Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest just recently took place in Berlin, and the game’s director Naoki Yoshida (otherwise known as Yoshi-P) may have subtly teased the director of Final Fantasy 17.
ff7 remake trilogy director might be taking on ff17
Final Fantasy fans have been having an incredible time these past six years. In 2020, Final Fantasy 7 Remake kicked off a trilogy of remake games covering the beloved 1997 classic. The second part, Rebirth, dropped to even more critical acclaim two years ago, and fans are eagerly awaiting the epic finale, dubbed Revelation, next Spring. Square Enix has been moving the franchise forward, too, with 2023’s Final Fantasy 16, and the MMORPG Final Fantasy 14 is still thriving with new expansions.
It’s now been three years since Final Fantasy 16, and fans have been starting to wonder about the next mainline title, Final Fantasy 17. It’s still quite early, as the development cycles of mainline Final Fantasy entries tend to be quite long. However, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating and hoping for more news about the next big game.
hamaguchi still has ff7 revelation to wrap up
It seems that one very important detail about Final Fantasy 17 may have just been hinted at. On stage during a panel at the recent Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest, Yoshi-P was speaking to Naoki Hamaguchi, the director behind all three Final Fantasy 7 remake titles. Near the end of the conversation, Yoshi-P brought up the fact that a lot of fans have been commenting, wishing Hamaguchi would work on Final Fantasy 17. Before Hamaguchi could respond, Yoshi-P swiftly cut him off, saying, “You don’t have to answer” before wrapping up the panel. Despite the quick and awkward cut-off, this seems like something Yoshi-P deliberately brought up, on stage and in front of fans no less.
Last month, in thinking about what’s next for him after Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Hamaguchi mentioned that he doesn’t want to do any more Final Fantasy remakes, and that he’d much rather take on a “grand-scale RPG” within Square Enix. He expressed that, Final Fantasy or otherwise, he’s ready for a bigger challenge. It’s safe to say that Final Fantasy 17 would fit these descriptions Hamaguchi pained a month ago, and it’s entirely possible that he’s entered internal talks during that time to lead the way on FF17. It’s important to keep in mind though, that the Yoshi-P panel chat was far from a confirmation, and we won’t know who the FF17 director will be until Square Enix makes an official announcement.
If Hamaguchi does turn out to be the FF17 director, it’ll be interesting to see what the timeline will look like. He’s still wrapping up FF7 Revelation, which means he’ll have his hands tied up in that for about another nine months. If past mainline Final Fantasy production cycles are anything to go by, the wait for FF17 could extend into the 2030s. However, with the incredible work he’s done so far on FF7 Remake and Rebirth, most Final Fantasy fans are likely to trust Hamaguchi at the wheel of the next mainline entry, if he is indeed named the director.
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