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

CuNi

CuNi

Member
I think this illustrates the problem with modern games very well..

Back then, they made FF 7 in 3 years, from "idea" to "shipped", now, they'd need roughly 7-10 years to do the same.
Obviously, the game is more complex now etc. I get it that it's hard to compare these 2 at all, but I think this shows very well why games feel so lackluster nowadays.
Dev-Time is just so insanely large, that games in the scope of older FF-Games, things people wish for, would be risk investment that would take half a console Generation to develop.
 
TheAssist

TheAssist

Member
hmm I think I'd rather wait a few more years and get a bigger game. I wouldnt mind DLC for the first one. They could do the whole Kalm section as DLC, since its mostly a Flashback and very self contained. Also it would be weird to start the next game with a flashback. Though it might actually be a good tutorial.

I want a new FF to always be an event and not just a smallish continuation.
Also, since its an RPG and there would still be a significant amounts of time in between episodes they would need to design endgame content for each part.

I mean there is a way to do it in an interesting way. People would still hate it, but it would be interesting. OG FF7 is already somewhat episodic with each new town representing a character background story (Kalm, Nibelheim, Correl, Cosmo Canyon, Rocket Town, Temple and City of the Ancients). So you could theoretically do "Episode Nibelheim". Most of these actually have dungeons associated with them. Nibelheim has Mount Nibel, Cosmo Canyon has this cave, Correl has the Reactor and Gold Saucer, Rocket Town has....Space....I guess (I know youre not in space the first time you visit).
Or they could do it per continent. So you'd still have a small open world with some towns and dungeons. The next Episode would be Kalm, Chocobo Farm, some swamp region, a big cave, Fort Condor, Junon and the ship. The next one would start in costa del Sol and so on. Would be clever, since they had natural borders that are already in the og game and I think its still significantly big. But I would worry about endgame and each time grinding your characters to max level and master materia only for them to start at 0 again.

Well, luckily I dont have to make that decision, because looking at this Forum, it really doesnt matter what they do, people will be really angry with them anyway.
 
Thabass

Thabass

Member
I've said this once and I'll say it again, Square should have regular content updates with sections of the story developed. Like the next content update, we go to Kalm and Cosmo Canyon, then the next content update should go to Junon. Stuff like will keep the game fresh for years. It's basically the same way they did FFXV.

It's almost akin to an MMO release schedule, except you don't block the content. Release it as a stand alone selection on the menu screen.
 
Pejo

Pejo

Member
You just fucking know the end of this is that they're all going to go back in time and fight Jenova as soon as she lands. You just know it.
 
Myths

Myths

Member
Valonquar said:
It will be interesting to see how retarded the naming scheme gets by the end then.
Click to expand...
I have a strange suspicion it’ll be based on book names from the Holy Bible. But only the adjectival or “unnamed” books like Revelations, Genesis, Exodus, Chronicles...
 
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fallingdove

fallingdove

Member
LordKasual said:
The reason these articles are confusing right now is because.......

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.
Click to expand...
I don't know — open/outdoorsy spaces are much less complex to model than intricate cities.

Monolithsoft, a much much smaller company, produce large, beautiful, open worlds at a rate that puts SE to shame.
 
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Moogle11

Moogle11

Banned
Fine by me. I love the pacing and fleshing out of the story and characters in the first part, and the length is more than worth the $60 to me personally.

I understand that developing long games with this level of production values takes a long time and is very expensive. I’m happy to pay the money to get this kind of experience that looks and sounds amazing and has solid story telling and character development and looks to be well over 120 hours at a minimum (if it’s 3 parts around 40 hours each). And that’s ignoring end game content p, replaying on hard etc.

I‘m happy to shell out for this kind of experience vs. settling for RPGs having lower production values and just having the high production value games be 10-20 hours.
 
DragoonKain

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
FFVII without a world map is not FFVII. If they aren’t gonna do a classic style overworld, they should at least make it open world, just the original world recreated. In the style of FFXV.

