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Final Fantasy 7 Remake director Tetsuya Nomura has suggested that future instalments in the episodic title could focus on smaller sections of the original game, in order to release them faster.

The comments come from the Japanese Ultimania book, quoted and translated by a Twitter user.

In the book, Nomura is quoted:

if we divide the story into large parts, it’ll take longer to make. If we divide it into more detailed smaller sections, then developing it will be faster. I hope to release the next one ASAP.

Also speaking in the Ultimania book, producer Yoshinori Kitase reportedly said that the FF7R team has “a general idea” of how the game’s story will play out across each episode, following a cliffhanger ending to the first game.

We have a general idea of how the story will play out, but we haven’t decided exactly [how many parts], nor can we confirm anything. There’s speculation that it will be three parts, but we’re just doing things one step at a time.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake director suggests future instalments could focus on ‘smaller sections’ | VGC

Nomura hopes to release Part 2 “ASAP”…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[KingHenrik30]

Ugh, great to see that they didn't really have this thing planned out from the beginning. We should have this next one around 2025.

 

[Vawn]

It sounds like they want to keep the linearity of the first game. I actually don't mind that. Open-world games have gotten tiresome and bloated. I find straight-forward RPGs more enjoyable lately.

First game end boss spoiler:

Spoiler

I just hope they don't feel they need to end each game with an epic Cloud vs Sephiroth battle like the first.

 

[Tiamat2san]

It needs to be 2 years maximum between episode.
If it’s 4 parts (smaller sections)
The end will be in 6 years .
I don’t want to finish the story in the next-next console generation.

 

[Valonquar]

It will be interesting to see how retarded the naming scheme gets by the end then.

 

[[Asmodean]]

This is Tetsuya Nomura. He will probably change his mind 6 more times and swap game engine after part 2 or 3 lol.

Hope I'm wrong but this is going to be messy by the end.

Let the milk flow, I guess...

 

[mortal]

 

[Nickolaidas]

So ... they're planning on turning the game into like, 6 parts, 8 hours each or something?

Will character levels be imported from game to game?

Will the battle system stay the same, or will it change?

Is the game going to open world at all?

I'd like Nomura or Square to address these issues...

 

[Psykodad]

Yeah, this is the exact opposite of what I want to hear.

Next thing you know, Aerith will stay alive and Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth will be the main team fighting against an invincible crystal hidden inside Meteor.

Edit:

AND they will probably kill Tifa at the start of Episode 3, to get the same impact as a certain other plot-twist.

 

[Lady Bird]

So ... they're planning on turning the game into like, 6 parts, 8 hours each or something?

They're not planning to make the games smaller, only to focus on smaller portions of the original game's story.

This means that instead of a 40-hour game that spans 2 continents, we could probably have a 40-hour game that spans a single continent, or something like that.

 

[Lady Bird]

Yeah, this is the exact opposite of what I want to hear.

Next thing you know, Aerith will stay alive and Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth will be the main team fighting against an invincible crystal hidden inside Meteor.

It's not in the OP's link, but the ultimania book also quotes the producer stating that the upcoming remake's story will still follow the original's very closely.

 

[entremet]

So ... they're planning on turning the game into like, 6 parts, 8 hours each or something?

Will character levels be imported from game to game?

Will the battle system stay the same, or will it change?

Is the game going to open world at all?

I'd like Nomura or Square to address these issues...

This is hyperbole. Part 1 was a pretty long game. 30-40 hours.

It just means that the original has tons of content to mine. Midgar in the original was 8 hours. FFVII has tons of towns and areas. So they have more chances to expand and do more world building.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Isn't this what fans want? It's not like they're gonna re-remake it anytime soon. Allowing the team to deep-dive into each discrete section was the original excuse for going episodic.

