Smoothie King
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Pat
Yup, I believe it is.
The Official "How many parts?" Thread
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
Yup, I believe it is.
Fiz
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Eh?
We also have Zack, but I wouldn't like to call him being playable in part 2... either way, he will become so at some point. That could answer part of your question.
I expect new playable characters will be introduced for each entry and some will be completely new... I'm calling Roche as a shoe-in on this, and probably some Compilation character but dunno who.
Roundhouse
Pro Adventurer
Most optimistic scenario:
Part 2: Ends at Nibelheim, just after you meet Sephiroth again and you encounter Vincent. (So Kalm, Junon, Costa Del Sol, Corel, Gold Saucer, Cosmo Canyon, Gongaga, Nibelheim.)
Part 3: Ends with Cloud's breakdown after learning the truth. (So Rocket Town, Gold Saucer 2, Temple of the Ancients, Bone Village, Aeris Moment, Icicle Inn, Sephiroth encounter.)
Part 4: Starts with Tifa and co as prisoners, like I saw someone on Discord or here suggest...cool idea. Ends with the final battle. (So Shinra escape, Mideel, Huge Materia quests, Junon return and submarine, Midgar return, final battle.)
More realistic scenario:
Part 2: Ends after Kalm. You spend 30-40 hours there doing water filter jobs, stacking boxes for the shopkeepers, helping out at the front desk for the inn, etc.)
Part 3: Ends just as Cloud is jumping on the dolphin in Junon, leaving us all on a cliffhanger.
etc
etc
Part 100: Advent Children in game form for the PS7.
Either way, no matter which scenario, the remake ends in 2040.
Part 2: Ends at Nibelheim, just after you meet Sephiroth again and you encounter Vincent. (So Kalm, Junon, Costa Del Sol, Corel, Gold Saucer, Cosmo Canyon, Gongaga, Nibelheim.)
Part 3: Ends with Cloud's breakdown after learning the truth. (So Rocket Town, Gold Saucer 2, Temple of the Ancients, Bone Village, Aeris Moment, Icicle Inn, Sephiroth encounter.)
Part 4: Starts with Tifa and co as prisoners, like I saw someone on Discord or here suggest...cool idea. Ends with the final battle. (So Shinra escape, Mideel, Huge Materia quests, Junon return and submarine, Midgar return, final battle.)
More realistic scenario:
Part 2: Ends after Kalm. You spend 30-40 hours there doing water filter jobs, stacking boxes for the shopkeepers, helping out at the front desk for the inn, etc.)
Part 3: Ends just as Cloud is jumping on the dolphin in Junon, leaving us all on a cliffhanger.
etc
etc
Part 100: Advent Children in game form for the PS7.
Either way, no matter which scenario, the remake ends in 2040.
Eerie
Fire and Blood
I think, with Intergrade, the real question is now how they'll handle the world map - will it exist still in some form or not? We can safely say that Yuffie will be added to the group in part 2, and I can see such a mechanism for Vincent, which would mean that indeed, part 2 will need to go up until Nibelheim. The DLC could cover the why he's asleep in a coffin, and add a way to find him as the party there towards the end of the game. I suppose that Integrade doesn't really allow us to group with Yuffie, but will be able to make us feel like she's "almost there". So I expect something similar for Vincent, who also was a bonus character. That would mean Cait Sith/Reeve would be there for part 2 as well, and leave only Cid for part 3.
That would mean that all the characters are already modelled for the next part, Yuffie is basically done since we're seeing her movesets for Intergrade. They will probably change things a bit for the fights (air fights?), as to keep players on the edge. But that means that the big things to work on are assets - the good thing is that they're going to keep them for later on, since we'll be revisiting places. The story will be changed a lot - I expect fully to be able to tame or buy chocobos from the farm this time around, for example, and be able to use them afterwards on the world map if it exists, but maybe the Kalm part - with Cloud telling his story - doesn't necessarily needs to happen in Kalm. So either we get chapter 1 of Remake part 2 starting as young SOLDIER Cloud running around in Nibelheim while telling us the story and acting as the tutorial placeholder, either this story will take place later on, in a different way. Because in the OG it's a breather, we can imagine different outcomes for this story, as it can be used somewhere else as a breather too, for example.
I can see them deciding to not go with Fort Condor and keep it for later, when we search for the huge materia too. It will need to be entirely redesigned, the mini-game was kind of a POS. It would save time and assets, and we'd still visit it later on.
