Keeping in mind that the trilogy of Final Fantasy 13 games took over 10 years to develop and release and you should have a better idea of how big of a task it would be to remake Final Fantasy 7 with modern visuals and high definition audio.
"I still think it's going to be a very challenging task," Kitase said, before reiterating that remastering the PS2 games was a big enough challenge, and that the gap between today's tech and the PS1 is a lot wider.
"I can tell you personally I would love to do it," he said. "But before I decide to do anything of that kind, I would have to bring my dedication and motivation levels to the maximal high. It's not the kind of project I can start casually working on, it's a really serious project. It would be nice if I got the opportunity to do that in the future, but at the moment no plans."
So, nearly a decade on: Any regrets over showing that PS3 tech demo?
"No regrets as such," Kitase laughed. "It was the right thing to do at the time. But look, if we look at the possibility of remaking Final Fantasy 7 for high definition consoles, we already took nearly ten years to make the trilogy of Final Fantasy 13 games, ending with Lightning Returns. I think that a high-definition FF7 would be definitely comparable to that scale, an even bigger project maybe. It would probably take a lot longer than ten years, even if we ever do it. So that's what I am saying, I would have to have a complete and utter dedication to the project."
"I can tell you personally I would love to do it," he said. "But before I decide to do anything of that kind, I would have to bring my dedication and motivation levels to the maximal high. It's not the kind of project I can start casually working on, it's a really serious project. It would be nice if I got the opportunity to do that in the future, but at the moment no plans."
So, nearly a decade on: Any regrets over showing that PS3 tech demo?
"No regrets as such," Kitase laughed. "It was the right thing to do at the time. But look, if we look at the possibility of remaking Final Fantasy 7 for high definition consoles, we already took nearly ten years to make the trilogy of Final Fantasy 13 games, ending with Lightning Returns. I think that a high-definition FF7 would be definitely comparable to that scale, an even bigger project maybe. It would probably take a lot longer than ten years, even if we ever do it. So that's what I am saying, I would have to have a complete and utter dedication to the project."
That is to say, don't keep holding your breath for there being a remake of Final Fantasy 7.
They reportedly do not have any of the original assets to work with. Even if they did, they were more than likely only made for the typical resolutions at the time.
Keep in mind that all of the environments/backgrounds in that game are pre-rendered images. PS1 games were, at most, 640x480 resolution (interlaced), with most running at 320x240. I'm not exactly sure what FF7 ran at but those are still insanely low resolutions when the minimum it would have to be now is 720p.
You can't just scale up the original assets and expect it to look good and call it a day. They would have to remake literally everything. Backgrounds, environments, character models, magic effects, summon animations, just animations/rigging in general, etc. And then there are all of the pre-rendered videos/cutscenes in the game. Those would also all need to be redone from scratch.
Then there's the music and sound effects. They would all need to be redone (again, since they apparently don't have the original assets) in high quality. Again, even if they did have the original assets, they may not have been at a high enough quality to cut it on systems that now utilize surround sound over optical audio connections or HDMI. We already saw people complaining to high hell about the music quality on the recent PC re-release since it wasn't quite as good as the original PS1 version.
So, while at its simplest form, yeah you are just "copying something already made" you still need to recreate every asset, big and small, from scratch with the exception of the plot, basic character designs, names, gameplay ideas, etc.
I understand the Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy series is cheaper to develop based on what thegreatcow said about the FF13 trilogy, but after that series is complete, I get the sense that Square-Enix is too intimidated and burnt out to even bother starting on making FF7 as a brand new game (instead of an HD upgrade since it isn't possible). So I can't help, but feel like we're just going to get FFXVI or something. They should have the resources to build original games from the ground up, so why is building FF7 from the ground up more difficult? Did we set the expected bar of quality way too freaking high? Is it cheaper to build an original game?
Also, I'd like to add that Thortok2000 already mentioned that none of the assets are worth importing even if they weren't lost anyways, so he is fully aware that missing assets are a rather moot point.
That's the part I don't get.
There's a time = money formula that's being ignored and/or used wrong.
10 years is PLENTY of time. Games nowadays don't take 10 years. Did XIII take 10 years? Even considering all 3 parts of it? And IT was built from scratch WITHOUT a model to copy.
I think the true thing here is they don't want to throw MONEY at it. Hire enough people to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time, and it would be done, but it would cost more. They're worried that the costs will exceed the gains. And THAT, I can understand. Saying it would take 10 years is foolish nonsense, unless their budget is only enough to cover one person. That's the point I was making.
Basically, the 10 years thing is a ridiculous exaggeration. At least if they have any skill at making a game left in their brains, that is. After all, some games do take that long, but usually because things get changed over and over and scope creep and stuff, or the people working on it change studios, etc. (Take Duke Nukem Forever for instance.) But for a game that's essentially already made and you're just copying it, most of THOSE issues wouldn't be issues, either.
Now, as far as FF7 not being a cash cow, that's Square's own fault for failing to realize how to market it so that it would become one.
There's got to be some budget price point that gets the game done in a reasonable amount of time and cuts a profit once it's done. That they ignore this shows lack of business sense, in my opinion. Plus a disconnection with what their fans want.
Then there's audio, do they add voice acting to everyone in the game.
One thing i do think though is that the combat could remain fairly faithful to how it worked in the original, just make the screen transitions and menus snappier.
Now Thortok2000, I know when you say copy, you meant use the original game as a reference where most of the thinking is already done. So you would build assets based on the original game instead of invent new concepts, but that's not entirely true. The only things I can think of that they would save time is referencing the original storyline and to add new details that further flesh out character development, increase fanservice, and answer any loose-end questions that occurred in the original (like why Phoenix Down is so selective in how it works). They COULD reuse the original game mechanics, but I think speedrunners have proven how exploitable that is (or was that a different Final Fantasy?), so perhaps they may need to look at cherry picking popular game mechanics from each individual Final Fantasy game that can work together. While the overall city of Midgar can be referenced when building how it looks from far away, at a street level nothing can be referenced beyond key landmarks. And odds are, they'll probably have to put in some recognizable landmarks of Edge before it became Edge (and that's only East of Midgar). Even character models can't be referenced because the concept art is too outdated to be relevant. I mean Advent Children's Tifa looked more like Rinoa than the big bulgy eyed concept art, so now details on the characters' hair and facial features need to be updated to be more "realistic" (and I say that with quotes). I'd imagine cosplayers would make a better reference for concept art than the original concept art.
With the scale of the game requiring to be beyond the original FF7 (exploration of places the original game didn't know existed, etc.), it's not a simple play the original game, read the concept art books, and have the thinking already done for pre-production. Honestly, I can only think of story revisions and game mechanics being the easiest part. The rest is no different than building a brand new game with the constraint of keeping the environment, theme, and atmosphere familiar and faithful.
Also, Square-Enix is at no fault on how to market Final Fantasy 7. They made a series on this franchise much like Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, called Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. I just hated how this was beating around the bush and basically well... Teasing us into complete agony, exasperation, and frustration.
So my question remains, "How expensive is it to build a brand new game that follows Final Fantasy 7's storyline in both character and timelines, while building art, audio, and gameplay assets as brand new? Is it more expensive than building a brand new game from absolutely nothing, at the trade-off of having more creative freedom? Would the demand for a brand new original game overcome the demand for a return to FF7?"