If they just make a bunch of smaller focused sections it will ruin the entire thing for me. Would be a colossal disappointment.
 
Shouta

Shouta

Member
There's very little information in the links and in the original twitter threads so it's best to take the translations with a grain of salt until we get to see the actual interview and text. It looks like the original JP twitter user just abbreviated the information in their tweet.

That said, what is there is straightforward and the implication is that they have the story down but they need to decide the final details of actually producing the games themselves which is not a huge surprise.
 
P

pLow7

Member
I'm on a OG Playtrough right now. Took me 6 Hours to get to Post Cosmo Canyon.

If i had to take a bet, i would say the next Part will start at Nibelheim with the Flashbacks and end at Nibelheim, expandinging that "second" visit.

We would have :

Kalm (I still think you can scrap Kalm, nothing really meaningfull happens there besides the Flashbacks that can happen anywhere else)
Chocoba Ranch
Mithril Mines/Midgar Zolom
Junon
costa del sol
Corel
Jessies Comeback as Actress
Me? Gongaga
Cosmo Canyon
Nibelheim
 
GHG

GHG

Member
So basically future parts will be what RE3 remake is to RE2 remake.

More limited in scope and a ton of reused assets but the same price.
 
Arkage

Arkage

Banned
The OP should have this bit included:



This is the most substantial piece of info IMO. Also, the Advent Children tie-in with the Whispers at the end is confirmed:

 
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T

T_LVPL

Member
I’ve been playing about 80 hours soaking it all in and currently on Chapter 10 of Hard Mode. Anyone who believes FF7 is a short game which can be 100%’d in “6-8 hours” is 2 things for a start; a liar and someone who paid $60 for a game, set it to easy/classic did no sidequests and simply spammed the square button for several hours until they saw the story. Then probably quickly sold the game to recoup because they’re broke.
 
Arkage

Arkage

Banned
LordKasual said:
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.
Click to expand...

Not exactly sure what you're trying to say here. The only thing inconsistent was textures in some particular locations. I think it's more likely this due to a constraint of hardware to get that locked 30fps, or them learning a new game engine, rather then them intentionally creating texture assets at PS1 quality and hoping nobody notices. Broadly speaking the texture work is good.

As for whether they can include large sections of the original game, I still think it's possible. The locations in this first game, between towns and dungeons, was fairly high in number, and there were tons of added story beats. I think the main problem here is that they added a lot of extra dungeons to this first installment. Consider it this way: how many "dungeons" are in the original FF7 between Midgar and Aerith's death?

Mythril Mine (small)
Shinra Cargo Ship (small)
Mt. Corel
Cave of the Gi
Shinra Mansion (small)
Mt. Nibel
Da-chao Statue (optional)
Temple of the Ancients
City of Ancients


VS 7R:

Mako Reactor
Corkscrew Tunnel
Sun Lamps
Mako Reactor
Collapsed Expressway
Sewers
Train Graveyard & Station
Pillar
Underground Lab
Sewers Pt 2
Collapsed Plate
The Drum

If they stick with the original number of dungeons, and don't expand them too significantly, I think they could push their workload enough onto town building and the worldmap that it's doable to get to City of the Ancients. But it will depend on how much restraint they can show in wanting to expand stuff.
 
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New Yorks Finest

New Yorks Finest

Banned
Mista said:
2510225d8a2a59eea682.03173005-20190924_FFVII-Remake_Screenshot-11-1280x720.jpg


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:



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.

www.videogameschronicle.com

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

Nomura hopes to release Part 2 “ASAP”…
www.videogameschronicle.com www.videogameschronicle.com
Click to expand...


Mista Real Talk..what is this shit man??!! Full FF7 entire gm will take a span of 20years to finish it.??.I've never seen anything like it.

You either release full game or when you sit down in the conference room with your team and see a future of a major clusterfuck of episodic content once in 10 years !! You get up off your @#$% seat and start bitch slapping everyone with this wonderful idea.
 
