Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Kitase keeps the dream alive

Not a single year goes by that this doesn’t come up in some way – and 2011 is no different. Even if it’s late in the year, here’s the latest tease regarding a Final Fantasy 7 remake.

If you’re looking for confirmation that a remake is actually in the works, then I’m afraid to tell you that, no, this is not confirmation of that – but when Final Fantasy XIII-2 producer Yoshinori Kitase sat down to talk to OXM, he had a bit to say with enough coy allusion to reignite the bit of hope FF7 fans have – to keep the dream alive.

“We know that the hundreds of fans would like to see a hi-def version of Final Fantasy VII.”

And then he dashes them in the very next breath.

“But if we were to achieve the modern graphical quality at the same time putting in exactly the same world and everything, I think it would take ten times longer as compared to the time we took to produce XIII, for example.”

Kitase didn’t reveal anything really new about Square-Enix‘s position on a remake – in order to create the level of detail and quality we expect from a hi-def game, on the same scale of old, everything would have to be created from the ground-up – something which would take a lot of time and a lot of money to do.

And even so, according to the interview, should that ever happen, Kitase would change a few things while he’s at it.

“If we were to produce a remake of VII, for example, I would be really tempted to delete things and add new elements, new systems or whatever because if we were to make exactly the same thing now, it’d be like a repeat,” he told OXM.

“I’d be really interested in rearranging games or reshaping games into something slightly different even though it’s supposed to be the same game.”

Disappointed? Well Kitase went on to acknowledge that fans would probably hate that idea, and would prefer the game as it is and so he thinks in that regard “it’s better to let memory be memory.”

“When we play the games we made years ago, sometimes we think “oh, that is not really cool” or “that probably should have been a bit better than that” and that sort of thing,”

“But on the other hand, those slightly negative features and bits, some of the fans – really enthusiastic fans of these titles – that gives them an extra flavour or personality or whatever, so maybe they would rather we didn’t do anything about it and we just leave it in as it is”

And here’s the kicker: “so it’s very difficult to decide what we should we keep in and what we should take out.”

Hmmm. “Should”. Interesting choice of words, no?

So there you have it – easily-misinterpreted meaning, making it sound like Square-Enix may very well have a FF7 remake on the cards – just to keep you gagging for another year; while the logistics and facts of the matter sitting in the background there to remind you that it’s not exactly an easy task, and may be unlikely.

Square-Enix are neither confirming nor denying anything.

Merry Chirstmas!