Final Fantasy 7 Remake: What We Know So Far

The road to release for the Final Fantasy VII remaster has been a long and ardous one, that's for sure. From rumors of cancellation, to team shifts, to creative differences - the path of seeing a fan favourite once more hasn't been easy. But with news of how much Square Enix has improved and changed the play experience, we really think this remaster is one worth waiting for. Though we still don't have a release date, we're about 99% sure we'll be seeing that at E3 2018. Until then, here's what we know so far!

Most recently, we spotted a never-before-seen boss battle on a recruitment page. Cloud can be seen facing off against the foe with his iconic weapon, and the developer just casually looking like "nbd." You know, it's not a title people have been begging for or anything, no bigs.

We also know that the game is confirmed to release on the PlayStation 4 first, but an Xbox One and PC release is also slated - though at a later time. We also know that Sephiroth went from "I'm pixelated, but you know you want me" to "I'm yo daddy now, gurl" (forgive me) with the amazing graphic overhaul seen in the remaster. Don't believe me? See for yourself:

Or maybe that's just me ... moving on! We also know that the original composer Nobuo Uematsu is also on this project, keeping true to familiarity for long-time fans. As far as a release date goes, that's still up in the air though we have had a ton of leaks. Some have stated it is coming this year, with others projecting it all the way until 2023! Needless to say, the speculation is wild.

The game itself has been in production since 2014 and received its first reveal back in 2015. Since then, the external developer 'CyberConnect2' was transferred to an in-house team with Square Enix. This move was to "control quality" while also making sure everyone was on the same page. The undertaking is huge, and it's a project attached to many fan expectations - it makes sense that they would want to make it perfect.

Game director Tetsuya Nomura recently mentioned that parts of the development process are further along than even that of Kingdom Hearts 3, which is slated to release this year. That tid-bit puts the release date a bit higher up than 2023, we'd say.

There had also been previous reports of the game's cancellation and "turbulence" regarding progression. Though the initial reports stated that the progress just wouldn't be done in time, the creative team had since debunked that stating everything is "right on track." You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief.

In a recent interview with EDAMAME Arcade channel, Kitase went full Final Fantasy when discussing the series as a whole. He also decided to tackle some of those pesky rumors floating around, especially the speculation surrounding Aerith's ability to be revived, "I have heard there were unofficial ways to have Aerith in your party. But officially there is no way to bring her back to life." - We should just call him the dream killer ...

He was pretty dodgey when answering certain questions, like whether or not we'd see a Final Fantasy VIII PlayStation 4 port or not, "That's a difficult question. I'm saying no, but not ruling it out in the future." But he did get to work settling more than a few rumors concern the franchise and its characters like when he answered the question if Jenova and Lavos (Chrono Trigger) were a part of the same species: "They aren't but both games were worked on at the same time and enemies from space was a trend at the time. It's false, but they are loosely based on each other."

We also know that the game is episodic. In large part, because this is a reconstruction - not an individual shot recreation. Series producer Yoshinori Kitase wrote in a blog post that "a proper HD remake" just wouldn't fit into one installment and maintain the "same feeling of density of the original."

"We've seen everyone's comments and reactions to the news that Final Fantasy 7 remake will be a multi-part series and many have speculated correctly as to the reason why we have made this decision," he said, "If we were to try to fit everything from the original into one remake installment, we would have to cut various parts and create a condensed version of Final Fantasy 7. We knew none of you would have wanted that.

"I hope that by explaining a little more about our design decisions that you can appreciate the size of this project and what we have planned for this remake. Going beyond the scale and depth of the world, narrative and gameplay from the original to deliver something that feels familiar yet new. As I said before, we like delivering surprises."

There are tons of reports that the release date will be revealed at this year's E3, with even more footage from the game itself. We'd love to see how the "no more turn-based battles" works in the remake, and we're interested in seeing once and for all how truly reconstructed this will be. One thing is for sure, we're excited! We'll learn more soon with E3 kicking off their announcements on June 9th!