Final Fantasy VII Remake

[Gaz]

Now, nothing's been officially announced, so don't get your hopes up...

This time last year, Hajime Tabata (director of Final Fantasy VII - Crisis Core) said the following in an interview:

So that Final Fantasy VII remake that you've said will never happen: why?

I think it is because the conditions that are necessary to remake the game have not been met at this point. The possibility for a remake may become greater if, for instance, the schedules of the original members of the Final Fantasy VII development team, such as Kitase and Nomura, open up.

Now, Yoshinori Kitase was the director of FF7, and Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer. Both of whom have been heavily involved with the Final Fantasy XIII - Fabula Nova Crystallis series, which is very near full completion.

Furthermore, Square Enix asked people on its Japanese Twitter page just a few days ago if a remake of FF7 was really what everyone wanted. Response was so overwhelming they had to ask people to stop replying just a couple of hours later.

Confusingly, Kitase has been quoted just last month as saying that a remake was looking "pretty unrealistic".

Personally I think that Square are already hard at work on this, and that's why they haven't conclusively said there won't be one. I think a lot will depend on the reception for XIII - a remake of FF7 would be a guaranteed money-spinner for SE and if revenues from XIII aren't as good as hoped, then who knows...

Edited March 10, 2010 by Gaz

[harkinsbaldpatch]

Now, nothing's been officially announced, so don't get your hopes up...

This time last year, Hajime Tabata (director of Final Fantasy VII - Crisis Core) said the following in an interview:

Now, Yoshinori Kitase was the director of FF7, and Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer. Both of whom have been heavily involved with the Final Fantasy XIII - Fabula Nova Crystallis series, which is very near full completion.

Furthermore, Square Enix asked people on its Japanese Twitter page just a few days ago if a remake of FF7 was really what everyone wanted. Response was so overwhelming they had to ask people to stop replying just a couple of hours later.

Confusingly, Kitase has been quoted just last month as saying that a remake was looking "pretty unrealistic".

Personally I think that Square are already hard at work on this, and that's why they haven't conclusively said there won't be one. I think a lot will depend on the reception for XIII - a remake of FF7 would be a guaranteed money-spinner for SE and if revenues from XIII aren't as good as hoped, then who knows...

Here's hoping, ff7 was such an epic and emotional game which had such a powerful story line. I never really got into the other ones as much and from what I gather the new one isn't anything to write home about, so a remake might just be what square need. Mass effect 2 is the only rpg that has got me as engrossed as I was with ff7, deus ex was good at the time as well, but there hasn't really been many stand outs over the years?

[EdgarusQPFC]

Now, nothing's been officially announced, so don't get your hopes up...

This time last year, Hajime Tabata (director of Final Fantasy VII - Crisis Core) said the following in an interview:

Now, Yoshinori Kitase was the director of FF7, and Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer. Both of whom have been heavily involved with the Final Fantasy XIII - Fabula Nova Crystallis series, which is very near full completion.

Furthermore, Square Enix asked people on its Japanese Twitter page just a few days ago if a remake of FF7 was really what everyone wanted. Response was so overwhelming they had to ask people to stop replying just a couple of hours later.

Confusingly, Kitase has been quoted just last month as saying that a remake was looking "pretty unrealistic".

Personally I think that Square are already hard at work on this, and that's why they haven't conclusively said there won't be one. I think a lot will depend on the reception for XIII - a remake of FF7 would be a guaranteed money-spinner for SE and if revenues from XIII aren't as good as hoped, then who knows...

"So that Final Fantasy VII remake that you've said will never happen: why?" Isnt that a conclusive no?

I know every wee ff7 fanboy in the planet would masturbate themselves stupid if a remake happened, but i have my doubts of seeing it happen personally. The only reason they did the remakes of 3 and 4 on the DS is because they were never released outside of japan. As we all know among the FF fans theres the diehard ff7 fanboys the ones who think 7 was pure perfection and that no game will ever come close, i personally do love 7, its a classic and my introduction to the series, but ff9 is much better. I think people gotta stop getting thier hopes up for remakes of old games and instead hope for something to revitalise the series.

