Why there will be no FFVII remake

[Sephex]

Taken from the Retronauts blog at 1up.

Sure, a remake would look nice, and wouldn't it be great to see all those iconic sequences and cutscenes with the same detailed visuals as Final Fantasy XIII? But play FFVII for a while with the maturity of 12 years later and you'll start to realize that those big setpieces -- from the medium-redefining opening zoom into Midgar to the sight of Sephiroth stepping through the flames as Cloud's hometown burns -- are only one part of what made FFVII so appealing. And those are the parts that have already been revisited to death through the likes of Advent Children and Crisis Core!

To be honest, FFVII was a damn weird game. It featured a number of sequences that were almost like a fever dream. Cloud getting dolled up as a girl, and competing in a bizarre homoerotic muscle competition -- possibly being molested while unconscious -- in order to max out his feminine appeal. The slapfight between Tifa and Scarlet atop the Junon Canon. (Hmm... I see a pattern of subconcious imagery beginning to emerge, here.) How about Red XIII comically walking on both legs on a rocking boat to the accompaniment of flat, synthesized tuba music? Or the random tactical defense of Fort Condor minigame? Or the bizarre decision to mourn Aerith's death with a snowboarding race? Or all the run-ins with the TURKS?

None of that stuff would fly in a more realistic-looking game. The drawback to more visual realism is that you expect characters to behave more, well, realistically. FFVII's squatty Popeye people could get away with all sorts of random behavior, because they were only a step removed from the simple midget sprites of FFVI. Give them realistic proportions and detailed facial expressions and suddenly you'll find that the idea of a talking robot cat on a giant stuffed moogle is a bit too far beyond the pale to really work. Heck, Square's really pushing it with FFXIII's Sazh, and he's just a guy with a baby bird in a his afro.

You know how people bellyache about the laughing scene in FFX? That would be nothing compared to what they'd say about a realistically-rendered Honeybee Manor. Yet without that undercurrent of anime-inspired surrealism, FFVII would be a dreary, self-serious game -- a lot like Advent Children, really -- and half of what made it so memorable to begin with would be lost in the march to someone's myopic definition of progress.

I must say that I agree. Mainly the part about how the game would not translate well to realistic graphics. Long before this article/blog was posted, I remember thinking that a lot of sequences in the game would look outright silly if the game looked like Advent Children or better.

I would like a remake, despite how much the market is oversaturated with FFVII products, but Square-Enix would have to severely alter or out right cut some parts of the game. I suppose they could make new filler material to even out the loss, but this would be the problem:

*If they change anything other than the graphics, rabid FFVII fanboys will storm the offices of Square-Enix, devouring their souls for all enternity. Great fire will rain down on Japan, and the aftermath will make Hiroshima seem like a day on the beach.

*If Squenix keeps everything the same despite how utterly ridiculous it will look, assuming the game looks like Advent Children, both FFVII fanboys and casual gamers will forced to deal with the fact that the remake is not all that it seems. Sure, there will be a good number of people that wouldn't mind this, but Squenix knows that a move like that will be looked upon harshly, and they don't want to risk it, despite how content they are with remaking other games.

Your thoughts?


SOURCE: 1UP's Retro Gaming Blog : Retro Roundup: Final Fantasy VII

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

It would work if, instead of going the realistic Advent Children route, the characters looked like Nomura's anime-esque designs circa 1997.





Perfect!!

[Sephex]

It would work if, instead of going the realistic Advent Children route, the characters looked like Nomura's anime-esque designs circa 1997.





Perfect!!

That would be interesting if they did that, but again, I really don't think Square-Enix has the balls. Plus, the last thing the game community needs is another lame outcry like when Windwaker was first shown to the public.

However, I do like your idea, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[musashius]

Futhermore, if it gets released on the Wii, no one would want to buy a squat rack peripheral for that one scene where you have to out-squat some guy in Wall Market.

[Sephex]

Futhermore, if it gets released on the Wii, no one would want to buy a squat rack peripheral for that one scene where you have to out-squat some guy in Wall Market.

I get what you are saying, but I was only making the Windwaker comparison for the sake of comparing Kishi's suggested art style.

[musashius]

I get what you are saying, but I was only making the Windwaker comparison for the sake of comparing Kishi's suggested art style.

I hear that. At this point, a remake of any sort will end up pissing at least some people off. The quote you posted makes valid points about a realistic style. And you're totally right about a "cartoony" art style, as well. I think they should just LEAVE FF7 ALONE

[Rostum]

Advent Children isn't realistic, by the way. It's still stylized anime, the shaders are more akin to realistic as well as the lighting (but the same could be said for The Incredibles). The original FF7 would still translate well into that style - look at Crisis Core, it worked fine there.

[Wolf Kanno]

Depends on who you ask, I think the full CGI cutscenes in CC were meh. I preferred the more cartoonish KH designs seen in the rest of the game over the realistic AC ones. To each their own I guess.

I agree that I feel the move to realism would be bad, but that's more of personal preference. Still, I feel a VII remake is inevitable, but I'm one of those guys who feels most of the series will get a remake eventually. I would prefer for a VII remake to keep the feel of the original and by that, stay with Nomura's anime style character designs and keep the world design decidedly more steampunk as opposed to the Compilation throwing in stuff that looks like it came out of VIII and XIII. I prefer the look of a world that has advanced in technology too soon rather than everything is high tech but grungy looking.

[musashius]

Still, I feel a VII remake is inevitable

I pretty much feel the same thing. They've "remade" all of the Final Fantasy's up to 6 now. I understand that some have been ports with CG movies, but still. I feel that an FF7 remake would not surprise me, but at the same time I'm assuming they would go for a more "realistic" style simply because all the spinoffs have pretty much gone in that direction.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Advent Children isn't realistic, by the way. It's still stylized anime, the shaders are more akin to realistic as well as the lighting (but the same could be said for The Incredibles). The original FF7 would still translate well into that style - look at Crisis Core, it worked fine there.

Aside from the squatting (which I was glad to see return), Crisis Core still didn't have anything on FFVII's surreal wackiness.

[IronOcean]

I agree with everyone really, as i was playing this game yesterday i was wondering how it would go over as a remake. All of the quirky shrugs, head grabs, and silly enviroments are what makes this game. AC didnt travel to any of these places that we wanted them to go but i dunno how any of it would work. Its a sad world then Golden Saucer is thrown in there in AC? woul dhave been terrible, but your right there will be one guess i will wait and see

[KentaRawr!]

Futhermore, if it gets released on the Wii, no one would want to buy a squat rack peripheral for that one scene where you have to out-squat some guy in Wall Market.

I know I am late, but the Wii is perfectly capable of reading squats, as shown by Warioware!

[ReloadPsi]

I'm gonna say it again: Cloud getting naked in a bath with eight gay porn stars in FFXIII's graphics. Christ, I'm bisexual and I don't even wanna see that.

[ZeZipster]

Hmmm, it is sounding pretty unrealistic when you put it like that. I hope they don't tease us again with PS4 tech demo.

[Shiny]

I want to see Mukki in new generation graphics damnit!