A remake for FInal Fantasy VII

Well, just when I was thinking to myself that I had some free time, I ended up being swamped by work AND being addicted to an anime (I'll talk about that another time.)

This post is about my deepest gaming desire.

Well, that and much more, but having a FF7 remake is indeed one of my biggest dreams. I remembered that when the Playstation 3 was first released, everyone was 'ooh' and 'aah'-ing, but I wasn't too swayed. Those were the days when my gaming experience is limited to Final Fantasy. (It still is, but at least I have more knowledge in other games!)

Then, I boldly made the statement: "If they remake FF7 on the PS3, I'll buy it in an instant!" And well, I guess you've guessed that I obviously do not have a PS3. Nevertheless, my declaration still stands. I'll buy the console that supports the glorious, legendary remake... if they ever get down to it.

Years ago, SquareEnix released the all-too-tantalising FF7 opening just to show us the awesome graphics that PS3 supports. Many of us know the video, but I'm just going to show it anyway.




I mean, look at that! How much epic-ness is that? Of course many people saw this in the epilogue of Crisis Core, which shows the same quality, but wouldn't you want to see the rest of FF7 being shown in HD!!?!?!

I know I do, I'm positively dying for the day to come.

But sadly, we all know the answer in our hearts. We fight it, we ignore it, we try to justify it, but it's clear as day that SquareEnix will not remake this game anytime so soon. Here are some of my reasons why they are holding back their horses:

1. Focusing on other games
This should be a no brainer for Final Fantasy fans. Square is currently busy with many projects. Some of which they are also kinda delayed in releasing. I'm talking about Final Fantasy 13 Versus. It was hyped up way too early because now it seems like they are shirking responsibility. Of course, I know it's because it's the fifth and last game in the Fabula Nova Crystallis compilation (similar to the FF7 compilation, just that the world is set in FF13). So for sure Versus will not be out till the preceding four titles are released.

EDIT (27/1/2014): So now FF13 Versus will become FF15. Yay. As long as it's not that horrible Cocoon place.

Back to the main point. FF7 remake won't even be considered because of the fact that there are simply too many titles to work on now. Personally, I can relate to this. Last year, one of my fics "Their Memories of Fukinara High", ended prematurely. I commented then that I might return to it, but as I delve deeper into the FF7 fandom, I find that it's hard for me to go back to SDK too. Partly because of the research I got to do again and because my pool of readers are gone already.

The supporters of FF7 remake will not be a dying race (yet), that's for sure. But the research will take Square quite some time, which brings me to my next point.

2. Different team of developers
FF7 was made in 1997. It's going to be close to 20 years (in 4 years' time). Many changes have been made to the company. The most famous one that we know of is Nobuo Uematsu leaving Square. He's not the only one. Many of the original team are no longer in Square. If we want a remake, what is better than reuniting all the heroes to work together? However, things aren't as easy as it sounds. The amount of liasion, the costs, the old dirty politics (if there were any) dug up again...

Like I said, it's really hard. It's probably easier to find a new team of artists and developers to do the remake, but would the fans appreciate it? I know for sure that if the FF7 remake music is not done by Nobuo Uematsu, I would not be as excited. Nobuo Uematsu is a non-negotiable for me - He MUST compose the music, if not co-arrange or direct. But that's just me.

3. System Requirement
Even though Final Fantasy 13 looks freaking awesome on a PS3, I can tell that the system requirements for a FF7 equivalent is going to be hard. We ARE assuming that in the FF7 remake, the graphics would be as darn HD as in FF13, right?

If that were the case, imagine. The entire Midgar, with every nut and bolt visible to the eye. The world map, all in your control to explore, changes the scenery with every step that you take. Even the chocobo has to be animated carefully and let's not forget the other nitty gritty details like summoning summons and falling snow in Icicle Inn.

Before I lose you in your imaginative ecstasy, can you imagine the amount of power needed to support such a game? Square is unable to deliver it adequately (I believe they can and have the technology to do it, but they choose not to yet). That is why FF13 is so linear in storyline, as compared to FF7 to 9.

4. Backup plan

*insert Keanu conspiracy meme here*

Well, in this meme they said in case SquareEnix ran out of ideas for a game, but I see it more as a backup plan in case none of their works are successful anymore and they are plunging towards bankruptcy.

The legend of how Final Fantasy first began was that Square released "Final Fantasy" as their last-chance in the gaming industry. Seeing how increasingly unpopular some titles are nowadays, maybe they are really keeping the remake as a last-attempt before it really becomes their 'final fantasy'.

Perhaps I should write a post on the things that I want to see on the remake :3

So, what do you think? Do you think there should be a remake?

Special thanks to:
oldivai for the youtube video