Final Fantasy 7 Remake Producer Talks Graphics and Combat

The producer of the big Final Fantasy VII remake hints that the classic RPG's combat system is out of date and in need of some changes.

Speaking with Famitsu (via Gematsu), Final Fantasy VII remake producer Yoshinori Kitase (who directed the original) revealed that his team has started to proceed with how they'd like to graphically render the game and its overall visual style. Unfortunately, the team is still undecided in regards to the role-playing game's combat system. As you may remember, FFVII utilized the tried-and-true Active Time Battle (ATB) system for combat, where each monster and character had their own speed which would help countdown to when they could perform an action during the game's turn-based fights.

Here's what Kitase had to say about FFVII's development:

We’re starting to see the visual direction.

On the other hand, we’re currently working out the battle system and such through trial-and-error.

Since there’s a possibility that the command battle system of the old days might not work today, we’re thinking hard about what kind of direction we can take it.

Normally, when you do a remake, it becomes somewhere along the lines of a familiar action RPG, so we’re looking at how we can put out something like Final Fantasy VII while still surprising players.

Please don’t ask about how far into development we are and such. (Laughs.)

Since it's still quite early in the remake's development, especially if they're still deciding on the battle system and Tetsuya Nomura just recently started working on Kingdom Hearts III, I'm confident that Final Fantasy VII won't launch until late 2017 at the earliest (in time for its 20th anniversary).

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