Based on what’s known about the original events of Final Fantasy 7, this next game will almost certainly cover a lot more ground. Cloud and the party have just left Midgar, opening up the world of Gaia to the players’ fingertips. In the original game, leaving Midgar was when the game really opened up into a traditional JRPG, and it’ll likely be similar in Remake as well. There’s several new party members to discover, plus there’s some pretty climactic events ahead for Final Fantasy 7 Remake as well. Regardless of the fact that the ending of the first game wasn’t exactly one-to-one with the original, there’s still a great adventure ahead in the second episode.
For those who never played the original, there are potential massive STORY SPOILERS in the final section (Plenty of Cinematic Events Incoming) of this article.
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Much More Open World
Now that Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s second episode is in active development, players are going to be heading outside the city limits of Midgar into the original open world of Final Fantasy 7. Whereas Midgar was a cramped and highly detailed metropolis, the countryside beyond is full of expansive plains, tall and snowy mountains, and expansive seas. The environmental design in Final Fantasy 7 Remake part two will differ greatly from what was in the first game, though fans can likely expect the same level of fine detail. If anything, the scale will be similar to that of Final Fantasy 15, though not largely contained to a single continent.
After the first seven hours of the original Final Fantasy 7, players move on to explore several unique locales: Nibelheim, Junon, Costa Del Sol, Junon, Cosmo Canyon, Gold Saucer, just to name a few. It’s a bit hard to gauge where exactly the cut off will be for Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s world will be, since there’s multiple continents to explore based on what point in the story players are. Compared to Final Fantasy 15’s world, Final Fantasy 7’s Gaia doesn’t exactly just open up for players to explore everywhere almost immediately. Moving across the world takes time, since there’s no starting transportation unlike the Regalia in Final Fantasy 15. Many of the unique locations, quests, and characters are found on multiple continents in the world of Final fantasy 7, many of which are optional and non-linear.
Additional Iconic Party Members
Along those lines, it brings into question which characters in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s second episode will be available for use in the main party. Several of the main characters, with the exception of Red XIII, were fully playable in the first episode. As the game moves on in the original Final Fantasy 7, players meet four additional party characters (two of which are optional additions) prior to reaching The Forgotten City. That means five playable party members are to be added to the main party in what will likely be the scope of the second episode. This also means designing unique movesets and abilities for five different characters, since Red XIII was not fully playable in the first episode.
Along with Red XIII, players would normally meet Cait Sith, Vincent Valentine (optional), Cid Highwind, and Yuffie Kisaragi (optional) in subsequent events throughout Final Fantasy 7. Red XIII is likely already designed since his abilities would closely match his non-playable combat in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s first episode, but that means there’s four additional unique characters to join the party. Cait Sith’s nonsensical Golden Saucer-themed battle style, Vincent’s graceful gun fu, Cid’s brash version of a Dragoon, and Yuffie’s ninja shuriken style, all are potentially unique combat styles. How Final Fantasy 7 Remake melds these characters into the completely reformed battle system will be a testament to the remake’s impressive combat mechanics.
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Plenty of Climactic Events Incoming
Perhaps the easiest aspect to pinpoint in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s second episode is what part of the original story the game follows. Sure the finer details will be ironed out as more news comes out, but there’s a pretty sizable chunk of the story coming up that would match the pace of Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s narrative. For fans of the original Final Fantasy 7, it may be pretty obvious. It would make the most sense if the second episode of Final Fantasy 7 Remake encompassed the events after the Midgar section up to Aerith’s death in The Forgotten City. Sephiroth obtaining the black materia and the murder of Aerith upon summoning Holy would be a proper endpoint for the story.
Narrative-wise, those moments would be the right climactic endpoint for the second episode, based on all of the events that need to happen in between. Where Final Fantasy 7 Remake condensed the events of Midgar into a cohesive and relatively short story, this next episode will need to cover a lot of ground. Both in the plot and the world itself, a lot happens between Midgar and Aerith’s death in Final Fantasy 7. Unless Square Enix fully intends on releasing quite a few episodes for this remake, ending the second part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake on Aerith’s death would be ideal. That particular moment holds the right amount of emotional gravitas for the story, and also matches a similar endpoint in the original release of Final Fantasy 7.
Fans would be justified in expecting a much longer journey on the way in Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s part two. Regardless of where the story ends, there’s a whole lot of content on the way based on the original Final Fantasy 7. Several new characters, expanding the story well beyond the first episode, along with an even larger world to explore. Next-gen consoles will likely be able to leverage this with better technology, but it does mean Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s part two will simultaneously be a longer game and take longer to release.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 is in development.
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