No, you haven’t.

From the time Final Fantasy VII Remake release date was announced, the original was only 19 years old. Semantics? Nitpicking? It’s to make a point.

When the original game came out, you were most likely playing it at launch, and had no idea that a remake was necessary, or even an option. You were looking forward to Final Fantasy VIII and then IX, or replaying it and Final Fantasy Tactics in the meantime. 

In 2001, Sakaguchi gave an interview for RPGamer.com that he was open to the possibility to remaking the Playstation games for Playstation 2. That would have been a nice gesture, and many people would have appreciated it. But most people at the time had no idea that the interview even took place. Of course, a Final Fantasy VII Remake for the Playstation 2 never happened, and the hype for this project went under the radar. Not enough exposure? Too soon? Who knows?

We heard nothing until a humble Tech Demo showing at 2005’s E3. This tech demo was to show off the Playstation 3’s capability. Yet, the audience went as wild as their imaginations. Fans believed that this was a dry run for a remake. Were Square Enix actually thinking about remaking it? Was this a subtle hint? Maybe. But that’s not the point. By then, Final Fantasy VII was only around eight years old. It’s at this point that the collective consciousness of the gaming community actually wanted – demanded! – a Final Fantasy VII remake, which would mean wanting it for at least 15 years. 

They fawned and obsessed over every detail of the Final Fantasy VII compilation since. They seemingly ignored that the tech demo was just that, a tech demo. They could have used Final Fantasy IV or VI, equally iconic in themselves, but they went for the most revolutionary title. But people still thought the tech demo was more than that, like a secret hint that the Final Fantasy VII Remake was coming. 

That would only have made sense if Final Fantasy VII tech demo was the only tech demo they’ve shown. Yet it wasn’t. We got a Final Fantasy VIII tech demo for the Playstation 2 nearly five years earlier, showing off Squall and Rinoa’s ballroom dance. Equally impressive for its respective console, but opened to a tempered reception, and almost all but forgotten. Lost in the shuffle to Final Fantasy VII, which fans shouted for incessantly five years later. 

Then, in 2015, a trailer released announcing that the remake was happening. To the fans excitement, it was happening. The reunion that no one knew was a thing, was happening. 

Suddenly, the past started to blur. We’ve all had false memories of something that wasn’t a thing until recently with the newer console generations. Fans started thinking that this was something they’ve always wanted – to which, behold, the power of marketing! It was something everyone wanted, no, needed! It was almost as if you could hear Sephiroth chuckling in the background, because we were nothing more than puppets…

Of course, that’s a good thing. The hysteria, the histronics, and they hype, I mean. We got the Final Fantasy VII Remake, didn’t we? Then again, be careful for what you wish for. We got it, the whole series, just the way we’ve never thought we were going to get, and never asked for.