Tag Archives: naoki hamaguchi
Air Buster in Remake
We’re still waiting to see more of Final Fantasy VII Remake ever since Square Enix said that they’ve revamped some of the designs, but we got a glimpse at a new screenshot from the job recruitment page for Business Division 1.
The above image featuring development leader Naoki Hamaguchi shows a new image of Final Fantasy VII Remake, and what appears to be the Air Buster boss you fight early in the game.
Here’s a closer look:
Source: Siliconera
New Design for Cloud?
Those who attended the Final Fantasy series’ 30th Anniversary Exhibition got a first look at new screenshots for Final Fantasy VII Remake along with a surprise appearance from director Tetsuya Nomura.
While there aren’t any images for us to look at, as the screenshots were shown exclusively for those who attended the event, fans were able to share some details from the talk event along with what they saw from the screenshots.
According to some of the fans in attendance, there’s been a change in Cloud’s design. According to development leader Naoki Hamaguchi, this new design was said to have finally got the go-ahead from director Tetsuya Nomura. While it’s been a struggle for the team, the hard work appears to have paid off as Tetsuya Nomura went as far as acknowledging it as “the closest one to the original [Cloud design] up until now.]
A fan attendance described Cloud’s new design as a more natural look. Nomura and Hamaguchi mentioned that “while Cloud may look this way, he was a dork. I believe those of you who played the original would understand what I mean by saying he’s a dorky character.” That said, we’ll see more of the youthful side of Cloud rather than the always-serious one we’ve seen more outside of the original game.
The four screenshots also showed other members of AVALANCHE, and one fan described Biggs as “super handsome,” Wege as “refreshingly chubby,” and Jessie as “cute!”
Unfortunately for the rest of us, since the images were shown only behind closed doors, those who attended mentioned that Square Enix won’t be sharing the screenshots to the public for a while.
Source: Siliconera
Recruiting for Internal Development
Square Enix’s Business Division 1 that is in charge of developing Final Fantasy VII Remake posted core staff recruitment messages from Yoshinori Kitase, director Tetsuya Nomura, and development leader Naoki Hamaguchi on the company’s official website.
Yoshinori Kitase
Business Division 1 Executive
Business Division 1 is the section that is responsible for producing Mobius Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy VII Remake. In 1997 we completely changed the gaming scene at the time with the worldwide hit that is Final Fantasy VII. And the remake of said masterpiece is Final Fantasy VII Remake.
For this project, we aim to surpass the original work in terms of quality by increasing the number of staff to strengthen the core company development as we head into the development progress phase.
In addition to myself, we have director Nomura, scenario writer Nojima-san, and more from the original Final Fantasy VII staff lineup that continued working as staff on the production of past Final Fantasy titles, and they are now joining the team one after the other.
How would you like to join us, together, in the Remake of Final Fantasy VII?
We are looking forward to receiving your applications.
Tetsuya Nomura
Final Fantasy VII Remake Director
I believe that many of us developers share the same feeling that Final Fantasy VII is a special title.
Twenty years have gone by and the number of generations that aren’t familiar with Final Fantasy VII is increasing, so we must remake the game using today’s technology and systems in order to make it into a title that can last several more decades.
Reproducing the world of Final Fantasy VII in high-definition requires an extraordinary amount of time and resources, so we’ll need all the help we can get to shorten that.
As those of you concerned with the industry may already know, the number of domestic staff is significantly lower compared to that of foreign high-definition developers. Therefore, in order to further strengthen the development of this title, we must urgently recruit as much staff as possible.
By all means, please join us in delivering the world of Final Fantasy VII, once again.
Naoki Hamaguchi
Business Division 1
Final Fantasy VII Remake Development Leader
With the strong backing from producer Kitase and director Nomura’s thoughts of wanting to make Final Fantasy VII Remake into the best possible product for the fans, it’s been decided that I would step into the role of development leader in order to strengthen staff structure.
From the pursuit of a new Final Fantasy game experience that can only be made through this remake, to the graphical challenges that come from the possibilities of evolving technologies—yes, we have everything that a creator needs to create in this here environment.
I promise you that now is the best time for creators to display experience and abilities, for this title with high expectations from around the world.
The emotions I felt from playing Final Fantasy VII twenty years ago, that’s what I want to revive, as new emotions for the present generation.
I’m very much looking forward to receiving applications from those of you who feel the same way.
After posting a recruitment message for the development of Final Fantasy VII Remake, we were reminded that its development will still take a while, and Square Enix sent the extra reminder in a financial results outline.
According to Square Enix President and Representative Director Yosuke Matsuda and Chief Financial Officer Kazuharu Watanabe who presented the company’s Financial Results Briefing Session, we can expect to see the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Kingdom Hearts III sometime in the fiscal year of March 2018 and beyond, as shown in the image below:
“This slide shows our release lineup for FY2017/3 as well as for FY2018/3 and beyond. We plan to launch each of these upcoming titles in the next three years or so.”
So unfortunately for those of you looking forward to playing either of those titles by the holiday season this year, you’re kind of out of luck with a window that is set for sometime in the next three years, or 2020 and beyond.
It isn’t rare to see Square Enix work with other developers for work on big titles as we’ve seen in Final Fantasy XV, but it’s been revealed that they’re shifting to an internal development focus for Final Fantasy VII Remake.
The information comes from a recent two-year anniversary live stream event for Mobius Final Fantasy, where its project leader Naoki Hamaguchi, who was also recently revealed as the project lead for Final Fantasy VII Remake, shared the following comment:
“Information is already out there on the Internet, but it’s been decided that I’ll be in charge of the development side for Final Fantasy VII Remake. As for the process (it’s a sensitive topic), until now we’ve been going forward with the game’s development with help from the outside, but the company has decided to shift to an internal structure for mass production and quality. The reason we’re doing this is to have a stable schedule and to be in control of its quality.
In related news, Square Enix recently stated that it may take up to “three years or so” for the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Source: Recruitment on Siliconera and Internal Development