FFVII development background (long read)

[Ceb]

Here are some translated snippets from a very nice (and long) article on FFVII featured in the premier issue of LEVEL (relaunch of Swedish mag RESET):

- Kitase was 24 years old when he started working at Square. His first job was scenario-writing for Seiken Densetsu (the GB mana). He was soon hand-picked by Sakaguchi to work on FF.

- Nomura turned 21 that year and came from a commercial school where he had studied design and illustration. The characters from FFIV were very popular at that time, and so they became sort of his reference point, and his dream was to create even stronger characters than those. He got the chance to do that when Amano stopped designing main characters, and Sakaguchi chose him to work on the next FF.

- By that time, Tetsuya Takahashi left his position as the series' art director and commenced working on the script that'd later turn into Xenogears. Yusuke Naora joined Square in the middle of FFVI's development, so he was surprised when Sakaguchi put him in charge of the next game's art direction.

- Nojima came to Square from Data East and was working on Bahamut Lagoon when Sakaguchi asked him if he wanted to help out with the FFVII script. Nojima had originally planned to take some time off after BL, but he couldn't resist working on FF.

Nojima: "I tried to gather new information every day. I hung out with people from the team, whether or not they were in the smoking area or the restroom, and asked them about just about everything."

Sakaguchi on Kitase: "When Kitase started working at Square, he told me that he had actually wanted to become a film director. I knew that he had studied film science and produced some short features of his own, so I was convinced that he was perfect for this role [as director].

Kitase on the team's inexperience: "This was Nojima's first FF, it was the first time Nomura was in charge of the character designs and the first time Naora led an own team of graphics artists. We were also working on a next-generation console format. There was a lot of nervosity involved, but also a great deal of curiosity and many heated emotions And I think we managed to convey all of this to the players. It became as exciting for them to play FFVII as it was for us to create it."

Kitase on FFVII's initial development: "Our first plans were interrupted, since we had to help out with Chrono Trigger, which had turned into a huge project. But as soon as we had done what we could with that game, we started over from the beginning with FFVII. And back then we were fully focused on the disk system that was gonna be released for the Nintendo 64 (the 64DD). We never actually received a working prototype, but we did everything according to the planned specifications." Nomura on experimenting with the N64 analog stick: "We had an idea about how you would be able to look around in the dungeons with the help of it, but we never really got further than that." Kitase: "We actually began work from the ground up on three separate occasions. First directly after FFVI, then again after Chrono Trigger, and finally when we decided that CD-ROM technology was going to be a necessity and that it would therefore be released on the PlayStation." Nomura: "But some of the ideas we had been discussing from the beginning are actually still intact in the finished game. And other ones, like Edea, ended up in FFVIII."

Naora on development tensions: "To tell the truth, there wasn't a lot of things we agreed on when development began. Sakaguchi and Kitase argued a lot about various details. And I didn't even want to make the game 3D. Kitase had been inspired by the game 4D Sports Boxing a couple of years earlier: "It looked so new a fresh, and I was convinced that this was the future." Naora remained skeptic: "I really couldn't imagine that anyone would be awed by crude polygon blocks. I had a whole different vision and it was two-dimensional." "But as soon as I got to the see first drafts of the 3D characters moving on the screen, I was extremely impressed. It was a completely new experience, it almost felt like the first time I played a game. In that moment, I realized that the third dimension really contributed something unique."

Kitase and Naora weren't the only ones involved in conflicts...

Nojima on creating characters together with Nomura: "Nomura didn't listen to me. It seemed as if he wasn't interested in my ideas at all." Nojima had also just come from a complicated co-op with the somewhat eccentric Motomu Toriyama: "When I started at Square, Toriyama taught me a lot. He always had advice on what to do if one was tired at work and wanted to slack off. Most people thought that the smoking room was a good place to run off to, but Toriyama had noted that many Square executives smoked, so you were never really safe there. There was however this park behind the office that no one used to pass through where you could really relax. Toriyama was a specialist at that kind of knowledge, and he also had a very different way of working." "When we did Bahamut Lagoon together I realized that at first, he often seemed to listen to other people's opinions, only to later change precisely everything to get it the way he wanted." Nomura confesses: "I can't recall that Nojima and I ever sat down to discuss either characters or scenarios." Nojima: "We were situated very far from each other at the office. To be completely honest, I didn't even know who Nomura was out of all the employees. The question is if we were ever even introduced to each other."

