cold_spirit
he/him
- AKA
- Alex T
With Part 2 being officially titled "Rebirth" and confirmation that we got ourselves a trilogy, I thought it would be fun to reflect on the Remake Project’s journey so far.
Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced on June 15th, 2015. “At last, the promise has been made” stated the reveal trailer. Later that year Square Enix shocked fans when they announced Remake would be a multipart series. That wasn't in anyone’s projections. We ended up having plenty of time to accept that news though. After three and a half years of almost no media coverage, Remake was re-revealed in May of 2019. It finally felt real. Unlike the first two trailers, this new look at Remake was composed entirely of scenes that would actually be in the game. And we didn’t have to wait much longer after that. Eleven months and one delay later, Remake released worldwide on April 10th, 2020.
Almost exactly seven years after Remake’s initial announcement, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was unveiled on June 16th, 2022. Not much is known right now, but we do have a release window: next winter (December 2023 - February 2024).
Barring any major delays, let's assume Rebirth releases at the tail end of “next winter”. So February 2024. Let’s also assume Part 3 takes a similar amount of time to develop as Rebirth (about four years). If we do, we can project that Part 3 will be released by or around February 2028.
2028 may seem far away, but consider this: from 2015 to 2028, the Remake Project will have spanned 13 years. In 2022, with the unveiling of Rebirth, we're seven years deep. That's already more than halfway through.
It sure doesn't feel like we're halfway! Especially when only one game has been released. But the numbers don't lie, this project will likely end sooner rather than later.
As fans of an on-going series, we're largely in Square Enix's hands right now. They're telling the story. However, after 2028, the ball moves to our side of the court. We'll no longer have new announcements or releases to bring the community together. It'll be on us to fuel conversations, create "content", and hold events. It's not bad, our community lived on even after the void left by Advent Children Complete, but it will be different.
Presently, debates have gotten heated with the latest batch of interviews. And, unfortunately, I suspect the temperature will increase as we move closer to 2024. Allow me to take a moment and share a cautionary tale.
There was a time I would’ve called Metal Gear Solid my favorite series. I was in deep. From a story perspective, I knew everything from developer comments to the order of retcons as the series went on. Amidst this was the lead up to the series’ latest and final game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The wait was unbearable. I was unironically convinced it would be the greatest game of all time. And I got burnt. Bad.
Listen, I’m not about to get into it. I like certain aspects of the game and dislike others. But I bring it up because it taught me a valuable lesson: don’t make one thing your whole thing.
In the context of Remake this applies to theory crafting. Not gonna lie, I have a theory on the new mysteries that I’m actually really confident in. But, I also try to consider the advantages of the other theories out there. Maybe Zack is in the same spacetime as the party after Remake. The tension of knowing he could cross paths with Cloud and Aerith at any point could be interesting. And if I don’t consider that from time to time, I could be in for a world of hurt come 2024.
Secondly, and maybe more importantly as we weather the wait together, you can’t change everybody’s mind. In fact, reiterating your stance over and over might have the opposite effect of convincing people. It might annoy them. I feel like I have the potential to annoy people. There’s a reason I spend months making massive threads. They’re an outlet. An outlet for every time I read someone else’s wild interpretation of events. Not just here for the record. Twitter also has some drama to say the least. If I made a post every time I disagreed with someone on the internet, I’d lose my job.
The next time you feel burnt out on the debates, I recommend booting up Remake instead. It’s good to take a step back sometimes. Pick any chapter, they all have something to offer, and just enjoy the production value. Remake’s great! I always find something I didn’t notice before. The passion put in by the development team makes it a game that just keeps on giving.
I said this a while ago and I’ll say it again: Someday we’ll have all the answers. In fact, we’ll have them for longer than when we didn’t. Until then, don’t forget to enjoy yourself. It may never be this way again. I suspect Remake’s graphics will age a whole lot better than the original game’s. Who knows when we’ll have something like this to look forward to. Sure we're always waiting, but at least we're waiting for something real. These very well could be "the good times".