Mista

Mista

Banned
New Yorks Finest said:
Mista Real Talk..what is this shit man??!! Full FF7 entire gm will take a span of 20years to finish it.??.I've never seen anything like it.

You either release full game or when you sit down in the conference room with your team and see a future of a major clusterfuck of episodic content once in 10 years !! You get up off your @#$% seat and start bitch slapping everyone with this wonderful idea.
Click to expand...
I know how frustrating it is bro especially in Square Enix’s case. They don’t have a great reputation right now and their games takes forever

So hopefully with this approach they’ll release them faster. Because if you don’t know, the recent FF7R is 40 hours worth of content and thats not a bad thing at all
 
Jigsaah

Jigsaah

Gold Member
So much for my grand scheme to pick up the entire lot once it's done. I thought the episodes would be less than a year apart. I just hate playing a game where I know the ending isn't in the game yet.
 
Northeastmonk

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Generally speaking of course. All their interviews are generally speaking.

We caught up with the producer of the Final Fantasy VII Remake and he was taking out the garbage from the breakroom. He turned around and caught us eyeballing him from across the room. We walked over and asked him about the Final Fantasy VII Remake. He put the trash in the garbage bin and looked us right in the eye. He said, “the next episode will come out eventually”.

It literally takes more work describing a general thought about what’s going to happen next than telling us what will happen next. I am left with more questions than I did when I first came in. Expect more at a later date is what I think best describes his interview. Lol
 
-Arcadia-

-Arcadia-

Banned
I neither see this as condemnable or endorsable. We’ll simply have to see how things turn out.

For example, if you were playing Part 2 in April 2021, would you complain about a smaller episode? That’s an extreme example, but just as a thought exercise.

Part 1 was, I’m told, 50 hours or so? Maybe that’s for completionists. It certainly seems like that could be trimmed a bit, and still be a really awesome game.

I don’t think I mind what length they are, as long as we hit a good balance between fantastic, truly satisfying installments, depicting everything in the original game (in more detail where needed), and not having to wait too long between them.
 
OutrageousFacts

OutrageousFacts

Banned
Honestly, at this point I'm calling bullshit on Square Enix.

Developers like Monolith Soft put out massive 300+ hours jrpgs in 4 years time. Square Enix can't do it in 10?!

If the graphics are too much of a hassle, they shouldn't have gone as high as they did. Although I question if that's even a good excuse. Other games look great, too, but won't take potentially 20 years (if it ends up being 5-6 or more episodes) in dev time.

I'm criticizing this, because t puts a TERRIBLE precedent on the idea of remaking older games for other developers/publishers. If it takes this long for a single remake in PS4 graphics, then forget about other developers following the idea.

(and yet I'm sure Monolith Soft would deliver a breathtaking Xenogears remake in no more than 6 years using Xenoblade 2 engine/assets if given the ip)
 
base

base

Banned
CuNi said:
I think this illustrates the problem with modern games very well..

Back then, they made FF 7 in 3 years, from "idea" to "shipped", now, they'd need roughly 7-10 years to do the same.
Obviously, the game is more complex now etc. I get it that it's hard to compare these 2 at all, but I think this shows very well why games feel so lackluster nowadays.
Dev-Time is just so insanely large, that games in the scope of older FF-Games, things people wish for, would be risk investment that would take half a console Generation to develop.
Click to expand...
How many people were working during the development of the original ff7 and how many are now?
 
Fbh

Fbh

Member
CuNi said:
I think this illustrates the problem with modern games very well..

Back then, they made FF 7 in 3 years, from "idea" to "shipped", now, they'd need roughly 7-10 years to do the same.
Obviously, the game is more complex now etc. I get it that it's hard to compare these 2 at all, but I think this shows very well why games feel so lackluster nowadays.
Dev-Time is just so insanely large, that games in the scope of older FF-Games, things people wish for, would be risk investment that would take half a console Generation to develop.
Click to expand...

I'm honestly surprised there haven't been more attempts at making "Ps1 era" JRPG's in general.
Almost all the more "retro" or "classic" style games from both indies or bigger publishers seem to go way back to the SNES/NES era

Zog said:
The idea that it's going to take years to get the complete game is something I am surprised people are ok with.
Click to expand...

