Final Fantasy VII Remake is a retelling of the Midgar portion of Final Fantasy VII. The story is intended to continue in new games, though we don’t know how many entries there will be in the series. Square Enix could decide to wrap things up in the next game, or the series could stretch to five or six entries. It’s impossible to say yet, but it does pose an interesting question about how leveling will work between entries.
Fans have been wondering whether the sequel entries will reset the party’s level back to one, or whether players will be able to keep hold of their old save and start the game at a high level. There are positives and negatives to both options, but it’s clear that the developers have a lot of difficult decisions ahead of them.
Keeping The Gear & Levels
The maximum level that the party can achieve in Final Fantasy VII Remake is 50, which is fewer than the level 99 cap that was present in Final Fantasy VII. Since we don’t know how many games the Final Fantasy VII Remake series will be composed of, the question of keeping levels and gear could crop up on multiple occasions. It wouldn’t be too much of an issue to start at level 51 in the next game, so long as the challenge keeps escalating at an even pace.
The benefit of keeping this leveling system is consistency. If someone replays Final Fantasy VII Remake before tackling the sequel, then they will already be caught up with the combat mechanics and ready to roll. This method also avoids any need to depower or steal gear from the party that the player has spent hours earning in another game.
The problem with this decision is that combat is going to get increasingly bogged down with options. If Square Enix makes another 30/40+ game, then the developers will want to include more abilities and spells. Any Final Fantasy VII Remake sequel is going to run the risk of overwhelming the player with options, making older abilities redundant, or making the combat feel too samey in each installment. The developers also have to consider the people who haven’t played Final Fantasy VII Remake. These players are going to have a difficult time learning the new combat system when everything is given to them at once. Final Fantasy VII Remake gradually introduced options over the course of the game, but a sequel that carries on directly from the first installment is going to have a divide between people who bring over their save with all the high-level gear and abilities and people coming in fresh. It will be a nightmare for Square Enix to balance combat for both groups of players.
Scrapping The Gear & Levels
It’s possible that the developers could drop the characters back to level 1 at the start of each entry in the Final Fantasy VII Remake series. It’s unclear whether the developers would contrive a reason for the party to lose their gear (the Whispers drain their power, they have all the equipment stolen while passing through a Shinra checkpoint), or whether it will be ignored entirely.
The benefit of this method is that new players won’t be left behind. The people who have gone several years since playing the first game will also have a chance to relearn the ropes and get back into the rhythm of things. The developers will be working from a fresh slate and won’t have to worry about balancing combat encounters between the experienced players with the Bahamut Materia and maxed out weapons and those who are coming in fresh.
The problem with this method is that it will break immersion for people playing the games sequentially, especially in years to come when they’re all available to purchase. Going from a high-level ass-kicker back to the scrub who is cleaning giant rats out of the basement will be frustrating for a lot of players. It’s also going to be disappointing to see all of the experience points and gear you earned in the previous game being flushed down the drain.
The Baldur’s Gate Approach
Final Fantasy VII Remake is available now for PlayStation 4.
