Final Fantasy 7 Remake Producer Explains Why It Is Episodic and Not One Big Game

The director of the original Final Fantasy 7 and producer of the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Remake has explained why Square Enix has opted to release the recreation project in episodic parts, rather than remake the entire game in one package. A new interview also reveals that there is a whole new upper floor added to the Shinra building.Talking to the Square Enix blog, original director and remake producer Yoshinori Kitase explained that in order to replicate everything from the original game in the highest quality possible, without cutting content and also adding new elements, the game had to be over multiple entries.

"In order to make [the entire game as a single release] work as a modern game, we wouldn't be able to go for the highest visual quality and we'd also have to cut back on areas and scenes from the original," he said. "Essentially, to make a single release viable the resulting game would have ended up being a digest of the original story, and we didn't think that fans would be pleased with that."

The first release in the remake project, which launches in April, contains the Midgar portion of the original game. By Kitase's statements it should feature everything from the original rendered in new technology, plus some new zones to explore.

"There were a lot of parts in between sections of Midgar that were implied, but never seen," said Kitase. "That was something that we wanted to address with Remake – to fill in all those gaps, show how the different parts of the city are connected, and make it a continuous experience."

One of the bespoke areas in Remake is an entire new upper floor for the Shinra Building, which – according to Remake's co-director Naoki Hamaguchi – adds "a climax that was not in the original."

Interestingly, this upper floor apparently relies on Red XIII to explore, a character Square Enix has confirmed to be unplayable in this first game. "The key to navigating this floor lies in using Red XIII's unique physical abilities to overcome environmental obstacles," says Hamaguchi. "Letting the player experience his heroics in this way is something that I'm confident will please the fans."

That extra additional material also includes "endgame content", although Hamaguchi refused to reveal what that is in the interview. It may be that optional bosses are available to fight, which are a staple in most Final Fantasy games.