Final Fantasy VII Remake was announced on June 15th, 2015. “At last, the promise has been made” stated the reveal trailer. Later that year Square Enix shocked fans when they announced Remake would be a multipart series. That wasn't in anyone’s projections. We ended up having plenty of time to accept that news though. After three and a half years of almost no media coverage, Remake was re-revealed in May of 2019. It finally felt real. Unlike the first two trailers, this new look at Remake was composed entirely of scenes that would actually be in the game. And we didn’t have to wait much longer after that. Eleven months and one delay later, Remake released worldwide on April 10th, 2020.
Almost exactly seven years after Remake’s initial announcement, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth was unveiled on June 16th, 2022. Not much is known right now, but we do have a release window: next winter (December 2023 - February 2024).
Barring any major delays, let's assume Rebirth releases at the tail end of “next winter”. So February 2024. Let’s also assume Part 3 takes a similar amount of time to develop as Rebirth (about four years). If we do, we can project that Part 3 will be released by or around February 2028.
2028 may seem far away, but consider this: from 2015 to 2028, the Remake Project will have spanned 13 years. In 2022, with the unveiling of Rebirth, we're seven years deep. That's already more than halfway through.
It sure doesn't feel like we're halfway! Especially when only one game has been released. But the numbers don't lie, this project will likely end sooner rather than later.
As fans of an on-going series, we're largely in Square Enix's hands right now. They're telling the story. However, after 2028, the ball moves to our side of the court. We'll no longer have new announcements or releases to bring the community together. It'll be on us to fuel conversations, create "content", and hold events. It's not bad, our community lived on even after the void left by Advent Children Complete, but it will be different.
Presently, debates have gotten heated with the latest batch of interviews. And, unfortunately, I suspect the temperature will increase as we move closer to 2024. Allow me to take a moment and share a cautionary tale.
There was a time I would’ve called Metal Gear Solid my favorite series. I was in deep. From a story perspective, I knew everything from developer comments to the order of retcons as the series went on. Amidst this was the lead up to the series’ latest and final game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The wait was unbearable. I was unironically convinced it would be the greatest game of all time. And I got burnt. Bad.
Listen, I’m not about to get into it. I like certain aspects of the game and dislike others. But I bring it up because it taught me a valuable lesson: don’t make one thing your whole thing.
In the context of Remake this applies to theory crafting. Not gonna lie, I have a theory on the new mysteries that I’m actually really confident in. But, I also try to consider the advantages of the other theories out there. Maybe Zack is in the same spacetime as the party after Remake. The tension of knowing he could cross paths with Cloud and Aerith at any point could be interesting. And if I don’t consider that from time to time, I could be in for a world of hurt come 2024.
Secondly, and maybe more importantly as we weather the wait together, you can’t change everybody’s mind. In fact, reiterating your stance over and over might have the opposite effect of convincing people. It might annoy them. I feel like I have the potential to annoy people. There’s a reason I spend months making massive threads. They’re an outlet. An outlet for every time I read someone else’s wild interpretation of events. Not just here for the record. Twitter also has some drama to say the least. If I made a post every time I disagreed with someone on the internet, I’d lose my job.
The next time you feel burnt out on the debates, I recommend booting up Remake instead. It’s good to take a step back sometimes. Pick any chapter, they all have something to offer, and just enjoy the production value. Remake’s great! I always find something I didn’t notice before. The passion put in by the development team makes it a game that just keeps on giving.
I said this a while ago and I’ll say it again: Someday we’ll have all the answers. In fact, we’ll have them for longer than when we didn’t. Until then, don’t forget to enjoy yourself. It may never be this way again. I suspect Remake’s graphics will age a whole lot better than the original game’s. Who knows when we’ll have something like this to look forward to. Sure we're always waiting, but at least we're waiting for something real. These very well could be "the good times".
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