During aFinal Fantasy 7-themed broadcast, developer Square Enix officially revealed that the second part of theFinal Fantasy 7 Remakewill be titledFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth.In addition, the event, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of the originalFinal Fantasy 7’srelease, also confirmed that prequel gameFinal Fantasy 7 Crisis Corewill be receiving a remake for modern consoles. This remake, too, will feature a unique title; it will officially be calledReunion.This has led fans to speculate that the upcoming third part of the remake will also feature a title beginning with the letters “RE.”
This would not be the first time that Square Enix has utilized themed names in relation toFinal Fantasy 7.The previous collection of spinoff titles, generally referred to asCompilation of Final Fantasy 7,include the filmAdvent Children,the prequelsBefore CrisisandCrisis Core,andDirge of Cerberus,a shooter spinoff starring Vincent Valentine, an optional party member from the original game. These titles can be shortened to AC, BC, CC, and DC, revealing an alphabetical theming. The upcomingEver Crisis,which is set to retell the events of several previousCompilationtitles, continues this theme by shortening to EC. With themed subtitles likely persisting into the thirdRemakeinstallment, speculation about what that title could potentially be has already begun.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 7: The First Soldier Reveals New Content
Resolution
A fairly straightforward title, “Resolution” could refer to the final confrontation between protagonist Cloud and antagonistSephiroth. Cloud and Sephiroth have an extremely personal connection, as both are connected to the Shinra corporation and its SOLDIER program. Driven mad by the discovery of the terrible experiments Shinra has carried out on himself and the other SOLDIERs, Sephiroth has become a terribly vindictive figure that openly torments Cloud with painful memories of the latter’s past failures. A subtitle like “Resolution” could indicate that the third part of the remake would be heavily focused on the relationship between these two and their epic final battle.
Resurrection
There are a number ofFinal Fantasy 7characters who could possibly undergo some sort of “resurrection” in the final part of theRemaketrilogy. The first is the aforementioned Sephiroth, who suffered severe damage to his physical body prior to the events of the game and for most of it is forced to appear to Cloud as a hallucination or copy powered by the alien Jenova. The second isAerith Gainsborough, a party member who infamously dies permanently in the originalFinal Fantasy 7.While many fans suspect that the remake is going to prevent her death entirely, another possibility is that she will die and come back to life, possibly using special materia or the Lifestream that powers the world.
Renewal
Another major theme ofFinal Fantasy 7is the environmental destruction caused by Shinra and the poor condition of the world as a result. The city of Midgar, where the first part of theRemaketrilogy takes place, is overcrowded and heavily polluted, with the poor forced to live in the eternal shadow of the upper city’s plates. The Lifestream is weakened, and many species - such as the one canine party memberRed XIIIbelongs to - have been hunted, captured, experimented on, and driven to near-extinction. A subtitle such asRenewalcould refer to the environment healing and the world gradually recovering from its current dire state.Renewalcould even feature an epilogue focused on Red XIII’s species returning, much asAdvent Childrendoes.
RELATED:Final Fantasy 7 Getting New Merch, Including Buster Sword Clock
Requiem
Traditionally, a requiem is a song or other musical piece performed to honor and remember someone who has died.Requiemas a subtitle for the third installment in theFinal Fantasy 7 Remakecould potentially indicate a more tragic ending, one in whichAerith or Zackdo die as they did in canon or other members of the party - perhaps even including Cloud himself - sacrifice themselves instead. This subtitle is more likely if Parts 2 and 3 of the remake choose to hew more closely to the events of the original game, which currently seems unlikely based on how dramatically the first part has already diverged.
Return
This is a thematically appropriate subtitle that works on a number of different levels. On the surface, it seems simple: the remake is a “return” to the story ofFinal Fantasy 7,starring the same familiar characters and - despite significant changes - featuring many returning settings, weapons, powers, and more. It also works on a more symbolic level; the inclusion of “turn” implies turning back time, resetting the events of the previous timeline and replacing them with something newer or better. The idea of a different timeline was already touched upon in Part 1 of theRemake,which showed a version ofZack Fairsurviving his canon death and potentially leaving his previous world to enter the rewritten timeline of theRemaketrilogy.
Rewrite
Possibly the most straightforward of the theorized subtitles,Rewriterefers to something that has already been confirmed by the first part of theRemake:that things are going to happen very differently this time around. Already, the story ofFinal Fantasy 7has been “rewritten” in several key ways. Cloud’s initial allies Biggs, Wedge, andJessiestayed alive long beyond the point where they died in canon. As mentioned, at least one version of Zack was able to survive his preordained death and potentially move between timelines. Sephiroth, too, has become a much more active force far earlier in the game, with a version of him challenging Cloud at the end of Part 1 of theRemake.In so many ways, both big and small, the story ofFinal Fantasy 7has been “Rewritten,” making this a very apt subtitle indeed.
Unfortunately, it will likely be several years until Square Enix officially reveals the full title of what is currently simply referred to asFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3.There was a long gap between the release ofRemakeand the officialreveal ofRebirth,and the latter is currently not planned to release until “next winter,” which likely means late 2023. It would not be surprising if Square Enix waited another two or three years to even announcePart 3,and continued to focus on spinoffs such asCrisis Core ReunionandEver Crisisin the meantime.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirthwill release in Winter 2023 for the PlayStation 5.
