Hopefully they've realized how stupid an episodic release schedule would be.
I'mma chime in on this considering how excited I am about the VII Remake and the fact it's my most anticipated game of all time. Even more than Smash.
I'm all for the remake being released in parts/installments. Granted, they did announce that it would be episodic but pretty much retracted that statement by saying that each "episode" will be a full length game. When most people think episodic, they assume something along the lines like a telltale series or Life is Strange. Their motive for the remake isn't going by the common definition of an episodic game that we are all accustomed to. That probably won't stop them from calling it 'FFVII Remake Episode 1' or '... Episode 2' etc.. however their motive is retelling the whole story. What people need to realize (not saying that you don't necessarily) is that this isn't
one game being released in multiple installments; instead it is
one story being told in multiple installments and I firmly believe that it's the proper approach to take when telling the story of FFVII.
A lot of people can bring up the rebuttal about the size and storage of one PS4 disc and frankly, I think even one Blu-Ray would still be just a bit short on includng everything that the original game had to offer and then some. They want to give every bit of detail that the original had and considering how much compilations VII had with spin-offs and a movie I'm confident they would want to expand on certain things like the backstory of Zack for example. It would be very disappointing to fans of that character if he only got about 5-10 minutes of game time like he did in the original. If they were to put it all on one game, unfortunately that would most likely be Zack's fate for the remake. This is just one example though.
Now, I'm not an expert or a developer and I may not know these as facts but if you think about it and keep in mind everything that happens and that is in the original game, a seperate installment schedule is really the only way they can properly get the story across without making major changes to the plot or condensing character development and f***ing it up. They want to retell and expand. They want to stay faithful but do more. Die hard fans will flock to buy them all regardless and they know that. They're a company trying to make money and I can't fault them for that.
Sorry if I am coming off a bit hostile here and sorry for getting off topic. I just wanted to make it clear that there are fans of the original hyped for this remake that do not think it's a stupid idea at all and I wanted to present some reasons potentially why they took this approach. Personally, it just means more FFVII at the end of the day for me and it's my favourite game of all time. I consider it a blessing. Cheers!