What kind of ending do you craft for a story that stretches across three decades, multiple films, several spin-offs, and now a trilogy of remakes? That is the question Naoki Hamaguchi is living with as director of Final Fantasy VII Revelation — and he has now been unusually candid about his answer.
Speaking at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival Berlin 2026, Hamaguchi confirmed that the conclusion of Revelation will not simply nod towards Advent Children but will actively weave together the full breadth of the Final Fantasy VII extended universe — including Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus.
Which Spin-Offs Are Going Into Revelation’s Ending
Hamaguchi addressed fans who have spent years speculating about whether the FF7 Remake trilogy would ultimately connect back to the 2005 film Advent Children — a question that producer Yoshinori Kitase had effectively confirmed in 2023 with a fairly direct “yes.”
But Hamaguchi’s framing in Berlin went further than the film alone:
“Obviously, there are a lot of other titles within the VII universe. So, we’re talking about Advent Children, we’re talking about Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core. And we want to bring all of those in and make sure we’re not leaving those out. And then the question is, what kind of ending are we going to head for in Revelation that still has those ties?” — Naoki Hamaguchi
The three titles named cover significant ground. Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII, a PS2 third-person shooter released in 2006, follows Vincent Valentine and connects to the post-original-game timeline. Crisis Core, the PSP prequel following Zack Fair, was recently remade as Crisis Core Reunion and is the direct story predecessor to Remake. Advent Children depicts Cloud and company two years after the original game’s conclusion.
One Ending — and No Cliffhanger in Sight
Separate from the spin-off question, Hamaguchi has also moved to dispel concern that Revelation might hold back its conclusion for paid DLC. In an interview with Nintendo Life around the same time, he was categorical: “The story will be concluded within the main game. We’re serious about concluding the series with FFVII Revelation, and we’re proceeding with development with that goal in mind.”
Should DLC happen, it would be a character-focused spin-off in the spirit of Episode Intermission — the Yuffie-centred expansion that arrived alongside Remake — rather than any continuation of the main story arc.
Hamaguchi also noted in June that while players will have agency over certain story moments, the game’s conclusion is fixed: “The idea is to kind of change the approach and the depth of these story moments for these characters in this final chapter,” he said, but everyone reaches the same singular ending.
A New Universe, Not Just an Adaptation
What Hamaguchi is describing is genuinely ambitious. The original Final Fantasy VII was a self-contained story. The Remake series has evolved that into something else entirely: a new overarching universe that, as Hamaguchi told Automaton, “encompasses the lore of the many various spin-offs we’ve created so far.”
That framing matters. Rather than treating Advent Children or Dirge of Cerberus as companion pieces, the Remake trilogy is positioning itself as the framework into which all of those stories now fit. The Final Fantasy expanded universe is effectively being canonised — and Revelation is being built as its final statement.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is due in Spring 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC — and the director is pushing for a physical edition alongside the digital release. With that release date looming, Hamaguchi’s comments at Berlin will keep the theory community busy for months — and raise the stakes considerably for what is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated game releases in years.
For long-term fans of the series, Revelation is not simply the third entry in a remake trilogy. It is the game that has been asked to make sense of thirty years of storytelling across a film, several companion titles, and now three major releases — while delivering a satisfying conclusion to a story that has never quite ended. Hamaguchi seems very aware of exactly how much is riding on those final hours.
