The Creators of ‘Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’ Want You To Have ‘Positive Anxiety’

As anyone familiar with Hollywood could tell you, remakes are hard. Other than bringing something old to a new audience, many remakes struggle to bring anything fresh enough to justify the double dip. In the world of video games, it’s a little different. Based solely on the tech aspect, remaking a game affords developers the opportunity to fully execute a vision in ways previous generations only dreamed of. But that still doesn’t make it easy — especially when the game you’re recreating is considered one of the greatest ever made.

So, when the development team at Square Enix decided that they would resurrect Final Fantasy VII for their 2020 remake, it’s safe to say they had their work cut out for them. But under the watchful eye of industry legend Yoshinori Kitase, director of the original game and lead producer for the modern project, the creators of 2020’s Final Fantasy Remake its 2024 sequel Rebirth had a more ambitious vision than a mere retread. Rather than simply update the game with a glorified face lift, the developers led by directors Tetsuya Nomura, Naoki Hamaguchi, and Motomu Toriyama, wanted to tell their own story. Sort of.

The most controversial twist of the Final Fantasy Remake project — which itself would encompass not just one game, but three — was that the developers wanted to test fate. Quite literally, it seems, as the game story revolves around the core characters fighting to defy destiny and ensure that the events of the original game don’t happen in the ways we expect them to.

It was a ballsy play, to say the least, and worked to a degree depending on which side the debate you fall on as a fan. But what’s undeniable is the impact their work had to reinvigorate interest in the now 27-year-old tale. The lovingly crafted reimagining of Final Fantasy VII didn’t just bank on nostalgia but served to elevate the world and character of the original game in a love letter that evoked all of the same emotion as before, as well as creating a platform for something new. That duplicity of reverence and appetite for creative independence carries over into the second game of the trilogy, the upcoming PlayStation 5 title Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

As to whether it delivers on that promise, you can find out by reading our full review. But in the days leading up the game’s release, Rolling Stone sat down with Mr. Final Fantasy himself, Yoshinori Kitase, and co-director Naoki Hamaguchi to discuss their approach to the complex chemistry of blowing up and rebuilding a classic. Here’s what we learned.

It’s All About the Magic

From a title like Final Fantasy, one would expect the game to be, well, a fantasy. Monsters, spells, an epic journey — all the hallmarks of the genre audiences expect. And while all that is present in Final Fantasy VII, the entry point for this new trilogy was at a disadvantage. Focusing on the original game’s first act, it sees the characters confined to an industrialized setting in the city of Midgar. Yes, there are monsters and magic, but a lot of what’s presented is more grounded than what fans might think: denizens living in squaller in the city slums, corporate towers and executive suites, and even the trademark magical creatures like moogles appear more as references with children donning moogle-themed clothing, rather than players meeting any such outlandish beings. But from the get-go, the developers intended to bring the magic back to the world for the sequel.

Hamaguchi-san saw the potential to expand the scope and breadth of magical elements in Rebirth, afforded to him by simply moving past the confines of an urban setting. He explains, “In terms of Remake, the story unfolds within Midgar, which is more of this enclosed location that’s inhabited by people. That’s why a more human-like expression was employed such as the boy wearing the moogle hat. But now, as the characters (and we) venture out of Midgar and into the world, [we] felt it was appropriate to lean in more to this fantasy, the magical elements of FFVII to expand on this worldview.”

But there’re still ties to reality, as the developers felt that the mix of the fantastical and grounded elements made for a good dichotomy and adding in touches from our own world helped better flesh out the setting. “But of course,” he adds, “with the previous trailers that we’ve shown, you know [there are] vehicles like the wheelie, this sort of Segway-like vehicle that Cloud is riding to show a refrain or a nod to our real world, as well.”

Balancing New Mechanics is Key

One of the biggest transitions from the original game to Remake and Rebirth was modernizing the combat from a fully turn-based system to something that plays as an action-strategy hybrid. Generally speaking, the re-envisioned Active Battle Time (ATB) system was lauded, but the team was careful with how much they could add to evolve the system a second time with Rebirth, and were concerned that there could be too many overlapping systems for some players.

