Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is no longer a remake and we shouldn't be surprised

techradar.com:

Square Enix has finally announced the second installment in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project, though it's no longer calling itself a remake.

Officially unveiled as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it'll launch in Winter 2023 as a PS5 exclusive. We got our first look at the title during the 25th anniversary celebration of Final Fantasy 7. While we've always known this remake would launch in parts, producer Yoshinori Kitase advised the plan is to create a Remake trilogy, finishing with a currently unnamed third entry. 

The brief snippet of gameplay showed us Cloud Strife, Zack Fair, and Sephiroth. You can hear a voiceover from Aerith too, which alludes to key events from the original PS1 game. It's a very famous moment in Final Fantasy 7 and there's no guarantee it'll happen again in Rebirth, but this may prove spoilery for some. If that's not a problem, you can watch the reveal trailer below:

Otherwise, the 25th anniversary broadcast held some additional surprises. Following six months of Epic Games Store exclusivity on PC, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is rolling out on Steam today. Better still, it's also compatible with Steam Deck.

Finally, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion was also announced, launching in late 2022. Arriving on all major consoles and PC, Square Enix is remastering this once PSP-exclusive prequel, which focused on Zack Fair. Giving it a visual upgrade, Reunion includes fresh 3D models, full voice acting for all dialogue, and a newly-arranged soundtrack.

At this point, it's no secret that Final Fantasy 7 Remake took a drastically different approach, and there will be some spoilers in the paragraph below. 

While Remake begins just like the PS1 game, we soon learn events take a drastically different turn.