Final Fantasy 30th Exhibition - Panel Audio

Absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for sharing this!

I am such a lousy reddit user. I wasn't even aware that there was an FFVII Remake subreddit. XP *subscribed*

It is very difficult to find people willing to translate such lengthy material, though it's easier if you got some money to pay for the translation service. Wish I had that spare change right now. :monster:
 
mecorx posted a summary of the panel audio

mecorx said:
Here are some quick notes on what they talked about:

  • 2:40 - On the exhibition - The theme is "parting ways". If you go around and find/hear all of the voice clips you unlock a final "Thank you" From Aerith.
  • Redesigning concept art so they make sense in high quality (e.g., is the water in the church because of a stream flowing through Midgar)
  • 13:00 - Nomura shows up, cheering ensues. Proceeds to show off unreleased concepts.
  • Avalanche members will play a bigger role in the remake
  • Jessie has a more "womanly" figure
  • Cloud will look younger than what we're used to seeing (i.e., Advent Children). Nomura goes on to mention that he's not really a "cool" character and has shortcomings -- design likely influenced by this fact?
  • FF7 remake development moving along; currently focusing on polishing the tech side of things
  • 22:00 Nomura leaves again; bye!
  • 23:00 As previously mentioned, their approach regarding development changed last year, but is on track now. Things are going smoothly. Should be able to bring the product to you in the near future.
  • 23:50 Kitase - "We're working hard to make a high-quality game that will fulfill your expectations. When the 35th anniversary rolls around... of course we'll be done the game by then..." (nervous laughter...)..
  • The rest is just introducing the next talk show on Feb 15...
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:
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
Glad to see the audio has provided some entertainment at least. I had hoped there was more that was discussed, maybe a full translation might provide more for interpretation.

There is someone on Reddit who has offered to translate it for a fee, which I'm not able to do myself either financially. Also hoped for a Bilingual FF fan out there as a passion project haha, the idea never crossed my mind to sell the audio to a place as I wanted to ensure all fans could eventually enjoy the audio that only a 100 or so people had the privilege to be apart of.

Hopefully it will get translated one day, be it by another or Fan or when my Japanese gets better.

But yeah, my remarks based on the audio analysis above are below.

And because of that translation I can now offer more of an insight to what happened.

The Aerith stuff was fun, although the audio throughout the exhibit was a little buggy from time to time annoyingly. But the recreated church was great to see and walk around (im sure there are photos online)

Nomura Showing up - Japanese women either side of me started to cry. Was strange. He was also only wearing one belt.

Jessie definitely has a more "womanly" figure, she looks like she could be a leading lady with her design. Looked absolutely stunning.

Wedge still looks unbelievable for this world, not in a good way. Like he sticks out? You don't believe this character exists in the world as he looks more "cartoonish" compared to his Avalanche counterparts.

Biggs looks like the love child of Johnny Depp and Snake (MGS) and is a handsome mofo in this, similar vein to Jessie in that he looks like he could be a Main Character (or more than what they are).

Cloud looking younger I guess is the best way to describe the concepts. As I've stated here before, he is a lot thinner and more feminine looking to what we've seen in Advent Children and I feel is closer in appearance to Crisis Core. His body hasn't changed much compared to the PSX trailer we got a few years back, but the facial features and hair definitely have.

The rest of the panels over the course of the exhibition were Final Fantasy 15 related with no correlation to the remake.
 

Roger

He/him
AKA
Minato
Not sure how I feel about Jessie and Biggs looking and acting more impressive and cooler then Cloud. It's the polar opposite of their dynamic in the original game.
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
There was no actual footage shown, just concept design work so I can't say whether they're cooler than Cloud?

But they look impressive enough to be believable fronting characters alongside the others. They're not background characters. Except Wedge who needs to be pushed into the background imo.

The "coolness" of Cloud has caused discussion online in the past I believe... But I think it's down to interpretation, I feel it means we're going to get a more stoic Cloud to start with rather than the blasé Cloud we have been accustomed to maybe. Once again that is just a theory due to limited video source material & what was shown at the panel.
 

Roger

He/him
AKA
Minato
There was no actual footage shown, just concept design work so I can't say whether they're cooler than Cloud?

But they look impressive enough to be believable fronting characters alongside the others. They're not background characters. Except Wedge who needs to be pushed into the background imo.

The "coolness" of Cloud has caused discussion online in the past I believe... But I think it's down to interpretation, I feel it means we're going to get a more stoic Cloud to start with rather than the blasé Cloud we have been accustomed to maybe. Once again that is just a theory due to limited video source material & what was shown at the panel.

