FFVII Remake: Killing Us Softly?
Chances are, you’ve either seen, heard, or experienced the epic adventure that is Final Fantasy VII. And those of you who have probably also heard about the FFVII PS3 graphics engine demo test that quickly sparked a desire in all of us (yes, even you) for a FFVII remake on the PS3. However, the dreams of such an occurrence were dashed…until I read Kotaku’s recent article about FFVII’s director pondering a FFVII remake. Kotaku closes this article with a good point:
With the remake-happy way Square Enix is going these days, you can bet there’s eventually going to be a FFVII. Reassuring to know that Kitase wants to do it in-house with the original team.
We’ve already seen a few old-school FF remakes, and Square Enix seems to be enjoying their Kingdom Hearts high. Why do you think this is? Because we are now seeing a similar trend that I brought up in my New Slayers Season: Should We Care? article. What we now have are loads of old-school gamers wanting an FF remake, while new-school tweens are pining for more Kingdom Hearts. What I love to see is that not all old-school gamers see the need for a “timeless” classic to be stripped of its vintage value as expressed by a user comment made in Kotaku’s article:
…Why do people want or need a remake so bad? Final Fantasy VII was an excellent JRPG, which is now timeless enough to still be played and enjoyed today even by younger audiences who’ve never even been old enough to play FFVII back in 1997. The game’s popularity is already beyond question, yet people still aren’t satisfied? I’m sorry, but I’ll take some new titles over something I’ve played ten years ago with prettier graphics. The World Ends With you is a beginning sign of Square-Enix trying to be the creative Squaresoft of old again; let’s not take another step backwards.
Am I the only one seeing a slighted contradiction between the last two sentences? Here’s a prime example of a conflicting issue that might reside in many old-school players who long for the Squaresoft days, and yet see no need for the past to be reborn. My [hard] question to you is this:
Do you think Square Enix would become a crowd-pleaser by creating a FFVII remake, or would they really be regressing by remaking an already groundbreaking game?
I look forward to at least one constructive reply, though that might be asking a tad too much. ^_^
Atama Ga Warui 
FF7 was in part responsible for getting me into anime. I played FF7 at the beginning of college and it struck me that the kind of story that was told in that game was not all that different from the kind of story told in other animes. So I definitely owe it something of my present state.
Now they should also remake FF6, which IMO was even better!
Bleh as personally as a gamer.. Square in the p[ast was awesome, FF VII was great– remake just makes me go “Blah” now, i used to be excited there was one but the past i dunno year they’ve just been Milking the FF Series so much. Sure it’s another Final Fantasy, but they are milking the Series so much now its just Unbearable. I would buy it, play threw it then what, its the same old FF. Square/soft got really greedy ever since they merged with enix. I don’t really support it anymore.
hm… although Square-Enix has been doing alot of re-makes, they have been coming out with new games too. But with remaking FF7, some people will like it, but others won’t agree with what they are doing, saying they are wasting their talents on something that is already made, rather than being creative and trying something new.
I’m not sure where i stand on this issue. if the production crew is having fun making a remake, and can get the people they want, then by all means make it. But if they don’t, I won’t hold it against them, because that means they are working on a new project. Others might not be so happy though, since they might feel betrayed because that interview basically gave high hopes that the game will be remade, given time.
no they approving that they are the best by doing the remake
they aren’t proving* anything by making a remake to be honest.. well sorry, I lie, they are proving they can milk a series to destruction </3.
FF7 is an awesome game, but I think Square-Enix is stuck with closing out the “after” story. Dirge of Cerberus left off with the story unresolved, so there will definitely be at least another act in the series. With the cost of game development on next-gen consoles as high as they are, it’s asking a bit to go back and remake something that was already groundbreaking in terms of story, music, and character development. Sure I’d love the improved graphics and would pick up the game if they did re-release it, but I’m in the camp that I don’t mind either way since my first experience was already phenomenal as it was.
Think of producer and father of FF Hironobu Sakaguchi also…with his demotion and departure from Squaresoft due to the first FF movie debacle, it won’t be easy to pull him out of Mistwalker for the remake. It’s all Tetsuya Nomura these days, but I have a lot of respect for the creative contributions Sakaguchi brought to FF7…and with a big touted release of FF7 just would not be the same if Sakaguchi was not in the team. If they can get him, GO FOR IT 🙂
wow nice post
thanks a lot!
– http://www.gamegork.com
I’ll say this, If they remake it, then they are gonna have to go on into 8, 9, and maybe 10.
