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 this week we’re talking both cold, hard numbers and warm, fuzzy music—the sales and technical performance of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and the career of Yoko Shimomura.
This week’s newsletter is 2132 words, a 10-minute read.
Rebirth By The Numbers
Much ado has been made about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth this week, particularly when it comes to certain numerical statistics—its sales figures, and also the polygon counts of its models. Now that the game’s been out for almost a month, let’s dial in and break those digits down, starting with the lighter tech stats.
What’s going on:
Lead Character Artist Dai Suzuki, in a post for the PlayStation Blog, compared the polygon counts of characters from the original FFVII to Rebirth’s models to show the difference 27 years (and 4 PlayStation generations) can make
In FFVII, each characters’ battle models (most sophisticated than field or cutscene models) were typically created with ~900 polygons
Cloud’s model was rendered with ~110k polygons in Remake, then doubled to ~220k in Rebirth—while the Buster Sword alone had somewhere between 50-100 polygons in FFVII, and 8k itself in Rebirth
About half of Cloud’s Remake polygons were spent animating his hair alone
Meanwhile, in Rebirth it takes ~120k polygons to render Red XIII, a slight increase over humanoid characters given the higher demand of animating realistic-looking fur
Cait Sith and his moogle mount take this total sky-high: the tiny cat takes about ~100k himself, plus ~230k for his moogle! Conversely, the Midgardsormr’s model took ~260k polygons for all its scaly, spiky details
According to Suzuki, the largest model in the game is Scarlett’s Relnikha battleship, which took 2.3 million polygons
To put this all in perspective (and without getting too technical), the original PS1’s processor could handle rendering up to about 90k polygons at a time, or up to 360k without shading or lighting effects, etc, so… the new Cait Sith model would make a PS1 metaphorically burst into flames
Meanwhile, in a different arena, Rebirth’s sales figures have caused a fair bit of hand-wringing
According to analyst Mat Piscatella, Rebirth was the second best-selling game of February in the US, including both physical and digital sales, right behind Helldivers 2… but also, the Remake & Rebirth digital twin pack also ranked at number 8
In Europe, Rebirth finished 3rd behind Helldivers 2 and… EA Sports FC 24? (really?) with both digital and physical sales reported
In Japan, it scored second-place as well, and as we have more concrete sales figures, we know it’s sitting just under 300k (physical) copies sold in total, per data released yesterday (via Famitsu & Game Data Library)
Unicorn Overlord (specifically the Switch version) has been reigning supreme there, despite low stock availability
From March 11-17, Rebirth sold 11,497 copies vs Unicorn Overlord’s 16,012
For a little additional perspective, Remake Intergrade has leapt up Steam’s bestseller charts, now in its third week in the top 100 and (as of Thursday evening) was sitting at #12
Surely this is thanks in part to a generous 50% Steam Sale discount, but it also speaks to a swell in interest in the overall trilogy
As of yet, Square Enix hasn’t released a “x copies sold” announcement (compared to FFXVI celebrating 3 million copies in about a week)
And finally, for those keeping score, Rebirth has fluttered around the 93-mark on Metacritic as late reviews trickle in, but currently sits at 92 again; perhaps more tellingly, the user score sits at 9.0 (“Universal Acclaim”) based on 2418 user ratings
What we thought:
A polygon count is just one way of measuring a game’s technical performance, but Suzuki’s comparison does help put the technical leap from 1997 to 2024 into a more easily digestible perspective
Essentially, the complexity of game characters’ appearances has skyrocketed exponentially overtime, which leads to more realistic textures and expressions, which ultimately leads to better immersion
To simply put Cait Sith (with moogle) on Rebirth’s screen requires every ounce of the PS1’s processing power, let alone to animate him (and everyone else around him) consistently in very frantic, action-packed environments (which are incredibly intricate in their own ways) with a full array of realistic environmental effects that bring a scene to life
Even the way Cloud’s model has effectively doubled in the leap from PS4 to PS5 says a lot about the increased power of Rebirth, which they frankly needed to pull off FFVII’s complex wider world
Here’s the thing: sales figures aren’t a universal indicator, per se
There isn’t necessarily one ultimate authority when it comes to tracking video game sales; figures are reported differently by different bodies in each region, and there’s not even a de facto entity out there that collates all the data (for example, as MetaCritic does for critical and user review scores)
Each region has its own quirks—for instance, North American sales figures aren’t presented as a whole, just sales from America itself (clearly this is Canadian erasure and I won’t stand for it), and the digital/physical divide isn’t reported (ie. Japan’s lacking digital sales data)
For what it’s worth, I expect the Canadian sales figures are pretty decent in themselves, possibly accounting for another decent drop in the pond
No matter how you slice it, it does seem like Rebirth isn’t selling quite as well as well-wishers might hope… but it’s not exactly underperforming either
It was 2nd in the US for February… and only on sale for one day in February
Meanwhile, Helldivers 2 was a complete yet unexpected success, skyrocketing out of obscurity with word-of-mouth, appealing to a broader potential audience, and claiming that “dude, you have to buy this game so we can play together” energy that drives multiplayer game sales—and Steam data is included
There are certain external market factors at play which may deter people from picking it up:
The PS5 isn’t as popular in Japan as mobile games or Switch, partly because of continued low stock and a high price point
It is the middle entry in a trilogy, which typically sees a dip in engagement even if they’re excellent entries in themselves (like LOTR: The Two Towers for example, don’t @ me)
The rise in Steam sales of Remake reminds us that there could be a wave of potential new players out there, looking to catch up
The PS4’s install-base was bigger in 2020 than the PS5’s in 2024, and Remake launched right at the start of a huge swell in video game sales
The fact that it seems to be received very well by those who did buy it does a lot to keep my faith; if the sales seemed low and it was getting review-bombed or generally, genuinely hated upon, then there’d be more cause for concern
What’s next: A 5-song sampler of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s OST dropped this week on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, as well as the Remake Orchestral Album. “No Promises to Keep” is also available, but unlike other FF releases, it’s been published under singer Loren Allred’s name instead of a composer’s—in case you, like me, couldn’t find the official version right away.
