Remake Interviews: Catch-all Thread

ForceStealer

Double Growth
Seems awfully unlikely, but who knows with showbusiness. My headcanon was that some Square fan who was part of the large groups that really didn't like the Compilation voice cast had ascended in the company enough to convince them to change everyone. :lol: But occam's razor said it was probably just cheaper to replace everyone. I'd say they did a pretty good job since with one or two exceptions everyone is as good or better.

As I said from the beginning, I was a little bummed about Beau Billingsley because he never got any good Barret material and I know that he would have killed it. But John Eric Bentley is killing it just fine on his own and is great, so I have no objections.

The new Zack voice is eh...but I admit the new guy had some things working against him. Primarily that he's the only person that
had to redo a scene that had been voiced before, word-for-word, but without any of the context that Rick Gomez had. And also that I was already pissed by that point of the ending :lol: He sounded a little better in the Intermission ending, but Gomez really was perfect.

The new Sephiroth guy basically sounds like he's doing an impression of Newbern to me, so, whatever.

And this is the first time they've ever had a good Aerith, so that's cool.
 
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Theozilla

Kaiju Member
Besides preferring Newbern’s Sephiroth and Tseng and Zack’s old voice, and seconding the notion it’s a shame that Beau Billingsley never had a opportunity to show his voice acting chops with Barret (despite liking Bentley’s performance), I think I also preferred Bowen’s (from CC) Aerith over White’s, just like the tenor of the former’s voice more.
Also before the voice actor was exposed as a sex pest and creep, I did prefer Reno’s old voice actor, but the revelations stuff makes me prefer the new one now regardless of quality.
 

ForceStealer

Double Growth
I thought Bowen did well, but specifically for that teenaged Aerith. That doesn't mean she couldn't have aged it up for the 22-year-old version, but I think White has captured that well, at least.
 
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Makoeyes987

Listen closely, there is meaning in my words.
AKA
Smooth Criminal
Despite having to rely on Google Translate, that was an interesting and informative interview. I love how he describes how he handled Tifa and Aerith's different ways of overcoming their pasts, because it reflects their unique personalities. And I do like how he confirms the way he looks at the FFVII setting. It's clearly relevant and informs his writing, since it's all connected.
 

cold_spirit

he/him
AKA
Alex T
The Compilation and Remake voice work has merged in my head. I have to focus for a bit to remember the differences between Aerith's voice actors for example. I actually think Square Enix is really good at casting, it's just the lines themselves can be hard to work with (Advent Children probably being the worst offender).
 

ph14basicbitch

shinra merch buyer
AKA
koda
I'm too weeb for English voice actors, but the new guy for Reno seems to fit how they characterized him compared to the PS1 game. I think it'd be completely bizarre if he voiced pre-Remake Reno, and vice versa w/the old VA who turned out to be a creep anyway.

I'll miss Reno's JP voice actor a lot, but I can tell from his performance in Remake vs his other roles that they must have told him to try and sound "younger" or something. Hope they recast him as someone who is more fitting to their new image of him, instead of "sound-a-likes" for the previous guy. (None of the soundalikes actually sound like him, tbh.)

The voices certainly seem to lend themselves to how people think of the characters, for sure.
 
This part of the interview warms my heart.
以前に野島さんは物語を語る時、小説という表現方法は自由でなんでもアリだけれど書くのは難しいとおっしゃっていましたが、今もそれは変わりませんか?
あるいは技術的に進歩したなと手応えを感じる点などあれば教えてください。


野島:子供の頃から小説は好きでよく読んでいたのですが、そのぶん理想が高くなってしまって。いざ自分で書くとなるとその高みにまったく手が届かず、長いあいだ小説の執筆は苦行のようなものでした。その苦しさが今はないですね。己を知ったということかもしれませんね。
DeepL said:
You once said that when you tell a story, the novel is a free form of expression where anything is possible, but writing it is difficult.
Do you feel that this is still the case today? Or do you feel that you have made any progress in terms of technology?


Nojima: I've loved novels since I was a child, and I used to read them a lot, but that meant I had high ideals. When it came to writing my own novels, I couldn't reach those heights at all, and for a long time writing novels was like a struggle. I don't feel that pain now. Maybe it's because I know myself.
 

Eerie

Fire and Blood
This girl is providing the translation of Sakurai's interview (2 parts so far, there will be more) from the Ultimania that just got released in French (it's the one that will get released in December in English):



The interesting part in this second translation, I think, is how Sakurai understands the word "Remake". Just how far will they go into reshaping the world and story, I guess that's the whole question.
 

Eerie

Fire and Blood
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cold_spirit

he/him
AKA
Alex T
FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE: Inside the Honeybee Inn

It's wild to think the amount of time and work that went into the 10 min Honeybee Inn scene. Working with a choreography team would probably require them to know the stage dimensions and features before creating the routine, on top of producing the music. Plus the developers had to make the scene interactive (rhythm game, different dresses for Cloud) and modernize the script.

It's a spectacle to behold.

It’s a very different approach to the original game. Why did you make that decision?

Given how famous the cross-dressing was in the original FINAL FANTASY VII, we were aware that people would have high expectations for the remake. We knew we had to do it in a way that both lived up to those expectations, but took modern sensibilities into consideration.

For example, fans these days expect stories and dialogue in games to go beyond stereotypical depictions of gender. Through Andrea’s lines and the lyrics of the backing track, Stand Up, we tried to build in a positive and supportive message for Cloud during his cross-dressing scene.

Was it difficult to find the right words to convey that message so succinctly?

Well, actually we originally had a much longer conversation planned, but we needed to make the dialogue during the dance scene short and snappy so we had to edit it down.

In the end though, I think this left us with a stronger, more straightforward message.
 

Roundhouse

Pro Adventurer
Old but interesting...

'In an interesting twist, Hamaguchi says that writer Kazushige Nojima originally had a very different vision for Episode Intermission. "To be honest, when Mr. Kazushige Nojima turned in the initial draft of the [Episode Intermission] scenario, the story was going to take place at a different time from the events of [Final Fantasy 7 Remake], but we had him adjust it so that it happens simultaneously — while Cloud and his allies were on their adventure in Midgar," he says.'

https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-7-remake-intergrade-interview-square-enix
 

LNK

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Nate
Didn't play Intermission, but I'm glad they stuck with what they did. Story wise, it makes sense
 

KindOfBlue

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Blue
Final Fantasy VII Remake Revisited Chapter 1

Final Fantasy VII Remake Revisited Chapter 2

Final Fantasy VII Remake Revisited Chapter 3

From Chapter 3:
In the original FFVII you can visit the area under Seventh Heaven, but this was removed for FFVII Remake. Is there a reason for it?

In Chapter 3 Cloud is more distant from the Avalanche members than he was in the original game, so we made it that he was not allowed into their underground hideout. Having group meetings that only full Avalanche members are invited to and Cloud being left out in the celebration of the successful bombing mission etc. depicted the loneliness of his situation.

However, there is more to the story, as during development we had actually planned for a section between Chapter 8 and Chapter 9 where the player controlled Tifa and could experience the events leading up to her infiltrating Don Corneo's wife auditions. That section would have featured the inside of the Avalanche base.

It was developed to a point where the section was joined up and playable, but we were concerned that having a separate story as an interlude after Cloud falls from Reactor 5 and is reunited with Aerith in the church would damage the tempo of the storytelling, so we ultimately decided to remove that part. I think it would be great to show Tifa's side of the story if we get a chance at some point.

Motomu Toriyama (Co-Director (Scenario Design))

Naoki Hamaguchi (Co-Director (Game Design / Programming)
I think it would be great to show Tifa's side of the story if we get a chance at some point.
4DE88246-E523-48B4-9942-F25BC0D65888.jpeg
 

Ashen

Pro Adventurer
but we were concerned that having a separate story as an interlude after Cloud falls from Reactor 5 and is reunited with Aerith in the church would damage the tempo of the storytelling, so we ultimately decided to remove that part.

I would have never guessed they were worried about tempo, seeing all the padding and The Drum. If that place wasn't tempo-killer I'm a fairy.
 
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