Sakaguchi's involvment with FFVII

[Dashell]

So what exactly was his involvment? I heard he just came up with some concepts like the Lifestream and I've heard others say he basically wrote the story and.. things like that

I also heard that he begged the staff of FFVII NOT to include Tifa in the game because she was too sexy and would overshadow the other characters....
That seems a bit suspicious to me but if someone has a source I'd love to see it.

So what exactly was his role here, anyone know or have any interviews?

 

[Alex]

Who can blame him? Who wouldn't lose their minds over this hot piece of ass.

Blimey, this in-game image has made me forget the entire point of this topic.

 

[Dashell]

IT'S OPTIONAL!... oh wait what topic am I in?...

 

[Ite]

Sakaguchi developed the first nine Final Fantasy stories, doing the lion's share of the work for every one of them. His original concept for FFVII was to set it in modern-day New York as a film-noir type story with a character named Detective Joe as the protagonist.

Obviously, that idea was scrapped early, but people love to bring it up to discredit Sakaguchi's involvement with FFVII's story and give more weight to Nomura's "ownership."

Sakaguchi basically wanted to create a story with the theme of life (because of his dying mother) and developed the story about the life force of a Planet being in jeopardy. He also wanted a more pronounced love story (something he got in FFVIII). His mother died mid-production, and Nomura et al approached him with the idea of "killing off Aeris and bringing in Tifa" which he agreed to. I haven't heard of him rejecting the idea.

 

[GlitterBerri]

Sakaguchi developed the first nine Final Fantasy stories, doing the lion's share of the work for every one of them. His original concept for FFVII was to set it in modern-day New York as a film-noir type story with a character named Detective Joe as the protagonist.

Obviously, that idea was scrapped early, but people love to bring it up to discredit Sakaguchi's involvement with FFVII's story and give more weight to Nomura's "ownership."

Sakaguchi basically wanted to create a story with the theme of life (because of his dying mother) and developed the story about the life force of a Planet being in jeopardy. He also wanted a more pronounced love story (something he got in FFVIII). His mother died mid-production, and Nomura et al approached him with the idea of "killing off Aeris and bringing in Tifa" which he agreed to. I haven't heard of him rejecting the idea.

Where are you getting your information from? I think (err.. Derpy Hooves?) is looking for concrete sources rather than hearsay.

 

[Vendel]

Sakaguchi developed the first nine Final Fantasy stories, doing the lion's share of the work for every one of them. His original concept for FFVII was to set it in modern-day New York as a film-noir type story with a character named Detective Joe as the protagonist.

Wait. How can you say Sakaguchi did the lions share of development on FFVII when you admit that his idea was scrapped?

As far as I can tell (from places like the interview from the 10th anv ultamina on this site) Nomura, Nojima and Kitase did the lions share of the development on FFVII.

Sakaguchi may have come up with some of the overarching concepts. But I can't find anything that says he was heavily involved in the day to day development of the game. Or had much to do with the final product.

 

[Zee]

Where are you getting your information from? I think (err.. Derpy Hooves?) is looking for concrete sources rather than hearsay.

Source

Basically from what I gathered Sakaguchi and Nomura came up with the overall theme and feel of the game while Kitase and Nojima fine tuned specific things in the plot.

I also heard that he begged the staff of FFVII NOT to include Tifa in the game because she was too sexy and would overshadow the other characters....

lol wut

The original story only had Cloud, Aeris, and Barret as the main characters. Once they started developing the plot further and finalized the decision to kill off Aeris, Tifa was to be the heroine.

 

[Ite]

Isn't this common knowledge? Just look on damn Wikipedia and you'll find out.

And I'm not contradicting myself. Sakaguchi himself scrapped the early prototypes for the stories and used them later for Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy VIII. He then developed the FFVII story we see today with Nomura. Kitase and Nojima wrote the script based on the story by Sakaguchi and Nomura (proof: the damn FFVII credits) and Kitase and Nomura brought in Tifa late in development. (one of a billion sources)

And the Ultimania was written right after Sakaguchi left the company. Sounds to me like someone was butthurt. I think his role in developing FFVII's story is greatly underplayed by the people who remain at Square. in 1997, Sakaguchi was credited for writing the story, as well as being producer, executive producer, president of Squaresoft and Final Fantasy creator. It's like asking what part Nomura played in developing Advent Children.

The way I see it: The things in FFVII that are like the sequels can be credited to Nomura. Everything about FFVII that was unlike the sequels can be attributed to Sakaguchi.

 

[Vendel]

And I'm not contradicting myself. Sakaguchi himself scrapped the early prototypes for the stories and used them later for Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy VIII. He then developed the FFVII story we see today with Nomura. Kitase and Nojima wrote the script based on the story by Sakaguchi and Nomura (proof: the damn FFVII credits) and Kitase and Nomura brought in Tifa late in development. (one of a billion sources)

After looking for multiple sources the most I can gather is that Sakaguchi was responsible for New York Midgar and the lifestream. And even those are things which others actually developed from his original ideas.

Also it's funny, your link doesn't say Tifa was brought in late in development. And I have never seen an official source on this. It's almost like you are talking out of your ass.

