Day 2 of E3 and SQUARE ENIX Presents are continuing to treat us with developer interviews. Ichiro Hazama sat down with them today to discuss his latest project, FINAL FANTASY VII G-BIKE. The free-to-play iOS/Android game is based off of the popular G-Bike minigame from FINAL FANTASY VII. While he stressed that the game was still in a very early stage of development, he did share a few interesting details. Read on!
Q. Can you give us a quick introduction about the game and its conception?
A. Fans always get excited about FFVII and we received a lot of positive feedback about FFVII themed stages in Theatrhythm. So I've always wanted to do something more with FFVII. I went to Shinji Hashimoto and pitched this idea and that's where the project began. We've just started production of the game, what's in the trailer is the basis of what the game is about.
Q. How will the game play?
A. It has been likened to Endless Runner, though it's not supposed to be like Endless Runner. Courses are set, and players will chase down the courses trying to complete objectives - some objectives are to try and effeciently beat enemies or get to a goal as fast as possible while avoiding obstacles. It's all about the thrill of the chase.
Q. How much of the original FFVII content will be in the game, and where does it take place in the FFVII timeline?
A. The game happens during the events of FFVII, but the design goal is not to incorporate the story into this game. It's just about having fun, so we're not too focused on tieing the game into the FFVII story. We do want to incorporate elements of FFVII's gameplay though, like materia and weapons that appeared in that game. We would also love to incorporate characters from FFVII because we want to bring out the nostalgia of the game.
Q. What sort of customisation options can we expect beyond weapons and materia. Can we customise the bike for example?
A. We would love to have different types of bikes. Though we have to consider how these items will function practically in terms of the thrill of the chase, we don't just want things to look fancy - we want them to have a purpose.
Q. Being a free to play game, can we expect purchasable content such as courses etc?
A. Yes. After it's released we would like to continue to support it with updates.
Q. Will FFVII music be in this title?
A. Yes, I also worked on Theatrhythm, and it's very important to me to showcase the music from FFVII as much as possible.
Q. What type of enemies can we expect to see?
A. We want to assign enemies appropriate to the area the course is set in. The Midgar Highway will feature a lot of Shinra guards etc. We want to incorporate as many enemies as possible from the game. We want each course to remind you of moments from the game.
Q. It sounds like FFVII fans will really enjoy this, what can people less familiar with FFVII expect?
A. This is why we put G-Bike on the mobile platform, as a free to play game, so there's no obligation to purchase first. We want it to be enjoyable and easy to pick up for first time players. Hopefully it will inspire them to check out the wider FFVII and FF universe.
Q. What will be the biggest attraction in this game?
A. First and foremost we want this to feel like a FFVII game. We want the game to feel as fun as the G-Bike mini-game in FFVII. If you feel the thrill of the chase all over again, then we've done our jobs.
FINAL FANTASY VII G-BIKE will be releasing on iOS and Android sometime in the future.
An Interview with Ichiro Hazama, producer of FINAL FANTASY VII G-BIKE - #E32014
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