Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, the third and final entry in Square Enix’s FF7 trilogy, will launch on April 8 next year without the Streamlined Progression options that were added to both Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth after their respective releases. Director Naoki Hamaguchi confirmed this in an interview with RPG Site, explaining the reasoning behind the decision.
What Is Streamlined Progression?
If you missed the additions to the earlier games in the trilogy, Streamlined Progression is essentially a set of in-game cheat options that Square Enix introduced post-launch to both Remake and Rebirth. The toggleable settings include things like infinite HP and MP, instant weapon mastery, and unlimited resources.
Square Enix’s stated goal with the feature was twofold: give new players an accessible on-ramp to jump into the series without feeling overwhelmed, and give returning fans an easy way to replay the games or push through particularly tough sections without the usual grind.
According to Hamaguchi, the reception to Streamlined Progression has been broadly positive. He told RPG Site that “a lot of players” made use of the feature across both games and that the team saw “a lot of positive reception” to adding those options in the first place. So the decision to hold it back from Revelation at launch is not a reflection of the feature’s popularity.
Why Hamaguchi Is Keeping It Out of Revelation at Launch
The reasoning comes down to preserving a specific kind of community experience in those first weeks after release. Hamaguchi explained: “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.”
He added: “I think that’s one of the fun ways to engage with the game.”
From Hamaguchi’s perspective, having Streamlined Progression available from day one could short-circuit that organic player discussion around builds and strategies. He continued: “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.”
It is worth noting that Hamaguchi is not cutting the feature permanently. Streamlined Progression is planned to arrive in Revelation at some point after launch, though he did not give a specific date or update window in the RPG Site interview. Given that Revelation also has two expansions planned post-launch, it seems reasonable to expect the feature might follow after that content has released, though that is speculation rather than confirmed information.
What This Means for Players on April 8
For anyone planning to jump straight into Final Fantasy 7 Revelation when it releases on April 8, the experience will be exactly as the development team designed it, without any shortcuts. That means no toggling on infinite resources or skipping the weapon mastery grind from the start menu.
For players who found Streamlined Progression useful in Remake or Rebirth, whether for a casual replay or to push past a difficult boss, that option simply will not be there on day one. The feature will come eventually, but Hamaguchi wants the initial launch window to play out without it.
It is also worth flagging that some players in the community have raised concerns about Streamlined Progression and how it interacts with trophy lists. The platinum trophies for both Remake and Rebirth have been a point of debate since the cheat options arrived, as the features were not paired with trophy restrictions in those games. Whether Square Enix addresses that with however they implement the feature in Revelation remains unclear for now.
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation launches on April 8. If you have been holding off on Remake or Rebirth and plan to use Streamlined Progression to catch up before then, both of those games still have the feature available now.