Square Enix tease "even more new FFVII projects"
Are we talking spin-offs or Sephiroth body pillows?
Square Enix first launched Final Fantasy VII 25 years ago today, introducing a new generation to big-sword bishies. In celebration, both the director of the original JRPG and the creative director of the recent FF7 Remake have posted messages looking back and forward. Along with several FF7 mobile games kicking about, they tease that more new FF7 things we don't know about are coming. Hopefully this means we'll hear more about efforts to complete the remake, but I guess they could also be talking about merch or new movies.
Squeenix's 25th anniversary message on Twitter had chat from Yoshinoro Kitase, director of the original FF7 producer on the Remake, and Tetsuya Nomura, who did character design on the original was was creative director on Remake. Along with thanking fans and that, they looked to what's next with the world of the grumpiest goofball and his hippy pals.
"FFVII has re-emerged as the latest game in the series once again," said Kitase, "with titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII The First Soldier, and you can look forward to even more exciting new developments in future."
Nomura, added, "there will be even more new FFVII projects that started up after the remake coming in future too. This team see the 25th anniversary as a waypoint on our journey with FFVII, and will continue pressing ahead to even greater things, so please keep supporting us going forward!"
So, what's coming? The game released as FF7 Remake only contains the opening sections of the original, and Nomura did say in 2019 that they had "already begun working on the next one". That'd be nice. The Remake did take five years to make but development should speed up with a lot of the groundwork laid. I am impressed by how much they've expanded FF7 while remaking it, so the whole thing could be a lifetime's work. Or, given some of the big intentional story changes, Remake could turn into something quite different? (Nic Reuben will take you the game's main villain is its own legacy.) Who knows! But I want more of this nice friendship club.
Squeenix are well into FF7 on mobile too, with battle royale game FF7: The First soldier released in 2021 and the episodic RPG FF7: Ever Crisis coming this year. Could be talking more mobile games. Could be talking PC releases for mobile games; it would be nice to get Ever Crisis.
Could be yet more movies. Perhaps Life Is Strange 4 will include an incredibly awkward reference to one.
Or they could be talking about Sephiroth body pillows, an official line to supplant the one you bought off Etsy. Perhaps they could plan to sell a whole range, with fabrics and poses becoming more alluring as prices increase. Perhaps the top one will be infused with Sephy's trademark scent of ozone, leather, and leave-in conditioner.
FF7 Remake finally came to PC in December 2021, with a stretch of Epic Games Store exlusivity replacing its prior PlayStation exclusivity. Our Katharine's review declaring it "a bold and exciting retelling of this beloved JRPG". You had a go yet, gang?