Cloud's true self isn't cool, it's a facade that Aerith can see through quite easily. But it is pretty essential that Barret genuinely does not like Cloud initially but that AVALANCHE obviously needs help and that a guy like Cloud is a one in a million opportunity for them. He can't come over like Jessie's dorkish younger brother.
 
Welcome to TLS, Hosagi! Thanks for sharing not just the panel audio but also your experiences being at said panel. This is wonderful documentation for the future when we look back on the history of the FFVII Remake.
 

Radigar

Pro Adventurer
Thank you for share this Hosagi, could you remember some extra things about the exhibition? Did you talk about the panel with other fans at the place?
 
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Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
@Shade: Thank you for the welcome, wish I'd have found this place sooner, would have saved months of umming and ahhing about where to release the information haha.

I think with the exception of 2 other people maybe the most there were natives, one other attendee didn't speak english or not fluently a they were asking staff in an accent heavy Japanese. There was another guy, but he seemed super intense so alas I didn't get the chance to discuss with anyone...

I mean there's lots to talk about the exhibition sure however I also feel there's an abundance of online outlets who would have attended the show and reported on it. I can answer more specific questions of course, but even the secret FFVII stuff from the end of the exhibition is now freely viewable online because of leaks this week. It was those cropping up on my social media feeds that reminded me to try and find a home for this audio.
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
Glad to see the audio has provided some entertainment at least. I had hoped there was more that was discussed, maybe a full translation might provide more for interpretation.

There is someone on Reddit who has offered to translate it for a fee, which I'm not able to do myself either financially. Also hoped for a Bilingual FF fan out there as a passion project haha, the idea never crossed my mind to sell the audio to a place as I wanted to ensure all fans could eventually enjoy the audio that only a 100 or so people had the privilege to be apart of.

Hopefully it will get translated one day, be it by another or Fan or when my Japanese gets better.

But yeah, my remarks based on the audio analysis above are below.

And because of that translation I can now offer more of an insight to what happened.

The Aerith stuff was fun, although the audio throughout the exhibit was a little buggy from time to time annoyingly. But the recreated church was great to see and walk around (im sure there are photos online)

Nomura Showing up - Japanese women either side of me started to cry. Was strange. He was also only wearing one belt.

Jessie definitely has a more "womanly" figure, she looks like she could be a leading lady with her design. Looked absolutely stunning.

Wedge still looks unbelievable for this world, not in a good way. Like he sticks out? You don't believe this character exists in the world as he looks more "cartoonish" compared to his Avalanche counterparts.

Biggs looks like the love child of Johnny Depp and Snake (MGS) and is a handsome mofo in this, similar vein to Jessie in that he looks like he could be a Main Character (or more than what they are).

Cloud looking younger I guess is the best way to describe the concepts. As I've stated here before, he is a lot thinner and more feminine looking to what we've seen in Advent Children and I feel is closer in appearance to Crisis Core. His body hasn't changed much compared to the PSX trailer we got a few years back, but the facial features and hair definitely have.

The rest of the panels over the course of the exhibition were Final Fantasy 15 related with no correlation to the remake.


Okay, I have to ask because I am notorious for having this fixation.




Cloud's hair: Did they fix it to be like it's original Asymetrical style, or is it still looking too much like a David Bowie halloween wig?

"23:00 As previously mentioned, their approach regarding development changed last year, but is on track now. Things are going smoothly. Should be able to bring the product to you in the near future."

Gonna hold onto this as a 2020 at the latest hope.
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
@Chip: David Bowie halloween wig... You got a reference for this as what I think of a halloween wig could have been normal attire for David Bowie haha. Then by original do you mean Playstation 1 original? Or any of his other incarnation originals?

@Donkey: I would say it's unlikely we get anything at E3, only because what is normally shown at E3 is the likes of trailers or sweeping landscapes in terms of Art. Based on what I saw disregarding all the recent news about CyberConnect or it being in "Developmental Hell", I would hazard to say they aren't in such a place at the moment that they have anything worth showing at an event like E3.
Considering we've already had the "it's in development" trailer and the "This is what gameplay could look like" trailers.
I hope I'm wrong and they do have more to show, but I do think it's unlikely...
 

donkeyjack

Pro Adventurer
@Chip: David Bowie halloween wig... You got a reference for this as what I think of a halloween wig could have been normal attire for David Bowie haha. Then by original do you mean Playstation 1 original? Or any of his other incarnation originals?

@Donkey: I would say it's unlikely we get anything at E3, only because what is normally shown at E3 is the likes of trailers or sweeping landscapes in terms of Art. Based on what I saw disregarding all the recent news about CyberConnect or it being in "Developmental Hell", I would hazard to say they aren't in such a place at the moment that they have anything worth showing at an event like E3.
Considering we've already had the "it's in development" trailer and the "This is what gameplay could look like" trailers.
I hope I'm wrong and they do have more to show, but I do think it's unlikely...

