"No, the outfits Cloud and Tifa wore at Wall Market will not be included as a skin" - FFVII Revelation Director Naoki Hamaguchi & Battle Director Teruki Endo on why their iconic dresses aren't in and why call them FITS instead of Jobs
At PAX West 2026, I had the opportunity to speak with Final Fantasy VII Revelation Director Naoki Hamaguchi and Battle Director Teruki Endo following the release date reveal of the long-awaited final installment of the FF7 Remake trilogy.
We discussed a handful of topics during our interview, but both individuals shared some new details over some questions fans had. I'll let you see exactly what both of them said down below, but I did receive a firm confimation of some key details, such as:
- no Honeybee Inn / Wall Market dress outfits for Cloud & Tifa as wearable skins
- no option to filter icons when traveling on the Highwind, but they can be turned off
- the Summon Materia exclusive to having save data for Remake & Rebirth will have Synergy attacks with the Summoner FITS
- streamlined progression is planned to be implemented for Revelation down the line, but not at launch
There's quite a bit more that was shared with me, so go read my conversation with Hamaguchi-san and Endo-san down below. Alex shared his thoughts when going hands-on with the game and how Revelation's demo feels inherently daunting for the scope it brings. Scott also wrote a separate piece sharing his hands-on experience trying to fight Ruby Weapon in Revelation.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation releases on April 8, 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC simultaneously.
RPG Site: Thank you for speaking with me today, Hamaguchi-san and Endo-san
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is the first title in the FF7 Remake trilogy to ship simultaneously on multiple platforms. What are some of the new challenges you faced when releasing on all modern platforms simultaneously on day one, rather than a staggered release like in previous entries?
Naoki Hamaguchi (Director of Final Fantasy VII Revelation): To give you a bit more context, the main development team and the team that works on the multiplatform development is a bit separated. One thing I would say that worked to our benefit was being able to release the Switch 2 and Xbox ports for Remake and Rebirth. We were able to gather a lot of knowledge and experience with those releases. That really worked in our favor.
The team who worked on the multiplatform ports of the previous two titles have been doing a great job at it so thanks to that, the main development team was able to focus solely on the development of Revelation. That worked out really well.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is the first title in the FF7 Remake trilogy to ship simultaneously on multiple platforms. What are some of the new challenges you faced when releasing on all modern platforms simultaneously on day one, rather than a staggered release like in previous entries?
Naoki Hamaguchi (Director of Final Fantasy VII Revelation): To give you a bit more context, the main development team and the team that works on the multiplatform development is a bit separated. One thing I would say that worked to our benefit was being able to release the Switch 2 and Xbox ports for Remake and Rebirth. We were able to gather a lot of knowledge and experience with those releases. That really worked in our favor.
The team who worked on the multiplatform ports of the previous two titles have been doing a great job at it so thanks to that, the main development team was able to focus solely on the development of Revelation. That worked out really well.
RPG Site: Now that several players have experienced FFVII Revelation with the first hands-on demos at Gamescom and PAX West, what has the initial reception and response been like? What sorts of feedback have you been commonly getting?
Naoki Hamaguchi: In terms of the overall gameplay experience, one of our main goals from the start of the FF7 Remake trilogy was to always take it a step up with each installment - from Remake to Rebirth, and from Rebirth to Revelation.
Looking at the comments that we’ve been receiving so far with the previews of Revelation, I feel like we’ve been doing a good job so far at that. We’re seeing a lot of positive comments and feedback from the people who’ve attended the hands-on previews for Revelation. I’m really happy to see that so far.
Teruki Endo (Battle Director of Final Fantasy VII Revelation): In terms of the combat, obviously there are a lot of additional elements like the FITS system. I think Vincent finally becoming a playable character was highly anticipated from the fans, and we’ve been hearing a lot of warm receptions from the media and influencers who have gotten the chance to play Revelation. I’m very happy to see that they’re pretty happy with how Vincent feels to play.
Naoki Hamaguchi: In terms of the overall gameplay experience, one of our main goals from the start of the FF7 Remake trilogy was to always take it a step up with each installment - from Remake to Rebirth, and from Rebirth to Revelation.
