Making Final Fantasy 7 in 1997 vs. is making the Final Fantasy 7 Remake in 2020

Look back to 1997 television advertisements because Final concept 7 now, and it's clear that the square had something to prove. The previously released CGI footage of the explosive dystopian city has given it a moviel-like gravitas over other games of the time. And Tony wanted the world to pay attention, convinced that publications like Wired, USA Today, and Playboy got their attention.

"When it came to Final Fantasy, it was nothing compared to today, but at the time it was quite a surprise," said Harold Goldberg, founder of the New York Video Game Critics Circle. Goldberg was one of the few journalists to see the show during an event in the media at the Hawaii office back in 1996, when he worked for Wired.

Looking at the real Final concept 7 by 2020 with new eyes that can leave many confused. This is the beloved game that defined a generation? The characters are mega Blok-style humanoids that use Midgar gray and mud. In contrast Final concept 6, its predecessor to Super Nintendo with good sprite functionality and 2D visuals, or Final concept 10, which comes later on the powerful PlayStation 2, FF7 stuck in a system where the 3D drawings were composable but held together by a tape duct.

"The character types were weird and ridiculous because of the restrictions we had on the number of igamesnewss and the amount of skeletons we could put into the character's body," said Yoshinori Kitase, the original game director and producer The final surprise 7 Remake, in an email chat.

"I was treating the character's handiwork to the cinematic scenes I made," adds Kitase. "At the time, the character models were still relatively simple, so we went with a comedy character."

Photo: Square Enix

It doesn't matter, FF7 it has left an inaccessible impact on his mature story, beloved characters, complex protagonist, and unforgettable music. "At the time of the original release, the Final Fantasy Franchise had no status in the Western market as it gained momentum," Kitase said. "As a result, we felt it was a new challenge and we had nothing to lose."

It is not uncommon for a director to help lead an original creation and re-emerge again after twenty years. Back in the 90s & # 39; s, Kitase and his team could have used the previously provided background and clever camera techniques; The level of immersion expected today has completely changed the design paradigm.

"The level of the cutscene department and the environment department has grown," said Naoki Hamaguchi, director-general The final surprise 7 Remake, in the same email conversation. The original footage, which was nothing more than a text discussion, has been redone as complete cutscenes, with overs of voice, camerawork, and movement. "That is why the size of the cutscene door has increased," continued Jauguchi. "In addition, with the backdrop now being offered in 3D – and players are now able to view it all with a 360-degree view – we needed to design and use the locations with the finest details."

For example, the group put a lot of focus and investment into the bus wars. It provided one designer to work in only one or two management battles, allowing them to put their full attention to this part of the design. This requires additional resources and developers, who can be present during the first game.

With Be warned, the team has created a new experience for players, stretching through the first five hours of Final concept 7 to 30 or more. Now, as the players run around, the characters will invade their thoughts and insults, making the world feel almost complete.

"We believe Be warned has become a game that will bring new discoveries even to people who already knew the story of Final concept 7, ”Said Bhutiguchi. That finding involves a great emotional connection between the character and the actor. In the beginning, it was impossible to bring out the faces without the cutscenes given earlier, so the team decided to use iconic characters with bold words to convey the feeling.

Photo: Square Enix

"It is also possible now to convey the sentiments of opponents by using facial expressions, such as in movies," said Jauguchi. "That is why the unveiling of the Sector 8 explosion serves as a great reminder to voice the frictions and problems they are facing."

(Best after the launch, some fans have criticized Square Enix for not mentioning it The final surprise 7 Remake as "Part 1" in its marketing, because it is part of the Final concept 7 The story, not the whole game. In a discussion of Polygon's email with Kitase and Hamaguchi on the subject, we asked why Plato Enix chose not to label the game this way, and whether the company perceived it to be misleading. We also asked about Plato Enix's plan to introduce the first entry in the multipart game series at the end of the console generation. Square Enix declined to answer these questions.)

Happy Last Series, until FF7, they have been releasing on Nintendo consoles, but in the mid-& # 39; 90s, Square decided to switch to Sony. When Nintendo opted to use flash chip cartridges based on the Nintendo 64, Sony went straight for discs. The PlayStation CD can hold up to 650 MB of data, the largest cartridges in 64 MB. However, the magnitude of Final concept 7

The size of The final surprise 7 Remake is the same size today, using two Blu-ray discs at 50 GB each.

"Mark Reactor at Be warned contains nine million aprons, ”said Bhutiguchi. "When you look at the difficulties that were operating 20 years ago, the level of presentation that we can achieve today is tens or even hundreds of times more than we could back then."

Not only visuals, story and music poured; The gameplay systems have been optimized, too. Final concept 7 it was a turn-based game in its original form, though Be warned uses the modern Active Time War (ATB) system. Instead of finding out that enemies and player take turns attacking each other, such as a board game, Be warned you have both sides charging with each other in real time. But there is a plot element: The game actually reduces the time to allow the player to choose a more powerful attack in the middle of their sword piercing, almost like a chess game.

Photo: Square Enix

This mode has annoyed some longtime fans who love the turn-based combat of the original game. To remedy this, Square Enix added "special" mode, but it's not entirely what fans were hoping for. Classic mode is a simple game mod, in which all sword attacks are done automatically. As the ATB player gap fills, they can choose from the menu and use special attacks.

"One way to think is that part of the & # 39; action war & # 39; help while the & # 39; ATB part of the battle & # 39;

Video game adaptation is a difficult effort paired with rose-tint nostalgia. There is pressure to please real fans while meeting modern demands. The balance needs to be struck between those two festivals, which may eventually leave some disappointed that it is not exactly the game they remember. And, in the same way that fans are lamenting the George Lucas & # 39; Star Wars movies, so have other protest decisions by Square Enix made The final surprise 7 Remake.

Kitase, Jadguchi, and the rest of the team decided to go down in a very different way to the first game. And unlike two decades ago, all major publications are now paying attention.