Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy lead Naoki Hamaguchi may be working towards what's shaping up to be the biggest and boldest installment yet, the grand finale of Revelation, but it turns out that, of the three, the first game was the hardest to make.

In an interview with French content creator mistermv, translated by Genki on Twitter (and verified by GamesRadar+), Hamaguchi is asked what the biggest development challenge of the trilogy has been, and he immediately points back to where it all began.

For a start, the development team was much smaller in the beginning. At first, Hamaguchi notes, the team was only comprised of 30 people – a number obviously eclipsed by the final credits on the game.

But more than that, Remake also had the challenge of setting up what would follow it. The start of the project meant deciding on the entire visual look and graphical quality for the Remake trilogy, for example, all while working to the pressure of pleasing the many massive FF7 fans, with the worry of the devs' efforts being insufficient in meeting players' lofty expectations.

On the other hand, Rebirth and Revelation were able to follow in the footsteps of the foundation built by Remake – while they may have been larger and more ambitious, as Hamaguchi puts it, they had a base to go on, and the team working on them had grown and evolved, too.

Hamaguchi and other FF leads have previously spoken about how creating the Final Fantasy 7 remake in the trilogy format has allowed the devs to take on feedback between installments, too, hopefully making each experience better than the last for players. For example, Hamaguchi is aware that many players felt that Rebirth had an overwhelming amount of content, and while Revelation "probably" has even more, the devs have made some key differences in signposting what side-content will earn you what rewards, and ultimately making it easier for players to decide what they care about pursuing.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation has a hard mode you can select from the start, Naoki Hamaguchi says, but it "won't function in the exact same way as it did in Remake and Rebirth."

Final Fantasy Resonance has been an undeniable hit for Square Enix, but it turns out that its producer's pitch initially faced some pushback from executives at the company who would have preferred the game to be a basic port.

Resonance is sort of like what Octopath Traveler 0 is to Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent, except for Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. Both titles have taken mobile games that came before them and adapted parts of their stories – in Octopath's case, also adding more narrative content – for a full console launch, removing mobile elements like microtransactions and gacha systems in the process.

Given that Final Fantasy Brave Exvius was previously shut down, Resonance is also helping keep its legacy alive, but beyond its ties to the mobile game, it's also a new HD-2D turn-based Final Fantasy experience that a lot of people have been craving for some time. Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview, producer Keisuke Nakashima reveals that his pitch in 2020, which suggested expanding the mobile game for a proper console adaptation, first faced resistance from Square Enix execs who were apparently more keen on the idea of pursuing a simple, cheaper port that'd be faster to make.

"I didn't want to go down that route," Nakashima says. "I wanted to create an original version for consoles that was a full-blown gameplay experience."

Nakashima recalls hearing some "really disappointing" feedback about Brave Evius during a press tour for the mobile game, where, despite plenty of people being interested in it, they expressed that they "didn't want to play it just because of the gacha elements." He explains: "That was another reason we wanted to make this a console game, to bring it to a wider audience."

It's certainly working for Square Enix, anyway – it reached the largest ever Steam player peak for the series' single-player games, and less than five days since launch, one analyst estimated that it'd sold 400k copies across PS5, Xbox Series X, and Steam, bringing in around $20 million in revenue. Hopefully those initially doubtful execs are happy now.

Final Fantasy 14 Evercold won't suffer from Dawntrail's pacing issues, Yoshi-P says, as the MMO commits to respecting your time.

Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida knows one of Dawntrail's biggest issues at launch was the story's pacing, so the team is putting in the work to ensure that Evercold doesn't suffer the same fate.

Speaking to the media at Final Fantasy 14's Japanese leg of Fan Fest, Yoshida takes a question about what the team behind the MMO has learned from Dawntrail and how important it has been for Evercold's development.

"This time we are putting in serious consideration on the sense of tempo," Yoshida says, per a mod from the Final Fantasy 14 subreddit who was in attendance. "Back at Dawntrail we were being really careful in depicting new lands, new cultures, new encounters and this greatly slowed down the pacing on story progression. The fact that this did not align with players’ motivation of 'keep moving forward' shows shortcomings on my part as the director."

To remedy the pacing issues for Evercold, Yoshida says the team is moving some of the aforementioned focus to side quests, meaning you can enjoy that kind of thing if and when you want.

"This is actually connected to Final Fantasy 14's overall evolution, so we have to consider how precious players' time they have here," Yoshida adds. "After all, we will face the fact on how it's difficult for this to be relatable to players if the story doesn't progress at a brisk, fast-paced tempo, therefore we are placing a strong emphasis on this aspect this time."

I have been cautiously optimistic about Evercold since it was unveiled early this year, and this is another step in the right direction. While Dawntrail's story does eventually get good – doubly so in the post-expansion patches – it puts you in the position of having to defend it by telling your raid-brained pals to "stick with it, honestly," which is not an amazing place to be in games or other media like TV or film.

Dawntrail had other issues, sure, though Square Enix has shown enough consideration about that elsewhere. Of course, how this all works will remain to be seen. I've played Final Fantasy 14 for a long ol' time, and I've seen expansions launch with pacing issues – looking at you, Stormblood – that were remedied in later expansions. Hopefully Evercold sticks the landing in a way that hangs around for many expansions after.

Final Fantasy 14 theorists were right all along: Evercold's second job is the ranged Zephyr DPS that uses crossbows and a deadly pet bird.

A constant barrage of great game releases often means some great games fly under my radar. There's a world where Romancing Saga 3: Destinies United – a 3D remake of the 1995 JRPG – completely flies past me and I'm worse for it. After a brief hands-on with a game I had little interest in playing, I walked away eagerly anticipating meeting back up with my weird little party of freaks.

I'm not someone familiar with the Saga franchise, I've always happily observed it from the outside, forever content to enjoy this one from the sidelines. That was until a recent preview event at New York Comic Con where I played a very combat focused section of the game. I was swiftly thrown into the deep end with my ragtag party of our fearless leader Khalid, a fairy with a giant spear named Peony, a masked super-hero like figure, and my favorite, a bushy browed snowman named Flurry.

Glimmer of an idea

This turn-based RPG mostly plays out how you expect modern games to feel. You walk up to an enemy in the overworld, whack them before they can whack you to get the advantage, and shift into a turn-based system. While it seems like a straightforward system I've seen time and time again, it turns out Romancing Saga 3 hides one neat little trick up its sleeve.

The Glimmer system provides a way for me to improvise my way through combat encounters. A lightbulb symbol next to an attack denotes the chance to turn it into something greater. For instance, glimmering Peony's Spear Attack sees my fairy ally improvising on the jab, turning it into a Giant Swing, a brand new attack that now sits alongside all of her other abilities.

Certain spells and attacks can only be glimmered based on the weapon the character is holding, and while I don't have time to swap weapons out in my demo, it's clear there's plenty of room for experimentation with its battle system.

The Glimmer System promotes pulling the lever on the slot machine. Do I go for the tried and true way to success by exploiting enemies weaknesses, or do I let it all ride on black? Of course, you have a limited number of ability slots, so it won't last forever. But, the chase of finding something new and exciting with every roll of the dice fires every dopamine receptor in my brain. What if I kept pushing my luck?

Suddenly, my combat encounters become just as much about fleshing out everyone's ability slots with new and interesting moves as they do felling foes. Multi-hit attacks, area of effect explosions, and thunder kicks galore as my party becomes more powerful. Lightbulb after lightbulb pops up as I keep exploring every option at my disposal without being forced to hold back.

It instills a sense of discovery in mundane combat encounters. I don't know how long that sensation will last over the course of the full game, but in the moment it turns ordinary battles into something thrilling. Of course, a catchy battle theme with a horn section giving it their all certainly helps.

Sifting through the menus allows me to change out my party's formation. This changes various attributes. For instance, Speculation puts the group in a v-shaped formation giving the front three units increased melee capabilities. Whirlwind formation, on the other hand, increases the speed of all units, giving them the ability to act faster in the turn order. These predetermined formations feel easy to understand at a glance and make experimentation feel more approachable.

After progressing through the dungeon I eventually find the boss, Gwayne, a larger than life dragon who's not going to simply give up once the party arrives. I start raining down attacks left and right, searching for Gwayne's weaknesses as I put all of my newfound abilities, collected and honed throughout the dungeon, to the test.

As the slugfest carries on, the overdrive meter at the bottom of the screen tantalizingly fills up. Once full to the brim, I use it to unleash a United Attack, a unique ability that chains multiple party member's attacks together for massive damage. Everytime I think I have Romancing Saga 3 figured out, it tosses a tiny new wrinkle into the mix.

Using all of the tools at my disposal, I have Gwayne on the ropes. Just as I gear up for the final few blows… My demo ends. While I don't get to vanquish the dragon this time around, I'm excited to regroup with my newfound party of weirdos and hopefully find a few more along the way when Romancing Saga: Destinies United launches February 16, 2027.

Romance isn't dead, and neither are role-playing games. Check out our best RPGs, best JRPGs, and best ARPGs rankings for what to play next, and keep an eye on our upcoming RPGs calendar for more!

On the road to new expansion Evercold, Square Enix has introduced a new minigame to Final Fantasy 14 in its ever-beloved virtual casino, the Gold Saucer – a typing battle that's already spurring all the chaos.

Keyboard Brawler, which is set to depart the Gold Saucer's lineup of silly little minigames as Evercold releases this January, is pretty simple. You progress through waves, in other words, "battles," by typing specific words that pop up to attack enemies.

Speed and accuracy are key (pardon the pun) here, as they are in most typing games, but folks are having to grapple with more than just their own hands, it would appear.

First, there are the impossible words – yes, I mean literally impossible if you've got a US or UK English keyboard, as there are words from languages like German that contain diacritical marks like the umlaut (impossible unless you use key commands to access them, of course, but that's not exactly convenient or realistic in the midst of a high-speed typing battle).

One player's screenshot on Reddit highlights the debacle.

It shows the word "doppelgänger," umlaut and all, with the bewildered poster asking, "What am I supposed to do about that?"

Over on X, others can be seen encountering the same word (and others with diacritical markers), too: "Who thought putting 'doppelgänger' in Keyboard Brawler was a good idea like what the hell?" What the hell, indeed, anon. What the hell, indeed. It'd be one thing if the impossible words were alone in setting fans back…

But, they're not. There's also, sadly, the issue of bots, cheaters, and plugins. As one thread highlights, the whole cheating problem has come on fast – Keyboard Brawler only came out a couple of days ago, after all.

"Who the hell is botting Keyboard Brawler lmao it just came out," the poster writes, baffled. "Or maybe they're just a really good touchtypist idk." Attached is a video of… well, yeah, probably, bots playing the minigame.

A quick look at all Keyboard Brawler discussions on social media shows this isn't an isolated case, either. Players are complaining about cheaters left, right, and center, unfortunately, but I suppose it's something I've come to expect as a hardened fan of the MMO myself.

Heck, how many people actually play the Slice is Right legitimately anymore with the, uh, plugin that I shall not be naming here…? Some Warriors of Light aren't new to cheating, to say the least.

Will Square Enix change anything about its limited-time Gold Saucer event, though? Perhaps, and I do hope they at least axe some of the words that English speakers genuinely can't type on native keyboards – fingers crossed.

Final Fantasy 14 devs say Evercold's new Evolved mode isn't massive power creep: "If you don't want to change, you don't have to"

As Final Fantasy Resonance has a strong start, and, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, proves what an appetite JRPG fans have for turn-based games, one analyst suggests that Square Enix "knows what it's missed out on" after its "move towards more action-oriented Final Fantasy titles."

Square Enix's new turn-based, HD-2D release launched last week and quickly dethroned Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth as the series' single-player games' highest concurrent player peak on Steam. And, as you might expect, that's translated to a lot of money for Square Enix, too.

According to Alinea Analytics analyst Rhys Elliott, Resonance has now sold 400k copies across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, bringing in $20 million in revenue. That's obviously rather a lot, and Elliott suggests it reflects what JRPG fans actually want and that Square Enix is catering to it. It's also worth keeping in mind that this doesn't include what the game made on the Nintendo Switch 2.

"Given the strong positive reaction to – and early sales of – Resonance and last year's Expedition 33 (which is tracking way better than recent Final Fantasy games), it's clear that Square Enix has left a significant chunk of JRPG players behind during their move towards more action-oriented Final Fantasy titles," he suggests.

"While Square chased more Western trends, a Western company swept in and released Expedition 33, a game JRPG fans wanted for decades and even won game of the year at The Game Awards," he continues. "Square knows this, knows what it's missed out on, and it's seen Capcom succeed on Steam with its legacy franchises where Square Enix has arguably floundered."

Obviously, that isn't to say that Final Fantasy Resonance was made in response to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as it was in the works well before Sandfall's reveal, let alone its wildly successful launch last year. However, the timing of another turn-based RPG gaining so much traction can't be ignored, and Elliott suggests that Square Enix may consider altering its strategy going forward.

"I can see Square Enix going down a new route, with many diverging paths, for Final Fantasy," he explains. "They've already outlined their plans to go fully multiplatform, smartly moving away from timed PlayStation exclusivity.

"I can also see the company balancing its MMO, high-fidelity remakes, and big-budget mainline Final Fantasy titles with more of these smaller 2D-HD original pixel games alongside the 2D-HD remakes," he continues. "There's still a gap for a turn-based JRPG big-budget Final Fantasy, though, and all the signals are pointing Square Enix in that direction. Just a matter of time, I reckon."

It's not just Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 developer Sandfall that the analyst suggests Square Enix takes notes from, though. After a particularly stellar year with the likes of Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword – showcasing success with new IP and old favorites alike – Elliott adds: "I'd take even more cues from Capcom, if I were them."

Final Fantasy 14 devs say Evercold's new Evolved mode isn't massive power creep: "If you don't want to change, you don't have to."

It's no secret that Final Fantasy 14 is scrapping its infamous two-minute meta and adopting an entirely new job system, Evolved, come Evercold this winter – but just how different will that system play, and how much more damage will it allow for?