[Gaz]

Today, the chairman and CEO of Square Enix has said that the company are exploring the possibility of remaking FFVII.

More Tantalising Hints

[Gaz]

Also of note was this advertisement on Square's website last week:

Hiring for 3D designers, programmers and artists.

[xbl]

This might sound daft, but why would you remake it? Its already pretty much perfection in RPG terms. I never cared about any FF game before or since, it had everything, what would a remake bring to the table exactly?

[Gaz]

This might sound daft, but why would you remake it? Its already pretty much perfection in RPG terms. I never cared about any FF game before or since, it had everything, what would a remake bring to the table exactly?

I play through it once or twice a year and it's easily my favourite game of all-time, but I can list loads of reasons to remake it:

Sounds and music - the FFVII soundtrack on the PS was composed entirely of MIDI files. Have a look on YouTube for proper orchestral versions of Aerith's Theme and One-Winged-Angel and it's like night and day - to an audiophile like me they sound absolutely fantastic, and the old ones sound worn and tinny compared to it. Here is One Winged Angel performed by a full orchestra:

Translation issues and mistakes - from petty things like Aerith's name and the name of Odin's attacks being completely wrong to whole swathes of dialogue being incorrect, there are thousands of errors that a remake could correct (some other examples are names of spells and summons, and I bet not many people remember that in Cosmo Canyon we see a model of OUR solar system (with Gaia in place of where Earth is, something that wasn't meant to happen at all) . I recently played the DS remake of Chrono Trigger and just having all the dialogue tidied up makes such a difference - conversations sound so natural and not forced, there are no translation issues that were prevalent on the old SNES version. It's brilliant.

The story - FFVII's story has been fleshed out quite a bit with the introduction of Advent Children / Crisis Core / DIssidia etc.. While these should be treated separately there are elements of backstory that could be explored further in the main game.

Graphics - FFVII with the graphics from Advent Children would be something very, very special. As technology moves on more and more people have HDTVs and while I still play FFVII quite happily on the blocky PlayStation output, HD would look so much better.

Preservation of Technology - Sony and Square don't make PlayStation games any more, PS2s are dying out and although the PS3 can currently play PSX games that won't continue forever. An updated remake would bring it to a whole new audience.

Money - Square have been struggling a bit over the last few years. A remake of unarguably their most popular and well-loved game would bring untold millions to their coffers - not to mention boost the sales of the PS3 / 360 or whatever it was released on.

I could go on, but those are my main reasons for remaking it.

Edited March 24, 2010 by Gaz

[GypsyTillIDie]

Not exactly relevant as this is about FF7 but I just downloaded the first FF for my iPod touch for £5.50 that's been 'remastered' - I'm far too excited about playing it.

[EdgarusQPFC]

I play through it once or twice a year and it's easily my favourite game of all-time, but I can list loads of reasons to remake it:

Sounds and music - the FFVII soundtrack on the PS was composed entirely of MIDI files. Have a look on YouTube for proper orchestral versions of Aerith's Theme and One-Winged-Angel and it's like night and day - to an audiophile like me they sound absolutely fantastic, and the old ones sound worn and tinny compared to it. Here is One Winged Angel performed by a full orchestra:

Translation issues and mistakes - from petty things like Aerith's name and the name of Odin's attacks being completely wrong to whole swathes of dialogue being incorrect, there are thousands of errors that a remake could correct (some other examples are names of spells and summons, and I bet not many people remember that in Cosmo Canyon we see a model of OUR solar system (with Gaia in place of where Earth is, something that wasn't meant to happen at all) . I recently played the DS remake of Chrono Trigger and just having all the dialogue tidied up makes such a difference - conversations sound so natural and not forced, there are no translation issues that were prevalent on the old SNES version. It's brilliant.

