This article was originally published in Game Time, translated -minana37-
On the E3 2019 final opening day (June 13), Kasa Kitose, the producer of "Final Fantasy VII Remake" (hereinafter referred to as "FF7R"), hosted a product exhibition for Japanese media. This article is a compilation of the main contents of the exhibition.
Original text: "FF7 リメイク』 Kitase Kasuga プロデューサーコメント, Famitong
For "FF7RE", Kitase said that
at the meeting, Kitase introduced the remake project, and then showed a live trial that had not been published before. The following is the project introduction of Kitose.
Remake Project Summary
"FF7" was a work 22 years ago, but when it was first released that year, it left many memories for the subsequent game industry with its advanced content design. This "FF7R" aims to reinterpret the original content, and is born to deeply explore the world view and various characters of "FF7". "FF7R" is not a simple port or high-definition remake. The project team remade everything including character image and scene modeling in this work, which can be said to be a brand new game.
For this game, our development goal is to "make a "FF7" remake in the minds of players". While trying to satisfy expectations, we also hope to fill it with new surprises. For new players, I believe everything in this game will make them feel very fresh, and for fans of the series, this game can also bring the same shock as when they first meet.
First of all, we focus on the game to present the scene that best represents the world view of the original "FF7" - Midgar's charm. We have redesigned the internal structure of Midgar, refined the description of the lives of the residents, and added a brand new plot.
The story of this work will be told until the original work "Escape from Midgar" plot point. The main body has reached the scale of two blue light groups, and the world view portrayal and story content are very fulfilling and compact. In conjunction with the game's remake, we have also optimized the character development and BOSS configuration. Players can fully view the book as a completely reborn new game.
may have old fans worried that this remake will give up some of the classic elements of the original work, but since this work has two Blu-ray sets of content, I believe that the reproduction of many elements can satisfy all fans.
All works on the development group
"Final Fantasy" are produced with the goal of "innovation" and "challenging the limits of the times". This spirit of "working continues to bring surprises to series players" has also been passed down on "FF7R". The efforts we put into this work are equivalent to creating a brand new orthodox sequel.
The original producers of "FF7" also reunited in the project: I was led by the development, Tetsuya Nomura was also supervised, and Ichizumi Nojima was responsible for the script; at the same time, there were young members who loved the original "FF7" who invested in this project 22 years later; and there were also overseas people who participated in the production. The development team of "FF7R" can be said to be an international team. The core members who participated in the original work played a coordinating role in the group and were responsible for leading brand new young members to complete this project together.
Teiya Nomura
A long time ago, there were many hopes of "FF7" remake among many fan groups and major media, but unfortunately, we have not found the right time to start our work for many years. This is also because we believe that if we want to remake "FF7", we cannot just come up with an upgraded version with better picture quality, but should introduce the most cutting-edge technology to it to promote a work that can bring players a touch that surpasses the original work. This is also one of the goals of this remake project.
About Midgar
As the first work of the remake of "FF7R", its story takes place in Midgar. In the original work, Midgar’s worldview gives a steampunk-like darkness, which we also retain and refine during the remake.In Midgar, there are many plots that take place at night, so there will be many dark process contents. However, through the latest lighting technology, I believe that even Midgar, shrouded in the night, can also bring players rich and beautiful scene performance.
Compared with the original work, the picture quality evolution of this work is not only based on the pursuit of photo-level performance, but also strives to retain the original unique temperament of "FF7". In the early stages of the project, we decided to focus on portraying the impressive iconic city of Midgar in our first remake.
At present, while developing this work, the project establishment and planning of the second work have also begun.
About the original character
The original work was released 22 years ago. There is neither character voice nor motion capture technology has been imported. In addition to plot animation, no dynamic shot performance is designed in the process.
, and in the remake, we added lines and voice to the characters, tailoring their every move with motion capture technology, supplemented by 3D dynamic lens tracking, aiming to present the charm of various characters. The new facial expression hair simulation technology has also made the character's expression qualitative evolution. One of the characteristics of "FF7R" is to enhance players' immersion in the plot through the use of the above technologies.
