FF7 Rebirth story “axis” won’t change from Final Fantasy VII

pcgamesn.com:

Final Fantasy 7 Remake part 2 was finally confirmed back in June for an initial winter 2023 release, but there are questions about the FF7 Rebirth story. According to Square Enix, the “axis of the story” will remain unchanged from the classic JRPG game, but there will be new twists to make it “a fresh new experience.”

Anyone who played the excellent Final Fantasy 7 Remake knows that strictly speaking, it isn’t a full remake of the original RPG game – as while the plot follows the same beats, the story goes off in some wildly different directions. Fans, therefore, have wondered how the next chapter will address things.

According to a new interview at Gamer JP (translated by @aitaikimochi on Twitter) with director Tetsuya Nomura, the “axis of the story” in FF7 Rebirth “will not change from the original game.” The team’s goal is that it will be a “new experience with new developments” like with Remake, and that “players new and old will be able to enjoy this story.”

Nomura confirms that Rebirth will lead with “the mystery of Nibelheim” – Cloud and Tifa’s hometown – but the challenge the team has is to keep some mystery for returning players without deviating too much from the original plot. “Simply remaking the game with better graphics would not make sense.”

Producer Yoshinori Kitase confirms that the FF7 team “didn’t like the thought of simply just remaking Final Fantasy VII.” Instead, Square Enix hopes Rebirth will offer something new players “can play and enjoy” and returning players can “also have a fresh new experience as well.”

Gamer JP also had an interview with Nomura, Kitase, and Satou regarding FF7 Rebirth and CCFF7R.

Here's an excerpt where Nomura addresses the «new experiences and new developments» of FF7