FFVII remake won’t be identical to original

Square Enix has finally caved to fan pressure after years and years of it rehashing every single game it’s ever released, apart from the one people wanted the most. Still, that doesn’t mean it won’t be making some tweaks to the Final Fantasy experience, with the project director and the character designer from the original game, Tetsua Nomura, saying that the game will have some upgrades beyond just the visual.

“The original is out again: the ‘HD’ PC version is coming to PS4 already. We don’t need two of the same thing,” he said, suggesting that those that want the very original gameplay experience should play the original, as it’s still fun today.

“Even if we beautified and upgraded the visuals – something that’s bound to happen. If it’s a full remake, then of course, we want to take a different approach. If we actually just upgraded the visuals there’d be no need for me to direct it.”

While Nomura hasn’t said what exactly will be changed, he’s mentioned that the combat may be one element that is overhauled.

“We can’t have these upgraded, beautiful 3D models of Cloud and Barrett, still lining up in a row, jumping forward to attack an enemy, then jumping back to wait for their next turn,” he said in a chat with Engadget.

While that does seem sacrilegious considering how popular the game has been over the years, there were certainly elements of older RPGs like FFVII, that were a little clunky.

Do you think some upgrades are warranted with the remake? Or would you rather it was just a visual upgrade of the original?