I often cast my mind back to that moment when I first unwrapped the bulky case of Final Fantasy 7. I knew I was in for a treat but I had no idea about the hours of gameplay and mini-games that awaited. Square sure went to town on FF7, so much so that it didn’t only raise the bar for RPG’S, but for every game released thereafter.
Final Fantasy VII raised the bar for console games
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– Square’s Next-Gen Final Fantasy VII Remake
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It was a particular gaming event that unleashed a certain “technical demo” that had the globe chatting, posting and Tweeting with excitement. The opening of the classic Final Fantasy 7 had been remade with PS3 visuals!
The Final Fantasy VII Technical Demo had us all believing the remake was well underway
At this point, we all were certain that Final Fantasy 7 was being remade…but years later…we’re still waiting. We’ve all been feed encouraging and disappointing news, ranging from directors wanting nothing more than a remake, to woes about development time and huge development predictions. Over the past few years all Final Fantasy 7 fans have had their prayers answered and their dreams crushed. So what’s going on?
Final Fantasy VII – A remake too good to leave on the bench
No matter how much more disappointing news we’ll receive, one thing is for certain…you’ll see a remake of Final Fantasy 7. How are we so sure of this? Simple. The game pretty much prints money for Square. A game of that standard and popularity could never be ignored and while Square still make money from spin-offs and prequels you can bet cash bags that a remake is on their development list (but it’s just missing any form of development milestone).
Do you honestly think that every email request, written request or forum suggestion totally passes by the development team? Of course not! They know how popular a Final Fantasy 7 remake would be. It WILL happen. It’s simply not a question of “if” but a question of “when”. Many of you actually thought you’d seen the last of Duke Nukem, right? Well guess what…yup, impossible. Why? Because the IP is far too valuable and well-known to completely fall off the face of the earth. It simply fell a few meters into the pockets of Gearbox. Read the Duke Nukem Forever PC Review
So, what are Square actually doing about a Final Fantasy 7 remake?
As we all know, Square are playing this one close to their chests. They may have started years ago (that could explain the tech demo) or they may want to wait patiently for a development slot and remain loyal to their ridiculously over-crowded release schedule. A new Final Fantasy game tends to pop-up at every games show, so it’s kind of hard to imagine a fully dedicated FF7 remake team, right now. But is FFVII a secret on-going project amongst other things?
With new Final Fantasy games announced at just about EVERY game show, is a FFVII remake a secret project…or simply a future project?
Final Fantasy 13 was a big project to Square. But while the game still sold well, it was a flop as far as hardcore Final Fantasy fans were concerned. No world map, fewer interactive characters and seriously dumbed-down out-of-battle exploration had taken away Squares RPG crown. BUT…after playing the Final Fantasy XV demo, it’s clear that not only have Aquare learnt there lesson, they’re preparing for the biggest remake of all time.
What does this all mean for a Final Fantasy VII remake?
We’ve gone over quite a few situations that Square could be in. We’ve discussed potential plans and strategies that could be on Square’s drawing board. So, taking all of that into consideration:
– Final Fantasy XV is a technical ‘test’ to see if Square can comfortably pull-off such a large RPG project to next-gen standard. Put simply, if the 15th installment sells well (and fans want more), Square could then ‘green light’ the FF7 remake.
– Square could be planning a Final Fantasy VI remake and/or a Final Fantasy VIII remake (also major fan requests) before heading for VII. Although it wouldn’t make sense to jump to 8 before 7…Square may simply wish to save their best for last.
– Square could have possibly reserved a FF7 team for a PSVITA remake. Remember, it’s not only still being pushed for PS4 support, but Sony went to extreme lengths to boost PSP sales, by exclusively signing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
A FFVII PS VITA remake would seriously give Sony a boost in the handheld market. Once again, leaving Ninty out of the FFVII cash machine (just like the original PlayStation release, instead of the N64).
How a PSVITA version of Final Fantasy VII could look
We think we’ve made it clear that Square would never abandon a FFVII remake. Once again, It was never really a question of “if” but simply a question of “when”. Our money would be on one of the scenarios above but…Square could always keep the FFVII remake as a “get out of jail free card” if all new Final Fantasy projects fail. Remember, Final Fantasy 6 and 7 were developed during some tough times for Square. The company could simply be saving such a huge remake for when they have no other choice.
How do you think Square are playing this? Do you think it could be one of the scenarios listed above, or something completely different? Let us know via the comments section below.
I really hope to see a remake of Final Fantasy VII hit a PS4…but if it’s better for Square to release it for VITA, then go for it!
Hmmm…Vita or PS4? If Square do both, I wonder who they’ll get to do the PSVITA Final Fantasy VII remake? They won’t be able to do both!!
@Ryan
I sure hope a Final Fantasy 7 Remake is released for the PS3 too (that would mean it’s out pretty soon) but I’m just afraid that being as the PS3’s “next-gen” life span is almost up, we won’t see a Final Fantasy 7 Remake until PS4! That will mean that they’ve only had the PS4 dev kits for around…maybe a year! So it could be quite a while :o(
first of all i think the final fantasy 7 remake should be on the ps3, I hear that the ps4 wont have any backwards compatibility and I dont think sony needs the ps4 yet the ps3 is selling just fine al far as the release for the game I read somewhere that it was going to be available later this year witch gives me a strong feelin that it will iether be on the ps3 or the ps vita. I just have to say that this will be an epic revolutionary game for the playstation or any console idk why they didnt play this card last year but i am so excited and happy that they did at over 12 million coppies sold at the origina; release final fantasy 7 is the best game ever.