The Final Fantasy VII Remake has come and gone, carrying with it the hopes of a second game that can be at equal or surpass the first game that released a few months back.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Producer Yoshinori Kitase and Co-Director Naoki Hamaguchi discuss quite a few things, with some particularly interesting tidbits regarding Sephiroth and the development of the game.
One thing that the Remake achieved to great success was how Midgar was reimagined. “When we began working on the Remake project, I went back to the original game and played it again, and the sections of Midgar were far shorter than I remembered from memory,” says Kitase. “Our vision was to dive much deeper into the world and its characters than ever before. In doing this we have expanded upon the eclectic city of Midgar, building upon the structure of the city, and showing the lives of the residents in greater detail.”
Of course this all wouldn’t have been possible with the existing technology back then, but when you consider how much of a classic the original Final Fantasy 7 was even with the limitations of the PlayStation 1, the game was truly something special for the company and its fans.
Another thing that was “new” to the Remake was the appearance of Sephiroth as early as Midgar. Kitase explains that “Sephiroth did not make an appearance in the section of the story told here, but we changed it to have him appear from the start, in order to position him playing an important role over the whole of the Remake project.”
If we were to follow the story of the original game, it matches up quite well with what the team has in mind come the second game, putting focus on Sephiroth and his role moving forward. “Sephiroth plays a major part in the ongoing story of the next game,” and while Kitase cannot say anything more about how much of the original story will happen, we will all have to wait and see when the next game comes in.
Speaking of the next game, the team over at Square has been working from home to follow the global guidelines for COVID-19 prevention. Kitase is deeply saddened by the current events, saying that “When we set the release date for the game, nobody could have predicted a global pandemic like this, and the release of the game happening during this unprecedented situation has blindsided us.”
Even then, Kitase assured the players and fans that “At this current time, the team are still making the next game via remote working. Our performance will temporarily drop below 100% efficiency because of this, but I do not think there should be a big impact in the long term. I sincerely hope that Final Fantasy VII Remake can provide those who are forced to endure the stress of living under lockdown a moment of relief and enjoyment in these trying times.”
Final Fantasy VII Remake is now available for the PlayStation 4.
