With Square Enix’s highly anticipated remake of the classic 1997 RPG Final Fantasy VII still two years away any news on the project will continue to peak the interest of diehard fans across the globe. Current game director, Tetsuya Nomura recently told Official Playstation Magazine (via gameradar.com) about some of the possible changes to the Active Time Battle System used in the orignal.
“We’re not going to be changing it into a shooter or something like that,” says Nomura, “We are going to be bringing dramatic changes, but we want to make sure it is still recognizable.”
Nomura was also the director on the 2005 film, FFVII: Advent Children and mentioned that his team has used the film for “visual references and inspiration.” The real concern for fans here is how serious will these ‘dramatic changes’ actually be?
Considering the vagueness in Nomura’s quote, fans shouldn’t jump the gun on this one just yet. Considering the difference in graphics between 2005’s Advent Children and 1997’s Final Fantasy VII game one can say the visual update alone is a dramatic change. However, the degree of change is certainly left for interpretation. Will the remake feature a battle system similar to Final Fantasy XIII‘s paradigm shifts? Or will Nomura and Co. try to propel the game in a new direction and feature the 3D free-flowing battle system unveiled in Final Fantasy XV? Or maybe they’re trying to update the beloved turn-base system for the new generation of gamers?
Without anymore further knowledge, speculation will continue about how much this remake will differ from the orignal. Yet, one thing is for certain until more news and actual footage is released FFVII fans should (at least for now) continue to trust Nomura and the rest of his team. After all, majority of the collaborators on this project helped create the orignal masterpiece nearly two decades ago – they surely understand the signficant weight any possible change to this game carries with its fan base.
