The much talked-about remake of Final Fantasy VII is going to be episodic, and according to developer Square Enix, it’s more than just a remake. This game has been getting lots of hype due to all the nostalgia involved, and it goes without saying that gamers everywhere are excited for its eventual release.
“From the beginning, we thought a Final Fantasy VII remake would be bigger than a single release,” said director Yoshinori Kitase, who was interviewed by Dengeki Online and quoted in a recent Kotaku report. He added that due to the intensity of some of the game’s areas, remaking everything from the original at newer, higher quality would make it impossible to get everything on a single release.
Kitase was seconded by Final Fantasy VII character designer Tetsuya Nomura, who said that a single release would require some things to be relegated to a “shortened” compilation. “Since we thought there would be stuff we would probably have to pare down and supplemental things we probably couldn’t add, we decided to divide it up, concluding that we have to do a remake that’s fully packed with content,” Nomura added.
Kitase clarified that as the FFVII team won’t be dividing the game itself, the original story and its substance will remain, while Square Enix can work on a bona fide remake. This all lends credence to previous statements from Square Enix that suggested that the Final Fantasy VII remake will be similar to the original, but not exactly the same.