// KOTAKU — GAMING
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation’s Director Is Leaving It All On The Field: ‘I’m Approaching The Development As If There’s Never Going To Be Another Final Fantasy 7 Game’
Final Fantasy VII RevelationGamescom 2026JRPGNaoki Hamaguchi
Sitting opposite the director of Final Fantasy VII’s remake trilogy, Naoki Hamaguchi, in a makeshift cardboard meeting room erected at Gamescom 2026, I notice that the deceptively youthful-looking developer appears visibly at ease. With Final Fantasy VII Revelation now just months away, his decade-long Remake project will soon come to an end. As the bespectacled creator thoughtfully smiles and slouches comfortably in his chair, his sense of relief feels almost palpable.
When I interviewed him three years prior in the run-up to Rebirth, the (then) 42-year-old creative seemed tired, giving answers that were considered but brief. Today each question posed to him is rewarded with a lengthy and thought-out response, his answers delivered with not just a sense of enthusiasm, but clear pride at what his team has achieved.
A decade younger than Remake’s co-director, Tetsuya Nomura, Hamaguchi-san grew up playing Final Fantasy VII at university, so he lends the project not only a fan’s perspective, but a (relatively) youthful exuberance. It’s clear that this project—leading a remake of one of the games that shaped him—meant a lot to Hamaguchi-san. Now, unburdened with the task of remolding a classic, he reflects on the themes of the original and ponders what’s next for Final Fantasy. He appears not worn out, but energized.
While he and the team prepare to say their farewells to Cloud and Sephiroth, our chat suggests that Hamaguchi-san’s wider Final Fantasy game development adventure is only just beginning…
Tom Regan, Kotaku: It’s been quite a journey to get here. How does it feel to now be just months away from wrapping up this remake trilogy?
Naoki Hamaguchi: I always think of myself as the fan who is closest to the production of the game. I’ve been involved in developing the series for 10 years now, and we are finally coming up to the final entry. From my personal view, I really believe we’ve made something that will satisfy the fans. Hearing positive feedback is wonderful, but as a piece of entertainment, critical feedback is completely natural too. My perspective has always been to give fans the game they truly want. I’m very confident in that and convinced by what we’ve built. I just want to see them enjoying it as quickly as possible.
Regan: The scale of each entry of this trilogy has grown over time. You said that Revelation is the biggest game in the trilogy; was that always the plan right from the start?
Naoki Hamaguchi: If I wanted to sound cool, I’d say, ‘Oh yeah, right from the beginning, we planned exactly how all three games would be structured.’ But the actual answer is that we had to focus completely on whichever entry we were working on at the time. We focused entirely on Remake, then entirely on Rebirth, and then moved on to focus completely on Revelation. However, there was one underlying theme throughout all of development: I was very specific about the fact that the gameplay experience had to evolve across the series. If it didn’t change, fans wouldn’t be satisfied and would drop off partway through.
Regan: Rebirth was a massive and generous game, but I think one of the criticisms of it was that the main story got lost amongst all the generosity of the side quests, and the main story pacing maybe suffered a bit. What would you say to that?