Final Fantasy VII fans fought tooth and nail to get Square Enix to remake their classic favorite, and now it seems like they are fighting tooth and nail to get any information on it at all! Ever since its announcement, Square Enix has danced around news regarding the project, and this latest interview does even more of that.
Producer and director of the original Final Fantasy VII, Yoshinori Kitase, opened up on the game’s progress with Famitsu.
How’s progress on Final Fantasy VII Remake?
Kitase: “We’re still brushing up the scenes we showed you in the trailer. The level of quality we need to hit is coming into view, but there is still some way to go from here.”
If it ends up a series and development takes a long time, will you maintain the quality of the first title throughout?
Kitase: “I think it’s my responsibility to decide the level of quality and maintain that quality to the very end during production of the episodes. Of course, as the episodes progress, it’s only natural that the quality match.”
What will you do to fill the gap between episodes?
Kitase: “Final Fantasy VII spreads out laterally in a compilation. There isn’t a concrete plan, but since we can’t put out a game in just a few months, I want to think of a way to sustain interest in between releases.”
Would you want to put out a movie with the Final Fantasy VII Remake models?
Kitase: “I feel like I want to do various things. (Laughs.)”
What is the possibility of Final Fantasy XV-like downloadable content and smartphone content?
Kitase: “I would like to use [Final Fantasy XV] as a point of reference. While I would like to take measures such as doing live streams to interact with users, with this episode system I think we’ll be using all of our energy on reaching the end of the original game, so I don’t really know whether or not we’ll be able to do things between episodes and other titles.”
Regarding battles..
Kitase: “We’ve solidified the base [of the battle system]. Tetsuya Nomura, of course, and Mitsunori Takahashi, who took part in Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia Duodecim Final Fantasy, are putting all of their effort into it.”
Regarding Materia and other systems…
Kitase: “There are a lot of things I still can’t say, but we’re not going to remove the things that were popular in Final Fantasy VII.”
Director Tetsuya Nomura said that he would like to show the progress of Final Fantasy VII Remake at some point this year…
Kitase: “I have hope that it will happen, but that still hasn’t been decided. However, when we show it next, I would like to do so in a way that’s a step further than a trailer, such as at an event where people can experience it.”
Please remake Final Fantasy VI!
“Right now, we’re working on Final Fantasy VII… The staff within the company are also saying it [that they want a remake of Final Fantasy VI], but it continues to be put off.”
It’ll keep chugging like this for a while
Again, any hope that we start seeing these episodic releases within the next year, or possibly two, is a bit ambitious. Kitase had a lot of say on the game’s progress, but he didn’t really say all that much we didn’t already know. Lots or non-answers and secrets mostly.
And please, Final Fantasy VI? This soon? Come on, that won’t even begin to enter Square Enix’s sub-consciousness until this comes out, and even then, it’s hard to improve upon JRPG perfection. Final Fantasy VI is about as close to the tip top of the genre as it gets, and anything else would simply be inferior.
Just enjoy this hype train while it lasts, because it might last for a very long time. Final Fantasy VII Remake is in development for the PlayStation 4.