As a hardcore raider myself, one thing about Evercold has been heavy on my mind since the expansion's reveal at Fan Fest this summer: the introduction of the Reborn and Evolved job systems, with the latter being entirely new to the MMO.

The reason it's been heavy on my mind is simple – Square Enix implied that the Evolved system, which rearranges our class skills into a simpler, neater format, hotbar-wise, will let us deal more damage.

Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, localization lead, lays out the differences between the Reborn system – which is essentially what we're playing with now – and Evolved in a new interview with content creators Sarah Jane, Kwisty, and Pezz on YouTube, though, and I'm slightly less concerned now... I think.

He describes a bit of what we already know (e.g. the fact that Evercold's debut jobs, the Bastion and mystery DPS, won't have a Reborn mode) first, assuring fans, "If you don't want to change, you don't have to."

The thing is, though, those of us who engage in Ultimates and other "hard" content might feel the need to if the Reborn mode – the original system – is capable of less damage… right?

Well, according to Fox, not exactly: "I don't think it's like, 'Okay, this Evolved mode is going to do 50% more damage.' I think it's going to be very negligible."
That's a relief – right? And, it all boils down to how different the Reborn and Evolved systems are.

"I think it's just because the modes are so different and some of the skill rotations are going to be so different that damage will be dealt in different ways," as Fox states. "That might end up affecting" damage throughout a fight, but it shouldn't matter in terms of ability to clear and all that.

"It's not going to be something that's going to be a deal breaker," as Square Enix wants "to keep it as small as possible." But it was "unavoidable" altogether, as the modes can't play the same way – unavoidable, but again, negligible.

I doubt that Fox's words are enough to satisfy most raiders, however, sadly, knowing how highly regarded parses are (and likely always will be). Should the Evolved version of one's abilities allow for even the slightest, ittiest-bittiest boost in damage, they'll probably opt to abandon the trusty ol' Reborn mode – ask me how I know.

I'm not sure what I'll choose myself just yet, as an Astrologian. I'll have to wait and see what the promised healer changes will look like before I do – keeping tanks alive, damage dealers buffed, and DOTs up is tricky enough as it is.

Final Fantasy 14 players get 1 free day of game time after Square Enix lifts the MMO's PHP lockdown

There's no telling what the role of generative AI in game development will look like in the future, but if there's anyone who can predict that trajectory with any sense of authority, it's a team of veterans with more than 100 years of experience leading some of the most beloved franchises of all time.

I'm referring to Square Enix veterans and JRPG architects Yoshinori Kitase, Hiromichi Tanaka, and Koichi Ishii, who were instrumental in the conception and general direction of the Final Fantasy and Mana series. The trio recently sat down with Famitsu (via Automaton) for Mana's 35th anniversary and to talk about the future of AI in game development. While their insights and predictions aren't exactly the hottest of takes, it's always worth paying attention when developers of their caliber are willing to share insights into such a hot button issue.

Essentially, the JRPG veterans believe AI is and will continue to make it easier to make games, but they're cautioning against the idea of AI-generated concepts for games, which they say humans will always be essential in creating. "Humans need to be involved in the initial step of turning zero into one. That will never change," Kitase says. "The next generation of creators absolutely needs the ability to turn zero into one."

Agreeing with Kitase, Tanaka says the games industry will keep trending toward a "competition of ideas" in which humans come up with the initial concept while AI helps streamline development processes.

The prevalence of AI in game development is one of the major factors fueling an ongoing layoff crisis in the industry as companies replace human workers with AI particularly for non-creative tasks like routine coding, QA, and debugging. Adding on to his previous statement, Kitase says relegating menial tasks to machines will help humans focus on the soul of the game.

"During the process of turning one into a hundred, if we can improve efficiency by supplementing traditional human work with support from AI and game engines, I think people will be able to focus more on that initial stage of turning zero into one," he says.

Echoing his peers, Ishii is optimistic about AI's potential for prototyping and testing, but agreed that there will always be a demand for human-centric design. "If AI does everything on its own, the result might be polished, but it could end up feeling like it’s missing human warmth," he says.

Final Fantasy Resonance dethrones Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth with the series' largest Steam peak for a single-player JRPG

Final Fantasy Resonance has gotten off to an excellent start on Steam, with Square Enix's first HD-2D game in the series now also the franchise's most popular single-player game based on its concurrent player peak on the platform.

Shortly after its launch, Final Fantasy Resonance reached a Steam peak just short of 28,000 concurrent players – a number that made it Square Enix's second-largest launch for a turn-based RPG on the platform behind Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. However, that peak has now grown even more – yesterday, according to SteamDB, Final Fantasy Resonance hit 42,885 concurrent Steam players, which is a huge deal for a Final Fantasy game.

That's because it just barely beat Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for the largest concurrent Steam player peak among the series' single-player games. The second installment in the FF7 remake trilogy hit a peak of 40,564 back when it launched.

Of course, the big difference there is that Rebirth arrived on PC almost a year after its PS5 launch, so many of the most hyped players would likely have already played it by the time it broke free of its console exclusivity. Resonance, on the other hand, launched simultaneously across PC and consoles, so it could take full advantage of that initial wave of hype on Steam.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that it's not the single most-played Final Fantasy game on Steam either, thanks to a certain critically acclaimed MMORPG. Final Fantasy 14 more than doubled Resonance's Steam peak almost five years ago when it hit 95,150 concurrent players around the Endwalker expansion's release, but obviously, it'd never be fair to compare an MMO and single-player game's player counts in the first place, so this is still a notable achievement for Resonance.

Despite its success, though, I suspect this won't be a record Resonance is going to hang onto forever. Next April will see the release of the third and final part of the FF7 remake trilogy in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, which will also be releasing simultaneously across PC and consoles. Considering the hype that's built up for that, I'd be surprised if it wasn't able to snatch Resonance's crown.

"Too good to become unplayable": Final Fantasy Resonance exists because a JRPG veteran was "frustrated" players ignored their game the first time.

Final Fantasy Resonance – the first game in the series to be made in Square Enix's HD-2D style – is already the second-biggest Steam launch for any turn-based RPG title from the developer.

Square Enix has finally relented to years of suggestions and released a Final Fantasy game in the HD-2D style, with the latest spinoff in the series, Final Fantasy Resonance, dropping this week. Like last year's Octopath Traveler Zero, this HD-2D RPG adapts one of Square's previous mobile games – Final Fantasy Brave Exvius – into a full-blown console RPG.

Per SteamDB, the RPG has hit a peak of 27,933 players over the course of its first day available, which places it at the higher end of Square Enix's roster of turn-based RPGs on the platform. In fact, this number sees it narrowly overtake this year's Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined, which peaked at 27,390. However, Dragon Quest isn't out just yet, as the peak of Square's turn-based player count goes to Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, which sits at an impressive 45,357 from its launch back in 2024.

Of course, this is only day one for Final Fantasy Resonance, and given that the majority of Steam games tend to peak on the first weekend after their release, there's still a chance for Resonance to steal the top spot. But at the very least, it's looking like a pretty successful launch for Square Enix, who will hopefully make a wholly original HD-2D Final Fantasy game in the future, rather than an adaptation of a mobile game.

Final Fantasy 14 players get 1 free day of game time after Square Enix lifts the MMO's PHP lockdown

Final Fantasy 14 players have endured a chaotic 21 hours or so – nearly an entire day – as PHP troubles sparked security lockdowns on new logins from Square Enix… but we're so back, baby.

That's right, Final Fantasy 14 has finally reopened its pearly gates to the public after all the PHP anxieties, with Square Enix announcing the "resumption" of new logins earlier today.

The announcement came almost an entire day after the developers first closed the doors on folks chomping at the bit to enter the MMO, citing the need for some fresh "security enhancements" as the reason for temporarily halting new logins.

The devs also stated yesterday that "Following the suspension of new logins, the housing auto-demolition timer has been paused on all Worlds," and promised to "monitor developments and assess the situation before announcing when the timer will resume."

And, well, now that logins are picking back up, we've received word on when housing auto-demolition should return, too – and, sadly, the controversial feature is making its return next week.

"Security enhancement work related to the PHP programming language has been completed," an update on the housing situation from Square Enix reads. "The automatic housing demolition timer, which is currently suspended, will therefore resume on" – drumroll, please – October 26. Sigh.

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused." It do just be like that sometimes, I suppose. Use it or lose it and all that.

As for the PHP debacle itself, in case you're out of the loop, there was a major worldwide internet security scare yesterday, basically. It involved PHP, the tech and scripting language that powers a plethora of websites and more.

There were two serious security weaknesses, leading to a lot of shutdowns – heck, even the Steam store went down amid all the issues. It was a lot, but thankfully it seems things are slowly picking back up.

Final Fantasy 14 devs ask for the impossible, beg players to "take time to read" up on the MMO's options before Evercold is out

Final Fantasy Resonance is at once a nostalgia-laced antidote for the longtime fans who have felt alienated by the recent 3D iterations turning their backs on the series' turn-based traditions as well as Square Enix giving its trademarked HD-2D style a much needed shot in the arm. While I've been enamored by this retro-modern style since its introduction in 2018's Octopath Traveler, over time it's been losing its charm, as the same presentation had been wheeled out in successive nostalgic outings, though at least Dragon Quest 7 Reimagined had the good grace to try something different.

Nonetheless, its legacy of pixel-based classics like Final Fantasy 6 meant it was only a matter of time before a Final Fantasy title would receive the HD-2D treatment while also finding ways for the aesthetic to feel fresh again. Ironically, it's done that not through a brand new game but with an adaptation of mobile spin-off Final Fantasy Brave Exvius.

Crystal clear

Square Enix reworking its mobile catalog to console may not be new, as it has done successfully with Octopath Traveler 0, and less so with Various Daylife, but Final Fantasy Resonance is more significant as it excavates a since discontinued mobile game. The work from Square Enix Creative Studio 5 and Lancarse is even more extensive than just an act of preservation or removing the gacha elements that had been why Brave Exvius passed me by when it was available. While its story and characters remain intact, the whole presentation and experience has been overhauled to feel like a very classic yet fresh Final Fantasy adventure that stands on its own two feet.

Just about everything in Final Fantasy Resonance harks back to the series' classic hallmarks, from turn-based battles with a party size of four characters to the explorable overworld of Lapis peppered with towns, dungeons, random encounters, and – of course – a story that revolves around crystals. As a knight of the kingdom of Grandshelt, your protagonist Rain finds himself setting out on a journey to find the legendary crystals before each can be destroyed by a mysterious group of elite armored warriors calling themselves the Sworn Six.

There's plenty that follows a largely conventional structure – visit a new region, discover a problem the locals are having where one of the characters end up joining your party, and a dungeon that culminates in a fight with one of the Sworn Six – but it's not really a criticism when the execution of this formula is done so well. Sure, there are some familiar characterizations, from a leading man obliviously caught in a love triangle, to a feisty mechanic who's often butting heads with the sleazeball of the group, but these are fun characters to spend time with. Even the game's villains are written with pathos, while the series' recurring Espers have their own personality as you fight for the right to summon them in battle.

It's all bolstered by the presentation that's a substantial level-up from past HD-2D games. While Final Fantasy Resonance does make use of voice-acting as well as having dialogue text accompanied by expressive character illustrations – the latter introduced in this year's The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales – its biggest improvement comes from the spritework, which are bigger and feature more animations than what would have been feasible for a 16-bit Final Fantasy.

Another subtle yet meaningful shift seen early on is how it's not presented with the same top-down medium-wide camera but actually leverages the fact that the game is made up of 3D environments. It's not that Final Fantasy Resonance strives to be cinematic, but a simple change of the camera to a close-up, more dynamic angles during a boss encounter, or one of your party member's show-stopping Limit Bursts, does a lot to make HD-2D feel fresh again.

It's only undermined by the occasional use of CG sequences when you're summoning Espers or Visions, the latter including manifestations of characters from the numbered Final Fantasy titles. Given how their CG sequences are taken straight from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, I imagine they looked far more spectacular blowing up on your smartphone back in the day. I personally found these transitions at odds with the HD-2D style, and it's perhaps weirder if playing the game with English audio since the CG Visions are only voiced in Japanese.

Vision quest

Visions are nonetheless a core component in Final Fantasy Resonance and are significantly overhauled from Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, where they were unlocked through a gacha system. This remake has just 26 from the hundreds of the mobile title but nixes any monetization or rarity randomization. Each is unlocked either by visiting their respective shrine or completing a side quest, while awakening more of their abilities is done by using magicite found as you go through the campaign.

Obviously, it's wish fulfillment having the likes of Final Fantasy 7's Cloud fighting alongside Final Fantasy 13's Lightning or Final Fantasy 14's Y'shtola, though they are more comparable to the skill-wielding summons from the likes of Persona 5 than true party members. They also have the added function of being like jobs, giving more abilities and attack options for the party member who's equipped them, while keeping them paired up for longer also levels up mastery, unlocking more benefits. There's also incentive to master multiple visions, since some of these perks become equippable, and you can mix and match different abilities, like a more flexible form of Octopath Traveler's secondary jobs.

Indeed, while there are many familiar Final Fantasy elements – such as Phoenix Downs for reviving fallen party members, or using tents as save points for fully recovering – I can't help but think how much of Octopath Traveler's design sensibilities permeate throughout. Mostly, it makes for a smoother experience, like the ability to run making dungeon traversal snappier, and the mini-map acting as a red-flashing radar helping you anticipate random battles.

It's also evident in the presentation of the battles themselves, with a timeline on the top displaying the order of turns while icons next to enemies also indicate which elemental properties they are weak, resistant, or immune to after a respective attack or spell is used on them. That said, the battles flow differently to the break and boost systems of Octopath Traveler.

While staggering has become a core mechanic since Final Fantasy 13, in Final Fantasy Resonance, your abilities also show their effectiveness in dealing damage to an enemy's HP and stagger gauge, handily color-coded in the same respective red and yellow. Instead of raw damage, it's often more important to focus on attacks that bring down the stagger gauge faster, especially when those abilities tend to cost less MP, before saving the strongest attacks for when their guard is down.

