Amid the busy halls of the Makuhari Messe during this year’s Tokyo Game Show, we were able to carve out a brief fifteen minutes to talk with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi as Square-Enix was showing off the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and Xbox Series S|X releases of the first title in the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy (which Tetsuya Nomura believes fully realizes the vision the team had for the original). With questions being handled through an interpreter, we might not have gotten time to answer everything we wanted to know about the upcoming releases (which won't include a Final Fantasy VI Remake directed by Hamaguchi-san), but we were able to touch on some of the bigger questions on our readers’ minds.
In a recent interview, you talked about how Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (which will target stable 30 FPS whenever possible on Switch 2) will be on a Game Key Card rather than a physical cartridge. Do you see Nintendo ever increasing the speeds on these Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges so that this would not be a requirement in the future?
Personally, I feel that the loading speed issue for the game cartridge is more about the hardware spec of the Nintendo Switch 2. I’m not with Nintendo, so I can’t really speak to that side. That said, I do feel that the Game Key Card format that Nintendo created for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a really amazing new idea that they had offered for us.
I don’t personally see Nintendo working towards trying to improve the loading speed for the cartridges. Rather, I feel that Nintendo will put more effort into popularizing the Game Key Card format which again is a really fantastic idea for us developers. Also, we hope players familiarize themselves with what that costs them. That obviously is something we can help out with as well, from the developer side.
I think that the collaborative effort between Nintendo and publishers trying to promote the Game Key Card will be the best way forward for all players in the future.
These new versions of Final Fantasy VII Remake have several accessibility options, like Easy mode or infinite health, available through the Streamlined Progression feature. Are these in reaction to the original release's too-difficult reception?
Those features are not really about balancing the game. We’re actually quite confident about that because we did fine-tuning until the very end of development, so I think the balance itself is very good.
The reason why we wanted to implement those features is to address the way modern audiences play video games being so diversified these days. Originally, with console video games, people would play on their TV in the living room, then we saw more players playing in their bedroom or on a PC. Now, we also see more players on handheld devices outdoors. In general, the way people approach and play video games is just so diverse, so we wanted to bring an idea that reflects that. It’s not just the way you play games in general, but we wanted to bring a diversified way to play our games, which is why we implemented those features.
Would you ever consider developing a mobile version of the Final Fantasy VII trilogy?
Obviously, we do want to bring our games to a wider audience. When we look at the market landscape of the mobile side, particularly iPhone and Android users, we don’t really feel that there’s quite the demand to justify us creating a mobile port of the Final Fantasy VII Remake project. If there is a demand, we would definitely want to look forward to hearing that.
As of this moment, I don’t think the demand is quite there yet from a business perspective. We will continue to look at the market trends and if there is the right opportunity at the right moment, that’s when we will revisit this topic.
Are there any plans for a DLC to bridge the gap between Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the third title in the Remake project, similar to Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade?
There were definitely some ideas to create a Rebirth DLC and that was the plan at a certain point in time, but when we revisited this topic and we thought about what our priorities should be and what the fans are looking forward to the most. We figured that what fans want the most is to bring the third installment as soon as possible. That would take priority over the Rebirth DLC, so we decided to take that approach.
With that being said, once we release the third installment (Final Fantasy VII Revelation) [which has a solid chance of releasing in early 2027 on all platforms simultaneously with a reveal during 2026's Summer Game Fest Show, will be the culmination of the entire trilogy powered by Unreal Engine 4 like the rest of the series, making it a better game than it would have been with Unreal Engine 5, will feature expanded Highwind gameplay and an amazing recreation of a late-game emotional scene, Chadley in a "major role" and won't be dragged down visually by the multiplatform pivot - Ed. Note], there is the possibility of having a DLC for that third installment. With the conclusion of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, there’s probably going to be a much wider audience for Final Fantasy as a whole. Whether we bring another new DLC or a full title [or revivals of spin-off games like Dirge of Cerberus - Ed. Note], that’s something we are actively considering.
If enough fans ask for it, would you consider a standalone Queen’s Blood game to be a priority?
As I mentioned in my previous response, the utmost importance right now is to work hard towards that third installment and make sure it gets released as soon as possible with the highest quality achievable.
Right now, the solo Queen’s Blood title is probably not in the list of our priorities. We actually haven’t determined any priorities after the release of the third installment, so things are really up in the air right now. If there is enough demand, a solo Queen’s Blood title is definitely something we can consider.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has a massive soundtrack. My last question to you: is there one specific song that you’ve had on repeat or listened to the most out of the whole soundtrack?
Obviously, there’s the staples like the Final Fantasy main theme that we’ve heard over and over, but for me personally, I do like the Stamp song Bow Wow Wow (Chuken Stamp).
It’s very catchy.
I hope a lot of people like that track too.
Thank you so much for your time.
About the author: Kai joined the gaming team of Wccftech in 2016 and has since penned over a hundred reviews and interview pieces, covering a bit of everything from one-man indie gems to AAA masterpieces and whatever lies in between. Over the recent months, Kai has expanded into preview and interview coverage of not only the gaming side of the industry but also tech and consumer electronics.
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