How often do we get to link back to an article we wrote in December of 2015? Such is the development timeline of Final Fantasy VII Remake, that Square Enix has reiterated that the game will still be split up into multiple episodes, as seen in the tweet below.
Upon the original announcement, it was sort of assumed that nearly every episode would make its way to PS4, but over three years down the line, splitting the game up into parts throws up new questions. We assume the first episode will arrive before the PS5 does, but will it receive a next-gen release shortly afterwards in order to take advantage of that additional power?
Save data also needs to be taken into consideration, because the likes of your level and inventory will have to be transferred between episodes, throwing up the question of pulling across data from the PS4 to the PS5. Of course, the first PS4 episode will be fully playable on the PS5 via backwards compatibilty, still giving you access to what is described as a full game.
Are you still weary of this episodic release schedule? Save up for the inevitable PS5 version in the comments below.
[source jp.square-enix.com, via twitter.com]
Comments 82
Watch it be about 3 hours long and then we have to wait until 2022 for the next one.
No good reason for this other than SE pisspoor management. Hope everyone is dug in. This. "Episodic" bs will probably span ps4, 5 and whatever comes after that
Oh and greed. Def greed
It's not episodic in the way a Telltale game is episodic. I can't believe they haven't figured out a way to word this yet.
Maybe they just don't want people to wait 10 years like they did for FFXV and decided to split FFVII up. That way you'd maybe get one episode every 3-5 years instead of having to wait 12-15 years for the full game.haha
I so hope this Episode 1 isn’t just Midgar. I actually have a save file in the original directly after Midgar because I’ve played it so much and it’s easily the most linear section of the game. Even if Part 1 is only up to the boat, that would be worth it. I do hope the Gold Saucer’s in this one though, that would be brilliant.
I think they need to explain what they are trying to acheive. Never played it but I understand the original is huuuuge so a literal translation would be massive. If they are rolling out chunks to make that more manageable that may be OK. If they are doing it for monetization reasons the fans will quickly smell a rat.
If Square splits it up like how the original was split between the discs, then it won't be that bad.
From what I understand it's episodic or divided into parts in so much as you get a game, and then you get a part 2, and 3 (maybe more) somewhere down the line.
Like VII, VII-2, VII-3. It really depends on how much content is in each part, but if they added more side quests, more character development, and more fleshed out main story then I don't see what's so bad, if it's priced right.
That's assuming they provide an experience that's complete for the money of course.
Obviously I'd rather it be the whole FF7 game but I'd be totally fine if it's split into say 25-30 hour chunks. I could also see it getting expanded massively as a remake with extra depth to the maps and all the dialogue replacing text from the PS1 game.
Sounds fine to me, as a fan of the original I have accepted this game is likely to be quite a different animal, in terms of content and delivery. The only problem for me will be if the instalments release with huge gaps between one another and in a way that suggests SE haven’t planned properly or know what they are doing with the series. Which is a potential concern knowing SE...
But E3 will tell all, I suspect!
I think a lot of people will wait for the inevitable complete edition/royal edition/whatever se call it......
I pray that Square Enix doesn't run a special event like Final Fantasy VII Remake into the ground. But, sadly, it's Square Enix....
@R1spam there’s just as much chance it’ll be released like FF13 and it’s sequels were. I know FF7 was one game 2 decades ago, and I can understand why people expect it to essentially be the same game but in 3D but there’s every chance it’ll be drastically different. Whole sections could be chopped and changed, you could play it from the perspective of different characters now, the flash backs could be longer and more interactive and set at different points of the game, it could really dive into Dynes character for example and how he and Barrett used to live. Story elements come and go very quickly in the original, I think it’d be very odd to approach a lot of the game the way they did in the remake.
Who knows? There is actually a lot of potential to tell some new interesting stories.
@kyleforrester87 I wonder if it is just Midgar then? I'd be quite happy with that as long as you could explore the other sectors, it was always one of the most interesting parts of the game for me and always seemed a shame it wasn't fully explored
@carlos82 I don't think it will be just Midgar actually. I know this isn't a reliable indication but there is a meeting between Cloud and Sephiroth in the trailer and (as far as I recall) he doesn't show up at all in the original game until the flash backs at Kalm so assuming the trailer contains only footage from the first instalment and they don't mess about with the beats of the original (which I frankly think it's very very likely they will) it'd suggest we go beyond Midgar.
I think most fans would be a bit bummed if they didn't get onto the world map (or whatever replaces it this time round). However, it really depends on how the game will be structured and how long you have to wait between instalments. 3 full £40 games? 8 mini episodes 3 months apart? Who knows!
One downside to this is what if Part 1 does poorly critically or commercially?
@WanderingBullet They might not release the rest, but would it be worth it if it sucks?
