E3 2015: The gaming world began tuning in to the Square Enix Conference hoping for news on Final Fantasy XV or Kingdom Hearts III, two games that have been sporadic in releasing news. Final Fantasy XV has since been confirmed for 30^th September 2016, while Kingdom Hearts has promised more information this winter. Both were teased during the 2015 conference, but that is not why this one will be remembered.

It had been rumoured for some time but no self-respecting fan genuinely believed them, not with the aforementioned 2 other games being ‘in development’ for the best part of 10 years. A trailer started, setting the scene for what appeared to be a new IP. 27 seconds in though, and that children’s playground looks strangely familiar. And then the name Yoshinori Kitase popped up, director for the original Final Fantasy VII was Producer on a new game; tell me more! Tetsuya Nomura. Kazushige Nojima. And then, the logo flashed up, followed by the word ‘REMAKE’. It was finally happening.

But what else do we know other than it has been confirmed?

Even this last frame from the reveal trailer is as vague as it comes. Yes, confirmed for the PS4 (which was a given really) but it’s the word ‘First’ that can give other PS4-less people hope. ‘First’ obviously implies the PS4 will get it ‘First’, but it doesn’t count out appearing on other platforms. Otherwise they would have used that other favourite word console makers love, ‘Exclusively’. Could it be a timed-exclusive like we have seen from Microsoft with Rise of the Tomb Raider and Dead Rising 4?

One thing that has been confirmed is that it will be episodic. Cue groans from a majority of the fan base. Episodic games still have negative connotations, despite all the plaudits games like The Walking Dead and Life Is Strange have received. Even Square Enix’s latest Hitman release decided (very last minute it has to be said) to release episodic and its brought a unique freshness to the game, which really works due to the design.

I think the groans came about because how does a game like Final Fantasy VII work in an episodic environment? Based on the original, where exploration and a World Map were certainly key to fully realising the joy of the game, an episodic format wouldn’t work. And, Final Fantasy games are known for their length, but episodic games aren’t necessarily famed for this fact. They tend to be a lot shorter, not that this is a bad thing. But for the remake to work episodically, the fundamentals of the game would need to change in order to fit into the desired format. And that’s not what people, who have been begging for the remake to happen, really wanted.

Another piece of news which has been confirmed is that legendary composer of the original, Nobuo Uematsu will not be involved in the remake. Again though, what this really means is currently unclear. The soundtrack though is about as iconic as it gets, and any change to it would completely ruin the experience for many people. Perhaps they will update the score in the same vein as Final Fantasy X HD, but again, this has yet to be confirmed.

Another gameplay feature the remake will be adopting is that it will not be turn-based like the original one was, and will become more Action RPG-oriented, much like XV is expected to be. Interestingly, it was the Advent Children feature film spin-off that triggered Square Enix’s ARPG obsession, and from what has been released, the art style is obviously inspired by that also.

Wild speculation: ‘That’ character survives.

It has been getting on for a year since we last saw any mention of it at the 2015 Playstation Experience. Since then there hasn’t been anything at all. This is probably just because the team involved are feverishly working on Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III. XV is releasing on 30^th September, and KH III has promised more information in the winter, probably at one of the conventions in Asia that gather towards the end of the year.  I think, and I hope, that we will expect to hear some more news soon after this.