Final Fantasy VII Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi opened up on the game’s connection to the Advent Children film, saying that more than one of FF7’s spin-offs are going to tie into the game’s ending.
In an interview with YouTuber Ashif’s Release Notes at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival Berlin 2026, Naoki revealed that he’s well aware of the fan theories surrounding the next game in the Remake trilogy, particularly where ties to other properties in the FF7 universe are concerned.
He assured Ashif that he’s carefully considering all of these titles, specifically mentioning Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, and of course, the Advent Children movie.
“I see a great deal of that discussion. I’ve seen a lot of people discussing and speculating off the back of interviews with myself and with Kitase-san, ‘Is the ending of this going to connect to Advent Children?’” he began.
“But it’s not a question. I don’t want to sit here and say it connects to this, it connects to that. But 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 on top of that, once we have all of those in place, we’re looking towards the ending. And then the question is, what kind of ending are we going to head for in Revelation that still has those ties? And I think that’s something that I really hope players will look forward to finding out.”
While Hamaguchi was careful not to say anything that would outright spoil things, his answer has certainly fueled an animated debate within the community, especially following similar comments previously made by other devs working on the Remake trilogy.
Hamaguchi made similar remarks in an August 1 interview with Automaton, confirming that the Remake series is a “new, overarching universe that encompasses the lore of the many various spin-offs” in the FF7 universe — “not just Advent Children, but also Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core.”
“We’re not denying the possibility of the ending tying into FFVII AC, but rather, we’re saying that FFVII AC has just been incorporated into the overarching FFVII remake series, including the ending. However, I won’t comment on whether the ending is positioned to lead into it,” he told the outlet.
And in 2023, producer Yoshinori Kitase told Eurogamer very definitely that this is the case: “We are finally going to link up with Advent Children, that is going to be part of canon,” he said. “The overall storyline, the developments, will not go wildly out in a way that will not add up to Advent Children in the end. I don’t think anyone wanted that, that’s not what we’re looking to create here.
“[But] to make sure it doesn’t become stale and people know exactly where it’s going, [that it] doesn’t just follow the original word for word, we add in extra elements which add that little bit of doubt. Getting the right balance of that is so key. Ultimately, we’re not trying to change the Final Fantasy 7 story into something really different. The overall balance wouldn’t really allow for that anyway.”
Hamaguchi’s latest comments have created stirred up a heated conversation within the fanbase, with some lamenting the trilogy’s shift away from the original game’s storyline in favor of a metaverse-style combo of all FF7 properties, while others remain cautiously optimistic about what this entails for the fates of Cloud, Tifa, Barret, and co.
In June, Hamaguchi spoke further about Revelation’s ending, saying that while players will be able to shape the story in some way, everyone will ultimately come to a “singular ending.”
“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. “We hope players look forward to that moment in the game.”
Final Fantasy VII Revelation releases in spring 2027 on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