Junon is one of the things that make me wonder if they'll go further than that. The upper town is BIG. Redesigning this feels like we'd need to spend several chapters there to make it worthy? To me, there's a huge possibility that Part 2 would stop there, with the Jenova fight as a final boss on the ship, and the arrival in Costa del Sol as a "looking bright into the future" moment they had for the very end of part 1. But, it would miss "fun things" to do. Like chapter 9 Remake "fun times". So I'm kind of on the fence for that. It all depends on how much they expand the story and change it, how they tackle the world map, etc. But Junon is definitely a good candidate to stop after part 1, if it's not, I'm guessing Nibelheim which would allow for a Vincent DLC.
That would mean that all the characters are already modelled for the next part, Yuffie is basically done since we're seeing her movesets for Intergrade. They will probably change things a bit for the fights (air fights?), as to keep players on the edge. But that means that the big things to work on are assets - the good thing is that they're going to keep them for later on, since we'll be revisiting places. The story will be changed a lot - I expect fully to be able to tame or buy chocobos from the farm this time around, for example, and be able to use them afterwards on the world map if it exists, but maybe the Kalm part - with Cloud telling his story - doesn't necessarily needs to happen in Kalm. So either we get chapter 1 of Remake part 2 starting as young SOLDIER Cloud running around in Nibelheim while telling us the story and acting as the tutorial placeholder, either this story will take place later on, in a different way. Because in the OG it's a breather, we can imagine different outcomes for this story, as it can be used somewhere else as a breather too, for example.
I can see them deciding to not go with Fort Condor and keep it for later, when we search for the huge materia too. It will need to be entirely redesigned, the mini-game was kind of a POS. It would save time and assets, and we'd still visit it later on.
Junon is one of the things that make me wonder if they'll go further than that. The upper town is BIG. Redesigning this feels like we'd need to spend several chapters there to make it worthy? To me, there's a huge possibility that Part 2 would stop there, with the Jenova fight as a final boss on the ship, and the arrival in Costa del Sol as a "looking bright into the future" moment they had for the very end of part 1. But, it would miss "fun things" to do. Like chapter 9 Remake "fun times". So I'm kind of on the fence for that. It all depends on how much they expand the story and change it, how they tackle the world map, etc. But Junon is definitely a good candidate to stop after part 1, if it's not, I'm guessing Nibelheim which would allow for a Vincent DLC.
Roundhouse
Pro Adventurer
If it stops after Junon I will never stop laughing.
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
If it stops after Junon it could feasibly be 5 parts. 3 being the West Continent, 4 being the world map and content up to the Northern Crater (with the majority of the new elements bloating out Temple of the Ancients, Forgotten City, and the Crater) and 5 being a straight-laced Remake of the last leg of the game.
Theozilla
Kaiju Member
I'm still in the camp of four parts total being the most likely scenario currently, but with three parts still being more likely than five parts (like the thread poll currently depicts).
With the four part total I think we're at least getting to the Return to Nibelheim scenario, with Vincent being a AI/guest character like Red XIII was in part 1. Though it could also end maybe with Cid joining the party (and being the AI/endgame guest character instead) and leaving the Western Continent for Wutai (to be seen in Part 3), which I think is more likely now than before (especially if Wutai is heavily expanded and gets new additions and multiple towns/cities and/or visitable locations) since Sonon in Intergrade is likely practice for the developers making Cid's character (since they are both dragoon/lance characters).
Then the next third and fourth parts would be basically what Roundhouse listed in their "optimistic scenario".
If it's three parts total, I expect Part 2 to end either at Aerith's death or at Meteor Summon (I'd prefer the latter for pacing/plot structure), with the final third part being massively expanded with additional/new content.
If we're somehow getting more than four parts, and each future part is going to be significantly smaller than the first installment was, I think seven parts is more likely than five, six or eight. I haven't given much thought to how that could be structured.
With the four part total I think we're at least getting to the Return to Nibelheim scenario, with Vincent being a AI/guest character like Red XIII was in part 1. Though it could also end maybe with Cid joining the party (and being the AI/endgame guest character instead) and leaving the Western Continent for Wutai (to be seen in Part 3), which I think is more likely now than before (especially if Wutai is heavily expanded and gets new additions and multiple towns/cities and/or visitable locations) since Sonon in Intergrade is likely practice for the developers making Cid's character (since they are both dragoon/lance characters).
Then the next third and fourth parts would be basically what Roundhouse listed in their "optimistic scenario".
If it's three parts total, I expect Part 2 to end either at Aerith's death or at Meteor Summon (I'd prefer the latter for pacing/plot structure), with the final third part being massively expanded with additional/new content.
