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Final Fantasy 30th Exhibition - Panel Audio

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
She remains the same at the core as what we see in the PSX trailer, all three of them do (wedge looks like he hasnt had any changes), but they look a lot more polished.
She has deep eyes, a slightly gloss to her lips and was just made genuinely attractive, there's nothing over the top or fanservice-esc about the design.

There is love and individuality that has been put into the designs, except for Wedge who looks like he did in the PSX trailer but took a few ugly bumps through the Kingdom Hearts Universe on his way to 2018.
 

leadmyskeptic

Pro Adventurer
I think all of this, given the challenge of updating a classic game with modern graphics etc, makes perfect sense. Because (and I'm thinking of this through the lens of having first played this as children) Jessie is the first female character you meet, the first one you're given 'flirtation' options with (LOOK AT THE MONITOR, CLOUD!!), and so the first one you're likely to develop a bit of a crush on. I remember getting to the Sector 7 Pillar that first time, and the whole situation was obviously tragic, but that loss of Jessie was what first really hit me in the gut, it was like a mini-Aeris event...and that's given very little screen-time, dialogue, and a quickly produced design. With all of those aspects pumped up a little bit, I could see the potential for drama really being taken advantage of.

Sorry, this is a poorly organized post lol. But anyway yeah, so upping the 'womanly' aspects of Jessie (while still keeping her a Tomboy) ups the drama there, Biggs' whole 'wannabe commando' aspect seems heightened without having to actually change too much (bandana, bandolier, 'look-I-can-grow-a-beard-too' facial hair) other than making his appearance a little more serious...these are terrorists, after all, even if they're a bit bumbling and idealistic. Wedge, as has been pointed out by Hosagi, is the exception. And honestly, I think that holds true even for the OG. Wedge is clearly a comic-relief character, but he sticks out, with his design containing the clearest and most heinous examples of "drawing shit on a character cos it seems fun" without thinking at all of how it applies/fits into the universe. Not really sure what they can even do about that, without making him look significantly different from his original incarnation. Now that I think about it, even his motivations i.e. fighting for the planet are less articulated than the others, I mostly remember his line about Tifa's cooking. In any case, it's something to think about.
 

Random Nobody

local roach
There is love and individuality that has been put into the designs, except for Wedge who looks like he did in the PSX trailer but took a few ugly bumps through the Kingdom Hearts Universe on his way to 2018.
Was Wedge really that bad, tho. He did look strange at PSX, but..............

they all sort of did, honestly. Cloud looked like a spaghetti demon and they all looked like some variation of bobblehead.
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
I would think there is a Tifa design, at least at the conceptual drawing stages or a pre-rendered design, but clearly that's being saved for a later reveal. With good reason too.

@skeptic: Exactly that. I remember thinking those same things regarding Jessie. I believe she could be top "waifu" material after this remake. There's been talk of fleshing the trio out more which I'd like to see if it is an option, certainly given even more weights to their deaths.

In regards to Wedge, yes he really does, it's just so strange how jarring the character is compared to the others.
Jessie looks like a leading female character
Biggs looks like Johnny Depp & MGS Snake's love child.
Barrett looks different, but alright? (from what we've all seen in trailers)
Cloud looks good, looks like Cloud and not some macho soldier.

Wedge looks like an NPC you should be saving who fell down a well as an optional side quest.
The english voice they've given him doesn't help the situation either...

As Skeptic said, he's very much a comedy character, but I feel they're also making him the weak one of the group, which in a "terrorist" cell is a strange person to have around. I hope he gets a more serious design, it's all face work as well, he looks dopey, which I hope can be easily corrected while adding something to his character so he isn't just a space filler.
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
I would think there is a Tifa design, at least at the conceptual drawing stages or a pre-rendered design, but clearly that's being saved for a later reveal. With good reason too.

