We need to talk.
I have seen your constant demand for a Final Fantasy 7 remake. I have seen you being inspired ever since SqueeEnix put out that PS3 tech demo. I have seen you being passionate, like no other, about a game made fifteen years ago. I have seen you go the effort of trying to convince SqueeEnix it can be done. I've seen you put forth technical arguments challenging the claims made by SqueeEnix. And I have seen you refute the arguments of any nay-sayers.
And I give you credit: I've been interested in computer and video gaming since the late eighties and I have never seen people get so passionate about a game before or since (well maybe the fiasco over the Mass Effect 3 ending but still). I admire that you love something so much that you're willing to stand by it with the passion of a religious zealot. And I'm impressed that you still admire a game made fifteen years and two generations ago when countless other games have been ditched and forgotten by the passage of time.
But I simply have to ask the following question: Why do you want a remake of Final Fantasy 7?
No really: Why DO you WANT a remake of your favorite game?
A lot of arguments I have for the FF7 remake seem to be largely based on technological and economic knowledge and the argument of "JUST SHUT UP AND DO IT!!". These are all claims that suggest that it can be done therefore it should be done but why? You must really want a FF7 remake so badly that you'll go to the effort of challenging any nay-sayer but is the effort really worth all this trouble?
The economic argument suggests that people will buy it because it will be a huge seller, justify any enormous production cost and save SqueeEnix from any potential financial calamity. But this is more or less speculative. And like any company, SqueeEnix decides the movements they make for themselves - meaning you, the consumer, have no say in whatever they do (sad but true).
Besides, would you really buy anything with the Final Fantasy 7 logo? Saying so seems to suggest that people would buy a game where Sephiroth runs through a field on a sunny day throwing flowers everywhere but we know this is not the case.
I have seen a lot of challenges to the technical effort involved stating that, despite what's being claimed, it can be done and it is feasible - regardless of factors such as updating a technology fifteen years old, the necessity of motion capture, the implementation of voice acting and building 3d environment from scratch.
That may be the case but really the originally FF7 did what it set out to do on the tools it had available. I mean, you may dismiss the original character models for looking like they do, but consider this: They somehow do work in the game’s favor. The goofy looking character models make the goofier moments in the game easier to swallow. I mean come on: Do we really want to see an Advent Children-esque Cloud wearing a dress?
No really: do you WANT to see an Advent Children-esque Cloud in a Dress?
Last time I checked Final Fantasy 7 is still available on the PSN so it isn't like it's NOT getting played. And it's not like a FF7 remake will give the PS3 the hit it needs - if anything it will place Sony in the rather uncomfortable position on relying on past hits rather than forging new ground. A position that is currently occupied by Nintendo and subsequently earned them a lot of scorn.
And who on earth would WANT to be in that position?
Again: Why do you want a remake of Final Fantasy 7? The offical stance from SqueeEnix is that they are far more interested in trying to make something that reaches, or even surpasses, Final Fantasy 7's achievements. However such a statement can be easily taken as a fool's errand. So, tell me: Are SqueeEnix not allowed to at least try? I know every Final Fantasy that has followed 7 has split a opinion like no other so it seem that people would rather that they give up. True FF7 was a combination of the right talent in the right areas that came at the right time that it will most likely never happen again but do you want a remake over any new material so badly? And, as is often the case with game remakes, do you want to see a game you enjoyed as a child tarnished and ruined beyond comprehension?
So it seems doubtful that SqueeEnix will ever match, let alone eclipse, the glorious heights achieved by Final Fantasy 7. It would be like, by way of comparison, Weezer releasing an album on par with the Blue Album and Pinkerton and it's widespread knowledge that such a thing is never going to happen.
And again: Why do you want a remake of Final Fantasy 7? I've heard so much demand for one but no real reasoning for it. It was a great game yes but the be-all-end-all of Final Fantasy/JRPGS/Playstation/games in general? Surely not.
I can understand if this intense demand was utilized in order to preserve games from the ravages of time *coughPanzerDragoonSagacough* but Final Fantasy 7 isn't really going away anytime soon. And if SquareEnix aren't interested in touching their Golden Goose again, then they should be left be.
So in conclusion may I state a reiteration from an earlier post:
Really, the more I look at this notion of remaking Final Fantasy 7 the more it become clear that people are after the same experience they had when they were ten years old. That being said, let me tell you something kids: When I was ten years old, I played Pool of Radiance on the Commodore 64. I played it, loved it, and was my gateway drug to the worlds of both RPGs and Dungeons & Dragons. Years later it got a remake - but it was one many people would rather forget.
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