Don’t think of Final Fantasy VII as a simple remake. Take Nomura and the development team literally at their word when they say that Final Fantasy VII will be somewhat of a reimagining, maybe of the entire compilation of Final Fantasy VII. So then might they incorporate the entire compilation? What if:
- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII becomes Episode Zack. In the original Final Fantasy VII game, we see cutscenes featuring Zack. What if we play as Zack? I imagine the DLC will control much like Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, only smoother. I can’t say how long this episode might be. They may want to cut the bloat (i.e Wutai War, Angeal, Lazarus, Genesis, Cissnei, etc.). Just focus on the Nibelheim Reactor Mission until finally his death. Perfect episode.
This wouldn’t be a remake of the Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. It would reimagine who Zack is as a person.
- Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII becomes Episode Turks: In the original game, the Turks trail AVALANCHE. I think they do this in Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII as well. What if, in Episode Turks, the Turks are on a mission to find Genesis (the renegade SOLDIER) and then Zack? And hopefully, we can cut out the entire team and just focus on Reno, Rude and Tseng. Ok, maybe we can keep Cissnei?
Maybe we can see the Turk’s organization full of members. But leave out the teenager pigtail version of Elena, please.
- Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII becomes Episode Vincent. In the original Final Fantasy VII game, Vincent Valentine (and Yuffie Kisaragi) weren’t present. Perhaps he heads out to help Yuffie evacuate inhabitants of Midgar. Or, what if Vincent goes into the the Shinra offices, deep underground, to fight the Tsviets. There are five Tsviets: Rosso the Crimson, Azul the Cerulean, Nero the Sable, Weiss the Immaculate, and Shelke the Transparent. Perhaps there are five levels of DeepGround. Maybe there’s a boss fight on each level.
Each of these episodes, by the way, could be over five hours. And Episode Vincent might lead to…
- Episode Yuffie: If they decide not to make Vincent present on the Highwind, they might do the same for Yuffie. And if so, Yuffie’s quest could be to help evacuate as many Midgar residents as possible, while fighting monsters.
Plus, there’s more episode possibilities to consider:
- Episode Barret: So, what happened when Barret went missing in the Correl Prison? Part of the mystery in the original game was that he murdered prisoners and guards. While we learn the truth, what if we also get to experience the ordeal through his eyes? The episode ends right before he faces Dyne (so we can play it in the game)…
Now they could hold back the Barret/Dyne fight for the DLC. But then wouldn’t the story of the remake seem as if it were missing something? I opt to keep the fight for the main story.
- Episode Cait Sith: Would anyone want to play this? I would. Maybe we’ll see what happens when he travels into the center of the Temple of the Ancients. Cait Sith’s weird speech at the end could invoke tears as a heart wrenching episode.
- Episode Aerith: And then what happened when Aerith travelled to the Forgotten Capital? We could show her trek from the Temple of the Ancients all the way to her destination. All the while, a sinister Sephiroth stalks her (providing more depth to his evil)…
But no need to repurpose story content from the original game as DLC, such as:
- Episode Tifa: When Cloud and Tifa submerge into the Lifestream. Let them fight enemies along the way.
- Episode Cid: When Cid becomes party leader and stops Shinra from obtaining the Black Materia.
- Episode (Insert Sidequests and Superbosses Here): I would like for these to be in the original game, but there’s no reason to think they’d do this.
I don’t think they’ll do the above three. Nor do I think they’ll try to microtransactions for Gold Saucer and Fort Condor battles. But let’s take them up for the “reimagining” and imagine some possibilities of our own.
Oh, what could be.