If we're somehow getting more than four parts, and each future part is going to be significantly smaller than the first installment was, I think seven parts is more likely than five, six or eight. I haven't given much thought to how that could be structured.
Areega
Sephiroth's Best Friend
- AKA
- Ariga
I think there'll either be 3 or 4 parts in total. I'm hoping for 3, but my gut says 4.
I think part 2 will end either at Nibelheim (adding in new stuff at the Shinra manor), after a certain Aerith part, or at the Northern Crater.
I really don't think part 2 will stop at Junon. There's just not enough story between Kalm and Junon. Also, it would make it too many parts in total.
I think part 2 will end either at Nibelheim (adding in new stuff at the Shinra manor), after a certain Aerith part, or at the Northern Crater.
I really don't think part 2 will stop at Junon. There's just not enough story between Kalm and Junon. Also, it would make it too many parts in total.
The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
Jimmy XH
Pro Adventurer
If people thought the first game was padded, then ending it at Junon would be more padded than...well I can’t even imagine a metaphor for that.
Junon is one of those areas that could get a massive expansion with sidequests and multiple chapters, of that there is no doubt but before that, is there really anywhere worthy of such treatment? Sure, Kalm is going to be big with the flashback and everything but the Chocobo Farm? Mythril Mines? Fort Condor? Can you really make a whole game out of those areas?
If you imagine that the game follows a similar structure to part one where there are several sidequest chapters, you’d immediately imagine Gold Saucer would be in there but again, you wouldn’t necessarily have one on the boat or in Corel which would both be there as story-heavy chapters.
Now I think about it more, it feels like Nibelheim would be the place that it ends. Gongaga is surely in the mix for a mandatory visit now, and Cosmo Canyon could also be expansive both for story and sidequest purposes...
Bearing in mind there’s still all sorts to pack in before reaching the end of disc one, as well as Wutai which will surely be expanded on too, how much is too much?
Maybe it is going to be four games after all...but you can’t end part two at Junon...
Junon is one of those areas that could get a massive expansion with sidequests and multiple chapters, of that there is no doubt but before that, is there really anywhere worthy of such treatment? Sure, Kalm is going to be big with the flashback and everything but the Chocobo Farm? Mythril Mines? Fort Condor? Can you really make a whole game out of those areas?
If you imagine that the game follows a similar structure to part one where there are several sidequest chapters, you’d immediately imagine Gold Saucer would be in there but again, you wouldn’t necessarily have one on the boat or in Corel which would both be there as story-heavy chapters.
Now I think about it more, it feels like Nibelheim would be the place that it ends. Gongaga is surely in the mix for a mandatory visit now, and Cosmo Canyon could also be expansive both for story and sidequest purposes...
Bearing in mind there’s still all sorts to pack in before reaching the end of disc one, as well as Wutai which will surely be expanded on too, how much is too much?
Maybe it is going to be four games after all...but you can’t end part two at Junon...
Shademp
420
When I think about the notion of Square remaking the entirety of FFVII OG, assuming the characters will travel pretty much the same path as before except with timey-wimey shenanigans sprinkled on top, my gut keeps telling me that it's too ambitious. If they are going to keep the graphical fidelity from Part 1, then Remake series won't finish until something like the year 2035. Do they *really* feel confident enough to keep a project going for what will ultimately end up being roughly 20 years of production?
This is why part of me thinks that they'll use the "DESTINY HAS CHANGED, ERMAGERD" platform as an excuse to possibly skip locations. Maybe Gongaga will be cut out and we'll only have it as a 2D background way over in the distance, without ever actually visiting it? Maybe the Chocobo Farm will be an online-only service, removing the need to fully render the area? Maybe you'll never travel Mt. Corel and instead find a different, shorter path? Or here's a crazy thought...what if they cut out Kalm? What if the flashbacks that we so deeply associate with happening at the Kalm inn will instead happen while the team are on the road? The main "use" of Kalm in the original plot is that NPCs there witness seeing Sephiroth walking towards the east, thus giving our characters a direction, but the plot could quickly be rewritten to render this original NPC-exposition superfluous.
I know these are absolutely outrageous notions. But one way or another, my intuition tells me that Square will have to make sacrifices. It may boil down to two options.
Either way, disappointment awaits us because we desire the fullness of the FF7 world when it just might not be a reasonable expectation.
Similarly, for the sake of making the Remake project realistic and seeing a completed saga before 2031, I suspect the plot will be compressed to such an extent that a trilogy becomes a logical conclusion.