The story - FFVII's story has been fleshed out quite a bit with the introduction of Advent Children / Crisis Core / DIssidia etc.. While these should be treated separately there are elements of backstory that could be explored further in the main game.

Graphics - FFVII with the graphics from Advent Children would be something very, very special. As technology moves on more and more people have HDTVs and while I still play FFVII quite happily on the blocky PlayStation output, HD would look so much better.

Preservation of Technology - Sony and Square don't make PlayStation games any more, PS2s are dying out and although the PS3 can currently play PSX games that won't continue forever. An updated remake would bring it to a whole new audience.

Money - Square have been struggling a bit over the last few years. A remake of unarguably their most popular and well-loved game would bring untold millions to their coffers - not to mention boost the sales of the PS3 / 360 or whatever it was released on.

I could go on, but those are my main reasons for remaking it.

Well heres a question for you gaz, have you seen Advent Children Complete? its an updated version of the movie and about 30 minutes longer with entire new scenes and extended battles. Its out only on blu ray and in japan you can get it with a special editon cloud ps3

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=4_VyJmzidLw

I would love to see a remake of 7, but personally i wanna see a remake of 8, With a proper battle system this time, none of that junctioning stuff, that was god awful. 7 is fantastic and is one of the greatest Jrpgs ever made, But if your choosing a best ff why not 9?

The biggest problem with making a remake is most of the team that worked on 7 have long since left the company, Hironobu Sakaguchi who was the creator of final fantasy and producer on 7 left the company to create mistwalker in 2004, Nobou Uematsu left the company too to become freelance, he was suposed to do the ffxiii soundtrack but he backed out, and kazaushige nojima who was one of the 2 writers of the game has also left the company and went freelance. Lets face it, if we wanted to see a remake that could do the original justice then you need the original team. Id hate to see a Remake of 7 Without Uematsu doing the music.

Edited March 25, 2010 by EdgarusQPFC

[Vanquinho.]

Well heres a question for you gaz, have you seen Advent Children Complete? its an updated version of the movie and about 30 minutes longer with entire new scenes and extended battles. Its out only on blu ray and in japan you can get it with a special editon cloud ps3

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=4_VyJmzidLw

I would love to see a remake of 7, but personally i wanna see a remake of 8, With a proper battle system this time, none of that junctioning stuff, that was god awful. 7 is fantastic and is one of the greatest Jrpgs ever made, But if your choosing a best ff why not 9?

The biggest problem with making a remake is most of the team that worked on 7 have long since left the company, Hironobu Sakaguchi who was the creator of final fantasy and producer on 7 left the company to create mistwalker in 2004, Nobou Uematsu left the company too to become freelance, he was suposed to do the ffxiii soundtrack but he backed out, and kazaushige nojima who was one of the 2 writers of the game has also left the company and went freelance. Lets face it, if we wanted to see a remake that could do the original justice then you need the original team. Id hate to see a Remake of 7 Without Uematsu doing the music.

Uematsu would be the first name I would look for if a remake was announced. If he wasn't part of the team then my enthusiasm for the project would drop significantly.

[Gaz]

Well heres a question for you gaz, have you seen Advent Children Complete? its an updated version of the movie and about 30 minutes longer with entire new scenes and extended battles. Its out only on blu ray and in japan you can get it with a special editon cloud ps3

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=4_VyJmzidLw

I would love to see a remake of 7, but personally i wanna see a remake of 8, With a proper battle system this time, none of that junctioning stuff, that was god awful. 7 is fantastic and is one of the greatest Jrpgs ever made, But if your choosing a best ff why not 9?

The biggest problem with making a remake is most of the team that worked on 7 have long since left the company, Hironobu Sakaguchi who was the creator of final fantasy and producer on 7 left the company to create mistwalker in 2004, Nobou Uematsu left the company too to become freelance, he was suposed to do the ffxiii soundtrack but he backed out, and kazaushige nojima who was one of the 2 writers of the game has also left the company and went freelance. Lets face it, if we wanted to see a remake that could do the original justice then you need the original team. Id hate to see a Remake of 7 Without Uematsu doing the music.

