Final Fantasy VII Remake - Details on the "Episodic" Release

[Shawn Zipay]

Last night, word came out that Final Fantasy VII Remake was going to be an episodic release. I apologize for that wording because that specific word, episodic, was never used in the press release that was sent out. That was what I inferred from the phrasing of the mailing, perhaps wrongfully.

Today, Square Enix and the Remake development team cleared up a few misconceptions about what they mean by "multi-part series." The information will perhaps put a few minds at ease and raise all-new questions in the process.

• If the game was not a multi-part release, they would have to cut content. They say that the detail of the game is simply too dense to contain to one "big" release.
• As a result, you will be able to go to locations in Midgar and do things you were not able to go to before.
• Even with that, there will be some things that need to be cut. No word on what those things are.
• Each part that is released will have its own unique story and will have content equal to a "full-sized game." Take that as you will.
• Square Enix is working with various companies on this, including CyberConnect2.
• Battle system is real-time with an action feel. They say it is less action focused than Kingdom Hearts.
• Battle system still includes Active Time Battle (ATB) mechanics.
• You can control other characters if you want or simply stick to one.
• Parties are still capped at three characters.
• The PSX trailer was all done in real-time except for the snippets from the E3 reveal.
• Cloud jumping off of the train transitions immediately into gameplay.

The above snippets came from a Dengeki Online interview with Yoshinori Kitase and Tetsuya Nomura.