There have been many questions surrounding Square Enix’s announcement of a remake for Final Fantasy 7. Why announce it so soon after an HD port was revealed for PC? However, there’s still the pressing issue of why, after all these years, Square Enix finally decided it was time to remake the game.
According to director Tetsuya Nomura in a conversation with 4Gamer (translated by Siliconera), “Actually, we’ve had plans for a remake on several occasions. Up until now, it’s been a cycle of having plans come and go, but this time, we’ve finally decided ‘let’s do it’.”
Though the main goal was to increase the popularity of PS4 in Japan, there’s one more reason. “We’re hitting that age.
“Of all the staff that worked on the original Final Fantasy VII, and those who are working on the remake, I’m the youngest one. I’m 45 years old now. If we continued on without doing a remake, [Yoshinori] Kitase and [Kazushige] Nojima are well older than me… so, yeah. With this timing and opportunity in mind, we decided to just got for it.”
There will be changes made to the game beyond just the graphics. As Nomura mentioned previously, the battle mechanics will see some changes and here again he reiterates that if fans only want better visuals, “the previously mentioned Final Fantasy VII for PS4 would suffice, and with that, we’d have a ‘slightly better-looking Final Fantasy VII’ and a ‘much better-looking Final Fantasy VII.
“I think if it came down to that, then there’d be no reason in doing a remake, and while it may be difficult, we’re already prepared to doing it right if we’re going to do it at all. I’m sure some of you may feel uneasy about this, but one thing I can say, is that it won’t be boring, and we’d like you to wait and look forward to what it will turn out to be.”
As of now, the Final Fantasy 7 remake is set to release for PS4. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.
