Welcome back to the Wark Digest, your weekly newsletter of new developments and historical insights from the Final Fantasy universe. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and as Sephiroth might say, there’s seven seconds until the end… or rather, four weeks until the launch of FFVII Rebirth. We’ll track the latest news, discuss the possibility of a Final Fantasy VI Remake, and round up everything in between in this week’s issue.
This week’s newsletter is 2169 words, a 10-minute read.
Final Fantasy VII Day News Drops
Wednesday was Final Fantasy VII’s 27th anniversary (also known as “FFVII Day” in Japan, now) which Sony celebrated by using their State of Play broadcast to… advertise a second State of Play next week, where Rebirth will have all of the focus. But, that’s okay, because there was still a deluge of new details trickling out of last week’s interviews and public events. Let’s take a (light) look at some of the tidbits dropped by staff—without delving too deep into speculation or spoilers, since we’re less than a month away now!
What they’re saying:
According to Hamaguchi, and as you could probably infer from the Game Awards/theme song reveal trailer, we can expect some Honey Bee Inn-level theatrics at the Golden Saucer this time around, particularly in a dance number upon arriving for the first time, and in the date scene
There will be additional companion options for the gondola ride scene
The LOVELESS stage play scene has expanded greatly, which is presumably where the gothic/fantasy costumes for Barret and Red XIII come into play
Nomura claims that Sephiroth’s presence will be enriched after all his appearances in other titles—we fans have “a much greater knowledge and understanding of him” and as he “returns to his roots” in the Remake series, his “presence will be much deeper and clearer than it was in the original”
Players will be able to see the Gold Saucer looming overhead from Corel, thanks to modern day graphics; Kitase acknowledges there’s thematic dissonance between the emotional scenes in Corel and the jolly fun of the Gold Saucer
While Sony may not have done much to hype FFVII’s anniversary, Hironobu Sakaguchi recreated the iconic image of Cloud gazing up at Shinra HQ with—you guessed it—his FFXIV character
State of Play was technically broadcast on FFVII’s anniversary for the west… but the Rebirth-focused broadcast will air on Aerith’s canonical birthday in Japan (February 7), so… the poetic justice is still upheld
What we thought:
We’re hitting that point in the “New Game Launch Cycle” where new details can be small things that were hiding in existing trailers… or potential spoiler bombs, and luckily so far, the Rebirth devs are hitting the right balance of getting people excited without giving the whole thing away
I’ve started replaying Rebirth this week, and if you look at how that installment holistically extrapolated scenes from the original, everything that’s being revealed in these interviews seems pretty natural
With Corel existing in the Gold Saucer’s shadow even more this time around, we can now see a solid trope forming (or expanding) within FFVII—Midgar, Junon, and now Corel/GS have a very obvious have/have-not dichotomy, with the wealthy literally ascending above the rest
What’s next? Speaking of Aerith’s birthday, you can see it highlighted on the Square Enix calendar for February. Fun detail, right? Just don’t look too closely at the highlight they used for February 29th…
Cast Thundaga: It’s a Lightning Round!
Square Enix announced that they are “merging” with Tokyo RPG Factory, a subsidiary of the company founded by Yosuke Matsuda in 2014
Since then, the studio released only three games (I Am Setsuna, Lost Sphear, and Oninaki), which saw middling critical and commerical success
Now five years after their last release, the small team is being folded back in
Speaking of studios under the Square Enix umbrella, things haven’t been going great for Eidos since SE practically gave them away to Embracer Group in 2022, alongside Crystal Dynamics and most of their western studios; Eidos-Montreal announced this week that almost 100 employees are being let ago
An unannounced Deus Ex game that was in development for over 2 years has, as a result, been canceled as well
This is the latest in a series of layoffs at studios held by Embracer Group, and doesn’t bode well for other former Square Enix IPs like Tomb Raider
In light of Kiryu’s recent comments (as we examined last issue) the choice to let these studios go was likely part of the initiative to trim down the company’s profile and focus on their biggest IPs… but since SE effectively gave away these assets, and now employees and long-term projects are suffering for it, it feels like an absolute loss for all parties involved
Onto cheerier topics: Valentine’s Day has arrived early for Ever Crisis, with a new seasonal storyline and event already in full swing; among the prizes are another costume for Yuffie, and seasonal weapons for her and Tifa
The Pixel Remasters are now on sale for 20% off through February 15th, and the PC version has been updated to include the additional quality-of-life updates from the console versions
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is featured in an ad campaign for Seize The Awkward, a mental health awareness initiative—in particular, using clips from the game to show how the characters reach out to and encourage Cloud on his personal journey
With the wrong approach this could’ve been a pretty cringe-worthy mess, but the video is actually pretty well done, for a very worthy cause
Final Fantasy XIV is hosting a Free Login Campaign until February 21st, where lapsed accounts can play for free for up to 4 days—so if your account is eligible, you can dip a toe back in and check out the Valentione’s Day event, which kicks off February 7th
A special Final Fantasy XVI concert is being held at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York on the game’s first anniversary, June 22nd, 2024! With a full symphony orchestra and chorus, conducted by—of course—Arnie Roth, there will also be some FFXIV tunes on the program, and limited VIP Meet & Greet tickets to meet Masayashi Soken, Amanda Achen, and Roth after the performance
Kitase: A “FFVI Remake” Would Take 20 Years
Among the round of Rebirth interviews shared over the last week is one with Kitase and Hamaguchi, from the French journalist Julien Chièze. Chièze wasted no time in handing Kitase a Super Famicom copy of Final Fantasy VI and inquiring on the chances of the other most popular Final Fantasy getting a remake. Kitase’s answer is probably not the one fans hoped for, but it bears some discussion… (Translations via the amazing Audrey!)
