Final Fantasy VII Remake: what should we expect from the second part?

Since his very first announcement, Final Fantasy VII Remake did speak much of itself, leading the passionate around the world to an infinity of threads and doubts about this project. Although the title has divided the public due to its structural and narrative changes compared to the original, the work by Square Enix has nevertheless proved to be a great commercial success and is already projected to the future, or to what will be the second part of this "revival" project of Final Fantasy VII. Put in the archive then Final Fantasy VII Remake, let's look to the future of this sub-series of the famous saga JRPG trying to hypothesize what awaits us.

Before continuing this article, however, we inform you that if you have not finished Final Fantasy VII Remake and / or you have not played the original title, we advise you not to continue reading it. The article in question in fact contains numerous SPOILERS both on the Remake and on the 1997 title.

When will we see the second part?

First of all, the question that immediately arises is: when we see the second part? The first part of Final Fantasy VII Remake suffered a slight delay in its publication, passing from 3 March al 10th April. This delay, as you know, was caused by the pandemic of Covid-19 which has upset the plans of many companies, both in the gaming sector and in many others. The president of Square Enix Yosuke Matsuda however, at the end of February it had declared that this delay would have no impact on the timing of the release of the second part. However, various factors must be taken into consideration in this regard.

The co-director Naoki Hamaguchi a few months ago he declared that the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake was still being worked on and that there was "nothing concrete yet". The second part may therefore take longer than expected, given that apparently the software hasn't even started working. Shibai Haruka, the actress who holds the role of Tifa in Final Fantasy 7 Remake, via your Twitter account a few weeks ago he had made it known that the works on the second part of the license plate title Square Enix they had officially started again. Considering these facts, it is clear that the development of the title is on the high seas for now, and we will hardly see it within the next two years.

Furthermore, we must consider that the new chapter will have to interface with the next generation hardware, now imminent, and that first we will also have to work on the version of Final Fantasy VII Remake for PC e Xbox One, the title being a temporary exclusive on PlayStation 4. To overcome these possible delays, it is likely that Square is considering the possibility of changing the size of the next parts based on what the covered story section will require.

What will the second part tell?

Final Fantasy VII Remake ends when the group of protagonists leaves Midgar. In the original title, this was the moment when Final Fantasy VII went from being a linear adventure to a more open one, with freely navigable and larger areas. If we had to venture a hypothesis, it is likely that the second part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake ends where the first disc of the original ended, that is to Forgotten City (also known as Forgotten Capital o City of the Ancients).

As fans will know, Cloud Strife and the rest of the group head to Forgotten City in search of their mate Aerith Gainsborough, who is trying to invoke Holy in the hope of averting the cataclysm that Sephiroth intends to cause via Meteor. This is precisely where the Aerith's death by the hand of Sephiroth.

In the first part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake, as those who have played the title will know, the Numan, observers who aim to enforce the original story (that is, that of the game released in the distant past 1997 to PlayStation 1). These creatures are tasked with making the story go the right way.

For the duration of the adventure Sephiroth seems to be very determined on what to do and how to do it, so much so that he asks Cloud for collaboration several times to change this much talked about destiny. Cloud obviously refuses, but this doesn't seem to change the villain's plans too much, who seems to be perfectly aware of the fate that awaits him (or the defeat), and therefore has the specific intention of changing the course of events.

Aerith on the other hand, not only seems to know everything, but she also seems to be quite aware of what her end will be, but despite this she is still ready to face the sad fate that awaits her in order not to change the course of events, and therefore making sure that Sephiroth, in the end, is defeated as it is written. The concluding section of the second part of the production could therefore see as a key event what happened in Forgotten City in the original perhaps with Sephiroth deciding not to kill Aerith in order to clearly change their destiny.

In July 2020, a Yoshinori Kitase was asked if the Part 2 would continue to deviate from the narrative course of the original Final Fantasy VII. Kitase did not provide a direct answer to the question, but stated that Sephiroth would remain an important character in this project:

In the original game, Sephiroth did not appear in the told story section, but we changed it to make it appear from the start, in order to place him in a major role in the entire Remake project. Sephiroth will play an important part in the story in the future.

In another interview from July 2020, Kitase stated that there would be various narrative upheavals in subsequent games:

I'm sure there are people who wish to experience the exact same story as the original. However, this would cause the Remake to lose its meaning. The new story of Final Fantasy VII has just begun.

It is clear then that things are not going to go the way they did in the original, and Aerith's death could be a pivotal part of the second part in that regard.

New Party Members, Summons and Gameplay

As already mentioned above, with the Party gone from Midgar the gameplay will undergo a clear evolution since, as it happened in the original, the game map will expand. This will obviously bring further news, such as a greater number of secondary missions, secrets, collectibles, rare items and secondary areas. From this point of view one could take the formula of Final Fantasy XV and significantly improve it, especially as regards the secondary quests.

As regards instead the Party and Summons, even here it is obvious that in the second part there will be several news about it. In Final Fantasy VII Remake the Party is made up of Aerith Gainsborough, Cloud Strife, Barret Wallace and Tifa Lockhart. Red XII, on the other hand, appears only as a "guest character", but it is obvious that he will return as a permanent member of the Party in the second part. Those missing are Yuffie Kisaragi, Cait Sith, Vincent Valentine and Cid Highwind, all of whom will most likely appear in Part 2.

Moving on to the discourse instead Summons, in the first part we had the opportunity to use Ifrit, Chocomoguri, Shiva, Bahamut, Chocobo Ciccio, Leviatano, Kyactus, Carbuncle (the latter two present only in the Deluxe edition / Digital Deluxe) and Chocobino (obtainable only through pre-order). Ramuh, Titan, Odin, Kjata, Alexander, Phoenix, Neo Bahamut, Hades, Typhoon, Bahamut Zero, Knights of the Round are therefore missing. It is difficult to predict which of these Summons will be present in the second part, but at the same time it is very likely that new ones will be introduced just as happened in Final Fantasy VII Remake. Between certainties, theories and various doubts, we can not do anything else but wait impatiently for further details on the matter, with the hope of being able to return as soon as possible to the magical world of Final Fantasy VII.