FFVII Remake Megathread

[R. Kasahara]

There was a tiny little announcement of a game remake today at Sony's E3 press conference.

Post all discussion of said remake here. I'll keep this OP up to date with trailers and whatnot. If you have a piece of news, post it and I'll include it here (and if it's big enough, it'll go on the main site!). Last updated: April 8, 2016

What we know:
- The official title is Final Fantasy VII Remake.
- It will be episodic. This structure will allow some elements from the original game to be expanded upon, while others will be cut. Each episode will be of a "full scale" length, similar to the FFXIII games.
- It will be exclusive to PS4 at first. Releases for PC and/or other platforms are not out of the question.
- Yoshinori Kitase is producing, Kazushige Nojima is writing, and Tetsuya Nomura is directing. The director at Square Enix Visual Works is working on the modeling.
- Character designs are by Tetsuya Nomura and Roberto Ferrari. Some characters, like Barret, will see significant redesigns.
- CyberConnect2 and other outside studios are collaborating with Square Enix on this project.
- Some plot points and/or other elements might change. Cloud's crossdressing scene has been confirmed to be in the remake.
- The remake project started in June 2014 or earlier.
- The battle system will be dramatically different, though it will retain some familiar elements, such as the ATB and limit break bars. Characters can be controlled individually, or players may stick to one.
- Advent Children will be referred to as a source of inspiration.
- The game is being built with Unreal Engine 4.
- Nobuo Uematsu is not involved with the remake project.

What we don't know:
- If Sony is helping to fund the remake. They are said to have a "partnership" with Square Enix on this project, but outside of the timed exclusivity, the details are unknown.
- Whether it will be a turn-based or action RPG (UPDATE: the PS Experience trailer hints at an action RPG system, though it has some turn-based elements)
- Most everything else.

Rumor mill:
- "Miss Cloud" will be kept in. Likelihood of coming true: medium to high. ETA: CONFIRMED
- A big chunk of unverified "insider" information from a NeoGAF member. Key points: Zack, Yuffie, and Vincent may be integrated more into the story, and there's a good chance that the Welcoming Ceremony sequence and other scenes (side stories, Tifa and Cloud under the Highwind, Cloud beating on Aeris) might be changed. A lot of the other "info" is common-sense analysis. Likelihood of being true: low to high.
- CyberConnect2 (Solatorobo, lots of .hack and Naruto games, etc.) is involved in the development. Likelihood of being true: low to medium. ETA: CONFIRMED

Speculation:
- A planned 20th anniversary release in 2017 has been speculated in many corners of the internet. Likelihood of coming true: high.
- Unreal Engine 4 will be used as the game's engine. Likelihood of being true: medium to high. ETA: CONFIRMED

Citadel news posts:
- June 15, 2015: Final Fantasy VII Remake in the Works - Not a Rumor!
- June 16, 2015: First Press Assets for the FFVII Remake
- June 17, 2015: Tetsuya Nomura E3 Interview Roundup (with Commentary)
- June 20, 2015: Additional Little Details on the Remake
- July 30, 2015: "Dramatic Changes" to Battle System Planned for FFVII Remake
- Nov. 7, 2015: Nobuo Uematsu is Not Working on the Remake
- Dec. 5, 2015: New FFVII Remake Trailer Shown at PlayStation Experience
- Dec. 6, 2015: Yoshinori Kitase on the Remake, Mobius Final Fantasy Gets a Tie-in
- Dec. 6, 2015: The FFVII Remake Will Be Episodic
- Dec. 7, 2015: Final Fantasy VII News Roundup
- Dec. 8, 2015: The FFVII Remake is Powered by Unreal Engine 4
- Apr. 8, 2016: Length of FFVII Remake Installments Will Be "Full Scale"

Trailers and other official videos:

E3 2015 trailer (June 15, 2015):



PlayStation Experience 2015 trailer (Dec. 5, 2015):



Sony: Interview with Yoshinori Kitase (Dec. 5, 2015):



Other stuff:
- Official website (English)
- Official website (Japanese)

[Cyrus]

Predictions:

• Antagonist renamed to connect better with the sorts of fans who the remake is aimed at; he will now be known as "XxSephiroth89xX"
• The three white-haired brothers from Advent Children will make a cameo appearance in the Honeybee Inn
• In a nod to the now-classic Advent Children-sourced GIF, Cid's victory animation will be him twirling his spear and saying "BANANA!"
• A whole lot of dumb crap from the Compilation will become retconned into "current day" FF7 canon (this is an actual and very obvious prediction)
• An entire new generation of homophobic/queerphobic 13-year-olds will be introduced to the wonder and glory that is "Cloudette"

Also, having just seen the trailer myself, I think its mixture of past/present/future tense (both in the voice-over and the visuals) is pretty confusing, and at the same time, lends credence to the worries that they will muddy the timeline for the sake of inserting Compilation characters/locations/storylines into the remake.

