20th Anniversary Ultimania Translations

GlitterBerri

赤橙黄緑青紺&#
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クライシス コア -FFVII-

偵察用ガンブルヘッド(メカ兵器)の名前としてビッグスとウェッジも登場。そのほかのガンブルヘッドにも、『FFX』のブリッツボール選手の名前などがついている。
Crisis Core -FFVII-

Biggs and Wedge make an appearance as names of the Gambleheads, mecha weapons used for reconnaissance. Other Gambleheads take on the names of Blitzball players from FFX.

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白き輝きを解き放つために

 クレーターの内側に飛行船を停泊させて、クラウドたちは大空洞の内部を突き進む。大空洞のさらに奥深く、星の体内でジェノバ・SYNTHESISを倒した一行が目にしたのは、セフィロスの強固な意志によって抑えこまれるホーリーの輝きだった。エアリスの祈りを解き放つべく、クラウドたちはセフィロスに最後の戦いを挑む。

 死闘の果てに勝負は決し、ついにくずれ落ちるセフィロス。しかしクラウドは、自分の精神に残るセフィロスの意識を感じ取る。長き因縁に決着をつけるために精神世界にて、クラウドとセフィロスのー騎打が幕を開けた。
Releasing the White Radiance

Anchoring the airship on the inner edge of the crater, Cloud and party plunge into the Great Cave. Even further beyond the Great Cave, deep within the planet's core, the group that defeated Jenova Synthesis lay their eyes upon the radiance of Holy that is being blocked by the will of Sephiroth. In order to release Aeris' prayer, Cloud and party challenge Sephiroth to a final battle.

At the end of the life-or-death struggle, the victor is decided, and Sephiroth finally crumbles. However, Cloud senses the consciousness of Sephiroth that remains within his mind. The curtain draws back on a one-on-one fight within the spirit world between Cloud and Sephiroth that will decide their fate once and for all.

The Spirit World is the place Cloud and Tifa find themselves in the Lifestream and can be translated as Mind World as well.

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FFVII

主人公とプレイヤーとのギャップを埋める方法はつねに考えている

野島さんは、別の会社からスクウェア(当時)に移ってきて『FF』を手がけるようになったんですよね。

野島 ええ。入社して最初に関わった『バハムート ラグーン』では、前の会社と制作過程がかなりちがっていて驚きました。とくに、スクウェアでは開発チームみんなで作っている印象が強くて、たとえばシナリオの打ち合わせが開かれると、チームのほぼ全員が集まって意見を出し合うんです。そこで出たアイデアがどんどん採用されていくのを見て、ひとりひとりの意見の重みが大きいと感じましたね。だから、『FFVII』のシナリオを担当することこになったときには、「みんなのアイデアを最後にまとめるのが大変だろうなあ」と思いました(笑)。

『FFVII』のシナリオをまかされることにプレッシャーはなかったですか?

野島 開発がはじまったころは、ほかのスタッフが作業できるようにシナリオを先に作る必要があったので、とりあえず書き進めようという気持ちが強くて、超大作である『FF』をまかされたことへのプレッシャーはあまり感じなかったですね。ただ、早い時期から宣伝がはじまった関係で、シナリオが完成していないうちに画面写真がどんどん紹介されていったんです。そうすると、「一度映像が公開されたら、メッセージを修正できないな」という、別の意味でのプレッシャーを意識するようになって(笑)。まあ、公開後でも直していいとは言われていたんですけど、なんだかいさぎよくないと思って、結局修正はしませんでした。

  『FFVII』のシナリオは、どんなことを念頭に置いて作っていったのでしょうか。

野島 それ以前に作ったRPGでもそうなんですけど、主人公とプレイヤーとの関係性は考えていましたね。たとえば『ドラゴンクエスト』だと、主人公の個性が設定されていないので、プレイヤーはそのまま主人公になりきることができる。でも、クラウドのように名前も過去も決まっている主人公の場合は、遊ぶ人にどうやって感性移入させたらいいのですか。これは、『FFVII』にかぎらず、自分のテーマとしてずっと考えました。

  その解決策として、クラウドの過去の記憶があいまいだという設定が生まれたわけですね。

野島 そうです。主人公の記憶がないというのは、結構好きなシチュエーションですね。物語の舞台となる世界に住んでいるキャラクターは、その世界のことをよく知っているけれど、プレイヤーにとってはまったく知らない世界じゃないですか。そうすると、住んでいるキャラクターには当たり前のことでも、プレイヤーには理解できないというギャップが生まれてしまう。それを埋めるために何らかの工夫をほどこすというのは、シナリオを書くうえでつねに重視している部分です。

  いま『FFVII』のシナリオを振り返ってみて、どんなふうに感じますか?

