” No, the story concept was done by Sakaguchi and Nomura. Check the star-up credits. ”
yes it does actually say that. fine, he assisted Sakaguchi on the original story. that’s still far from anything actually serious story development wise. that’s kind of like the lead coder and the team of regular ones, or lead artist and the team trained by him. saying that he was responsible for the story concept is like calling a coder from the team an “architect”.

Sakaguchi was the producer of FFVII. It says so in the credits. Kitase was the director.

“the story concept was made by those two”

No, the story concept was done by Sakaguchi and Nomura. Check the star-up credits.

“Nomura wasn’t responsible for anything story-wise, same as with Parasite Eve. he is a character designer.”

He was responsible for story concept, character design, and battle visual directing. Again, check the credits.

“which was about Square being a business company above gaming company. and the games being milked based purely on their commercial success.”

I never said it wasn’t. I said it’s possible for people to be emotionally invested in a product even if its green-lighted solely for profit, and these guys *could* choose to simply not support the development of the game if they think the timing is bad.

there’ a limit to every milking. there happens a moment in time when even the most loyal fanboys start to doubt your credibility. and the supposed remake would be the biggest input.

“I was talking about spin-offs to FFVII, not spin-offs to Final Fantasy in general.”
yes, and like I said Before Crisis, DoC, and CC were all that. btw, the spin offs to FF started appearing even in 2001, along with the rerelease of Chrono Trigger for PS1.

” No Sakaguchi was not responsible for most of the story elements. The original story *concept* was done by Sakaguchi and Nomura (read the credits), but it was Nojima and Kitase who actually wrote it.

Lets not forget that Kitase was the *director* to this game as well, not Sakaguchi. Kitase deserves most of the credit for FFVII.
”

look, this is nonsense. if it wasn’t for him (Sakaguchi) it would be a completely different game.

and the lead game designers for the game were Sakaguchi and Kitase, Sakaguchi being the main guy. the story concept was made by those two, Nomura wasn’t responsible for anything story-wise, same as with Parasite Eve. he is a character designer.

” And not including Nomura amongst the lead devs? He was responsible for two or three aspects of the game, including conception, character design, and battle visuals. ”
not including because he designed the graphics based on Sakaguchi and Kitase’s ideas.

anyway, in a nutshell O’Connor, you misundertood my comment (yet again btw), which was about Square being a business company above gaming company. and the games being milked based purely on their commercial success.

I love Vagrant Story (it’s one of my favourite games of that generation, although the story is nothing spectacular), and Xenogears is a decent gameplay experience with a vastly over-rated and utterly pretentious story.

“since about 2003 and their merge with Enix they’re practically only after that.”

The ultimate goal of any business at the end of the day is to make money. Anyone who assumes otherwise is kidding themselves.

“the only reason FF7 is being milked to death is because it was one of their most commercially successful titles.”

Don’t you mean *was* milked to death? The FFVIII Compilation run of products is officially over.

“actually, they started doing that after just about everyone bought himself a copy of FFX, and releasing FFX-2.”

I was talking about spin-offs to FFVII, not spin-offs to Final Fantasy in general.

“their lead guy (Sakaguchi was responsible for most of those story elements btw) left SE after FFX, Nojima left in 2003. which means the only single ‘lead’ dev left is Kitase. that Nomura wasn’t the lead dev back then, he was the artist on the game.”

No Sakaguchi was not responsible for most of the story elements. The original story *concept* was done by Sakaguchi and Nomura (read the credits), but it was Nojima and Kitase who actually wrote it.

And not including Nomura amongst the lead devs? He was responsible for two or three aspects of the game, including conception, character design, and battle visuals.

Lets not forget that Kitase was the *director* to this game as well, not Sakaguchi. Kitase deserves most of the credit for FFVII.

“may I ask, how is this relevant? you want to turn this into FF7 versus other games?”

That was in response to their remark about FFVII being shit and over-rated.

“it’s not rocket science to figure you shouldn’t make a shitty remake of your most commercially successful product.”

Which is exactly what I said. Just because a game is made for financial profit doesn’t mean that its creators can’t be emotionally invested in the product though.