This is why part of me thinks that they'll use the "DESTINY HAS CHANGED, ERMAGERD" platform as an excuse to possibly skip locations. Maybe Gongaga will be cut out and we'll only have it as a 2D background way over in the distance, without ever actually visiting it? Maybe the Chocobo Farm will be an online-only service, removing the need to fully render the area? Maybe you'll never travel Mt. Corel and instead find a different, shorter path? Or here's a crazy thought...what if they cut out Kalm? What if the flashbacks that we so deeply associate with happening at the Kalm inn will instead happen while the team are on the road? The main "use" of Kalm in the original plot is that NPCs there witness seeing Sephiroth walking towards the east, thus giving our characters a direction, but the plot could quickly be rewritten to render this original NPC-exposition superfluous.
I know these are absolutely outrageous notions. But one way or another, my intuition tells me that Square will have to make sacrifices. It may boil down to two options.
1) They render EVERY location that we are so nostalgic for, but they turn them into only 3-4 "rooms" each (like how the worlds in Kingdom Hearts 2 were laughably small compared to how large and intricate they were in KH1) for time constraints.
2) The plot is rewritten so that locations like Kalm and Gongaga can be entirely skipped, other than possibly seeing the city walls, thus giving the developers more time to properly expand on other locations in the game(s).
Either way, disappointment awaits us because we desire the fullness of the FF7 world when it just might not be a reasonable expectation.
Similarly, for the sake of making the Remake project realistic and seeing a completed saga before 2031, I suspect the plot will be compressed to such an extent that a trilogy becomes a logical conclusion.
Eerie
Fire and Blood
This is exactly what I meant when I said that they didn't *need* to add Kalm, that the flashback could happen anywhere else. Same thought for Fort Condor, it could be totally skipped, especially since we come back there for the search of huge materia later on. They don't need to focus on it right now, unless they want the first part to end in Junon. If it's the case then we'll get both Kalm and Fort Condor.
I still think the most logical thing would be 3 parts, with Aerith's death as the end of the second part, but I can see them going for 4 parts with an ending at Nibelheim. A lot of locations are comprised of 4, 5 houses, the reshuffle is going to be huge I think.
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
But why would they skip Kalm? Every area in remake part 1 is massively expanded, they didn't skip anything (unless you really wanted to see the inside of Johnny's house.)
The flashback will basically be part 2's opening bombing mission, where new plays learn how the game works and we get some set up for the plot. Kalm, then, would be part 2's sector 7. The party could look for info about Sephiroth, have their stuff get stolen by a ninja so they have an excuse to not have all their cool shit from part 1, subsequently have to help the townsfolk in order to get new equipment... it's the perfect sandbox to get the player acquainted with exploration and sidequests after the narrative driven flashback.
It just makes sense to me.
The flashback will basically be part 2's opening bombing mission, where new plays learn how the game works and we get some set up for the plot. Kalm, then, would be part 2's sector 7. The party could look for info about Sephiroth, have their stuff get stolen by a ninja so they have an excuse to not have all their cool shit from part 1, subsequently have to help the townsfolk in order to get new equipment... it's the perfect sandbox to get the player acquainted with exploration and sidequests after the narrative driven flashback.
It just makes sense to me.
KindOfBlue
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Blue
Y’all, the lead devs want to finish this project before they’re too old or too dead to do it themselves. I highly doubt they want to drag this out any longer than they have to lol.
I don’t think part 1 really gives us a good idea for what the next parts will look like since a lot of what was expanded was seemingly to pad out the length of the Midgar section into its own game. So while I don’t think they’ll be skipping segments, I don’t think each segment will be be nearly as extensive as Midgar.
Ending at Nibelheim pretty much guarantees that there will be a fair bit of padding because we really wouldn’t have progressed that far into the main story. I would think ending on Aerith’s death or maybe going as far as the Northern Crater would give the devs an incentive to not make each section longer than it needs to be.
I don’t think part 1 really gives us a good idea for what the next parts will look like since a lot of what was expanded was seemingly to pad out the length of the Midgar section into its own game. So while I don’t think they’ll be skipping segments, I don’t think each segment will be be nearly as extensive as Midgar.
Ending at Nibelheim pretty much guarantees that there will be a fair bit of padding because we really wouldn’t have progressed that far into the main story. I would think ending on Aerith’s death or maybe going as far as the Northern Crater would give the devs an incentive to not make each section longer than it needs to be.
