Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 won't be cut down following Rebirth criticism, trilogy's director confirms

Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi has good news for anyone worried that its concluding act would strip out elements in response to pushback against the scale of FF7 Rebirth. The second part of the series is absolutely packed to the brim with side activities and world intel points to discover, and while some of those are spectacular, others can feel like busywork, at times. But there's a place for a little busywork, especially if it's optional, and it sounds like we can expect a pretty full checklist when FF7 Remake part 3 arrives.

In an interview last week, Hamaguchi explained that he felt pushback against Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's longer sections was a factor of players having "too much to do and too much to play." There's certainly no shortage of options on my plate, even just taking the best JRPGs into account, and so it can be tempting to skip over side content to get to the next thing. However, speaking in a new interview with Video Games Chronicle, he clarifies that this doesn't mean cutting down on the plans for FF7 Remake part 3.

"I think that may have been misconstrued by people," Hamaguchi says, referring to his previous comment about wanting the third game to feel more concise. "They may have said, 'Okay, that means they're going to cut down on the volume and they're going to remove story content, it's going to be a shorter game, they're going to cut it down,' and that's not what I'm saying at all."

"It's about making sure the pacing feels right," he explains. "It's not about cutting out content, it's making sure that it feels right, the speed that the story progresses at feels right, and it is fairly quick and feels like you can get through it at a reasonable pace. But it has to feel right, so that's what I mainly intended to say there."

Hamaguchi also reaffirms his belief in what Rebirth had to offer. "In terms of the result of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the ultimate experience that it delivered to players, that's actually something that I'm very confident in." He continues, "I feel that the pacing, the content, and the balance in Rebirth is exactly as I wanted it. I personally don't feel it's been stretched out; it doesn't feel unnecessarily long. To me, I think I got that right, and I think a lot of people would agree with me."

Hamaguchi explains that he plays through his games "again and again" during development to ensure the experience and balancing is right. "I mean, I don't want to blow my own trumpet too much, but the way I work as a director, I don't think there are many other directors out there who [do this] to the level that I do this." He considers it a "really important" part of his daily work. "I've put a lot of effort into that."

That's not to say he's ignoring feedback. "Obviously, I understand that there are maybe people who would see it like that and maybe feel differently. That's fine, I see the people who express those opinions, and that's definitely worth taking on board that some people felt that."

For the third game, he notes that "it's about improving the pacing and making sure that, to achieve an even greater level of immersion in the game, we make sure that the story developments move forward in a fairly speedy manner and with the right pace essentially, rather than feeling slow and drawn out."

While we wait for word of the sequel's arrival, which Hamaguchi says is "looking in a really good state," here are the best single-player games on PC right now. Alternatively, judge our pick of the best Final Fantasy games in 2025.

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