Today marks an enormous 26 years since Final Fantasy 7 first hit PlayStation in Japan, an important launch that will show significantly earth-shattering as soon as localised for the West a handful of months later.
Since then, the legend of Final Fantasy 7 has solely expanded: with spin-offs, sequels, films, and animated options. Its characters have appeared in numerous different video games, and naturally FF7 stays the excessive watermark for achievement for your complete Final Fantasy sequence. That led to its critically acclaimed Remake, and you may make certain that whereas Final Fantasy 16 is a really completely different fashion of recreation, FF7’s shadow will loom massive over even that recreation.
Late final 12 months, across the time of Final Fantasy’s thirty fifth anniversary, I obtained the chance to meet up with unique FF7 director Yoshinori Kitase. Now one of many extra senior stewards of your complete Final Fantasy sequence and at present serving as Producer on the FF7 Remake trilogy, I wished to look again to the unique FF7 and chat abouts its growth, inspirations, and some long-time fan mysteries.
In honour of FF7’s twenty sixth anniversary, right here’s our full chat:
VG247: I wish to begin by simply going all the way in which again to 1994. The staff finishes Final Fantasy 6, and also you’re excited about the subsequent recreation. You’ve stated prior to now that originally, the plan was to create one other 2D undertaking for the Super Famicom. What are your reminiscences of the pondering and course of the undertaking at that early time?
Yoshinori Kitase: The plan to make a 2D Final Fantasy 7 started proper after we launched Final Fantasy 6, but it surely was cancelled after solely two or three planning proposal conferences.
This was as a result of me, Nomura, and most of the different undertaking employees went to affix the Chrono Trigger staff. The re-launch of the cancelled Final Fantasy 7 undertaking then occurred after Chrono Trigger got here out, however we had forgotten many of the discussions in these earlier planning conferences by then.
However, there was one thought proposed in them that was really used for Final Fantasy 8 later. It was an illustration centring round a witch character that Nomura had drawn. [Editor’s Note: This concept became FF8’s Sorceress Edea.]
VG247: Okay, let’s get nerdy – within the FF twenty fifth anniversary Ultimania books, a picture was printed which confirmed a city from an isometric viewpoint, famous as an early idea for FF7 however utilizing Locke from FF6 as a placeholder. Was this only a idea visible, or was it a prototype actively labored on?
Yoshinori Kitase: Moving to the PlayStation {hardware} that was able to rendering in 3D CG, we had to consider how you can evolve the visuals for the subsequent FF recreation, with out being held again by the logic that had gone earlier than, and proposed quite a few completely different visible kinds.
That picture was one of many proposed kinds and represented the idea of an “orthodox evolution” that continued with the same fashion to what was in Final Fantasy 6.
We continued trying into proposals for each pixel sprite graphics and 3D CG in parallel for some time, however in the end settled on the 3D fashion that you simply see right this moment.
VG247: You subsequent have the ‘SGI’ demo, once more that includes FF6 characters, after which the choice was taken to develop for PlayStation. The causes for the change from Nintendo have been nicely documented through the years – so somewhat than ask about that, I’m inquisitive about how that felt on the time? Was there a priority that by leaving Nintendo, FF may very well be leaving its fanbase behind? Or was it invigorating to be on a brand new platform nonetheless constructing its id and viewers?
Yoshinori Kitase: At the time I used to be a fan of Nintendo’s {hardware} and video games, and I nonetheless am, so it was a conflicted feeling. However, we had been so busy working with new improvements in all elements of recreation creation, resembling 3DCG, the CD media and promoting by means of comfort shops (in Japan), so I didn’t actually have time to fret about it and simply pushed on with the event.
Once the event on Final Fantasy 7 had progressed a sure means, I noticed Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64 and its ushering in of recent era of 3D motion video games, and actually, I used to be blown away by it.
However, it was an enormous motivation for us to create our personal distinctive visible fashion, whereas nonetheless respecting such an incredible fashion of recreation.
VG247: Starting growth on PlayStation, a 3D recreation like this was clearly a brand new unknown expertise for the staff. From your perspective, had been there any particular inspirations you had been trying in the direction of to assist navigate this new expertise and elegance?
Yoshinori Kitase: We had been stimulated by plenty of PC video games from Europe and America on the time.
In that period there have been an increasing number of video games that utilised 3D popping out, resembling 4D Sports Boxing, Alone within the Dark, Wing Commander, Ultima Underworld, and Heart of Darkness – these offered lots of inspiration in establishing the visible fashion for Final Fantasy 7.
VG247: A singular factor about FF7 in comparison with later video games is that it has completely different artwork kinds – characters look very completely different on the sphere and in battle, and each kinds of design are even utilized in pre-rendered CG scenes interchangeably. What was the pondering behind that call, and why did you in the end reverse it in FF8?
Yoshinori Kitase: This was a response to points with reminiscence limits and rendering speeds.
In exploration areas, such because the scenes in cities, we wanted to have plenty of characters on display without delay and the digicam doesn’t typically transfer shut as much as them, so we needed to maintain the primary character fashions right down to below 400 polygons every.
On the opposite hand, the variety of characters that seem in battle scenes is extra restricted and there are lots of instances when the digicam does a close-up of their faces as a part of the presentation for the strikes they do, so we had been ready to make use of 1000 polygons every right here.
Accordingly, we created character designs that had been optimised for the variety of polygons out there in every sort of scene.
