The Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy can never be faulted for its scale or ambition, and in its drive to be the most thorough, comprehensive, and frankly, unexpected retelling and reimagination of the original’s iconic story, it’s managed to already go above and beyond in ways that have taken many by surprise. But by the time it’s all over and the dust has settled, how well will its story connect with other chapters of the FF7 universe, especially given the intriguing changes and alterations that its making to the original’s own story?
While a clear answer to that question is obviously not going to be forthcoming for a while yet, Tetsuya Nomura, creative director on all things Final Fantasy 7 at Square Enix, has reassured that, at the very least, the trilogy’s story is going to connect with Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children.
Advent Children was an animated film that launched in 2005, and served as a direct sequel to the original Final Fantasy 7, taking place two years after the 1998 title’s story. In a recent interview with The Guardian, though he was reluctant to share any specifics, Nomura assured that by the time the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy has wrapped up, it will “link up” with Advent Children.
“If you play right through to the end, it will link up [to Advent Children], so you don’t need to worry about that,” Nomura said.
How exactly that happens obviously remains to be seen – presumably, it won’t be as straightforward as going from the original Final Fantasy 7 to Advent Children, given the narrative changes the remake trilogy is making – though hopefully, we’ll get at least a few hints in the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is due out on February 29 next year for the PS5. Its PS5 exclusivity window will last just three months.