Everyone is entitled to have their own take but I feel like I got a complete game with FF7 Remake.
I didn't get a complete story but I've actually missed having more games tell their stories over multiple games.
Also, the way I see it, in the worst case scenario where they cancel the entire project or pull a Half Life (as in not really cancelled but not in production) at least I still know how the original story unfolds and ends.
 
Zog

Zog

Banned
Fbh said:
Also, the way I see it, in the worst case scenario where they cancel the entire project or pull a Half Life (as in not really cancelled but not in production) at least I still know how the original story unfolds and ends.
Click to expand...

People have been whinging about Episode 3 for an annoying amount of time. I would hate to have the whinging start all over with a new game for another decade.
 
-Arcadia-

-Arcadia-

Banned
OutrageousFacts said:
Honestly, at this point I'm calling bullshit on Square Enix.

Developers like Monolith Soft put out massive 300+ hours jrpgs in 4 years time. Square Enix can't do it in 10?!

If the graphics are too much of a hassle, they shouldn't have gone as high as they did. Although I question if that's even a good excuse. Other games look great, too, but won't take potentially 20 years (if it ends up being 5-6 or more episodes) in dev time.

I'm criticizing this, because t puts a TERRIBLE precedent on the idea of remaking older games for other developers/publishers. If it takes this long for a single remake in PS4 graphics, then forget about other developers following the idea.

(and yet I'm sure Monolith Soft would deliver a breathtaking Xenogears remake in no more than 6 years using Xenoblade 2 engine/assets if given the ip)
Click to expand...

Indeed. While FF7R is gorgeous, Square Enix still seems to be having problems, 14 years after the fact, with the HD era of game development. What takes other developers more normal times to accomplish, seems to take them two, three times as long.

I feel like if Square Enix made an open world game akin to Red Dead Redemption 2, we’d be looking at a cancellation, or a twenty or thirty year dev cycle.

There has to be some kind of dire inefficiency over there.
 
Roni

Roni

Gold Member
-Arcadia- said:
Indeed. While FF7R is gorgeous, Square Enix still seems to be having problems, 14 years after the fact, with the HD era of game development. What takes other developers more normal times to accomplish, seems to take them two, three times as long.

I feel like if Square Enix made an open world game akin to Red Dead Redemption 2, we’d be looking at a cancellation, or a twenty or thirty year dev cycle.

There has to be some kind of dire inefficiency over there.
Click to expand...

Kojima did point out Japanese devs were lagging behind in terms of tools. Which is what the FOX engine was aimed at solving... Perhaps he was right.
 
base

base

Banned
Roni said:
Kojima did point out Japanese devs were lagging behind in terms of tools. Which is what the FOX engine was aimed at solving... Perhaps he was right.
Click to expand...
I think it's true. Some Western dev working in Japan mentioned that the Japanese don't like chaning things if they already work properly. Check most Japanese websites. They look like they come from early 2000s.
 
Amaranty

Amaranty

Member
[Asmodean] said:
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...
Click to expand...
If they change the engine then there might be a chance for a FF VII Remake episode I Remake/Remastered.
 
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Dark Oni

Dark Oni

Member
:messenger_tears_of_joy::messenger_tears_of_joy: smaller than the midgar only one next time plan out your "episodes" before starting work on the first one. now they're all confused on what to do, how far to take the 2 part, where to start, end it etc. what a mess. i don't think people are going to sit there and support this mini parts releases every couple of years for long. good luck to them though i don't see this ending well and i also think they won't finish it as people will lose interest.
 
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TheDrunkenMerchant

TheDrunkenMerchant

Member
This gives me 100% total confidence that Nomura isn't a complete hack and knows what he's doing and won't mess this shit up.

I loved Part 1, and have accepted the changes as "interesting," but he's going to ruin it because that's what Nomura does. It's Force Awakens to Last Jedi all over again.
 
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