Final Fantasy VII Remake Director Says It 'Wasn't Easy' to Keep the Plot Intact - News
by William D'Angelo , posted 1 day ago / 3,442 Views
Final Fantasy VII Revelation director Naoki Hamaguchi in an interview with Edge magazine says it "wasn't easy" for him to keep the plot intact from the original game.
He revealed the entire plot structure was planned back when development on Final Fantasy VII Remake was first started. While new details were added to each game, it was important to maintain the main story.
"We haven’t altered the core of the story based on reactions at any given time," said Hamaguchi (via VideoGamesChronicle). "It feels as though we’ve built up each title one by one without wavering from the central theme we established at the very start of the Remake series."
He added, "I felt it was absolutely essential to avoid turning a masterpiece like Final Fantasy VII into something that felt like my own personal fan project."
Many of the original game's creators were available through the development of the remake trilogy, which allowed him to "move the story forward by discussing and confirming details" with them. This was to ensure they gave their blessing to the overall direction to the remakes.
"The real challenge wasn’t simply incorporating elements that differed from the original or introducing new interpretations," said Hamaguchi. "It was constantly asking ourselves whether what we were creating could truly be called Final Fantasy VII."
Final Fantasy VII Revelation will launch for the Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Microsoft Store on April 8, 2027.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
More Articles
great game, fantastic story, im glad this is finally coming to an end. the original is still one of my all time favorites
Agreed. I’ve played the first part so far, and I did enjoy it quite a lot.
As far as my FF fandom goes, I’m generally only a fan of the even number Final Fantasy games out of the first 10, FF7 is the exception to that rule… and Tactics (which was a fantastic spinoff). And the original game was industry changing, it felt like it was the beginning of a quick end to the RPG import industry, and instead near everything got official releases by the Wii/DS/PS3 generation
"I felt it was absolutely essential to avoid turning a masterpiece like Final Fantasy VII into something that felt like my own personal fan project." Wait.... that's exactly what it felt like for Nomura, he literally imported the Heartless into it! He's not the one saying it so...
Which story? FF7's or FF7 Remake's? They aren't the same.
FF7 Remake....
The game everyone wanted, but also the "game" nobody asked for.
…except for tall the people who did ask for it once it was unveiled. Millions of people, and even more than that for people (like myself) who wanted it on their platform of choice; particularly those who wanted it on the Switch, but didn’t get it until Switch 2 for technical reasons.
But after playing through the remake and rebirth you can tell they added a lot more story and gameplay that felt like it made the game drag on more than it needed to. And that they split the game into 3 games. That's what I meant by the remake nobody asked for. It wasn't about what platform of choice either.
I still enjoy FF7 remake and rebirth, and played the hell out of both, but I can tell it's not the same FF7. RE2 remake is a great example of how it's done, and it will becoming to Switch 2 :)
As far as a single game goes, has there ever been a more obvious and egregious attempt to monetize gamers? lol
In what way? Each one of the FF7 Re games are about 100GB. It's an epic, it honestly makes sense to split up in 3 games. Original was 3 discs. Trying to adapt that game to modern visuals and standards is exactly what they needed to do. One can disagree with story changes but I don't see how it's the most monetized game ever. You have tens of thousands of mobile games and AAA games that ask you to constantly spend money to do anything. Remember Battlefront II? You practically had to sink your money in MTX to do anything in that game and a lot of that money was spent on RNG Loot boxes. Fortnite has cheap cash grab tie ins with zero substance. There was SE's All the Bravest game. Pay for every character.
Adjust for inflation that's a 104 bucks for one game. I like FF7 a lot but it's also 30 years old and looks old as shit. Would you want to watch the silent era film or a good modern remake? Younger audiences probably opt for the one not using PS1 archaic visuals. You can't survive making stuff to a shrinking aging audience only.
If it's a legendary film like FF7 is a game, yes, I would want to watch the original silent movie over a remake. I mean, FF7 changed the industry and re-invented the wheel. Why would I want to play an imitation of it? For better controls? Graphics? Newer music? If I want that, I'll play a new game.
FF7 did not reinvent anything. It just made something more popular in the west. Nintendo had deeper stories in Fire Emblem with dragon fucking of all things. FF7 owes about everything to Wizardry series. 1933 King Kong is a legendary film but it's easier to watch the 1976 remake for younger people of an era. Remake series is not an imitation. Sounds like you didn't play at all and just whining about something you didn't even play.. You don't seem to know what imitation means. Again you just seem hung up waaah all new is bad old only good with about everything in gaming. FF7RE series expands the characters. Adds more depth to them makes the world more living and breathing. You're over 40. Not everything new has you as the target audience. New TMNT TV shows is not aimed at me who grew up with the 80s turtles. It aimed at a different group and that is ok. Nostalgia is a poison when blind. Take off the goggles and stop drinking the poison.
Remakes can add anything they want, every single bell and whistle imaginable. But as far as I'm concerned, when you add, you subtract, because the further you go, the further away from the original you get.
I do not want a new version of the Mona Lisa with higher cheek bones, better contrast ratio, and refreshed colors. I want the original. I want the real deal.
Well yeah, I can think of numerous examples. For starters that’s a brand or series that branches out of a trunk their project into multiple releases (including AAA games like Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed), any sports franchises with annual releases of virtually the same game with updates, any game that has a high ceiling/ceilingless micro transactions, games that are expansion heavy, games with subscription fees (like MMOs), or a combination of the bunch (like all those re-releases of Bethesda, Capcom games: Street Fighter 2 was ported and updated to SNES four times between 1992 and 1994 alone, while running an arcade version ), the entire arcade industry could fall under this as well, emptying impulsive children of their wallets without giving them the game.
The entire video game industry is built, from the ground up, on monetization strategies for its products. Many are more blatant than a simple trilogy (it’s three different games, not one, just one story. Xenosaga was the same). If gamers are willing to buy the products by the millions, then Square has absolutely succeeded in doing something correct for their business and for their customers. The point of business is prosperity.
Aside from the plot, I think the main issue is pacing. To make it into 3 games an awful lot of filler content was added. Also some things were out of tone. The game varies a bit too much between serious and the most silly things ever made.
I'm perfectly happy with FF7 port on Switch. No desire at all for stretching things out into 3 new remake games.
Which is why they decided not to. Still a great game though.
I mean, it would've been easier to maintain the plot if the Remake was one or two games, not 3.
