“It’s Been a Long Journey to Remake the Second-Third of the Seventh Final Fantasy Game“ — Tetsuya Nomura Talks Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

“The staff and I have put an immense amount of work into this bloated multiverse version of the middle-third of a beloved classic.”

Hi, all. Tetsuya Nomura here, creator of the Kingdom Hearts series and the best Final Fantasy game: Final Fantasy Versus XIII. I was asked to write a piece talking about the development of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and since we all have multiple versions of ourselves existing simultaneously at any given moment, one of them said yes (the other versions of me quit Square Enix decades ago).

It’s been a long journey to remake the second-third of the seventh Final Fantasy game. The staff and I have put an immense amount of work into this bloated multiverse version of the middle-third of a beloved classic, something players have been wanting for over twenty years. I’ve been working closely with director Naoki Hamaguchi-san and producer Yoshinori Kitase-san to bring our shared vision to life. I say “shared” vision, but the truth is we’ve butted heads quite a bit over what this remake project should be.

For example, Kitase-san directed the original Final Fantasy VII, so he was in favor of a more straightforward remake. “I strongly believe that players will want to experience the game as they remember it,” he said. “We may still have to split it into multiple parts for the sake of budget and development timelines, tacitly admitting that none of our newer games will be able to capture the scope of the older ones. But beyond that, all we would have to do is make new assets. Keep the script the same. No new weird characters, like a guy with a mullet who fights with a motorcycle or something. Nothing crazy like that. We can keep things the same and win people over with nostalgia.”

I had to beat him to within an inch of his life to change his thinking. Except the part about the mullet motorcycle guy. I liked that idea. But he ended up agreeing that we could do more with this remake. Be more ambitious. Kingdom Hearts was famously born when I ran into a Disney executive in an elevator and beat the shit out of him until he agreed to make the game. And now, the same tactic had given birth to the Final Fantasy VII Remake we all know and love. It was meant to be.

With our design philosophy in mind, it was time for a title, and this was where I butted heads with Hamaguchi-san. When we called the first part Remake, we didn’t realize that we couldn’t just call the second part Remake again, even though it was still the Remake that the first game was, just a continuation of it. Though we eventually compromised and called this second part Rebirth, it did not start out that way.

“If only we’d added Part 1 to the first game’s title,” Hamaguchi said during a brainstorming meeting with Kitase and I. “Would’ve saved us a lot of headache.”

“Yeah, and if Ifrit had wings he’d be Bahamut,” I said. “It’s too late for that now.”

“What about just calling it Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2?” Hamaguchi asked. “A simple, clear title is often the best approach.” He held a tiny smirk as he said this, which rubbed me the wrong way. But I contained myself.

“Well, that just sounds unwieldy to me, Hamaguchi-san,” I said.

“You would know about unwieldy titles, wouldn’t you?” he said, smirk growing.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep things light. You should know all about light. And darkness.”

He burst out laughing. I crossed my arms.

“Do you have an issue with my creative process?” I asked. “Now’s the time to speak up.”

Hamaguchi turned to Kitase-san. “Do we really want this guy deciding what the title of the game should be? Remember 358/2 Days? That was him!”

“You’re treading on thin ice right now, Hamaguchi,” I said, stern.

“Yes, Hamaguchi-san, please,” Kitase-san said. “Do not push him. Trust me.”

Hamaguchi turned to me again. “What’s your top idea for the name right now? Come on, tell us.”

I stared at him. “I’m not humoring you,” I said. “I’m in charge here.”

“Look at that. He doesn’t want to say,” he said. “That means I’m right. It’s something crazy.”

“I believe in my titles,” I said. “They are thematically relevant and contain a lot of emotion.”

“Say the name, Tetsuya,” he said. “Say it.”

I looked at Kitase for backup, but he just looked scared. Whatever. I had nothing to lose.

“Final Fantasy VII: UnRe-Mako,” I said confidently.

The laugh that followed scared everyone on our floor of the building. A few hours later, I was looking for a new game director.

“This candidate has no game development experience,” the recruiter said. “He’s worked in IT, so he has decent computer knowledge.”

“What’s his name?” I asked.

“Believe it or not, Naoki Hamaguchi. Same as the old director.”

“Hire him,” I said.

And that’s how you replace your game director without anyone noticing. Nice little bit of trivia for you mega-fans out there.

But despite those ups and downs, here we are at the finish line. I hope this was an informative look into the process behind the game. I’m very excited for everyone to finally get their hands on it and see how much we’ve improved all the iconic scenes from the original. I believe they will inspire even stronger emotion than the original versions did. Nomura out.