Translation done by:
https://mobile.twitter.com/aitaikimochi
Full interview:
Some quotes I thought were interesting.
This is the fifth installment within the Compilation of FFVII.
Wanting to delve deep into the characters.
Importance of Stamp
Original Elements are still expected to happen.
I recommend reading the full interview. It has some more interesting deets.
https://mobile.twitter.com/aitaikimochi
Full interview:
Some quotes I thought were interesting.
This is the fifth installment within the Compilation of FFVII.
Ultimania said:—Initially, the project was to be made using staff from external divisions, right?
Kitase: Of course the company's staff were still involved in the development, but most of the team that had worked on Final Fantasy series were assigned to other projects, so we started the Remake project with other external division staff. However, because we wanted to upkeep the quality of the Final Fantasy series, we decided that we still needed members who had experience working on Final Fantasy. Because of this, we had to do a major shift of staff positions to accommodate for this project.
...
—Since the Remake will be comprised of multiple parts, when did you decide that the first part will take place up until the escape from Midgar?
Nomura: After you leave Midgar, you move to a world map, and I mentioned this earlier, but level designs would have to yet again change. If we were to do that, we would also have to split up other scenarios and even if we add new gameplay, it would have to end in an abrupt point of the story. That's why we felt that if we had everything focused in Midgar, we wouldn't have to split up any of the story elements that happen there. We had requests to add more content or to make only one installment for the whole remake, but if you take into consideration the quality put into this game, I'm sure players would understand why we made this decision.
...
Nojima-san was added to the team when the project was still being handled by the external division staff, correct?
Nomura: That's right. I was the one who initially wrote the main scenarios, and the external division staff was responsibile for writing the sub scenarios as well. However, when we transferred the project to internal staff, Toriyama-san (Co-Director) joined and looked over the scenarios we had written up until that point. He then gathered all the scenes we had and rewrote them, and after looking over it myself once more, we decided that the project would take on this shape.
Wanting to delve deep into the characters.
—As we played through the game, Aerith's lines left an impression on us.
Nojima: Aerith is the utmost important person in the FFVII Remake, and I was very careful with her lines. Each and every part of her carries a great meaning throughout the story, and I used that premise to write her character.
—In particular, during the nighttime flower field scene in Chapter 14, Aerith tells Cloud "You can't fall in love with me. Even if you do, it's not real." For those who are familiar with the original story, this line carries a lot of meaning.
Nojima: To be honest, some staff actually told me that this line made it seem like Aerith was looking down on Cloud, so it got rejected a few times. If you know Aerith's fate, then this line would really pull at your heart strings, but if you did not know what happens to Aerith, then you might interpret the scene in a completely different way. I thought the gap between the two interpretations was very interesting. On another note, in Tifa's scene in the flower field, I wanted Cloud to not look cool in this scene. Even though Cloud and Tifa are close in age, he has a 5 year blank slate, and he doesn't have enough life experience to consider himself an adult. Even though most of the characters are around 20 years old, there's one guy, Cloud, who has the mentality of a 16 year old, and that person tries to be like an adult. I really wanted to write that into the story. After the Sector 7 plate fell, Barret comforted Tifa with the temperament of an adult, and Cloud saw that and wanted to do the same for her [in the flower scene], but it didn't go as planned. I wanted to try writing him as being awkward.
Importance of Stamp
In the ending of the Remake, Zack is alive, which leads to a contrasting development to the original story. What is the meaning of that scene?
Nomura: That's the biggest highlight of the mysteries that have been been set up in this scene, isn't it? (laughs)
Nojima: And you can also clearly see the dog Stamp too…
—Stamp looks different in this scene though.
Nojima: Oh, does he know…? (laughs)
—Did you have plans in the beginning for the mascot Stamp?
Nojima: Yes, when we decided on the Remake's storyline, we said "Well then, let's have this loyal dog Stamp be the mascot." Stamp is a popular mascot that everyone in this world recognizes, and we decided to also use him as AVALANCHE's secret way of conveying messages.
Nomura: By the way, the Stamp that you see drawn by AVALANCHE members is actually the design that I was in charge of. I usually don't get involved in these designs, but I felt that this character would be very important, so I decided to draw him myself.
Original Elements are still expected to happen.
—If we follow this Remake's story, then the next installment might have major changes compared to the original, right?
Kitase: I've talked about this extensively with Nomura, but I'm sure fans of the original are expecting to revisit familiar locations and scenes, so we have strong feelings to not stray away from that. From here on out, we're not drastically changing the story and making it into something completely different than the original. Even though it's a Remake, please assume that FF7 will still be FF7 as usual.
Nojima: For me, I create scenarios that follow the general flow of the original story but with the assumption that the way things are presented or how events occur might be slightly different.
I recommend reading the full interview. It has some more interesting deets.
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