Yoshinori Kitase, the producer of Final Fantasy VII Remake, published a lengthy blog post on Square Enix‘ website.

„While the development team finishes the first game in the project, we are continuing to plan and outline the overall volume of content for the second. Due to the work already done on the first game we anticipate the development of the second game to be more efficient. We have our own internal schedule and plan, but for now, we’d like to focus our information on the first game in the project.

The key creative values of the core Final Fantasy series are innovation, pushing boundaries and surprising players, this project shares these same values and the development team view it as the next mainline Final Fantasy release. For the original core members of the development team, simply recreating the original game with improved graphics wasn’t enough to get us invested and excited about remaking VII. To return, we want to go beyond the original, telling a deeper story and providing a modern gaming experience. We really want to go above and beyond what is expected of a remake. As well as some of the core members of the original development team, we also have a dedicated in-house team of international gaming talent. Many of our new team members were young fans who played the original VII when it was first released. It’s very exciting and exhilarating to work with this talented team on such an ambitious project.

The first game in the project takes place in the eclectic city of Midgar, we chose to focus on Midgar as it best represents the world of VII as a location more than any other. Midgar is full of imagination with myriad influences and surprises around every corner. While many people may think that Midgar is very dark at first glance, we have a design aesthetic where the city has strong elements of colour and variety. The lighting and colouring we are using throughout Midgar accentuate what is unique about Final Fantasy VII’s world. We decided not to use a photo-realistic approach with the design, but instead something more stylised, honouring the artistic designs and choices of the original.

A lot has changed since the release of the original Final Fantasy VII. Back then we didn’t have access to things like voice acting, performance and motion capture, or close-up cameras outside of cut-scenes. For Final Fantasy VII Remake, there’s a greater emphasis on character storytelling through the use of these techniques as well as some other new tech. This allows us to make these characters more expressive than ever, enhancing the levels of immersion and enjoyment through performance. In Remake we are giving voice to the original Final Fantasy VII for the first time. By bringing in a new generation of actors, we hope to provide the best experience for original fans and new players.

For the gameplay, we are aiming to create a new take on classic concepts with an accessible evolution of the ATB system giving you greater action with tactical control. The system we’ve created retains the strategic decisions of controlling multiple party members, allowing you to select from a wide range of abilities and spells. You can control your favourite character while issuing orders to others, or leave them to AI. And choose when to switch to a different party member to make the best use of their unique abilities in battle. This allows all players to choose and enjoy your favourite way of playing. Finally, yes we still have Materia. You can use it to tailor your play style and abilities.

We’ll go into greater detail on lots more gameplay elements as we get closer to the release next year. For now, I hope you are all excited by what we revealed at E3 and we look forward to sharing more news and updates with you across the year ahead,” the post says.

The first part of Final Fantasy VII Remake (as there will be at least two, and there’s a chance of being way more than that…) will launch on March 3 on PlayStation 4.

Source: Gematsu