@kyleforrester87 I forgot about that bit good spot, well I cant wait for E3 now
@carlos82 The meeting seems to take place on a road with white markings down the middle which would suggest somewhere bigger than Nibelheim too. In fact a street like that in the original game would only be in Midgar and Junon and I can't think of any moment where Cloud and Sephiroth face off in flames like that other than when Sephiroth goes berserk in Nibelheim. So yeah, I think it's best to expect nothing on this and see what we get!
Nope. I’ll hold off until the whole thing inevitably gets released as one full game. Don’t care how long it takes. I’ve waited this long anyway. Square is really thick for doing this.
I’m excited for this. I am sure to enjoy playing part 1. My children will enjoy playing part 2. And my grandchildren will enjoy part 3.
@kyleforrester87 I honestly have no idea what they're planning to do with the game. Maybe they should make each episode a stand alone story but somehow still interconnected? Wouldn't want a cliff hanger at the end of Part 1 and then having to wait a few years for the next one.lol
@Th3solution Exactly, I don't know if I'd still be playing video games 10 years from now.
The only reason I can think of for them doing this is that the game is so big that they have no choice but to split it up. Hopefully, they'll announced in June how long we'll have to wait for the subsequent episodes.
I can't wait to play road rash on the Midgar Highway again.
I am of the mindset to wait until the whole thing is released - patched up and all. Since I barely have time to game at all and my backlog is not a backlog anymore, just the way I play games now, I might not even notice that it took them THAT LONG to release the complete edition (whenever that ends up being - not going to take a guess, there are plenty of jokes on this thread to fill that gap with).
I just hope the voice direction improves. Some of those lines were like Kingdom Hearts levels of bad.
I don't mind the idea of having multiple separate releases in and of itself. My fear is that taking a 40-hour game and making it into multiple 40-hour games will kill the pacing of the original, which is probably the quality of ffvii that has aged best.
Basically, I really hope we don't have to spend 5 hours doing fetch quests in Kalm...
@turntSNACO I think you do need to spend more time in each environment this time round. If you go back and play the original game now you absolutely fly through some locations. But at the same time I don't want to see it padded down with fetch quests of similar standard to FF15. So it'll be interesting to see how they handle it..
Not buying an episodic game. Especially not one that poos all over the original
@jly1987 Please be mindful of the community rules when posting
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This is the second time I have had to say something so please watch the language from here on out
Thanks for understanding
I wonder if they're thinking about it differently. There's been a while saga of ff7 content so it could be they plan to include more. Maybe I'm being hopeful here but it could be a good way to flesh it out!
Nope not interested, will only buy the game after a complete collection is released. Like the hitman game.
I can see people holding off for the full version and it getting cancelled before the end due to lack of sales.
@ShogunRok God I hope not. At this point I just want to play it.
I hope its trilogy like the witcher 1-3 rather than episodic like telltale games.
@kyleforrester87 I'm not disagreeing that there is potential to tell the story in a different way from the original, it's a remake after all! I'm just not sure whether episodic works for an rpg or this is what fans want. The dlc for final fantasy xv, followed the approach of telling the story from different angles and that wasn't well received. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited!! Played the original back in the day (though I renamed most of the characters with names from my school mates) and get confused who everyone is!!
@R1spam I do agree that episodic seems at odds with the structure of an RPG, not just from a narrative standpoint but also practically in terms of how (or even if) your levels/skills etc. all transfer between episodes.
All will be revealed I suppose!
Horrible decision, and if they try to charge full price per episode they will lose so much money. If it's 3 episodes and each are 20 bucks I can understand sort of, however it shouldn't even be episodic in the first place. Plain and simply this is a money grab in my opinion, and it's going to be even worse if it's more than 3 episodes. Also what if they pull a FFXV, oh I guess we're done with DLC sorry we aren't finishing the episodes, or heck look at that half life 2 episode 3 that never came out. Unfortunately this will still be bought up, but I can tell you they may price people out of it if they try to put each episode out at too high a price.
@get2sammyb "It's not episodic in the way a Telltale game is episodic."
Well they could say "piecemeal" - that's a thing we say here - but that sounds bad. They could say "in parts" but that sounds bad too. Problem is no matter what they call it if they are going to try to sell one $60 game as three $50 parts - my prediction anyway - then it is going to look bad to about 80% of gamers.
In my head the best example is Xenosaga - three games in 02, 04 and 06 that were originally supposed to be 9. I know your younger readers like to think of the three FFXIII games. I've also been thinking about the original GoW trilogy, first two games on PS2 before making us buy the six hour cliffhanger ending on PS3.
No matter how this comes out I'm afraid @Th3solution said it best:
"I am sure to enjoy playing part 1. My children will enjoy playing part 2. And my grandchildren will enjoy part 3."
I'm only playing the $50 part one for under a tenner though. Or maybe out of my library.
