The Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC) conducted an interview with key figures from the Final Fantasy VII Remake development. CEDEC hosted the event online for free, and Twitter user Aitaikimochi documented some highlights. In the interview, the developers discussed the structure of the game’s story and even talked about the Final Fantasy VII Remake – Part 2.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Co-director Naoki Hamaguchi and producer Yoshinori Kitase first discussed how the project started. They revealed that the series’ brand manager and producer, Shinji Hashimoto, started conversations. Hashimoto told Kitase that he always wanted to make a game like the CGI movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Hamaguchi then discussed the team’s organization among developers, management and other employees. Noteworthy, Hamaguchi revealed that some third-party companies created assets within the game, which he oversaw, despite joining the project during development.
Hamaguchi also stressed the importance of making Final Fantasy VII Remake history-oriented. He elaborated that the game did not need an open world, as long as the story was strong. On this subject, Hamaguchi said that Director Tetsuya Nomura was very specific about the representation of the characters in the game and the dubbing. In making the story, Kitase stressed the importance of subverting players’ expectations in a satisfactory way. Considering that the remake did not follow the exact structure of the original game, Kitase’s goal was to deceive players in a positive way.
Regarding the development of the sequel, Hamaguchi revealed that there was an interesting change in the internal team. Although the team in the remake was a fan of the original game, the team subsequently liked the remake and wanted to be part of the next title specifically. Hamaguchi also elaborated that his goal in the sequel is to allow players to experience what the world is like outside of Midgar. Kitase also said that the next title will surprise players in the same subversive way.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is now available on PlayStation 4, and Part 2 is currently in development. We recently found out that Square Enix had copyrighted some interesting phrases in 2021, leading some fans to wonder about prequel remakes.