VG247: The FF7 International Bonus CD contained an attention-grabbing video of in-development footage of FF7, together with some fairly completely different CG backgrounds to the ultimate, like a really completely different trying model of what I assume is Nibelheim. How iterative was growth – was there lots of redoing and considerably altering issues as you went alongside? Do you might have any particular reminiscences about early builds, making modifications, and bettering the sport?
Yoshinori Kitase: At the time, making the shift from 2D to 3D was very difficult so it was extra a case of spending a very long time and slowly however certainly build up every location, somewhat than re-doing them again and again. The picture you’re referring to is a work-in-progress snapshot of that course of.
Accordingly, in the event you have a look at it from the wrong way, it was not straightforward to re-work issues due to the quantity of labor we wanted to roll-back in doing so, so I don’t bear in mind altering the unique story or specs for the sport that we initially selected.
VG247: Something I really like about FF7 is the sensation that, at the moment, the staff had been simply including and including concepts, and never essentially worrying about how one thing may slot in. The result’s a world with wonderful breadth – whenever you’re in Midgar, it appears onerous to even think about a extra conventional RPG location like Kalm would even exist in the identical world. And whenever you’re at Kalm, the concept of a spot just like the Gold Saucer feels outright futuristic. Then, abruptly, you are snowboarding! Was this a acutely aware thought throughout growth, or was it one thing that simply occurred as artists obtained to grips with the 3D instruments?
Yoshinori Kitase: During growth, we had a coverage of placing in as most of the attention-grabbing concepts that the staff delivered to the desk as we may. Our pondering was to not fear an excessive amount of about alignment or consistency and to deal with it like a baby’s toybox.
We felt that stuffing in as a lot cool and attention-grabbing stuff as attainable would create a good greater feeling of surprise and pleasure. This was not a lot a deliberate strategy although, however extra just like the spirit that the Final Fantasy staff had from the beginning.
VG247: In an interview just a few years in the past, Nomura-san recalled a draft of the story the place you had everyone however the three characters the participant chooses for his or her social gathering die when the solid parachutes into Midgar. You did not bear in mind this, he reminded you! But let me ask – if the sport had been like that, and it had been you taking part in, which three characters would you might have saved by having them in your social gathering?
Yoshinori Kitase: I might choose Cloud as a result of he’s the protagonist of the story, Vincent as a result of he was a personality that I personally got here up with and had a horror vibe that’s fairly uncommon in FF video games, and Yuffie as a result of she is so annoying however so tough to hate.
VG247: I’m questioning in the event you’d be keen to unravel an age-old thriller. If you comply with sure aspect quests, you will get the important thing to re-enter Midgar within the late recreation. At this stage, in the event you enter the Sector 5 church, you see Aerith tending to the flowers – however whenever you step nearer, she glints and disappears, like a ghost. Strangely, speaking to an unrelated NPC in a special space prevents this occasion from taking place. For years, followers have debated the meant that means of this occasion, or even when it’s a glitch. Can you touch upon it from the event aspect?
Yoshinori Kitase: I’ll depart this to the gamers’ imaginations.
VG247: Going into the Compilation, you and the staff had an opportunity to alter, reveal, or ‘retcon’ parts of the story in the event you wished to. For occasion, Rufus and Tseng seem to die in FF7 – however then being revealed as alive in Advent Children, and even outright revealing that people did survive Holy on the finish. What was it like making story choices like this; altering story parts and revealing new info with out altering the affect of the unique recreation?
Yoshinori Kitase: We approached the FF7 Remake undertaking with the goal to make it one thing that may very well be loved by each followers of the unique recreation and individuals who didn’t realize it.
I’ve additionally had experiences the place a recreation that I liked and had lots of enjoyable with prior to now was remade, and I purchased it and performed it out of the overwhelming nostalgia. It is gratifying for some time, however the enjoyable from that nostalgia solely actually lasts by means of the primary sections. I realised this midway by means of and didn’t keep on taking part in.
Because of this, I made a decision that Final Fantasy 7 Remake wouldn’t simply attraction to nostalgia, however would come with a brand new story as nicely to really feel each nostalgic and recent on the similar time.
The results of that is that, for Part 2 and Part 3, we’re in a position to give followers the thrill of questioning which components might be 100% devoted to the unique – and the place the brand new parts might be added.
VG247: How has your relationship with the sport modified through the years, particularly as you have returned to the universe with the Compilation and Remake? Has how you are feeling concerning the recreation modified through the years, with a retrospective eye?
Yoshinori Kitase: Ever since I joined the video games trade, I’ve at all times set myself the theme of “creating drama by means of video games”. With the unique Final Fantasy 7, the shift from the fashion of the earlier 16-bit {hardware} to the most recent 3D CG allowed for enormous will increase within the energy to depict characters and tales and have become the origin of the dramatic storytelling fashion that’s nonetheless used within the newest FF titles right this moment.
On the opposite hand, once I regarded again at that recreation, the unique mannequin for Cloud was solely product of 400 polygons and regarded a bit like a doll carved out of wooden, so the older I obtained, the extra I wished to replace him.
The unique Final Fantasy 7 has been liked by the followers for over 20 years, however I began to really feel that I didn’t need it to complete up as one thing in an archive, and wished to make it a title that continues to be liked for one more 100 years to come back.
That is what Final Fantasy 7 Remake is.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 – or Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth – is coming Winter 2023.
