Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 is very much on the horizon, but luckily, it remains just enough in the future that there’s plenty of time to speculate wildly about potential features, story deviations, and new playable characters. Naturally, there is only so much that the final installment in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy can alter from the original, as, aside from some surprisingly substantial narrative tweaks, it has adhered rather faithfully to the 1997 experience.
Warning: this article contains minor spoilers for boss fights in the original Final Fantasy 7.
However, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 can change quite a lot from its direct predecessors: Remake and Rebirth. Both games, as phenomenal as they are, garnered substantial criticism for key mechanics or features, with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s worst ideas proving to be particularly divisive. Additionally, there are elements that Part 3 could implement that the others simply couldn’t, such as new minigames, larger areas, and deeper combat. Suffice it to say, there’s plenty Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 can do to beat the previous games.
Better Open-World Exploration
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s exploration was, especially for a JRPG, rather excellent. Sure, it had its fair share of Ubisoft-style towers and adopted a checklist approach to certain activities, but there was an abundance of things to do, the scenery was rather stunning, and it differentiated exploration enough per region with unique traversal mechanics, new minigames, and side content. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement, specifically concerning the way players discover new activities.
If Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 were to adopt a more hands-off approach and make exploration feel a tad more player-driven, akin to games like Elden Ring or Breath of the Wild, then many of Rebirth’s criticisms would be addressed. It would certainly make exploring each biome more rewarding, even if it detracts from the guided approach FF7 Rebirth was going for. Essentially, the art of discovery needs to feel paramount, especially in a world as beautiful and so densely detailed as Final Fantasy 7’s.
The Visuals Need To Be More Consistent
There is absolutely no denying that Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth are obviously beautiful games with fantastic art direction. However, especially in the case of Rebirth, there were inconsistencies with their lighting and overall visual fidelity. If one were to play Rebirth in performance mode, they’d be greeted with a blurry, choppy, and often ugly mess. Frankly, it is one of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s most controversial features and something Part 3 absolutely needs to address.
By having consistent visuals across the board and a stronger, more viable performance mode, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 will absolutely be a stronger experience. The team behind Part 3 is the same group that has developed the past two games, and as a result, it has both experience in developing this project and familiarity with the assets it’s working with. It should hopefully be the case that the hard work over the past six or so years pays off to deliver a clean and consistent experience in Part 3.
Summons Need To Appear In The Open World
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was hunting down the unique summons and unlocking them. However, as incredible as it was to battle them for the first time, and as satisfying as it could be to unleash their might upon unsuspecting foes, the process of unlocking them was a tad tedious. Sure, you could just try and take them on in the VR simulator when they were made available, but to stand a chance at actually winning, you’d first have to traverse the open world looking for several spots in search of their summon materia.
It would make far more sense for summons to be either static or even roaming enemies discoverable in the open world, rather than an option in the menu. Defeating them in that context would be far more satisfying than beating them in a VR simulator, and it would also make the open world feel a little more intense, much like how Xenoblade Chronicles utilizes high-level monsters to make traversing through certain regions more risky.
A Darker Narrative Tone
While the latter half of the original Final Fantasy 7 is full of moments of levity, it is easily the darkest part of the overall experience. The stakes have ramped up, characters are meeting their untimely end, and the tensions between the various factions are reaching a boiling point. The same will obviously happen in Part 3, alongside the remake trilogy’s addition of multiversal shenanigans, but for it all to work, the FF7 Remake Part 3’s tone must be substantially darker.
The laid-back, lackadaisical atmosphere of past entries almost entirely needs to be put to one side as Part 3 delves deeper into the unraveling psyche of its protagonist and the consequences of Rebirth’s devastating ending. If it manages to pull off this tone, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 won’t necessarily be a better game, as it will merely be different, but it’ll come out on top simply by delivering a poignant and heart-wrenching ending, the kind we’re all very much expecting at this point.
