Square Enix CEO: We're 'going to explore the possibility' of Final Fantasy VII remake

by Mike Schramm on Mar 22nd 2010 8:00PM

So far, Square Enix has said that a Final Fantasy VII remake would be "unrealistic," "tough to do in HD" and "not happening." But hold out hope, die-hards, because during an interview at FFXIII's launch party, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada finally admitted that the company is "going to explore the possibility" of revisiting the classic RPG. He didn't completely reverse the long-held position, as he says Square Enix has to decide "whether or not we're going to do it, if we're going to do it, and the platform," but he did finally admit that there have been a lot of fan requests to see the game in a new form, so he's giving it some solid thought.

Of course, the huge success of the game's re-release on PSN probably didn't hurt either. If Square's convinced a remake will sell (and people will play through Gaia yet again, possibly even on yet another platform), we'll probably see it somewhere sooner or later.

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Tags: FFVII, final-fantasy, final-fantasy-vii, final-fantasy-vii-remake, re-release, remake, square-enix, yoichi-wada

Reader Comments (173)

I know what he's thinking and I hope he understands the ramifications of a FF7 remake on the DS.

The honest truth? I'd buy (and be excited for) a remake.

The harsh truth? I don't think it could be done by the current Final Fantasy development team.

Whatever magic they had back in the day has faded since they hit it big. FFXIII's combat system is the sole gleaming gem in a game epitomizing the worst and most dated parts of Japan's obtuse storytelling, character development and direction techniques. Hell, I'd ever prefer the voice acting in VII over XIII.

That's right. None, compared to utter crap.

Someone please tell me Vanille dies. Preferably due to suffocation. That'd be an appropriately ironic death.

Let me call it right now:

The "remake" will be a re-release with "HD" filters!

I bet my soul!!

I have to admit, the storyline could use a bit of work but you might be being a bit too critical on them by saying the only gem is the battle system. I think the character design is actually fairly well done in terms of art/modeling and texturing. Honestly, these characters look pretty life-like in their movements, motion of hair/face and skin tones, etc compared to say another rpg from the same generation: Tales of Vesperia.

Now that's NOT to mock Tales of Vesperia as ToV is a game I really enjoyed overall.

If they could do this level of combat system, crafting/upgrading type system, modelling/backgrounds and art style with a better storyline, they'd easily have a 9/10 to 9.5/10 title. I've also heard rumors of FF13 lasting some players 60 hours through on their first play thru which is a good sign too. Especially when you can pick up some rpgs and have it passed in a day to two days. 60 hours of gameplay for me should be roughly 3 weeks of playtime at least. I think also $1.00 per hour of gameplay for a single player experience is a really nice price point considering the cost of seeing/renting/buying movies, playing pool, reading books or other hobbies I have.

If FF7 was remade on the DS it would be the most epic fail in gaming history. PS3 or PS4. that is all.

Dale said: "but then you're left waiting for ages for your damn meter to charge."

Press triangle and you immediately use however many ATB guages you have filled at that moment, whether 1, 2 or 3. You don't have to wait for all 4 (or whatever your max amount is) in order to initiate your ability.

lol it wont be hard its all they need to do is copy and paste the game and make the graphics look like ff13.then they got themselves a kick ass game..easy!

Could you also consider the possibility of the next Final Fantasy game not having a horrible, dated combat mechanism? XIII is clunky as all get out... if you want to know how to do it right, buy Tales Of Vesperia.

I think XIII's combat system is brilliant.

While I'll agree that tales of vesperia is fantastic, XIII's battle system is definitely it's strongest point.

Are you really going to rag on 13's combat system? that's the only good part of the game!

I still think XII's battle system was the best, but XIII's is certainly an improvement over the team's last effort in FFX. And no, the best part of XIII isn't the battle system, it's the characters. At least so far. I love the characters in this game.

XIII's combat is awesome, as is Tales of Vesperia.

