Last week, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the remake trilogy’s much-awaited final installment, is coming in the spring of 2027. Evolving from FFVII Rebirth, the new entry will put a greater and more deliberate emphasis on players making choices, affecting both the order of game progression and the narrative experience itself. Although FFVII Revelation’s will have only one ending, it will include enough branching content to make sure no single playthrough is the same, and experiencing everything the game has to offer won’t be possible in just one run, as the series’ director Naoki Hamaguchi recently told us.
Interestingly, in a new interview with 4Gamer, Hamaguchi says he considers increased player agency and room for individualized playthroughs to be characteristics that games need to offer in today’s market, and he associates this with the prevalence of gaming streams. “One thing RPGs like Final Fantasy need to be careful about today is the possibility that people might simply watch a stream and feel satisfied without ever playing the game themselves. This is a bit of a crisis for the work itself, or rather, it’s not something game creators can wholeheartedly celebrate,” he comments.
While Hamaguchi explicitly clarifies that he isn’t being dismissive of streaming, he says that if a game’s experience is limited to progressing through a story, users may find it more enjoyable to simply watch their favorite influences play them instead, ultimately affecting the game’s reach. Instead, he says, “if people watch a stream and it makes them think What would I do in that situation? or How would I experiment with that?, then hopefully they’ll be inspired to try it themselves.” Believing that entertainment should evolve and adapt with the times instead of stubbornly clinging to old ways, Hamaguchi says he’s been trying to challenge himself in this regard throughout FFVII Remake, Rebirth, and now Revelation.
On a related note, “Choices” also happen to be one of FFVII Revelation’s core conceptual themes. In line with the game’s role as the trilogy’s finale and the story that awaits the characters, the game will depart from the sense of “security” FFVII Rebirth offered and put players under “tension” to make crucial decisions.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is scheduled to release in Spring 2027 for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox on PC), Nintendo Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox Series X❘S.
I agree with his point. Some companies are treating games too much like vehicles for just the story while forgetting the core aspect of video games; the game itself.
I, for one, could never be satisfied just watching someone else play a game. I actually hate watching other people play because I’d much rather play the game myself.
I agree with this. Even if a game is linear, I just find it way more fun to play a game myself rather than others play it.
If you only watching people stream a game and not playing it yourself then your not a gamer.
There is a massive difference in how much you’re drawn into a story by the interactivity offered by a game. Even the simplistic action of clicking through scenes in a visual novel ties you into the story in a way passive consumption simply can’t, let alone the much more complex gameplay of a good RPG. I’m always reminded of a certain moment towards the end of MGS3 where, to avoid any specific spoilers, you are required to perform a certain action. You have absolutely no agency in the matter; it may as well be a cutscene that you have to unpause because it can only go one way, but will not continue until you do so. But the fact that the game asks you to perform that action through the character gives it more weight than it would otherwise be possible.
Player agency has its place, that is also a great type of experience. But it isn’t inherently superior to placing us in the shoes of a well defined character and tying us into their story, which isn’t an experience you can get from a stream.
Player agency has its place, that is also a great type of experience. But it isn’t inherently superior to placing us in the shoes of a well defined character and tying us into their story, which isn’t an experience you can get from a stream.
This is actually a solid point. I have this love hate relationship with Shin Megami titles (apart from last few persona, hate those), where I absolutely get invested in the story but getting through the gameplay loop is tedious as hell.
So I rather YouTube something like SMT Strange Journey the movie. Saves me at least 40 hours and some sanity.
Maybe people would be more inclined to play the game themselves if the prices were more reasonable. I know I personally wait for sales before getting a game.
I completely agree while id rather play than watch i have enjoyed some game streams where I love the story but its linear and I cant afford it yet I may watch a steam to see the story and get the game when I can
Or you know we want new Ip’s, not remakes and remasters of games we played several times over since the late 90s to early 2000’s. Creativity is dying, just because it looks nice doesn’t mean it makes the game better.
They truly have lost touch and have no idea what to do with FF and speaking for more successful JRPG developers is a bit questionable. They e come down to the final line if reducing to Fortnite for that younger audience engagement. Otherwise, genres exist that allow players to do as they will freely.
what is the use of choices in the game if the ending is still the same no matter what seems pointless, at least make it have multiple endings based on the choices we made
This has been a problem since FFX, the last real Final Fantasy game before they became nothing more than a semi-interactive story platform to showcase the current generation playstation capabilities. Somewhere along the way Square decided we didn’t need an open world, it was fine to progress literally through a story taking the path set before you with little side quests or exploration of the environment. Compare FF XIII with FF VII (the original). They engagement with the player is orders of magnitude higher in 7. If it wasnt for the name you wouldn’t even be able to tell these titles came from the same studio. Look at the recent success of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, that game while it had it’s own story, beautiful music, and unique culture I felt it was a love letter to classic JRPGs of yesteryear. I found myself engaged, caring about the characters and wanting to play on to uncover the next bit of story. Baldur’s Gate 3 captured the audience by making your choices count and by allowing so many different options it felt like you could try anything… the agency is there, if you haven’t found it it might be because you’re digging in the wrong spot. More choice, side quests, mini games, non-linear environments, make me feel like I’m in charge of my experience. If every play through is basically exactly the same (FF XIII), then what’s the difference if I play or watch someone else?