The more satisfying strategy comes from coordinating an attack where you stagger all the enemies during the same turn. Not only do you have the next turn free for everyone to pile on, but it's also how you get to finish the turn with a powerful Resonance attack from one of your equipped visions, in other words, the CG special ability mentioned previously.

Admittedly, the power of these bonus attacks in earlier field battles almost feels too much, prompting that The Simpsons 'Stop, he's already dead' meme to spring to mind after my party has wiped all but one enemy out whose HP is also already at zero, before unleashing a Resonance attack. But then it's also encouraged since you can gain an Overkill bonus at the end of a battle. Bosses are spongier and don't go down as easily, but there's a great sense of relief when you manage to stagger them just before the timeline indicates they're about to dish out a devastating attack on the whole party.

Finite Fantasy

The cozy familiarity of Final Fantasy Resonance does mean that at times it has almost too predictable a rhythm. It's not that the boss battles, or optional monster dungeon challenges, won't occasionally put you in a tight spot, but there is less friction in mind. For example, if the boss' weakness isn't already obvious from appearance, once you spend the first couple turns figuring this out, it's easy to hit pause, load your last save, quickly reassemble your party and visions, and skip any cutscenes to get back to that same fight at an advantage with minimal fuss.

With access to an airship by the game's midpoint, you might say it opens the world up a bit too soon, such as being able to reach one region several chapters before its relevance to the story even kicks in, or access monster dungeons that indicate you're far below its recommended level but you might as well go in so that you can fast-travel to it once you are ready. In that sense, there's almost little in the way of surprise.

Yet, while it might feel a little too breezy at times, it also feels a comforting counterpoint to the unfathomable bloat of the modern JRPG – looking at you, Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.

There's a generous amount of side quests on offer that unlock at a manageable cadence where the rewards are usually upfront, while dungeons never outstay their welcome, although side quests do have a knack for backtracking to earlier locations that's at least mitigated by fast travel. Even the endgame convention of ascending a huge towering dungeon is smartly broken up so that you can always go and explore the rest of Lapis and mop up other side quests without worrying about how far the next save point is.

Final Fantasy Resonance may only cover the first story arc of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, which might make it seem less complete than the multi-arc epic of Octopath Traveler 0, yet that may also be the point. If this beautifully enhanced remake does as well as it deserves to, then I'm hopeful its subsequent arcs will also get the same restoration treatment, with even bolder design choices.

Final Fantasy Resonance was reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2, with a code provided by the publisher.

Don't make this adventure final. Check out our best Final Fantasy games, best RPGs, and best JRPGs rankings for loads more to keep you busy. Our new releases calendar has plenty on the horizon too!

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series producer Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed details about Revelation's difficulty, including a new enemy strength option.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth obviously have beloved combat in both entries, but neither game has combat I'd describe as particularly difficult. Obviously, tackling the Summon Materia battles from Chadley earlier than you're meant to is a bit of a nightmare, but for the core story progression, there were only a handful of moments when things felt much more challenging.

And unfortunately, Hard mode was only made available after you beat the game in full, so unless you really want to replay it – which, given how long Rebirth is, I don't blame you for not wanting to – you won't experience it.

Thankfully, Hamaguchi – in an interview with Hardcore Gamer – confirms that "Hard Mode is selectable from the very start of this game." He explained that the hard difficulty "won't function in the exact same way as it did in Remake and Rebirth" and that for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation "we’ve reimagined the high-difficulty experience to align with the new game design."

"Unlike Remake and Rebirth, Revelation offers a wide variety of end-game content even after you’ve beaten the game," Hamaguchi explains, adding, "we aimed to create a game where players can enjoy various new content and challenges even after completing the main story."

On top of that, the balance of hard mode has changed somewhat, with him explaining that player options "have expanded significantly," and, as a result, the team "determined that simply banning items wouldn’t be enough to achieve the ideal high-difficulty experience we envisioned."

Hamaguchi also detailed an option in the difficulty settings, namely 'Enemy Strength,' which lets you choose between the returning Dynamic mode and static enemies. He explains, "we’ve created a challenging environment that will thoroughly satisfy those seeking high difficulty, while also expanding players’ freedom and strategic options."

More options are always a good thing, and after talking all that smack at the start of this, I look forward to bouncing my difficulty back down to normal after the third roadblock.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss doesn't want to hear your Rebirth mini-game discourse: "I don't think that discussion really gets to the heart of the matter"

If there's one department that Final Fantasy 14 fans are lacking in, it's reading, apparently – particularly the MMO's own settings.

It's a tale as old as time: players want certain options, and Square Enix either delivers them or doesn't… or, you know, already has, but folks don't check the settings to make sure what they want is or isn't already implemented in the game before asking for it.

Global community producer Toshio Murouchi jests about this phenomenon during a panel at this past weekend's PAX Australia event, explaining that it happens all the time. "Some of the player group loves A, the other group loves B, so you guys tend to say, 'Okay, how about making it selectable in the config options?"

That's when Square Enix does just that, with a "let's make it happen" attitude" – there are more than 10 years, as Muruochi says, of work poured into the MMO, after all, so the existing settings are "tremendous."

So tremendous, in fact, that players don't bother going through them.

They "don't like to read any play guide or the manuals," Moruochi jokes, which… guilty as charged – but we'll want to do just that for the new expansion Evercold.

"In preparation for Evercold, please take time to read through the config options," as the developer kindly tells the community. "That will help raise your quality of life in Eorzea." He's probably not wrong, considering all the new configurations and tweaks coming.

From new jobs like the Bastion to housing changes, Evercold's packing quite the punch of content, and knowing your way around pre-existing settings can't hurt. Some fans think that Square Enix should make them easier to navigate, however.

Over on a Reddit thread about Muruochi's recent words, one person comments that the devs "should redesign the horrible options menus" if they expect players to explore them.

Another suggests the Final Fantasy 14 team "just add a search bar" to make navigation a bit simpler – something I wouldn't be opposed to myself. For now, though, we'll have to make do with the old-fashioned click-and-browse method, I suppose.

Final Fantasy 14's Beastmaster has fans experiencing the MMO as Pokemon trainers for the first time in its 16 years, and they love it so much they "wish it was a standard job"

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth takes a lot of flak for the amount of mini-games it has that distract you from the main objective. Queen's Blood, Fort Condor, Chocobo Racing, Galactic Survivors, Pirate's Rampage, Queen's Blood... oh, god, Queen's Blood. (I suck at Queen's Blood because I lack the attention span to learn.)

Anyway, I don't much care for all of Final Fantasy Rebirth's mini-games, but I'm not upset that they exist. Even in the rare occasion I'm forced to interact with them, it's usually a nice, brief break from the main quest that makes me slow down and appreciate the depth of the game's world. That's just me, and there are plenty of JRPG fans who are vocally against the amount of mini-games in Rebirth, and indeed, the conversation has grown loud enough that it's officially become capital-D Discourse. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi, who also helmed Rebirth, isn't having any of it.

"I often see debates about whether it's better to have more minigames or fewer," says Hamaguchi in the latest issue of Edge Magazine. "However, I don't think that discussion really gets to the heart of the matter. What I consider first is what kind of gaming experience is best suited to a particular title. In that sense, the overarching policy that 'the FF7 remakes would offer a gaming experience as rich in minigames as the original' was my decision as director, and I believe that responsibility is mine to bear."

Not only is Hamaguchi taking direct ownership of the decision to stay true to the spirit of the original game with a ton of goofy mini-games, he's also saying people who focus on the amount of mini-games are missing the whole point. It's about quality and quantity, he seems to suggest.

"I believe we should continuously improve aspects such as whether the game is easy to engage with and whether players can enjoy it without unnecessary stress," says Hamaguchi. "We prioritised ensuring that players engage with the minigames because they want to, rather than feeling like they're being made to play them. I believe that how we can deliver that gaming experience is more important than whether to increase or reduce the number of minigames."

The mini-games in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth are definitely, for the most part, thoroughly fleshed out compared to their 1997 counterparts, but for the most part they're entirely optional. Or at least, the ones that require a lot of concentration or skill aren't necessary to the critical path, from what I remember. I don't know, I think I'm picking up what Hamaguchi is putting down here. When there are bigger issues to discuss like Square Enix's "inevitable" embrace of multiplatform availability and the lack of a true physical disc version of Revelation, whether or not there are too many mini-games seems pretty inconsequential.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead explains that making each game in the RPG trilogy a "complete experience" was "non-negotiable" from the beginning

The Final Fantasy series has always had incredible music, and if you were to ask my top three soundtracks from the franchise, Final Fantasy 7 and 10 would probably compete for the number one position. Nobuo Uematsu, the longtime composer of Square Enix's centre-piece property, disagrees emphatically with the quality of the former, believing it to be a downgrade from his work in prior entries.

In the book Nobuo Uematsu: On The Record by James Mielke, as shared on Twitter by FF7 Music, the storied musical legend goes in on his work for Cloud Strife's quest to stop Sephiroth. "Apart from the fan favorites, like 'One-Winged Angel', most of Final Fantasy 7's songs are boring compared to the music in prior games," he says.

"Because of the improvements in the visuals, the music distracts from the gameplay if the melody is too catchy," he adds. "So I wrote music that doesn't impose on the focus for the story."

I would consider that a strength and not a weakness. The soundtrack for Final Fantasy 7 strikes a strong balance between catchy melodies and sitting comfortably in the background of any given scene.

I've got 'Mako Reactor' playing while I write this, and that's a good example: it's foreboding and broody, heightening the feeling of seeing Shinra's technology suck the life out of the planet. But the cyclical nature of the melody makes it appropriately ambient - it doesn't demand your attention, but there's enough going on you could listen attentively, too.

To Uematsu, his contributions were more commanding when Final Fantasy games were on the NES and SNES. "For the Famicom and Super Famicom games, the music played a role in advancing the story," he explains.

"But by Final Fantasy 7, the visuals are convincing enough to tell the story, so it was better for the music to step back," he recalls. "I think the revelation that I'm adding music to enhance the visuals started in Final Fantasy 7 and carried on to Final Fantasy 8."

His work evolved quite heavily across 7, 8 and 9, bolstered by the sound team learning more about the PlayStation's capabilities. The soundtracks for 8 and 9 are both more orchestral and dynamic than 7's, but the synth-heavy flavor of the 1997 classic just gives it more charm to me. Agree to disagree, Uematsu - agree to disagree.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation ditching PS5 exclusivity was "inevitable," Naoki Hamaguchi says, because players are "no longer tied to a single piece of hardware"

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation marks a significant first for the remake series: it'll be the only entry available across multiple platforms on launch day. Remake and Rebirth both released as PlayStation exclusives, and took years to hit PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, but Revelation will be available for all players on day one. The change in approach, director Naoki Hamaguchi says, is simply a response to the reality of today's gaming landscape.

The multiplatform release is "an inevitable outcome of the changing environment surrounding today's players," as Hamaguchi explains in Edge Magazine issue #429. Now, players "are no longer tied to a single piece of hardware," and enjoy their games on TVs, desktops, and handheld devices alike.

"I believe that what will be important in future triple-A game development is not how high-performance an environment we can use," Hamaguchi says, "but rather how widely we can deliver the core of the same experience across different environments." In other words, game devs are now incentivized to make sure their games scale across a wide range of platforms, from the highest-end PCs to the most lowly handhelds.

Square Enix announced its intention to "aggressively" pursue a "multiplatform strategy" back in 2024. The publisher had never truly been exclusive to one particular platform, though its allegiance shifts between Nintendo and Sony in the '90s are the stuff of game history legend. Nevertheless, almost all of its games have been released across all major platforms in the past few years – an unequivocal win for all but the most hardened of console warriors.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says he pushed Square Enix for a physical version of the JRPG, but physical media will eventually be "essentially disc-less."

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the third and final entry in Square Enix's remake trilogy, will be available on disc when it launches on April 8, but the physical version comes with a massive caveat: unlike the two-disc Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Revelation will be a single disc and will only contain the opening parts of the game. You'll have to be connected to the internet to download and play the rest of the game. Naturally, this raises questions about the nature of physical media, entitlements, and whether the disc version of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation can fundamentally be considered physical media. And yet, director Naoki Hamaguchi wants you to know he really stuck his neck out to get the game on disc at all.

Talking to Radio Times, Hamaguchi says he has fond memories of collecting physical games as a kid and will still buy discs when he's "particularly attached to a title," but he ultimately sees "a world in the not-too-distant future where physical media is essentially disc-less," adding that "You would have a copy of the code on a piece of paper inside the physical box or something like that."

That sort of thing already exists in things like Switch 2 game-key cards and some special editions, but it sounds like Hamaguchi thinks that'll be how all physical games work in the near future, which is kind of sad. Regardless, the veteran game developer says he "really like[s] and appreciate[s] physical media," and acknowledges the 'no disc, no purchase' movement that's happening on social media.

"And for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, we've been able to preserve a physical edition. You can't play the entire game on that disc, but it's got the opening – a sort of key disc – and then after that, it will ask you to download the rest."

Hamaguchi is keenly aware that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's physical version hasn't exactly been a huge hit with fans, but he says that, despite his trying, the decision is largely out of his hands.

"I've got people saying to me on social media, 'Give us a full disc version!' And so, from an overall perspective, let me first say that as the director, it's my responsibility to look after the content of the game to make sure it's fun, really exciting.

"The product line-up, the SKUs (stock keeping units), how it's going on sale; that is the responsibility of the publishing team. So, my authority there is somewhat limited," says Hamaguchi.

Of course, this whole conversation is happening with a big contextual backdrop that is PlayStation's decision to stop producing physical games in 2028. Developers and publishers are also gradually moving toward digital-only games despite fervent opposition from physical media collectors and even game preservationists, but Hamaguchi says he "did [his] best" convincing Square Enix to give Final Fantasy 7 Revelation a physical release.

"In this day and age, as we've been talking about, there's a lot of pressure for disc-less editions, digital editions, and I used my position to put forth an argument for the physical version as much as possible.

