Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Subscribe
(opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Gaming Magazines
(opens in new tab)
Gaming Magazines (opens in new tab)
Why subscribe?
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12.99
(opens in new tab)
View (opens in new tab)
  • News
  • Guides
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • Deals
  • About Us
  • Magazines
    • Retro Gamer
    • Play
    • Total Film
    • Edge
    • SFX
Newsarama
Total Film
Edge
Trending
  • New Games for 2023
  • Best PS5 games
  • Best Xbox Series X games
  • Big in 2023

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  1. Home
  2. PS3
  3. Role Playing
  4. Final Fantasy VII

The truth about the Final Fantasy VII remake

By Ryan_Winterhalter
published 15 April 2010

Why there's still hope for the most requested remake of all time

  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • Comments
Remade, remastered

Remade, remastered

No matter how good something is, theres always a part of us that wants to make it better. If Final Fantasy VII was amazing when it released in 1997, imagine how fun it would be to play a modern remake on a next-gen system today. The mere thought of a proper Final Fantasy VII sends us into fangasmic fits, filling our heads with fleeting visions of taking down Shinra and saving the world from Sephiroth once more. Only this time, itll all be in 1080p.

Its no secret that fans (ourselves included) would love to see Final Fantasy VII remade, but rumors of an official remake have been circulating for nearly a decade. The first rumblings surfaced in the spring of 2000. According to the rumors, Square Enix wanted to capitalize on the graphical power of the PlayStation 2 to remake Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX. That rumor may have died since then, but there are still reasons for fans to keep hope alive for the Final Fantasy remake weve all been waiting for.

Page 1 of 12
Page 1 of 12
The first rumors started in 2003...

The first rumors started in 2003...

The first real hint that Square Enix intended to remake their most popular game came during the Tokyo Game Show in 2003. It was there that the company announced their upcoming CG movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. The announcement of the movie would have been enough to re-ignite rumors of a Final Fantasy VII remake. However news of Compilation of Final Fantasy, a series of games and anime set in the world of Final Fantasy VII, worked like gasoline on a tire fire.

Page 2 of 12
Page 2 of 12
...and continued when more VII-centric games released

...and continued when more VII-centric games released

When Square Enix announced Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, a Japan-only cell phone game, and Dirge of Cerebus: Final Fantasy VII for the PS2, anticipation for a remake of Final Fantasy VII increased again. The rumor was alive and no amount of official statements from Square Enix denying the existence or plans for a Final Fantasy VII remake could stop the spread of speculation amongst fans and the enthusiast press.

Page 3 of 12
Page 3 of 12
But it was quickly denied

But it was quickly denied

Square Enix stayed silent on the remake for the next few years, choosing instead to focus on Compilation. Then in 2006, in an interview with Computer and Video Games, Final Fantasy III producer, Hiromichi Tanaka, raised the possibility of a remake by claiming that Square Enix would do it, if we have time. But just one month later, when it seemed like a remake was still in the cards, Final Fantasy XIII and Kingdom Heart producer Tetsuya Nomura categorically denied the possibility of any remake in an interview with Japanese monthly magazine Dorimaga.

Page 4 of 12
Page 4 of 12
Fan-made games/bootlegs show up

Fan-made games/bootlegs show up

After the interview, Square Enix once again went silent for over a year, and in the meantime Final Fantasy VII was finally remade... for the NES. In early 2008 Derrick Sobodash, a blogger based in Beijing, discovered an NES ROM based on FFVII. The game used sprites from earlier Final Fantasies and managed to include most of the story from the PlayStation original, but the Chinese bootleggers sacrificed Yuffie and Vincent to accommodate the storage limitations of the NES. Fans have also attempted to remake the game in HD, but it usually ends with a cease and desist letter.

Page 5 of 12
Page 5 of 12
Rumors, again, begin to appear

Rumors, again, begin to appear

During an interview with 1UP shortly after the release of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core producer Yoshinori Kitase claimed that the game was not the end of Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. The Compilation's finale will take some other form, said Kitase. After another year of relative silence, Nomura once again broached the topic during an interview with Famitsu regarding the release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete. The famous director said that he had some ideas for the next entry into the Compilation. The vague comment was seized upon by fans as proof that Square Enix was working on a remake. Around the same time that Advent Children Complete was released in Japan, Square Enix released Final Fantasy VII on the Japanese PSN. Two months later, Square Enix wound up releasing it in America during E3.

Page 6 of 12
Page 6 of 12
Square explains why it might never happen

Square explains why it might never happen

Once again rumors about a remake were addressed in January of 2010. In an interview with Ultimania magazine, Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama explained that building towns with the same fidelity as those in FFVII would be too difficult to do given how expensive modern development is. Kitase echoed those sentiments two weeks later in an interview with Tech Digest. If we were to recreate final Fantasy VII with the same level of graphical detail as you see in Final Fantasy XIII, we'd imagine that that would take as much as three or four times longer than the three and a half years it has taken to put this Final Fantasy together! So it's looking pretty unrealistic, he explained.

