Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 co-director Naoki Hamaguchi has revealed that, despite sharing very little to the public in terms of concrete details or footage, he has already completed the final part of the hugely successful trilogy “over 40” times.

In an interview with Nintendo Life, Hamaguchi said that Square Enix was “very excited about how the game is currently progressing”, adding: “I have already completed over 40 full playthroughs!”

“We’re very excited about how the game is currently progressing. I have already completed over 40 full playthroughs!” he said. “I can’t wait for as many people as possible to experience the game for themselves, and myself and the team are working hard to ensure we can create an unforgettable gameplay experience.”

Hamaguchi also reflected on the progress he and the team were making in terms of staying faithful to the original while splitting the game into three disparate sections, the first of which released way back in 2020.

“For players familiar with the original game, I think what matters goes beyond the story arc itself – it’s the relationships between the characters, and the emotions they felt upon discovering this world,” he said.

“Those are elements we can’t afford to treat lightly. At the same time, for players discovering FFVII today, we needed to update the presentation and design to align with modern sensibilities; otherwise, the experience itself simply wouldn’t resonate. For this reason, we adopted modern approaches to visual expression while preserving the emotional core and character relationships that were beloved by many in the original game.”

While we’ve seen little in terms of screenshots and gameplay, Hamaguchi insists progress on the third chapter of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy has been steady and smooth so far.