What I would like to see is sort of a hybrid between the two, aka, XIII should have had a "free-roam" option similar to how Vesperia does. Trying to get your Sentinal away from the rest of your team in XIII (think Vanille's Eidolon battle) was way too rough of an experience. During the time you would be running around, perhaps the ATB bar wouldn't fill. It would be perfect.

You say that Tales' battle system is dated, but it's been the same since the beginning of the series. You could say it's just ahead of it's time, sure, but they're not changing it up at all. At least Square-Enix are trying, and I think they were very successful with FFXIII, the battle system is ultra fun and ultra pretty.

They did a very good job with the characters. At first, I found Vanille and Hope annoying (Hope was like Emil from Symphonia 2, but worse) but later in the game, those characters really envolved and my opinion of them changed greatly. And of course, I loved Sazh since the beginning xD

Sorry I meant "You say that Tales battle system is the way to go".

You're all smoking crack.

This new system jams the real time and turn based combat into one, totally losing the finer points of either system. You have to input commands quickly as there is no pause between turns, but then you're left waiting for ages for your damn meter to charge.

Not only that, with no control over formation or positioning of your characters, they often wade right in the way of attacks while you jam buttons frustrated that your meter is taking it's sweet time to kick in.

The combat is by far the worst thing about this game. They also haven't really updated their overworld all that much, it feels no different to the GameCube Pokémon games. If it weren't for the characters and storyline, I would have followed the advice of trading it in by now.

You read it correctly, people. If your opinion varied from Dale's, you've gotta be smoking crack. Hmm... I wonder how it feels to be right when so many others are wrong. I'd probably not have many friends.

But seriously, Dale, you'd pretty bold to claim that FFXIII's battle system isn't successful. For once, level grinding is actually fun because of all the little tricks in combat you learn while you're CP farming. And I haven't smoked crack for at LEAST 5 months so I think I'm sober enough to have a valid opinion.

Well, in all honesty, I actually did just get done smoking crack.

Rhonda?

I'm terribly sorry, fadeoutagain2784, I didn't realise we weren't allowed to have subjective opinions. I'll fill out my application to join the hive mind immediately. :)

I appreciate that Square Enix try new things each time around, but I really don't find this implementation all that fun. As I outlined above, it really doesn't feel all that involving - you're jamming buttons like a maniac one second, waiting the next. At no point do you feel like you're really responsible for the cool animations on screen.

"You have to input commands quickly as there is no pause between turns, but then you're left waiting for ages for your damn meter to charge."

I've found your problem.

Don't rush to input your commands, because you don't actually have to. You've gotta wait for the ATB to fill anyway - use that time to choose your commands.

Not only does this give you time to think, but it also gives you a tactical advantage with area-affect moves, as their effectiveness will be based on the location of your target, which will be constantly changing. By choosing your target just before the ATB fills, you'll get the best results. (Also, the auto-command moves will change depending on which enemy your targeting, and how close they are to other enemies - so again, only select the target just before the ATB fills completely.)

Basically, you're playing the game wrong, and then complaining that it's not as fun as it should be. ;]

"You have to input commands quickly as there is no pause between turns, but then you're left waiting for ages for your damn meter to charge."

You know, after playing through most of the game myself, that line alone makes it sound like you have not played through any of the game. It doesn't take ages to fill it unless you have it set to charge slow instead of normal, or if an enemy has cast the spell "slow" on a party member. Otherwise it moves pretty fast and keeps things intense.

This is the same ATB system they've always used, only now you can stack attacks or execute them individually (like in the past). You don't have to wait for it to fill up the entire gauge if you don't want to.

Aside from being able to stack commands, how is this (FF13's ATB) any different from the system used in FF7?

@Hyams: Thanks for not being a dick. I will try taking a calmer approach to combat. I still don't think it's going to make it more fun - just less frantic. It would be nice if the game explained that pacing a little better. The tutorials are extremely vague, they just explain the general concept and leave you to it.

