After another year, the E3 season is upon the game industry once again. Even though E3 will not be running in 2022, a slew of conferences and livestreams will still be taking place around the same time the trade show normally would. Whether they intend to watch live or not, gamers around the world are looking forward to the events gradually being announced for the summer. There’s no telling what could appear at the various shows, and with rumors swirling for everything fromnewSilent Hillgamesto aBloodborneremaster, the air feels alive with possibility.
One company to look out for is Square Enix. This Japanese publisher and developer recently sold off most of its Western development studios and IPs to Embracer Group to make room for new technology and monetization initiatives. What this means for fans is that any appearances from Square Enix will most likely be focused on their Japanese games, quite a lot of which are known about right now.Final Fantasy 16is expected to appear at a gaming event in the immediate future, andFinal Fantasy 7 Remake’s developers have declared that they want to show something from the upcomingFF7R Part 2. There’s still a lot unknown about both projects, butFinal Fantasy 16resurfacing could be great news for7 Remake.
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Final Fantasy 16 Follows a Tumultuous Period for Final Fantasy
Even without knowing the plot of the game, the story ofFinal Fantasy 16is already fascinating. After the mainlineFinal Fantasydevelopment team began to shift frequently around the PS3 era, the quality of the products being put out became a dice roll. While Square Enix wouldn’t letanything bad sport the numberedFFname, a combination of staff changes alongside hardware growing pains had a noticeable impact. The PS3 was notoriously difficult to develop on, and Square Enix’s experiments with proprietary engines didn’t help matters.FF13sparked some concern, but things really came to a head at the launches ofFinal Fantasy 14and15. They each came out shockingly rough, and had to be salvaged through years of updates.
Final Fantasy 16could mark the start of a new era in the hands of an old team. Thanks to the passion and hard work of director Naoki Yoshida and Creative Business Unit 3, the rebootedFinal Fantasy 14became one of Square Enix’s most lucrative products. For the past few years,Final Fantasy 16has been made mostly in secret by a team of trustedFF14 Heavenswarddevelopers, with Yoshida acting as producer. The game was revealed shortly before the ninth generation console launch, accompanied by a surprising amount ofinformation on the world of Valisthea. The ongoing pandemic forced a six-month delay, but Yoshida promised there would be a trailer in spring 2022 and recently stated that said trailer and most of the game were finished.
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The Second Part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is Coming Eventually
That’s great news, and inspires confidence thatFF16will be released in the near future. It feels like a new development for Square Enix, which has come to be known asa developer that struggles to set release dates.Final Fantasy 15,Kingdom Hearts 3, andFinal Fantasy 7 Remakewere all announced before they had even started full development, and ended up taking a long time to come out.Final Fantasy 15emerged from the unrealized project that wasFinal Fantasy Versus 13, andKingdom Hearts 3wound up showing most of its content over several years in an effort to stay relevant. TheFF7 Remakestill took years to come out after it was announced, but it didn’t take as long as the other examples, and it only resurfaced when it had something noteworthy to reveal.
That brings fans’ attention toFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2, which is set to adapt the portion of the original game after Midgar. Pre-production on the project has already started, though it’s difficult to say when the game will be ready.Final Fantasy 7 Remakeis both an expansion and partial rewrite of the PS1 original, featuring new elements that significantly impact the course of the story.Remake Part 2’s storycould go just about anywhere, and the planned teaser for June 2022 may hint at such. Whatever theories they have, however, fans do agree on one point:Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2is not releasing beforeFinal Fantasy 16andForspoken. Even though different teams are handling all three projects, the latter two are clearly farther ahead.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 Needs Final Fantasy 16 to Exist
To be clear,FF7 Remake Part 2should not rush itself out the door. TheFinal Fantasyfranchise is in a generally good place at the moment, but the mainline games don’t have as great a reputation as they used to. Fan confidence needs to be restored by a resounding success, andFinal Fantasy 16has the chanceto provide that. Worries about the directionFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeis going in could be abated by an impressive newFFtitle. Even in a trade show or online conference, a good showing forFF16would prime viewers to receive7 Remakeas well.
In addition,Final Fantasy 16has to prove how impressive Square Enix’s next-gen exclusive output can be. Even though it will be released near the beginning of the generation, the technology on display could carry over to other Square Enix projects. If nothing else, seeing what may turn out to be an open world inFF16would silence a lot of concerns for the expectedworld map in7 Remake Part 2. It’s been a while sinceFinal Fantasyhas seen a truly outstanding world to explore, and16sporting one will, again, build confidence. As different asFinal Fantasy 16andFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2are, they both share the same brand, and one doing well will benefit the other. If nothing else, having aFinal Fantasygame to latch onto will make the wait forFF7R Part 2a little easier.
Final Fantasy 16is currently in development for PS5.
MORE:Rumor: Forspoken Could be Delayed Again if Final Fantasy 16 Releases This Year
