Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Director Addresses Streaming Challenges for RPGs
Naoki Hamaguchi, director of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, has expressed concerns that gameplay streams pose a significant challenge for story-heavy RPGs. He noted the risk of players feeling satisfied simply watching streams rather than engaging with the game themselves. Hamaguchi, currently developing Final Fantasy 7 Revelation for a Spring 2027 release, suggests that offering substantial player choice is a key solution to this issue, aiming to inspire active participation.
Naoki Hamaguchi, director of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, has stated that gameplay streams present a considerable challenge to RPG developers. Hamaguchi conveyed to Japanese news site 4Gamer that for story-driven genres like Final Fantasy, there is a risk that viewers may feel satisfied by watching a stream and thus not be motivated to play the game themselves.
Hamaguchi, who is leading the development of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation—the final installment of the 1997 RPG's remake trilogy set for release in Spring 2027—emphasized that while not entirely against streaming, the issue lies in inspiring players to pick up the game. He indicated that a crucial solution for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is to provide ample player choice, ensuring that each player's experience feels distinct. This approach is intended to prompt players to consider 'What would I do in that situation?' or 'How would I experiment with that?', fostering a desire to play.
'Choice' has been a foundational concept for Revelation's development. The game will feature an outfit-based job system (FITS), inspired by Final Fantasy X-2, where character job and outfit appearance can be customized separately. Players will also have the freedom to select any job for each character from the outset, providing greater agency. Additionally, access to the Highwind Airship after approximately five hours of gameplay will grant players extensive freedom to explore the world map.
Hamaguchi also addressed criticisms regarding the abundance of minigames in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. For Revelation, the development team has rebalanced the game so that battle-focused content yields battle-related rewards, while minigames will offer cosmetic rewards, such as character outfits. This ensures that players not interested in minigames are not required to play them for progression, with a skip function also available to quickly obtain rewards.
According to IGN, these strategies aim to evolve game design in response to the changing landscape of entertainment and streaming.