I already think Squenix should probably crash & burn after FFXV, so if this sure to be a fiasco does them in, so be it. Amazing how right they got DQXI. I know you're not into JRPGs but not only was it a fantastic game, it was nearly 2 full games in 1 w/ the after content, and NO extra DLC or microtransactions. (Well maybe 1 or 2 but nothing major I can recall.) It was pretty damn close to the perfect game release. It will be on Switch except for the 18 months late part. Maybe Switch 3 will get the perfect FF7R.
3 episodes at 20 bucks a piece sounds great.
Years later, still don't know what to make of it. Well, we got a month, maybe then we'll finally get an explanation.
For episodic games, I generally wait for a full version to appear. And if I've waited that long, I can normally wait for the full version to go on sale as well.
The more I've seen of this (pretty though it is), the more its left me cold. The original design team on ps1 seemed so determined to push so much into the game that even with the datamined "cut content" you hardly felt that cheated by design choices.
Modern day Square Enix seem hellbent on making "service game" rpg's with content delayed/cut from the initial game tagged on as dlc/episodic content.
Its called FF7 remake but the combat & episodic release feels more like a FF13 or FFXV reskin with FF7 characters.
Episodic has been a bad word for me ever since Half life two episode three went missing. The final episode will definitely be day one for me but I’m in no rush to play the first one.
Ooh could it be episodic like a TV series? I mean we get to play all of original ff7... Then instead of dlc, we just keep paying each month for the next chapter in a ongoing story. This would be cool for so many games! It means the story/world/characters/events would keep in evolving. But how long would each episode be at how much cost? Say £10 for each 6 hours? More value than flicks but not something us gamers are use too.
Im pretty sure it will be like final fantasy 13 format 13-1 13-2 13-3. Not quite episodic like hitman
Now I'm not too sure how this broken in to parts things is going to go, if it's all just final fantasy 7 I'm hoping it's broken into like three twenty dollar games.
They could also be saying episodic because they're also remaking dirge of Cerberus and Crisis core and those are the reasons the game is broken up this way, in which case I think sixty dollars for the main game and maybe fifteen or twenty apiece for those is reasonable.
This is stupid sony. First off the community that made FF7 popular are in their mid thirties now and the FF15 was a dumpster fire. I couldn't even finish it. I'm sure your going to go away from the turn based combat (also a mistake) and now you are trying to over monetize it? Has no one learned anything from EA? Why are you guys actively ruining your best series? Now it's going to be what $60 an episode? My best guess episode 1 will roughly be disc one making the total game $180. Smh I'm so disappointed is you sony. We are your fans and without us this game will be a colossal loss your you. If you do t quit treating us like we are stupid mindless wallet to be emptied you will fall away like the silicon knights of the scene. In short get it together, give us a polished, FULL game free of micro transactions, and help us remember why we fell in love with you from the beginning. I swear if you mess up 7 I will never buy another final fantasy game ever.
seeing as ps5 will be b/c with ps4, i don't see this being a problem. all the episodes of ff7 remake will get a ps4 and ps5 release. sounds simple to me.
@Gothrein why are you blaming sony when this is a s-e game?
Who do you think owns them?
@Gothrein pull up your big boy pants kitten, you don’t really know anything about it yet. Your comment is insane.
Insane to expect a full game? You ,kitten, are insane if you think dragging this out into multiple episodes in an effort to squeeze out more money from us is a better solution. The game was perfect the first time all it needs is a visual update and voice overs and they will make a fortune and show a new audience why that game made the series THE jrpg.
@Gothrein Sony sold it stake in square at the end of the PS2 era. That’s why Final Fantasy 13 was able to appear on the Xbox 360.
@Gothrein just play the original then, the HD version is still great. You can get even higher res packs online for PC if you’re that keen. This is a chance to reimagine a classic, could go either way, let’s wait and see. I bet it’ll be more enjoyable than another Call of Duty or Ass Creed.
Personally I can afford 3 good games if they want to go down that route.
@ShogunRok You're not seriously going to wait that long to fully play the whole game?
@bruhman Are you going to be around in 2033?
@Bingoboyop I doubt you would play it if that happens.
From the original announcement they've said it will be episodic. They also said, each episode will be the length of a full sized AAA game. So no, this will not be TellTale sized.
Im not too concerned. Im willing to give Square the benefit of the doubt on the basis that they partly influenced the direction of my life in many ways - as sad as that sounds.
So long as they have a clear roadmap, im fine with this. I reckon these will be much bigger than they are being credit for - and wouldnt be surprised to see many of the spin off games worked into the story in some capacity. Particularly crisis core
If an episode doesnt sell like they want, knowing Square-Enix they won't bother with the next episodes.
