A user in neogaf explained the undertaking of this remake quite simply:

"Think about it.

When a town was a tiny room (a pre-rendered jpeg) that you could walk across the entirety of in 5 seconds, it now needs to be a full 3D environment with the scope that we would really believe is a town.

When a cutscene was 5 polygons and 10 dialogue boxes that you could mash through in 30 seconds, it now needs to be a 5 minute, fully voiced, 3D modelled real time animation.

When a battle was a cut to the same generic "factory" background with less polygonal detail than one strand of Lightning's hair, it now needs to be a unique full 3D environment set piece with spaces to allow for combat interactions that feel satisfying in the modern context.

Making FFVII with modern detail means inflating the size of the game significantly. If people don't yet understand that... think it through."

And there goes my hype. Rip

I just hope they have the fucking courtesy to at least offer the whole game in a complete retail edition at the end.

There's no way I'm buying this game in pieces. I'll rather pirate.

Can't wait to preorder that super exclusive 150 dollars collectors edition season pass...

These "episodes" will be full game sized episodes. lol They're probably altering and adding story elements per disc so that each game will be like one complete game. Let's not compare their approach to episodic games like TWD or LIS. The game is way too big for that.

You are literally making this up as you go at this point. You can only infer so much from the limited information, and you've gone far beyond reason. They have only said definitively that all of the original story content will not fit in a single release, and specifically cited expanding and heavily populating areas like Midgar for that. This does not mean each episode is going to be a 40 hour experience. You are positively delusional if you believe that will be the case. That would cost far more than even Square Enix would be willing to pour into the sequel both in work hours and budget.

Expect each episode to net about 10 - 15 hours, and for the final experience to be somewhere between 50 and 60 hours. Unless they've completely changed their design approach since the first interviews back in late June and early July, they will only be integrating some content from the various side games. No, there will not be totally playable Crisis Core as one episode. There will just be additional plot elements, maybe all of an hour, that will help tie it in more securely to the FF7 story. Same with all of the side content. From what they've said, it will be acknowledged and lightly integrated to some extent, but they have only said at this point that they want to surprise even long time fans. That did not speak to me like drastically changing the shape of FF7 and making it into a 200 hour epic, but adding a few things here or there to enhance the experience.

LOL WHY

I read it as they are going to expand the story. If they really do break the core FF7 story into pieces to release multiple games it will not make me happy. If the remake is just one part of a new episodic saga I am cool.

Think star wars. Each movie is its own story in a bigger picture. If they are trying to turn FF7 into A New Hope and making it the starting point for a new saga that is awsome. If it the equipment of breaking up ANH into a Tatooine, inside Death Star and Battle of Yavin episodes that is bad.

Making up stuff? I'm speculating like everyone here is doing, like what you are doing. FF7R will NOT have "episodes" comparable to those of TWD nor LIS. That is impossible and just not compatible with a game like FF7. If they really include everything in the storyline off ff7 then yes one part could go as long as 40 hours. The original game's 1st disc could already take up to 20 hours. Imagine that but made like how modern rpgs are today, do you seriously think it would still be just 20 hours or so? Specially if they add more to the story? They also have not announced how many these so-called episodes(they might not even be episodes). They could only release 2 parts of the whole game for all we know.

Also even 10-15 hours of content is already comparable to a full game, maybe not RPGs, though. lol

Expect the latter, AKA your bad scenario. This is Nomura going crazy and breaking up the main game into pieces because he can't contain the scope of the game to a manageable amount, and as the project director, only someone high up on the SE food chain can definitively tell him no. If his idea becomes a huge budgetary concern, don't be surprised if we see a news piece six months from now announcing that Nomura has been taken off the project.