- The look for FFVII was finalized after Square had created a graphics demo for SIGGRAPH.

- They had experimented with pre-rendered backgrounds in FFVI, but now that they had CD-ROM tech at their disposal, they knew it was feasible to build the entire game around backgrounds like that. CG cutscenes also became a possibility, so lots of new staff was hired and the budget shot up.

- Before coming to this conclusion, they had been experimenting with 2D characters on a 3D background (instead of the opposite). This tech got used in Xenogears instead.

One of the biggest obstacles was Sakaguchi's story...

Kitase: "His ideas were extremely hard to realize. They were so abstract, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced in a game before."

- Going from Sakaguchi's original script, Kitase came up with the concept of the Lifestream. Then it was passed along to Nojima, who was supposed to compile their visions and scenarios into a working script.

Nojima: "I tried to incorporate all of their ideas, but some parts I just had to leave out. It was amazingly difficult and demanding work like I had never done before."

Nomura and Nojima continued to work together in their special way...

- Nomura sat in another part of the office, surrounded by countless sketches. He changed his working hours according to his creative rhythm. He was often hard to communicate with during office hours.

Nojima: "But when I came into the office in the morning, there was often a drawing of a new character on my desk." Kitase: "It was almost like a silent agreement. When Nojima came to work, Nomura left, and the other way around."

Nomura: "My first assignment at Square was to design enemies for the battles in FFV, and when I got to read the game's script I didn't like the ending at all. I thought a lot about it and finally gathered up enough courage to explain to Sakaguchi how I felt. I presented a new alternative to him and the game actually received a new ending, based on my suggestion. Since then, I've always dared to say what I think and come up with ideas that aren't design-related. So when I'm asked to draw characters, it's natural for me to also contribute to their personalitites."

Kitase on Naora: "I was convinced that Naora would never hit it big. The first thing I saw him create was the city Zozo for FFVI, and he used a very dull color scale that separated itself from everything you connected with Japanese RPGs. What he did honestly looked like nothing else available for the SNES at that time. I didn't get it at all." Naora: "I was really into French comics back then. Also, Zozo was a city for criminals, so I really wanted to create a darker theme and probably enhanced that style additionally. But at the same time it's on purpose that I've always tried to utilize different colors." "I also thought a lot about the lighting. I tried to simulate the feeling of light in darkness rather than trying to pick a specific color. That put its mark on FFVI, and when we decided to make FFVII 3D the lighting got a much bigger importance before, which suited my style perfectly."

- FFVII was originally planned to take place in New York (!).

Nomura: "I still have the drawings to Sakaguchi's original story. Around that time, Cloud didn't even exist. We had a duo who were the heroes of the game. I remember that one of them had rivets on the outfit and that they were chased by the police." "The headlights and metropolitan feel are remains from our early interpretation of New York."

- Sakaguchi rewrote the script and the city turned into Midgar.

- Virtually everyone in the team really liked Sephiroth, and they added in as many scenes as possible with him into the script. Large parts of the story were developed around him.

- They were trying hard to make the characters feel like real people. Especially Cloud and Aeris received a lot of care in this area. Cloud got his weak side and Aeris was made as sort of a counterpoint to typical "strong" heroines like Jeanne d'Arc and Nausicaä. Her death was created to maintain this "real" feeling - because death and disease can hit unforgivingly suddenly.

*phew*

Lots of interesting stuff in there. You can extrapolate certain things in there and apply them to how development of FFXII probably was.

I never thought FFVII had two in-progress versions running on Nintendo hardware. Were they planning on releasing it for the SNES at first or what? The time gap to the N64's release was pretty significant, so surely they couldn't have been planning for that all along?

[acidviper]

I thought there was a german influence

[Cdammen]

...in the premier issue of LEVEL (relaunch of Swedish mag RESET)...

He he, Microsoft says hi ;)

Thanks Ceb! Was a good read. I think I'll go down to Pressbyrån and pick up a copy myself.

[ziran]

interesting read, thanks.

[TheKingsCrown]

That was a cool read. It is interesting to see what can happen when ideas run freely around each other and randomly. I still think this game was revolutionary for its day. I would like to compare it to perhaps half a Super Mario 64, but if I compare the two I will likely get thrown out of the forums.

Anyway, nice read.

[Chris Remo]

One of the biggest obstacles was Sakaguchi's story... Kitase: "His ideas were extremely hard to realize. They were so abstract, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced in a game before."

