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 si😼x 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 opti🌳ons, but it's clear that the developers have a lot of dif🌺ficult 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 o❀f 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 theyℱ 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 anot🗹her 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 graduꦺally 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 fre♊sh. 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 part𒁃y 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'𒅌t 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 earneಌd in the previous game being flush🦋ed down the drain.
The Baldur's Gate Approach
The Final Fantasy VII Remake series could benefit from the same approach used by the Baldur's Gate series years ago. In Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, the player starts off with a level 7/8 character, but they have had their best gear stripped from them. The people who imported a character from the original Baldur's Gate received an 🔯experience point boost and could find r🌸are items that couldn't be acquired by a brand new character.
The fairest way to do things could be to start Cloud and his party at around level thirty with some of their abilities and Materia. If a player imports a save file from Final Fantasy VII Remake, then give them some experience points/gear/unique items, but leave out the overpowered stuff. This could be a middle ground that sat🌠isfies the majority of players and makes it easier for the devs to balance the game.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is available now for PlayStation 4.