Many discussions were had about how best to approach the overhaul and additions. Hamaguchi says, “With Remake, we established the overall battle system going into remaking Final Fantasy VII, but now with Rebirth, we’ve added synergy attack elements to battle play.” But the co-director is aware that adding too many new systems can create issues, adding, “[But] for it not to be overwhelming and confusing to a player going into it, it was something we were mindful of from the very beginning.”

The developers ultimately decided that adding new features wasn’t the issue, as long as they allowed players to decide for themselves which ones they’d like to individually focus on using. Breaking down the internal conversations had around the combat changes, Hamaguchi says, “I had discussed with the battle director, [Teruki] Endo, on how best to navigate this. We decided upon allowing the users to select skills, or just through trial and error, determine which skills they really enjoy using and make it easy to use their preferred skills to complete the game.” He continues, “So, it’s not so much that you have to be able to skillfully utilize every single skill and ability in order to complete this game, we sort of lean into the freedom of choice for users [to] navigate the journey with those.”

As noted in our review, the litany of battle systems can lead to some being left aside, especially when it comes to the Synergy skills and abilities. But, in his mind, Hamaguchi believes that the wealth of options “allow for a variety of users to enjoy the battles.” So, less about mastering them all and more about leaning into the version of combat that makes the player feel most comfortable.

Minigames Come in All Shapes and Sizes

One of the most beloved aspects of the original game was the wide range of minigames and distractions players could enjoy within the margins of the main story. Usually teed up briefly as part of the main quest, the options to continue playing more difficult versions of the games — which ranged from VR snowboarding to straight up tower defense simulators — would go on to become some of the most memorable aspects of Final Fantasy VII. In particular, chocobo racing functioned as a whole micro-game within the world where players would spend dozens of hours breeding and racing giant birds. It was extremely in-depth for its time, and became an essential part of the endgame content to find some of the games strongest spells that aided in taking down late-game bosses.

Rebirth brings them all back and then some. In fact, the developers doubled down on the minigames by not just designing games specific to particular towns or questlines but incorporating them into just about every facet of the game. “We’ve included close to 30 minigames within this title,” explains Hamaguchi. “Some may be minigames that can be played throughout the course of the entire game, others may be one-offs that are specific to a certain, singular quest. And others may be games that you can play within a particular region of within the world map. So, there’s a variety of minigames includes and for these ones, like Queen’s Blood, which are meant for the players to play throughout the entire game.”

Queen’s Blood is a card battle game that players pick up early in the journey that weaves its way throughout the entire game and well into the post-game content. Card battlers are a tried and true staple of RPGs (think Gwent in The Witcher 3), but also famously a part of the Final Fantasy series in particular.

But how, aside from creating a triple digit count of minigames on top of a sprawling roleplaying game, did the developers manage to design a card game that would be worth committing time to? Hamaguchi says the work came from die-hard card game enthusiasts. “Within our dev team, there were numerous members that were very much hardcore card game fans,” he says. “We formed this group where we could discuss the rules and how to develop Queen’s Blood. I think we were able to create something that is going to be very satisfying to fans of card games. It sort of presents, within Rebirth, [something] that’s not just a card game that one could engage with, but there’s actually an entire storyline that’s developed around Queen’s Blood, and we can go into the backstory of how this card game came to be, the history and what kind of role does it take in this world of Final Fantasy VII.”

There’s a Balance Between the Past and Present

By creating a hard point of divergence in Remake, where the game goes from a 1:1 retelling of the original to breaking away into its own story, the developers intentionally built a framework for honoring beloved moments while imagining how others could play out differently — yet there’s a distinct harmony to them. It’s not a spoiler to say that scenes that take place in flashback are almost 100-percent faithful, but they’re often juxtaposed with scenes fans think they’ll know but take on their own life.