I haven't seen the new Advent Children. That Cloud PS3 looks fucking fantastic

Uematsu still does work for Square as a freelancer, he was only assigned to writing the main theme for FFXIII but didn't want to do it as he's writing the entire score for FFXIV, so he's still on the go.

The thing is though, do you really need the original producer, composer, director anyway? This won't be a "new" game - it'd be an updating of an existing game. The music would still be there - Square would own the rights to it, all they'd need to do is orchestrate it rather than MIDI it. You don't really need the original team as everything about the original game is already there and under Square's copyright - story, gameplay, mechanics, music, everything. All you need is a competent team capable of updating it to an even higher standard. Regardless, I reckon Uematsu would sign on anyway.

Oh, and to this:

But if your choosing a best ff why not 9?

Because FFVII is far, far superior to FFIX.

[EdgarusQPFC]

I haven't seen the new Advent Children. That Cloud PS3 looks fucking fantastic

Uematsu still does work for Square as a freelancer, he was only assigned to writing the main theme for FFXIII but didn't want to do it as he's writing the entire score for FFXIV, so he's still on the go.

The thing is though, do you really need the original producer, composer, director anyway? This won't be a "new" game - it'd be an updating of an existing game. The music would still be there - Square would own the rights to it, all they'd need to do is orchestrate it rather than MIDI it. You don't really need the original team as everything about the original game is already there and under Square's copyright - story, gameplay, mechanics, music, everything. All you need is a competent team capable of updating it to an even higher standard. Regardless, I reckon Uematsu would sign on anyway.

Oh, and to this:

Because FFVII is far, far superior to FFIX.

9 is the best mate . You might be right with the material being there, but just a direct remake wouldnt be as good, personally id want new features and more added to the game, Keep whats important and enhance the game to create a better experiance. How many remakes or sequels thru the years have we seen that have only made us want to play the original again. Id rather a game that blows away the original in all categorys. Like you said, make storyline changes to incorporate the newer games and side stories. Maybe add a greatly enhanced chocobo breeding system, more games at the golden saucer, new moves and materia, and stuff like when you equip an accessory/ weapon you see them during battles, outside battles, during cuttscenes and so on. Maybe change clouds combat style to include the newer dual weilding he uses in FFAC. Maybe allow you to personalise thier attires, not change them or anything, but add little details insignia's and such. Update the highwind wold travel, Maybe incorporate sections of the world(not existing ones) that require a chocobo to pass or items that you need a chocobo to get to(in dungeon maps, not world map). Much like heartgold is a remake of gold with new features, updated storyline, better graphics and such. I wanna see this on any final fantasy remake.

[xbl]

I play through it once or twice a year and it's easily my favourite game of all-time, but I can list loads of reasons to remake it:

.....

I could go on, but those are my main reasons for remaking it.

Are you alright? Would you like a cold shower in a darkened room? I would play a remake IF they had an option where Tifa or that irritating ninja could die instead...

[Liam.]

[Gaz]

Possible Demo To Ship With Nier?

[MattBairn]

I would cream my pants if they remade FF7 for PS3. Or even better PC.

[Francesc Fabregas]

Possible Demo To Ship With Nier?

Sephiroth looks like a right tranny in that link there.

[uni]

You should never remake a classic. Thats goes for all forms of art like music and games (especially this one.)

[MattBairn]

Sephiroth looks like a right tranny in that link there.

You do realise that Sepiroth is now going to kill you in your sleep?

[MattBairn]

You should never remake a classic. Thats goes for all forms of art like music and games (especially this one.)

Normally I would completely agree but I think that FF7 could really benefit from it.

Gaz has covered a few of the reasons why.

It will also give a new generation a chance to play it where they mightve been put off by the dated graphics without a remake(although they shouldnt, but thats another story)