Naoki Hamaguchi has spent more than a decade helping remake one of the most beloved games ever made, and with Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the end is finally in sight. At this point, he says roughly 90% of the development team has been together across all three games, and they’ve internalized the original Final Fantasy 7 so thoroughly that they barely need to consult the PS1 playthrough they once used as a constant reference.
That familiarity hasn’t made the responsibility any lighter. Hamaguchi admits he “hates the burden” of carrying Final Fantasy 7’s legacy, even as he’s happy to bear it — and, as someone who grew up loving the original himself, says he may be the fan most eager to finally see the project completed.
We spoke with Hamaguchi at Gamescom 2026 about finishing the trilogy, bringing Revelation to Switch 2, designing for wildly different kinds of players, and why he believes the finale will give fans what they deserve.
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted as part of a group Q&A with Game Rant and two other media outlets. Game Rant’s questions are marked below; questions from the other participating journalists are labeled “Press.” The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Press: You’ve said in an earlier interview that you’ve completed Final Fantasy 7 Revelation at least 40 times. How do you identify which parts of the game you would like to change?
Naoki Hamaguchi: The way I generally approach that is not just to write it down. If you send instructions to the development team based only on text, they sometimes won’t understand exactly what needs changing. So when I’m doing tests, I record a video at the same time and send it to the team to show them visually, along with text, to make it clearer.
And the things I pick up on aren’t just about playing through it and saying, “Oh, I don’t like this part; let’s change it.” It’s not on the spot. It’s really based on understanding the plan of the game. It’s looking at the core concept and asking, “Have we achieved what that original concept or idea was, or is what we initially discussed coming into the right shape, or how could we push this further?”
The development team for FF7 Revelation has a funny culture. For example, I often use the weekend for test plays, and the rest of the team is usually off. They’re not there to react to my comments immediately, so the feedback piles up over the weekend; then the team comes back on Monday, and they’re really down because they see this long list of things from me. It’s a weird culture.
Press: Since Revelation is bigger in scope than Remake and Rebirth, what are the development hurdles when it comes to bringing the game to the Switch 2 alongside the other platforms?
Hamaguchi-san: I think if we were trying to do that without the experience we had with the other FF7 games on Switch, I don’t think porting Revelation would have been easy. It would have been a very big challenge if we did it from scratch.
I think the biggest thing that helped us achieve that was the experience we got working on Rebirth and porting it to other platforms. That knowledge was key to getting it right. We were very happy with the level of quality that we were able to get with Rebirth on Switch. We didn’t want to limit ourselves, so we took the graphical quality and presentation even higher with Revelation and made it as good as we could.
Game Rant: The team has been working on this FF7 Remake project for over ten years now. How often do you go back to the original PS1 release of FF7 as a reference point? Or do you use Remake and/or Rebirth as a reference point now that you’re almost done with the third part?
Hamaguchi-san: (laughing) That is a great question — an obvious one, but of course people will want to know that! So, when we were working on the original remake, we made a single-playthrough video of the original game and shared it with the development team so we could reference it often. I think when we moved to Rebirth and then Revelation, we actually stopped looking at that video.
It’s interesting because you’ve made me look at this whole thing from a slightly different angle. We had most of the development team with us for all three games (about 90%). I think they must’ve built up that knowledge and understanding, and they’ve fully digested it. As I said, they refer to that original playthrough video a lot less because they already know it all and understand what the game is.
Game Rant: When the development team did sit and watch through that PS1 playthrough, was there anything you remember that you’d forgotten about or rediscovered?
Hamaguchi-san: I think working on the series and being so close to FF7 as a product and an IP, I’ve really noticed a lot of things. If anything, it’s given me a newfound respect for the original creative team. Looking back, and thinking about the era that game was made in, information was a lot harder to get back then. Nowadays, we have the internet and social media. People had to get info from books and newspapers. So, to think it was made back then is insane.
I’m so impressed with how ahead of its time FF7 was back in the day. You think about some of the themes the game had and how current and relevant they are today—fighting conflict over natural resources, diverse characters, etc. But to think that 35 years ago, they came up with these themes impressed me and gave me so much respect for the team.
I think that’s one of the main reasons FF7, to this day, is still loved and has such a strong, passionate fanbase even after so long. And obviously, that brings a lot of responsibility and pressure on me, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want it. I hate the burden, but I’m happy to bear it. I’ve been really happy to take the lead on the project and be the guy who brings this project to gamers today.
