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Naoki Hamaguchi says each game in the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy had to deliver a complete experience of its own—not merely stop at a convenient point because another installment would follow. The principle shaped how the games divide a much larger story, including what Rebirth leaves for the finale.

What Hamaguchi means by a “complete experience”

In comments attributed to Hamaguchi in an interview published in Edge issue 429, the trilogy’s director described completeness as a requirement for every entry from the outset: “Even as a multi-part series, providing a complete experience in each individual game was a non-negotiable premise from the very beginning.” GamesRadar+ reports that he also warned against creators thinking “there’s more to come, so it’s fine to stop here for now.”

That is a design standard for episodic storytelling: a chapter should feel like a substantial, considered game in its own right, while still advancing a larger narrative. It does not mean that each game tells a fully self-contained story or resolves every thread.

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How the trilogy divides the story

The first two entries illustrate the balance between giving each game its own shape and continuing the broader plot. GamesRadar+ identifies Final Fantasy VII Remake as the first game, released in 2020, and reports that it ends with Cloud and the party escaping Midgar and setting out into a wider world. The second game, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, arrived in 2024 and closes after a major scene from the original game, leading into the trilogy’s finale.

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Those endpoints mark transitions in a continuing story; they are not evidence that every major location or plot element from the original appears in each entry. Hamaguchi’s stated premise is about the experience each game provides, not a promise of exhaustive coverage.

Why Rocket Town and Wutai are missing from Rebirth

Hamaguchi attributed the omission of Rocket Town and Wutai from Rebirth to the amount of material the second game already needed to handle. He told Edge, as quoted by GamesRadar+: “When we looked at the overall plot and gameplay experience of Rebirth, we determined that depicting those elements [Rocket Town and Wutai] at the same time would have made the game too dense with information, disrupting the story’s pacing and the focus of the second game.”

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In other words, the decision was presented as a matter of pacing and focus, rather than a claim that those places do not matter to the wider story. The interview report does not provide a detailed account of how either location will be handled later.

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What Hamaguchi has said about the finale

GamesRadar+ also reports that Hamaguchi discussed footage shown at SGF in which Cloud speaks more gently. He said players would see a side of Cloud not shown in the earlier games, and pointed to Cloud’s relationships and the answer he reaches as an individual as things to watch. The report does not disclose that answer or establish a release date or platform for the finale.

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