The Making Of: Final Fantasy VII

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.edge-online.com/features/mak ... antasy-vii



Ah yes, the game that kickstarted the emo generation. Still, can't deny the fundamental change it had stirred in the industry. Had Nintendo secured this title things would have been different.

[Metal Jesus]

I'm still baffled that Square hasn't made a remake of the game yet. Why do the spinoffs, when most people would love to play an updated HD remake?! It would be like printing money!

[MrPopo]

VII is at an awkward point. The SNES RPGs and the PS2 RPGs still look good if they're released as an updated version. The NES RPGs needed a visual upgrade, better 2D sprites for 1 & 2, and they went full 3D for 3. VII's graphics would look terrible on anything more advanced than a DS, but if they completely remade the game they'd probably have to adapt it from the original prerendered backgrounds into full 3D, and I think that the final product would have a huge amount of backlash.

[AppleQueso]

VII is at an awkward point. The SNES RPGs and the PS2 RPGs still look good if they're released as an updated version. The NES RPGs needed a visual upgrade, better 2D sprites for 1 & 2, and they went full 3D for 3. VII's graphics would look terrible on anything more advanced than a DS, but if they completely remade the game they'd probably have to adapt it from the original prerendered backgrounds into full 3D, and I think that the final product would have a huge amount of backlash.

VII's graphics looked terrible before the end of the ps1's lifespan, even. It's honestly one of the ugliest RPGs around. Probably needs a visual update more than any other game in the franchise.

Just look at those FMVs. They don't even have a consistent art style!

I like the game, but graphics were never its strong suit.

[Menegrothx]

I'm still baffled that Square hasn't made a remake of the game yet. Why do the spinoffs, when most people would love to play an updated HD remake?! It would be like printing money!

Just look at what EA is doing to all the great franchises they've stolen over the years. What Yahtzee says about LucasArts executives applies to Square Enix and EA also

[isiolia]

I'm still baffled that Square hasn't made a remake of the game yet. Why do the spinoffs, when most people would love to play an updated HD remake?! It would be like printing money!

Maybe they're testing the waters?

That said, there have been arguments made that a full-on remake of VII would almost be a death knell for the series as a whole. You'd be talking about a huge, very expensive endeavor that would take the place of trying to do something new. Quite a costly way to declare that they've got nothing left but to revisit old iterations of the series.

[Xeogred]

Quite a costly way to declare that they've got nothing left but to revisit old iterations of the series.

Final Square Fantasy Enix already does this though.

And XIII took 5 years or more to make I think. Lots of time wasted there, certainly could've gotten a remake that would've been better. Think of all the wasted development on XIV.

I'm fine with VII as is though. Chances are the voices would suck, they'd jack up the script, hire Micheal Bay to do cutscenes, and it'd end up being an entirely different game anyways. I hate all the VII spinoffs/movies, I liked it when it was just one game. Some things are just best left alone.

[isiolia]

And XIII took 5 years or more to make I think. Lots of time wasted there, certainly could've gotten a remake that would've been better. Think of all the wasted development on XIV.

XIII, for better or worse, actually tried to evolve things. I get the impression that the development was not managed particularly well, and some of the design decisions may have been misguided, but at least they took some risks and tried. IMO, the larger problems with it are with the script/dialogue anyway.

XIV is perfectly understandable as a product, considering how successful XI has been for them, but again the victim of management stupidity and/or hubris. Again though, part of the problem is that the producer deliberately threw out pretty much everything from before (even stuff they should have known better than to discard).

While it might not make up for some of the shortcomings of the resulting products, I do think there's something to be said there for actually trying. Taking risks. Settling in to spend 100 million (or whatever) to remake an overrated game from the late 90s in hopes of pleasing a never-satisfied fanbase is just...not.

It's just the kind of position SE is often in nowadays anyway. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

[mobiusclimber]

VII's graphics looked terrible before the end of the ps1's lifespan, even. It's honestly one of the ugliest RPGs around. Probably needs a visual update more than any other game in the franchise.

Just look at those FMVs. They don't even have a consistent art style!

I like the game, but graphics were never its strong suit.

Not sure when you played the game, but the graphics were the biggest draw for a lot of people at the time. They were pretty stunning when compared to any other game out then. Sure, developers eventually figured out how to make better looking games on the PS1 (FF9 blows FF7 away graphically), but compared to Wild Arms or Resident Evil or any other game out at the time, it was really amazing looking. It was the Myst of the Playstation era, if you will.

[MrPopo]

VII's graphics looked terrible before the end of the ps1's lifespan, even. It's honestly one of the ugliest RPGs around. Probably needs a visual update more than any other game in the franchise.

Just look at those FMVs. They don't even have a consistent art style!

I like the game, but graphics were never its strong suit.

Not sure when you played the game, but the graphics were the biggest draw for a lot of people at the time. They were pretty stunning when compared to any other game out then. Sure, developers eventually figured out how to make better looking games on the PS1 (FF9 blows FF7 away graphically), but compared to Wild Arms or Resident Evil or any other game out at the time, it was really amazing looking. It was the Myst of the Playstation era, if you will.

It's always fun to try and make people realize just how amazing really shitty 3D graphics were at the time. Star Fox was jaw dropping and it involves hundreds of polygons on screen.