Flying on the Highwind airship will be a big part of Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, according to what game director Naoki Hamaguchi told Bloomberg in a new interview. Likely to be one of the highlights of the experience still being built in Unreal Engine 4, the Highwind's role suggests a massive shift in how players will interact with the game world, although the status of other iconic late-game mechanics from the original remains a mystery.
The Highwind "gameplay experience" has been expanded for the third and final entry in the Remake trilogy, although precisely how it has been expanded, Hamaguchi-san did not elaborate. The development team previously made its commitment to making the entire game world explorable on the airship clear, so there's no denying that a lot of effort must have gone into this expanded experience.
Besides allowing the air exploration of regions that already appeared in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 will allow players to venture into areas that did not appear in the second entry in the series, such as Rocket Town, whose story segment has been moved around possibly to offer better development for Cid as he joins the party, and Wutai. Speaking about Yuffie's homeland, Hamaguchi-san is well aware of how much fans want to explore the region, saying that "if Wutai's not featured, I think the fans are going to yell at me."
While the Highwind will feature prominently in Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, the status of Chocobo Breeding is uncertain. "I can't say yay or nay on the actual breeding, but there is an element in the third instalment involving Chocobos that is a little different than Rebirth," Hamaguchi-san told Bloomberg.
Likewise, underwater exploration may have been changed in some way over the original. "Motomu Toriyama handled the submarine portion of the game, so perhaps he has injected himself into there. And I will leave it at that," Hamaguchi-san said. Considering how massive the complete rendition of the world will be in Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3, it wouldn't be surprising if the underwater mechanics received some considerable changes.
Unfortunately, what has yet to be confirmed about the game is its release date. As Hamaguchi-san teased that the final entry in the series will be releases "not too far in the future," chances are that the Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 reveal is imminent. Hopefully, we will get to see more than just a few sequences and the game's logo when the reveal finally happens.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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