The chance to see some much-loved scenes/locations in HD did send a chill down my back, but the implication that our nostalgia will be soured is also pretty strong. Guess we'll see.

[Desibabu]

Leave to a trailer for a FFVII remake to cut through all my cycncism towards gaming.

Granted who knows what we can expect and when we'll actually see it. But for now, let's just be happy it exists.

[R. Kasahara]

Burning question: since this remake will have voice acting (because of course it will), will Cid Highwind actually swear, or will they bleep out the bad words?

But yes, they will retcon the hell out of this. Thanks, Compilation!

[Ultimate Fantasy]

Completely missed this thread earlier haha

I am currently trying to stop myself getting excited till I see gameplay. I want them to keep the old battle system. Plus I am wondering how they are going to do the camera. As a lot of secrets and stuff were hidden in the original thanks to the locked camera. If they go full 3D environments it's going to make things very different.

But yeh I forgot about retconning. Well I hope Cid's swearing is kept. Though I have no complaints if they bleep it all out. If anything that would be pretty funny haha. They better keep the whole Cloudette section. That bit amuses me to this day so they better not get rid of it. If anything I think there should be a achievement/ trophy for getting Cloud picked in that bit. Also we have the whole gold saucer date to look forward to in HD. They better also keep Barret as a possible option for that. Though with retconning and stuff I could see them forcing Tifa or Aerith for that bit.

[R. Kasahara]

I am currently trying to stop myself getting excited till I see gameplay. I want them to keep the old battle system. Plus I am wondering how they are going to do the camera. As a lot of secrets and stuff were hidden in the original thanks to the locked camera. If they go full 3D environments it's going to make things very different.

If I was doing this remake, I'd make the background's like Trine 2's-- with "2D" cameras, but very colorful, detailed, lively, and pretty. If you've never played it, here's a sample of what Trine 2 looks like:



Naturally, my Theoretical Remake would use the original FFVII's background designs as source materials, to keep things faithful. I'd also want the option to switch back and forth between new graphics and old, like in the Halo and Secret of Monkey Island remakes, but that kind of thing isn't Square Enix's style.

Oh, and I too want the old battle system retained, though I can see them adding some new materia. Maybe there'll finally be Float and/or Water materia.

[Cloud Strife]

I'm excited. For a lot of reasons. One of the main reasons. Is to be able to enjoy this game again as a more mature adult and perhaps this place may return to it's glory so I can relive what I missed and in the right light. I'm not as cynical as most about this. I'd even be willing to hope this bring us back like I hoped we can do. Thank you Square, and for you guys, keeping this place alive to see this day.

[Zantetsuken]

There are tons we all wanted to see in this remake, but I'll be listing my highlight moments from the original and Crisis Core that is surely going to give mix feelings, fun, tearful and nostalgia
- Cloud and Aeris moments or Cloud Aeris and Tifa love triangle
- Reference to Crisis Core including additonal character like Genesis
- Emphasis on how Cloud's memories got messed up and forgot about Zack's existence, then remember it was his own in the Nibel incident
- I wanted to see more of SHINRA's evil side especially Scarllet and Heidegger
- Ifalna (Aeris mother's) story as seen in the footage in Icicle
- The rest of the Character's background
- Gold Saucer Minigames
- Last but no the least, Aeris' death scene, I want to see how much Cloud becomes guilty over her death and other party member's reaction on her death as well as Elmyra's reaction

Those are mine, if you feel I missed something feel free to share yours

[Clidus]

Ooooooooh baby.

The references to Edge have me a little confused, but overall I'm pretty hyped.

The question of if I buy a PS4 is now out the window.

[Bossanova]

I'm betting we're going to see more of this tonight at Square's own press conference, since FFXV isn't going to be there.
Still quite in shock over here!

I can't believe they pulled this whole thing off the way they did. First the ff7 troll at PSX last december, then the narrator making us think its a sequel, only followed by just the logo and the word remake.

Seeing Nojima, Nomura and Kitase on this explains why Versus was shifted to XV.
I've been hearing rumours of a 2017 20th anniversary release.