And the Ultimania was written right after Sakaguchi left the company. Sounds to me like someone was butthurt. I think his role in developing FFVII's story is greatly underplayed by the people who remain at Square. in 1997, Sakaguchi was credited for writing the story, as well as being producer, executive producer, president of Squaresoft and Final Fantasy creator. It's like asking what part Nomura played in developing Advent Children.

Oh so it's an SE conspiracy? Holy shit. Is that common knowledge as well?

 

[Zee]

Also it's funny your link doesn't say Tifa was brought in late in development. And I have never seen an official source on this. It's almost like you are talking out of your ass.

http://www.ff7citadel.com/press/int_egm.shtml


your status is now told

 

[Vendel]

http://www.ff7citadel.com/press/int_egm.shtml


your status is now told

Did you think I hadn't read the link before making that statement?

You should try it then come back here and show us where it says Tifa was brought in late in development.

 

[Dashell]

Isn't this common knowledge? Just look on damn Wikipedia and you'll find out.

OH gawd I'm so sorry, did I ask a question? Oh and I don't trust Wikipedia? Oh yeah Wikipedia is SO reliable too! What WAS I ever thinking?

Anyway thanks for the links, I think this clears up what I was trying to find out

Is that common knowledge as well?

Is it on Wikipedia?

 

[Gym Leader Devil]

Q, you're such a troll. Scroll up and look upon what you've begat!

 

[Dashell]

Like I said, how dare I ask a question

 

[Zee]

Oh and I don't trust Wikipedia? Oh yeah Wikipedia is SO reliable too! What WAS I ever thinking?

you could always click on the citations in the articles






which is exactly what i did to give you sources

 

[Dashell]

But it's so much easier to just have you do my work for me

Not all the info is on Wiki anyway, I mean how much stuff has Hito translated that he's like "Didn't I post this?" and it's the most epic thing in the Universe that he never posted that he thought he did? Just making sure there isn't something out there that isn't well known.

 

[Dashell]

So just to clear up, Tifa wasn't really brought in LATE in development, just ... sometime later on, right?

 

[Ite]

Yes. Sorry for the miscommunication. She was not a last-minute addition, she was simply not part of the original story. Obviously she was brought in with enough time to, you know, make her the leader of the party for a while and have her be the keystone to Cloud's identity etc.

The great thing about articles is that they cite their sources. Even Wikipedia.

Oh so it's an SE conspiracy? Holy shit. Is that common knowledge as well?

Well, for the first five years that I was an obsessed FFVII fanboy, Sakaguchi was still with Squaresoft and everybody seemed to credit him with everything. That's almost completely changed since he left, so either they were lying before or they're lying now. Considering Squeenix's current quality of storytelling, I'm not entirely inclined to believe that Sakaguchi was as useless as they now make him out to be.

 

[Elisa Maza]

I don't know about that last part, I think there are many instances in the game that reminded me of the writing of the later titles.

I've always believed that Sakaguchi's idea was scrapped and that was that. Interesting to have more info about it. And I'm too lazy and hate Wiki too much to go there, anyway...

 

[ForceStealer]

I don't really credit FF7['s story] to Sakaguchi OR Nomura. I've always given it to Nojima, you know, the guy that wrote it?

As you say, Sakaguchi was the president of Square, with several other duties, I don't see him having a ton of time to be involved with the day to day workings of FF7. Being a "Producer" doesn't mean much, producers are rarely very involved. Isn't this new Wii game he's making the first game he's actually directed since FFV? Speaking of Wiki, doesn't his own entry make a point of how after 5, he was less intimately involved with the series except for IX?

But hey, for a long time I never thought Nomura was involved in the story at all, I just thought he was designing characters, and I was wrong on that.

 

[Tetsujin]

But hey, for a long time I never thought Nomura was involved in the story at all, I just thought he was designing characters, and I was wrong on that.

Well, Nomura and Sakaguchi are credited for the story right in the beginning of the game, after all.

 

[Ite]

THANK YOU

 

[ForceStealer]

You mean that screen that comes up if you don't push anything? Why would I have ever looked at that?

 

[Ⓐaron]

Did you think I hadn't read the link before making that statement?

Evidently you didn't.

You should try it then come back here and show us where it says Tifa was brought in late in development.

Right here:

EGM: We heard that the death of Aerith and the creation of Tifa both originated in a phone call between you two....
TN: It's funny, some magazine ran that story, but only the beginning and ending of it. People think that I wanted to kill off Aerith and replace her with Tifa as the main character! [Laughs] The actual conversation between Mr. Kitase and myself was very, very long. Originally, there were only going to be three characters in the entire game: Cloud, Barrett, and Aerith.

There were originally three characters and Tifa wasn't one of them. Do the fucking math. Most of the rest of the interview after that is about why Nomura selected Aerith as the character to die. It's as if you didn't even read it.

 

[Vendel]

Evidently you didn't.

Right here: There were originally three characters and Tifa wasn't one of them. Do the fucking math. Most of the rest of the interview after that is about why Nomura selected Aerith as the character to die. It's as if you didn't even read it.

Again show me in that link where is says Tifa was brought in late in development. Don't fucking guess. The fact that originally there were only going to be 3 playable characters means jack shit.

Show me these billion sources that back that claim up.