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
I don't see anything as egregious as the second bombing mission taking 3 chapters happening again, bit I can still imagine places like the mythril mine getting extended into a full dungeon a la the sewers and train graveyard.
The thing I'm the most curious about is how they'll handle travel between areas. Will those be chapters in of themselves, or will that happen off screen between fades? A big question mark for a while now has been how they're going to deal with the world map, after all.
The thing I'm the most curious about is how they'll handle travel between areas. Will those be chapters in of themselves, or will that happen off screen between fades? A big question mark for a while now has been how they're going to deal with the world map, after all.
Sephiroth Crescent
Way Ahead of the Plot
Is there any place between Cargo Ship and rebuilt Nibelheim that would make for a suitable end in Part 2?
Gold Saucer doesn't seem to suit...
If it were to end at Cosmo why not going the extra mile and do their Mt. Nibel thingy?
I dunno. It's either too little (up to Junon and ship) or too much content (half the world assets) to make.
Gold Saucer doesn't seem to suit...
If it were to end at Cosmo why not going the extra mile and do their Mt. Nibel thingy?
I dunno. It's either too little (up to Junon and ship) or too much content (half the world assets) to make.
Ite
Save your valediction (she/her)
- AKA
- Ite
Gongaga would be a possible place to put a 2-chapter finale that brings in you-know-who and the alternate whats-em-called. Devise another god to slay and bam! You can address the cliffhanger of Part 1 and make up a whole new one for Part 3.
The Twilight Mexican
Ex-SeeD-ingly good
- AKA
- TresDias
Like, everything all of you are saying makes too much sense. =/
I think I lean more towards some kind of streamlining taking place, but they surprised us in that regard with Midgar's expanded content.
One thing I will remark on with confidence:
Assuming we more or less follow the original outline, they could definitely save some development time for now by making the Junon segment a mostly stealthy affair. There isn't really much that happens in the main city at this juncture, so they could easily keep our path here "on rails," so to speak, and avoid letting us explore the city for now.
Oh, and let me help you here:
"More padded than a 90s-era X-Men character's outfit"?
I think I lean more towards some kind of streamlining taking place, but they surprised us in that regard with Midgar's expanded content.
One thing I will remark on with confidence:
Assuming we more or less follow the original outline, they could definitely save some development time for now by making the Junon segment a mostly stealthy affair. There isn't really much that happens in the main city at this juncture, so they could easily keep our path here "on rails," so to speak, and avoid letting us explore the city for now.
Oh, and let me help you here:
"More padded than a 90s-era X-Men character's outfit"?
KindOfBlue
Pro Adventurer
- AKA
- Blue
Yeah, I figure a place like Mythril Mine could take up the length of one chapter. I’m also thinking of the more open chapters like chapter 3, 8, 9, and 14 being considerably longer than the others because of the sidequests but still only taking up one chapter each. So using that as a precedent, maybe they could just have one chapter for Junon for instance but with some sidequests to pad it out if they want to expand it. Maybe some locations will just be a linear chapter while others will be semi-open with side quests? Question is which ones, I suppose.
That’s why I’m wholly expecting no part 2 until 2023/2024 if they do plan to go far in the story and make the remake three parts. Maybe part 3 will come out in 2027, 30th anniversary and all that.
And for those who think the next part will be available on PS4...yeah, nah.
I suppose that works but I dunno how many more years of “will Aerith die?” discussions I can endure lmao
At least we can rely on one thing to be true: if you are a fictional character and your designer’s name is either Rob Liefeld or Tetsuya Nomura, you’ll have no shortage of belts, pouches, straps, and other random silliness
Odysseus
Ninja Potato
- AKA
- Ody
I think lower Junon will be a quest hub, while upper Junon is a more streamlined story sequence. I can't imagine they'd do too many sidequests with Cloud by himself, and I think the whole "getting into hijinks while in disguise" is too memorable of a set piece to alter substantially.
Jimmy XH
Pro Adventurer
You are quite right actually, I might have been getting my timelines mixed up. Perhaps that’s because I always go back to Junon for that “secret” grinding spot so I ended up thinking you spend more time there than you actually do.
I guess that strengthens the case even further that you couldn’t possibly end part two there.
Ha, nice! More padded than Heidegger’s OG character model...
ForceStealer
Double Growth
UNTIL.... in his desire to see the world burn, he merges with...uh...Lavos?
I like that idea of mostly keeping Junon from us for now, Tres. Allows for them to really let it be a highlight later. I suppose both of the first two Junon segments are pretty on-rails until the Underwater Reactor quest.