New information about the future of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series has been revealed, as a prequel novel has confirmed that the party makes the journey to Costa Del Sol. The FF7 Remake series had a surprising ending, which freed the characters from the events of the original game.
The INTERmission DLC ended with a brief cutaway to the members of Avalanche after they left Midgar, and it shows them hitchhiking to Kalm. Apart from a surprise cameo, there is nothing to suggest that the new journey is going to be any different. It's likely that the upcoming sequel will start with the Kalm flashback, explaining the history between Cloud and Sephiroth, before moving on to the Chocobo Farm.
It was revealed back in May that an FF7 Remake prequel novel would soon release. The novel is called Final Fantasy VII Remake Trace of Two Pasts, and it was promoted as focusing on Aerith and Tifa's backstories. Many fans assumed that this was going to be a fluff novel that didn't contain any new content, especially as Aerith and Tifa couldn't interact, as they canonically meet for the first time during the events of FF7 Remake. The previous FF7 novels had content that made their way into FF7 Remake, such as Leslie and Kyrie, but they were dealing with a story that was already completed. Segments of the novel have been summarized by aitaikimochi on Twitter, so interested non-Japanese-speaking fans should check her account for more updates on the book.
The Undercover Boat Ride
It turns out that there is more to the story of the novel than anyone realized. According to aitaikimochi, the framing device of the novel involves Aerith and Tifa talking aboard the Cargo Ship, after acquiring Shinra uniforms and sneaking on board. This confirms that the party departed from Kalm, made it past the Midgar Zolom, visited Junon, and are on the way to Costa Del Sol. If the events of this book are canon, then it depicts the latest point in the FF7 Remake timeline.
The fact that FF7 Remake is free to tell its own story means that the developers are able to shake up the established events that fans remember, which is one of the stronger elements that makes FF7 Remake so worth playing, even for those who thoroughly played the original. It's possible that the events mentioned above play out in a different manner, but simply lead to the same end result. No one knows for sure what will happen next, especially as the FF7 Remake sequel remains without a release date, but it's nonetheless surprising that a Japan-exclusive novel would jump so far ahead of established events. It certainly presents new possibilities for what might happen when Final Fantasy VII Remake's eventual sequel comes out.
Source: aitaikimochi