FF7 Director explaining why its episodic in 2015:

"If we were to try to fit everything into one installment, we would have to cut various parts and create a condensed version," he siad. "But there would be no point in doing that. For instance, players will be able to explore many different areas of Midgar in this game that they couldn’t access in the original--if we’re remaking this world, we want to add in areas like this and depict them with real detail."​

​

Nomura admitted that aspects of the original game may be cut from the remake for "various reasons," but "the overall amount of content is only going to increase."​

​

He continued: "I’m sure everyone is anxious about the schedule, and we want everyone to get to play the game as soon as possible, too. Drawing the line on that front is another reason why we’re taking this approach."​

And because internet gaming journos love to recycle news, here's the same explanation in 2020:

According to him, the original Final Fantasy 7 just had too much content to fit into one title comprehensively. If he and the team had gone that route, they would have had to decide which portions of the original game they were going to cut to make the project work, and they knew that fans would be upset if that happened. ​

​

On top of this, cramming all of the content of the original game onto one title would prevent the team from giving it the graphical improvements and details that it deserved as a modern game, which went against Remake's original purpose.​

 

[brian0057]

So... they decided to chop it off into... uhm... episodes?
I feel like I've seen this before.
Hmmmm...

 

[Nickolaidas]

This is hyperbole. Part 1 was a pretty long game. 30-40 hours.

Which is why I used a much smaller number since Nomura sounded very GOGOGO!! in terms of how long it's going to take.

I don't mind the game turning to more than three parts, I just don't want the sequels to feel like I'm playing a glorified dlc like Frozen Wilds. I want them to be meaty and full of content, like the first part was.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

So... they decided to chop it off into... uhm... episodes?
I feel like I've seen this before.
Hmmmm...

if you were alive in 2015 then it probably feels like you've seen it before because you did when they announced that the game would be episodic...

...5 years ago

somehow there are still people just learning 2015 news. really it's amazing.

 

[brian0057]

if you were alive in 2015 then it probably feels like you've seen it before because you did when they announced that the game would be episodic...

...5 years ago

somehow there are still people just learning 2015 news. really it's amazing.

I know.
I was making a cheeky reference to the Half-Life episodes and never getting the last part.

 

[Kumomeme]

umm....i think you just jump on conclusion to early

there lot more context can be taken from these translation

cant wait to see tons of gaming site post clickbait article based on this

 

[sublimit]

Lol of course SE would say something like that. More $maller part$ = more money! Just stretch the plot of the original with unnecessary filler content (like you did in part 1) and you will be making Final Fantasy VII games for at least another 15 years.

 

[Nickolaidas]

Lol of course SE would say something like that. More $maller part$ = more money! Just stretch the plot of the original with unnecessary filler content (like you did in part 1) and you will be making Final Fantasy VII games for at least another 15 years.

Got a problem searching for moogle medals and kittens, you lazy bastard?

 

[ChoosableOne]

I hope he won't work on possible future remakes of The Witcher 3, Skyrim, or Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

 

[LOLCats]

stooopid...

 

[Sub_Level]

I'd expect part 2 in 2022.

Next year will be the PS5/PC/XBOX version of the first one.

 

[LordKasual]

After actually beating the game, i'm completely confused at the rhetoric here.

As much as i enjoyed Pt.I, the fact it seems as though they're literally winging it does NOT bode well for this game's future IMO.


Square Enix, for their mastery of visuals, seems completely incapable of handing high quantity workloads without falling apart at the seams. Even FF7R with its gorgeous visuals have some BAFFLING low-quality assets at key areas of the game that Square has just completely avoided addressing, leading me to believe it's intentional.....which begs the question, what exactly is taking up so much of their time?


The only Square director capable of directing a full-NARRATIVE FF game with adequate foresight and planning at this point is YoshiP.

 

[Roberts]

I've never played the original and the remake, but I have a question: Does part 1 work as a stand-alone story with some sort of resolution and conclusion?

 

[StormCell]

Isn't this what fans want? It's not like they're gonna re-remake it anytime soon. Allowing the team to deep-dive into each discrete section was the original excuse for going episodic.

