Predicting How Many Episodes Final Fantasy 7 Remake Will Have
Since Square Enix unveiled the original PS3 tech demo replicating Final Fantasy 7's opening in 2005, fans have been near-begging for a fully-fledged remake of the iconic RPG for years. Now that Final Fantasy 7 Remake is actually coming out, 15 years after that tech demo, the expectations are huge for the re-imagining. With the massive scope of the game, many fans were confused or frustrated to find out that the remake would have an episodic release instead of one full game.
Due to the scope of the original game, many assumed it would simply take a while for the singular game to come out. But since Final Fantasy 7 Remake is not just a remaster, many elements from the original game are being adapted and changed for modern players. Since development of a title as ambitious as the original game is quite the undertaking, it makes sense for the game to be released in separate chapters logistically speaking. Considering the hardest and longest-developed portion of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is likely going to be its first outing, fans at least may not have to wait as long for the next episode of Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Please note: There are major Final Fantasy 7 story spoilers ahead.
Now the original Final Fantasy 7 on PlayStation was long enough in its own right, with the whole game spanning across three physical discs at release. On average, leisurely playthroughs of the game potentially take up to 40 or 50 hours, depending on an individual's playstyle. Despite the revolutionary jump to 3D graphics on a completely new system architecture, somehow the game still ended up being a substantial world-spanning RPG just like its 2D predecessors. Among widespread praises, Final Fantasy 7 solidified itself as one of the greatest JRPGs and video games of all time, popularizing JRPGs for western audiences.
Understandably, adapting such a landmark title in video game history is a huge undertaking, one Square Enix is not taking lightly. From what fans have seen so far, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is more than just a love letter to the original game's heritage. There's been very little development compromise in re-creating the world of Final Fantasy 7 into a fully-realized, high fidelity game, as Square Enix has stated it is striving to make every episode of Final Fantasy 7 Remake as long as a standalone game, meaning each episode should feel substantial in its own right.
Expanding the original game's story and fleshing out the narrative is only going to make the playtime longer for the full experience. Not only that, high quality modern graphics means larger storage sizes for games, a more prevalent issue throughout this console generation for various game franchises like Red Dead Redemption 2. Taking these development obstacles into account means Final Fantasy 7 Remake being split in to several episodes makes sense for practicality alone.
Episodic content gripes aside, many are wondering when the next chapter of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is coming out. How many episodes are there going to be in total? Predicting when fans can expect the next episode, especially in the context of this being the first chapter, it's difficult to determine when we may expect the next iteration. Subsequent FF7 episodes shouldn't take as long to develop, so at least fans can keep that in mind. As for how many episodes, fans can at least gauge the releases based on what we already know about Remake's first chapter.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's first episode is not going to be one-to-one with disc one from the original game. Instead, the first episode focuses and expands on the beginning Midgar segment in Final Fantasy 7's story. Remake's first episode is planned to end when Cloud and the gang escape Midgar for the first time, vastly different from disc one's ending in the original game. There's several locations and pivotal plot moments between the ending of Midgar and the ending of the original first disc that Final Fantasy 7 Remake will not visit in its first episode.
Likely due to the desire to expand moments and early plot points in the original's story, Square Enix will likely be splitting the game into more than three episodes, resulting in more than just three "discs" on the PlayStation 4 (and possibly PlayStation 5). The issue is from a consumer's standpoint, episodic content often walks a fine line between consistent storytelling and exploitative monetization. Square Enix is probably painfully aware of this considering it has experience with narrative praise and criticism from Life is Strange and Life is Strange 2. As long as Final Fantasy 7 Remake strikes a fine balance in measuring and adapting the original's universe into several condensed iterations, episodic releases is a great idea for such a sprawling game.
That being said, taking into consideration all the different story beats throughout the original game along with Final Fantasy 7's extended universe, it's easy to envision Final Fantasy 7 Remake being split into four distinct episodes. There are four distinct points throughout the original game's plot that could be used to bookend each episode's finale in preparation for the next game. Even if Square Enix may not know how many episodes it plans on doing for Remake, anything more than three or four episodes would likely be too much for consumers to consider reasonable.
We already know episode one ends with Cloud and the party escaping Midgar after rescuing Aerith and fleeing Shinra tower, debunking an earlier rumor about how many parts Remake would have. Episode two will likely encompass all the events in the second half of the original's disc one, with the gut-punching finale being Aerith's death. Episode three will then follow the events that lead to Cloud being manipulated by Sephiroth to give him the Black Materia, the rest of the party being captured by Shinra, while Meteor is summoned and the Weapons emerge. The final episode could potentially start with focusing on Cloud's mental trauma and a condensed version of Cloud and Zack's merging of memories, finishing with Cloud emerging from his catatonic state and ready to face Sephiroth one last time.
Granted, this is just a theory based on the plot alone, yet it can be backed up when considering the aforementioned logistical issues of producing Final Fantasy 7 Remake. It's been confirmed that the storage space requirement of Final Fantasy 7 Remake's episode one alone is going to be over 100GB. Considering that only covers pretty much half of the original Final Fantasy 7's disc one, it's hard to imagine subsequent episodes will be any smaller than that. Sure, Midgar is a gigantic and highly detailed city, but compared to the rest of the game world, it makes sense to break them out into several episodes. Development cost and the sheer size of the remake would make it probably impossible to ship as a singular game.
All of that aside, fans shouldn't be worried about this new episodic approach to the beloved game they revere. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is fleshing out the story, parts that the original either glossed over or left behind. Should fans have to shell out some more cash and be more patient, they can at least take solace in knowing Final Fantasy 7 Remake is striving to become a definitive experience in celebration of the original game's legacy.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake releases on April 10, 2020, on PS4.
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