@skeptic: Exactly that. I remember thinking those same things regarding Jessie. I believe she could be top "waifu" material after this remake. There's been talk of fleshing the trio out more which I'd like to see if it is an option, certainly given even more weights to their deaths.

In regards to Wedge, yes he really does, it's just so strange how jarring the character is compared to the others.
Jessie looks like a leading female character
Biggs looks like Johnny Depp & MGS Snake's love child.
Barrett looks different, but alright? (from what we've all seen in trailers)
Cloud looks good, looks like Cloud and not some macho soldier.

Wedge looks like an NPC you should be saving who fell down a well as an optional side quest.
The english voice they've given him doesn't help the situation either...

As Skeptic said, he's very much a comedy character, but I feel they're also making him the weak one of the group, which in a "terrorist" cell is a strange person to have around. I hope he gets a more serious design, it's all face work as well, he looks dopey, which I hope can be easily corrected while adding something to his character so he isn't just a space filler.

Wedge is a...strange character in the extended cannon. Shademp mentioned in a long ago conversation that he may be related to another character who may be his sister, and another who is his brother in cut content. So he has an extended family unlike any other B or higher rank character besides Barret. He has ties to people that may be alive. He's soft, he doesn't have to be here, but for some reason he's dedicated to a cause that could very likely kill him.

If it were up to me, I'd write him having a backstory that he's the grandson or great grandson of the rulling patriach/leader of whatever city used to be where Midgar now exists, and that he has a deep seated guilt about how his family basically allowed ShinRa to ruin the lives of so many people.

He has a lot of potential to be a "Pathos" character, a moral compass to balance out other people that are all likely motivated by vengeance or pragmatic greed.
 

hian

Purist
Okay, listening to it now. We'll see how much of a job it will be to translate, but I'll try.

I'll add some general commentary in this post as I go along.


EDIT :
Okay, so I'm just listening through before doing the translation but already some interesting stuff -

They're talking about Aerith's house and how it's surrounded by water in the original.
They make comments about how they made it a river for it to make more sense, and how this impacts living conditions/structure of the world, and then talk about how this kinda stuff has to make sense in terms of how unlike before, with the quality of older games, that kind of stuff (like presumably how the water underneath Aerith's house makes little logistic sense) went unnoticed or wasn't cared about by gamers, but how it's changed in recent time therefore demanded that with the "richness"(realism) of the remake, that those kinda things be changed into something that is more coherent in terms of world-building.

EDIT 2 :
Gotten to the point Nomura comes on and presents the new concept art.
They start with Biggs. One thing to take away is that they say he looks "completely different" from what he looked like in the trailer.
The say the same thing for Wedge. The repeated use of "zenzen chigau" seems to indicate major change from their original designs in the trailer, meaning that this is probably even very different from the designs shown in the Ferrari Art that was in the exhibition.
They say the images brought reflect the newest designs, taken straight out of the office.
Wedge, they remark, particularly as the hair is concerned, looks a lot more realistic.
They go on to say Jessie is perhaps the one that has changed the most - becoming a lot more beatiful and feminine in appearance.

Also worth noting, that now as they show Cloud, and going by earlier remarks and the use of the term "real-time", these are not concept art pictures of the characters, but real-time rendered screenshots.

Nomura says that this version of Cloud is probably the closest visually to capturing the personality of the original Cloud I.E to clarify this phrase that's been thrown about so often from the partial snippets we got a while back - Nomura is commenting on how the visual design reflects Cloud's persona, and they go on to say that visually, they've designed him in a way that captures the way Cloud was not a cool guy in the original game - how he was actually a f***up just putting on a strong front.
They say he looks "real/very very young" this time around, and contrasts him to the AC Cloud, implying a very drastic change from that.

EDIT 3 :
In terms of development, they say the game is progressing very very smoothly.
They're in the process of working out the base "technology", I'd say in this context, refers to the primary game-play base for the game.
They banter a bit talking about how Kitase, Nomura and Hamaguchi have are connected through Line (a social app very common in Japan) and how Hamaguchi will often work on the game til late night, and send messages to the others at 03.00 at night etc.
They're adamant they're making "something we've never seen before" and ask us to "be excited".