The dichotomy of revisiting old scenes and crafting new ones is key to Hamaguchi. On the thought processed behind giving each type of scene its due, he explains, “One is sort of a recreation of the original, and then another is new, a sort of remix of adding a twist to these scenes. What we certainly wanted to do was show the original scenes and storyline and add further detail to [them] as a form of expression [through] the Remake series.

A huge part of that what informs the artistic expression he describes are the technological leaps development has made since the 1997 original. “We felt it was necessary to show the creators’ skills and use this modern technology that we have access to now, which allows users to experience what the creators [of Final Fantasy VII] had intended for the players to experience from the original that they were not able to do at the time due to technological constraints,” he says.

The team also wanted to graft fresh aspects to the story rather than rest on their laurels. “Another aspect that we took care [with] was, if we were to keep the story exactly the same throughout, this would be quote predictable for fans of the title,” says Hamaguchi. “As an entertainment piece in itself, we really want users to experience a sense of wonder and continue guessing throughout their journey. For Remake, we [did] so using The Whispers. In this title, Zach becomes a key figure in allowing players to understand the worldview of VII. It keeps the users guessing to say, ‘This is a little different, this is something that’s not familiar to me.’ ‘Are we going to have a completely new and different ending?’ And in that way, it brings about this sort of positive anxiety, in a sense, that keeps people on their toes.”

It’s All in Service of Honoring the Spirit of the Original

When imagining how he’d approach a redo of his original work after quarter century removed, producer Kitase-san was worried that there wouldn’t be enough done to justify revisiting the story. But, he’s well aware of what has made the game a classic and how its themes are still relevant — maybe more so than ever before. “I do believe this title, being beloved for all these years, is really owed to its very appealing characters,” he says. “And not just from the original title, but from Advent Children and beyond. We’ve really done a deep dive into the characters that allows the player to discover and feel close to understanding who these characters are. In that way, we were able to convey their personalities and character that have lasted through all these years.”

Acknowledging that it’s not just the beloved characters that have given Final Fantasy VII longevity, Kitase is keen on the idea that its political and cultural themes still hold weight. “The unique worldview of Final Fantasy VII — we took the ‘Lifestream’ to be like an energy source and it, the Lifestream and mako energy, is what fuels the livelihoods and lives of the people within the world of Final Fantasy VII,” he says. “At the same time, it’s being used and targeted as a major source of energy by the Shinra corporation. So, we have both sides of the organic cycle of life continuing through the Lifestream and mako, and at the same time, this corporation is using it all as a driver to advance society on their own terms. These two forces budding into each other and, ultimately, creating a negative effect or result is very much reminiscent of the environmental and ecological themes going on in our present world and society. In that way, it remains relevant and a timeless theme that can be explored to this day.”

Adding to the discussion about the game’s legacy, Hamaguchi focuses on the ways it impacted both the industry and the lives of the younger developers who grew up playing it: “I was a fan of the original Final Fantasy VII that really enjoyed playing the game when it came out. And when we think about that original, it aligned with the PlayStation 1 coming out. And it was sort of our foray into experiencing that transition, going from 2D to 3D in terms of graphical expression.

Like many who grew up playing Final Fantasy VII, Hamaguchi sees the game as a flashpoint for the gaming industry. Reminiscing on its impact, he says “I think that we really felt that, as a title, it was like a forerunner of this new game experience that was developing and introducing this world. I believe that, when thinking about this original title, it allowed us to start envisioning the future of video games and how that would look. What are the possibilities? Even talking to other staff and devs that were like me, having played the game at the time, when we talk about our memories of Final Fantasy VII, our eyes are sparkling, and this wave of excitement comes back to [us]. It was truly a work of art.”

Hamaguchi and Kitase both end the discussion by reiterating how anxious they are for fans to see how they’re bringing that work of art back in a completely new form. To their credit, it’s all but guaranteed to make a splash when Final Fantasy VII Rebirth releases for PlayStation 5 on Feb 29.

From Rolling Stone US.