Looking at the comments that we’ve been receiving so far with the previews of Revelation, I feel like we’ve been doing a good job so far at that. We’re seeing a lot of positive comments and feedback from the people who’ve attended the hands-on previews for Revelation. I’m really happy to see that so far.
Teruki Endo (Battle Director of Final Fantasy VII Revelation): In terms of the combat, obviously there are a lot of additional elements like the FITS system. I think Vincent finally becoming a playable character was highly anticipated from the fans, and we’ve been hearing a lot of warm receptions from the media and influencers who have gotten the chance to play Revelation. I’m very happy to see that they’re pretty happy with how Vincent feels to play.
RPG Site: As you might have expected, the two story DLCs planned for FFVII Revelation became a hot topic among fans when they were revealed.
Their release windows of Winter 2027 and Spring 2028 are still a bit far off, but I’m curious if they will be separate campaigns like Episode INTERmission for FFVII Remake, or are they integrated into the main Revelation game?
Naoki Hamaguchi: We don’t have anything like those details planned as of now with the two story DLCs we announced recently. Even those two story DLCs are very recent developments.
After we made our title reveal at Summer Game Fest this year, a lot of the common comments that we received from fans to media alike were like “Oh, it’s going to be sad to see Revelation be the final installment of the trilogy series. Are there any plans to make DLCs?”
We received a lot of comments and questions like that. We originally didn’t make that decision to have these two story DLCs for Revelation until only recently. Anything beyond that is very much not part of our plans right now because even right now, our full focus is to continue with the development of the main game. That’s our top priority right now.
We don’t really have the benefit to think about any DLCs beyond the two story DLCs right now.
Their release windows of Winter 2027 and Spring 2028 are still a bit far off, but I’m curious if they will be separate campaigns like Episode INTERmission for FFVII Remake, or are they integrated into the main Revelation game?
Naoki Hamaguchi: We don’t have anything like those details planned as of now with the two story DLCs we announced recently. Even those two story DLCs are very recent developments.
After we made our title reveal at Summer Game Fest this year, a lot of the common comments that we received from fans to media alike were like “Oh, it’s going to be sad to see Revelation be the final installment of the trilogy series. Are there any plans to make DLCs?”
We received a lot of comments and questions like that. We originally didn’t make that decision to have these two story DLCs for Revelation until only recently. Anything beyond that is very much not part of our plans right now because even right now, our full focus is to continue with the development of the main game. That’s our top priority right now.
We don’t really have the benefit to think about any DLCs beyond the two story DLCs right now.
RPG Site: Hamaguchi-san, you’ve previously revealed that the popular swimsuit outfits will be available as character skins in Revelation. Another popular outfit that fans want to see are the ones that Cloud and Tifa wore at Honeybee Inn and Wall Market. Will those be available for them, as well?
Naoki Hamaguchi: I know that a lot of fans have been asking for those outfits for Cloud and Tifa but I will say that unfortunately no, the outfits they wore at Honeybee Inn and Wall Market will not be included as a skin.
We actually did want to have those skins implemented into Revelation but because of them wearing dresses and heels, it’s very complicated from a development perspective to actually have that in - especially when it comes to combat.
It would make a lot of things difficult for specifically the motion artists who work on the motion and animation of the game. The motion artists said that they were strongly against having those skins in the game because of that.
That being said, we are going to introduce a lot of new skins that are appearing in Revelation that aren’t tied to the FITS system. I hope fans look forward to that.
Naoki Hamaguchi: I know that a lot of fans have been asking for those outfits for Cloud and Tifa but I will say that unfortunately no, the outfits they wore at Honeybee Inn and Wall Market will not be included as a skin.
We actually did want to have those skins implemented into Revelation but because of them wearing dresses and heels, it’s very complicated from a development perspective to actually have that in - especially when it comes to combat.
It would make a lot of things difficult for specifically the motion artists who work on the motion and animation of the game. The motion artists said that they were strongly against having those skins in the game because of that.
That being said, we are going to introduce a lot of new skins that are appearing in Revelation that aren’t tied to the FITS system. I hope fans look forward to that.