Hamaguchi goes on, after Nomura leaves, to comment on the long draught of info since the first trailers, and apologizes. He goes on to say that the project has moved completely in-house, and is again, progressing very smoothly. At the current point they're at the stage where they're basically cramming a bunch of stuff into the game, but once they hit the stage of polishing up the look of things and can deliver something with suffuciently high quality, they will be releasing new footage.
He anticipates this will be in the near future due to how smoothly things are progressing.

Kitase then signs us off by making the joke previously mentioned in the thread, saying he wishes to keep on polishing up the game for the 35th anniversary, to which they all laugh and Hamaguchi responds objectingly "Hey that's a long ways off!"
He then however, also goes on to say that a lot is hanging on the next (presumably big) event, and that they're hoping to show off (the game) by then.

PERSONAL NOTE :

I'm kinda baffled by their comments about Cloud, because while it's true that Cloud's real persona is not a hard-ass like the Cloud we're first presented with, it makes no sense to me to make this apparent through his visual design early on in the story/game.

Cloud has been treated extensively with Mako and Sephiroth/Jenova cells - and as far as the player knows, was a member of SOLDIER with most people taking him on his word for that.
This, in my opinion, heavily implies that Cloud plays the part very well early on. Barret remarks on Cloud being tough early on, and people like Rufus don't act surprised at Cloud's claim to having been in Soldier.
Cloud's dofus side is surely something that is better left reflected in portrayls of his child self, or his post memory-fix appeance, not something to bludgeon the player over the head with early on in the game compromizing the later twist with on the nose story-telling through visuals.
 
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ForceStealer

Double Growth
Hm...as I said, I actually quite liked the look of AVALANCHE in the trailer, but okay. I like the stuff of building in world logic for stuff like the water by Aerith's house and stuff though. Here's hoping the "near future" means E3.

Thanks for interpreting, hian :)
 
Thank you so much Hian!

I'm kinda baffled by their comments about Cloud, because while it's true that Cloud's real persona is not a hard-ass like the Cloud we're first presented with, it makes no sense to me to make this apparent through his visual design early on in the story/game.

Cloud has been treated extensively with Mako and Sephiroth/Jenova cells - and as far as the player knows, was a member of SOLDIER with most people taking him on his word for that.
This, in my opinion, heavily implies that Cloud plays the part very well early on. Barret remarks on Cloud being tough early on, and people like Rufus don't act surprised at Cloud's claim to having been in Soldier.
Cloud's dofus side is surely something that is better left reflected in portrayls of his child self, or his post memory-fix appeance, not something to bludgeon the player over the head with early on in the game compromizing the later twist with on the nose story-telling through visuals.
Hear hear!
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
My thoughts are kinda this.

Cloud "Acts" the badass...But he really tries HARD. Everything from his cocky stance to how the rug gets pulled out from him at least once an hour kinda justifies how suspicious a lot of people seem to be of him. He's the butt of a few beginning jokes, and we can't ever forget that the supposed bad-ass SOLDIER member manages to be convinced to run the entire Walmarket quest without ever second guessing Aerith's logic.

I think they're really going to lean into the mystery a lot harder this time. We're already seeing signs that he's getting more "Freakouts" than he original had. They're gonna lay out a lot of bread crumbs, and probably keep new gamers constantly questioning exactly who Cloud is, and how much of him is real versus how much is an act.

I kinda wish I could erase all my meta knowledge and enjoy this game without the knowledge a lot of us have, and see this mystery play out with a lot more thought and care put into it.
 
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Roger

He/him
AKA
Minato
My thoughts are kinda this.

