With the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy reaching its conclusion next year, franchise fans are already asking which game will be next for a modern-day glow-up. The subject was brought up during the Final Fantasy Fan Festival in Berlin on the weekend, and Final Fantasy 14’s Naoki Yoshida said that some of the most-requested titles for a remake would need multiple games to pull off successfully.
Final Fantasy 6 appears to be at the top of the list–with Final Fantasy 8 and 9 also in contention–but Yoshida said that this would be a mammoth undertaking. “Of course I understand the feelings of the players, but you’ve got to think about it,” Yoshida (via a translator and GamesRadar). “Look at Final Fantasy 6, it’s such an incredibly huge game. The scale is just immense. So, of course, now because you are working on the Final Fantasy 7 series, I do get that people would be asking for remakes of other titles. But if we did remake those other titles, we’d probably end up having to release them in four or maybe even five installments.”
Yoshida isn’t joking, as Final Fantasy 6 on its own is a massive title. With over a dozen protagonists, several major battles, and some of the best worldbuilding in the series, it’s a miracle that it even managed to squeeze onto an SNES cartridge back in the day. Final Fantasy 8 and 9 are also incredibly massive games, combining a huge scope with distinct gameplay systems and stories. They might look primitive by today’s standards, but in terms of content, they are considerable timesinks.
Compare that to today, and creating a game of similar size has become even more complex as hardware–and audience tastes–have become more advanced. The other challenge is that creating a game on that scale requires a talented team, one that you’d want to keep around for sequels down the line, as that would make the process easier. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a prime example of this, as the majority of developers who worked on the first chapter in the trilogy have stuck around for the two sequels, Rebirth and Revelation.
