FFVII Remake Co-Director and Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi says they're sort of trying to push boundaries and trying to figure out what kind of bold changes they can bring to the story, but they're also trying to make careful decisions around that. (GameDeveloper, 10/2)

Naoki Hamaguchi thinks a lot of users were interested to find out what's gonna happen to Aerith and her fate. So because of that, they tried to create a game and depict the story in a way where players won't be able to tell what's going to happen to Aerith until the very end. (GameDeveloper 10/2)

FFVII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi says they want to keep the players' interest, but in order to do that, they can't simply just add new elements, that won't be enough. They wanted to add a new interpretation to the story, entirely new story elements. (GameDeveloper, 10/2) #FF7R

FFVII Remake Co-director Naoki Hamaguchi says the sentiment behind Remake was to make it a “story that transcends time”. By depicting the struggles and choices of FF7's iconic characters, like Cloud and Sephiroth, with more depth and vividness than ever before. (SE, 9/29)

Naoki Hamaguchi says that for the third and final part of the FFVII Remake series, which is currently in development, they are working to bring all the stories told so far together for an epic culmination that will leave a lasting impression on players! (SE, 9/29)

Hamaguchi says moving forward to part 3, he doesn't want to deliver exactly the same style of gameplay experience as Rebirth again. They're going to evolve and change it to give another different and fresh take on FF7's gameplay. It will be revealed in the not too distant future.

Naoki Hamaguchi says they do listen to a lot of feedback. Kitase has said it's an advantage of this series that they can look at the results partway through since it's a trilogy. What to avoid is having that adapt and change the core experience of the game. (ntower, 9/25)

FFVII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi says the core themes of FFVII – life, legacy, humanity – remain unchanged. But it has been decades since the original release. Cultures, technology, and even players’ perspectives have changed. They considered all of that carefully.

Asked about the possibility for new FF7 series amiibo or amiibo support being added for Smash Bros. Ultimate, Hamaguchi says they don't currently have clear plans for that, but if there is a lot of positive player demand, it would make for really great discussions with Nintendo

Asked about people getting into the FFVII Remake series through Crisis Core: FFVII Reunion, Naoki Hamaguchi says they're really happy to see people getting into the series via that route as well. [1/5]

Naoki Hamaguchi says they didn’t adjust the schedules or development timeline for Part 3 in order to work on the multiplatform release for the three titles. Some of the teams have split to work on the titles, or some people are working concurrently, and such. (Inverse, 9/24)

Asked about the potential for new collaborations for FFVII, Naoki Hamaguchi says that in terms of having Final Fantasy be much more well-known and loved by many players, he sees collaborations as something very positive, and it would be great to have more of them. (Inverse, 9/24)

FFVII Rebith Director Naoki Hamaguchi says he usually takes his coffee black. He doesn't drink too many sweet things, but the North American PR team always recommends boba, but since he doesn't drink too many sweet things, he usually declines (rpgsite, 9/24)

Hamaguchi says the keyword for Remake was "reunion" and for Rebirth it was "bonds." They have a new keyword for the third game in the series, and in terms of development, they’ve got builds running where you can actually experience what that theme is through gameplay. (jpgames)

FFVII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi says the game they're creating isn't just for fans in Japan, but to be enjoyed and, hopefully, loved by players around the world. He knows there are many different opinions on this. [1/3]

Asked about what games inspired him, FFVII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi named the Fable series. He loves that sense of freedom and choice, and how the player's actions really impact the world. Fable has had a positive influence on his own creative work. (windowscentral, 9/24)

Hamaguchi says that Final Fantasy 6 is his favorite mainline title and that it would be very cool to take on as a remake. That being said, he's put his heart and soul into the FF7R series for over a decade now. Working on something completely new would be quite fun as well. (windowscentral, 9/24)

FFVII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi says that because the remake became a larger trilogy, they felt there was a necessity to change things up and try different things, to maintain interest across each part, and pique player's curiosity. (windowscentral, 9/24)

Naoki Hamaguchi talks about how the Live action Beauty and the Beast movie influenced Remake. He saw that the overall story and world itself was not altered, but it was completely deconstructed in a way to really entertain today’s viewers, which was deeply satisfying (ScreenRant, 9/24)

FFVII Rebirth Director Hamaguchi says that for Part 3, they’re thinking in terms of how can they can surprise and entertain players. That’s been their focus in development, and he believes they'll provide something that will make an impact in people’s hearts as they play. (ScreenRant)

FF7 Rebirth Director Hamaguchi says that development on part 3 is going extremely well, and the game is shaping up nicely. A lot of the content is already playable, and the game’s direction and form are firmly set in place. Right now, the team is united around refining everything. (Automation, 9/24)

FF7 Composer Nobuo Uematsu revealed that he ended up composing FFVII’s final battle theme in an unorthodox way. He explains how every morning he would come to work, think about Sephiroth and freely write down the measures of music that came into his head. (Automation, 2024) #Sephiroth #FFVII

Nobuo Uematsu says he believes directors and producers hold too much power in their hands even when it comes to the music, and that anything goes for them as long as you make it sound like a John Williams movie soundtrack. “Frankly speaking, there’s less ‘weird things’ now.”

