Final Fantasy VII Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi has told the Radio Times that he ‘did his best’ to push for a physical version of the upcoming RPG sequel, which as we know is happening but still requires users to download data in order to fully play the game.
Hamaguchi-san told the publication that he’s a fan of physical media and acknowledged that some fans are a bit miffed that the disc release won’t include the full game. However, he stressed that he did what he could to secure a physical release, and is only too well aware that a lot of people have strong feelings about the demise of physical media.
I do really like and appreciate physical media. I see a lot of people on social media saying, ‘No disc, no purchase,’ and I understand where they’re coming from. And for Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, we’ve been able to preserve a physical edition. You can’t play the entire game on that disc, but it’s got the opening – a sort of key disc – and then after that, it will ask you to download the rest.
I do understand there are people out there with a lot of opinions about this, I understand that and I have been keeping an eye on that. So, there’s something that I would like to say to those people. First of all, I’ve got people saying to me on social media, ‘Give us a full disc version!’ And so, from an overall perspective, let me first say that as the director, it’s my responsibility to look after the content of the game to make sure it’s fun, really exciting.
In this day and age, as we’ve been talking about, there’s a lot of pressure for disc-less editions, digital editions, and I used my position to put forth an argument for the physical version as much as possible. And all of the negotiations, both internally and with first parties, have led us to where we are now, and of course, I completely understand there are those out there who may not really agree with that direction or approve of that direction.
I completely understand there are those out there who may not really agree with that direction or approve of that direction. But I would just say that I hope you understand that I completely see where you’re coming from, and that I did my best.
Speaking in a separate interview with PCGamer, Hamaguchi revealed that Zack will have more playable sections in Revelation compared to Rebirth, and will also feature his own combat style. In addition, the game director stated last month that players can ‘easily‘ take 100 hours to complete the game if they see everything on offer, while PS5 Pro owners can look forward to playing the game in 4K/60 FPS.