And, with that fateful moment, Japanese storytelling in games took a permanent turn towards the absurd...

[reminder]

Wow, thanks!
That was very interesting. :)

[Zaptruder]

And, with that fateful moment, Japanese storytelling in games took a permanent turn towards the absurd...

FF7 killed your mom. And you had a traumatic experience questioning your sexuality when Sephiroth was in the scene.

[MomoPufflet]

- FFVII was originally planned to take place in New York (!).

lol. Interesting read, thanks!

[Zweisy1]

Sakaguchi on Kitase: "When Kitase started working at Square, he told me that he had actually wanted to become a film director. I knew that he had studied film science and produced some short features of his own, so I was convinced that he was perfect for this role [as director].

Unfortunately, that really shows in Kitase's games.

[Ceb]

Unfortunately, that really shows in Kitase's games.

Unfortunately (for sane people), people always tend to forget about the (crude) story cutscenes present in FFIV and FFVI (FFV is like a haze to me, so I'm not gonna mention that - whoops, too late!).

[Zweisy1]

Unfortunately (for sane people), people always tend to forget about the (crude) story cutscenes present in FFIV and FFVI (FFV is like a haze to me, so I'm not gonna mention that - whoops, too late!).

FFVI is directed by Kitase... FFIV and V had rather quick and brief story scenes. V in particular.
Kitase's games are just ridiculously cutscene heavy.. not only talking about FMVs but real time cutscenes too. The tedious beginning of FFX is a good example.

[Ceb]

FFVI is directed by Kitase...

Yeah, I know. I just assumed you were one of those "FF games turned into movies on the PlayStation!!11!" people. Fair enough, you're entitled to your own opinion.

[TheJollyCorner]

FFVI is directed by Kitase... FFIV and V had rather quick and brief story scenes. V in particular. Kitase's games are just ridiculously cutscene heavy.. not only talking about FMVs but real time cutscenes too. The tedious beginning of FFX is a good example.

oh boo-fucking-hoo. The man prefers to emphasize story- is that really such a problem?

Go play D&D or something...

Ceb-
great read! Thanks for supplying that. :)
FFXIII can't come soon enough.

[soundwave05]

So FF7 did indeed start off as an N64 project ... it's funny, the decision to not use any type of CD-ROM at all in the N64 just seems worse and worse even 12 years after the fact.

I'm not saying Nintendo should've ditched carts, but they could've made a cart/CD system system like Sega did with the Saturn (although Sega rarely used the cartridge slot).

If I had to guess ... I would say Squaresoft, realizing the project would require CD-ROM switched the game to the Playstation platform at some point in early-mid 1995, after tinkering with an N64 version for a few months.

By November 1995, at Shoshinkai ... many people expected to see "Final Fantasy 64" (FFVII), but Yamauchi only discussed Dragon Quest VII which was for the 64DD at that time. So the switch almost definitely happened before that.

[Raven.]

FFVI is directed by Kitase... FFIV and V had rather quick and brief story scenes. V in particular. Kitase's games are just ridiculously cutscene heavy.. not only talking about FMVs but real time cutscenes too. The tedious beginning of FFX is a good example.

You do know this is an rpg, right? Random/NonRandom encounters are fine so as to see new enemies try out new attcks/spells, etc, but they shouldn't be the main focus of the game. I know it's fun to mindlessly hack away at countless enemies or travel through endless dungeons, but one also has to learn something, experience something that stimulates the intellect.(For those that find these stories silly/pointless, you must remember there is always a deeper layer of meaning, even in the most seemingly trivial of writings.)

[jenov4]

Thanks for the summaries. Definitely some kickass insider info from it. I didn't realize these guys were so young when they were hired to work on FF7. Amazing!

[jett]

That was a pretty damned awesome article...so many interesting things in there.

Unfortunately, that really shows in Kitase's games.

The only thing it shows is that as a film director he'd starve to death, going by FFX's real-time cut-scenes. :P

[bengraven]

Fantastic read, but I was hoping it would finally solve the nearly ten year old debate: did Cloud love Aerith or Tifa more?!

[solid2snake]

"close this thread or else..."

[Zweisy1]

The only thing it shows is that as a film director he'd starve to death, going by FFX's real-time cut-scenes. :P

You are completely right.. got me there.

ou do know this is an rpg, right? Random/NonRandom encounters are fine so as to see new enemies try out new attcks/spells, etc, but they shouldn't be the main focus of the game. I know it's fun to mindlessly hack away at countless enemies or travel through endless dungeons, but one also has to learn something, experience something that stimulates the intellect.(For those that find these stories silly/pointless, you must remember there is always a deeper layer of meaning, even in the most seemingly trivial of writings.)

