Final Fantasy VII Remake had a big appearance at E3 2019 where it got a new trailer, gameplay footage, and a demo on the show floor. Producer Yoshinori Kitase shared his vision, talked development, and more on the Square Enix blog.
First, here’s an overview from Kitase about the Remake project:
“Final Fantasy VII Remake is a reimagining of the iconic original game that goes much deeper into the world and characters of Final Fantasy VII than ever before.
Our goal with this project is to rebuild Final Fantasy VII for a new era. We’re not making a straight 1:1 copy or a simple remaster of the original game.
It’s a huge volume of work and data to re-imagine this world. Each game in the project will have a volume of content comparable to a standalone Final Fantasy. The disc version of the first game is actually a 2 Blu-Ray Disc set. This approach allows us to remake the original without having to scale back on everything players loved.”
Here’s more from the producer on the development of Final Fantasy VII Remake:
“While the development team finish the first game in the project, we are continuing to plan and outline the overall volume of content for the second.
Due to the work already done on the first game we anticipate development of the second game to be more efficient. We have our own internal schedule and plan, but for now we’d like to focus our information on the first game in the project.
The key creative values of the core Final Fantasy series are innovation, pushing boundaries and surprising players, this project shares these same values and the development team view it as the next mainline Final Fantasy release.
For the original core members of the development team, simply recreating the original game with improved graphics wasn’t enough to get us invested and excited about remaking VII. To return, we want to go beyond the original, telling a deeper story and providing a modern gaming experience. We really want to go above and beyond what is expected of a remake.
As well as some of the core members of the original development team, we also have a dedicated in-house team of international gaming talent. Many of our new team members were young fans who played the original VII when it was first released. It’s very exciting and exhilarating to work with this talented team on such an ambitious project.”
“The first game in the project takes place in the eclectic city of Midgar, we chose to focus on Midgar as it best represents the world of VII as a location more than any other. Midgar is full of imagination with myriad influences and surprises around every corner.
While many people may think that Midgar is very dark at first glance, we have a design aesthetic where the city has strong elements of colour and variety. The lighting and colouring we are using throughout Midgar accentuate what is unique about Final Fantasy VII’s world. We decided not to use a photo-realistic approach with the design, but instead something more stylised, honouring the artistic designs and choices of the original.
A lot has changed since the release of the original Final Fantasy VII. Back then we didn’t have access to things like voice acting, performance and motion capture, or close-up cameras outside of cut-scenes. For Final Fantasy VII Remake there’s a greater emphasis on character storytelling through the use of these techniques as well as some other new tech. This allows us to make these characters more expressive than ever, enhancing the levels of immersion and enjoyment through performance.
In Final Fantasy VII Remake we are giving voice to the original Final Fantasy VII for the first time. By bringing in a new generation of actors, we hope to provide the best experience for original fans and new players.”
“For the gameplay, we are aiming to create a new take on classic concepts with an accessible evolution of the ATB system giving you greater action with tactical control.
The system we’ve created retains the strategic decisions of controlling multiple party members, allowing you to select from a wide range of abilities and spells. You can control your favourite character while issuing orders to others, or leave them to AI. And choose when to switch to a different party member to make best use of their unique abilities in battle. This allows all players to choose and enjoy your favourite way of playing.
Finally, yes we still have Materia. You can use it to tailor your play style and abilities.
We’ll go into greater detail on lots more gameplay elements as we get closer to the release next year. For now, I hope you are all excited by what we revealed at E3 and we look forward to sharing more news and updates with you across the year ahead.”
Final Fantasy VII Remake releases for PlayStation 4 on March 3, 2020. In case you missed it, producer Yoshinori Kitase commented on how many games will be in the series. You can also check out its E3 2019 trailer here, footage and details from the show floor demo here, and info on limited editions here.
