The long awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake finally released back in April to great fanfare, with the only caveat being it wasn't the entire original game remade. Some were disappointed by this, but for the most part, fans appreciated the far greater attention to detail. Remake's first episode was absolutely crafted as a nostalgic love letter for fans, and while it stays mostly true to the original story, Remake only got through the Midgar section of the story. Now it's up to subsequent episodes to flesh out the rest, but that potentially poses a big problem.
Both literally and metaphorically, subsequent episodes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake could run into big problems with larger storage requirements and the carrying over of content from the first game. That brings up the issue of whether or not the base game will need to be installed alongside the second episode, or if it will be released standalone with just a unified client instead. Modern Warfare had a similar issue, but was able to rectify that with picking and choosing installations. Hopefully, Final Fantasy 7 Remake won't need to deal with that.
A Modern Warfare Sized Dilemma For Remake
Square Enix, while not telling fans exactly how many episodes there will be, has made it abundantly clear that Final Fantasy 7 Remake is releasing in several episodes instead of one cohesive game. There hasn't been any word on whether it'll be considered an expansion or a standalone game, or if the game will even release at full price or lesser DLC pricing. Although many assume Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 will likely be full price, the jury's out for whether or not the two episodes mechanically link together.
With each episodic release, the foundation of the first Final Fantasy 7 Remake may be a required installation to run the second episode. That poses a problem for anyone who doesn't have a whole lot of space to dedicate to Remake, which already requires 100GB of hard drive space. That poses a couple options for the actual install of the second episode: either copy all of the foundational elements like character models, battle mechanics, etc. into a standalone release, or the game utilizes those mechanics from the first Remake installation to save space for the additional content in Remake Part 2.
Bringing along all of the foundational mechanics into the second episode as a standalone game at least gives players the option to uninstall the first episode. The latter option would mean Remake Part 2 is basically considered one big DLC, which comes at the cost of a massive storage requirement.
How Will Cross Progression Work?
Other than storage issues, another big question with Final Fantasy 7 Remake will be how progression will carry over into the next episode. It's a valid concern for fans who may have poured countless hours into Remake's first episode. For comparison, an average playthrough without any kind of extraneous experience grinding usually landed players in the level 35-40 range. Players who completed all side quests, collected all the high power weapons, new game plus, etc. likely would've ended up on average around level 50, which is Remake's max level.
The max level in the original Final Fantasy 7 is 99, but considering Remake only takes place during the first seven-ish hours of the original game, being at bare minimum level 30 upon leaving Midgar is much higher than the first game. A typical playthrough of the original Final Fantasy 7 usually would've landed players around level 15-20. It's reasonable to assume progress will carry over into Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2, but it's very possible level scaling may be implemented. Otherwise, player parties will be far too overpowered and closer to reaching max level than any average playthrough of Final Fantasy 7.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's World May Be Restricted
Even in the likely outcome that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 releases as its own standalone game, Remake's future is definitely uncertain. Considering the producers of the game aren't even sure how many episodes Final Fantasy 7 Remake will have, there could be some serious restrictions on the open world to save space. At bare minimum, players may not be able to return to Midgar in Remake's second episode. Assuming every new area in Final Fantasy 7 Remake is given the same attention, there's no way the entire world could be included.
Loading times won't necessarily be a problem on PS5/Xbox Series X for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, but the storage size problem still remains the same. Of course, a lot of this information won't be clarified for quite some time, but it is something fans should be wary of moving into the next-generation. Final Fantasy 7 Remake's next release has plenty of hype surrounding it, but fans should at least be aware that things will likely be a bit more constrained compared to the original game.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 is in development.