Square Enix wants Final Fantasy 7 to be an 'IP with an ever-evolving future', which is strange to say about a franchise that's already ever-evolving

Square Enix aims to transform Final Fantasy 7 into an IP with an ever-evolving future, which seems counterintuitive given the franchise's already established history of evolving. The remake trilogy has produced several solid RPGs, but it raises the question of whether Square Enix is falling into the same trap as other games, concerned with creating new IPs rather than reinventing the classics.

While Final Fantasy 16 has received positive reviews, there's a lingering curiosity about what fresh and exciting games might have emerged if the Remake team had focused on creating new Final Fantasies instead. Furthermore, Square Enix's reluctance to release the FF7 cast appears to contradict the very nature of the franchise, which is already designed to be an ever-evolving future.

The director Naoki Hamaguchi's statement at a PAX West panel reveals their intention to create a work that can welcome new fans in 20 or even 30 years, thus moving beyond being a classic and evolving into an IP with an ever-changing future. It seems peculiar that Square Enix has crafted a franchise that allows for new worlds and casts in every entry, implying that Final Fantasy should inherently have an ever-evolving future.

However, after three full-length remakes focused on Cloud, there's a sense of fatigue about the possibility of more Cloud-centric content in the near future.