Square Enix releases two brand new screenshots detailing Cloud Strife in the presumed opening level of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, where he and Barrett take on the game's first boss.

The long awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been in development for some time, and Square Enix has recently upped its efforts in showing off the progress that the studio has been making. When Square Enix last showed off a new Final Fantasy 7 Remake screenshot, the studio also included a little bit of cross-promotion between Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy 7This time around, however, the focus is solely on Cloud Strife and one of his first adventures with the gun-armed Barrett.

Fans who played Final Fantasy 7 will likely remember the game's opening adventure, which featured an AVALANCHE mercenary named Cloud attacking the Sector 1 Reactor. After the anti-Shinra group fights their way to the reactor's core, Cloud and Barrett are attacked by the game's first boss, the Guard Scorpion. This is the moment that Square Enix chose to highlight today. Take a look at a first look at the fight, courtesy of the official Square Enix tweet below:

In a recent interview, Final Fantasy 7 Remake director Tetsuya Nomura admitted that he hadn't put forth many tasty tidbits for fans in 2016, but confirmed 2017 would follow a more satisfying path for those hungry to see Cloud in high definition action - even if it would still be some time before the Final Fantasy 7 Remake is ready to grace televisions everywhere:

Last year, I didn't put out much information on either title, but this year I want to show our progress at an event somewhere. The release of the titles themselves have still have a way to go. But there are many titles releasing this year, if you can wait for any 'surprises.

Aside of screenshots, the realm of new Final Fantasy 7 news hasn't been completely empty for those awaiting the HD remake. The new figurines for Square Enix's Play Arts Kai line were shown off in recent months, and the original game's director admitted that the original FF7 could have featured many more character deaths than it ended up including - though that isn't to say the game didn't include some tear-jerking RPG moments regardless.

Even though Tetsuya stated that the first release of the episodic content is still some ways off, rumors are abound that the first episode may still see a 2017 release. Each episode will reportedly be the length of a full-size game, as truthfully anything else would probably upset gamers who have waited so long for the remake to make its gargantuan return. With such a highly regarded videogame, anything less than complete satisfaction will likely be deemed a failure - but delivering a satisfactory product will continue a legacy.

What do you think about the new Final Fantasy 7 Remake screenshots, Ranters? Do they do the opening level justice?

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is currently in development exclusively for the PlayStation 4.