野島 あのころはとにかく若かったなあ、と。セリフを見ても、プレイヤーに伝わるかどうか自身がないから言葉をたくさんつけ足している印象が漂ってきて、すごく気恥ずかしい(笑)。全体としては、「やってやる!」という熱意がこもっているのに、ちょっとふざけた感じの要素もたくさん入っていて、楽しんで作っていたんだなあという印象がありますね。
FFVII

I was always thinking of ways to diminish the gap between player and protagonist.

Mr. Nojima, you transferred from another company to what was then Square and came to work on Final Fantasy, correct?


Nojima: That's right. When I joined Square and started working on Bahamut Lagoon, I was surprised at how the creation process was quite different from the one at my last company. In particular, the concepts the Square development team developed together were very strong. For example, when scenario meetings started, almost all the team members gathered to contribute their opinions. Seeing the ideas that were put forward there rapidly put into use, I felt that a lot of weight was given to everyone's views. That's why when I was put in charge of FFVII's scenario, I was thinking it would be difficult to bring everyone's ideas together. *laughing*

Did you feel any pressure to avoid being defeated by FFVII's scenario?

Nojima:
When development began, it was necessary to create scenarios ahead of time so the other staff could do their work, so at first I felt a strong need to keep writing and not a lot of pressure to avoid being defeated by the giant project that was Final Fantasy. The only thing is that advertising for the game began early on, meaning that screenshots were being rapidly released while the scenario was still in development. Because of this, I was conscious of another kind of pressure, that is, once a screenshot was released to the public, there was no way to amend the message. *laughing* Anyhow, they said it was alright to fix things up after they were released, but I felt that would have been a little cowardly and didn't end up changing anything.

What sort of things were on your mind when coming up with FFVII's scenario?

Nojima:
As was the case with the RPGs I'd made previously, I was thinking of the relationship between the player and the protagonist. For example, with Dragon Quest, the main character doesn't have a set personality and the player is free to "become" the hero. However, in the case of a protagonist like Cloud whose name and past have already been decided, how do you get the player to empathize with the character? This matter is always on my mind, not just in relation to FFVII.

Cloud's foggy memories were created as a solution to this problem, weren't they.

Nojima: That's correct. I quite like having an amnesiac protagonist. The characters living in the universe that serves as the setting for the story know their world well, but it's a totally new place to the player. That's where a gap is born, when the player knows nothing about what is common knowledge to the rest of the world's inhabitants. Coming up with a device to diminish that gap is something I'm always seriously considering when writing the scenario.

How does it make you feel today to look back at FFVII's scenario?

Nojima: I was definitely younger back then. Looking at the dialogue, I'm not confident that I managed to convey everything to the player, so I keep wanting to go back and add a lot more text, shamefully enough. *laughing* The whole game is filled with a ton of enthusiasm and had a lot of silly parts too, so I'm left with the memory of the good times I had making it.
 
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Dashell

SMILE!
AKA
Sonique, Quexinos, Pinkie Pie, Derpy Hooves
Nojima: I was definitely younger back then. Looking at the dialogue, I'm not confident that I managed to convey everything to the player,

Lol, yeah :monster:

Glad he had such a good time making this. Thanks for the translations :D
where did you get your scans BTW?
 

GlitterBerri

赤橙黄緑青紺&#
No problem. =) Ryu gave them to me, they were untranslated scans belonging to The Lifestream, I guess.
 

Vendel

Banned
What sort of things were on your mind when coming up with FFVII's scenario?

Nojima:
As was the case with the RPGs I'd made previously, I was thinking of the relationship between the player and the protagonist. For example, with Dragon Quest, the main character doesn't have a set personality and the player is free to "become" the hero. However, in the case of a protagonist like Cloud whose name and past have already been decided, how do you get the player to empathize with the character? This matter is always on my mind, not just in relation to FFVII.

Cloud's foggy memories were created as a solution to this problem, weren't they.