"And all of the negotiations, both internally and with first parties, have led us to where we are now, and of course, I completely understand there are those out there who may not really agree with that direction or approve of that direction."

It is, as they say, what it is.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director says "it wasn't easy" not turning "a masterpiece like FF7 into something that felt like my own personal fan project"

Final Fantasy 7 feels both like a time capsule from the late '90s and a timeless story about corporate greed and its negative impact on the environment, and the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is set to tie the knot on the remake trilogy's modern retelling.

In Edge Magazine issue 429, Hamaguchi says it hasn't been easy remaking a game as beloved as Final Fantasy 7 as three separate entries while staying true to the spirit of the original.

"We haven't altered the core of the story based on reactions at any given time. It feels as though we've built up each title one by one without wavering from the central theme we established at the very start of the Remake series," Hamaguchi says. "It wasn't easy. I felt it was absolutely essential to avoid turning a masterpiece like FF7 into something that felt like my own personal fan project."

Of course, the Final Fantasy 7 remakes aren't without their creative liberties, even introducing a meta narrative device to make major changes to the original story via the Whisper entities. Hamaguchi says the development team didn't struggle with individual alterations; rather, they struggled with the remake series' whole identity among the Final Fantasy pantheon.

"The real challenge wasn't simply incorporating elements that differed from the original or introducing new interpretations. It was constantly asking ourselves whether what we were creating could truly be called FF7R," says Hamaguchi.

With Final Fantasy 7 Revelation due out April 8, 2027, you still have plenty of time to catch up on the story as told before the sequel picks up, whether that's a replay of Remake and Rebirth or the original 1997 JRPG. Hamaguchi himself recently told GamesRadar+ that the original story "is very much enshrined within the story [and] the narrative of the Remake series as a thing in the world," but that newcomers can also jump right into the remakes and still have a great old time.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation battle lead still doesn't know the "correct" way to balance between real-time and turn-based combat, but that's why he's not "tired" of working on the trilogy

After three whole installments of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, battle director Teruki Endo still isn't sure what the right balance of turn-based and real-time combat is, but as he heads towards the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, he reckons this is why he's still not "tired" of working on the revamped JRPGs after all these years.

Speaking in an interview in Edge magazine issue 429, Endo notes that "whenever I've worked on a sequel, I've always faced this dilemma. If the game becomes too complex, that's a problem. But if there are no entirely new elements, or if we only make minor adjustments, we risk failing to meet players' expectations and not giving them that sense of freshness when they play again."

Endo's approach is to "always make a point of considering the purpose, significance, and role of every element from the ground up, and then rebuilding them for the new game." When it comes to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy specifically, he's taken inspiration from the "festive atmosphere" he felt in the JRPG "ever since I first played" the original, noting that "I've increasingly wanted to explore how we could make even bolder, more playful additions to the game."

One way he's done this is via the FITS system – a sort-of job system that lets you change the abilities of your party members and the way you approach combat with them. "Our approach has always been to place Materia at the center of customization," he adds. "With the FITS system, one might be concerned that it could limit the freedom players had to shape each character's strengths through Materia. Instead, we've made a conscious effort to position FITS as an element that allows players to further sharpen and specialize the direction of Materia-based builds."

As we get closer to the release of the finale of the remake trilogy in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Endo acknowledges the continual effort that's gone into the balance of turn-based and real-time combat across the three games. Remake and Rebirth both included a Classic mode that lets your party members fight automatically, allowing you to focus on selecting commands. Way back in 2019, Square Enix described this as something that would "thrill fans who prefer the original FINAL FANTASY turn-based battle systems to real-time combat."

"Across all three titles, we've repeatedly fine-tuned this balance [between turn-based and real-time] through trial and error," Endo says. "The difficult part is that I still haven't decided on a definitive 'correct answer' for myself.'"

There's a silver lining to that situation though, he adds: "I think [it] may be one of the reasons I've been able to keep working on these games across all three installments without getting tired of it."

Turn-based RPGs have been making a real resurgence lately thanks to the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Sandfall's hit game is definitively turn-based, but uses Super Mario RPG-esque real-time inputs on top of that system, allowing for parries, dodges, and powered-up moves.

It'll be interesting to see where Square Enix goes with its Final Fantasy games after Revelation, but Final Fantasy Resonance, which is releasing this month, should hopefully satisfy the cravings of anyone who's been eager for the series to get a full-fat turn-based entry again.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says the original 1997 RPG "is very much enshrined within the story," but newcomers can still jump in with the Remake trilogy.

Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy 11? It now has an expanded free trial which you can play up to level 75 for free with no restrictions on playtime. Yes, devotees of Final Fantasy 14 have had good times with their own free trial memes over the years, but Square Enix's older MMO is finally bulking up its own trial in an effort to get more players in the door.

There is no longer any time limit on Final Fantasy 11's free trial. Previously, players would be locked out after two weeks and forced to upgrade to the full game. Additionally, the level cap on the trial is now 75, up from the previous cap of 50. These changes were first announced earlier this year, and have just gone live as of today's update.

Notably, the trial still only includes the base game, with no expansion content, and there are some key restrictions on access to social features. Notably, trial players can't access the auction house, trade with other people, or carry more than 100,000 gil, all of which are presumably meant to limit gold farming activity.

Trial players also aren't allowed to start parties, but they can join parties started by owners of the full game. All these sorts of restrictions will sound pretty familiar to FF14 players, and just as with that game, this trial is probably best paired with an experienced subscriber to the full game who can show you the ropes and help you party up.

In any case, Final Fantasy 11 is long overdue for this kind of free trial expansion. The memes are easy to reference, but the real reason I keep evoking Final Fantasy 14 here is because it's the MMO I know, and that's in large part thanks to its generous introductory trial. But Final Fantasy 14 is very much a post-WoW theme park MMO whose biggest hooks are a strong story and accessible gameplay loop.

Final Fantasy 11 is a lot crunchier and more player-driven, with esoteric gameplay systems and a big emphasis on letting players explore at their own pace and find their own fun. Some players swear by it, which is why FF11 is still running 24 years later. But when I tried it out many years ago with the original free trial, I found that the two-week time limit was far too intimidating to make much progress in understanding how the game works.

I'm not sure I can find space in my life to take another run at understanding FF11 these days, but the new free trial goes a long way toward making the possibility realistic.

These are the best MMORPGs you can play today.

It'll be less painful to pine for Platinum in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation now that Square Enix developers are changing their approach to the completionist trophy.

In fact, director Naoki Hamaguchi tells Anime News Network he expects "twenty percent of players or maybe even more than that to be able to obtain" Platinum in Revelation, the final installment of the remake trilogy. In comparison, only 2.3% of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players on Steam have earned its platinum prize, The Planet's Hope. Square Enix devs were apparently expecting a bigger number.

"For Rebirth's Platinum trophy – well, for Rebirth in general – there's so much to do," Hamaguchi acknowledges. "There's so much content. We wanted to make people go through all this content and perfect it. It's kind of by design that that would make it difficult."

But, you know, you can blast through a challenging number of appetizers at dinner or push yourself with back-to-back rewatches of Saw 2 – it doesn't mean you won't regret ordering the tuna tartare in the morning. So, Rebirth's battle director Teruki Endo had regrets.

"'Oh, no! I feel bad – I have regrets,'" Hamaguchi reports Endo saying upon seeing fan feedback to what a pain Rebirth's Platinum trophy was. The director continues, "I don't want to call it a mistake in judgment or anything but we also didn't expect so many people to want the Platinum trophy. I think that was what we underestimated here."

But Square Enix devs have learned their lesson for Revelation, which is out April 8, 2027. Hamaguchi promises "the Platinum trophy will be easier to get" once the RPG launches, and the game's overall combat should be less brutal, too.

"It's not just about the amount of battles that there are but the battles themselves that are going to be enjoyable," says Hamaguchi about the developers' approach. "I think that's one thing that we've learned from Rebirth: to make the battles themselves enjoyable rather than just challenging."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake being split in 3 was a risk, director says, because what could Square Enix do if the first game was received "poorly."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Jessie actor says playing the character in Square Enix's 2020 JRPG was a "bucket list role," but with that in mind, you can understand why she's "devastated" at her fate.

Erica Lindbeck – who also voices Futaba in Persona 5, Black Cat in the Marvel's Spider-Man games, and many more – tells us in a new interview that being cast as Jessie in Final Fantasy 7 Remake's PSX trailer back in 2015 was "one of my first big things" she booked in her acting career, and it understandably meant a great deal to her.

"I mean, that's just a bucket list role for anybody, or project – especially FF7," she says. She recalls being anxious about whether Square Enix would keep her in the role, and perhaps more importantly, wondering "will the game eventually get made," which thankfully she had nothing to worry about.

But then there was the question of what would happen to Jessie in the long-awaited remake – something Lindbeck "did not know" when she took on the role. In case it wasn't obvious, we're about to get into spoiler territory, so be warned.

Alas, much like in the original 1997 JRPG, Jessie sadly dies in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and thanks to Lindbeck's excellent acting – as well as the extra detail the remake could offer – it's more heartbreaking than ever.

"When they dug the knife – and they chose to dig the knife in even further, so to speak – I was devastated. I mean, I was just devastated," Lindbeck tells us.

With that said, she's still rather philosophical about the whole thing, adding: "But I think some deaths are necessary. I think that if you have a universe with no death, things feel less heavy and less permanent, and I think that's what gives life its meaning."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake being split in 3 was a risk, director says, because what could Square Enix do if the first game was received "poorly."

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi says splitting the project into three games wasn't a business decision, as it's a risky endeavor.

When it was announced that Final Fantasy 7's remake would be an episodic release, many scoffed at the idea, but here we are years later, with two great RPGs to show for it and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation being one of the most anticipated games of all time. Remaking the game's sheer scale seemingly necessitated the multi-game approach, but some saw it as nothing more than Square Enix trying to milk its most popular game for all its worth. However, the director of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy says business didn't factor into it at all.

Speaking to Final Weapon, Hamaguchi says he can't imagine many other games that would be remade across multiple titles, with the director thinking he won't see a game on the same scale as the trilogy ever again. And while from "a creative perspective" the game necessitated this massive project, Hamaguchi notes "from a business perspective, it's a totally different story."

"If the first title had sold really poorly and been poorly reviewed, I mean, what do you do with the rest of the titles?" Hamaguchi says. He notes that with a project like this, "There's also this need to keep the team as similar as possible across all of the titles," with him calling it "another huge headache, especially for people who control the strings."

Hamaguchi says these are "big risks that you have to take" for a project like this, and he doesn't think "many will" take that on. In an era of ballooning AAA budgets, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is especially impressive, and sure the devs have reused assets and other factors, but given the reported budgets of the Marvel's Spider-Man sequels, I feel like even that's not a given for a smooth development now.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you automatically level characters and blast through the campaign after Rebirth players begged director Naoki Hamaguchi for a break from the JRPG grind.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi doesn't think there will ever be a game that compares to the scale of the trilogy after Final Fantasy 7 Revelation releases.

Whatever you feel about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, there's no denying that it's one of the most impressive AAA projects in recent memory. In an era where the likes of Naughty Dog are taking close to a decade to release a game, the fact that three major titles are going to have released within seven years is quite the feat. While the idea of splitting the classic JRPG across three titles continues to be a contentious decision years later, it's not a choice Hamaguchi sees happening often.

"I think the popular titles that came before, I think they will be remade." Hamaguchi says, speaking to Final Weapon. He adds, "that being said, a game like this, splitting it across three titles… I'm not so sure there will be that many; if there are any, very few."

He recalls the challenges to be considered when making a game across three parts, like if the first part had sold or reviewed poorly, and the fact that the "need to keep the team as similar as possible across all of the titles" can be a "huge headache."

Hamaguchi continues, "Not only is Final Fantasy 7 huge and the scale of the Remake Series is just enormous, but in a way, I don't think a game will ever compare in terms of scale across three titles ever again." He adds, "in that way, I think the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series will be looked at as kind of like this outlier. That's something I'm gonna be proud of."

Hamaguchi is seemingly counting the series as a "game" in this case, despite it being three titles. Granted – even if there are some that will argue Final Fantasy 7 hasn't either – I don't know if there are many games that could pull off being split across multiple games for a remake. Although personally, I anxiously await Capcom stretching Devil May Cry 1's four hour runtime into three games.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you automatically level characters and blast through the campaign after Rebirth players begged director Naoki Hamaguchi for a break from the JRPG grind.

You can expect Final Fantasy 7 Revelation to be a big game. It's the trilogy closer, and that means there'll be plenty of side quests and a lot of exploring to do. In lieu of this, there'll be some extra guidance for players who'd rather just get from A-to-B without much hassle – but Square Enix knows not everyone may be interested in these features if they're in it for the journey.

Director Naoki Hamaguchi explains the balance of these ideals on Twitter. "In Revelation, we've included more on-screen guidance than in our previous titles so that even players who are not familiar with open-world games can enjoy the experience without getting lost," he says. "By following that guidance, players can naturally explore the world as it gradually opens up, revealing new places to discover and more things to do."

However, if that sounds annoying or like hand-holding to you, then Square Enix is "considering options that would allow players to customize how guidance is presented." He doesn't mention to what extent you'll be able to adjust the wayfinding or whatever other signposting the game will provide, but I imagine the lowest settings will be quite freeing overall.

More options are always good, especially in RPGs requiring dozens of hours of investment to get through. While I'm in the camp of preferring less guidance, there are many who don't have the time or energy to wander aimlessly for hours, or would simply prefer to know exactly where to go at any given time.

If it's feasible to appease both sides of the spectrum, that can only widen the appeal of the game and make sure everyone's getting a better experience. Final Fantasy 7 Revelation ties together the remake trilogy, and considering the scale of both Remake and Rebirth, I expect this one to basically swallow me whole for upwards of 100 hours.

