Sephiroth's first appearance in Final Fantasy VII Remake

Square Enix celebrates Final Fantasy VII's 20th anniversary by giving fans their first glimpse at the dreaded one-winged angel Sephiroth.

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Although Final Fantasy VII: Remake might not release in 2017 to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the world's most universally acclaimed RPG, Square Enix did drop some new key art to keep us hyped up, and it absolutely achieved its targeted effect.

Taking a gander at Sephiroth in the key art, we notice that his appearance has been altered from the original Final Fantasy VII and the subsequent Advent Children film. His outfit has been changed a bit, and the metallic pauldrons seem a bit different, but his menacing and calculating gaze is ever-present.

While the key art doesn't necessarily represent final in-game content, we can still glean a few details especially since Square Enix is typically quite consistent in how its artwork is transformed into the final game.

Final Fantasy VII: Remake is being developed by original FF7 alums including producer Yoshinori Kitase, game director Tetsuya Nomura, and scenario writer Kazushige Nojima. The game, however, will see many different changes and won't be a direct HD remaster of the game.

The FFVII: Remake features action-based combat instead of the turn-based ATB system, making it more like Final Fantasy 15 than the PlayStation original. So in an essence it's kind of a re-imagining of the original game, although it will follow the same story elements and feature the same characters and memorable moments.

"The battles in [the FF7 Remake] have greatly changed from the original, since they're something with more action in them," Square Enix dev Tetsuya Nomura said in an interview with Japanese publication Dengenki PlayStation.

"The battle system in Final Fantasy VII Remake is so vastly different, so I think we need to communicate very clearly just how exactly battles will work. We're currently in the middle of elevating various aspects up to finished quality."

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Rather than being sold all at once, the remaster will be released in a three part trilogy that will total up to 90 hours of play time.

The first chapter was originally planned for release in 2017, however game director Tetsuya Nomura says that it may not meet its original 2017 launch:

"We're steadily progressing on production. While we are making them, I apologize that the wait will be be a bit longer for Kingdom Hearts III and Final Fantasy VII Remake. I am very sorry, but to that degree I will make a game that will meet your expectations," Nomura said in a recent issue of Japanese games magazine Famitsu.

"Last year, I didn't put out much information on either title, but this year I want to show our progress at an event somewhere. The release of the titles themselves have still have a way to go. But there are many titles releasing this year, if you can wait for any 'surprises.'"

The Final Fantasy VII: Remake will be released first on PS4, so there's a chance it may come to Xbox One and PC in the future.