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During the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth preview, I interviewed Naoki Hamaguchi, director of the Remake trilogy. Yoshinori Kitase, producer of FF 7 Rebirth, was also slated to be there, but because of complications, that did not happen. I had an amazing chat with Hamaguchi about his career, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and his favorite game in the series. This is part 1 of our interview - sadly, I did not have time to get all my questions answered. We’ll be returning to this chat in the future, though, because there’s still so much more to talk about with Rebirth.
Naoki Hamaguchi is clearly very passionate about Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. You can tell in his answers that he’s a fan of the series and wants the fans to have a truly memorable experience with this remake trilogy. After playing the game myself in the recent demo, I can certainly tell you that my excitement levels have never been higher.
Naoki Hamaguchi discusses Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy 6, and more
It’s fascinating to see where Naoki Hamaguchi’s career path has led him. While he began his time at Square Enix as a programmer on games like the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, he’s really come into his own as the director of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. During our discussion at the preview session, I asked how he felt about coming this far as a member of the Square Enix team. Hamaguchi said:
“When I first joined Square Enix, my role was a programmer, but I was very much interested in various aspects of the game development process. And I would write proposals and, you know, work on tests outside of my role as a programmer as well.
And we were also working with and developing with external kinds of vendors as well on projects. So I was kind of coordinating between internal and external as well, but when we came to kind of just project where we were developing it but kind of internally within the company, that's where Kitase-san and the CEO at the time had asked me to work with the team and Nomura-san and work on this title to develop it, and so that's kind of how that came about.
For Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth I didn't do this, but for Remake actually, there were some portions where I was doing a bit of programming. For example, for battles, I would be like writing and adjusting some code like reviewing it, seeing if it works, and adjusting it. There was a bit of that that I was doing for Remake.”
I cannot imagine the stress that a project like this could create. Whether a fan or simply a game programmer, there are expectations in a game as memorable as Final Fantasy 7. While discussing this with Naoki Hamaguchi, he highlighted how it felt to come from a position as just a fan to working with the creators of the original game as they developed Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. He said:
“Speaking on my role, while I was co-directing for Remake as well, something that was in my mind was that Nojima-san, Kitase-san, Nomura-san. The people that I was working with at the time, are you know, sort of like creators of the original 1997 Final Fantasy 7 game.
So I really took that into consideration as in they have that, you know, unique perspective of looking at this Remake series from the eyes as an original creator of the title that we are referring to. And as for me, you know, I'm also coming from sort of a user, player, fan perspective of the original that is now turned into a creator for the remake series.
So you know a unique role and how my part plays into it like was also something that I very much considered.”
It’s no secret that Naoki Hamaguchi is a fan of Final Fantasy as a franchise. He stated in previous interviews that Final Fantasy 6 is responsible for his desire to become a video game programmer, but I was curious what about it led to giving the game designer a life goal.
He achieved this goal, going from working on the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy to being the project leader of Mobius Final Fantasy and working on Final Fantasy XIV in its earliest days. But what really inspired him about Final Fantasy 6? He would elaborate for us:
“Thank you for this great question. So, you know, [Final Fantasy] 6 is very much a special title for me. And when thinking about any type of entertainment, I do believe that it's kind of composed of like various elements that are informed, by either that time period or the context - you know, anything that's happening at that time.
And so I was in the later years of elementary school at the time. At the time, for me, experiencing Final Fantasy 6, it was just something where like, besides for example like going to the movies or something, it was an experience where I could enter this fantasy world and could be very much immersed in it and there was just this strong feeling that could be felt by immersing myself and experiencing this journey through the characters.
And that's where it really opened my eyes to this form of entertainment that can really move others and that's where I felt when I grow up I really want to make something like this that has created joy and feelings within me.”
One thing that Final Fantasy 7 fans noticed early in Final Fantasy 7 Remake was that there were some definitely changes from the original story. It’s something that not everyone has agreed with, but that’s never going to happen with video game opinions.