Hamaguchi recently mentioned it'll take multiple runs to see and do everything in the adventure, and even as an ardent journeyman of these kinds of games, I can see myself leaning into the exploration options for my second and third playthroughs, just to streamline things. If the versatility is there, why not make use of it? This isn't 1997 any more, not everything needs to be a grind.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lets you automatically level characters and blast through the campaign after Rebirth players begged director Naoki Hamaguchi for a break from the JRPG grind.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation overlord Naoki Hamaguchi says players can automatically level up after a certain point in Square Enix's conclusion to its Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy, since some fans were apparently about to pass out from JRPG exhaustion.

Video game news update Twitter account Genki shares the sentiment in a translation of a new interview Hamaguchi did with IGN Japan, where the Square Enix lead talks about learning a lot of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players wanted to trim the fluff on the game's 40-hour campaign. Hamaguchi is now prepared to meet them in the middle – you'll be able to juice your weak party up to the game's recommended level after reaching a specific milestone in Revelation, out April 8, 2027.

The pop-up option will simply ask you something like, "Do you want to automatically raise the level to the recommended level?" Hamaguchi hopes doing so will let interested players force their way through Revelation's main campaign rather than skulk around in however many million hours' worth of open world exploration if they don't want to. That way, Hamaguchi says, you can play Revelation like a linear game rather than the universe-sized experience it actually is.

Those who prefer their RPGs to be nice and never-ending, though, don't have to participate in automatic leveling if they don't want to. If you'd rather get caught up in side quests and earn your levels through traditional slog, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will honor that. It offers something for everyone.

Square Enix is really just following a trend here – classic JRPG grind is steadily being replaced with auto-battlers that laser-zap all the little chores that were once mandatory for the genre, and Revelation's automatic leveling option does the same.

A new definition for JRPGs is emerging, and it says a game can be dense, beautiful, and immersive without making you want to slam your head against Sephiroth's abs (unless you really want to).

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says the series' cursed Moogles are back, and this time they're training to form a pop idol group.

Part of the joy of RPGs is replaying them to try different things and explore other side quests and options on your journey. The upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will apparently reward going through the story more than once, with more to discover than was in Rebirth.

Director and remake trilogy overseer Naoki Hamaguchi comments as much during a gameplay demonstration at Tokyo Game Show, per a translation from Genki on Twitter. While providing commentary to footage of the blockbuster game, he mentions that going through Final Fantasy 7 Revelation once will provide around the same amount of gameplay as in Rebirth.

However, according to him, there's a lot you can't see or do in one go, thus you'll want to get through Revelation a couple of times, making the overall amount of questing and rewards and such more than in the second installment. It's not specified to what degree overall there's more to see.

I'm not shocked to hear this. Revelation is the big closer, and it felt like we were building towards it in Rebirth. You've got the entire party together, finally, the whole world of Final Fantasy 7 to explore, and given the standard of redesign thus far, the stage is set for the devs to really maximize the amount of fun to be had.

Even as someone who doesn't replay games all that much – my backlog is just too big – I suspect I'll be playing Revelation more than once. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Remake and Rebirth, and this'll be the last goodbye to these characters, at least for now, and I want to savor every piece of that.

Hamaguchi's comments here line up with the size of the release too, since it's likely to be around the 200 GB range. That's a chunky piece of your hard drive, but then, let's be honest, once this lands, what else will you be playing?

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead says the series' cursed Moogles are back, and this time they're training to form a pop idol group.

Without getting too misty-eyed, a "physical game" used to be easy to define. You bought a box and the game was sitting inside on a disc or cartridge.

Fast-forward to today and things are more complicated. The box might hold a download code or a Game-Key Card that still needs software from a server, while some expensive collector’s editions don’t even include a physical copy at all. So, with Sony steering full-steam toward Playstation's digital-only future, what exactly are we going to mean by a "physical game" in 2030?

To find out, I spoke to Perry Gresham, head of data at MIDiA Research, and James McWhirter, senior analyst at Omdia. Their answers suggest the physical box isn’t necessarily going anywhere – but what it contains, and what owning it gives you, may change dramatically.

Physical demand could outlive the disc

It’s easy to look at the growing share of digital game sales and assume the physical market is heading towards zero. Gresham thinks the picture is more complicated.

"[The] decline in consumer demand is somewhat overstated by the headline digital vs physical figures reported in financial statements," he says. "It’s important to be careful about what’s actually being measured – there are factors that distort the picture. PC and mobile games are almost entirely digital-only, a lot of games now aren’t seeing a physical release, and importantly, stats reported often include in-game spending within the ‘digital’ part."

Gresham also notes that discounted older games still count as digital unit sales, while second-hand physical sales aren’t captured in publisher financials.

There’s still plenty of appetite for something tangible, too. Recent YouGov research found 51% of US console gamers generally preferred discs or cartridges, with permanent ownership the most commonly cited reason among physical buyers.

Gresham expects the physical market decline to moderate as we approach 2030, in part because many of the people still buying physical games actively care about ownership, resale, or collecting. If publishers force that audience towards digital, some may simply stop buying instead. “There’s a risk of shrinking the pie if those physical buyers don’t shift over,” he says.

If that decline does flatten, the pressure may increasingly come from the supply side: companies could stop making discs and cartridges before players stop wanting to buy them. PlayStation is already moving in that direction, with Sony planning to end disc production in 2028.

Why publishers want the game off the disc

Changing buying habits are only part of the appeal for publishers – there are some very practical reasons to get the game itself off the disc or cartridge.

On Nintendo platforms, physical remains a major route to market. Omdia estimates that just under 40% of full-game purchases in 2026 will be physical. But McWhirter says the cost of Switch 2 Game Cards is significant, with Game-Key Cards offering publishers a cheaper alternative.

"The cheaper per-unit cost of Game Key-Cards allows publishers like Square Enix and Ubisoft to launch at lower price points while also giving them the flexibility to discount post-launch and avoid ‘Switch tax’ and code-in-box reprints," he says.

McWhirter notes that Nintendo has wrestled with cartridge cost and supply before, citing the Famicom Disk System and Nintendo 64DD as earlier attempts to find alternatives.

Physical manufacturing creates an earlier deadline, too. On PlayStation and Xbox, McWhirter says download-dependent releases can give developers more time to finish a game before it has to be locked down for manufacture. "This is more important for games aiming to launch during periods where release dates are less flexible, like the holiday season," he says.

The disc also sits awkwardly with platform strategies that increasingly stretch beyond the living-room console. PlayStation and Xbox are looking towards PCs, handhelds, and cloud streaming to reach players on more devices.

McWhirter puts it plainly: “Discs are likely seen as an impediment,” while digital purchases can potentially follow players across consoles, PCs, handhelds, and cloud streaming.

What does physical ownership actually mean?

Once the game itself no longer has to live on the disc or cartridge, the physical object has a different job.

Switch 2 Game-Key Cards are a good example: they contain no game data, but the card still behaves much like a traditional physical copy once the software has been downloaded. "Game-Key Cards are not single-use codes and allow for lending and resale," McWhirter says. "They also do not require a Nintendo eShop account."

Gresham thinks that idea could eventually move beyond familiar game media altogether, with a physical token representing the purchase – potentially something as simple as a flash drive.

A code in a box works very differently. Redeem one of those and the game becomes tied to your digital account, leaving the physical package with no transferable copy to lend or sell. In practical terms, a Game-Key Card with no game stored on it can preserve more of the freedoms associated with physical ownership than a lavish collector’s edition containing a download code.

The weak spot is the download itself. A fresh Game-Key Card installation still depends on the game data being available online, although McWhirter notes that data can also be transferred locally between Switch 2 handsets.

Gresham thinks the same questions will increasingly matter for digital purchases too: "For consumers, the merit of any digital solution will come down to what rights come associated with their purchase.

"Can access be revoked, and does it depend on platform servers? Can the game be played offline? Can I transfer or resell it? Will access be available in 20+ years?"

Nintendo’s Virtual Game Card system already shows one possible direction, bringing some physical-style lending to digital purchases. Gresham points to PC as a contrast, where competition between storefronts helped encourage less restrictive approaches to digital licensing; console platforms already have integrated digital ecosystems, leaving them with far less incentive to offer the same freedoms.

Why the box survives

Even if the disc disappears, there are still good reasons to keep something on the shelf. Boxed games remain useful for gifting and retail, while the packaging itself can carry value for players who want something tangible from a favourite release. Case in point: I still have my GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 boxes on display.

Sony has already said that new PlayStation games will continue to be sold through retailers after disc production ends in January 2028, albeit in digital formats. McWhirter expects that to mean packaged code-in-a-box releases.

Whether a download code can simply take the disc’s place is less certain. McWhirter points out that code-in-a-box releases on Switch have generally worked better later in a game’s life, when publishers want a cheaper reprint without committing to another run of cartridges. "And because code-in-a-box is rarely associated with day-and-date releases, they tend to end up in supermarkets at discount prices," he says.

GTA 6 could prove that model can work at launch, although few games can count on anything like its level of demand – or, at the time of writing, level of leaks.

At the other end of the market, physical games may become more elaborate. Gresham sees a parallel with music, where streaming handles most everyday listening while vinyl and other physical formats cater to fans who want to collect.

"There’s a very good chance that physical games become increasingly collector-focused," he says. Gresham argues that digital deluxe editions generally struggle to command the same premium because they lack the perceived scarcity and tangibility of a physical collector’s edition.

McWhirter also points to specialist publishers already producing physical versions of digital games in the low thousands, often selling them at a premium through Amazon or direct. As mainstream volumes fall, that model could become increasingly important – leaving the traditional boxed disc squeezed between cheap digital access and physical editions made specifically for people who really want them.

By 2030, that could leave mass-market retail selling boxes that mainly deliver digital access, while genuinely physical releases increasingly cater to enthusiasts willing to pay for them.

So what is a "physical game" in 2030?

By the end of the decade, "physical" may tell us surprisingly little about where a game lives; the box could contain the actual software or unlock a download. For some, it might simply give you something tangible to put on a shelf.

Can you lend it, resell it, play it offline, or still access it years later? A Game-Key Card and a code-in-a-box might look equally physical at the checkout, but they can leave the buyer with very different rights once they get home.

Perhaps the better question in 2030 won’t be whether a game is physical, but what the thing you’ve bought actually lets you do.

More from Saturday Read: "It really is accepting of everybody": How Games Done Quick uses community to make a difference.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi warns that the finale of Square Enix's Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy will probably be about 200 GB.

Both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth shipped on multiple discs allowing people to access the entirety of the game without the need to download anything. Not only was this a cute throwback to the PS1 era which saw the original Final Fantasy 7 ship across multiple discs, but a good way to preserve the game in the event these online stores eventually go down. However, for Part 3, news broke that the game's physical release would still require an online download.

Hamaguchi explained this is happening because the team does not want to "compromise" on the quality of the final chapter, which releasing the entirety of it on disc would require. Speaking to VGC, Hamaguchi is now asked if this means the upcoming RPG will be significantly larger than the first two entries, with the director explaining, "Things are still getting worked out, but it's probably going to be around 200 GB of game."

He adds, "I understand there are a lot of opinions about this topic, but at the end of the day, the fact is we need to overcome the hardware to a certain extent."

However, despite the fact the game will not be released entirely on disc, Hamaguchi indirectly refers to the recent news of Sony abandoning disc releases for PS5 games, and explains, "with Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, we definitely wanted to deliver some kind of physical product. That was really important to us. Trust me!"

However, I do feel for Nintendo Switch 2 owners, because 200 GB is almost the entirety of the console's storage. Although, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is almost 150 GB on PS5 and 102.5 GB on Switch 2, so hopefully things are a little smaller on Nintendo's platform.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss is "so sorry" for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset, "you may change your opinion" by the end of the remake trilogy.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi says that Revelation's story DLCs will dig deeper into their subjects, but he's not telling us when exactly they'll be set.

Earlier this month we finally got confirmation that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will be releasing next April, and that after skipping DLC with Rebirth, the final entry in the trilogy will be getting two expansion packs. The first is simply titled Sephiroth, while the second is titled Vincent & the Turks, with expansions set to release between Winter 2027 and Spring 2028.

Speaking to VGC, Hamaguchi explains: "It's best to imagine the DLC like what we did with Intermission: digging deeper into the characters of Vincent and Sephiroth." However, the game's director isn't ready to divulge when exactly these stories take place within the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, saying, "In regard to whether those stories take place in the past or the present, I'm not going to tell you that now, but we're excited to reveal that."

Given Vincent is the star of his own game, in the form of Dirge of Cerberus, it is entirely possible that Square Enix's plan for his DLC could be an alternate retelling of that game that factors in the Turks. However, given Dirge of Cerberus originally takes place as one of the latest parts of the Final Fantasy 7 timeline, it seems more likely that it'll be a prequel featuring his time as a Turk.

As for Sephiroth, the possibilities are far more vast. You could easily have some of the events that precede the events of Final Fantasy 7, during Sephiroth's time as a Soldier, or have him off doing something during the events of the game.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss is "so sorry" for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset, "you may change your opinion" by the end of the remake trilogy.

A few weeks ago, we learned that Terranigma would finally get a modern re-release, bringing the classic Super Nintendo JRPG out in North America for the very first time. Today, remaster dev Clear River Games has confirmed that the new edition of Terranigma will launch on January 14, offering a host of details on the in-game updates and the first look at a super-deluxe $200 collector's edition.

Terranigma was originally developed by Quintet, a now-defunct studio responsible for numerous SNES classics like ActRaiser and Illusion of Gaia. Like many of those games, Terranigma was published by Enix – now one half of Square Enix – and has seemingly been trapped in some kind of licensing limbo ever since. Now it's finally coming out of the vault in style.

The Terranigma remaster launches across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC via Steam and GOG on January 14, with physical editions available for all current console platforms. You can put $200 into the Gaia Edition, if you're so inclined, netting you a Yomi figure, music box, art book, cloth world map, soundtrack CD, and more. Pre-orders are available through Limited Run Games in the US or straight from developer Clear River Games in Europe.