Press Conference: Character plot demonstration
Kitase's introduction was completed, a DEMO demonstration of the real-time game was released on the spot. The following introduction will inevitably include spoilers such as character lines. Readers who care about this are careful. The first thing that comes to your eye on
is the opening animation that completely reproduces the original version. When the train arrived, Biggs and Jesse joined forces to bring down the patrol soldiers, and Wiki and Barrett also made their debut. Accompanied by Barrett's words "Set out, new", Claude , carrying a destructive sword, appeared and stared forward...
reproduced the original opening animation with beautiful picture quality with extremely high completion, which made the viewer so excited that his hair stood up! Considering that this is a closed-door demonstration, I have to suppress my emotions, but I have already shouted "Yeaaaaaahh!!!" in my heart (I'm afraid the content display for overseas public has already made the audience excited). Then, the screen showed the words "CHAPTER1 Detonated the No. 1 Magic Furnace Battle", and the protagonist and his group headed towards the Magic Furnace.
in the original version, the subsequent process is that Cloud acts with the avalanche vanguard and triggers the battle in a specific scenario. In "FF7R", since Claude was not only hired as a thug, but also had to take on the responsibility of feinting attack and seducing the enemy, it is inferred that the plot here is changed to "Claude is responsible for dragging the enemy down, and the avalanche members take the opportunity to continue marching." The content of the
line is not much different from the original version, but the wording is more modern, and many new lines showing the information set behind the plot are added. Against the backdrop of exquisite scenes and realistic character expressions, the character dialogue is very natural. Old players who have played the original version will feel fresh, and new players will definitely be able to accept the plot information very smoothly.
If you delve into the details of the lines, you can also find some details. For example, if you want to attack the Magic Roof, you need to unlock the lock code, and the plot of the remake has changed. In the original version, the lines only mention "I don't know how many comrades were sacrificed" to get the code. In "FF7R", players can learn that the Avalanche members actually had different schools of thought (but it is estimated that this school refers to Barrett and others). After the secret code was obtained by different comrades from Shimimi, the two sides had a dispute over their different courses of action. Through the dialogue describing the above content, players can gain a deeper understanding of the background of the Avalanche organization, thus developing a strong interest in each character. There are also new lines that cannot be missed in dialogues other than the plot animation. For example, after an event, when Claude approaches an NPC, he does not need to talk to him, and the NPC will start talking on his own. At this time, as the line voice plays, the line text will also appear on the left side of the screen.
For example, dialogue outside of plot animation:
Biggs: (Claude) It's really not a fuel-efficient lamp.
Jesse: I don’t care if I look handsome.
Biggs: Look at you again…
Jesse: Look at people first. What's so strange about this? In the original version of
, Jesse's impression only rests on "a girl with mouth-witness in speaking". Through such conversations, she added the setting of "first-looking" this time, making her no longer just an NPC.
Jesse
In addition, the increment and adjustment of the remake's lines, coupled with the addition of line pronunciations, makes the character's personality more impressive. Barrett's blood is strong, and Claude's coolness and coldness seem to burst out of the screen!
For example, the following paragraph:
Barrett: What will happen if you continue to inhale magic? Uh-huh? Can't you hear the planet wailing? I'm asking you something! Master Claude———! !
Claude: Can you hear it?
Barrett: Of course!
Crowder: It's a disease, it must be cured.
Barrett:...Little bastard! ! The expressive bonus brought by the
line pronunciation to the character is beyond the author's imagination. With the evolution of this picture, the shock this work has brought me even more than the CG movie "The Advent of the Son". In addition, when asked about Tifa, Claude's excellent acting skills that forced himself to pretend to be calm but slightly panicked were also very exciting. This game made me deeply feel that the characters are "living" in the game.
