Not only has Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director played Remake part 3 before you, he's beaten it "over 40 times"

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi says he's completed the yet-to-be-announced third installment in the remake project over 40 times already.

Speaking with Nintendo Life ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2 release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Hamaguchi was asked about progress on the upcoming third – and final – entry in the remake trilogy. The developer responded "We’re very excited about how the game is currently progressing." Which makes sense, considering he's teased that we'll hear "more updates" on the series "than ever before" this year.

And despite the rest of the world not knowing a thing about it, the director explains, "I have already completed over 40 full playthroughs!" I don't know if it's an exaggeration, either. "It’s rare for me to make downtime with the intentional goal of 'relaxing,'" Hamaguchi explains. "I play games and watch films, but sometimes I’m not even sure whether I’m purely enjoying them or engaging with them as part of my own creative process."

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He adds, "I can’t wait for as many people as possible to experience the game for themselves, and myself and the team are working hard to ensure we can create an unforgettable gameplay experience."

I don't know if I've ever beaten a game 20 times, much less 40. Even then my most completed is Crash Bandicoot 3, which takes about 2 hours. Considering how absolutely massive Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was, playing through the third entry could be an even wilder amount of time. I never expected an episodic trio of Final Fantasy 7 remakes to work, but now here I am completely trusting that the third game will be a banger.