FF7 Director explaining why its episodic in 2015:

"If we were to try to fit everything into one installment, we would have to cut various parts and create a condensed version," he siad. "But there would be no point in doing that. For instance, players will be able to explore many different areas of Midgar in this game that they couldn’t access in the original--if we’re remaking this world, we want to add in areas like this and depict them with real detail."​

​

Nomura admitted that aspects of the original game may be cut from the remake for "various reasons," but "the overall amount of content is only going to increase."​

​

He continued: "I’m sure everyone is anxious about the schedule, and we want everyone to get to play the game as soon as possible, too. Drawing the line on that front is another reason why we’re taking this approach."​

And because internet gaming journos love to recycle news, here's the same explanation in 2020:

According to him, the original Final Fantasy 7 just had too much content to fit into one title comprehensively. If he and the team had gone that route, they would have had to decide which portions of the original game they were going to cut to make the project work, and they knew that fans would be upset if that happened. ​

​

On top of this, cramming all of the content of the original game onto one title would prevent the team from giving it the graphical improvements and details that it deserved as a modern game, which went against Remake's original purpose.​

This is why I've had very little interest in this remake and continue to resist urges to check it out. They're not really remaking FF7. They're making a new game that retells the story of FF7. They're giving us more of certain areas to explore, adding in a lot of extra details to the story, and possibly jettisoning the open world exploration elements that were present in the original.

That's fine, but if the reason for these design choices is technical, as they seem to indicate, then this only reinforces my belief that visual detail is actually killing gaming. Big worlds doesn't have equal copy/paste content randomly. We've been doing big world gaming as early as the 1980's without tons of procedurally-generated copy/paste content.

Additional thought: I'd be interested to know how time and resource requirements have changed over the past 20-, 15-, -10, and 5-years for asset creation. They just invested years into Midgar, and I'd like to know how much more time was spent on a single room in this version of the game compared to what it used to take to make a room during, say, the PS2-era.

 

[Nymphae]

It's going to suck if they don't make flying the Highwind viable, I don't want to just watch it in a cutscene or have it be a hub I select locations from on a map and wait for loading screens.

 

[fallingdove]

It sounds like they want to keep the linearity of the first game. I actually don't mind that. Open-world games have gotten tiresome and bloated. I find straight-forward RPGs more enjoyable lately.

First game end boss spoiler:

Spoiler

I just hope they don't feel they need to end each game with an epic Cloud vs Sephiroth battle like the first.

I don't want a true open world (large open areas akin to a Kingdoms of Amalur or Horizon Zero Dawn would be fine), but if we stick to the same level of linearity that FF7R had, I'm out.

Part of the meta with the original was that for the first few hours of the game you have been attempting to save the planet from an evil company that has ravaged the planet and in the process created these dirty, dysfunctional, overly-mechanical sectors within Midgar. Then you "defeat" Shinra and exit the claustrophobic metal tubes and are shown the planet in its vast, chocobo mounting, vehicle driving beauty.

I assumed that when FF7R ended the way that it did, it wasn't a function of "we can tell the story better than we did originally" but "we don't have the workflows or technical knowhow to fully realize the original game (within a reasonable number of years) so we are going to give ourselves flexibilities in the story so that we can make concessions."

 

[wvnative]

Before we assume anything, note that Nomura likes to talk out of his ass.

 

[LordKasual]

Isn't this what fans want? It's not like they're gonna re-remake it anytime soon. Allowing the team to deep-dive into each discrete section was the original excuse for going episodic.

The reason these articles are confusing right now is because.......

Spoiler: FF7R big spoilers

The ending of the game almost explicitly suggests that the events of this one will deviate heavily from the original.

The only reason i'm okay with that idea is because it means that they're free to rewrite the events of the game as they choose to...meaning that we don't HAVE to feel spoonfed content because they're free to make the future parts as original as they want.

But if they're still going to spoon feed us the events/flow from the original, then this game is just going to take 10 years to complete and completely destroy the whole purpose of the remake.

And honestly speaking, while some areas of FF7R are on some literally next-gen level visuals......a huge portion of the game does not have the graphical fidelity that would suggest that adding more locations is out of the question.

And i'm 100% okay with the low-res textures strewn about because the game itself was fun, but at this point, crying about the workload needed to recreate other areas is going to fall completely flat from here on because they've released a game that's PRETTY, yes, but not nearly consistent enough in its execution to suggest it's impossible to include large swathes of the original story.

It's just....weird. The things Square complains about these days is so weird.

 

[StormCell]

The reason these articles are confusing right now is because.......

Spoiler: FF7R big spoilers

The ending of the game almost explicitly suggests that the events of this one will deviate heavily from the original.