Cloud "Acts" the badass...But he really tries HARD. Everything from his cocky stance to how the rug gets pulled out from him at least once an hour kinda justifies how suspicious a lot of people seem to be of him. He's the butt of a few beginning jokes, and we can't ever forget that the supposed bad-ass SOLDIER member manages to be convinced to run the entire Walmarket quest without ever second guessing Aerith's logic.

I think they're really going to lean into the mystery a lot harder this time. We're already seeing signs that he's getting more "Freakouts" than he original had. They're gonna lay out a lot of bread crumbs, and probably keep new gamers constantly questioning exactly who Cloud is, and how much of him is real versus how much is an act.

I kinda wish I could erase all my meta knowledge and enjoy this game without the knowledge a lot of us have, and see this mystery play out with a lot more thought and care put into it.

Barret pulls out the money set aside for Marlene's schooling to keep Cloud around despite neither liking nor trusting him. He needs to seem a very capable combatant that know what he is doing at least initially.
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
My thoughts are kinda this.

Cloud "Acts" the badass...But he really tries HARD. Everything from his cocky stance to how the rug gets pulled out from him at least once an hour kinda justifies how suspicious a lot of people seem to be of him. He's the butt of a few beginning jokes, and we can't ever forget that the supposed bad-ass SOLDIER member manages to be convinced to run the entire Walmarket quest without ever second guessing Aerith's logic.

I think they're really going to lean into the mystery a lot harder this time. We're already seeing signs that he's getting more "Freakouts" than he original had. They're gonna lay out a lot of bread crumbs, and probably keep new gamers constantly questioning exactly who Cloud is, and how much of him is real versus how much is an act.

I kinda wish I could erase all my meta knowledge and enjoy this game without the knowledge a lot of us have, and see this mystery play out with a lot more thought and care put into it.

Barret pulls out the money set aside for Marlene's schooling to keep Cloud around despite neither liking nor trusting him. He needs to seem a very capable combatant that know what he is doing at least initially.


Tifa "We're hurting for help."

And the blurb on the back of Barret's FFVII-R figure hints that a Rogue-One type situation happened where Avalanche may be pretty desperate right now.
 

Roger

He/him
AKA
Minato
My thoughts are kinda this.

Cloud "Acts" the badass...But he really tries HARD. Everything from his cocky stance to how the rug gets pulled out from him at least once an hour kinda justifies how suspicious a lot of people seem to be of him. He's the butt of a few beginning jokes, and we can't ever forget that the supposed bad-ass SOLDIER member manages to be convinced to run the entire Walmarket quest without ever second guessing Aerith's logic.

I think they're really going to lean into the mystery a lot harder this time. We're already seeing signs that he's getting more "Freakouts" than he original had. They're gonna lay out a lot of bread crumbs, and probably keep new gamers constantly questioning exactly who Cloud is, and how much of him is real versus how much is an act.

I kinda wish I could erase all my meta knowledge and enjoy this game without the knowledge a lot of us have, and see this mystery play out with a lot more thought and care put into it.

Barret pulls out the money set aside for Marlene's schooling to keep Cloud around despite neither liking nor trusting him. He needs to seem a very capable combatant that know what he is doing at least initially.


Tifa "We're hurting for help."

And the blurb on the back of Barret's FFVII-R figure hints that a Rogue-One type situation happened where Avalanche may be pretty desperate right now.

They are, but Cloud needs to look a cut above the average mercenary to make them really want him specifically. Not be in the same boat as Wedge as the very incapable looking ones drawing sharp contrast to the supercool looking rest of AVALANCHE.
 

Arala

Lv. 25 Adventurer
He then however, also goes on to say that a lot is hanging on the next (presumably big) event, and that they're hoping to show off (the game) by then.

Could this next event he's talking about be e3?! I mean, Square Enix do seem to have a large area at the show this year (bigger than most of the other gaming companies, according to the e3 floorplans)! And Square Enix said last year that they had some big announcements this year! Could we finally get some news?!