RPG Site: Now that we’re in another new installment of the FF7 Remake series, players must start a New Game once more to continue, and now finish, the journey. I recall that the party members were around level 15 at the start of Rebirth. What can players expect for the initial power level of the party when starting Revelation?
Naoki Hamaguchi: Yes, there will be similar adjustments made when players are starting Revelation, like when they started Rebirth.
In Rebirth, the characters being level 15 is a reference to the original game. In that specific area of the game during the original FF7, the player’s characters were generally around that same level. That was the reason why we went with that specific level for Rebirth, and we’re taking the same approach with them for Revelation as well.
With Revelation being the final installment of the trilogy, the level cap is also being increased to level 99.
Naoki Hamaguchi: Yes, there will be similar adjustments made when players are starting Revelation, like when they started Rebirth.
In Rebirth, the characters being level 15 is a reference to the original game. In that specific area of the game during the original FF7, the player’s characters were generally around that same level. That was the reason why we went with that specific level for Rebirth, and we’re taking the same approach with them for Revelation as well.
With Revelation being the final installment of the trilogy, the level cap is also being increased to level 99.
RPG Site: One of the major new systems in Revelation is the FITS system that allows characters to specialize in a certain role or job, but it is freely swappable. Can the player’s entire party be all assigned the same FITS, such as three Knights or three Summoners?
Teruki Endo: The short answer is yes. If you want to have all 3 of your party members take the same role such as 3 Knights, 3 Warriors, or 3 Summoners, that’s totally up to the player. Any combination - it’s all completely up to the player.
We want to offer that flexibility and freedom. If they want to have all 3 of the same roles, they can do that. If they want all of them to have different roles, they can do that too.
Teruki Endo: The short answer is yes. If you want to have all 3 of your party members take the same role such as 3 Knights, 3 Warriors, or 3 Summoners, that’s totally up to the player. Any combination - it’s all completely up to the player.
We want to offer that flexibility and freedom. If they want to have all 3 of the same roles, they can do that. If they want all of them to have different roles, they can do that too.
RPG Site: The Summoner FITS stuck out to me. You’ve shown off that Vincent can perform Synergies with other Summons in his Galian Beast form with it.
There are bonus Summon Materia (Chocobo, Moogle, & Phoenix) in Revelation that’s obtained by having save data from Remake Intergrade and Rebirth. Will these Summons have Synergies with the Summoner FITS for Vincent or other characters’ Summoner FITS?
Teruki Endo: Yes, they will have Synergy moves. We made a lot of effort to making them animated.
There are bonus Summon Materia (Chocobo, Moogle, & Phoenix) in Revelation that’s obtained by having save data from Remake Intergrade and Rebirth. Will these Summons have Synergies with the Summoner FITS for Vincent or other characters’ Summoner FITS?
Teruki Endo: Yes, they will have Synergy moves. We made a lot of effort to making them animated.
RPG Site: I saw that in your PAX West panel, Vincent worked with Ifrit for his Synergy moves as a Summoner. He could even attack with Ifrit in his Galian Beast form. Will each character’s Summoner FITS work with a different Summon for their skillset?
Teruki Endo: It’s not just Vincent in the Summoner outfit; it could be anyone else in the party as a Summoner that allows them to use that Summon Synergy.
Teruki Endo: It’s not just Vincent in the Summoner outfit; it could be anyone else in the party as a Summoner that allows them to use that Summon Synergy.
RPG Site: You eventually added a feature called streamlined progression to Remake and Rebirth that included optional, toggleable features to help players struggling on progressing those games. Will this be added to Revelation either at launch or in a future post-launch update?
Naoki Hamaguchi: We did see a lot of players utilizing this progression feature that we introduced with the ports of Remake and Rebirth in their gameplay. We also saw a lot of positive reception and comments from the players. That was nice to see.
However, we did have a discussion about whether we would implement these same features for Revelation as well, and whether the timing would be at launch or post-launch.
One of the discussions that we had is that right after launch, a lot of players and fans will probably go have a discussion about what kind of builds that they might make to make their gameplay progression smoother and share that amongst each other.