In addition, although the demonstration time is not long, the number of general lines included is also amazing. Just talking about the victory lines triggered at the end of each battle include "Goodbye", "Does this ability also want to hold me back", "It's over", "But that's it", "It won without surprise", "It feels good", etc. I really don’t know how much line recordings the production team asked Sakurai Takahiro and other dubbing teachers to do... Of course, it takes two Blu-ray groups to install it! !
Another point worth noting is that the game has changed from real-time operation to cutscenes and from combat to exploration. The various modes are completely seamlessly connected. Not only the picture, but also the perfect transition between different music, making it almost impossible to feel the switching between game modes. This is probably one of the efforts made by the production team to not destroy the players' immersion.
Release Conference: Battle Demo
In the early stage of the game, the battle-related tutorials were carried out in several battles, aiming to enable players to master advanced operations step by step. Among them, the new element "inherent skills" is eye-catching.
Each character has an inherent skill with different performances and can be activated by pressing the △ key. For example, Claude can switch between the two combat styles of "raid mode" and "courage mode" through the △ key. In this trial, the raid mode is equivalent to a balanced combat style, under which the character can achieve fast movement and short hard direct attacks.
In courage mode, although the character moves slowly, its attack power will increase. The character's movement speed in this mode is terrible and can only walk slowly. However, in the raid mode, the "attack" command of the □ key will become a "strong attack" in the courage mode. Through this command, the character can use multiple consecutive attacks, which to a certain extent makes up for the shortcomings in the attack range. The continuous attack action of "Strong Strike" is different from the raid mode. The action of the last strike is very wide, and the character uses a sword to pick the enemy's figure like a berserker. Considering the positioning strategy, players should be able to use the mode switch when the enemy is strong and straight, quickly approach and output frantically.
Barrett's inherent skill is "knocking". This inherent technique is different from Claude's mode switching and is a high-power attack method that triggers an explosion. This skill cannot be fired continuously. After detonation, it will enter the "energy reload" state and slowly restore the skill slot. When watching the battle demonstration, another thing that attracted my interest was the enemy AI. Although the mistress who fell with one blow did not have time to observe carefully, the enemies who did not have special actions in the original work, each of them had a full personality after they arrived at the remake.
For example, the beast-type enemy "Guard hound" can rely on its agile figure to wander around and launch a surprise attack while the enemy is unprepared."Mono Drive" will float in the air like a shellfish marine creature in a swimming posture. It seems that humans and animals are harmless, but in fact it will suddenly riot and spray flames through sharp organs. After being defeated, only a red spherical head (?) will be left rolling around on the ground. Even a mistress has been portrayed so carefully, which is amazing.
DEMO demonstration information is very large, but it doesn't take long, and the plot ends abruptly when the Magic Shaking Furnace is about to detonate. Although the new game elements released so far are rich enough, it can be foreseen that when you are actually using it, the new experience will still accompany the players throughout the process. After watching the demonstration, my doubts about this remake disappeared. A brand new legend is about to be born, and this is the real place of agreement! !
Appendix: Other details identified at the display
●The command menu interface that slows down time once enabled is called "Wait Mode (WAIT MODE)" in this game (named "Tactical Mode (TACTICAL MODE)" in the trial version).
●The corresponding function of the ○ key in the Japanese version is the "waiting mode" mentioned above, and the × key is avoided.
●Each enemy has a slot. When continuously attacking the enemy to make the slot MAX, the enemy will generate a large hard straight (the cumulative number of attacks required for triggering a large hard straight) is different. This slot is called "BURST GAUGE" in the Japanese version
●In the scene, many "Shenra boxes" with the Shinra logo are placed, and some of them will appear after they are broken.
●Climbable ladders, accessible wall holes and other special scene channels are marked with special arrows for players to identify.
●The grenade thrown by the enemy (Claude and others can also be used in the original version), will be scrolled after landing, and will explode after a period of time. This setting is in line with general action games.
●The game has designed weakness attributes for the enemy, and the damage is higher for weakness attacks, which is consistent with the original version.
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