What they’re saying:
Kitase: “If we were to remake Final Fantasy VI in the same vein as [FFVII Remake], it might take twice the amount of time it has taken to make the [FF7 Remake] series”
So, depending on whether you count the start of FFVIIR’s development from before the E3 2015 announcement or from the post-CyberConnect24 restart, and also depending on when the third installment will eventually arrive… Kitase is estimating it would take well over twenty years!
“The volume we will need to work with is much more than Final Fantasy VII and [there are] more party characters too. We would probably need to prepare a lot of things, so I can’t imagine that to be a task we have the resources to take on at the moment.”
You can tell FFVI is still near and dear to Kitase’s heart, not only by the way he looks lovingly at the copy of his creation in his hands, but by the way he doesn’t entirely close the door on the idea: “Many people even within the company have often asked whether we would consider a Final Fantasy VI remake, and although I don’t have the answer, I am very happy to hear that!”
Hamaguchi was equally reverent, stating that FFVI was the game that made him want to make games in the first place, inspiring him even more than FFVII
What we thought:
Twenty years to remake a SNES game sounds like a lot at first blush, but Kitase is referring to the effort it would take to recreate FFVI on the same scale as FFVIIR
FFVIIR is a huge expansion, turning ~30% of FFVII into a single full-length game, greatly retooling each of its playable characters, and expanding both story and world alike
FFVII had 9 total playable characters, while FFVI has 14, the biggest playable cast in the franchise—making each of them as distinct as Cloud and friends would be a huge undertaking in itself
Not to mention, Square Enix has plenty of experience translating FFVII’s world into 3D, while they’ve done very little with FFVI, aside from a few odd CGI movies and tech demos; they’d be starting the 2D-to-3D transition effectively from scratch
The FFVII Remake scale is a painstaking labour of love, and not all remakes can aspire to turn the same caliber of magnifying glass upon their source material
And let’s face it: Kitase is 57, and most of the old guard who worked on the original are around the same age, so they aren’t likely to be super enthusiastic about committing to such a huge undertaking anyway; it would be left for the younger team members
That being said…
When fans clamour for a Final Fantasy VI remake, they aren’t necessarily demanding the FFVII Remake approach; it doesn’t need to be treated the same
If Square Enix gave it a similar treatment to Star Ocean The Second Story R, applying that Octopath Traveler HD-2D to the entire game and adding voice acting… many fans would be very happy
They’ve been doing this pretty well over the last few years with Tactics Ogre and Live A Live—it’s well within the company’s wheelhouse
The same goes for any hypothetical remake/remaster, from the other 2D games to the highly-desired Tactics or FFIX revivals: FFVII Remake reinvents the wheel, and that’s great for that game, but sometimes a simple modernization can have a huge impact (again, look what Star Ocean The Second Story R achieved for that SE franchise)
Just look at what the Pixel Remasters did for the opera scene: HD-2D and improved sound can go a very, very long way
At the end of the day, Square Enix: put a little more effort into the project than you did for Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, and you might be surprised by the dividends it pays out
What’s next? For now, FFVI fans whose fingers are crossed for a remake should uncross them, and instead turn to World of Final Fantasy and Chocobo GP to see Terra and glimpses of her world in 3D, or even to Dissidia NT, where she can team up with Locke in his first voiced appearance.
Around the Union
First on our double dose of video goodness this week is the long-awaited “Complete Evolution of Ramuh!” One of the iconic trinity of early Final Fantasy summons, this old man is more than he seems—join us as we chart the course of his Judgement Bolt through the entire series!
And also, you may regret not checking out our newest video, “7 Optional Characters You’d Regret Not Recruiting!” Yuffie and Vincent may be the most famous optional teammates in the series, but they’re not the only ones…
Last week I asked how old you were when you first played a Final Fantasy game, and in a landslide, it seems 67% of you encountered the series when you were 12 or younger! The 13-17 demographic was close behind with 25%, followed by 18-25 with 6%, and 26-40 trailing at 2%. (Apparently we need to start spreading the word about the series, or this newsletter, to our parents’ generation, and get that 40+ demographic on the board, at least!)
To build off of last week’s question, I thought it would be interesting to see which game got you into the series… but Substack’s polls only allow for 5 options. So instead, let us know which era you started playing FF in by voting in the poll below—then drop into the comments to let us know which game was your first! (Honourary bonus points for the most unusual first game, or other piece of FF media!)
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Until next time, kupo!
VII was my first FF game but it was when I played VIII that I fell in love.
My first one was FFVIII. I think I was either 8 or 9 years old. Didn't knew anything about the series but I remember being surprised that this game was 4 discs. Had a bit of a Hardt time at first since I didn't got it in my language and therefore didn't understood the junction system. Couldn't get past Dollet at that time. But the intro, wow. I was completely mesmerized by the visuals and the music. Later on I got a dictionary and start playing with that, what a ride! It also really helped me on my English classes haha.
From that point onwards I played all mainline ones with exception of XI and many of the spin offs.
Can't wait for REBIRTH, we're so close!