Too many and too long cutscenes just usually ruin the flow of the game. I actually have a soft spot for GOOD storytelling in games. You just dont see that very often.. there a few ones such as games written by Tim Schafer or Chris Avellone. And Team Ico's minimalistic storytelling is wonderful.

[sky]

Very interesting, always neat to hear what goes on behind the scenes...

Toriyama taught me a lot. He always had advice on what to do if one was tired at work and wanted to slack off....There was however this park behind the office that no one used to pass through where you could really relax. Toriyama was a specialist at that kind of knowledge,"

[inthezone]

I would like to see a development background for FFXII. SOmething must have happened there...

[silenttwn]

You do know this is an rpg, right? Random/NonRandom encounters are fine so as to see new enemies try out new attcks/spells, etc, but they shouldn't be the main focus of the game. I know it's fun to mindlessly hack away at countless enemies or travel through endless dungeons, but one also has to learn something, experience something that stimulates the intellect.(For those that find these stories silly/pointless, you must remember there is always a deeper layer of meaning, even in the most seemingly trivial of writings.)

Forcefeeding us a story through overly long cutscenes is not roleplaying.

[JayDubya]

Fantastic read, but I was hoping it would finally solve the nearly ten year old debate: did Cloud love Aerith or Tifa more?!

It was purposefully up to debate / player decision, and Advent Children deliberately didn't rock the boat on that issue. That's fairly cool, honestly, the whole affinity rating thing between Cloud and the girls, an interesting dimension of choice to add into a Final Fantasy game.

By default, you date Aerith / Cloud has higher Aerith affinity / Cait Sith says they're "a perfect match," so take from that what you will.

Of course, it's worth noting that Aerith is as dead as a doorknob, Aerith probably had a thing for Cloud because he was just an imprint of her missing boyfriend Zack, Cloud had a childhood crush on Tifa, and Tifa had a longstanding crush on Cloud, I'd like to think that after the ending of FFVII, or I suppose now AC, that Cloud would let go of Aeris and forgive himself for her death and just be happy with Tifa.

Forcefeeding us a story through overly long cutscenes is not roleplaying.

Stats and cutscenes with a few branching choices are the only means for a console to simulate tabletop, the only "true" roleplaying. Cutscenes and dialogue are the only way for the developers to tell a decent story - I don't see what you'd rather have them do.

Perhaps you mean egregiously long cutscenes that allow little interaction or player input between additional cutscenes? That can get annoying, of course. I don't think Final Fantasy has ever been particularly bad in this area, though - Metal Gear Solid 2 and Xenosaga are probably the worst offenders. I never considered FFX to be over the line in terms of "too many cutscenes."

[Lindsay]

I didn't realize these guys were so young when they were hired to work on FF7.

That explains the angst.

[JayDubya]

That explains the angst.

Yes, the sweet, sweet angst. What is it about angsty Japanese writers in the mid '90s and the Kaballah anyway? =P

FFVII, Xenogears, and Neon Genesis Evangelion all in a short span of years, all with cryptic religious references, all with mindfragged protagonists, all high in quality but low in the sense-making department (unless you replay and rewatch and make sense of it yourself).

[Snaku]

Very interesting, always neat to hear what goes on behind the scenes...

Made me laugh too.

[Leidenfrost]

That explains the angst.

I seem to remember that Sakaguchi's mother died while the game was in planning. That could be apocryphal, however.

[Snaku]

Forcefeeding us a story through overly long cutscenes is not roleplaying.

FFVI didn't have overly long cutscenes. FFX? Guilty as charged, I agree.

[JayDubya]

The whole "originally set in New York" thing seems to indicate that Sakaguchi's original story became The Spirits Within, especially given the Meteor / Lifestream like elements in that film.

[CO_Andy]

I want more!

[firex]

I didn't see any mention of the famous gay orgy where they all did blow off each other's ass crack. Supposedly that's where the whole Honeybee Inn segment came from.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

very interesting...

i'm suprised those behind-the-scenes details were leaked because the japanese are so damn private about everything. and that's a very confessional bit of info right there ... one day i hope they'll shed light on what really happened with the FFXII staff

[Himuro]

stuff

ARE YOU THAT GUY FROM SQUARE GAMER

Ward thinks I invited you to gaf!

