“We had a lot of input from our fans and players of our games and it seemed like everyone really wanted to see a new version of Persona 3,” says Persona 3 Reload producer Ryota Niitsuma. “Once we finished Persona 5 Royal, internally, we were ready for another title and we were trying to figure out what it was, and it seemed like the right time. It seemed like all the stars had aligned.”
Persona 3 Recharge (2024)
Community requests for a Persona 3 remake were focused and consistent, but fan demand was perhaps never greater for an RPG remake than in the lead-up to Final Fantasy VII Remake’s announcement in 2015. It had become so overwhelming and persistent on social media that several members of the media brought it up to series producer Yoshinori Kitase during the team’s US media tour for Final Fantasy XIII in 2009.
“We received a lot of questions from journalists asking us when we will remake Final Fantasy VII,” Kitase recalls. “Hearing that so many times, I thought we would do it one day, that’s for sure. […] People had really approached us as if remaking VII was a given. “We had a lot of that feeling.”
Many remakes do not have the luxury of involving the original developers in the creation of these new versions. But thanks to Square Enix’s long-standing staff, people like Kitase, Kazushige Nojima, Motomu Toriyama, and Tetsuya Nomura, who played crucial roles in the development of the original Final Fantasy VII, were still at the company and were excited to be involved in a new version.
Persona 3 Recharge (2024)
“Within Square Enix, little by little remakes were being made and these ideas for remakes arose in other departments, so if we were not going to make Final Fantasy VII, others were going to do it, so we had to get up. and do it! Nomura says. “We had a feeling that we really had to protect Final Fantasy VII and we had to be the ones to take this on or someone else would do it. I thought it might be a bit problematic if other teams without us took on this project.”
The Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth team is also made up of those who didn’t work on the original game but grew up playing it as fans, including director Naoki Hamaguchi. “I would say that the majority of Rebirth’s development and production staff are players of the original, not creators,” says Toriyama. “I think the members of the Rebirth development team who were players or fans of the original want to protect and stay true to the original as much as possible.”
Persona 3 (2006)
In fact, that seems to be an important task for all development teams working on remakes, as they try to balance appeal to purists who grew up playing the game and the new generation who may not have even been born when the original was released. . Those turn out to be difficult conversations early in the project, as teams balance the old with the new.
“I think there are two critical elements to consider,” Komaki says. “The first is to ensure that you are making the game for the fans who have supported the title so far, and the second is to take the nostalgia and experiences that fans love so much and turn them into something attractive for newer players. like a modern game.”
Despite similar discussions and conclusions across all studies, the teams ended up in very different places. For the Star Ocean team, they created a pixel-based art style like the original game, but with added HD elements and effects. Meanwhile, Persona’s developers opted for a more one-on-one approach, but in the style of their most recent game, Persona 5, with several modern conveniences that format offers.
Left: Final Fantasy VII (1997); Right: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024)
“There were a lot of people with different opinions.” Says Persona 3 Reload director Takuya Yamaguchi. “After much discussion, we decided to primarily go with a one-on-one approach to recreating the original game. […] “It’s a new, modern game that has all the bells and whistles you would expect.”
The Final Fantasy VII Remake team made the most radical changes, expanding the story and gameplay experience to create a massive, modern trilogy from the original game. Not only that, but everything was rebuilt from scratch, including the visuals, world, characters, and battle system.
Left: Final Fantasy VII (1997); Right: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024)
That last point was perhaps the biggest task for the Final Fantasy VII Remake team, and the most indicative of why remakes are such a popular commodity in today’s gaming landscape: they can adapt to modern trends to appeal to new audiences. .
“I think that not only for role-playing games, but also for other fantasy-type titles, the trend will be such that there will be a move towards incorporating more action elements and that will be the trajectory of games in general,” Hamaguchi says. “There is this immediacy that causes greater immersion in the game. Instead of viewing this fantasy world from an outside perspective as a player, you must fully immerse yourself as if you were inside that world. “That really resonates with these players.”
Left: Final Fantasy VII (1997); Right: Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)
Although remakes mean different things to different developers, the trend seems to be here to stay. Star Ocean: The Second Story R and Super Mario RPG received high praise in 2023, and Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are among the most anticipated releases of the first quarter of 2024. Not only that, but also remakes of classic games like The Witcher, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Quest III are all announced for future release, meaning there are no signs of this trend slowing down.
And while there will always be those who complain about so many developers working on remakes rather than entirely new experiences, there’s no denying the power of making some of the best video games of all time accessible to a new generation of gamers.
This article originally appeared in Game Informer issue 363.
2024-02-09 20:12:17
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