Yoshinori Kitase on the highs and lows of creating the timeless PlayStation classic

[cold_spirit]

Final Fantasy VII: Yoshinori Kitase on the highs and lows of creating the timeless PlayStation classic

New interview to coincide with FFVII's PS Now release. A tidbit, Vincent is Kitase's favorite character. No wonder Vincent got his own game.

My personal favorite is Vincent Valentine. He’s an optional party member – so if you’re playing the game for the first time on PS Now, make sure you thoroughly explore a certain mansion… that’s all I’ll say.

I like the character because he’s the kind of dark hero who would typically appear in horror movies, and the type of character that did not exist in the Final Fantasy games before that point.

This is a nice story. It's wild how distant Japanese devs could be from western impressions and still make hits. Nowadays, JRPGs rely on the western market to survive.

Fortunately, Final Fantasy VII was a hit. From the sales data, I could see it was selling well to people all over the world – but back then we didn’t really have the opportunity to interact with our global fans, so I didn’t really have a sense of just how well-received it was.

I only really understood five years later in 2002, when we released Final Fantasy X on PlayStation 2.

I went on a promotional tour of Europe and North America for the first time – it was the first chance I’d ever had to meet with international fans and many of them brought their copies of Final Fantasy VII for me to sign. That’s when I really felt the level of our success for the first time – it was very memorable to say the least.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Very interesting hearing this. And also how he describes it.

I also love how he's being mindful of spoilers too

Vincent really is popular and he's one of my favorites as well. His whole character is an aesthetic one can't help but love, lol

 

[Obsidian Fire]

It would be more accurate to say that *console* JRPGs rely on the Western Market. The Japanese market is far more about handheld games these days and that's where all the money is at for a lot of JP companies in their home market. Which is part of why we see so many phone games out of Japan these days...

 

[Eerie]

Is there someone who doesn't like Vincent? I've never meet anyone who doesn't. I know I love him too, he was part of my team as soon as I got him.

 

[Rydeen]

Is there someone who doesn't like Vincent? I've never meet anyone who doesn't. I know I love him too, he was part of my team as soon as I got him.

I'm ambivalent. I think a lot of that is because of the era where everyone was unrelentingly obsessed with him. Which was only natural, because of DoC, but it annoyed me a lot at the time.

 

[looneymoon]

hes kind of a melodramatic mall goth. I mostly find him vaguely fun to bully.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I find him quite an interesting character but I don't respect him the way I do Barret. If he were in my real life I'd want to slap him. I wouldn't like him at all.
I mean, one of the things I have always loved about the FFVII protagonists is how they're all deeply flawed, have some bad values, and often don't act like good people. But they keep trying.

 

[Ite]

I find him quite an interesting character but I don't respect him the way I do Barret. If he were in my real life I'd want to slap him. I wouldn't like him at all.
I mean, one of the things I have always loved about the FFVII protagonists is how they're all deeply flawed, have some bad values, and often don't act like good people. But they keep trying.

Encapsulated perfectly with Cid. In peace time, I would want nothing at all to do with him. Even though two other party members literally betray us, he seems like the odd man out… But this isn’t peace time is it? The cast members of FFVII are strange bedfellows indeed.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

Yes, I was thinking particularly of Cid. But I find the Cids of real life easier to deal with than the Vincents. You can stand up to a Cid and fight him. Vincent's a sort of blancmange; if you tell him he's an awful person, he'll just agree with you and go on sitting in his corner all depressed and self-absorbed.

 

[kathy202]

I never particularly liked Vincent. Didn't dislike him either, just never quite understood the popularity. He does look extremely cool, but the personality and motivations of this character I find really hard to relate or even understand.

 

[Makoeyes987]

What? You've never felt like sleeping for 30 years straight inside of a coffin, hidden deep inside a basement?

I do all the time.

 

[kathy202]

No, maybe that's why I can never atone for my sins.

 

[Odysseus]

Bincent lives and dies on looking cool. He's nowhere near as interesting as Barret or Cid, but he's a handsome bishi with a DARK PAST, which makes him more appealing to a wide audience. I enjoy him too lol. He's just a really nothing character in the original game, all of his story stuff was left on the chopping block.

 

[ForceStealer]

"A list of my ~Tragic Powers~"

 

[Eerie]

Hopping on this thread because a French girl bought this book and is translating parts of this:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1440434404162105344

These interviews were conducted when Remake was being made, so the memories of the devs was already fading away but to me it's Sakaguchi's note that he felt that even if the message about death that he wanted to convey was very important to him, he feels that he was too immature to carry it.

 

[Sephiroth Crescent]

@Eerie I think that and this are the same?

 

[Eerie]

It's the same author I believe (Matt Leone), yes, but I'm not sure if it's just the same as the comprehensive article or if he added some stuff in it (it's a little over 200 pages long).

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

The book version had some extra stuff, yeah.

 

[Khaoticnoize187]

Is there someone who doesn't like Vincent? I've never meet anyone who doesn't. I know I love him too, he was part of my team as soon as I got him.

Vincent's been my favorite since the time i found him.

 

[Mobius Stripper]

hes kind of a melodramatic mall goth. I mostly find him vaguely fun to bully.

Vincent being a mall goth is one of the reasons I like him. He seems like someone you could go to Denny's with at 3am.

He is also a bit fun to bully because he is a total schlimazel.

 

[Leafonthebreeze]

Back in the day, me and a friend noticed Vincent's cloak had no rips in the original game but was torn to shreds in AC and DoC. We headcannoned that he shot it up himself in a fit of edgelord boredom one day. I think she might even have written a comedy fic about it, although it's sadly lost to time.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I thought it simply became tattered due to being the same cloak he wore for 30 years but I find that explanation far more entertaining.

 

[Prism]

That makes me wonder... FFVII Remake Vincent: Tattered cloak or pristine cloak?

I'm betting pristine because it evokes the classic look, which they've leaned into. But then again, I can't imagine a modern take on him without the torn cape.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I'm pretty certain it'll be tattered, however he'll have the pristine front edges of his front collar like in AC. He doesn't get his total tattered edge look until post-AC.

Real question is, will his right arm be fully sleeved or exposed like in the original FFVII. I'm inclined to think it won't be exposed given how it's been shown, even in BC. But they may throw a curveball and give his inner leather outfit a makeover more evocative of his OG outfit.