That shouldve been the final nail in the Final Fantasy VII remakes coffin. The game is prohibitively expensive to make, and with Square Enix occupied trying to reshape themselves into a tier one publisher of titles that appeal to western gamers, like Supreme Commander 2, a remake sounds more unrealistic than ever.

Page 7 of 12
Page 7 of 12
One more reason to say "no"

One more reason to say "no"

Square was silent for a while, but CEO Yoichi Wada did comment on the status of the remake in 2012, commenting that it wouldn't happen until Square surpassed FFVII's quality. Wada said that, if the team were to remake Final Fantasy VII now, then the Final Fantasy franchise "would be done with," hinting that we may not see a remake for some time to come. "The new Final Fantasy must overcome the Final Fantasy of the past, he explained. Things... looked sort of hopeless.

Page 8 of 12
Page 8 of 12
Keeping hope alive

Keeping hope alive

Or is it? At a Final Fantasy XIII release party, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada contradicted everything his company had been saying. After all the official statements suggesting that a proper Final Fantasy VII remake will never happen, Wada said that the Square Enix is going to explore the possibility of a remake. So, in other words, it's not off the table. Honestly? That's better than nothing, but it still leaves us without a remake.

Page 9 of 12
Page 9 of 12
Another reason to remain optimistic

Another reason to remain optimistic

There's even more of a reason to remain optimistic: Square has taken to remaking more and more games recently. Final Fantasy X, for instance, is getting an HD remake, with shiny new visuals that put it on par with many Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games. It appears as though Sony might be rethinking its strategy, and if FFX does well, maybe it'll eye up VII again.

Page 10 of 12
Page 10 of 12
Also, Square sort of needs something big right now

Also, Square sort of needs something big right now

Another reason to remain positive? Square... sort of needs something like FFVII right now. Final Fantasy XIII hasn't done great for the company, and Final Fantasy XIV was an unmitigated disaster. What better way to reestablish good will than to remake the most popular Final Fantasy game? New gamers would get a chance to experience one of the most popular RPGs of all time, and fans would be given another reminder of why they loved the game so much in the first place. Overnight (well, over three years of development), Square could put FF back on top, and set the stage for a big, fancy game in FFXV.

Page 11 of 12
Page 11 of 12
There aren't enough nails in this coffin

There aren't enough nails in this coffin

So after ten years of rumor and speculation, denials and dodges, we at GamesRadar can unequivocally say, without a shadow of a doubt or fear of contradiction that a Final Fantasy VII remake will possibly happen sometime in the near or distant future. That is to say, we are now right back where we started ten years ago when rumors of a remake first surfaced. Still, when it comes to a Final Fantasy VII remake, well take a suggestive maybe over a clear cut no any day. So heres to keeping hope alive as Square Enix explores the possibility of developing the game weve all been waiting for this past decade.

And if you're looking for more Final Fantasy news, rumors, and speculation, check out a list of the best Final Fantasy games (so far) and a rundown of all of the PS4 games currently in development.

Page 12 of 12
Page 12 of 12
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • (opens in new tab)
  • Comments
Ryan_Winterhalter
See comments
Load Comments
Recommended
New games for 2023 and beyond to add to your wishlist
  1. Herman Miller X Logitech G Vantum gaming chair
    1
    Herman Miller X Logitech Vantum review: "A well-designed and comfy ergonomic chair but one that lives firmly in the shadow of its sibling"
  2. 2
    Season: A Letter to the Future review: "As beautiful as it is quaint"
  3. 3
    Dead Space review: "A sublime mix of fresh, familiar, and freaking terrifying"
  4. 4
    Razer Leviathan V2 Pro review: "Has the makings of a clever and quality soundbar but is let down by flaws that make it hard to recommend"
  5. 5
    Victrix Pro BFG Controller Review: "Like water, my friend"
  1. The Fabelmans
    1
    The Fabelmans review: "Spielberg's period drama evokes wonder"
  2. 2
    M3GAN review: "A lot of fun but short on frights"
  3. 3
    Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery review: "Almost as sharp as the first"
  4. 4
    Babylon review: "Damien Chazelle's immersive vision of Hollywood's golden era"
  5. 5
    Avatar: The Way of Water review: "An imposing, dazzling, supersized blockbuster"
  1. Poker Face
    1
    Poker Face episode 1 review: “Takes the hardboiled detective story to a new level”
  2. 2
    The Last of Us episode 2 review: "A more calculated entry that focuses on Joel and Ellie"
  3. 3
    The Last of Us episode 1 review: "Expands on the games – and often betters them"
  4. 4
    Vikings: Valhalla season 2 review: "Has lost some of its feverish intensity"
  5. 5
    Rick and Morty season 6, episode 10 review, recap, and analysis: "Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab).

  • About Us (opens in new tab)
  • Terms and conditions (opens in new tab)
  • Privacy policy (opens in new tab)
  • Cookies policy (opens in new tab)
  • Advertise with us (opens in new tab)
  • Review guidelines (opens in new tab)
  • Write for us (opens in new tab)
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers (opens in new tab)

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.