Urgh, I think I'm getting too excited here... I do this at every e3... But I can hope, right?
 

leadmyskeptic

Pro Adventurer
On the subject of Cloud needing to seem a real badass at start, I liked what has been said already, but just wanted to add that it seems relevant that AVALANCHE are a group consisting chiefly of heavily dedicated fuckups when the game starts. Yes our fellow player characters can strut their stuff, but considering Biggs, Jessie and Wedge are also equal members, Cloud's CLAIM of his fighting prowess (along with Tifa's "childhood friend" vouch) should be enough to get him hired. Especially given the group's seeming reputation in the slums, it seems unlikely people are exactly chomping at the bit to sign up--well, actually wait, they're a secretive and wanted terrorist group, so they can't exactly put up recruitment posters...huh. Guess I never actually thought about this. Yeah, I guess really Tifa's recognizing okay/not okay Cloud at the station, taking him in to take care of him, and then having him offer his services is one of the only ways they could even safely gain a new member.

But anyway, we'll have to wait and see, but I'm taking what they've said so far to mean that we're going to see more of the oddities and cracks, perhaps shortcircuits of the "real" Cloud from time to time in the RM, rather than that he'll be hee-hawing and stumbling and acting a blatant doofus. Basically, the type of stuff that can be caught onto by veterans of the OG, but will just seem 'mysterious' to new players (like the OG 'freakout' sequences did)
 

Roger

He/him
AKA
Minato
On the subject of Cloud needing to seem a real badass at start, I liked what has been said already, but just wanted to add that it seems relevant that AVALANCHE are a group consisting chiefly of heavily dedicated fuckups when the game starts.

But they are putting a stop to that, Biggs and Jessie look and act a lot more capable here, along with a less cartoonish portrayal of Barret. Tifa was never a fuck-up so that leaves Wedge and Cloud as the odd ones out.

Yes our fellow player characters can strut their stuff, but considering Biggs, Jessie and Wedge are also equal members, Cloud's CLAIM of his fighting prowess (along with Tifa's "childhood friend" vouch) should be enough to get him hired. Especially given the group's seeming reputation in the slums, it seems unlikely people are exactly chomping at the bit to sign up--well, actually wait, they're a secretive and wanted terrorist group, so they can't exactly put up recruitment posters...huh. Guess I never actually thought about this. Yeah, I guess really Tifa's recognizing okay/not okay Cloud at the station, taking him in to take care of him, and then having him offer his services is one of the only ways they could even safely gain a new member.

Fort Condor is in the middle of nowhere yet can recruit mercenaries to fight against Shin-Ra by the truckload. Midgar is the capital and population centre of the Planet and Aerith making 1 gil a flower sale can make it up to the Plate. Yet Cloud by himself is worth the lives of like 7 Fort Condor mercs and their gear. If the world is upscaled like we saw in the reveal trailer, how can that work if his portrayal conveys that no one in game or out is really meant to believe he was ever in SOLDIER?
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
On the subject of Cloud needing to seem a real badass at start, I liked what has been said already, but just wanted to add that it seems relevant that AVALANCHE are a group consisting chiefly of heavily dedicated fuckups when the game starts. Yes our fellow player characters can strut their stuff, but considering Biggs, Jessie and Wedge are also equal members, Cloud's CLAIM of his fighting prowess (along with Tifa's "childhood friend" vouch) should be enough to get him hired. Especially given the group's seeming reputation in the slums, it seems unlikely people are exactly chomping at the bit to sign up--well, actually wait, they're a secretive and wanted terrorist group, so they can't exactly put up recruitment posters...huh. Guess I never actually thought about this. Yeah, I guess really Tifa's recognizing okay/not okay Cloud at the station, taking him in to take care of him, and then having him offer his services is one of the only ways they could even safely gain a new member.

