Teruki Endo, Battle Director for the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, stated that the team adjusted the balance between turn-based commands and real-time action multiple times across the three games. As the third installment, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, approached its release, he still could not provide a single ideal answer for this balance.
Teruki Endo believes that an overly complex combat system can cause problems; however, if sequels only make minor adjustments and lack new elements, they may also fail to meet players' expectations for freshness. Therefore, he prefers to rethink the purpose of each mechanic in every installment and recombine them for the new game.
He also discussed the FITS system. This system features characteristics similar to a job system, allowing players to adjust party members' abilities and combat styles. Teruki Endo stated that Materia remains the foundation of character customization in the series; FITS aims to help players further define their roles on top of Materia builds, rather than reducing the original freedom of development.
Previously, both Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth featured a Classic Mode, where characters fight automatically while players focus on issuing commands. Teruki Endo said that continuously experimenting with different designs is precisely why he never grew tired of working on the trilogy.