I think that’s one of the fun ways to engage with the game. We don’t want to take that experience away from them by having the streamlined progression feature at launch. I feel like if we offered it at launch, we might see some negative comments and feedback from players.
We did make the decision to implement streamlined progression into Revelation after a certain time has passed.
Naoki Hamaguchi: We did see a lot of players utilizing this progression feature that we introduced with the ports of Remake and Rebirth in their gameplay. We also saw a lot of positive reception and comments from the players. That was nice to see.
However, we did have a discussion about whether we would implement these same features for Revelation as well, and whether the timing would be at launch or post-launch.
One of the discussions that we had is that right after launch, a lot of players and fans will probably go have a discussion about what kind of builds that they might make to make their gameplay progression smoother and share that amongst each other.
I think that’s one of the fun ways to engage with the game. We don’t want to take that experience away from them by having the streamlined progression feature at launch. I feel like if we offered it at launch, we might see some negative comments and feedback from players.
We did make the decision to implement streamlined progression into Revelation after a certain time has passed.
RPG Site: One of the main concerns I’ve been hearing from Revelation’s gameplay showcase at the latest State of Play event is the amount of icons for activities that appear when traversing on the Highwind.
Will there be some sort of filter feature in Revelation for players that only want to see a certain type of activity or a feature to turn it off altogether? There might be times where I only want to focus on finding Queen’s Blood rivals, for example.
Naoki Hamaguchi: I can say that there are plans to implement the feature to toggle off the various icons that would appear inside the Highwind, but this is more so for players who would want to focus on the visual fidelity and the graphics of the game, so that they can have a more immersive experience flying the Highwind.
Because of that, we don’t necessarily have any plans to introduce a filter feature where only certain icons would be visible in the Highwind.
But depending on further feedback and comments from the players, we might be able to consider something down the line.
That being said, there is a similar function to what you just described in your question. It’s not necessarily like a feature where it allows you to turn off the UI or the icons, but there is a function that allows you to prioritize the specific content that you want to focus on.
As you mentioned, do you want to focus on the Queen’s Blood content? There is an option to prioritize the Queen’s Blood side quest and that content within the Highwind. That would make it more emphasized within the map UI, so it’s more visible compared to the other ones.
Will there be some sort of filter feature in Revelation for players that only want to see a certain type of activity or a feature to turn it off altogether? There might be times where I only want to focus on finding Queen’s Blood rivals, for example.
Naoki Hamaguchi: I can say that there are plans to implement the feature to toggle off the various icons that would appear inside the Highwind, but this is more so for players who would want to focus on the visual fidelity and the graphics of the game, so that they can have a more immersive experience flying the Highwind.
Because of that, we don’t necessarily have any plans to introduce a filter feature where only certain icons would be visible in the Highwind.
But depending on further feedback and comments from the players, we might be able to consider something down the line.
That being said, there is a similar function to what you just described in your question. It’s not necessarily like a feature where it allows you to turn off the UI or the icons, but there is a function that allows you to prioritize the specific content that you want to focus on.
As you mentioned, do you want to focus on the Queen’s Blood content? There is an option to prioritize the Queen’s Blood side quest and that content within the Highwind. That would make it more emphasized within the map UI, so it’s more visible compared to the other ones.
RPG Site: All the party members in Revelation have distinct outfits for all the FITS. Tell me a bit about the challenges in designing all of the different clothes they wear for them, especially for the models that don’t adhere to the human anatomy with Cait Sith and Nanaki.
Teruki Endo: As you mentioned, the sheer amount of unique designs and unique outfits that we had to make was certainly a challenge given the tight development timeline that we had. In the earlier stages of Revelation’s development, we did have discussions about limiting it to like a partial outfit, instead of a full outfit.
We would’ve probably just given a symbol to each of the unique FITS that we had. Another idea was giving them a partial outfit that didn’t change the entire visual design of their outfits, and similar things like that.
We did have some internal discussions, and Hamaguchi also gave some feedback saying that we should just go all out with a full design and a full outfit. That’s how we decided to take that approach.
Naoki Hamaguchi: When we made that decision, it meant that we had to make a full design outfit for each and every one of the eight playable characters times four. So that was… yeah, a lot of the team members were pretty taken aback with that decision.
