Examples of Damage Control in Gaming: The Renewed Compilation of Final Fantasy VII

An intoxicating air of excitement pervaded around the internet after Square Enix announced Final Fantasy VII Remake for PS4 at E3 last year. Over the years, the project had become a pipe dream for its fanbase after they vividly imagined how it could turn out after the PS3 E3 2005 tech demo over ten years ago. They soon realized Square Enix would have to make serious compromises thanks to today’s demanding technology; and upon seeing their difficulty in coming to grips with that (along with nearly all Japanese developers, really), they put that dream aside.

That explains why the reactions to its confirmation were so gleeful. Following that, though, it was tough to find anyone discussing the previous point: Going through with this on PS4 instead of PS3 didn’t eliminate the need for potential compromises.

Reality set in after its PlayStation Experience showing last December, when Square Enix confirmed it would arrive in multiple installments. Some initial excitement transformed into feelings of disappointment, confusion, and anger, as fans realized they weren’t receiving the remake they envisioned. Though the cover feature for the newest Game Informer issue is mostly about Final Fantasy XV, FFXVIIR was also briefly discussed with producer Yoshinori Kitase, who cleared up some confusion regarding this project — emphasis on “some.”

FFVIIR will be released through multiple instalments, but the release format won’t mimic, say, Telltale’s adventure game episode releases. The scope for each will be on par with one Final Fantasy XIII installment, whose main adventures provided at least 30 hours of content, going by the shortest title — Final Fantasy XIII-2. That’s good, since it means each release will include a substantial amount of content, and the more cynical among us may not feel the need to wait until the full series is complete before jumping into the saga. Keep in mind this doesn’t mean the remake will be a trilogy, which is how some selectively read it. Kitase didn’t mention precisely how many installments it will have, but expect more than three.

Final Fantasy VII’s scope would have been too much for Square Enix to handle in one installment, as anyone who’s been waiting for FFXV — or Final Fantasy Versus XIII — since 2006 can tell you. Keep in mind that game landed in development hell after its scope ventured into an apparently-unfathomable territory. Somewhat positively, dividing FFVII’s story into separate adventures gives the development team the chance to create new story additions and side quests, and give some characters (major or otherwise) more development. But that could go both ways, as teams tinkering with an older work can easily go awry.

Concerns about story alterations are legitimate, considering the criticism directed towards Square Enix after the handling of Cloud in various spinoffs — notably Advent Children and Dissidia. Though Kazushige Nojima, FFVII’s lead scenario writer, has returned for the remake, he also served the same role on AC. But that movie primarily existed so Square Enix could create a CG-animated fight between Cloud and Sephiroth, so it’s possible he didn’t put forth much effort there. Hopefully that’s not the case here, though.

That “effort” will definitely be necessary here, since Kitase mentioned how the team is very open to making serious changes, to maintain the element of surprise. While this could include the aforementioned further character development for those whose backgrounds weren’t fully explored (Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie for example), it was mentioned that the team wouldn’t be against including characters from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Sure, hearing about the fate of Crisis Core’s well-liked Turks member Cissnei would be fine, others who made jokes (not just me!) about the team somehow inserting Kadaj or Genesis may have knocked on wood a little too fiercely. This could also entail modifying entire plot points, an element they should handle very carefully. No one would want to imagine the severe backlash they would receive upon making too many changes.

However, fans might be more receptive towards changes to locations, or the addition of new ones. For the former: Not all of the original game’s low-poly environments can be transferred faithfully to today’s more impressive technology, while others could use more fleshing out. An example of this can be seen the Midgar areas shown in the PSX trailer, and if this is a reflection of how later areas will be handled, there should be no problems. The latter might be necessary if they’re serious about making installments whose scope will parallel the FFXIII titles, but they should make sure they inherit the spirit of the original title, like the areas that already exist.

There’s no way they will satisfy everyone with this remake — some still aren’t taking the changes to its battle system well, after all. But hopefully they’ve taken the time to give each installment a coherent narrative and cohesive gameplay experience. There’s no telling when the first title will release, or when this project will be shown again, but it should resurface sometime during this year. That could happen at E3, unless they feel its showcase could steal FFXV’s thunder before its September 30th release date. They’re likely aiming to release the first installment next year, in time for its 20th anniversary, but we’ll get a better picture of whether that happens depending on how polished it looks in its next showing.