😢 Will We EVER Get Another Final Fantasy Like FF7 Rebirth? 😢

FF7 Rebirth set the bar impossibly high—epic story, jaw-dropping visuals, and gameplay that hooks you for hours. But here’s the scary truth: we might never see another Final Fantasy this bold again. 🥺

What makes Rebirth so unique? And why am I so worried about the future of FF? 😳

👉 Dive into the feels here:

Even though it has a few flaws, I absolutely love Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. It, alongside its predecessor Final Fantasy 7 Remake, is an incredible re-imagining of the original Final Fantasy 7. Not only do they recreate some of the original game’s biggest moments, they add new memorable scenes too, and the updated gameplay is some of the best in Final Fantasy history. However, as much as I, and other players loved the games, I’m afraid we aren’t going to get any future Final Fantasy games like them.

That isn’t to say that I don’t think any more Final Fantasy games will be remade. There are already rumors swirling about a Final Fantasy 9 remake, and we did just get an announcement about a remake of Final Fantasy Tactics. I would be shocked if Square Enix decided not to continue updating and reimagining its back catalog, especially with older games that have never been updated. However, I can’t help but wonder if those projects will be forced to be less ambitious after Final Fanatasy 7 Rebirth.

FF7 Rebirth Was Reportedly A Financial Disappointing

FF7 Rebirth Wasn’t A Total Failure But It Did Underperform

Although FF7 Rebirth was a massive critical success, that unfortunately didn’t translate into sales. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth reportedly underperformed, at least based on Square Enix’s estimations of the game. The game also sold fewer copies than Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which could show that some players lost interest between installments of the game. It probably doesn’t help that Final Fantasy 7 Remake came out in April 2020 during COVID-19 lockdowns, so a lot more people were likely willing to sit down and play a lengthy RPG who otherwise wouldn’t.

Although it may be too late for Square Enix to shift gears on the development of Final Fantasy 7 Remake part three, that doesn’t mean that FF7 Rebirth‘s disappointing sales won’t potentially have an impact on future Final Fantasy remakes. I’m honestly a bit worried that Square Enix might be too gun-shy to make another title like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, which would be a shame, and could lead to some lackluster remakes in the future.

Future Final Fantasy Games Might Be Less Ambitious

FF7 Rebirth’s Low Sales Could Lead To Less Ambitious Games

Depending on how badly Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth‘s sales hurt Square Enix’s bottom line, the company may be cautious about making another Final Fantasy remake at the same scale. I think one of the most damning elements of FF7 Rebirth‘s underperformance is its relatively worse sales than FF7 Remake. Square Enix may see this as a sign that players don’t want Final Fantasy games split up into multiple parts, and decide to make future remakes much smaller games as a result. Although I have seen some players say they would prefer that, I think we’d be losing some great opportunities.

There have also been some recent discussions about whether games should continue striving to be as big as they have been recently. Some recent games with smaller budgets, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, have been huge hits. While I’m happy that we’re getting some games with lower price tags, that doesn’t mean I want ambitious projects like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to completely disappear. However, the industry might trend in that direction if larger games continue to disappoint and smaller titles continue to see massive success.

It isn’t just that I require a game has hundreds of hours of content for me to enjoy it, but I feel like future Final Fantasy remakes would feel incomplete if they didn’t have the same ambitious scale as FF7 Rebirth. The game made a lot of meaningful additions to the original, which helped justify the need for a remake in the first place. I have a hard time imagining a shorter remake being able to add as much depth.

FF7 Rebirth Adds A Lot To The Original

FF7 Rebirth Explores Its Characters In Greater Depth

I’ve mentioned before that one of my favorite parts of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is its many side quests. Not so much the ones where you just go collect data for Chadley, but any of the story side quests that help develop the relationship between Cloud and another party member. These missions give you a much better insight into who the characters are, their motivations, and how they get along with Cloud. This is an especially nice addition for characters like Yuffie, who didn’t get as much attention in the original FF7 as she has been in the remake trilogy.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake also did a good job fleshing out the world and making you care more about its inhabitants. One highlight from the game is the mission where you help Jessie get back up to the plate and break into a Shinra facility. It gives you a chance to bond with her, Biggs, and Wedge, which makes their eventual deaths at the hands of Shinra much more emotionally impactful than it was in Final Fantasy 7. I’m also eagerly anticipating what FF7 part three does with characters like Cid and Vincent who haven’t gotten too much attention yet.

Less Ambitious FF Remakes Would Feel Like A Step Backwards

Previous FF Remakes Have Lacked The Depth Of FF7 Rebirth

Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth were far from the first remakes of FF games. There are Pixel Remasters for all the retro Final Fantasy games, remasters for games like FF9 and FF10, and there are 3D remakes for FF3 and FF4. While some of these make some changes to the original games, none of them are the same kind of full overhaul that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is. Additionally, none of these other remakes added as much additional depth to the story or characters from the original games as FF7 Remake and FF7 Rebirth.

After the high expectations for Final Fantasy remakes created by Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it would be a real shame to go back to less ambitious remakes that essentially just recreate the original game with new graphics. Even if the rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake uses the FF7 trilogy’s new combat system, it will feel like a step backward if it doesn’t add the same amount of depth to its story and characters. We will likely have to wait to see how well Final Fantsy 7 part three performs before we know if Square Enix will repeat this method.