E3 2019 then?
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
E3 2019 then?

Seems more likely.
Kingdom Hearts 3 will be out by then, which has been a long time focus of Nomura before wanting to delve into the remake. So I'd expect more from 2019 than 2018. If not at E3 next year then at Playstation Experience or Tokyo Game Show as both sit later in the year.
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
@Chip: David Bowie halloween wig... You got a reference for this as what I think of a halloween wig could have been normal attire for David Bowie haha. Then by original do you mean Playstation 1 original? Or any of his other incarnation originals?

@Donkey: I would say it's unlikely we get anything at E3, only because what is normally shown at E3 is the likes of trailers or sweeping landscapes in terms of Art. Based on what I saw disregarding all the recent news about CyberConnect or it being in "Developmental Hell", I would hazard to say they aren't in such a place at the moment that they have anything worth showing at an event like E3.
Considering we've already had the "it's in development" trailer and the "This is what gameplay could look like" trailers.
I hope I'm wrong and they do have more to show, but I do think it's unlikely...
nWzGJMs.jpg


The way Cloud was originally designed, his hair has two distinct "Sides". The right side has longer spikes, until you reach the "Horn" spike at the top, and then his hair becomes extremely cropped, with one part of his bangs haging down just a little past his eye.

In his Advent Children version, his hair has become a bit more uniform, and has spikes on both sides of his bangs that lead down almost to his chin. I can accept the change because obviously he's two years older and is a little different, so the style change portrays that.

But the remake has his hair just...all over the place, and it's lost that distinct assymetrical look that I associate so strongly with Cloud's identity in the remake.

It feels like someone at CC2 just looked at a picture of Cloud in AC and tried to work backwards from that to what that kind of hair style would look like on a younger, wilder looking Cloud, and it looks...wrong.


S6tgaQ9
 

Hosagi

Rookie Adventurer
AKA
xHosagix
replying on both now to cover both bases!

I've been struggling to recall the hair annoyingly, but found discussions I had on Twitter just after the event with a few people and what I said then was:

"The Hair is a lot lighter in colour and weight now. The hair is still silly and outlandish, but looks a lot more natural. The detail they've put into it is really impressive as well (showed up close stills)."

in addition to that, since posting this again, I've gone back to look at the trailers and previous artwork we had seen at those two large bangs that he has on either side of his head seem strange to me now. They never used to, but certainly do now. So I can't help but wonder if they have been removed, I've been saying he looks very similar to his CC design and going back to look at that those "clumps of hair" aren't prominent in that design.
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
...What does "womanly" actually mean in this context. and why was jessie's figure such a major point of discussion

Because besides Tifa, and until Aerith comes onto the scene probably hours later given the extended scale, she's going to be the only other female character in the cast. So they kinda have to up her curb appeal, as painfully sexist as that is to think about.

If they're making the characters this important, it kinda feels like maybe part one really WILL be just up till the end of Midgar, so they need to flesh out the cast by bringing Avalanche up front and center to make up for the absence of Red, Yuffie, Cait, Vincent, and Cid.
 

Random Nobody

local roach
Because besides Tifa, and until Aerith comes onto the scene probably hours later given the extended scale, she's going to be the only other female character in the cast. So they kinda have to up her curb appeal, as painfully sexist as that is to think about.
I mean, I don't mean "why" in general, because I already know why. I mean in this context, since "womanly" can mean anything from, like, stately and graceful to simply responsible and adult. Or it could be the the anna mae and comic books definition with the tiddies OUT, ass FLYING, doublecheeked up on a Thursday afternoon and a gelatinous spine.
 

ChipNoir

Pro Adventurer
Because besides Tifa, and until Aerith comes onto the scene probably hours later given the extended scale, she's going to be the only other female character in the cast. So they kinda have to up her curb appeal, as painfully sexist as that is to think about.
I mean, I don't mean "why" in general, because I already know why. I mean in this context, since "womanly" can mean anything from, like, stately and graceful to simply responsible and adult. Or it could be the the anna mae and comic books definition with the tiddies OUT, ass FLYING, doublecheeked up on a Thursday afternoon and a gelatinous spine.

Jessie kinda comes off as a tomboy in her art, and even the remake leaves her a little bit in that regard last we saw her. I could see them trying to amplify her...uh...assets. She DOES have to compete with Tifa after all.

Tragic, but that's media for you.
 

ForceStealer

Double Growth
I mean I was happy with the way she looked in the PSX trailer, and the 30th Anniversary concept art seemed to mirror that. So I hope she just looks like that.
 
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