Teruki Endo: We dedicated a lot of resources to the designing of these outfits because even when you look at Cait Sith, it’s not just Cait Sith - there’s also the Fat Moogle that has the design change, as well. A lot of effort when into that.
Teruki Endo: As you mentioned, the sheer amount of unique designs and unique outfits that we had to make was certainly a challenge given the tight development timeline that we had. In the earlier stages of Revelation’s development, we did have discussions about limiting it to like a partial outfit, instead of a full outfit.
We would’ve probably just given a symbol to each of the unique FITS that we had. Another idea was giving them a partial outfit that didn’t change the entire visual design of their outfits, and similar things like that.
We did have some internal discussions, and Hamaguchi also gave some feedback saying that we should just go all out with a full design and a full outfit. That’s how we decided to take that approach.
Naoki Hamaguchi: When we made that decision, it meant that we had to make a full design outfit for each and every one of the eight playable characters times four. So that was… yeah, a lot of the team members were pretty taken aback with that decision.
Teruki Endo: We dedicated a lot of resources to the designing of these outfits because even when you look at Cait Sith, it’s not just Cait Sith - there’s also the Fat Moogle that has the design change, as well. A lot of effort when into that.
RPG Site: Were there any specific FITS clothing that the development team found especially challenging to design and develop?
Naoki Hamaguchi: I don’t have a specific example, but one of the challenging aspects of this entire FITS system is that even when you look at the Warrior design of each of the eight party members, they’re not wearing the same exact outfits.
It’s all uniquely individual per character. If we did take the approach of everyone having a similar Warrior outfit design for example, it would’ve been a lot easier for us but we didn’t take that approach.
We took a different approach where each and every Warrior outfit is going to be different depending on the character wearing it. There were a lot of resources we had to put into that, in terms of reviewing the outfit, designing the outfit, and everything was a lot to work on.
Since each and every FITS is going to look different, the players are probably going to have their personal favorite designs. If you want to play as a Black Mage but you want to look like a Knight, you can make your character look like a Knight even with the Black Mage FITS equipped because of the skins system we implemented in Revelation.
Again, this is where the player freedom element comes in where the FITS you want for a character doesn’t have to be tied to how they actually look like.
Naoki Hamaguchi: I don’t have a specific example, but one of the challenging aspects of this entire FITS system is that even when you look at the Warrior design of each of the eight party members, they’re not wearing the same exact outfits.
It’s all uniquely individual per character. If we did take the approach of everyone having a similar Warrior outfit design for example, it would’ve been a lot easier for us but we didn’t take that approach.
We took a different approach where each and every Warrior outfit is going to be different depending on the character wearing it. There were a lot of resources we had to put into that, in terms of reviewing the outfit, designing the outfit, and everything was a lot to work on.
Since each and every FITS is going to look different, the players are probably going to have their personal favorite designs. If you want to play as a Black Mage but you want to look like a Knight, you can make your character look like a Knight even with the Black Mage FITS equipped because of the skins system we implemented in Revelation.
Again, this is where the player freedom element comes in where the FITS you want for a character doesn’t have to be tied to how they actually look like.
RPG Site: The FITS system has a pretty distinct name. Were there any other promising prototype names for FITS before it landed on that name?
Naoki Hamaguchi: In the earlier stages of Revelation’s development and even in the prototype version of the game, it actually had a very simple name - the Job system - due to its ties with previous Final Fantasy titles.
But when we say Jobs in the Final Fantasy games, a lot of people might imagine a very wide array of selections ranging from 10 to 20 jobs, and such. In Revelation, there are four options.
We wanted to give it a different name, so that the players might associate it with more of an outfit change rather than a job change. That’s why we ended up with the name FITS.
Naoki Hamaguchi: In the earlier stages of Revelation’s development and even in the prototype version of the game, it actually had a very simple name - the Job system - due to its ties with previous Final Fantasy titles.
But when we say Jobs in the Final Fantasy games, a lot of people might imagine a very wide array of selections ranging from 10 to 20 jobs, and such. In Revelation, there are four options.
