Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth launched recently, and fans are thoroughly enjoying the new take on an age-old classic. The best part about this new game is that it did not just upgrade the visuals of the original game; it even gave people involved in the original title a chance to tell this story in a different manner.
Sometimes, technical limitations or time constraints introduce some limitations for the developers. Due to this, they are not able to shape their stories the way they had imagined. If the lead writer of the original Final Fantasy 7 is to be believed, one aspect of the game was misinterpreted by the fans of that title. Now with Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, he has a chance to present the story in a better way.
Kazushige Nojima reveals how he improved the game’s story with Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth
In 1997, when PlayStation owners got their hands on Final Fantasy 7, that game was unlike anything they had played before. Its story, music, cinematics, characters—everything was top-notch. It looked like Square Enix took full advantage of the CD drive that came attached to Sony’s console back then.
After it received critical acclaim and became a commercially successful title, the developers continued with similar titles. And years later, they once again outdid themselves with Final Fantasy X. Once gaming entered the HD era with the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, fans started wondering if Final Fantasy VII would return. This question came after that infamous CGI showcase.
Square Enix wanted to show what was possible with PS3, so they rendered a CGI cutscene from Final Fantasy VII with incredible visuals. After years of fans asking them for a remake, Square Enix announced not one but three remakes, which would launch in an episodic manner.
This way, the writers and director would be able to tell that story in a better way. That’s what Kazushige Nojima, the writer of the original, got hyped about. He suggested that fans had misinterpreted the relationship between Aerith and Tifa in the original. With the remakes, he had a chance to change that opinion.
“Around the time that we finished making the original Final Fantasy 7, a senior programmer turned to me and said, ‘It sure seems like Aerith and Tifa don’t like each other, don’t you think?’ I was shocked to hear this, as they had obviously been on an amazing journey together and formed a close friendship because of it. But once I asked myself if I had really conveyed that part of their relationship, I found that I wasn’t too confident. Not only were there not enough specific scenes to convey this, but there also wasn’t enough dialogue that hinted at their friendship. I regretted this for a long time.”
It seems like these remakes happened for a bunch of good reasons, and one of them was to give Kazushige Nojima the opportunity to fix what he did not like in the first title.
There’s still one more installment left for this trilogy of remakes; let’s see what changes the developers and the writers decide to bring to that title.
Remakes are a good way for developers to fix their original games
Nowadays, remakes are becoming very common. While most developers try not to change the core essence of their games, they often try to fix some glaring issues with the original. For example, with Dead Space Remake, EA Motive changed that awful 3D map into a more functioning 2D one.
On the other hand, Resident Evil 4 Remake allowed players to walk while aiming and also gave them the ability to perform stealth kills. Let’s hope video game developers keep on bringing their games to new-gen consoles with improved mechanics.
