Speaking with IGN Japan at Tokyo Game Show 2026, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi said the game will contain an option to let players automatically level up their characters, allowing them to experience the story without needing to grind — but the broader gaming community is at odds with this idea.
Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, like every other game in the series, is very narrative-focused. Luckily, there’ll be a feature for those who want to breeze through tough battles and get to its major story beats, as told by Hamaguchi at TGS 2026.
During our conversation, he told us that he’d received feedback from players who claimed they had a hard time getting through the previous games’ main story due to being underleveled, saying they didn’t want to grind through the wealth of side quests to work their way up to a higher level.
“Naturally, because we’ve prepared so much side content, [a player’s] level might not quite reach the requirement for the main story. There were voices [from players] saying, ‘Even though you say I don’t have to do the side content, if I don’t do it and make my characters stronger, I end up struggling,’” he explained.
“For people who really just want to do the main story, we’ve included an option that asks, if your level is not high enough for the recommended level when you reach a part of the main story, ‘Would you like to automatically raise [your level] to the recommended level?’”
This particular remark has sparked a heated debate within the gaming community. The broad sentiment from critics argues that adding such a feature makes the game far too ‘hand-holdy,’ and furthermore, presents a startling implication that young players are no longer being faced with challenges in games.
Veteran game artist TheCartelDel provided the most viral argument against adding this feature, writing on X/Twitter, “We need to have a serious discussion about how games used to be a unique method to teach kids and teens about patience, delayed gratification, and working hard to accomplish a goal — and now we’re designing away the need to persevere at all. You will learn to overcome nothing.”
“I like the FF7 remakes. I really do. But every piece of news I’ve been seeing about Revelation feels like they’re accommodating this game for people who don’t like playing games and it’s embarrassing,” another user said.
“Having options to FACILITATE the experience is ALWAYS good, but there’s a difference between facilitating and ELIMINATING the experience,” another argued. “In an RPG, getting lost in its world, exploring, fighting, and leveling up is precisely the nature of the genre.”
We need to have a serious discussion about how games used to be a unique method to teach kids & teens about patience, delayed gratification, and working hard to accomplish a goal – and now we’re designing away the need to persevere at all. You will learn to overcome nothing. https://t.co/K0FOtDxa5n
— Del (@TheCartelDel) September 21, 2026
That being said, FF7 Revelation is going to be a massive game, with Hamaguchi teasing that it’ll take completionists “at least 100 hours” to totally finish. It’s an open-world game, after all, with a wide variety of side quests to complete and areas to explore. That’s why there’s a few ways players can navigate its world, either by dropping in from the Highwind (thanks for the ride, Cid) or traversing the landscape via Chocobo — or heck, even walking on foot.
Because such a massive open world can trigger decision fatigue from players who prefer a more linear experience, Hamaguchi said the development team is working hard to find a balance between providing enough guidance for those who struggled in exploration and those who want to wander off on their own, saying he’d received some feedback calling the game a bit too hand-holdy.
“There are people who want to explore, and there are people who don’t want to get lost. So, I think that for open-world games today, you need quite a thorough level of guidance. However, on the other hand, there were also opinions from people who wanted to discover things on their own, saying that the guidance was a bit intrusive or in the way. So, we are currently considering things like toggling that guidance on and off,” he said.
Either way, it appears that Hamaguchi is well-aware of concerns that the game will do too much heavy lifting on players’ behalf. It’s also worth noting that many AAA games these days offer difficulty levels specifically tailored to experiencing their story modes, so Hamaguchi’s automatic level-up option isn’t something totally new.
What’s your take on this feature? Do you think it’s heralding an issue with the next generation of games, or do you think the conversation has been blown out of proportion? Let us know in the comments below.
Virginia Glaze
News Editor
Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.