But for me, the real news today is the remaster itself. Terranigma will feature an "original mode" offering "untouched balance" and the "original save system" for the classic experience. Even in this mode, however, there's a new sidebar alongside the 4:3 game window that shows your current money and experience, as well as a new set of quick access controls letting you quickly swap equipped items.

You can also swap to the "arranged mode," which promises "enhanced progression" and "adjusted difficulty," along with modern retro gaming conveniences like quick saves and rewinds. Best of all is a new minimap that shows your position in the current location.

These are the kinds of features I wish Square Enix itself would invest in for games like the OG Final Fantasy titles. The Pixel Remasters have turned out to be decent ways to play the originals, but those games have aesthetic and gameplay "improvements" that are questionable at best, and even the upgrades don't go as far as Terranigma's minimap and new inventory controls do. Getting the option of going back to the original experience and game balance offers the best of both worlds.

I'd be happy enough getting an official US release of Terranigma in just about any condition, but the remaster devs here are clearly going above and beyond to make sure this will be worth the three-decade wait.

These are the best SNES games of all time.

Once Final Fantasy 7 Revelation comes out on April 8, 2027, the entire Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy will likely total at least 150 hours of Cloud being tormented – assuming the final installment is as long as the two before it. That's already a lot of Final Fantasy 7 remake, but Square Enix company director Yoshinori Kitase might be craving more, and he wouldn't rule out a spin-off, or 12.

He had the same open approach to the original Final Fantasy 7 game in 1997, Kitase tells Malaysia-based games news site GamerBraves. That RPG was meant to be a one-and-done experience until fans' sleepless enthusiasm led to years of related games, like the popular Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII from 2007, which also got remastered in 2022 as Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core Reunion.

Kitase says, "In terms of the remake series with [Final Fantasy 7], we really wanted to feel like, and we really have put so much work into this to feel like we've done everything we possibly can to make this [newest] title have the best quality it possibly can have." At the moment, that assessment seems honest – GamesRadar+ senior producer James Daly writes in his recent Final Fantasy 7 Revelation preview, "I wonder how Naoki Hamaguchi and Square Enix so masterfully manage to weave nostalgia into something so obviously new in so many ways. Maybe I'll never truly understand."

At the risk of sounding cynical, I think it helps that Square Enix developers are so willing to squeeze every single molecule of inspiration from Final Fantasy 7 until it's dry and crackling. The developer learned this approach 30 years ago. "When we created the original Final Fantasy VII," Kitase says, "we really thought like, 'Okay, we're done now. We can move on.'"

But fans of what many consider to be one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time weren't ready to let go. "The characters were so popular and so lasting," Kitase recalls. "The fan reaction to these characters really is what brought on the spinoff games as well like Advent Children and Crisis Core.”

Now, Kitase says about Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, "We can confidently say it's the end of the series." But there's a giant, shining asterisk assigned to that statement. Square Enix is fine with walking away from its remake trilogy, but the overall concept of Final Fantasy 7 might still be holding a few cups worth of spin-off ideas.

"Who knows what's going to happen with fan reaction and how people come to enjoy this series and this finale," Kitase says. The door is open.

After countless memes, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss confirms that, yes, Fortnite partly inspired jumping out of the Highwind.

Fortnite's Kingdom Hearts collab is finally arriving this week, and it looks like it's not just Sora joining Epic's battle royale.

Fortnite's current gaming-themed season, Override, kicked off last month, at which point it was confirmed via the official key art that Kingdom Hearts protagonist Sora would be added to the game soon with his very own skin. Almost a month into the season, folks were starting to wonder where he was, but Epic has now revealed that we can expect him to be added to the game "this week."

A new teaser video gives us our best look yet at Sora and his slightly Fortniteified Keyblade – you'll notice that the keychain attached to it that'd normally be a little Mickey Mouse head has been swapped for a Fortnite llama, instead.

Presumably this will be available to buy as a pickaxe, though it'd be very cool if it was added to the loot pool as a Mythic weapon, too – Epic hasn't confirmed this either way at this stage, though.

That's not all, though. The official Fortnite Twitter account has also posted a series of quotes from different Kingdom Hearts characters, suggesting that they might be joining the game too. After sharing a Sora quote, Epic also posted lines from Riku, Kairi, and Roxas, so it sounds like we could have a full squad joining the fray.

We're still waiting on a number of previously teased gaming collabs to get added to Fortnite this season – Persona 5's Joker was also shown off in marketing last month, but still isn't available yet, and CD Projekt Red has now confirmed that a Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Lucy skin is on the way, too. Epic previously said that Rebecca's Guns will be available as a weapon in the loot pool at some point, so presumably these will come at the same time.

As it stands, Fortnite Override is set to run until the end of October, so here's hoping fans won't be waiting too long for those other crossovers. In the meantime, let's just hope that Kingdom Hearts' already baffling narrative web doesn't get any more complicated with some Fortnite-exclusive lore that'll become inaccessible within a few weeks.

Be sure to check out our guide to Fortnite admin panel codes to get some free bonuses this season.

After it was memed from the moment the game was announced, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed that jumping out of the Highwind Fortnite-style was indeed inspired by Fortnite, though only partly.

The Highwind is set to be the central mechanic of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. The massive airship that transports the party around was a big part of the original RPG, but in the era of realism and immersion, you can't simply drop to the ground and teleport out of the ship as you did on the PS1 when you arrived.

So when Final Fantasy 7 Revelation got its first showing earlier this year, we were treated to a look at how the Highwind is going to work in the third and final entry in the remake trilogy. You'll be able to fly all around the world and choose which area you're going to pop off into, which is pretty in line with what the PS1 original had. Except this time, your party launches themselves off the side of the ship, and skydives down to the map below.

Naturally, when everyone saw this, we all made the same joke, with a ton of memes of Cloud Strife asking "where we droppin'" emerging in the immediate aftermath. However, when asked about this connection by GamesRadar's Fortnite correspondent James Daly (following the Final Fantasy 7 Revelation hands-on preview), Hamaguchi did admit, "We did get a bit of inspiration from Fortnite, [we] won't lie about that."

It's funny, however, that Fortnite is the inspiration here, when Final Fantasy 7 is one of the only things left on earth that Fortnite hasn't collaborated with, as opposed to, say, Apex Legends, which had a big Final Fantasy 7 crossover and also features the squad dropping out of the sky, or the now-dead Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier battle royale game.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss is "so sorry" for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset, "you may change your opinion" by the end of the remake trilogy

It looks like Final Fantasy 7 Revelation boss Naoki Hamaguchi has plenty on his plate at the moment – not only is he working to get Part 3 of the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy out the door, he's also "pushing" Kingdom Hearts 4 "forward."

As part of the latest media rounds for FF7: Revelation, Hamaguchi has been speaking to the press once more – you can read our own Final Fantasy 7 Revelation hands-on and interview here. As part of all of that chatter, Hamaguchi delves into what next year looks like for Square Enix, and it's a busy one.

"In terms of Square Enix and 2027, our President, Takashi Kiryu, says that next year is the big fight back for us, where everything turns around," he tells Deadline. "And obviously, between Final Fantasy 7 Revelation and Kingdom Hearts 4, those are massive titles that are going to push that. And both are being developed in my own studio, Creative Studio 1. So yeah, I’m really pumped up now for that. That’s really all on my watch now, so I’m going to be the guy who’s pushing all that forward."

Hamaguchi doesn't offer much more than that, though it's interesting to hear that Kingdom Hearts 4 is on his watch and that he's "pushing" it forward. Announced back in 2022, we haven't seen much of the beloved Disney spin-off until recently. The wait was worth it, however. Not only did we get a release window of next year, but Tetsuya Nomura was quite confident it wouldn't be delayed.

Interestingly, it was only recently that Final Fantasy 14 boss Naoki Yoshida praised Hamaguchi at Fan Fest Berlin for his ability to run and organize a team well – no wonder so many fans want him on Final Fantasy 17. Whether or not Hamaguchi's talent for management lends to Nomura's confidence over the Kingdom Hearts 4 release window is hard to say, but the broader picture is encouraging.

Another thing to add that may please fans is that, while researching this article, I came across another interview with Hamaguchi in which he reportedly said he would like Kingdom Hearts 4 to get a physical edition, too.

He doesn't add much there, though he's spoken about physical media a few times lately and his thoughts on it. Back at Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest, actually, I spoke to him about whether Square Enix had plans to offer a physical version of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation. We have since learned that they will, though his thoughts given at the time still seem relevant.

"Personally, here at something like Fan Fest or at community events for games that I've worked on, I really think that people bringing up things, asking for autographs – I think that's lovely," he said at the time. "I think it's a wonderful culture and it would be a shame to lose that. I want that to remain."

What a year 2027 might be for Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy fans.

Steam is seemingly responsible for one of the biggest leaks in years: Persona 6, Kingdom Hearts 4, Fable, Metro 2039, and over 70 other games see achievements spill online.

It's finally here – Final Fantasy 14 just got the very exciting Patch 7.56 earlier this week, and the star of the show is most definitely the MMO's new limited job: the Beastmaster.

In case you've not had the chance to experience the class yourself just yet, it plays a whole lot like Pokemon or Palworld in concept.

You capture creatures from all over Eorzea (yes, old A Realm Reborn regions are finally coming back to life), whip 'em out in combat and use all sorts of deadly combos and actions, try to catch more beasts, and… rinse and repeat. There's a handy little bestiary to help you on the way, too.

Put simply, you've gotta (and will wanna) catch them all – and it's genuinely good fun. I've spent hours grinding away in Central Shroud myself, looking forward to the Crucible, in all its painful roguelike-ish glory… and, of course, the glittery Tourmaline Golem mount you can nab by making the duty's official rankings.

I'm not the only loving Beastmaster, though. Discussions over on Reddit prove as much, with one thread dubbing the job "really fun!"

Its poster exclaims, "This content is great," adding that the achievements tied to the new job "are really cool" as well.

A separate post on the Beastmaster sees fans sharing a similar sentiment, with folks writing that they "wish it was a standard job" rather than a limited one – and, honestly, I agree. Another person chimes in that they've "been having a blast" with the job, with a plethora of replies backing their take up.

My favorite conversation so far stems from a screenshot of somebody's Warrior of Light dressed like Ash Ketchum from Pokemon, personally.

"Had to use the appropriate glam," its accompanying words read – and I love it. I also stand with the responses declaring that "the Pokemon vibe is honestly perfect." What else does Beastmaster carry with it, if not a nice old Pokemon vibe? And, that vibe is why so many of us adore the job already.

Obviously, however, not everyone likes it. There are comments here and there about how Square Enix could improve the Beastmaster (and, of course, fears that it might end up a bit… forgotten, like the Blue Mage).

Overall, though, spirits seem high when it comes to the limited job, and I can't say I've found much else to want out of it aside from, well, more levels and more utility in other parts of Final Fantasy 14.

I'm excited to see what Square Enix does with Beastmaster and how it evolves over time. Fingers crossed it's more memorable than Blue Mage – although, for me, it already is.

Final Fantasy 14 fans spot Evercold character in the MMO's Patch 7.56 screenshots, immediately theorize the expansion's new DPS class: "Is that a crossbow?"

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation might have "even more content" than Rebirth, director Naoki Hamaguchi says, who reckons that's "part of what makes the game so appealing." But if you're already feeling overwhelmed, don't stress – the devs really wanted to give you "the choice" this time over what you want to spend your time on.

Depending on how many games you play a year and how much free time you have in your life to spend on them, you might have a very different opinion on the concept of playing an enormous, content-packed JRPG. It's hard to argue that it's a bad thing for a game to be big, but it sure can be overwhelming, and potentially off-putting for those who don't have a spare hundred hours or so lying about.

Speaking to Hamaguchi at Gamescom 2026, we ask about the scale of Revelation compared to Rebirth – a JRPG he acknowledges "had a lot of content in it as well," and Square Enix hasn't slowed down since. "I'm pretty sure that Revelation has at least the same, and probably actually even more content in it than Rebirth had," he tells us. "But it's all good content. It's all going to be really appealing to play."

Hamaguchi knows, however, that for some players, bigger isn't always better. "I am aware that there is a number of players of [Rebirth] who said that the content was just too much and that they felt they were overwhelmed by it. I do understand there are people out there who felt that," he admits.

However, this hasn't put him off from the idea of making Revelation a behemoth, too: "I feel that having that huge amount of content is part of what makes the game so appealing. I don't think it's that kind of game, so I'm very confident in what it is because of that."

With that said, though, Hamaguchi says that "what's important is not how much content there is, it's how you make that interesting and accessible and enjoyable for players to interact with." He tells us that he's learned from fans' feedback following the release of Rebirth, and going into Revelation, not only is its content "all quite different," but he's taken on board the importance of communicating with players "what kind of rewards you can expect, and what kind of experience you're going to get when you take it on."

Hopefully, then, you can expect clearer signposting of what's worth it to you if you're not someone who wants to take on everything the game offers. He notes that we can now expect rewards to be split up across different types of content accordingly, with character upgrades locked behind the battle-focused content, while minigame rewards will be customization options within that specific minigame, for example.

This comes in direct response to Rebirth, where "all of the side content was tied to the Materia development system. So if you wanted that Materia, you had to do all of the content, regardless whether it was something that you would be interested in otherwise or not," he continues. "So I really wanted to address that and maybe improve it for people who felt that, like, feeling of obligation that they had to do it, but they didn't really want to."

Ultimately, the devs wanted to pay attention to the "idea of allowing the player the choice of which content they want to engage with and which they don't," he concludes.

So then, no pressure if you don't want to experience everything Revelation has to offer. Unless you're a hardcore completionist, of course, in which case it sounds like you're going to have your work cut out for you come its release in April.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director says "open-world fatigue" is real, and since "the world is even bigger than it was in Rebirth," Square Enix specially focused on guiding players.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has apologized for what happens to Aerith in Rebirth, but if you're still upset about it, he insists you stick around to the end of the remake trilogy, because you might just "change your opinion."

