For over twenty years, Final Fantasy 7 has been named as one of the greatest RPG video games of all time. Releasing in 1997 for the PlayStation 1., Square Enix  had sold over 11 million copies of Final Fantasy 7 worldwide. This includes f PlayStation 1, PC , Steam, PlayStation Network, and iOS. Plus, Nintendo has announced that Final Fantasy 7 (the original game) will be playable on the Nintendo Switch. With all this news about how Final Fantasy 7 is continuing on with its legacy, the Final Fantasy and Gaming Community have been asking the same question for over four years: “When is Final Fantasy 7 Remake coming out?”

    Rumors had speculated in 2014 about the upcoming appearance of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but with no confirmed evidence until now. After Square Enix released a trailer at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), showing a sneak peak of Final Fantasy 7 being remade for the PlayStation 4; the community has wondered what the game will be like. From what we know, Square Enix has confirmed that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be playable on the Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It is still unknown what year Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released. However, with the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 in January 2019, the community has come to a hypothesis that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be released in late 2019 or 2020.

 Will the StoryLine of FF7 Remake be any different from the original Game?

Rather than releasing Final Fantasy 7 Remake as a whole game, Square Enix says the revised game is “a multi-part series, with each entry providing its own unique experience.” They explained that breaking the game into episodes is necessary because of how large it is. Square Enix have said that if they made the game all at once, the developers would have to cut out a lot of content from the original game. This is a conundrum that Square Enix and Director Tetsuya Nomura want to prevent from happening in order to satisfy Final Fantasy 7 veterans and encourage their new attendance to play Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

   Right now, it is unclear how long each episode of the game will take. Or, if, Square Enix will charge for each episode. We can only hope that Square Enix will deliver Final Fantasy 7 Remake sooner than later, so the community can play the game. The bright side of an episodic schedule, though, is that it allows Square Enix to release the first part much quicker. 

Gameplay

   In the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trailer, we saw a quick gameplay of what the battlefield looks like. The action commands seem to be quite simple and basic compared to the original Final Fantasy battle system. From what we’ve seen the gameplay resembles the type of battle system installed for Kingdom Hearts. In almost every Final Fantasy video game, the way how you would attack your opponent is by selecting a command for each character in your party. After the command is done you would what until your command gauge was ready for your next attack. This is known as a turn-based battle. However, based on what we’ve seen from the trailer; the player can attack his or her enemies without having to wait for their turn. In better terms. Think of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake gameplay as if it’s like Kingdom Hearts. In addition to this the player has the option to switch from a different character during a battle.  During the trailer we saw the Command Deck with a total of five action commands; Attack, Magic, Summon, Item, and Defend. We have also seen a special attack that Cloud and Barret perform on their enemies once a small drive gauge is full. This could that mean that every attack your character makes; the gauge will fill up with power to unleash a powerful attack.

  “This information is based off the evidence I seen from the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trailer. I am still unsure what to expect from Square Enix if they release another trailer – but I’m hoping to see more of the gameplay rather than the storyline.”

Characters / Voice Actors

    We had received a confirmed message from Steve Burton, the original voice actor for Cloud Strife, will continue to help with the work on voicing Cloud for Final Fantasy 7 Remake.  Beau Billingslea has also announced he will play the voice actor for Barret Wallace from Final Fantasy 7. We have no information on whether or not Square Enix will use the original English and Japanese voice actors for the remake of Final Fantasy 7. However, Square Enix have announced that they will reveal more content for Final Fantasy 7 Remake in April. This could lead us to more clues and new information about what to expect for Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

       Will Cloud Wear a Dress?   

   Many fans were skeptical about the return of Cloud cross-dressing in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. However, Director, Tetsuya Nomura, has confirmed that Cloud Strife will return with his iconic cross-dressing mission. Square Enix and Nomura want to insure to the fans that they plan to keep all elements from the original game and keep them for the Remake of Final Fantasy 7. However, Nomura has also noted that the design for Cloud Strife’s dress has not been decided. Which means the developers will have a wide selection of customizing Cloud with variant dresses, wigs, tiaras, and even makeup.

Will Square Enix Keep the Sexual Content and Adult Language?

Final Fantasy 7 has had a lot of controversy over the years, because of the game containing adult language and sexual content. When Final Fantasy 7 was first released in 1997. Square Enix wanted the game to be more appealing to a younger attendance. However, critics looked through the game’s content and found a portion of adult language in the characters dialogue . A lot of the other adult words were censored by using variant symbols; making it impossible for the player to guess what word was used in the dialogue.

 Mr. Varela, a Physics teacher at ERHS, said; “I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with my kids playing a game that involved a character cross-dressing, but I would want to know the context and how mature the game’s content is. We would need to have a discussion about it. I think it’s fine for Square to make changes to their game when rereleasing.”

Will Tifa Or Any Other Female characters Be Desexualize?

Many of us are aware or should be aware by now; that Final Fantasy 7 from 1997 was labeled as a “Teen” rated video, because of violence, blood, sexual themes, partial nudity, language, crude humor, and use of  alcohol and tobacco. Because of this, the community has wondered if whether or not Square Enix will remove any sexual content from the remake for Final Fantasy 7. Specifically, will Square Enix decrease the size of Tifa Lockhart’s breast? If so, will the same be said for any other female characters with a large chest or if they’re wearing a skimpy outfit?

Jocelyn K. Hernandez says; “Personally I would say Square Enix should stop desexualizing female characters, because of many reason actually. One is that more girls are starting to play games that are more typical for guys to engage with. So think of this, many girls may begin to think that many of the female characters only have two body types. Skinny and tall with a curvy body and a big chest or a skinny girl who’s short with a small chest and lacks a curvy body. Another reason is that teen girls who do choose a female character, that character will sometimes have low stats in either the strength department or power department. Although on some occasions there will be a few female characters that have high abilities that can dominate male characters.”

Jocelyn Hernandez also states that she would be okay with Square Enix making some female characters appear busty. However, Jocelyn Hernandez notes that if the majority have a small bust or a large bust, and no in-between. It would not make an interest into thinking of playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake.