Remake Interviews: Catch-all Thread

[Leafonthebreeze]

Haven't they just said that they won't remake DoC yet as it would spoil the ending of the Remake project? That seems to imply DoC will still be the sequel.

 

[KindOfBlue]

Haven't they just said that they won't remake DoC yet as it would spoil the ending of the Remake project? That seems to imply DoC will still be the sequel.

I believe they said there’s no plans to remake DoC or BC as of yet, which could mean anything at this point

 

[Odysseus]

That’s what I mean though because in another statement they suggest newcomers could start with even Rebirth, they’ve definitely got both old and new fans in mind

Yeah, I'm just saying that the fact new people will play it doesn't mean it won't play on the expectations of people who already played the original game. Most of the confusing elements will probably get explained in the narrative at some point so new players can keep up.

But I think that would also mean retconing the OG to include the Whispers and Zack surviving, so I find it easier to just think of the remake trilogy as a separate continuity altogether, albeit still based on the Compilation but not 100% subject to it

That'd be nice, but I seem to remember plot ghost versions of Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo fighting us because our actions were gonna lead them to no longer happen, so that's why I don't believe that's the case.

 

[JBedford]

Haven't they just said that they won't remake DoC yet as it would spoil the ending of the Remake project? That seems to imply DoC will still be the sequel.

I thought I read that somewhere. but saw they answered the same question differently in another interview.

I don't get that reasoning much, because they're out here releasing a Crisis Core remaster and emphasising its ties with Remake while it spoils the big reveal of FFVII.

 

[Makoeyes987]

They don't want to spoil what happens to the Planet

 

[KindOfBlue]

Yeah, I'm just saying that the fact new people will play it doesn't mean it won't play on the expectations of people who already played the original game. Most of the confusing elements will probably get explained in the narrative at some point so new players can keep up.

We’re on the same page there, but my point is the devs don’t seem to be treating the OG as a prerequisite for the remake in the way that one would expect for a sequel

That'd be nice, but I seem to remember plot ghost versions of Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo fighting us because our actions were gonna lead them to no longer happen, so that's why I don't believe that's the case.

Yeah, but we beat them…from where we stand as of now, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say we’ve prevented them from surfacing in the remake’s future, all we’d need is to permanently end Sephiroth’s threat to the planet which seems to me like just the thing to end the Compilation with

 

[Odysseus]

We’re on the same page there, but my point is the devs don’t seem to be treating the OG as a prerequisite for the remake in the way that one would expect for a sequel

Well, they did recommend that people still play the original, and with ever Crisis maybe being real eventually the whole comp will be available in digest form, so there have been moves to get people familiar with what happened before. It's also common sentiment among fans to recommend new people play the original after the remake lol.

Yeah, but we beat them…from where we stand as of now, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say we’ve prevented them from surfacing in the remake’s future, all we’d need is to permanently end Sephiroth’s threat to the planet which seems to me like just the thing to end the Compilation with

That's exactly what I expect will happen in some form or other.

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

I believe they said there’s no plans to remake DoC or BC as of yet, which could mean anything at this point

Found it, it's the Gamespot interview, @cold_spirit posted it in the other thread here. Not sure where the original source is though and I'm a bit to covid-brained to go hunting.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Yeah, but we beat them…from where we stand as of now, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say we’ve prevented them from surfacing in the remake’s future, all we’d need is to permanently end Sephiroth’s threat to the planet which seems to me like just the thing to end the Compilation with

That doesn't mean anything at all. Those remnants would still be born/created in the future when Sephiroth as a spirit projects his will and uses the Lifestream as a conduit to carry out his attempt at Reunion in year 0009. The fact that their purified spirits are then utilized in year 0007 as entities to fight in the Singularity might take place in the objective past, but it's actually their own subjective future. Their "defeat" in the past would not undo their birth in the future. Time is ultimately relative.

And there's nothing to say that those beings of energy, pure spirit energy, would somehow just cease to exist just because they lost a physical battle against the others. They merely vanished. There's no confirmation that their entire existence has been nullified. They could just have been sent back to the Lifestream to their own time.

 

[Odysseus]

That doesn't mean anything at all.

This is my issue with a lot of your logic. Your way of seeing things makes it so everything we are presented with means nothing. Enemy bios tell us they're fighting us to stop is from changing the future? Meaningless. Red says the events of the og is what happens if they fail to defeat the whispers harbinger? No they didn't kill Sephiroth so that was pointless. "Unknown Journey" just refers to the characters perspective on it and for us it's a very known journey.

That's just not how art works? Things are in the story because they matter?

I know all these interviews speak to the contrary of what I'm saying to a certain extent but still. Even if you're right I'm just gonna think the ending of Remake was hack writing lol. Guess I'll join force in that club.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Alright, bet.

The writers have already said what they were gonna say. Consistently for almost two years and we are 1 year out from the next game. You think there has to be some grand destiny changing conclusion that ultimately lead to...somewhere else. When they've already essentially said it's about the journey to the destination; not changing the destination. That's what those changes are for.

It's not meaningless. No more meaningless than any piece of fiction or remake that changes or recontextualizes itself within an adaption. That's all it is and those core themes of FFVII are obviously the more important aspects of the story that can be revisited in new ways that also lend new enjoyment while staying true to the overall story.

Like, we'll see! But I think it'd be hilariously schizo of them to basically lie for two years when they've never done that before and have only dug themselves in deeper in their resolution of what they were gonna do. But hey, we'll see!

 

[JBedford]

The whispers ensure Kadaj et al get to appear in Advent Children, so those spirit projection things you fight want to protect them.

By defeating the whispers Kadaj et al still have the same potential to exist, it's just no longer guaranteed.

 

[Odysseus]

My thing is, even if Sephiroth wasn't defeated... why would HE suddenly start trying to keep things on track? It seems like this is exactly what he wants. Both he and the party have "defy destiny" as an MO now lol. Who's gonna make sure the conclusion is the same?

There's also the issue of what being true to the crux of ff7 means to them compared to us. Does doing a new spin on Cloud's identity issue mean it still has to resolve the same way?

 

[ForceStealer]

^That was what was tripping me up yesterday. I obviously very much liked where Mako's and Kain's heads were at, but Sephiroth succeeding almost seems more likely to change the timeline than him losing. Assuming, of course, that my original thought is wrong - of Sephiroth trying to mess with the timeline like trying to reach under your couch to unscrew something behind it


And as for Dirge stuff....
Far be it from me to try and divine the rationale of the monument to poor business sense that is so often Square Enix, but a complete remaster/remake/whatever of Dirge seems so unlikely to me regardless of the implications of Remake because, well, no one bought it the first time around. Crisis Core was at least a successful game, lol.
Obviously they are acknowledging it and it's story, but to actually spend money on redeveloping it in some way? I dunno.

 

[Makoeyes987]

My thing is, even if Sephiroth wasn't defeated... why would HE suddenly start trying to keep things on track? It seems like this is exactly what he wants. Both he and the party have "defy destiny" as an MO now lol. Who's gonna make sure the conclusion is the same?

There's also the issue of what being true to the crux of ff7 means to them compared to us. Does doing a new spin on Cloud's identity issue mean it still has to resolve the same way?

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1545141883306909700

There is no ambiguity here. The Famitsu interview does not leave what Kitase or Nomura mean up in the air. They do not want to change the crux of the story. They want to respect the original story by not completely changing it. They are not "modifying" the story to lead to some "surprise." The whole interview leaves it all out there. "While keeping our toe inside the line... so we don't cause players to feel the story's very premise has significantly changed."

And Sephiroth isn't trying to "keep things on track."

He's just trying to win the Planet.

You're overanalyzing and framing everything through some "destiny" lens. The Arbiters of Fate were guardrails towards the ideal future of the Planet's survival. Those guardrails have been destroyed; the stakes have been raised via tension injected into the ultimate conflict of the story.

Sephiroth believes he now has the freedom and capacity to let his previous self create an ideal world with him as a god and an idealized future where the Planet never dies.

The "fate" of FFVII isn't just some nebulous abstract concept or condition. It's the actions of its players and they're going to follow their actions because they want to. The planet isn't necessary for that.

 

[Odysseus]

^That was what was tripping me up yesterday. I obviously very much liked where Mako's and Kain's heads were at, but Sephiroth succeeding almost seems more likely to change the timeline than him losing. Assuming, of course, that my original thought is wrong - of Sephiroth trying to mess with the timeline like trying to reach under your couch to unscrew something behind it

He's seemingly the reason that the whispers became active to begin with. He leads Cloud away from Aerith such that the whispers have to harass her to make sure she doesn't leave and miss meeting Cloud, for example. He also leads the party into confronting them and weakening them to the extent that Sephiroth can absorb them into himself (why he couldn't do it himself I have no idea). He even asks Cloud to join him in defying destiny.

The only way I could see it working is the party realizing they screwed up and having to go back to how things were supposed to be. Sephiroth could show Cloud that that path leads to Aerith's death, which could be a motivation for Cloud going along with him? I dunno. I'm also under the impression Aerith knows she's supposed to die, and it's not really something she wants. Who knows.

And as for Dirge stuff....
Far be it from me to try and divine the rationale of the monument to poor business sense that is so often Square Enix, but a complete remaster/remake/whatever of Dirge seems so unlikely to me regardless of the implications of Remake because, well, no one bought it the first time around. Crisis Core was at least a successful game, lol.
Obviously they are acknowledging it and it's story, but to actually spend money on redeveloping it in some way? I dunno.

A more standard HD remaster could happen instead I guess. It didn't sell terribly but it was no huge success either.

 

[Odysseus]

There is no ambiguity here. The Famitsu interview does not leave what Kitase or Nomura mean up in the air. They do not want to change the crux of the story. They want to respect the original story by not completely changing it. They are not "modifying" the story to lead to some "surprise." The whole interview leaves it all out there.

I think you think what they think the "crux" is the same thing to them that it is to you, is the thing. The plot doesn't have to change much to have a new ending, Remake showed that already. You could get a perfectly 100% identical plot until the very last minute, and I doubt they'd feel like they betrayed anything.

You're overanalyzing and framing everything through some "destiny" lens

The fucking game does that, man. Don't go blaming me for that lol.
"COME, CLOUD. LET US DEFY DESTINY, TOGETHER."
I didn't write that lol.

Sephiroth believes he now has the freedom and capacity to let his previous self create an ideal world with him as a god and an idealized future where the Planet never dies.

There is no "previous" Sephiroth. You are still assuming there's a past and future one, but the Material Ultimania plus has made it clear they're all acting as one mind. There's just Sephiroth, and whatever he is planning.

The "fate" of FFVII isn't just some nebulous abstract concept or condition. It's the actions of its players and they're going to follow their actions because they want to. The planet isn't necessary for that.

You're ignoring all the near misses we had. Reno could be dead right now and the plate could still be standing if not for the whispers. And there were things that did slip through like Wedge living for a while longer (assuming his Disney death actually sticks) and Biggs IS alive. The cracks were already forming and now nobody is here to stop it from breaking. They could easily just write it so things don't go differently but then why bother including those scenes where they nearly did before? That's the implied threat removing the whispers brings.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I think you think what they think the "crux" is the same thing to them that it is to you, is the thing. The plot doesn't have to change much to have a new ending, Remake showed that already. You could get a perfectly 100% identical plot until the very last minute, and I doubt they'd feel like they betrayed anything.

If that one quote was the only line on the subject, I could agree to that point. But look at the entire Famitsu interview along with everything else they've said for two years. There's no ambiguity here. It's like begging the question at this point. There's no misunderstanding what they're saying. They believe there's no meaning to completely changing the Remake's story. They intend the story to lead in the same direction as the original. They want to keep their toe inside the line so players don't feel the story's premise has significantly changed. Like, what more can they possibly say via the spoken language to further elucidate their creative intention of delivering an FFVII Remake that ultimately conveys the same story alongside new mysteries that recontextualize it's plot?

The fucking game does that, man. Don't go blaming me for that lol.
"COME, CLOUD. LET US DEFY DESTINY, TOGETHER."
I didn't write that lol.