While speaking with Naoki Hamaguchi, I asked if the plan was always to do something fresh with the story or if there was ever a time when they wanted to do a shot-for-shot remake of the PlayStation classic. He would elaborate on this in great detail, from their decisions to how they could possibly improve upon the original game since there are fewer hardware limits on the PlayStation 5 compared to the original PlayStation:
“To answer your question of whether we planned to do this shot-byshot, or change elements, early on, between Kitase-san, Nomura-san, and Nojima-san - they were discussing the worldview and concept of that we wanted to approach for this title. And we were saying ‘No, delivering retelling the original story shot-by-shot with like high-quality graphics, isn't going to deliver what the players of today are expecting with the Remake series.’
And we definitely believe that players just wanted this new experience, of course, keeping in touch with the elements that they love within Final Fantasy 7, and [we] felt that in doing so, the IP can continue to shine and thrive and be much love for the next 20 years. And so from early on, that was the approach that we wanted to take.
From a creator perspective, there are two main ways in which we can accomplish this - providing players with this new experience within Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. One was how we want to show more of what was originally the Creator's intent within the original game, but perhaps we weren't able to show completely because of the technology at the time.
And one example I want to give is, you may have seen in the demo with the Nibelheim flashback for Cloud. There's a scene where he acts kind of very unlike himself, almost like and speaks in such a way that is reminiscent of Zack, and this is what the creator's intended for the original as well. But perhaps that's something that the players didn't actually catch on or realize at the time, but this time, we're really able to fully show that in detail and expressions as well as voice.
So thus, there's this new discovery for players in that way. And another method is, or another way is for something to be expected, but to kind of completely subvert the players expectations by providing something completely new. We kind of incorporate both of these kind of methods or ways in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. And so that's something that, I think is a big draw, and something that's really exciting for players.”
There have been many rumors flying around pertaining to Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - in particular about the cast of characters. Both Naoki Hamaguchi and Tetsuya Nomura have stated Cid and Vincent won’t be playable, which we’ve discussed previously. Fans know that Zack Fair is alive and well in this timeline, as well. Does that mean he’ll be playable? Hamaguchi gave us a little insight into what we can expect but didn’t give a definitive answer:
“Okay, so I'm noting that there may be kind of various information that's kind of been flying around. I just wanted to kind of make like kind of state it as well. But for the main characters for this game, we do have Yuffie, Cait Sith and Red XIII will all be playable characters in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
As far as Cid and Vincent, they're going to be kind of involved with Cloud and the party within the main storyline. But they're not going to be playable in battle characters. And as for Zack, that you asked about, I will say that he is an extremely vital, important character within this title.
Players of the earlier game, they wonder how will Zack play into this game? And, you know, is there going to be like a difference, but he is very vital and he plays a very crucial role in sort of like telling the stories like within the game is what I can say right now. As for the actual gameplay, I cannot speak on that.”
While hanging out with Naoki Hamaguchi, one thing we discussed was roleplaying games. I had a feeling that Final Fantasy 6 was going to be his favorite game in the franchise, but I was very interested in the specifics as to what enchanted him about the game.
Final Fantasy 6 is such a unique game, both now and in its own time. It was the first RPG that I could think of that had an ensemble protagonist. You could make an argument that many of the characters could be the primary protagonist, and that’s beautiful. Here’s what Naoki Hamaguchi had to say:
“Right, so I'm kind of going back to sort of what I talked about as a game creator, as well, you know, a title that definitely influenced me heavily, and is tied into my origins as a creator in the game industry is really rooted in Final Fantasy 6.
I believe that this is really a piece of an entertainment piece that really has this in-depth and deep worldview, while also kind of having these like multiple characters that are protagonists in a way. It's just really like, you know, fully fleshed out and conscious considering that that time and I really think It's really quite a feat for like this work.
So this is something that has majorly influenced me and has been extremely impactful. So, you know, when I am asked about games like that I answer Final Fantasy 6 and in that same way I feel really fortunate to be able to work with Kitase-san on you know, who's involved the title as well and feel that it was a form of wonderful fate in that way.”
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is coming on February 29, 2024, exclusively on the PlayStation 5. It was a pleasure to speak to Naoki Hamaguchi about it, and we hope to have more on it in the future. If you’d like to learn more about new features coming to the game, you can find that here.