We wanted to give it a different name, so that the players might associate it with more of an outfit change rather than a job change. That’s why we ended up with the name FITS.
RPG Site: What were some of the challenges in translating and adapting Cid’s playstyle from the original FF7 into a 3D action setting set in an open space? I noticed when playing Cid, he had different finishers for his basic attacks if you delayed your next button press after his first two basic attacks, and I thought that was a pretty inspiring choice.
Teruki Endo: In terms of translating his actions from the PS1 battles into the real-time battles in Revelation, the process itself wasn’t that different from the other characters we introduced in Remake and Rebirth. The foundation was already there.
In terms of Cid performing different combos depending on if a player incorporates a delay in the combo or not, that’s something we had in mind when we designed him. We didn’t want to make it like a really convoluted game system where you have to input a lot of different buttons, so we wanted to keep it rather simple.
For example, you only use the square button and triangle button on the PlayStation. Depending on how you combine these and depending on the timing of the delay as you mentioned, it gives different combo moves for Cid. That’s the individuality or uniqueness we wanted to give to Cid.
Teruki Endo: In terms of translating his actions from the PS1 battles into the real-time battles in Revelation, the process itself wasn’t that different from the other characters we introduced in Remake and Rebirth. The foundation was already there.
In terms of Cid performing different combos depending on if a player incorporates a delay in the combo or not, that’s something we had in mind when we designed him. We didn’t want to make it like a really convoluted game system where you have to input a lot of different buttons, so we wanted to keep it rather simple.
For example, you only use the square button and triangle button on the PlayStation. Depending on how you combine these and depending on the timing of the delay as you mentioned, it gives different combo moves for Cid. That’s the individuality or uniqueness we wanted to give to Cid.
RPG Site: Once again, thank you for meeting with me Hamaguchi-san and Endo-san. Congratulations on the announcement of Revelation’s release date. Please give everyone around the world anticipating FFVII Revelation a final message before we wrap up our interview today.
Naoki Hamaguchi: As the concluding installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, we’re putting all we can into finishing the development of Revelation. That is where we’re at right now - just trying to focus on finishing that up.
One thing I would want to say is that a lot of the development staff, development team, and I started as fans of the original FF7 title.
Being able to work on the FF7 Remake series and now working on the final installment of that just feels very surreal to me. One of the goals I have as the director is that I don’t want to make something that I can be happy with - not only as a developer, but as a fan myself as well.
I’m really looking forward to the release of Revelation. I really hope that the fans share that excitement with us.
Teruki Endo: I’m thinking back on the very long time I spent working on this FF7 Remake series of 10+ years of development. Looking back at it, it also feels like it just went by so quickly.
It was just such a unique experience working on these three titles. It almost felt like it wasn’t just made by us. We made this along with the fans.
It was with the support of the fans that we were able to make all this happen. I think it was such a fresh and very unique and very important experience for all of us.
I hope that the fans and players enjoy this last installment of the trilogy.
RPG Site: Thank you so much for speaking with us, Hamaguchi-san and Endo-san.
Naoki Hamaguchi: As the concluding installment of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, we’re putting all we can into finishing the development of Revelation. That is where we’re at right now - just trying to focus on finishing that up.
One thing I would want to say is that a lot of the development staff, development team, and I started as fans of the original FF7 title.
Being able to work on the FF7 Remake series and now working on the final installment of that just feels very surreal to me. One of the goals I have as the director is that I don’t want to make something that I can be happy with - not only as a developer, but as a fan myself as well.
I’m really looking forward to the release of Revelation. I really hope that the fans share that excitement with us.
Teruki Endo: I’m thinking back on the very long time I spent working on this FF7 Remake series of 10+ years of development. Looking back at it, it also feels like it just went by so quickly.
It was just such a unique experience working on these three titles. It almost felt like it wasn’t just made by us. We made this along with the fans.
It was with the support of the fans that we were able to make all this happen. I think it was such a fresh and very unique and very important experience for all of us.
I hope that the fans and players enjoy this last installment of the trilogy.
RPG Site: Thank you so much for speaking with us, Hamaguchi-san and Endo-san.