FF7 Revelation's Hamaguchi revealed at PAX West that battle director Endo pushed for every FITS outfit to unlock at once. He also detailed Cid and Vincent's combat identities and hinted FF7's story isn't done after Revelation.
FF7 Revelation's PAX West Panel Reveals FITS, New Playable Characters, and the Franchise's Future
Endo Pushed for Every FITS to Unlock at Once, Not Handed Out as Rewards
Final Fantasy VII Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi revealed at PAX West 2026 that battle director Teruki Endo personally pushed back on the team's original plan for FITS, a system that lets every party member switch between four combat-altering outfits: Warrior, Knight, Black Mage, and Summoner. Speaking alongside Endo during an hour-long panel at the convention, one of the largest annual gaming conventions in North America, Hamaguchi looked back on the trilogy and shared new details about the upcoming finale ahead of its April 8, 2027 launch.
Each FITS outfit fundamentally changes what abilities characters have access to in battle, similar to a classic job system. According to Hamaguchi, the team's early instinct was to treat each character's four FITS as unlockable rewards, tying them to specific story milestones or even framing them as prizes for defeating certain bosses, a structure that would have handed the system out gradually over the course of the game.
Hamaguchi said Endo pushed for every character's full set of FITS to be available from the start of the game, rather than unlocked gradually, and the two discussed the idea before agreeing on it together. Per Hamaguchi, that decision means players will actually gain access to the entire FITS system relatively early, around five to six hours into the game.
The reasoning, Hamaguchi explained, came down to what they wanted the system to actually be for. FITS is designed from the outset as a customization tool for players to immediately experiment with how each character plays and looks without needing to grind toward unlocking that freedom. Hamaguchi added that the team also included a separate skin system alongside FITS specifically so that players who don't want a character's battle role tied to their appearance can keep an original outfit while still freely swapping FITS abilities underneath.
Cid and Vincent Get Combat Identities Built Around Differentiation
With FITS established as the system tying the whole cast together, the conversation moved to two characters joining that cast for the first time. Cid Highwind and Vincent Valentine are longtime members of FF7's ensemble who, until now, have remained side characters in the Remake trilogy; Revelation is the first time both are fully playable, after being introduced in FF7 Rebirth.
Cid wields a spear, a weapon type unique to him in the cast, and Endo said the team's biggest design hurdle was differentiating him from the game's existing melee-focused characters. The answer was giving him the ability to mark enemies, letting Cid's other abilities, including a Dragoon Jump-style move, trigger follow-up attacks against every marked target at once, turning one of his signature moves into an area attack specifically when used against tagged foes. Endo also noted Cid has strong potential in aerial combat, another point of differentiation from the rest of the cast.
Vincent presented a similar problem from the ranged side, since Barret, an original party member and machine-gun-armed fighter, already fills the party's gunner role. Endo said Vincent was deliberately built to be more aggressive and mobile in comparison, encouraging players to control the spacing between themselves and enemies, with special shooting actions that change depending on when they're triggered mid-combo.
Endo also confirmed Vincent's Galian Beast transformation, a signature ability from the original game that turns Vincent into a monstrous alternate form, can be triggered at any time rather than being locked behind his limit break like in the original game, and can even be woven directly into combos for near-instant transformation and cancellation. In one specific example, Hamaguchi and Endo said equipping Vincent with the Summoner FITS lets him combine that Galian Beast transformation with coordinated attacks alongside Ifrit, one of the series' most recognizable fire-based summoned creatures.
The Trilogy Was Built Around Three Deliberate Themes
Hamaguchi also used the panel to frame the entire trilogy's structure retroactively, revealing that each entry was built around one core theme from the start: "Reunion" for Remake, "Bonds" for Rebirth, and "Resolve" for Revelation. According to Hamaguchi, that framework shaped what each game actually tries to accomplish. Remake reintroduced beloved characters to both longtime fans and newcomers; Rebirth’s linked-attack combat systems were meant to make players feel the party's growing bond mechanically, not just narratively.
For Revelation, Hamaguchi said that same philosophy extends to how the game's ending is structured. While the story only has a single ending, Hamaguchi said the game is deliberately designed so that how a player feels about reaching that ending will vary from person to person, shaped by the side content and choices they've made throughout their own playthrough. Hamaguchi said he wants players to experience that climax as "something that's not explained to you by someone else, but as something that belongs to you."
FF7 Isn't Finished After Revelation
The panel's biggest long-term revelation looked beyond Revelation's gameplay entirely. Hamaguchi stated that Square Enix wants to expand FF7's future beyond this trilogy, describing an intention to grow it into an IP that continues evolving over time. Hamaguchi stopped short of detailing what that evolution would actually look like, but the comment marks one of the more direct acknowledgments yet that Square Enix sees a future for the franchise past the Remake project's ending.
A New Final Fantasy XIV Collaboration Was Also Confirmed
Before wrapping up, Hamaguchi shared one more piece of news: a crossover between the FF7 Remake series and FF14, Square Enix's long-running MMORPG, titled "Beyond the Lifestream." The collaboration was first announced separately at a FF14 Fan Festival in Germany, and Hamaguchi said it's being developed in close coordination between his team and the FF14 development staff to faithfully recreate the Remake series' world and atmosphere within that game. He also confirmed the crossover will include a FF7-themed typing minigame within FF14, complete with rewards tied to the collaboration.
The panel closed with a full recap trailer covering the entire Remake trilogy, once again confirming FF7 Revelation's April 8, 2027, release date on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.
Sources:
FF7 Revelation Special Talk - PAX West 2026 (YouTube)
Grind for outfits, alone the reading of this makes me lose my last meal. I don't mind to work for something, but we all know how the term "grind" is used. Long term, monotone torture where you won't ever see results. I wouldn't mind "grinding" if the conditions were fair, but they never are. I have better to do. Put Outfits in regulare ingame shots and sell them affordable for Gil, not real world money!