Profile: Yoko Shimomura
Composer Yoko Shimomura was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC). To celebrate, let’s take a moment to look at the career of one of Final Fantasy’s most lauded maestros.
Her life & career:
Shimomura was born October 19, 1967 and attended the Osaka College of Music
Like many in the industry in the mid-80s, she had to contend with her parents’ incredulity when she announced she was going to make music for video games after her graduation, but went to work for Capcom anyway
Her earliest credits at Capcom include Samurai Sword, Final Fight, Disney Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, and Code Name: Viper for the NES, but her big break was the Street Fighter II score (under the pseudonym Shimo-P), and she got into RPGs with Breath of Fire before leaving the company
Shimomura came to Squaresoft in 1993, where her first credit was Live A Live, followed by Front Mission and Super Mario RPG; in the post-Nintendo era, she handled Tobal No. 1, Parasite Eve (and its sequel), and Legend of Mana
Kingdom Hearts was, however, her big moment with Square (perhaps drawing on that history making a Disney game on the NES?) and she has served as the main composer of the series since
Like many Square Enix veterans (ie. Uematsu and Nojima), Shimomura left the company proper to work as a freelancer after having a child in 2002, returning to work under her own production company, Midiplex
In terms of Final Fantasy, Shimomura was the primary composer for Final Fantasy XV (since its days as Versus XIII) and its expansions, with her work also cited in Theatrhythm and Stranger of Paradise
Outside of Square Enix, she does plenty of work for Nintendo, including the scores for Xenoblade Chronicles and Mario offshoots like Mario & Luigi
She views Street Fighter II, Super Mario RPG, and Kingdom Hearts as the essential foundational moments of her career/discography, with KH’s main menu theme “Dearly Beloved” being her personal favourite piece
In her own words:
Like other Square vets, Dragon Quest shook her confidence just after she started aiming to work in games (via IGN):
“The music in Dragon Quest was so incredible, I felt like I’d been hit over the head with a hammer. […] At the time, I felt incapable of composing music for my job and longed for help during this tough period, but I also knew I loved music, and I loved myself because of that. I wanted to be able to take something I liked, use it for my job and then enjoy the satisfaction of releasing even just one game with my music in it. Once I released that first title, I wanted to go through the process of releasing another one. That's how I've managed to endure as a game music composer to this day.“
What we thought:
Shimomura’s talent for original compositions and adaptation alike have helped make her a legend in the industry, shining through in bangers like “Guile’s Theme,” “Somnus,” and “L’Impeto Obscura” as well as the way she reworks classics from Uematsu and Disney simultaneously for KH
As the composer on KH, her work really helped encapsulate a mood for Square Enix at large for a while, with “Dearly Beloved” influencing the sort of simple, contemplative, emotionally-resonant title screen that was synonymous with SE games for a while
Her relationship with Nintendo as a freelancer has been good for SE, with a downright symbiotic effect benefitting her and both companies
She truly deserves to be on the same list as previous GDC Lifetime Achievement Award recepients Hironobu Sakaguchi (2015), John Romero (2023), Amy Hennig (2019), Shigeru Miyamoto (2007) and Hideo Kojima (2019)
Shimomura has the honour of being the first composer to win the award since its inception in 2001—not even the likes of Uematsu, Jeremy Soule, and Koji Kondo have made the list yet
What’s next? Her interview with IGN briefly cited that Shimomura is working on the Kingdom Hearts 4 soundtrack, but this has since been retracted and corrected to say she is “working on various tracks for several different games.” It stands to reason that one of those games is KH4, since it’s “her” franchise, but for now her involvement has not been confirmed in the upcoming blockbuster. (In the meantime, she did meet Clive!)
Around the Union
Ready up, adventurer, for the next phase of our “Complete Evolution of Superbosses” series has arrived! Part Two continues the story of optional endgame boss challenges from Final Fantasy X though to Dirge of Cerberus and Before Crisis, including the diabolical Absolute Virtue from Final Fantasy XI! How many of these legends have you successfully bested over the years?
As a sort of topical palette cleanser, we’ve heeded your suggestions and present the Commenter Edition of “7 Brutasl Bosses With Ridiculous Weaknesses!” Break out the cheese and work these weak links if you need a confidence boost after getting stomped by one of the aforementioned superbosses.
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Until next time, kupo!
Was just wondering if you will having another survey like after xvi came out. Cause I really would love if there was someway to get my opinion passed along, I loved the game but the change in Nanaki's voice almost completely ruined the game for me it really gets me so angry when I think about it
Damn fine Wark! Your cromulent humor embiggens the smallest man, ser!
I wonder if there would be overall benefit or detriment in standardizing and making more transparent sales numbers for games, or if there's even any necessity beyond making FFU's life easier and my curiosity slightly sated (reasons enough to completely reform and standardize an entire industry, if you ask me.)
Also @Chris, Two Towers you say? Ackshyually...