Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s option to speed up cutscenes led to an increase in players, says director 

In a recent interview with AUTOMATON Japan, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi talked about the positive impact of last month’s patch that gave players the option to speed up both Remake and Rebirth’s many cutscenes. 

The new feature, which allows players to zoom through cutscenes in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth at 1.5 and 2 times the speed was implemented in a December 2024 patch. Switched on, it makes all the characters sound like they have eaten too much sugar and means players must rely on the subtitles to follow what is going on.  

Discussing why the developers took the ‘risky’ move of allowing players to fast-forward through all their painstakingly crafted cutscenes, Hamaguchi notes that “Nowadays, many people watch videos and movies at double speed. I myself have little time, so I often use the speed-up function.” Although as a creator, his motivation is to make the best-timed cutscenes in normal speed, he reflects that “I think we are in an age where we should let the user decide what kind of experience they have. Rather than letting (long cutscenes) become an obstacle that prevents people playing the game, I think we should incorporate such (time-saving) functions more and more.”  

Final Fantasy VII newbies may feel intimidated by the sheer amount of time they need to get into the Remake trilogy, with the main stories of Remake and Rebirth alone easily taking up well over 60 hours each. Hamaguchi says that the speed-up feature was made with this consideration in mind – removing obstacles that might put would-be players off. 

This speed-up function seems to have boosted player numbers. Hamaguchi mentions that after they implemented the update, the number of users booting up Remake on PS5 and PC increased. “If the speed-up function increased the number of people who wanted to continue enjoying the game, then I think it was a worthwhile addition,” comments Hamaguchi. For this reason, he mentions that they are also planning to implement such time-saving features in the final part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy too. 

Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are available now on PC and PS5. A twin pack containing both games was released on PC today.