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If FF7 Remake Part 3 Makes This Massive Mistake, It Could Ruin The Whole Trilogy

Published

2 days ago

7th July 2025

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy has, so far, come along rather nicely. Both the original FF7 Remake and FF7 Rebirth offer excellent JRPG adventures that deviate just enough to give fans something new, while also faithfully updating the original experience for modern audiences. So, one can only hope that the third and final entry will do exactly the same. It looks like Part 3 may be the biggest deviation after everything we saw at the end of Rebirth, but that is honestly the least of its worries.

With Part 3’s release date on the horizon, fans have begun asking all kinds of questions about what they should expect, what it’ll do differently, and what they should be worried about. Personally, I’m beginning to get worried that it could make a massive mistake that will end up damaging the entire trilogy as a whole. While I’m confident Square Enix has got the narrative sorted – I’m honestly a little intrigued about the whole multiverse angle – I’m not so sure it will have avoided a major pitfall that could be hugely detrimental.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy Is Becoming Too Long

We’re Already Over 100 Hours

The Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is getting to be a little long. We always knew that a remake of Final Fantasy 7 would be lengthy – after all, the original game takes around 40 hours to beat – but so far, Rebirth and Remake already clock in at longer than 100 hours combined. Final Fantasy 7 Remake will take players 41 hours to beat its main and side content, according to How Long To Beat, while Rebirth takes 91 hours, again, according to HLTB. That’s a staggering amount of time, especially considering the comparatively modest runtime of the original.

To be clear, Remake takes 32 hours to beat just its main story, and 41 to beat it alongside the handful of side missions. Similarly, Rebirth’s story takes 48 hours to beat, with an additional 43 hours required to clear all of its side content. However, the side content, at least in Rebirth, is necessary to learn about certain characters and unlock powerful items that will help with later encounters. It is also largely integrated into the game’s exploration, making it hard to miss.

Of course, Rebirth especially managed to balloon to that length because of everything it added to the experience. Rebirth’s most criticized elements, such as its open world areas and plethora of unique minigames, create a lot of fun activities for the player to engage with that simply weren’t there in the original. I am absolutely not advocating for them to be removed, as I am one of the few people who actually enjoy all the side content in Rebirth. Rather, I’m beginning to get a little concerned about the overall runtime of the trilogy.

With all the key story changes in Part 3, one can only imagine just how long that entry will be. If it has a similar runtime to Rebirth, which would make sense considering they both cover about the same amount of time in the original game, then we could be looking at well over 200 hours to beat the entire trilogy in one go. That may not seem like a big deal to most JRPG fans, but there’s a fundamental issue with it that could ruin the trilogy in hindsight.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 Needs To Be Shorter

Otherwise, Playing It In One Go Will Be Impossible

Yuffie, Red XIII, and Cloud posing like a cactur in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

I admit that I’ve sunk over 100 hours into numerous JRPGs before and never complained. However, needing to invest over 200 hours in three separate games that form one singular cohesive story is a tall order, even for dedicated fans. As the story continues from game to game, you can’t stop and play something in between without risking getting lost. Considering all the mind-bending, complex multiverse plotlines in Part 3, it would be very easy to feel out of the loop if, after sinking 150 hours into Remake and Rebirth, players took a break before jumping into the final entry.

Cait Sith with his arms stretched out and Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth behind him.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 Should Bring Back Rebirth’s Most Controversial Feature, And It’s Not Minigames

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 needs to get a lot right to deliver a satisfying conclusion, and to do that, it should include Rebirth’s worst feature.

Part 3 can’t then risk being too long, especially if Square Enix wants to keep the total duration of the entire trilogy below 200 hours. A length similar to Remake would make the most sense, especially as not many fans want to go through another FF7 game as full to the brim with content as Rebirth.

As fun as all the side content can be, it can detract from the overarching narrative, which will ultimately take up a fraction of the overall runtime. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of the original Final Fantasy 7 left to cover, not to mention all the ways Part 3’s ending will change and deviate from the original.

There’s A Lot Left Of Final Fantasy 7 To Cover

Part 3 Is Around 40% Of The Original Game

Sephiroth pointing his sword at someone off screen in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 encompasses around 40 to 50% of the original experience, including its side content. That’s a hefty chunk of the game that is left to be adapted, meaning that, in theory, Part 3 could be as long, if not longer, than Rebirth. The latter half of FF7 also features numerous optional side bosses, as well as optional areas to explore and several fun minigames, all of which will be added to Part 3. Of course, Part 3 also has all fixes and new story content to add as well, making for an extremely packed game.

This is what has me so worried that the overall experience will end up feeling too long, bloated, and poorly paced when experienced as a single entity. While currently Rebirth and Remake can exist as individual experiences, the same absolutely won’t be the case for Part 3. It is the finale in a trilogy, so prior knowledge is a guaranteed prerequisite. As a result, in subsequent playthroughs, it will have to be experienced alongside the other two games, which calls for an extremely lengthy time investment, something not everyone has the luxury of giving to Final Fantasy 7.

The legacy of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy could end up being ruined by the simple fact that it is far too long, something that will certainly be exacerbated by Part 3’s likely enormous runtime.

While I want Square to make Part 3 the very best game that it can while remaining faithful and fulfilling the promises of its interesting new story ideas, I am worried about how it’ll affect the longevity of the trilogy. A lengthy runtime could be detrimental, as it’ll make replaying it not just a chore, but also something that people may actively avoid. The legacy of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy could end up being ruined by the simple fact that it is far too long, something that will certainly be exacerbated by Part 3’s likely enormous runtime.

Source: How Long To Beat (1), (2)