Square Enix developer and Final Fantasy XV game director Hajime Tabata has revealed he would turn down the opportunity to develop the Final Fantasy VII Remake, in an exclusive interview with GameRevolution.
Speaking to GameRevolution at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Tabata was asked whether or not he would take the helm of the Final Fantasy VII Remake if he was given the opportunity to do so. The long-awaited game has yet to receive anything resembling a concrete release date, with Square Enix providing very little information about it since its initial reveal during Sony’s press conference at E3 2015.
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With its development still being kept under wraps, GameRevolution’s Heath Hindman pressed Tabata on whether or not he would assume directorial control of the game, if Square Enix handed him the project. His response was surprising, with him revealing that he would turn it down, seemingly out of fear of disappointing fans of the original game. He did, however, express that he would be willing to take on Final Fantasy VII-2, if such a project were to come to fruition.
The excerpt of the interview can be read below:
GameRevolution: Would you take over the Final Fantasy VII Remake if [Square Enix] offered that one to you?
Tabata: No.
GR: No, you wouldn’t!?
Tabata: No I wouldn’t.
GR: Can I ask why?
Tabata: It’s something I couldn’t make, myself. That’s about it.
GR: Would that be a lot of pressure?
Tabata: Final Fantasy VII is a special game.
GR: It’s the big one.
Tabata: It’s such a special numbered game that I don’t think I can remake that one. There’s so many fans out there, if I were asked to satisfy all those fans, I don’t think that’s something I could do, 100%. If [Square Enix] asked me to make a new Final Fantasy and take it in a new direction, I’d be happy to accept that one, but if they asked me to remake Final Fantasy VII — to release as if it were a modern game, just released today — no, I don’t think that’s something I can do. I think the only people who could do that are Mr. (Yoshinori) Kitase and Mr. (Tetsuya) Nomura.
GR: And you say that even though you did such a good job with Crisis Core?
Tabata: Well that wasn’t VII itself.
GR: A spinoff… a prequel.
Tabata: Yeah, it wasn’t the main game. Now, if they asked me to do Final Fantasy VII-2, that might be different.
GR: Which brings us back to your new project!
*Laughter in the room*
Tabata: We haven’t got that planned!
The full interview will be published on GameRevolution later this month.
