FF7 Remake Trilogy's Story Problem: Could It Repeat Kingdom Hearts 3's Mistakes?

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy Could Repeat Kingdom Hearts 3 Mistakes

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 could see the series follow in the footsteps of Kingdom Hearts 3, a game that divided fans.

Although Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is one of the best games to release in 2024 so far, it quickly garnered a similarly problematic reputation to Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Both games have astounded audiences with graphics, battle systems, and sweeping narratives in the first two installments of the FF7 Remake Trilogy. However, the endings of both games have fans reeling with confusion and criticism.

While there are too many redeeming qualities behind the trilogy to write it off completely, Square Enix's narrative choices have nonetheless blemished otherwise amazing games. Much of the criticism lies in the multiverse narrative Remake and Rebirth attempt to weave, but it is not the content of these stories that lets them down. Rather, issues of story mechanics ultimately see this modern gaming juggernaut go down a similar path to one of Square Enix's most controversial series.

Final Fantasy Has Always Been Convoluted

Like the Remake Trilogy, Kingdom Hearts has managed to toe the line between gaming masterpiece and complete confusion, though it has been doing so for over two decades. While critics of both Remake and Kingdom Hearts point their blame toward Tetsuya Nomura, it is beyond one man's influence to cause such problems. Rather, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth suffer from specific issues of pacing and narrative bloat, which, if left unchecked, could see the series following in the footsteps of Kingdom Hearts 3, a game that divided fans.

Defenders of the Remake Trilogy's convolution point toward the original Final Fantasy 7 as evidence of precedent, noting that it, too, suffered from a convoluted narrative despite being regarded as one of the greatest games ever released. While true, the original FF7's issues aren't comparable to Remake's. Final Fantasy 7's story suffered from a notoriously rough localization, including questionable translations. Further, much of the confusion players had toward the original title was due to the state of the medium, with massive pieces of exposition found in optional cutscenes, as was frequently done at the time.

Remake & Rebirth Have A Pacing Issue

The most glaring flaw in both Remake and Rebirth is their endings, not necessarily due to content but rather their pacing. Each game follows the predestined path of the original Final Fantasy 7, something that Square Enix has promised since the fallout of Remake's ending. However, in keeping this promise, it seems as though Square has had to pack an entire game's worth of narrative shifts into each ending.

Both Remake and Rebirth's final chapters see the main cast arrive at a pivotal plot point in Final Fantasy 7's story, inducing all the nostalgia it rightfully should. However, these scenes are quickly injected with hours of ambiguous lines and outright riddles referencing an overarching plot that's increasingly muddied. Because the rules and worldbuilding of Remake's multiple timelines haven't been established throughout each game, they lean heavily into them during each story's final hours, creating a proportional imbalance.

Square Enix Is Repeating Its Kingdom Hearts 3 Issues

Likewise, Kingdom Hearts suffered from similar issues, not so much in terms of pacing but narrative bloat. While the original Kingdom Hearts, released in 2002, was a straightforward story of light vs. darkness, its success saw its lore explode. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories introduced concepts such as nobodies and Organization XIII, and each subsequent entry added more to Kingdom Hearts' proverbial plate. By the time Kingdom Hearts 3 was released in 2022, there was so much complexity that characters spent much of their dialogue discussing how confused they were.

Kingdom Hearts 3 is as bizarre as it is brilliant, pulling together loving recreations of Disney and Pixar films into a strange action RPG package.

This wasn't only due to the amount of lore, though. One of the largest criticisms of the Kingdom Hearts series is its penchant for releasing too many games of varying genres across several consoles, causing many fans of the series to skip entries due to either console restrictions or disinterest in gaming style. Moreover, Square Enix was reluctant to let confusing lore be compartmentalized into individual titles, insisting on meshing it all into one cohesive arch. As a result, a full understanding of Kingdom Hearts 3 can only be obtained by having a working knowledge of the entire series.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake faces a similar problem due to the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7, the metaseries encompassing all Final Fantasy 7 media — over one dozen titles, as seen in the table below. Square Enix has weaved lore from the Compilation throughout both Remake and Rebirth. This isn't problematic if such story beats are shallow or easily understandable, but many work across several layers of the Compilation, such as the plotline surrounding Rufus Shinra and Glenn Lodbrock, a character first appearing in a mobile game, Final Fantasy 7 The First SOLDIER, which was only available for two years from 2021 to 2023.

Square Enix Has A Pattern Of Overwhelming Players

A common denominator appears between Remake and Kingdom Hearts in that Tetsuya Nomura served as creative director for both series. Given the series' similar trajectories, it's an easy connection to make. Some have even made his name into a verb, i.e., "Remake got Nomura'd."

This scapegoat doesn't hold up, though, as the problems facing each series are far too large to be blamed on one man alone, no matter how great his influence. Rather, this pattern points to a greater systemic issue at Square Enix of rushing titles to release and then salvaging obscure narratives from them for future installments. Also, it should be remembered that Tetsuya Nomura is possibly one of the greatest character designers of all time and is responsible for many of the most beloved characters in Final Fantasy, including Cloud Strife himself.

The issues surrounding Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Remake are all too similar to those facing Kingdom Hearts, but luckily, Square Enix can recover. Notably, it should listen to fan reactions and adjust Remake Part 3's plot to avoid further last-chapter pacing issues. Square Enix can do this by building toward whatever mind-bending conclusion it's working toward in the early game rather than constraining it to the last two hours. This will allow the ending of the Remake Trilogy to have the reverence it deserves, closing out what may be one of the greatest series in gaming history.