Final Fantasy 7 Remake – New Details, World Map, Mini-Games

Square Enix has had a lot of discuss when it comes to the long-awaited Final Fantasy 7 Remake, or perhaps that’s just what everyone has been asking about lately. Either way, new details on the upcoming title seem to be emerging every week. This week the company that Cloud built discusses the voice work in the game, as well as new information on the possibility of a world map and mini-games. Let’s get right to the new information on Cloud’s first PlayStation adventure.

Voice Cast

The original release of Final Fantasy 7 was on the PlayStation. Even though it was the first major console to use the CD format, providing considerably more storage space than the previously used cartridges, Final Fantasy 7 didn’t feature much in the way of voice work. Since that time Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children released, and as a blu-ray movie it featured voice work for all of the characters.

If you haven’t seen Advent Children in awhile, every major character had a quite a few lines with the exception of Red XIII. For this reason, the voice actor who handled Red will not be coming back for Remake. However, every other main character will be voiced by the same person who voiced them in Advent Children. Here’s a quick look at who will be voicing the main characters in Japan and elsewhere in the world.

World Map

Final Fantasy 7 featured a rather large world map that allowed Cloud and his party to move around the world relatively fast depending on the form of transportation used. When asked whether or not the map would be open world, the response was fairly noncommittal. Final Fantasy 7 Remake producer, Yoshinori Kitase, stated that the company wasn’t ready to say anything about the world map, but they wouldn’t fuss over the game being open-world or sandbox.

The latest rumor to hit the internet indicates that the first episode of Final Fantasy 7 Remake will only cover the Midgar area. If this is true, a world map isn’t really necessary and therefore it would make sense why Kitase isn’t ready to discuss the matter. Until Square Enix is ready to discuss where the first episode will end or at least how much of the original game will be covered in the first episode, there’s no need to debate how the world map will be handled, especially if Cloud’s team never leaves Midgar.

Mini-Games

One of the most endearing parts of the original Final Fantasy 7 release is the inclusion of a number of mini-games, from the Gold Saucer to the motorcycle race. There are a wide variety of mini-games in Final Fantasy 7, but don’t expect all of them to make the cut in Remake. Kitase mentioned that the development team is working toward including the mini-games that are popular among fans. However, game director, Tetsuya Nomura, was quick to point out that some games may not be necessary with the advancements in technology and changes being made to the game due to the technology that’s currently available.

At the very least fans should expect the Gold Saucer. There’s already a high quality 3D model of the casino-like venue thanks to its inclusion in Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. It likely wouldn’t take much work to replicate what’s already been done in Final Fantasy 14. It’s unlikely a Gold Saucer in Remake will be identical to the one in Final Fantasy 14, but the base is already in place and development time on that should be considerably less than other aspects of the game.

Production Update

While most people were surprised to see gameplay footage of Remake at the 2015 PlayStation Experience, it seems as though the game wasn’t as far along as they believed. Showing gameplay only six months after announcing the title made quite a few people believe production was well underway. However, Kitase was quick to point out that they just finally getting started with production. As we already knew, the battle system is still incomplete, despite the main scenario being finished.

The 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy 7 is coming up in 2017, however, fans may not get the first episode of Remake quite that soon. While Kitase would not provide a release date (shocking!), Nomura mentioned that Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and World of Final Fantasy would likely be released before any release date information on Final Fantasy 7 Remake was announced. Given the fact that neither game has a specific release date other than 2016, and we have no word on when Final Fantasy 15 or Kingdom Hearts 3 will release, don’t hold your breath on getting Final Fantasy 7 Remake anytime soon.

If you missed the last news update on Final Fantasy 7 Remake, head over to our coverage on the battle system details, what to expect from Episode One and potential changes. We’ll have more on Final Fantasy 7 Remake as news becomes available.