So the episodic format can actually be pretty cool, just not what people expected or necessarily wanted.
I think providing room to really expand upon the narrative explore places like Midgar in way the structure of the previous game simply didn't allow will really seperate this from a tradional remake and give it more value IMO. Of course if they could fit all of that into one game then cool, but i personally don't think we'd see it finished before 2020 if they took that approach.
I hope each part of the experience is at least 25hrs of core narrative. 40+ hours with sidequests and what not. My only other things is that they must not go beyond a Trilogy. They still shouldn't keep everything in the game, but that parts that they do keep, they should go above and beyond when bringing it to life.
part 1-Fall 2017
part- Spring 2019
part 3-Fall 2020