O’Connor, not only Square were always after money, even in the days of Vagrant Story and Xenogears (you don’t have to repost your opinions on those games atm) but since about 2003 and their merge with Enix they’re practically only after that. that’s the reason why most of their lead guys left, it’s not fun to make things you’re not interested in. and the only reason FF7 is being milked to death is because it was one of their most commercially successful titles.

” It took ten years before they even consider creating spin-offs. Even then, they only made four spin-off titles, and the FFVII Compilation is officially over, with the released of Advent Children Complete. ”

wutwutwut?

actually, they started doing that after just about everyone bought himself a copy of FFX, and releasing FFX-2.

FF 7 Compilation includes the following games: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII (2004), Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2005), Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode: Final Fantasy VII , Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2007).

not to mention Advent Children was first unveiled in like 2003.

” FFVII has a number of story elements which are very close to the lead developers hearts ”
their lead guy (Sakaguchi was responsible for most of those story elements btw) left SE after FFX, Nojima left in 2003. which means the only single ‘lead’ dev left is Kitase. that Nomura wasn’t the lead dev back then, he was the artist on the game.

“and to this day it’s materia system is critical acclaimed for its versatility and depth; I personally still consider it the best system implemented into the Final Fantasy games, even if FFVII isn’t my favourite title in the franchise.”
may I ask, how is this relevant? you want to turn this into FF7 versus other games?

” This is easily the 5th or 6th time in the last few years that they have openly said they don’t plan on a remake because, should the time ever come, they want to be sure they can do it justice. I for one choose to not go down the cynical path regarding this; I believe them. ”
wow.

what they said is that they don’t have the time for it atm. the remake would take as much time as developing a new game, in terms of modelling, coding etc. that is if they decide to leave battle system the same. and it’s not rocket science to figure you shouldn’t make a shitty remake of your most commercially successful product.

I’ve played Dissidia. It doesn’t change the fact that the character is the most angst ridden, self-absorbed, emo brat that has ever been in a Final Fantasy game.

Funny thing is, I like Squall in every game he’s been in *except* FFVIII.

That would be an understatement.

It took ten years before they even consider creating spin-offs. Even then, they only made four spin-off titles, and the FFVII Compilation is officially over, with the released of Advent Children Complete.

FFVII has a number of story elements which are very close to the lead developers hearts, and to this day it’s materia system is critical acclaimed for its versatility and depth; I personally still consider it the best system implemented into the Final Fantasy games, even if FFVII isn’t my favourite title in the franchise.

This is easily the 5th or 6th time in the last few years that they have openly said they don’t plan on a remake because, should the time ever come, they want to be sure they can do it justice. I for one choose to not go down the cynical path regarding this; I believe them.

“Squall is the shiznit. Way better than your depressed wrist slitting Cloud.”

Are you shitting me? Squall is the *embodiment* of the angst ridden teenage stereotype that haunts JPRGs.

Two, Cloud may have been a total buzz kill, but Squall was that, anti-social, and pretty much a jerk throughout the game. At least Cloud had a legitimate excuse; Anyone who can watch their best friend get gunned down and not become a little depressed needs to be checked out. Being an orphan (who lived with his entire family, minus Irvine, btw) with a scar just isn’t the same.

I didn’t name myself Galactic_Barret without reason. When it comes to FF, any of them, I know my stuff. And I know that Squall is a chump, and a bit of a woman-hater.

VII is a bit of a different story though. Remember, it was an entire generation ahead of the other game, and attempts have already been made to try and re-image FFVII using the DS hardware. The results weren’t pretty.

And these guys have regularly mentioned themselves, FFVII is a game that’s pretty close to their hearts. I don’t think they’re going to consider it until they really think the timing is right, and that won’t be for many more years, in my opinion.

Personally, I’d rather see a sequel than a remake.

They’ve recently released in the past two years (excluding GBA ports from a couple of years ago) Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II for the PSP, while Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV were released for the DS.

As to what they can do with Final Fantasy V and VI is anyone’s guess, but they could skip them and just go towards VII directly.

Then again, from what I have heard recently from Square and other people, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Is a remake warranted? I think so. Why not? TMNT, Bionic Commando, Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, just to name a few, have got the remake treatment, why not Final Fantasy..