Press: Can you still play FF7 and see the game as a player instead of a member of the development team?
Hamaguchi-san: First, I’d say that out of game creators and directors, I’m probably one of the few who try to look more at things from the player’s perspective whenever I can. I think when you’re making any game, let’s say you have 100 people, and you’re never going to please them all. There’s always going to be someone who doesn’t like what you’re creating. I always try to think, “How can I make something that will make as many of those people happy as possible?”
I’m one of those directors who like to play through my games again and again. But when you’re doing that, how do you get an understanding of what different types of players like? When you’re one person with one set of likes and preferences, you kinda look at it from your perspective.
So when I play, I always set an idea in my head of what perspective and what kind of player I am looking at the game from. For example, I’ll do a playthrough where I’m a hardcore action fan, so I approach it thinking about how I can pull off the coolest combos and do the most damage, etc. And then I’ll look at it from a different perspective the next time, like someone who’s really into the story and not so much into action. How does that person see the game? That lets me get more perspectives on it all.
Press: Can you share any insight on how FF7 Remake and Rebirth are performing fiscally on the Nintendo Switch? Are you happy with sales so far? And did you have any part in deciding that the FF7 Remake trilogy would come to Switch?
Hamaguchi-san: First, I have to say that I have a strong personal connection to Nintendo and its hardware, specifically the Switch. FF7 on PS1 was the first numbered FF game that strayed away from Nintendo. So it feels like fate that this remake trilogy is bringing FF7 to Nintendo hardware. I’m really interested in seeing what all the Nintendo fans who didn’t continue with the series because it went to PlayStation think.
When Nintendo was working on the Switch 2, they showed me a presentation of the new hardware. It’s quite a normal thing! I wasn’t saying I was special — Nintendo showed this new console to a lot of people; it wasn’t just me (laughing). When we got that presentation, it got me thinking about the power of the system, and at that point, I felt that with these specs, it was going to be a challenge, but I felt it was possible to put the FF7 Remake series on the Switch console.
From a business perspective, going after the Switch 2 turned out very well in the end. When we revealed Revelation at Summer Game Fest, it was very well received and had a big effect on sales of the first two games. At the same time, I was delighted by the reaction from the Chinese gaming community. So overall, it was a very good decision for a lot of reasons.
Game Rant: So I would argue that Cloud and the rest of the gang, and FF7 in general, is probably the most iconic Final Fantasy game ever. Why do you think it’s so special, and why do people resonate with it all so much?
Hamaguchi-san: If I were able to put into words exactly why these characters are so loved, I think anyone would be able to make a game with them at that point—it’s hard to articulate it all!
Good characters, a good story, and a great, entertaining experience help. You have other examples like Star Wars, but yeah, it needs to be a new experience and give people something they’ve never seen before. I think it’s the change in the hardware of FF7 going to 3D for the first time on the PlayStation that helped bring the series into a new light and made it revolutionary. That visual upgrade, combined with the story and characters, really helped FF7 shine.
Press: How important do you think it is for development staff to stay around for multiple projects? Do you think this is the future of the AAA gaming industry?
Hamaguchi-san: AAA development is very difficult, and it’s getting harder. I think one tricky thing is the amount of data shared among so many people and how they work together in interconnected ways. You need a solid team structure and good communication to make sure everything runs smoothly and doesn’t get siloed. People need to be familiar with the structure, and they need to be practiced. That level of consistency. I think all of this will be essential for AAA development.
Press: It’s been over ten years now since the FF7 Remake project was announced. How does it feel to be the one to wrap it up? Are there any lessons you’ve learned over this time?
Hamaguchi-san: When I was a kid, I played FF7 as a fan, and it was a very important game to me, and it always has been. I think I’m the one fan who wants to see this series completed more than anyone. But I’m confident now that we’ve created a really good situation for the launch of Revelation. It’s going to be what the fans want and give the finale the fans deserve. I want that day to come as soon as possible so I can see the fans’ reactions.
Game Rant: Do you have a favorite party set-up for FF7 Revelation?
Hamaguchi-san: More often than not, I make sure to include Yuffie and Vincent on my team. I’ve always included Yuffie; I really like how she feels. What we’ve done with Vincent feels even better in Revelation, so they’re both my favorites right now.
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- Released
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April 8, 2027
- Prequel(s)
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Final Fantasy VII Remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