I think people should reserve judgement until June atleast. People jumping on the ‘this best not be £60 an episode’ bandwagon need to calm down. The fact is, we don’t know anything yet. Other than 2 teaser trailers in 5 years. I am absolutely buzzing that they are remaking this, and would I love it to be turn based, absolutely. However, they are taking their time with my favourite ever game characters and I for one can’t wait to pick up whatever it is they release.
I expected as much, considering they only showed off Midgar in the trailer.
All I'll say is that the game better at least contain the entire first arc of the story. I expect it'll probably end with the characters leaving Midgar.
I'll wait for the $25 complete royal edition if they even finish the game before I die, I have many other games to play that are complete to bother with a half baked game
I have no problem with the game being episodic - as long as every episode is available on a disc, not only as download.
If its like final fantasy X/X2 and Final Fantasy 13-1/13-2/13/3 thats not so bad. Final Fantasy 15 was way worse and the game will never be truly complete.
@Lando_ Totally agree. 😁
I’m still adjusting to the episodic idea. I think it’s simply because I’m thinking of the original game as a single, unbroken experience and it’s difficult for me to envision it “broken up”. But, if the devs expand on some of the areas of the game, offer more depth and exploration, I can definitely see it working. I’m hopeful.
It kinda seems like the game is taking so long that they started to get pressure to release it soon. So they decided to focus it in stages to get the money rolling in. Plus since they want more than standard value of a AAA they can almost use a credit model of more smaller chunks to get a final total of closer to $100(usd). I guess we can call this gaas lite.
So is FF7 Remake gonna be released episodically like Life Is Strange/ Tell tale games, one episode every 4 months? If this is the case then that decicion is completely POO. I hate when they are released like that, why no just whole game at once? It just creates unnecessary tension to the gamer and makes players (at least me) forget most of the things of previous episode after every 4 months. Hopefully this style of release will CRASH AND BURN in near future. I think I'll wait for the full release and so should everyone else, just to show to the developer that we want it all and then they would propably give to as (when the sales go down). But this would need so many player to NOT to get the game and be patience, which very likely wont happen :/
@OneMoreLevel Since each episode is going to be a AAA Game of normal length. It’s going to be at least a year between episodes. Given how long Square to take to produce games It seems more likely that I will end up taking about three years for each episode.
Whatever, as long as it gets a physical release (probably once I'm a pensioner)
Definitely a wait until complete scenario. Pointless of them to announce now as their timeline puts it squarely mid-PS5 cycle. Announced two generations early.
@OneMoreLevel This will be nothing like TWD or Life is Strange. You'll see.
@WanderingBullet You really think there's a chance the remake of one of the most beloved and influential video games in the history of mankind won't sell well?
It'll sell. Like hotcakes. Any PS gamer who is over 30 will buy this, as well as Square fans, JRPG fans, anime fans and graphic whores.
And don't let the 'it isn't turn-based, so I won't buy it' crowd fool you. They're an extremely small vocal minority, and turned-based battles isn't the reason this game is fondly remembered to this day.
@OneMoreLevel No. The game's storyline will be split into 2-3 games and each game will be a full-length title. Imagine the FFXIII storyline which was split into three games.
@OneMoreLevel As per community rules
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So I think I will pass, maybe when they launch a complete pack I give a chance.
I'm fully against episodic games.
@Nickolaidas Oh, I have no doubts that fans of the original will buy the Remake regardless if the game's good or not. That being said, right now I'm not sure everyone's (especially casual gamers) gonna buy into the idea of the game being episodic until SE gives more info about it. Personally, I was excited for this until I read about the episodic part. I've even pre-ordered it back when it first was announced.lol Anyways, we'll see in June when SE releases more info.
My main concern I guess is how far apart SE's intending to release the games. I don't mind if it's short wait. I could maybe then get the complete edition when the final episode releases. But knowing SE's track record when it comes to game development time, it might a take while between each episodes.
How on earth anyone thinks FF7 could be recreated to this level of detail and release as one game is beyond me. It's obvious they're going well beyond the scope of the original game to flesh out the characters, locations etc and personally I'm still being open minded about it. At least we'll know what we're getting right away, unlike the utter disaster that was FF15.
@ShogunRok Im hoping so hard you are wrong. 😜
People thinking the installments will cover strictly the discs from the original release are in for a surprise. Disc 3 is basically North Cave and side-quests, does it sound like a full-game's length for you? I believe disc one will be an extended Midgar up until facing JENOVA in the boat heading towards Costa del Sol, they won't be able to cram content in it up to Aerith's death. The next split will happen right after the first time into the North Cave, having Cloud lost in the lifestream by the end. Part 3 would be perfect to flesh out the remaining party even further up to the game conclusion. Those look like decent chunks of the original split into 3 if you consider that the bulkier part of its plot transpires during disc 1.
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