Before we get into it, please take this as your final – very obvious – spoiler warning for the events of Final Fantasy 7 and Rebirth's ending. I'd be shocked if you didn't know what we were about to get into by now, but don't say I didn't warn you if you didn't.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth might have gone about things slightly differently to the OG 1997 JRPG, but one unfortunate fact remains – Aerith dies at the hands of Sephiroth. Ouch. It's arguably made even worse by the fact that, for a brief moment, it looks like things are about to pan out very differently, but alas.

Speaking to Hamaguchi in an interview at Gamescom 2026, GamesRadar+'s James Daly tells the lead how upset he still is about what happened to Aerith, prompting a big laugh. "I hope you have some expectations towards what the final outcome is, though, and I hope you can look forward to seeing what actually happened," Hamaguchi first teases, via interpreter.

He then directly offers an apology himself: "So sorry!" Gotta be honest, though, I'm not sure how sorry he is based on how hard he's laughing.

This comes up again towards the end of the interview, at which point Hamaguchi suggests something rather interesting. After another laugh, he hints: "I mean, really, you need to experience what happens in the very end. You may change your opinion."

Obviously, he's not going to elaborate on what he's referring to at this point, but could there be a glimmer of hope there for Aerith fans? Perhaps, or perhaps not. All will be revealed when Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches on April 8 next year.

Square Enix's "graphical goal" for Final Fantasy 7 remakes was 2005 spin-off film Advent Children as it's the "ideal version" of the 29-year-old JRPG.

The Highwind floats above the world. Yuffie Kisaragi dives out of the airship, party in tow, and falls through the air with a keen speed before I unleash her parachute, softening our hero's descent into the rich wilderness of Mideel. It's immediately apparent that if we thought Rebirth was big, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is overwhelmingly enormous.

There's something strange about the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy. The numerous differences from the original 1997 title make it almost entirely new, and yet it's easy to feel at home in its many locations, from Sector 7 to Gongaga. The same sensation floods my senses as I tear through feral beasts, before encountering a chubby baby Chocobo.

Not my home but I know my way around

Aware of the limited time available during my hands-on preview session at Gamescom 2026, I fast travel back to the Highwind, and set sail from the skies above Mideel for Wutai. I'm playing as Yuffie after all, and I'm told this section of Chapter 4 is dependent on my visiting her homeland to progress the story. I must admit I didn't really expect to just fly straight over to the place myself – I anticipated a cutscene – but the open world exploration is seamless as I guide the vessel before sending Yuffie back to the deck for another Fortnite-esque descent into the land below, something director Naoki Hamaguchi confirms is an intentional display of "inspiration".

Again, I'm staggered to feel immediately at home in Wutai, but this feeling tracks with the developer's design ethos. "Everything in the game has to feel both nostalgic and new at the same time" Hamaguchi tells me, explaining the need to deliver what fans know but with enough change to maintain player interest. He also clarifies that any big changes have to be made by the original FF7 creators.

One particular change I inquire about is the manner of Aerith's demise in Rebirth, and by inquire I mean demand an apology from Hamaguchi-san. He laughs and tells me "so sorry" but I press him on the matter, producing more laughter from the veteran gamemaker. He then tells me "You need to experience what happens in the very end. You may change your opinion then."

Similarly, piloting the Highwind to named locations and then descending via parachute is an important part of leveling up the experience of Revelation from Rebirth. "The way you explore the world is all tied to that vertical element," Hamaguchi states, and the effect is a sense of scale so grand I have to fight off choice paralysis with every fiber of my being.

Hamaguchi touches on the size of the game, saying "I'm pretty sure that Revelation has at least the same – and probably actually even more – content in it than Rebirth had, and it's all good content." He also adds that he's aware some players were overwhelmed by the amount in Rebirth, but feels "having that huge amount of content is part of what makes the game so appealing."

Another standout component of my preview session is the lack of Cloud and Tifa, with the roster of available characters instead sporting Cid, Vincent, Cait Sith, Barret, Red XIII, and the aforementioned Yuffie. Having been struck by Aerith being a key focal point of Rebirth, I ask Hamaguchi if we can expect the light to shine more on Yuffie or other characters in Revelation.

"Cloud is still the main character," he asserts, before explaining that the team know some players "want to see more of the other characters too, so we very much wanted to have content that goes into each of those characters," which, as a card-carrying member of the Zack Fair Appreciation Society, is music to my ears. This includes such options as completing side quests with different characters depending on your preferences, as well as the more simple but equally satisfying ability to swap out party members on the fly.

It's been one of the great joys of my time with Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth that I've been able to revel in the company of Cloud's companions. Don't get me wrong, I really love the moody merc and his big beautiful blues, but the added depth to Tifa, Aerith, and many others has resulted in a richer narrative experience.

Not all new content is perfect though, as proven by the mere existence of Chadley, and I'm alarmed by multiple interruptions from MAI, the AI entity created by the precocious young scientist. This apparently feminine-presenting version of Chadley eagerly bombards me with available side quests the moment I set foot in a new place, and it's agonizing given my preview slot is an hour. I'm hopeful Mai will feel less invasive when I'm able to play the game at leisure, but something tells me 2027's Most Annoying Sidekick Award is already en route to Square Enix HQ.

Those Who Fight Further

Throughout my session I enjoy multiple battles. In addition to Yuffie and her fast-flowing combos, I try out Vincent Valentine, whose ranged-based fighting style feels more safety-conscious yet no less satisfying. Then I give Cid Highwind a go, and he swings a spear-type edge weapon with a blend of elegance and brutality that feels perfect for hacking through Wutai's wildlife.

With the ability to mix up the party frequently, I'm eager to see what each combination of fighters will bring, especially now Tifa has appeared as a Black Mage in promotional materials, and other jobs in the FITS system are available too.

Upon arrival at Wutai a cutscene plays out – which I won't spoil – where it dawns on me how incredible a performer Suzie Yeung really is. The Persona 3 Reload actor delivers an expressiveness that virtually propels Yuffie through the screen, which seems fitting given Wutai introduces the ability to use a grappling hook for traversal.

Zipping between rooftops, I find my way to the Happy Turtle bar and restaurant after photographing a cat and having a quick swim in the sparkling waters that surround the traditional Japanese-inspired architecture of Yuffie's homeland. As I walk through the grand building, I strike up a conversation I never get to hear as the session ends.

Now I'm left wondering what the NPC was going to say, what the other areas in the preview build had to offer, and what the unaccounted for characters were getting up to during this section of the game. Above all I wonder how Naoki Hamaguchi and Square Enix so masterfully manage to weave nostalgia into something so obviously new in so many ways. Maybe I'll never truly understand but, if I am able to, it won't be until Final Fantasy 7 Revelation releases on April 8, 2027.

If this is far from your final adventure, check out our games like Final Fantasy recommendations, or our best RPGs and best JRPGs ranking for more to play next!

Various new games – and I mean various – have reportedly suffered countless spoilers thanks to a Steam leak that's seen their achievements go entirely public.

From Kingdom Hearts 4 to Persona 6 to Silent Hill: Townfall to… well, you name it, there's a downright plethora of titles seemingly affected by the massive leak on Valve's platform.

You can find lists of every game (and their achievements, be warned) on online forums and websites like Twitter – and it's all so big it's nearly mind-blowing. They're all live on achievement tracker site Exophase, too, but I'd once again caution checking anything out in too much detail.

Not only does the leak apparently expose a load of upcoming games' achievements, but it also lifts the veil on many "unannounced" titles, as users point out in a social media thread on the whole debacle.

There's an "unannounced Dune game" in there, an "unannounced Twin Peaks game," and even a dang "unannounced Shrek 2 Remaster" mentioned, y'all… and, erm… Penis Bird? Put simply, it's one heck of a leak – and not just of games we knew about.

So, how did this all happen in the first place? Well, it seems to boil down to an API error that isn't exactly new to Steam. For anyone who might not know what that means (because I certainly didn't), API stands for application programming interface, and it's essentially a set of rules that allows software programs to communicate.

Exophase owner "x3sphere" has described it a bit over on ResetEra, confirming what happened.

"I am the owner of the site and this is what appears to have happened," he writes. "Seems like a possible screw up on Valve's end, a bunch of games with achievements that should be private are accessible through the API right now and that's why they got scanned into the site. I usually never see games without an actual name pop up with achievements, yet over the past hour or so a bunch have."

Oof.

Valve has yet to respond itself, but I'm not sure it will aside from remedying the apparent private information from each game. As for studios like Sega and Square Enix which have seemingly seen their unreleased games go a bit more public, I doubt we'll hear anything, either.

So, there you have it – you can go explore the findings yourself if you're interested it, but after taking a peek at the alleged Persona 6 achievements myself, I can say I sort of wish I hadn't.

Spoilers, spoilers everywhere… and I shan't be sharing them here.

Kingdom Hearts 4 script "almost twice as big" as KH3's, Tetsuya Nomura says: "There were more parts that I wanted to include, but I was already pushing it."

If there's one thing to know about me, it's that I can't resist a creature-collecting RPG. Despite that, the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series has somehow always managed to pass me by. But, with less than an hour played of Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World, I already know that I'm not going to let myself miss out for any longer come its December launch.

Dragon Quest games are never lacking in charm, and The Withered World is immediately full of it. Guided by a cute companion creature known as Fluffy, I'm quickly acquainted with the concept of befriending and battling with monsters and given a personality quiz to determine my first ally. Fluffy decides I'd be a perfect match for a Woebergine – the name speaks for itself. Not sure how I feel about that, to be honest, but it sure is cute, so I'll take it.

Befriend 'em all

After this, I make quick work of recruiting all the nearby monsters I can – I've completed too many Pokedexes in my career to waste time here. You can attempt to 'scout' a monster at any time during battle by using a 'show of force,' but as genre veterans will expect, it's more likely to work if you've weakened them first. I also find out the hard way that failing to scout a monster can leave you unable to try again in the same battle – you can't approach it like Pokemon where you can just toss as many Pokeballs as you like until one works – something I'm glad I discovered in the game's opening section rather than later on when a rarer, more desirable monster was on the line.

I say 'more desirable,' but right from the start, there are plenty of loveable creatures to encounter. I can't overstate how delighted I am to encounter a Fat Rat, who – you're not gonna believe this – is a rather rotund rodent. Very early on, I also run headfirst into a battle with a 'super strong enemy' – a Drakularge (shocker, a big dragon) – which immediately one-shots my entire team. Clearly, some things are meant to be returned to later.

With over 500 monsters to tame, you're not just limited to scouting new allies in battles to expand your collection, either. In a different section of my hands-on, I'm given free rein of The Withered World's synthesis system. A returning feature, synthesis allows you to merge two of your monsters together to form a new one, allowing you to pass on things like abilities in the process – think breeding for perfect IVs and Egg Moves in Pokemon.

Before synthesizing, you're shown what monster you're going to get, including whether or not they'll be a special monster. Some of the pairs and their outcomes make more sense than others – blending a Slime and Platypunk gives me a special Mottle Slime, for example, which half tracks, unlike my Skeleton and Platypup producing a Guaardvark – but I know the countless combinations here are going to have me constantly coming back for more to see what possibilities my monsters hold.

While it'd be difficult to form a real bond with anything in under an hour – especially with the knowledge that I'll be leaving it behind me in a room at Gamescom, never to be seen again – my main takeaway from my time with Dragon Quest: The Withered World is that I'm going to adore whatever my team of monsters ends up being. The punny names, the cute designs, the fact that your ragtag team follows you around as you explore the world – everything is designed to be as endearing as possible, and by god, it's working. I will do whatever it takes to raise my Cruelcumber to be a strong, reliable ally, and fight proudly by their side – whatever The Withered World's story has in store for me, well, that's just a bonus.

On your own quest to play more like this? Check out out best JRPGs ranking, or our games like Pokemon recommendations!

Final Fantasy Resonance's director says the upcoming throwback JRPG is part of a "resurgence" of turn-based games, though one that still has plenty of fresh ideas.

Wrapping up a chat with RPG Site at PAX, director Hiroto Furuya says we're in the middle of a "resurgence of turn-based RPGs and JRPGs" – which sounds pretty darn good to me. And if that sounds pretty darn good to you, the Final Fantasy Resonance devs hope the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius refresh might be of interest.

"Looking at the recent wave of things globally, it seems there's a resurgence of turn-based RPGs and JRPGs," he says. "It is kind of like being re-examined once more.

"We consider Final Fantasy Resonance as one aspect of that overarching wave or trend. I think there is something to note about the appeal of classic RPGs, and the fun of classic RPGs, really. We're trying to capture that through Final Fantasy Resonance – but not stop at that.

"We wanted to ensure that we're delivering a new experience, a new title, to audiences all around the world."

Having played the demo myself, I can see part of what Furuya means. Final Fantasy Resonance is very much playing the hits – you've got crystals, chocobos, and a mixture of magic and machinery. More to the point, though, there's a turn-based battle system with some deeper series cuts. There's an order to who moves next, but filling a foe's stagger meter shakes that up – and ensures you'll get a window to deal increased damage.

What I've most enjoyed, though, is that the visuals and action are really dialed up to 11. The art style remains the HD-2D style popularized by Octopath Traveler, though cutscenes, both mid-fight and in-story, really deliver a sense of spectacle.

Of course, when Furuya talks about the trend of turn-based RPGs and JRPGs, it goes beyond what Square Enix has managed to accomplish with the Octopath series and other HD-2D remakes. Atlus has been holding down that fort for a while with the likes of Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio, and genre love letter Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has won so many awards it's hard to ignore. Speaking of awards, the J'RPG is only really rivaled in recent times by Baldur's Gate 3. I'm starting to think there's something to these turn-based games.

Final Fantasy Resonance appeals to my inner child like no RPG since Chrono Trigger.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi is to thank for each member of the party having access to all of the FITS jobs from the start in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation.

As we approach the end of Final Fantasy 7's remake trilogy, Square Enix is introducing one of the biggest overhauls to the game in its third act. FITS is a new system which works as a job system seen in games like Final Fantasy 5, 12, and Tactics which in turn will allow you to tailor your characters to specific archetypes, with four available to be equipped.

