Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director says the JRPG's success in year-end awards proves "why it's a good thing to have it as a trilogy"

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was among the biggest of the Golden Joystick Awards 2024 winners today, taking home four of the seven awards it was nominated for - the most of any game at the fan-voted event. It's also tied with Astro Bot for the most-nominated game at The Game Awards this year. Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi believes this is vindication for Square Enix's decision to turn the JRPG remake into a trilogy.

"I think when we first announced that we were going to do the Final Fantasy 7 remake project not just as one game but as a series of games, which ultimately became a trilogy, there were a number of different reactions to that - mixed reactions, I think," Hamaguchi told GamesRadar+ backstage at The Golden Joysticks.

"Obviously since then we've released the first game in the series, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and this game, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and I think this has proven our concept now," Hamaguchi continued. "With us being the most-nominated game at today's Golden Joysticks, also the most-nominated game at The Game Awards later this year, I think people have finally come around to understand the reasons, the advantages, and why it's a good thing to have it as a trilogy. So hopefully people are a bit more convinced now."

Of course, the one final bit of convincing fans are gonna need is to see how the third part of the remake trilogy turns out. Earlier this month, the devs reported that the plot for Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 is complete and they're now moving forward in development, and not long before that Hamaguchi said that the third entry will be "one of the most loved, most popular games in the whole history of video games once again." You can't accuse Square Enix of a lack of ambition, at the very least.

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