To be fair, you're kinda right

The chapter 18 framing is very focused on that premise. However, we're analyzing the Remake critically and in-depth. One can just let the story lead us where it wants to go in creating this unknown mystery of the future. And for those who've let that happen, awesome. They'll get an enjoyable experience and dramatic tension not fully cognizant of what to expect. But we're already parsing their commentary and looking in-depth at the lore implications revealed beyond the surface of the story.

Yes, destiny is a component. But that's not the only framing or even the most important framing of FFVII here. It could easily just be a tool to further explore the core concepts and themes that exist in FFVII OG. And that's a very distinct possibility.

There is no "previous" Sephiroth. You are still assuming there's a past and future one, but the Ultimania has made it clear they're all acting as one mind. There's just Sephiroth, and whatever he is planning.

That does not preclude or contradict the existence of multiple Sephiroths. That just states they share a mind, which makes sense because they both would be progeny of Jenova. Literally nothing there states there isn't a present and future incarnation of the same being.

 

[KindOfBlue]

Well, they did recommend that people still play the original, and with ever Crisis maybe being real eventually the whole comp will be available in digest form, so there have been moves to get people familiar with what happened before. It's also common sentiment among fans to recommend new people play the original after the remake lol.

I think the benefit of knowing the OG and Compilation is that it would make one appreciate the story of the remake even more but I think everything we’ll need to know for the remake project will be presented in the remake itself

That doesn't mean anything at all. Those remnants would still be born/created in the future when Sephiroth as a spirit projects his will and uses the Lifestream as a conduit to carry out his attempt at Reunion in year 0009. The fact that their purified spirits are then utilized in year 0007 as entities to fight in the Singularity might take place in the objective past, but it's actually their own subjective future. Their "defeat" in the past would not undo their birth in the future. Time is ultimately relative.

And there's nothing to say that those beings of energy, pure spirit energy, would somehow just cease to exist just because they lost a physical battle against the others. They merely vanished. There's no confirmation that their entire existence has been nullified. They could just have been sent back to the Lifestream to their own time.

I mean they could come back, sure, there’s a chance they will…but they could also just not and it wouldn’t make the remake any less of an adaptation of the OG especially if they don’t adapt the post-FF7 content anyways

 

[Makoeyes987]

I mean they could come back, sure, there’s a chance they will…but they could also just not and it wouldn’t make the remake any less of an adaptation of the OG especially if they don’t adapt the post-FF7 content anyways

I mean you're technically right, but I'm also considering what they've said. I don't see there being any ambiguity of whether or not we're leading to the same place here, given their own thoughts on the matter.

 

[KindOfBlue]

I mean you're technically right, but I'm also considering what they've said. I don't see there being any ambiguity of whether or not we're leading to the same place here, given their own thoughts on the matter.

I guess that’s the question of the century, is whether their sentiments extend to the post-FF7 story. They’re remaking FF7, which ends with Cloud & friends defeating Sephiroth, Aerith stopping Meteor from the Lifestream, and a flash forward to Red XIII 500 years later. Long as the story leads there, they’ve met their goal regardless of whether the remake also leads to AC/DoC, no?

 

[Makoeyes987]

I mean, if they're saying they aren't tackling remaking/remastering DC or whatever because it'd "spoil" what they're doing now, how else can you take that sentiment?

They obviously must think the story is going in that direction in the future. If it were just a retroactive perspective regarding the context of the Remake drawing concepts or whatever from those titles, that wouldn't be an issue.

Hell, Hojo is already grooming Weiss as a possible host for his digitized consciousness. Between everything I do not think the future is that ambiguous here

 

[KindOfBlue]

They obviously must think the story is going in that direction in the future. If it were just a retroactive perspective regarding the context of the Remake drawing concepts or whatever from those titles, that wouldn't be an issue.

Not necessarily, that all depends on just how much of AC and DoC will be incorporated into the timeframe of the remake’s story and in what way

 

[Makoeyes987]

....Then why would they say it would "spoil" it?

 

[KindOfBlue]

....Then why would they say it would "spoil" it?

Because no matter which way they go, it still takes place after the remake’s timeframe rather than before like CC