During a PAX West 2026 panel (via Game8) Hamaguchi reveals that the original plan was to have each character unlock FITS throughout the game as unlocks for getting through specific milestones. So for example (my own, not Hamaguchi's), Tifa could be unlocked with Black Mage, Barrett gets Knight, and you would need to unlock the other classes with each. However, Hamaguchi says this is something he personally overruled, meaning once FITS is unlocked, each party member will have access to all four jobs.

However, FITS, true to its name, will also come with unique costumes for each character for every job, which brings back the eternal style vs usefulness quandary that every RPG player has faced some point in their life. Do I go with what looks the best, or do I go with the most efficient set?

Hamaguchi also announces that the team has included a skin system to the game separate from the FITS. So, if you want Tifa in her classic outfit compared to the loose sleeves look we've seen her donning during gameplay footage, you'll be able to do so. Perhaps even more excitingly, Hamaguchi says there will be bonus skins unlocked from side content throughout the game too, which hopefully means we'll get some good fanservice fits like Cloud and Tifa's Advent Children outfits or Yuffie and Cid's Kingdom Hearts looks.

Square Enix wants to turn Final Fantasy 7 into "an IP with an ever-evolving future" beyond the FF7 Remake trilogy.

Square Enix turned to Final Fantasy 7 spin-off film Advent Children to inform how the remake trilogy should look, partly because the developers believed fans found it to be the "ideal vision" of the OG JRPG.

As part of a PAX West panel that delves into how the trilogy was designed, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi explains why Advent Children was the "graphical goal."

"For many fans, we can say that Advent Children is remembered as an ideal vision of Final Fantasy 7," he says. "So, we wanted to bring the appeal of that visual piece to life as a game that gamers themselves could experience."

As a slide further explains, Square Enix wanted to 'gamify' the film experience so fans of the flick could experience its visual quality and atmosphere – obviously, in a more immersive way. A big reason is that devs believed the film "set a new standard" for Final Fantasy 7 in terms of character expression, especially in Cloud and Sephiroth's appearance, movement, and presence.

Naturally, part of the reason that Final Fantasy 7 Remake could look like Advent Children, despite being a game, is that the latter came out in 2005, so the capability of gaming graphics had plenty of time to advance. Still, it's an interesting visual reference. While the OG Final Fantasy 7 is as old as the hills, Cloud and the gang have appeared elsewhere in the years following that, offering a glimpse of what they might look like with an update.

Perhaps our closest was the opening scene, remade for the PS3 to showcase its graphical capabilities. To the great sadness of many, it was merely a tech demo and not an actual remake reveal, but the vibe was there. Additionally, Cloud has appeared in plenty of other fighting games, both Square Enix-led and not, which gave us a hint of what he could look like in an updated game. For years, a Final Fantasy 7 remake was merely a wishlist item for fans, not something Square Enix would commit to for a while.

How times change. Still, it's nice to see another reference to wider Final Fantasy 7 media, which Square Enix hasn't been shy of making, especially when it comes to what Final Fantasy 7 Revelation might include from the series broader offering – not just its visual style and quality. We will, of course, see what all of that includes when Final Fantasy 7 Revelation releases on April 8, 2027.

Square Enix wants to turn Final Fantasy 7 into "an IP with an ever-evolving future" beyond the FF7 Remake trilogy.

Square Enix just gave fans their most in-depth look at Final Fantasy 7 Revelation in motion yet during today's PlayStation State of Play, confirming an April release date and post-launch story DLC, but there was one detail JRPG diehards just can't get over: the showcase demonstrated cutscenes you can speed up. That's it. That's the controversy.

I know, I know, it's completely uncharacteristic for a community of online JRPG fans to dramatize a completely optional and seemingly harmless feature in a game like Final Fantasy 7, but alas, one Twitter user reacted to the news by proclaiming, "games are truly dead." That post has 1.7 thousand likes and a handful of comments largely in agreement. "They really did make a mode for larpers that watch YouTube videos at 2X speed," reads one such reply.

Now, to be fair, this particular reaction was in response to Square Enix advertising the fast-forward feature, and after reviewing that part of today's showcase, it definitely stuck me as a bit odd that it was such a focus. But I'll go out on a limb and say that games are probably not truly dead just yet, at the very least, not because Final Fantasy 7 Revelation has cutscenes you can speed up... just like Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth before it.

I will definitely concede that it's a weird look, and, if you look at it a certain way, it's even mildly insulting to Revelation's writers, since Square Enix is explicitly putting its fast-forward button on display instead of their work in a big trailer. But I do think the feature itself is on the same level as skippable written dialogue, which has been a thing in video games forever. I'll even put myself at great risk in comments sections by admitting I find it deeply annoying when dialogue can't be sped up. Still, everyone's entitled to their own unique feelings on this sort of thing, and I seem to be in the minority by simply not really caring all that much.

"look i'm excited about this game, but this functionality is absolutely an admission of defeat imo," reads a Bluesky post from Into the Aether host Brendon Bigley.

"okay i'm sorry but the 1.5x speed watching brainrot has gone too far if we're now doing playback speed for video game dialogue," says Game Informer video editor Eric Van Allen.

My best guess as to why Square decided to put fast-forwardable cutscenes on display today is that it was a response to the years of complaints about length and bloat in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. These are massive games that demand a commensurate time commitment, and I'm assuming the fast-forward option is Square's answer to that feedback, whether it's appropriate or not.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's physical edition comes on "one disc," and yes, there's a mandatory download before you can play.

Square Enix has detailed the Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Collector's Edition, and I hope you've got $350 to spare.

Over on the Square Enix store website, the publisher confirmed the contents and price for the Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Collector's Edition. To get the bad news out of the way, it's going to be $350, which already puts it on the high end for collectors editions – barring the really ridiculous ones. This is made even worse for the UK; it's going to be £350 even though that's not how conversion rates work at all (£350 roughly translates to $472).

But what are you getting for all of that? Obviously, the game itself, alongside the Deluxe Edition content which is set to feature two DLC expansions – one featuring Sephiroth and another starring Vincent and the Turks. On top of that, the Deluxe Edition features a CD mini-soundtrack, a hardcover artbook, and an exclusive steelbook with art from all three games in the trilogy. Each physical edition comes with a Magic: The Gathering card titled Final Showdown, too.

As for the Collector's Edition itself? You're getting the physical deluxe edition, and a separate box featuring the only exclusive addition. This is a statue featuring Cloud, Zack, and Sephiroth (who are 6.7 in, 7.1 in, and 7.9 inches tall, respectively), all posing with their weapons next to each other.

This collector's edition is only available for console players, with Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5 being the only options. So if you want to play the game on Steam, you might have to grab a console copy to get this statue.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation includes more spin-off characters, Naoki Hamaguchi says, and devs "thought really hard" about including more compilation references for the trilogy's finale.

Before Final Fantasy 14 gets its hotly anticipated new expansion Evercold, Square Enix has one final update in store with fresh Dawntrail content: Patch 7.56.

Patch 7.56 is set to arrive next Tuesday on September 8, bringing the series of Patch 7.5x updates to a close – and, of course, Dawntrail's bigger post-launch content.

Harboring the limited Beastmaster job, new main scenario quests, and much, much more, it's one heck of a release ahead of Evercold… a release that might just lead into the upcoming expansion itself with the introduction of a strikingly familiar pink-haired Miqo'te.

If you've seen the Evercold trailer, then you likely recognize Visna, the mysterious cat girl with icy eyes and a freckled face – something we don't even get to truly apply to our own Warriors of Light (yet, anyway).

Interestingly enough, Square Enix just updated its official media webpage for Patch 7.5, including Patch 7.56, of course, with new screenshots… and Visna herself appears in one of them, implying she'll be in-game before Evercold.

Not only that, but she seems to be donning a crossbow of sorts on her back – and, you know, that's pretty eye-catching, seeing as there are two new jobs coming in Evercold and we only know about the tank class so far: the Bastion.

Could the DPS underway be a crossbow wielder or something in that vein? Well, the image is certainly proving enough to spur all kinds of theories online.

Just take a look at Reddit, for one.

In response to a fan noting their surprise at "the Miqo'te NPC from the Evercold trailer" seemingly being introduced in Patch 7.56 and asking "she definitely can't be the new job, right," another explains that she might just be.

"You can actually spy a crossbow on her back," they write. "So it might actually be the new job." Further down, somebody else points out that Visna is holding a "wand" of sorts, too.

They suggest "the job will have crossbow and wand offhand and you carve runes with the wand which then grant either weaknesses/special attacks that either the crossbow or your bird can attack."

The "bird" they reference here likely stems from the popular theory that the new DPS class is a falconer of some flavor – but who knows? It's all just speculation for now, but it is intriguing to see the girl in Patch 7.56 screencaps… and her "weapon," if that's what it is.

We'll learn more next week, come Patch 7.56 and its shenanigans. There is the Beastmaster job to look forward to as well as more questing and the like, so it's not all mystery.

Magic: The Gathering swiftly learns the power of Final Fantasy 14 as a mommy cat lady overtakes its most popular commander card

Update: A big caveat has just come to light about Final Fantasy 7 Revelation's physical edition. On PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the RPG will come on a single disc, and you'll have to endure a mandatory download before you can play the game.

This was confirmed in an official Square Enix announcement, which details that both versions come on "one disc" and in each case "an internet connection is required to download additional game data in order to play the physical version of the game."

It's not unusual for physical games to require additional downloads before you can play these days, but up until now the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy had been a notable exception to that trend. Both of the previous two games launched in multi-disc packages, which included all the data needed to play without any additional download. I'm glad that Revelation is still coming on disc, but I am disappointed that Square Enix is scaling back its commitment to physical collectors for the final piece of the trilogy.

Original story: It's official: Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will be released physically alongside the digital launch on April 8, 2027. The game's launch is coming well before Sony's planned 2028 cutoff for physical PlayStation discs, but director Naoki Hamaguchi had previously been cagey on the topic of a physical release. Yet I guess there was no reason to worry.

Square Enix confirmed the news in a tweet. "The promise has been made," the post begins. "Final Fantasy VII Revelation launches both physically and digitally on April 8, 2027."

That line about a "promise" is certainly intended as a tagline referring to the end of the trilogy, but it has an extra air of sincerity for collectors who've already added the first two parts to their shelves.

Both previous parts of the remake trilogy launched on disc, and some people – hi, it's me, I'm some people – even own those discs multiple times over thanks to a multi-gen release of the first game. I'm upset about discs going away for a wide variety of reasons, but it's at least nice to know I won't have to keep an empty box on my shelf where Revelation should go.

There's one big caveat for Nintendo collectors, however. As with previous releases of the remake trilogy on Switch 2, this one will come on a game-key card. Can't win them all, I guess.

Plenty of additional info on Final Fantasy 7 Revelation dropped alongside today's State of Play trailer, too. We've got an April release date, confirmation of two story DLC expansions, and a $350 collector's edition featuring more inches of Sephiroth than any of us can reasonably deal with.

Here are all the new games for 2026 and beyond you need to know about.

As much as I enjoy the high-fidelity visuals and real-time combat available in Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth, I'll always be a sucker for a pixel-art, turn-based RPG. Clearly, Square Enix also understands this timeless appeal because the publisher is on course to release Final Fantasy Resonance this year and, after playing it at Gamescom, it's now my most anticipated new game this year.

With its HD-2D aesthetic blending 2D sprites with 3D environments, Final Fantasy Resonance brings to mind games like Octopath Traveler, and instantly feels familiar if you're well-versed in classic RPGs. You roam around the world before the screen shatters and a battle begins, inputting commands and watching them play out in a sequence as you whittle down enemy health bars. However, Resonance isn't without a unique twist.

An RPG with Vision

The party I get to play with is made up of four original characters, with a variety of skills and elemental affinities, including Rain who deals melee damage with vigor, and Fina who boasts great healing spells. However, I'm most struck by the fact each hero has a Vision; a spirit character who supports them by sharing powers in combat. I'm told some Visions are new while many others are familiar faces from the Final Fantasy franchise, which makes sense as I'm staring at Cloud Strife from FF7.

These spirit friends, reminiscent of the Stands from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and the equipable characters in Fire Emblem Engage, can be unlocked by beating in-game dungeons known as Sanctums. Once selected, they diversify each party member's repertoire by adding new spells, increasing your options in battle.

Visions are most noteworthy when performing Resonance attacks – special moves that can be used once all enemies are staggered (denoted by a separate gauge to their health). Once their postures are broken, you can hit them with the titular flashy attack for huge damage.

However, if your character's Vision gauge is full, you can perform a Sweeping Resonance for even greater effect. I start off using Cloud's jaw-dropping Sweeping Resonance, the HD-2D graphics giving way to gorgeous, fully-rendered 3D models as Cloud furiously slashes through enemies.

Similarly, when The Warrior of Light from the OG Final Fantasy manifests in full 3D and brings destruction upon my enemies, I feel a giddy thrill that appeals to my inner child more than an ice-cold glass of Dr Pepper.

The combination of visual styles isn't the only way Final Fantasy Resonance so lovingly blends old and new. Being a classic-style RPG, the developer hasn't shied away from grinding as an in-game mechanic. That might put some players off, but you can toggle the speed of encounters to effectively half the time required to level up your party and Visions. It's a simple feature, but the difference it can make should not be underestimated.

In addition, my preview's dungeon comes complete with useful checkpoints for fast travel and resting, which are modern staples that I always appreciate. It also helps that the item names are all instantly recognizable to Final Fantasy veterans, from Hi-Potions to Phoenix Downs, creating a sense of familiarity that maintains momentum.

This isn't to say that nostalgia is vital to enjoying Final Fantasy Resonance. The turn-based combat is layered and exciting, and the pixel art shimmers like a California sunset. But to those of us of a certain vintage (old enough to have played those older pixel RPGs at launch, as well as catch the Jamiroquai reference in the last sentence), this game channels the era when Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 captured our hearts while still keeping our feet firmly planted in the here and now. It's a masterstroke and only Square Enix could have managed it.

Resonate with this preview? Then check out our best Final Fantasy games ranking or our best JRPGs list for more to play next!