Square Enix kicked off another interview series for Final Fantasy VII Remake to help fans get a better understanding of its world and various story elements. The first part of the interview series features co-director and scenario designer Motomu Toriyama, who talks about various background story elements that weren’t explained in the game. He also talked about the reasoning behind some of the design elements such as the cats in the Sector 7 slums.
For starters, those of you who were wondering about the drinks Tifa makes at Seventh Heaven, Toriyama has you covered:
Motomu Toriyama, co-director: “First was the popular Seventh Heaven, a drink that packs a serious punch and gives you the courage to keep going. Her second creation was a Cosmo Canyon, a burgundy-colored cocktail inspired by the location of the same name. There are also other drinks on the menu at Seventh Heaven, such as a Lifestream, which possesses a green hue.
Tifa’s showmanship with the shaker comes from her natural dexterity and her keen observation that the regulars are more generous tippers when she puts some flair into her bartending.”
The Sector 7 slums are filled with cats all over the place. A lot of it had to do with director Naoki Hamaguchi’s love for cats, who had his cat rendered into the game:
Motomu Toriyama: “Sector 7’s excessive number of cats can be attributed to Wedge. He loves the furry critters so much, he can’t help but bring any stray he finds back home with him. As for cat lovers on the dev team, co-director Naoki Hamaguchi (game design / programming) is one, so he had his cat rendered in-game. Personally, I wanted to make sure dog people weren’t left out, so we decided to even things out by increasing Midgar’s canine population. That’s why Marle—the landlord of Stargazer Heights—can be seen with her own loyal companion.”
Cloud’s mother and Tifa’s father didn’t have names in the original game, but apparently they had names in the original design documents:
Motomu Toriyama: “They both had names in the original FFVII character design documents, so we decided to use them in Remake. Now Cloud’s mother is officially named Claudia and Tifa’s father is Brian. Tifa’s dad, however, has no dialogue in Remake, so during development, we referred to him as ‘dead body’.”
The characters Kyrie and Leslie were originally from the novel, Final Fantasy VII: The Kids Are Alright: A Turks Side story. The novel portrayed events following the Meteorfall in Final Fantasy VII. Toriyama explained why the two characters were included in the story of Final Fantasy VII Remake:
Motomu Toriyama: “Because Kyrie and Leslie were both part of that story, we decided to include them in the game as undercity residents. From the very beginning of development, we wanted Remake to feature characters from the larger FFVII universe—characters who weren’t a part of the original. So, we came up with pasts for these characters that would fit with their stories in the novel. Leslie in particular got a lot of screen time since he was one of Don Corneo’s lackeys, involving him in the main story.”
Check out the full interview here for plenty of other interesting story tidbits from Final Fantasy VII Remake co-director Motomu Toriyama.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is available for the PlayStation 4. If you haven’t picked up the game yet, its price is currently at its lowest ever on the PlayStation Store at $39.59 (34% off).