The only reason i'm okay with that idea is because it means that they're free to rewrite the events of the game as they choose to...meaning that we don't HAVE to feel spoonfed content because they're free to make the future parts as original as they want.

But if they're still going to spoon feed us the events/flow from the original, then this game is just going to take 10 years to complete and completely destroy the whole purpose of the remake.

Sounding much less like a remake than originally billed.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

The reason these articles are confusing right now is because.......

Spoiler: FF7R big spoilers

The ending of the game almost explicitly suggests that the events of this one will deviate heavily from the original.

The only reason i'm okay with that idea is because it means that they're free to rewrite the events of the game as they choose to...meaning that we don't HAVE to feel spoonfed content because they're free to make the future parts as original as they want.

But if they're still going to spoon feed us the events/flow from the original, then this game is just going to take 10 years to complete and completely destroy the whole purpose of the remake.

And honestly speaking, while some areas of FF7R are on some literally next-gen level visuals......a huge portion of the game does not have the graphical fidelity that would suggest that adding more locations is out of the question.

And i'm 100% okay with the low-res textures strewn about because the game itself was fun, but at this point, crying about the workload needed to recreate other areas is going to fall completely flat from here on because they've released a game that's PRETTY, yes, but not nearly consistent enough in its execution to suggest it's impossible to include large swathes of the original story.

It's just....weird. The things Square complains about these days is so weird.

Hmm I can see why that would rile people up. Thanks for going into detail.

 

[Sub_Level]

I suggest folks seek out the Ultimania interview and read the full thing. It seems Kitase and Nomura are very aware that people are apprehensive towards the changes and peoples' reaction to them. It doesn't strike me as them wanting to write fanfiction for part 2.

I've never played the original and the remake, but I have a question: Does part 1 work as a stand-alone story with some sort of resolution and conclusion?

No, there is no conclusion or conflict resolution. It is the beginning of a greater story.

 

[LordKasual]

Sounding much less like a remake than originally billed.

Hmm I can see why that would rile people up. Thanks for going into detail.

Spoiler

It's a literal remaking of the original FF7 story.....meaning it's technically a sequel. Which, in my opinion, would make the multiple part design a pretty awesome idea.

They're sending mixed messages here. The big twist of FF7R is that it's actually a sequel, and they go to GREAT lengths in its ending to ensure that you don't view the game as a 1:1 retelling of the original game....

.....yet when they speak of the future entries, they're still complaining about "chunks" and "parts" of the original story.....but why are they doing that? I thought the whole point of this first entry was setting up the idea that we don't NEED the original as a flowchart anymore.

The ending was controversial but ultimately i was excited for whats to come...

....but the way Square describes the actual work behind this game, the more it sounds like they have no real grand design and are just being entirely reactionary to the reactions of the public.

Which isn't going to end well

 

[JORMBO]

I just hope it isn't more then 3 episodes. If it is more then that it will feel really drawn out since it takes several years to make each game.

 

[StormCell]

I just hope it isn't more then 3 episodes. If it is more then that it will feel really drawn out since it takes several years to make each game.

Considering it basically takes 5 or 6 years to make a decently-sized video game anymore, I would expect this to feel really drawn out.

 

[Fbh]

The fact Part 1 is out there and they are still talking as if they haven't really decided how much to move forward and how much content to cover in the next game is a bit worrying.

I'm enjoying Part 1 a lot so ultimately if Part 2 is similar I wouldn't mind. Though I really hope it's less linear, I think the extreme linearity makes sense for Midgar but future parts should offer more freedom.

 

[ThatGamingDude]

When's the DS game coming out?

 

[Vawn]

Considering it basically takes 5 or 6 years to make a decently-sized video game anymore, I would expect this to feel really drawn out.

Not necessarily if the framework is done. Look how long Resident Evil 2 took and then RE3 came out very quickly after. Same with stuff in the past like Ocarina of Time to Majora's Mask or Mario Galaxy 1 to 2.

 

[Alphagear]

Not what I want to hear.

Next game should be with a world map to grind/explore and linear sections as you please to continue the story.

Not to forget the final chapter. Ridiculous that this is gonna be in more installments.

I guess we will all finish the game on PS6 or PS7.

 

[pLow7]

Which is why I used a much smaller number since Nomura sounded very GOGOGO!! in terms of how long it's going to take.