But anyway, we'll have to wait and see, but I'm taking what they've said so far to mean that we're going to see more of the oddities and cracks, perhaps shortcircuits of the "real" Cloud from time to time in the RM, rather than that he'll be hee-hawing and stumbling and acting a blatant doofus. Basically, the type of stuff that can be caught onto by veterans of the OG, but will just seem 'mysterious' to new players (like the OG 'freakout' sequences did)


In my mind, the Slums are a lawless place. Outside of two guards that are stationed at the Sector 7 gate, and when the pillar is under attack, we never see any sign that ShinRa police or military ever come down there. Nobody cares what goes on down there, because as long as the security checks on the trains work, all potential criminal elements supposedly stay bellow the plate. I imagine the ID's are the only way to ride the trains without being arrested during a scan, hence why they got caught and had to jump the train.

Avalanche seems to have been implied to have been bigger in the original, and I can't get the blurb on the back of Barret's figure box out of my head. Avalanche suffered a large loss, and desperation has driven them to hire Cloud and go big with attacking the reactors directly.

I would not be surprised if we got an XII type begining where we don't even get Cloud for the first 20-30 minutes, and we focus on tutorializing basic combat with Barret and some generic sword dude who dies while getting the codes to Barret and the surviving members.
 

Arala

Lv. 25 Adventurer
I would not be surprised if we got an XII type begining where we don't even get Cloud for the first 20-30 minutes, and we focus on tutorializing basic combat with Barret and some generic sword dude who dies while getting the codes to Barret and the surviving members.

I would not mind that, actually. It would make Avalanche seem bigger than just 5 people (not including Cloud), which seems a little small for a terrorist group. I remember Jessie (or was it Biggs) implying in the original game that lots of people died while getting the code. I can't remember the exact quote, though, (something about how many of Avalanche's lives were lost getting the code) but it seemed to me that Avalanche had been bigger at some point.

If Avalanche had been bigger at some point, and they had lost a bunch of their people getting the codes for the door, then the reason they hire Cloud is simple. They're desperate and they need more people. Especially since Tifa vouches for Cloud.
 

X-SOLDIER

Harbinger O Great Justice
AKA
X
We recognize most of the points from summaries provided before by those who were at the panel (and who understood what was said) but I don't recall anyone ever talking about Kitase's "35th anniversary" line before.

I'm sure the internet will take that joke in stride...

NOm3_f-maxage-0.gif

:monster:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/final-fantasy-vii-remake-might-get-pushed-back-to-2023.42415/

https://www.destructoid.com/the-fin...ll-allegedly-be-released-by-2023-502866.phtml

https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/8j9xac/the_final_fantasy_vii_remake_will_allegedly_be/

:bigawesomonster:

The ACTUAL quote translation from hian was explicitly clear, too.

Kitase then signs us off by making the joke previously mentioned in the thread, saying he wishes to keep on polishing up the game for the 35th anniversary, to which they all laugh and Hamaguchi responds objectingly "Hey that's a long ways off!"
He then however, also goes on to say that a lot is hanging on the next (presumably big) event, and that they're hoping to show off (the game) by then.


Thanks ta Lex for running damage control on this: https://www.resetera.com/threads/ff...release-window-beware-they-were-joking.42417/




X :neo:
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
Well that was hella depressing to see the misinformation of this audio and translation blow up like this...

Saw it come up on a Unilad gaming video sitting at a few hundred thousand views too...
Could they not have reported on the positive bits and not write an entire article on a misread.

畜生...
 
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ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
Well that was hella depressing to see the misinformation of this audio and translation blow up like this...

Saw it come up on a Unilad gaming video sitting at 5mil views too...
Could they not have reported on the positive bits and not write an entire article on a misread.

畜生...
On the upside...Are you still in Japan perchance?
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
On the upside...Are you still in Japan perchance?

Not for a while no, back in England for a few months at least. Annoyingly was gonna be at E3 this year as well but that's fallen through haha.

Why you ask?
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
Having an on-sight correspondent for Japanese events could be invaluable. You're the only one whose ever emerged as a first person source for that panel, and could talk about it.
 
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