It’s been a month now since Final Fantasy VII: Remake graced our PlayStation 4 consoles, and it would be an understatement to describe it as a ‘hit’. It’s the game that shipped 3.5 million copies in three days and remains the franchise’s best-selling game. Overall, it has received highly positive reception among critics and fans alike.
And as with any product that is sold to the masses, the developers of FF7R knew there was one pivotal reason for their game’s success – its army of adoring fans. In an interview with the website Push Square, producer Yoshinori Kitase and co-director Naoki Hamaguchi were able to publicly thank said fans for their dedication and support.
“Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the game. There are a lot of people who played the original game who are now working in the industry as developers, game writers or even influencers, and I think that those people liked the remake and talked about the game, becoming evangelists and spreading the word to new players,” said Kitase, “I am very grateful indeed to all those fans who have been with us since the original and support Final Fantasy VII over the years, and it’s great to welcome all the new players who are experiencing the game for the first time.”
Hamaguchi was just as generous with his praise. “Thank you very much! After seeing the response when the game released, I felt real pride that the kind of remake we aimed for has been appreciated and approved by the fans,” he said, “Our aim was to deliver a game experience that felt both new and nostalgic at the same time, not jarring with people’s fond memories of the original [Final Fantasy VII] but enhancing them, and expressed in the most modern way possible. We have received many comments from fans expressing their approval for this approach and saying that the approach we took to the remake resonated with them, and this has inspired confidence in all the little decisions we made to build up the game. We are hugely excited about development on the next game and making that something that will meet fans expectations too, but it is important not to forget a sense of humility, and that we can still learn a lot.”
Meanwhile, there’s no clear-cut answer as to when we’ll see the next episode of the Final Fantasy VII Remake Project, but we know that development began on the sequel in November 2019. As of now, the game’s co-director Tetsuya Nomura has admitted he doesn’t know how many parts the overall remake will have, but wants it released in “smaller parts” in a “shorter span” so players won’t have to wait so long for each installment.
What would you like to see in the next FF7R? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
