FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE

The devil’s in the detail for Square Enix’s reimagining

Developer/publisher Square Enix

Format PS4

Origin Japan

Release April 10

Who among us could accuse the team at Square Enix of not doing its due diligence? Remaking the most revered JRPG in history can’t be an easy task: you are, after all, contending with nostalgia. Videogames may have come a long way in the 23 years since Final Fantasy VII released, but there will always be one, indelible version of a game in the minds of many players – the one that, despite its awkwardness or its flaws, they first fell in love with.

The goal of a remake, then, is to recapture that giddy sense of recognition. “The core approach that we took to actually making the remake was we sat down and worked out all of the elements and aspects of the original game that made it what it is, and why this is such a well-loved game,” co-director Naoki Hamaguchi tells us. “We had to keep those as is, really, and we’re not going to change them, because that’s what makes the game what it is. But what we looked at was how we present that, and how that’s expressed, showing it in a way that really resonates with a modern audience.”