Director Naoki Hamaguchi has confirmed in a recent interview that Final Fantasy VII (FF7) Remake will lean a little more on minigames. As you know, the original, 1997 title had Gold Saucer, the eponymous amusement park with assorted optional activities like Chocobo Racing, motorcycle rides, and so on and so forth.
Gold Saucer has made a return on the remake’s second iteration — Final Fantasy VII Rebirth — alongside a new addition called Queen’s Blood, a 3-lane card game fought on a point system.
Now, speaking to Polygon, Hamaguchi stated that Queen’s Blood is mighty popular among FF7 Remake (the project, not the first game) fans, and with a few additions and beefups, it’s making a comeback for the third and final game of what is likely Square Enix greatest endeavor from the past decade until now.
“Queen’s Blood is a very popular and beloved minigame, and I believe a lot of people are still wanting something like that. I want to expand on Queen’s Blood so that we are enhancing it, and giving you a more powered-up version of it when you see that third installment… Queen’s Blood is still going to be available in the third installment. We just want to expand on it.”
FF7 Remake is not the only one
Now, to say “minigames” and “Final Fantasy” in the same sentence is like stating that “water is wet” as a news piece. The very first game of the franchise, released in 1987, had a sliding numbers minigame of sorts, so the entire franchise is just lousy with them to various degrees (yes, even XIII, as linear as that one was) — anytime a new Final Fantasy game is announced, these side activities are an expected, and much inquired about, element.
FF7 Remake would be no different, given how famous the Gold Saucer part of the game is, but other titles had equally great if not better examples: Final Fantasy VIII, for instance, had Triple Triad, which grew so large it became a physical, officially licensed product you can still find on marketplaces like Amazon. Its successor, Final Fantasy IX (arguably the best game for some) had Tetra Master, which, despite not being as large as its predecessors, was mighty fun as well.
And what about King’s Knight, a full game that Square Enix (back then, Square Co) released in 1987 and, by 2015, would become the official minigame for Final Fantasy XV. What’s funny about this particular example is that we never “see” King’s Knight in the game, but curiosity about it grew so large that Square Enix made a full spin-off (King’s Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon) based on the main game’s universe.
Now, for FF7 Remake, the challenge was not to bring side activities, but recreating it for the people who only got to know Final Fantasy VII through the current project. Hamaguchi says the mission was accomplished.
On other news, the director says development is on track, on time and no major hurdles have appeared so far. While that doesn’t mean much in Final Fantasy terms — Square Enix do like to take the scenic route when it comes to releasing new titles for the brand — it seems FF7 Remake is shaping up to a great closing on its third part. Or not closing at all, who knows…