I say remakes will only be all good if they want to add in things that were left out of the original design (as I’ve read about FF8) along with the graphic overhaul
In accordance to your post, here’s a blog I put up awhile ago:
Let’s start from the VERY beginning about this topic since this is going to be a long read:
WAY back in 2001 (which was the year after Final Fantasy IX came out), Square Enix announced that the PS2 will have remakes of three famous final fantasies: VII, VIII, and IX. Since then, all the hype about the infamous rumors and such have not been proven yet. So in order to give out my best opinion, let’s start with the most famous rumor of all, the PS3 remake of Final Fantasy VII, which starred Cloud Strife.
Final Fantasy VII came out in 1997 for the Original PlayStation, which was a 3 disc set with a storyline about how the main character, Cloud Strife, and his cohorts such as Aeris Gainsborough (now renamed as Aerith), Vincent Valentine (one of the two secret characters), and others went on a quest to pursue a man named Sephiroth (who carried the awesome Masamune!!), who was trying to destroy the world using the ultimate black magic of Meteor. The story was so compelling that it got the best ratings out of any game in its market for that year.
And the next year, and the year after that. Even today, if players were to be asked what the best RPG that was EVER created, they would say “Final Fantasy VII!” with confidence. Even after its other brethren were release, VIII and IX, people still say that VII was the best RPG anyone could play.
Now during the era of the PS2, players got to see the end of the story of VII when Dirge of Cerberus, which starred Vincent Valentine, and the Advent Children movie came out to the public, was when the rumors started. Due to the fact that a VII sequel and movie sequel were in addition to the main line, the people started to think that SE may hold to their word for PS2. But no releases were made.
But then it got worse when the PS3 was released. After people experienced the power of the graphics engine of the system, along with playing Final Fantasy VII again and again, people had thoughts that maybe the remakes wouldn’t be on the PS2, but on the PS3. This incorporated the fact that SE decided to go back on their word since the new systems were coming out.
The rumor really struck home and brought almost all fans to light of the idea when SE finally released the prequel of the entire story of VII: Crisis Core for the PSP. The story entailed the life of Zack Fair, the 2nd class (later 1st Class) soldier who was hinted in VII as Aerith’s boyfriend during the scene with cloud and aerith sitting on the cat slide after the chase at Aerith’s slum church. Now during Crisis Core, Zack meets Cloud during the story and the get along well. *HERE’S WHERE IT ALL WOULD MAKE TRUE TO THE RUMOR (SPOILER ALERT!!!)*: During the ending, Zack gets surrounded by Shinra after killing Genesis (the original “Sephiroth”) and hefting the severly-injured Cloud on their way back to Midgar. On this scene, Zack tells Cloud that he must be Zack’s “living legacy”. After that, Zack dies and Cloud assumes the role of “Zack” as he rushes back to midgar and (not during Crisis Core but during the anime movie FFVII: The Last Order) meets Barret and crew from AVALANCHE and begins the story of VII. During the last cutscene, the graphics were really entailed to the point where it was PS3 quality and thus, brought home the rumor of the PS3 release of VII. And to add pressure of the rumor, a video which came out before Crisis Core entitled “Final Fantasy VII: PS3 Technical Demo” was shown at a press release which gave viewers agonizing itches to press for the release. But due to different projects, the rumor hasn’t been proven true yet. And to this day, people rally back and forth about how this rumor will either fall out or stay true as the years go by after the release of the story of Cloud Strife.
Now VII is a biggest rumor to date for now, but the other rumors of remakes also include Final Fantasy IX for the Wii. The only spark that came to this rumor was when someone posted on YouTube a trailer which showed the beginning movies for IX with the message at the end, “Coming Soon for the Nintendo Wii”. This hasn’t been a big rumor yet due to VII, but once the final verdict has come, then the issue with IX will start.
So last, but not least, Final Fantasy VIII has not had a single press about a remake, which could be understandable since it was considered the least favorite by many players. But VIII could possibly be a game where it’ll show up again anywhere. Doubts aside, VIII could also have its re-release.
Finally, all these facts together, many rumors have come and gone, and still no clue as to what the fates are for the three Final Fantasies. Here’s one possibility:
SE decides to be a crowd-pleaser and make VII for PS3, therefore FINALLY resting the issue of the rumor. SE then decides to keep its word and remake IX for the virtual console for the Wii. Seeing as for the profits have been made on two out of the three current gen-systems, this leaves SE to tie the revenue together with VIII and the unusual possibility of being on the X-BOX 360. Strange, yes. Rumor, likely. Truth, no.
This rumor being no intention on being true, the many possibilities have rendered themselves open for the infamous three as they stand waiting in SE’s game vault, waiting for their fates to be unfolded. As one may be closer to a possible truth than the others, the real truth stands: NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN RELEASED AS A REMAKE YET!!! SO STOP TRYING TO FORCE SOMETHING THAT CAN’T HAPPEN TILL AFTER FINALY FANTASY XIII HAS COME OUT NEXT YEAR!!!