I'm still thoroughly confused by whatever distinction people are forcing between "multi-part" and "episodic."
I think typically, when the term "episodic" is used in relation to gaming it conjures up an image of Telltale game series like The Walking Dead, where each episode is completely separate from the next one, which exception of in the sense that it tells the next part of the story.
There is no walking back and revisiting older locations, or any sense that you're in this larger interconnected world.
Each set-piece exists only to tell one specific story and deliver one specific set of game-play challenges, and then you're segued unto the next once you're finished.
FFVII, while linear in its own way, is not like this. Case in point, once you exit Midgar, though you have to go to Kalm to progress the story, you can also run past it to the Chocobo farm, or try your hand at the Midgar Zolom if you so wish. Later in the game, skip-able parts and off-the-beaten-track locations and rewards increase.
If SE plans to approach this more like old school PC expansion releases for instance, with each new part adding to the total install package and thus expanding and fleshing out the world, this would be completely different from what you get from most other games considered "episodic".
As would be the case if the game was simply split into three equal sized disks.
There is a big difference between a game that gives you Midgar, then let's you install Kalm, but where you can run back and forth between the two locations, and a game that offers you different episodes - one in Kalm and one in Midgar - that are completely separate, and the only way to replay any one part is to go back and play the episode again.
Finally, do anyone use the term "episodic" to describe Uncharted? How about Halo?
These are series. You don't call any one of the titles of these games "episodes".
If FFVII Remake is made, for instance with 3 separate disks all containing roughly the same amount of content as a regular AAA PS4 title, with clear and distinct beginnings and ends that separate them from one another, I don't see why it would make sense to call it an episodic game which is a label you often use for games like The Walking Dead, but not use it for series like Uncharted, Tomb Raider and Halo.
Sure, FFVII was original just one game - one story. But it could just as well have been a series.
The Trails Across the Sky series for the PSP and PS Vita are typically split into two games. Most people don't call them episodic either.
I sure hope it doesn't. If there is one thing I can't stand with most recent RPGs it's their plethora of useless, non-related to the story, MMORPG-like side-quests. I seriously can't see how someone can have fun with these, it's just being the NPC's stooge. Why would you help people you don't even know with their daily problems when you have a way more important task at hand?
FF7 was 40-50 hours long, but it was 40 hours of the story actually advancing. It had some side-quests but a lot of them were relevant to the story (Wutai, getting Vincent... ect) and they were fun, for example the fort condort side-quest proposed something fresh that played differently. Anyway, there was a reasonable amount of side-quests and the story was still the most important part of the game.
Now we have games like Xenoblade Chronicles, that takes nearly 100 hours to beat but it's like 80% side-quests and 20% story.
What you're talking about is MMORPG-like side-quests, they bring nothing but xp and money and every game that has them has a ridiculous amount of them and you're forced to do a bunch of them to have the sufficient level for continuing. That's not good at all for FF7.
FF7 was about keeping the player at the edge of his seat during the entire game, there is nothing like MMO quests to break down the rhythm and artificially increase the duration of the game with boring stuff.
This is not a dichotomy in terms of design though. It's completely possible to have a narrative driven game with a central story spanning 40+ hours, and have a decent amount of side-content as well.
My biggest problem with the MMO quest format worming its way into regular games, is because like in MMOs, these quests are often all there really is to the game at the expense of decent content.
However, if you fail to see how you could make decent side-quests and content you need look no further than to the Witcher series, or the older Knights of the Old Republic games - all which offer interesting story-driven side-quests apart from the main plot, that offer interesting diversions along the way.
If Kalm became an Assassin's Creed hub filled with map-icons needing attention with a small set of recycled MMO-type quests, then yes, that would be bad - especially if they needed to be cleared to complete the game.
That's not what I was thinking of though, and even if those kind of quests did exist, they would still exist next to the already interesting retelling of the original story, which would mean that they would detract nothing, yet add something which while you or I might not enjoy, a lot of other people maybe would.
Hunting quests a la monster hunter, the same we already see signs of in XV could be a great addition granted the new battle system.
As for why your party would help NPCs - well, to be fair they already do several times throughout the game.
Several of the reasons provided for general plot progression in the original game are already so flimsy that I can't for the life of me see why the writer(s) can't make up a decent reason for Cloud and Co would have to do a few more quests in Kalm.
Like, it's a long trek to the Chocobo farm and they need to gather supplies and a tent, but what do you know, the item store where you'd buy that stuff is shut down because the owner is stuck in a cave outside town looking for supplies, and now you need to go save him.
In saving him he tells you about some other issue he has in town which if you would be willing to solve, would result in you getting your supplies for free etc.
Loads of things you could do that would add to the game without subtracting anything from it. Additional quests could also be a welcome alternative for gaining experience and leveling up apart from the ordinary grinding of the original.
