April Dengeki PS3 to bring a new interview also new Nomura interview in March 2009 issue of Dengeki PS

Dengeki PlayStation will bring us another interview with Tetsuya Nomura, along with Motomu Toriyama, Kazushige Nojima, Takeshi Nozue and Nao Ikeda about Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete and Final Fantasy XIII. It will also brings us some visuals of both FF VII: ACC and FF XIII.

The issue will be released on April 2 on Japan, so keep an eye here.

There’s also a new Tetsuya Nomura interview in this week’s issue of Dengeki PlayStation which offers insight into the creation of Advent Children Complete, its story, and a more definitive answer regarding the future of the Compilation of FFVII. Hitoshura did an amazing job translating this interview. Click on “Read more” to read the full interview.

Source: FF7AC reunion

– FF7ACC’s release date is almost here, but what’s it like watching the completed video?

Nomura: I’ve repeatedly checked parts of it throughout the development, so even the new scenes I’ve got gotten used to seeing. But, when watching everything put together, since the changes from FF7AC have been incorporated into it as a whole, I could watch it with a fresh mind. I think the film itself has also ended up more expressive. More so, people can enjoy watching it in the clear visuals it was intended to be in thanks to it being on BD (BluRay Disk).

– On the subject of start of production, did you start straight on FF7ACC after production of FF7AC?

Nomura: Relatively soon after. We had decided early on to have it on BD as well, but at that time the BD market saturation was still low. So while waiting for the right moment, we started adding various scenes.

– What basis did you use for deciding on the added scenes?

Nomura: Parts that the FF7AC staff were bothered by, or the replacement of parts which he unfortunately had to cut, those were what we set about on first. We decided to wait for the BD market to develop, and if we were going to end up making the consumers wait, we started seriously thinking about overall reforms, and with the aim of making it easier to understand at the core, it finally reached quite a sizable amount even with just the added scenes.

– Does it feel like several of the added scenes are to a degree collected together in terms of time?

Nomura: I see it as the new scenes being scattered throughout the story as a whole. There are some scenes which are collected together to an extent, but there are some finer parts too, and these together with the whole make up the “approx. 30 minutes of additional scenes”. As I said before, first I had the staff list the parts which were switched from FF7AC. At that point there was quite a fairly large amount, but we added to it with these. This time we’ve focused on “gaps”, so we actively added exchanges between characters, such as the points from FF7AC where it was hard to understand what went on between the scenes, and made it easier to understand. Scenes such as the Reno and Rude conversation in the Healin Lodge is an example of this.

– Hearing about it again, there’s a lot of work gone into it.

Nomura: Maybe even I don’t quite understand all of the added scenes (laughs). It was a massive work load, but it’s been some time since production finished, so I feel like it’s reached a conclusion.

– Now that it’s on BD the video has gotten clearer, and you can see the fine details such as dirt of the characters.

Nomura: The portrayal of dirt and blood I think inevitably needs to be shown to strive for realism. I think there might be some scenes which are a little provocative to the viewers, but we worked on those without hesitation. During the battle with Bahamaut SHIN in the middle of the film, scars on its face and armor and such are shown clearly, so I hope people will watch closely. It might be hard to notice while the film is playing, but it’s quite vivid if you pause it and look at it.

– Was the blood and dirt shown in FF7AC?

Nomura: No. A lot of work was put into FF7AC, but those things weren’t included. With the move to BD this time, we could fuss over and express those things as well, so I think it’s more befitting for a complete version. If I can say so myself, it really is beautiful. Stuff like the texture of clothing, when you’re watching it, it feels like something you can actually touch, they look soft or hard. When watching the video, I don’t think it looks like something that was made over 3 years ago.

– Is there anything that’s changed from last time, now you’re making it for BD?

Nomura: There was only difficulties. For the resolution, it was originally made in HD so that wasn’t a problem at all, but with FF7AC, put simply our company’s CG output format has evolved. Even the same character models would look like a different person when outputted, so matching things with the previous visuals was tough. With our videos when a new one comes out people say that ‘the model has changed’, but mostly that’s due to the output, like differences in the lighting. Occasionally the model itself does change, but it’s a fairly large amount of work, so we don’t usually do it, and this time too we didn’t change them. Also, there might be some scenes which look like the colour of the scenes has changed, but some scenes have been touched up, and there’s also the effects of being HD, so scenes which before were dark and hard to see now look clear. Like these differences in how things look, we’ve made some fine alterations here and there, so please try to check these details. We haven’t exactly counted them, but over 1000 cuts making up about half of the overall film has had some alteration or another.

– Where would you say the highlights of the added scenes are?

Nomura: Highlights, I guess all of it. But, as one of the scenes I wanted to add to FF7AC, there’s exchanges with the children. I decided to add scenes with the children this time. At the end there’s a scene of the children heading for the church. This was the main scene from the illusive 20 minute version that Nojima wrote right at the very start. As well as that, there’s also the scenes Nozue added to the highway battle.

