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Final Fantasy 7 Taught Square Enix That Remakes Are Harder to Develop
Developing Final Fantasy 7 Remake may have been more difficult than any new game that Square Enix has made, according to the company’s president. Square Enix’s impressive E3 2019 presentation was highlighted by an extensive look at how one of the most iconic games of all time is given new life on modern platforms.
After a debut trailer displayed during E3 2018, Square Enix attempted to steal the show at E3 2019 with an extended look at gameplay from Final Fantasy 7 Remake. On top of showcasing Tifa Lockheart’s design and the game’s action RPG combat, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy 7 Remake would release on March 3, 2020. The light at the end of this long tunnel is glowing brighter, but the road to get there has been full of new challenges for Square Enix.
In an interview with GamesBeat during E3 2019, Square Enix president and CEO Yosuke Matsuda said that remakes might be more challenging to make than brand new games. According to Matsuda, the largest challenge comes from creating something that goes beyond nostalgia and appeals to multiple generations of Final Fantasy fans. It's been a such a massive undertaking bringing Final Fantasy VII to new hardware that the whole story of Final Fantasy 7 Remake will take multiple releases to complete.
Along with the gameplay demo and release date, Square Enix also used the E3 stage to announce that this first release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake will pack two discs worth of content and will focus on the game's opening area, the infamous city of Midgar. There's no word on what areas the next release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake will contain or how many episodes will tell the whole story. However, Square Enix explained that the Midgar saga of Final Fantasy 7 Remake will work as a standalone experience.
While skeptics may sneer at how long it has been in development and its episodic format, there’s no doubt that Square Enix has been taking its development very seriously. While it would be nice to know how Square Enix plans to split up the story for future episodes, it's worth the wait to do justice to one of the studio's most famous releases. Furthermore, the lessons that Square Enix has learned from developing this remake could open the door for other remakes on this scale. If the grand remake experiment pays off with Final Fantasy 7 Remake, a Final Fantasy VI remake could make a great follow-up project.