[tapedeck]

Very interesting read. Made me think of my old Gamefan issue that had the early "Ultra 64" pics of FFVII that had FFVI filler characters in it. There was bahamut summon sequence they were running IIRC.

[Leidenfrost]

Very interesting read. Made me think of my old Gamefan issue that had the early "Ultra 64" pics of FFVII that had FFVI filler characters in it. There was bahamut summon sequence they were running IIRC.

The really interesting thing about that demo, in my opinion, was that the mechanics ran on mouse-gestures.

...

...this is going to start a Wii speculation thread, isn't it?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

^ that was just a little tech demo on an onyx graphics engine. they didn't have any of the character designs finalized so they used FFVI characters. back then FFVII was "planned for the Ultra 64" so the press automatically assumed that it was a preliminary version of it

[neptunes]

Heh, didn't realize Nojima and Nomura didn't like each other.

now I think they've made amends, with Advent Children and all.

[genjiZERO]

wow super awesome read. I just love hearing stories about how games are made.

[JayDubya]

ARE YOU THAT GUY FROM SQUARE GAMER

Erm, yes.

The really interesting thing about that demo, in my opinion, was that the mechanics ran on mouse-gestures. ... ...this is going to start a Wii speculation thread, isn't it?

Heh, I doubt it. The new Crystal Chronicles, FF:TA, and all the old NES remakes / SNES games => GBA / DS should be enough.

I wish Nintendo hadn't been dead set on the N64 as-is without a disk drive, however, and I wish they hadn't lost their relationship with Square back in the day. I'm glad they've made amends as much they have.

[Ranger X]

Nomura: "My first assignment at Square was to design enemies for the battles in FFV, and when I got to read the game's script I didn't like the ending at all. I thought a lot about it and finally gathered up enough courage to explain to Sakaguchi how I felt. I presented a new alternative to him and the game actually received a new ending, based on my suggestion.



So, chances are the old ending was better that his shit ending we got. Interesting.

Oh and Kudos to the guy that did the designs and was the guy responsible for Zozo -- this was the best city in FF6, those jap are crazy not to like.

[dream]

Kitase had been inspired by the game 4D Sports Boxing a couple of years earlier: "It looked so new a fresh, and I was convinced that this was the future."

!!!

[JayDubya]

http://www.abandonia.com/games/39/4 Gonna go check it out! ^_^

Seriously though, for purposes of the article, you could have used <insert 3D game here>, because he was right, 3D graphics were the future...

It just so happens that 4D Sports Boxing looks pretty clunky and ugly by most standards, but hey, it's 3D!

[Leidenfrost]

I wish Nintendo hadn't been dead set on the N64 as-is without a disk drive, however, and I wish they hadn't lost their relationship with Square back in the day. I'm glad they've made amends as much they have.

Well, it was more than just the media problem. Next to Enix, Square was always treated like the red-headed stepchild in issues such as the the reneged promises on cartridge sizes and the like.

Nintendo needed a bit of humbling in terms of its third party relations, in my opinion.

[Panic_Attack]

Cool, this article explain pretty well why FF7 was terrible.

[JayDubya]

Cool, this article explain pretty well why FF7 was one of, if not the best 3D Final Fantasy to date.

Fixed.

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Great read....now Square stop cockteasing the fans with a remake!!

[JayDubya]

Great read....now Square stop cockteasing the fans with a remake!!

Unless they're actually going to do it, which would be freaking awesome.

They'd have to seriously retool the gameplay though, and it'd be nice if they made it a lot harder. Final Fantasy games have gotten way way too easy over the years (and the way Materia worked in VII made your choice of character pretty superfluous). A better / more comprehensive translation would be nice as well.

Seriously, that last part can add so much to a game. My personal favorite, FF4 lost a lot in translation / localization. The GBA port doesn't do much to correct that either, but blessedly there's emulators and roms. There's a wonderful 10th anniversary edition of the hardtype rom going around, find it if you can.

I wasn't terribly sold on the concept of remakes until I played Resident Evil & MGS: The Twin Snakes on my Gamecube. Updated graphics are one thing, but without updated gameplay / increased challenge there's not much point - both of those remake games delivered.

[Chris Remo]

FF7 killed your mom. And you had a traumatic experience questioning your sexuality when Sephiroth was in the scene.

No, I really enjoyed the game when it came out.