I don't mind the game turning to more than three parts, I just don't want the sequels to feel like I'm playing a glorified dlc like Frozen Wilds. I want them to be meaty and full of content, like the first part was.

This game took 3 years to make. They scrapped nearly everything pre 2017 and restarted Development there. Considering that, Gameplay, Story and many assets are already done, i can see them finishing this one in 2 years. 3 years is a ot more probable though.

 

[cireza]

They are already planning on embracing the SSD innovation I see

 

[Nickolaidas]

This game took 3 years to make. They scrapped nearly everything pre 2017 and restarted Development there. Considering that, Gameplay, Story and many assets are already done, i can see them finishing this one in 2 years. 3 years is a ot more probable though.

I think that's wrong. They never restarted development, they just took over after cyber connect did their part.

 

[Zog]

They have no idea what they are doing, do they? We'll always have the original.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

Personally I had hoped that Part One is the smallest in the series, or they will all at least be equally as large as Part One. Not sure I would want smaller installments moving forward.

 

[pLow7]

I think that's wrong. They never restarted development, they just took over after cyber connect did their part.

[UPDATE] Report – Square Enix abandoned all of CyberConnect 2’s work on FFVII Remake and started fresh - PowerUp!

[UPDATE 2] - Dan Tsukasa's ArtStation has also been deleted. [UPDATE] - At the time of writing, Dan Tsukasa's Twitter and Reddit accounts appear to have been deleted. We're all very excited that the Final Fantasy 7 Remake development is moving ahead. When it was first announced at E3 2015, it...

powerup-gaming.com

I've seen it also posted somwhere else. 2017 Is also the date where they showed something again.

 

[Dynasty8]

Serious question to you guys.

Do you trust modern day Square Enix to deliver on this? Cause I sure as hell don't.

Loved the first part of the Remake (except for the ending), but given their shitty track record with Nomura and the FF series and Kingdom Hearts in the last 10 years, this is not looking or sounding good at all. Let's just briefly go over their stumbles in just the last 10 years or so.

FFXIII came out around late (December) 2009. It was an extremely linear experience and they milked two more completely unnecessary sequels that somehow ended up just as bad or even worse than XIII. Those sequels were unnecessary. Old Squaresoft would take their time, build an ambitious game and release it when fully completed. Afterwards they would focus on the next one from the ground up. There is so much back peddling now with this company it's not even funny.

KH2 came out in 2006... but it took 13 years for us to get the mediocre and disappointing KH3. In between those 13 years, we saw spin off after spin off after spin off. Each confusing us more and more through each "installment". They milked their fans and lost their vision completely, but the fan boys refuse to admit it. Whatever, moving along...

E3 2013. Nomura reveals Versus XIII (originally shown in 2006) is now FFXV. They show an incredible trailer with some gameplay and get fans, including me, excited. So 10 years after Versus XIII was revealed, we finally get FFXV... And lo and behold, this game is a complete mess. From the janky combat, to the most out of place story I have EVER experienced in a Square game....it was so poorly done....but Square went even further to fuck over their fans. They left out important story moments intentionally to be sold as overpriced DLC that each lasted about 1-2 hours. These story moments should have been apart of the original game, no excuses. They miked their fans once again because of their greed.

There is so much more, I am just fed up with their bullshit to be honest. They're a greedy company, period. They lack the ambition that they once had when Sakaguchi was at the director's table and investors were less relevant. They will continue milking FFVIIR until it is dry and stripped of its' quality.
People will always argue that FFVII is way too big to be brought into a single game. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but I can guarantee if a company such as CD Projekt Red was behind this Remake, it would have been done complete, proper, honest, and with the legacy it deserves. Just my two cents.

 

[wzy]

I've never played the original and the remake, but I have a question: Does part 1 work as a stand-alone story with some sort of resolution and conclusion?

No.

 

[Virex]

It will be interesting to see how retarded the naming scheme gets by the end then.

Final Fantasy VII Remake - Part 2 : Jen::3x/Soldier//:||776-Days

 

[brian0057]

Do you trust modern day Square Enix to deliver on this?

They shelved Deus Ex in lieu of a shitty Avengers game so they can fuck off for all I care.