I still don't think the combat system is that great - I don't like the bizarre mash-up of turn based and real time. One or the other would be totally cool, although the latter would definitely inject more interaction between all the cutscenes.

I'm trying to post a nicer response, but it keeps getting filtered to the "Thank you" message. I'll keep trying for now. In the meantime, sorry if I came off sounding rude.

Not at all, @sonicspike41. Even when I make vitriolic comments, I like to hear the other side. I haven't touched an FF game since X so I clearly ain't as well versed in the franchise as everyone else.

Since Joystiq is acting weird and not letting me post the message as is, here's an image of the message instead!

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7910/messageby.png

I'm with you Dale. I agree that the battle system isn't that great. However, I didn't care for the FFX battle system either. I dislike the fact that you lose control of your other characters as well. But whatever, the music is great... heh.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? HOW DARE YOU HOLD AN OPINION OTHER THAN THAT OF THE MARJORITY!? FINAL FANTASY XIII IS THE GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME! JUST LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF OUR MASTER, BASEMENT DWELLER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-uTnqYHZ-I

/Sarcasm

It will be a Dreamcast 2 exclusive!

Well put me down for a preorder!

I just want them to remake Final Fantasy VI.

Agreed an HD remake of FFVI would be amazing.

Wouldn't sell as well as 7 though.

Um... haven't they already?
http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-VI-game-boy-advance/dp/B000LY4IDK/ref=dp_cp_ob_vg_title_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1269304996&sr=8-4

That's true, Ghen, but if I don't get my FFVI remake I will punch everyone at Squeenix in the face.

@DBuck_Eye: That didn't stop the FF IV remake on the DS, why should this be different?

I want a Moonwalker HD remake.

I just want them to make new FFs in the vein of VII & IX. I loathed VIII to the point where I almost didn't bother with IX, but thank goodness I did. Ever since having played VIII, and seeing the direction they took with X and beyond just got me to lose all interest in the series. I picked up XIII and wanted to give it a chance, but I'm hours in and have done nothing but run forward and press X for the most part. As much as I thought the Heavy Rain demo was godawful, I think I'd rather almost be playing that at this point than XIII.

It pains me that 6 gets so little love when it was absolutely one of the highlights of the whole franchise. I promise that the bulk of people that don't talk about this game during FF discussions most likely didn't play it. HD FFVI > HD FFVII though ffVII will sell out in no time I'm sure if they remake it. I just hope they don't put it on DS. DS is great but they'll get WAY more sales if it comes to consoles.

@MJ Have you seen the opening to FF4 on DS?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT12DW2Fm9M
I'd love to see both 4 and 6 remade on a current gen console. Hell, anything before 7.
@Markez OMG, those are my exact feelings regarding the series. SE lost the original developers and it shows. All these Meg Ryan /Leonardo Dicaprio shotas running around talking about their problems is just purgatory. Testuya Nomura cannot tell a proper story to save his life.

Dbuck: how is that a remake? It's just a port.

I'm with you. FFVI is the best game in the entire series and its a shame it gets overlooked whenever discussion of remakes come up.

Since it's "tough to do in HD" maybe we can expect a PSP or DS remake, if they are "exploring platforms" then maybe a PS3/360 version with a PS3 version only in Japan and a PS3/360 for the rest of the world. Or maybe for the Wii just for the lulz.

As much as I like the DS, it's kinda unrealistic to expect that (besides hardware limitations, I doubt Sony would let go that biiig pile of cash), so that's out of the question. So, I think the most pausible options are PSP, PS3 and mayyyybe 360.

YEAH!!!!

I see your "YEAH!" and raise you a F*** YEAH!

I wonder if people are going to start flipping out and stuff, and then he reveals it's something like FFVII on the iPhone, with no added features and a ton of lag.

That would be funny. And heartbreaking.

iPhone.. old news.. exclusive to iPad..
Final Fantasy VII HD Touch

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Square Enix CEO: We're 'going to explore the possibility' of Final Fantasy VII remake

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