Final Fantasy VII Remake is less than a month away, and today Square posted the first episode of their “Inside FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE” series. In it, famed developers Yoshinori Kitase, Tetsuya Nomura, and other members of the team share what the goals for the remake were. The episode touches on design, scale, music, and intent highlighting just how much love and passion was poured into this project by all involved.
It starts with Kitase admitting he considered a remake back in 2012 after the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary celebration, and that he brought the idea up to both Shiji Hashimoto (former producer on Final Fantasy VII, and current brand manager for the franchise) and Tetsuya Nomura (character designer; lover of large eyes), who were both a bit shocked.
Speaking later with Nomura, he states the goal for the Final Fantasy VII Remake was to find a balance between pleasing both new and returning fans, with a focus on making the remake both novel and nostalgic. He felt the upper plate segments of Midgar were underused in the original, so the team set out to expand upon and add to those portions of the game.
There is an emphasis on expansion, including further fleshing out of existing characters, the atmosphere and details of Midgar itself, and story-beats that maybe didn’t make as much sense as they should have back in the late 90s. It was confirmed that players shouldn’t expect all of Midgar to be explorable, but what will be open has been greatly expanded upon (so much so that the entire first part of the Final Fantasy VII Remake can’t fit on a single Blu-ray disc, and is similar in length to a main numbered Final Fantasy).
The video goes on to describe the team’s goals for merging modern action combat with the old turn-based Active Time Battle system, updating the existing music and creating new tracks for the added areas and scenarios, and finding the fine line between photo-realistic graphics and maintaining the look and charm of the original (in which the sequel film Final Fantasy: Advent Children played a large role).
It’s a solid twenty-two minute motherlode of information, and it’s only the first episode! Keep an eye on the Final Fantasy YouTube channel for future episodes leading up to the Final Fantasy VII Remake’s launch on April 10th. Be sure to check out Dean’s impressions of the demo, or try it out for yourself in the meantime.
