In ANN's exclusive interview, the team behind Final Fantasy VII Rebirth reveals the wildest fan theories, streamlining its technical aspects, and what they think of the mixed reactions to its conclusion.
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I have a question for Kitase-san as well. With reports that the Remake game sales underperformed, are there plans to change the console exclusivity window for the next installment of Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy?
Yoshinori KITASE: Regarding the strategy of the [console] release, there's sort of nothing we can comment on regarding that. But overall, we are looking forward to more players enjoying and playing this title. So we wish for that to happen.
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In the May version of the Inside Square Enix video, Endo-san stated he wanted to give the player even more freedom in the third installment. Can you share some of the ideas the staff are implementing to do this?
Teruki ENDO: While I'm unable to comment on granular details of that right at this moment, I believe that instead of the developers or the creators dictating how the players should play along a pre-planned path, so to speak, it's better to allow more freedom and the user's choice to be able to play in their own way that they wish to.
While naturally, there are challenges to actually realizing that, and when you go into making that a reality, my thoughts are also that for the Final Fantasy series to continue to reinvent itself, to revitalize itself, and stay fresh to our players, this type of constant evolution is necessary in terms of the battle elements as well. So, those are the underlying thoughts I had while making that comment.
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What is the wildest fan theory you've seen about the trilogy so far?
[Everyone laughs.]
Naoki HAMAGUCHI: After the panel yesterday, we were chatting with the voice actors over dinner, and this exact topic came up, funnily enough. We were talking about Chadley, which is that character who supports Cloud in Rebirth. And we were talking about how, like, some people think that he's actually evil and will turn out to be the last boss in the final title. We were cracking up about that.
Yoshinori KITASE: I don't know if this is something unexpected or anything, and I guess there's not really a specific thing or theory that I can comment on right now. But we do hear a lot of players' different conjectures, saying, "Oh, how much will this story change from the original?" And I do want to comment that I don't think that's how it will be.
We've always kept the original in mind, and I don't think it's going to be a storyline that will betray the fans of the original [game]. But also, at the same time, [it's] been 27 years since the release of the original Final Fantasy VII. There are these things that we feel we can only do now in the remake project that can bring a new sort of feeling of satisfaction to the players playing this game now 27 years later. What this will entail exactly is something we hope players will experience soon.
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The end of Rebirth remakes one of the most famous cut scenes in video game history for new audiences. Some reactions post-game included confusion over how to interpret the new development of this scene. What reaction was the staff hoping to garner from players, and what message did you want? Or do you have a comment for players who feel this new version of events is confusing or unsatisfying?
Naoki HAMAGUCHI: So, when I was play-tested this game and went through run-throughs countless numbers of times, I thought that players who were going to play Rebirth were going to have various perspectives and thoughts about the ending.
We had already announced from the beginning that this remake series would be a trilogy. So when we considered releasing three titles, of course, there will be some time between releasing one to two and two to three. I also discussed how we want the community [to interact] while they're waiting for that next installment.
Kitase-san and I were also discussing this, but we thought it's very enjoyable for the community to have something very worthy of intense discussion, like "What is really going on here?" That was something we wanted and expected going into creating this scene. In terms of the experience we anticipated and also desired, I think we are satisfied in that there are both negative or positive reactions to this scene.
Yoshinori KITASE: Also, to add to this and offer an alternate perspective, when discussing the scenario with [Tetsuya] Nomura and [Kazushige] Nojima, we were also talking about how in the original, it's showing Cloud's perspective, [his] feeling of immense loss, of losing someone that you love and having this hole in your heart. When considering how to depict this in the Remake series, we also thought about not only expressing this loss of someone who means so much to you but also this sense of a person experiencing loss, being unable to force [yourself to] forget this person and almost like, an inability to accept it—struggling with the possibility of losing someone. So that was something we wanted to show in Rebirth.
Regarding the original, its [first disc] ends with that huge loss. And I recall some people not even wanting to continue playing and changing over to disc two because they didn't want to play anymore because of that. It's such a huge feeling of loss and despair, but I do think there's a synchronization of feelings between the players and Cloud, struggling with "How do I deal with this feeling?" The feeling of loss and how a person struggled to take that on was happening. We imagined the players of [
Rebirth] would also have that synchronous feeling.
Un autore fa quel che vuole con la sua opera, figurati una che rifai da zero migliorando le cose (dal loro punto di vista). Ribadisce il fatto che non cambierà nulla, ma che fanno ciò che non ptevano fare 27 anni fa. VENTISETTE anni fa. Non so se è chiara sta cosa. Ed è bellissimo che possano farlo. 