If Square Enix can pull that off, that’s amazing. Personally, I’d be happy with the option to switch, too! Then everyone could be happy! Let us have our turn-based combat if we want it!
This has caused so many fights, I don’t even want to discuss the game with the fanbase. People on both sides are being ridiculous. Fans of turn-based combat accuse the other side of being mindless Call of Duty fans who hate thinking and aren’t true Final Fantasy fans. Fans of action combat, meanwhile, accuse them of being blind Luddites who can’t let go of an outdated system and probably wouldn’t buy the game anyway.
Stop.
Turn-based combat isn’t outdated. Action combat isn’t stupid. Both are viable RPG genres, and there’s no reason to insult fans of one just because you prefer the other.
Tales is not Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy is not Tales.
Personally, I wanted the Final Fantasy VII remake to be turn-based. I have nothing against ARPGs (if I did, why would I shower Tales of Symphonia with so much praise?), but I particularly love turn-based.
It depresses me when people refer to the genre as something old and outdated we need to move beyond. I wanted Final Fantasy VII to be a huge, epic turn-based RPG to prove it’s still viable in today’s market.
Plus, it’s Final Fantasy VII! Would you remake Uncharted as a first-person shooter? Advance Wars as real-time strategy? Tales of Symphonia as a turn-based RPG? No! A remake shouldn’t involve a genre shift, one of the reasons I point to REmake as the ideal remake model.
So the news that the Final Fantasy VII remake would probably have action combat disappointed me. But I could live with it. If it was a good ARPG, I’d give it a chance.
According to How Long to Beat, Final Fantasy VII takes approximately 40 hours for the main story and 91 hours for completion. These are just averages, so let’s jump up and say it’s a 100-hour game.
There are games with hundreds of hours worth of content and modern graphics. What makes Final Fantasy VII so huge it won’t work as a single release? If it is massive, why not release it on multiple disks? How will a multi-part or episodic Final Fantasy VII even work?
It might not be a bad thing. If the Final Fantasy VII Remake includes remakes of Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus, for example, I’d be on board with that. But if it splits the story into pieces (some people have suggested expanding Midgar into a full game), I think this is a devastating move.
Above all, Square Enix needs to come out and clarify exactly what they’re doing here. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts, now that you’ve heard mine. How do you feel about the Final Fantasy VII Remake?
Today, Square Enix set the Internet on fire with a financial briefing in which they outlined their future plans.