Nojima: That's correct. I quite like having an amnesiac protagonist. The characters living in the universe that serves as the setting for the story know their world well, but it's a totally new place to the player. That's where a gap is born, when the player knows nothing about what is common knowledge to the rest of the world's inhabitants. Coming up with a device to diminish that gap is something I'm always seriously considering when writing the scenario.


It's funny how he admits that they make Cloud basically a blank slate so you will empathize with him.

Thus when he reverts back to his true self and all your choices are taken away you already feel emotionally invested.

Sadly this is a point lost on many. And no I am not just talking about Clerith shippers.
 

GlitterBerri

赤橙黄緑青紺&#
It's funny how he admits that they make Cloud basically a blank slate so you will empathize with him.

Thus when he reverts back to his true self and all your choices are taken away you already feel emotionally invested.

Sadly this is a point lost on many. And no I am not just talking about Clerith shippers.

Well, I think your feelings at that point in the game mirror Cloud's. He's not the person he thought he was either, and he has the image he built up for himself taken away from him. Everything he thought he knew is a misconception on his part. Assuming it was deliberate, it's kind of clever.

Nojima: That's right. When I joined Square and started working on Bahamut Lagoon, I was surprised at how the creation process was quite different from the one at my last company. In particular, the concepts the Square development team developed together were very strong. For example, when scenario meetings started, almost all the team members gathered to contribute their opinions. Seeing the ideas that were put forward there rapidly put into use, I felt that a lot of weight was given to everyone's views. That's why when I was put in charge of FFVII's scenario, I was thinking it would be difficult to bring everyone's ideas together. *laughing*

I fixed that last sentence by filling in the missing kanji, by the way.
 
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Dashell

SMILE!
AKA
Sonique, Quexinos, Pinkie Pie, Derpy Hooves
Except that he likes to dress like a girl and hang out on a hot tub full of men.. THAT'S the true Cloud :awesome:
 

Roger

He/him
AKA
Minato
The curtain draws back on a one-on-one fight within the spirit world between Cloud and Sephiroth that will decide their fate once and for all.

Glad that's cleared up. Cloud sensed Sephiroth in his mind but the place he travelled too was inside the Lifestream, where he beat Sephiroth and allowed Aerith to do her thing. It wasn't just the last vestige in Cloud's mind that we faced, that was just how he sensed him. As AC shows us that connection in Clouds mind is still there. ( if I wasn't on my PS3 I'd put a pic of Cloud going split eyed here)
 
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Ryushikaze

Deus Admiral Parsimonious, PHD, DDS, MD, JD, OBE
AKA
Tim, Ryu
Well, I think your feelings at that point in the game mirror Cloud's. He's not the person he thought he was either, and he has the image he built up for himself taken away from him. Everything he thought he knew is a misconception on his part. Assuming it was deliberate, it's kind of clever.

Considering Nojima's words on the matter, especially shortening the gap between player and Cloud, I'd be surprised if he didn't realize that while writing the game. Cypher Cloud and all that jazz I mentioned last night.
 

X-SOLDIER

Harbinger O Great Justice
AKA
X
How does it make you feel today to look back at FFVII's scenario?

Nojima: I was definitely younger back then. Looking at the dialogue, I'm not confident that I managed to convey everything to the player, so I keep wanting to go back and add a lot more text, shamefully enough. *laughing* The whole game is filled with a ton of enthusiasm and had a lot of silly parts too, so I'm left with the memory of the good times I had making it.

I like that this actually discusses the little humorous bits in FFVII. You don't see much focusing on that in the interviews, because it's not a very zany game and they're mostly focused on intracasies of the story, but it certainly has it's moments and it's nice to see them mentioned.

I wonder if these sorts of ideas would be expanded if the game was remade, so he'd be able to explain everything that he originally wanted to.

Thanks a TON for doing these, btw.


X :neo:
 

The Twilight Mexican

Ex-SeeD-ingly good
AKA
TresDias
Thanks a bunch for these translations, especially the interview with Nojima. I always love looking at what he has to say about the writing process for these games, especially VII given how input from several different people made it into the game and since so much was going on at the same time he was writing.
 

JMGrant

Lv. 1 Adventurer
AKA
Josh
Does anyone know if there are any ideas to officially translate and release the Ultimanias outside of Japan? I'd love to be able to buy these and be able to read them...
 
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