Final Fantasy 7 Revelation: Director's DLC Comments Explained

We still have a long and arduous wait ahead for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the third and final installment in the Final Fantasy 7 remake saga. This remake project kicked off in earnest with the aptly named Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which launched in 2020, and continued with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, a far more grand and ambitious endeavor.

Whereas Final Fantasy 7 Remake was a fairly linear adventure, Rebirth launched the series deep into open-world territory, complete with “Ubisoft towers,” varied biomes, and more mini-games than you can shake a stick at. Interestingly, Rebirth never received any post-launch DLC—an ostensible step back from Remake, which received a substantial expansion in the form of Intergrade, which introduced Yuffie. However, Square Enix had a pretty good explanation for this, saying that the dev team opted to skip DLC for Rebirth because fans “want to see the third part of the series as soon as possible.” It’s hard to argue with Square on that front. Plus, the base game of FF7 Rebirth provides more content than the base game of Remake and Intergrade combined, so it’s no major loss. Having said that, the same logic might not exactly apply to Final Fantasy 7 Revelation.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is Making a Huge Change to the Combat System

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation confirms that a major change to the game’s battle system is one that longtime Final Fantasy fans may enjoy.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Director Naoki Hamaguchi Says a DLC Is Possible

In a recent conversation about Final Fantasy 7 Revelation with GameRant, director Naoki Hamaguchi said this when asked about the future of the FF7 remake universe:

“I can say that, much like we did with FF7 Remake Intergrade, I would be interested in offering a DLC chapter with additional story content after or within FF7 Revelation, if there’s strong support from the fans. That’s something we might be able to consider.”

Drag weapons to fill the grid

EasyMediumHard

When asked if he would be willing to elaborate on this theoretical expansion, Hamaguchi declined, saying that to do so would spoil the story contents of the Revelation base game. But the mere fact that he would make such a claim so shortly after the FF7 Revelation reveal is meaningful in and of itself. It’s not a confirmation that such DLC is coming, of course, but a lot of AAA developers would probably steer clear of mentioning DLC for a game if it wasn’t, to some extent, already planned. Keep in mind, Hamaguchi wasn’t answering a question about DLC specifically. He introduced the subject himself.

And in a way, this makes a lot of sense. The justification for skipping DLC with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was a desire to plow ahead with the development of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, but there’s not supposed to be another game after Revelation. In other words, there’s no other destination for the remake saga post-Revelation, other than an expansion.

But if Final Fantasy 7 Revelation concludes the FF7 story, then what could a DLC possibly cover? It could follow an original story in the FF7 world, but Hamaguchi specifically said that discussing the DLC would reveal what Square Enix is excluding from the base game, implying that a potential expansion would be based upon an existing storyline or concept. If we assume that this is the case, there are a few obvious choices for adaptation.

Minor spoilers ahead for Final Fantasy 7 and its spin-off content.

A Final Fantasy 7 Revelation DLC Could Adapt Advent Children

Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children is a 2005 CGI animated film set two years after the events of Final Fantasy 7. In it, Cloud and his allies discover a plot to revive Sephiroth using Jenova’s remains, and strive to thwart it. The film also introduces Geostigma, a mysterious disease affecting several characters, including Cloud. There’s not much substance to the movie’s plot itself; Advent Children was more or less a way to get all the FF7 characters back together for one last hurrah, for better or worse.

Indeed, Advent Children isn’t exactly universally beloved. Those familiar with FF7 often criticize it for trivializing certain aspects of the base game, which are either retconned (e.g. Rufus Shinra’s death) or feel belabored (e.g. Cloud fighting Sephiroth’s spirit for the umpteenth time). For those unfamiliar with FF7, Advent Children makes little sense in the first place.

But adapting Advent Children into video game form might actually work. The “one last job” premise can often work better in a video game, especially a DLC for a game series that players have sunk hundreds of hours into at this point: Cloud and his friends are in their final form in Advent Children, and this would be cool to experience in gameplay. Plus, an expansion following Advent Children could present a good opportunity to remedy some of the film’s less effective creative choices.

Option B: Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Could Remake Dirge of Cerberus

Another possible option for a Final Fantasy 7 Revelation expansion, and maybe even a better one depending on your perspective, would be to modernize 2006’s Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy 7. This PS2 spin-off centers on Vincent Valentine and takes place after the events of Advent Children. Its plot centers on Deepground, a black ops outfit formed by Shinra, and Hojo, whose spirit has possessed the leader of Deepground. Tonally, it’s much darker and edgier than Final Fantasy 7, matching Valentine’s gloomy attitude.

Shooting enemies in the streets in Dirge of Cerberus Final Fantasy 7

We will get to play as Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy 7 Revelations, and with him playing a more significant role in the story this time around, he could win the favor of a new host of fans. If this were to happen, then a DLC based on Dirge of Cerberus would be a no-brainer. The original game, naturally, isn’t as groundbreaking or popular as the original Final Fantasy 7, so it would arguably make more sense to adapt it as an expansion than a full-blown remake on the scale of, say, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.