Still holding a candle for that Final Fantasy VII remake? Got dog-eared Cloud posters on your bedroom wall? Be careful what you wish for. Final Fantasy XIII-2's producer Yoshinori Kitase has told OXM he'd find it difficult to update the 1997 RPG without making comprehensive changes.
That's not simply because what sold bucket-loads a decade ago won't sell bucket-loads today; Kitase thinks a straight HD clone wouldn't be as enjoyable to develop. "If I may speak as a game creator, if we were to produce a remake of VII, for example, I would be really tempted to delete things and add new elements, new systems or whatever because if we were to make exactly the same thing now, it'd be like a repeat.
"When we play the games we made years ago, sometimes we think 'oh, that is not really cool' or 'that probably should have been a bit better than that' and that sort of thing," he went on.
"But on the other hand, those slightly negative features and bits, for some of the really enthusiastic fans of these titles, that gives the game extra flavour or personality or whatever. So maybe they would rather we didn't do anything about it and we just leave it in as it is. It's very difficult to decide what we should we keep in and what we should take out."
Get more from Kitase in Matt's Final Fantasy XIII-2 interview. For our thoughts on the game, read our hands-on and most recent preview.
What would you change about Final Fantasy VII?
9 comments so far...
Baryonyx on 29 Nov '11 said:
It would be great being remade from the ground up with new graphics and CGI. I wouldn't touch the game systems though, at least not too much. I'm struggling to think of an RPG that has bettered the formula as far as gameplay goes. The materia and magic systems were great too.
But personally, it's not a game I would like to see re-made. It was amazing the first time around, and I don't want any of that memory tarnished by seeing a re-imagining or anything like that. Judging by the latest FF efforts, I doubt even Square can do it justice. The mighty JRPG genre has just collapsed, and the rot set in at the very top. Best leave memories as just memories.
comabob on 29 Nov '11 said:
The JRPG isnt exactly my favourite genre but if the choice between having a remake of VII OR a xbla port with HD graphics - id go for the port...
Only for 800 points mind you.
Grummy on 30 Nov '11 said:
It's not impossible, they are remaking FFX for PS Vita, so a HD update of FF VII is in the realms of possibility.
Personally I'd pay full £40 RRP for one set with FF 7,8 and 9 on it.
SidTheSloth on 30 Nov '11 said:
It's a no-brainer for me, they doth protest too much. It is guaranteed money in the bank for them no matter what they say it will happen one day. I would absolutely wet my pants if they did as grummy suggested as 7, 8 & 9 were all brilliant in their own way (if it wasn't for the ridiculous draw/junction system i'd argue 8 was in fact the best of the three, especially the card game!!).
It's even more annoying that i could download them all right now on my ps3, but my seeming disdain for the system makes me know i'd never play them! (suppose my mini pile of PS3 games that have hardly been touched despite containing uncharted 2, heavy rain & god of war would back this up)
Tricky one as to whether to change it, the halo remake has been well received because they didn't, but there are certainly bits of 7 & 8 i'd love if they were changed/removed (the prison bit in FF8 for the love of god!!).
comabob on 30 Nov '11 said:
id lost interes by 9 - was it really that good?!?
8 was good but 7 holds alot of memories from when i was playing i - happy days.
SidTheSloth on 1 Dec '11 said:
9 was probably the best received critically, and was probably the most polished etc. The cut scenes were also superb - which i know they were in 7 & 8 but they were another step up again, one had bahamut fighting alexander and it was epic...!
There were some good characters in it too - but also some duds, a good battle system etc and story, but i dont know, something was missing from it for me to put it up with the other 2, but it was still an awesome game. A lot of people didn't play it though as it came out quite late in the ps1 cycle i think?
If they ever came out on xbox arcade like they have psn, they'd already be downloading now and i'd happily put off the several still wrapped games i have to play them again! 9's the one i want to play most again actually as i only completed it once whereas i did 8 about 5 times (took that long to figure the magic system out
) and i completed the arse out of FF7 so cloud couldn't die anymore (mastered final attack-revive materia, ooooh yeah, took hours but when you're at college time is one thing you have plenty of - throwing elixirs at magic pots i can sadly recall!).
I can never decide my favourite between 7 & 8, but it matters not anyway, im just glad i played them both. Up there with ocarina and now skyrim as my top (erm?) 3? Be interested to see how skyward sword fits into this. Got it this week but can't get my Wii until xmas so have to wait to play it (good deal on selling it with remote+ for those who haven't got one or motionplus!)
Furie on 2 Dec '11 said:
They never finished FFVII anyway, with about 25% of the game left unrealised according to interviews around that time. Finish the game, add voice acting and spruce up the visuals to FFX levels (anything above that is just a bonus) and we got a game. As most of the left out stuff involved collecting things to unlock secrets or the ability to talk Sephiroth into topping himself via a massive sidequest it should be pretty easy to add and the majority of the money can go on the new visuals and voice acting. If any systems need to be changed then simply make them faster (the battle system, especially the multiple hits from lucky 7s), smoother (the snowboarding and biking mini-games) or more balanced (the entire materia system).
Those who want the game don't want the earth, just an updated version of something rather special to them.
maxdecine on 2 Dec '11 said:
PLEASE, DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The game is perfect as it it (i´ll buy it and i´m sure lot of people will do it too), but if you want changing anything you can include more stages(citys, villages), more final stage bosses, more characters (mantaining the existing ones and the history),....
SO PLEASE, DO THE REMAKE. IT WOULD BE A BEST SELLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KernowDevil23 on 2 Dec '11 said:
Oh dear god......I often wonder where they come from.