– You say scenes with the children, this reminds me that there’s also a new conversation between Cloud and Marlene.

Nomura: That scene, I believe I thought of the plot for it, but I was confused about where to place it. At first, I tried putting it in the Forgotten City after they walked away holding hands, but the conversation didn’t link well, so I put it somewhere else. I think that has turned out to be quite a nuanced scene.

– Were the touch-ups based on your instructions, Mr. Nomura?

Nomura: Not really. It was influenced by Nozue and Nojima’s opinions as well. There are some additions which I had some special feelings for, and so Rufus speaks for me. That is the line, “people like memories,” but please try to guess what it means.

– Are there any other parts that have been added or changed?

Nomura: Some of the music has been changed. Due to adding events, there are some scenes where the music we used last time doesn’t fit the length, so the songs for those have been arranged. Nozue gave quite a few detailed instructions for the music. The battle at the Forgotten City, and the last battle with Sephiroth has been changed. Also, most of the sound effects have been remade.

– Speaking of sound effects, it seemed like unique sounds were added for Sephiroth’s introduction scene or when he’s readying his sword.

Nomura: I just took that to be the sound effect for the Masamune’s eerie glow, so I’ve not really gone to the guy in charge and asked.

– Denzel appears in a lot of the added scenes, doesn’t he.

Nomura: We didn’t particularly plan to have Denzel in the forefront especially. The idea of including scenes with the children was tied to Denzel. Incidentally, amongst the children who are featuring in FF7ACC, the VAs for Denzel, Marlene, and the girl with the moogle doll are different. Because all of their voices have changed now.

– The bonus OVA seems to show Denzel’s past.

Nomura: The story up until Denzel meets Cloud and everyone else is included. I think a lot of people who saw FF7AC were like, “who’s Denzel?” Denzel’s past was only shown in Nojima’s novel, so after a lot of thinking I decided to try adding it as an OVA. Last time, I made it a point to omit explanations like that, but in FF7ACC we’ve done the reverse and tried to clear up those doubts even if just a little.

– What was the idea behind omitting explanations?

Nomura: That was because FF7AC wasn’t a game, but a film. Nojima often says this, but a game explains the story through lots of dialogue, but this isn’t actually very cinematic. So we thought that if the possible visual expressions have come this far, then we should try to express things through visuals and gestures, and hold back on the dialogue as much as possible. We made FF7AC based on this concept, and as a result even when scenes that were hard to understand came up we left them as there were, and thought the consumers could enjoy filling it in. This time over 10 years has passed since FF7, and in order to make it understandable to a new generation, we’ve compensated for the points that were hard to understand in the original by adding dialogue and scenes, so I think things like Geostigma might be easier to understand.

– One of the appeals of this title are the bonus features, such as the demo of FF13 and the PS3 bundle, and bonus videos.

Nomura: And the novel Nojima wrote (16th April release, 1470 yen) is being released simultaneously, so please check that out too. It’s mainly set in the 2 year gap between FF7 and the film. I haven’t read it all yet myself, but it’s quite interesting so please look forward to it. Red XIII and Vincent’s conversation is a must-see.

– Are there other bonus features apart from the animated feature?

Nomura: There’s a trailer which puts all the Compilation titles so far in chronological order, so you can check them in a single go. This was for the people who don’t know about FF7, or don’t know about every title in the Compilation. The voice acting from CCFF7 and such is well used, and it’s come out quite elaborately-made, so please make sure you check that out. I’d like to add that I recommend that people watch it in order of that trailer, then the OVA, and then the main film. In the OVA and the main film, there is some overlap with Denzel’s flashback scenes, but the way they’re shown is different so it’s interesting to try comparing them. I heard the director of the OVA really respects FF7, and he said that just showing it in the same way as the main film would be boring and considered linking the direction with the film.

– What is FF7AC to you?

Nomura: It’s not easy to put into words, but for now that it’s a title which gave me a new experience. If I’d have been making a game in a game company as normal, I don’t think I would have been invited to international film festivals or anything. And the know-how we fostered during the production of FF7AC has fed back into game development. So it’s also a title which has had an influence on many areas. In FF7ACC, there’s a sense of gratitude for this by dressing up FF7AC through using BD. And of course given the consumers who supported FF7AC a chance to see it in this form.

– What about the future of the Compilation?

Nomura: I’ve got a lot of ideas in my head, but for the time being the Compilation has come not to an end, but a pause. I’ve also been talking with Nozue about doing something new, and I occasionally get messages from Kitase too saying he’s thought of something (laughs). I can’t say a lot right now, but for now please hold on and enjoy FF7ACC in HD and the FF13 demo. This year we’ll also have Kingdom Hearts and the release of FF13.