The Yellow Paint Needs To Go
The inclusion of yellow paint in games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth makes perfect sense; it assists newcomers in exploring particularly dense areas and makes exploration a little more obvious for those who find themselves running around in circles. However, there are only a handful of ways of implementing it immersively, and Rebirth didn’t really opt for any of those routes. Its inclusion feels a little basic, failing to trust the player to know where to go in painfully obvious scenarios, and lacking any form of immersive implementation.
Unless Part 3 introduces a character whose sole job is going around the world painting these yellow lines, they need to be removed entirely. It isn’t as if every facet of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3’s world design needs spelling out, but a more immersive approach to clambering up walls would be appreciated. When a game looks as good and is as painstakingly handcrafted as the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy has been, it seems a shame to approach such a visually distracting aspect with little regard to immersion.
The Snowboarding Minigame
The snowboarding minigame from the original Final Fantasy 7 is one of the game’s biggest highlights. It is a fun distraction from all the misery, as well as just a genuinely enjoyable snowboarding experience. It isn’t particularly complex, with it largely seeing Cloud attempt to hit as many balloons as he can before reaching the end, but there’s enough scope for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 to build upon what the team managed back in 1997.
We’ve already seen how Square Enix has managed to expand upon basic ideas and sequences with great effect, so it isn’t hard to believe that the snowboarding minigame won’t get the same treatment. With it, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 will undeniably have the very best minigame, something that is sure to give it the edge over its predecessors and see it come out on top.
The Weapon Fights
Without spoiling too much, the latter half of the original Final Fantasy 7 has a handful of epic boss fights against the Weapons. They’re the giant creatures players will have encountered during the course of Rebirth that, up until this point, are shrouded in mystery. Considering their size and their importance in the original game, it’s likely Square Enix has something big planned for these special encounters.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see the fights against these Weapons turned into epic affairs akin to what we’ve seen in Final Fantasy 16. That saw Clive transform into a giant Eikon when battling similarly sized or often even bigger Eikons. The combat is simpler, but the focus is on the spectacle, which makes for a handful of truly staggering set pieces. Should Square Enix go down this route, then Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 could end up with more memorable sequences than its predecessors.
More Customization Options
One of the best parts of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and to a lesser extent, Remake, was the costumes. Sure, they’re a minor part of the game, but any time Cloud and co. switch outfits, it helps add much-needed brevity to an otherwise occasionally dour scenario. Of course, Rebirth’s most famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) costume change comes during the sun-soaked sequence in Costa del Sol, but there is definitely scope for a wider range of optional outfits for the cast to don.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 could up the ante a little by introducing even more, perhaps ones inspired by other entries in the series, or even Final Fantasy 7’s direct spin-offs, like the remastered Crisis Core. Their inclusion won’t make Part 3 a significantly better game, but they’ll certainly see it come out on top, even if they mess with the darker tone I’ve previously advocated for.
Day One Multiplatform Release
Both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth were released exclusively on PlayStation before pivoting to other platforms. Square Enix has rather publicly criticized this release strategy since, blaming the remake trilogy’s poor sales (in its eyes) on the exclusivity deal. As a result, it has since been confirmed that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 will be a multiplatform release on day one, meaning no one will be excluded from the fun.
Frankly, this is the best option Square Enix could take. It ensures that everyone gets to experience the epic conclusion at the same time, reducing the potential for spoilers, while also cutting down enormously on porting costs. This inherently means that Part 3, on day-one anyway, will beat its predecessors, being both more accessible for fans and cost-effective for the studio producing it.
A Little Less Chadley
I may be one of the few people who actually likes Final Fantasy 7’s Chadley, but that’s neither here nor there. The consensus is that he’s annoying, and it isn’t particularly hard to see why. He pops up far too frequently, calls you all the time, walks you through basic gameplay principles, holds your hand through all the additional content, and generally grinds the game to a halt when you’re having even a modicum of fun.
A little less Chadley would likely go a long way in making Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 a better game overall, especially as much of what he was used for in Rebirth should be well known by anyone playing the final entry in a trilogy. At the very least, his constant interruptions should be lessened or removed entirely to help improve the overall flow of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3’s gameplay.
- Released
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April 10, 2020
- ESRB
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t
- Developer(s)
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Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
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Square Enix
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 4