FF7 Composer Nobuo Uematsu says that his colleagues didn't like One Winged Angel when he first presented it to them. He recalls that they asked him to make it more heroic. However, he was able to convince them that the battle theme would be fine as-is. (Automation, 2024)

Maehiro also says that the timing at which you get Cloud, is going to the timing at which you could get him in the War of the Lions version. So from that perspective, he’ll be a lot more useful – and he’s fully voiced, as with other characters.

FINAL FANTASY TACTICS - The Ivalice Chronicles Director Kazutoyo Maehiro says that Cloud's stats are adjusted a bit in this version. On top of that, he will come equipped with the Materia Blade when he joins your party initially. (Inverse, 9/2) #CloudStrife #FFTactics

Roche VA Austin Lee Matthews @amtrax.bsky.social says that the Localization team is great about putting notes into certain lines. His favorite note was for people around Roche where Roche would say something and somebody else would reply. Their note would be "Nobody likes Roche." (FF Files, 8/28)

FFVII Rebirth Producer Kitase says that when he was working on the Barret and Dyne sequence in the OG, he didn't think it was the most moving story, but he says that in Rebirth that story was so emotional and heartfelt, and that it turned out to be a great scene. [1/2]

There have been many a debate about the correct way to spell and pronounce FFVII characters' names, but have you ever wondered what the devs themselves thought? In our latest Last Elixir video, we dive into FFVII's files to get the true and canonical answers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPXL...

FFVII Remake Level Design Supervisor Yui Sawada says that Betty's feline friend was initially going to be black, but playtesters complained it was almost invisible among the clutter of the slums, so it was changed to be white. (RMUP, 2021)

FF7 Ever Crisis Director Motomu Toriyama says the backbone of the First SOLDIER arc is a generational shift where normal humans like Glen and his team, who became SOLDIERs through training, are being replaced by new SOLDIERs like Sephiroth who were created through Hojo's experiments. (Gamer, 9/8/23)

FF7 Rebirth creative director Tetsuya Nomura says that when he first played the original FFVII, he tried to clear it without using any materia! Then, when he played FF8, he tried to clear it without using any GFs, but was forced to give up halfway through. (denfaminico, 2/7/24)

FFVII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi says the Cloud we see in the Nibelheim flashback is slightly different from the Cloud most people know; he's rougher, more of a novice, a less experienced character. (Hobbyconsolas, 11/17/23)

Asked if Glenn from EC is the same Glenn who appears in FF7R Picturing the Past, Toriyama says he's a different person. Nomura admits he overlooked the novella character but when he learned this, he didn't want to change the name since he'd taken great pains to arrive at it [1/2] #FF7R

Despite their glorious 3D animations, summons play almost no role in FFVII’s story. In our latest Last Elixir video, we look at some scrapped dialogue from Sephiroth that would have better grounded these creatures in the game’s world, if only a little. youtu.be/WmRnFyEq3ak?...

Nojima says that around the beginning of FF7's production, he asked Kitase to read over the dialogue for some scenes with Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith, Kitase told him it's like hearing his voice in all of them, and so he completely changed the way Aerith and Tifa spoke (BraBra, 2018) #FF7 #Aerith #Tifa

Director Tabata says that for any new elements to the lore, they avoided contradictions by introducing new characters. In any case, Crisis Core's storyline was overseen by Kazushige Nojima, who also handled the original FFVII story, so they did not encounter many problems. #CrisisCore #FF7 #FFVII

FVII Rebirth Director Naoki Hamaguchi says that his favorite synergy pairing is Cait Sith and Red XIII because all their moves are very cute. (primagames, 2/29/2024)

If you fail to sink the red submarine in FFVII, when you go back to steal it, you’ll be given the choice of taking the Shinra soldiers’ pet Guard Hound as a canine captive. Of note here is how Cloud curses at it, saying, “You damn Shinra dog!” (UO, 2005)

Just as Kadaj is about to unleash another spell while Cloud is distracted, a massive spring of water gushes forth. Cloud suddenly realizes who’s responsible for this miracle. A gentle voice rings out. “Let’s go.” And so he does, to put an end to all the suffering (10AU, 2007)

FFVII Remake Co-Director Motomu Toriyama says that people within the team argued that Cloud dancing is “not him,” but because he worked on the Wall Market scenes in both the OG and Remake, he pushed his ideas through to have Cloud bust some cool dance moves. (Inverse, 2021) #CloudStrife #FFVII #FF7R

Asked if he uses a full bottle of shampoo like Sephiroth does when he showers, CCFF7 Director Tabata says he'd say he uses a little more than Rude. (member.square-enix) #Sephiroth #Rude

Asked how hard it is to write a story where the ending is already known, Crisis Core Producer Imaizumi said it’s similar to how historical figures are depicted, where films about them are always different. Everyone knows how Caesar died, but it always changes because of how it is presented.

Kadaj reveals that he and the rest of his trio are entities given form by the genetic thought of their “mother,” who has merged into the Lifestream. Their goal is to use her cells to carry out the Reunion as the Sephiroth Copies once managed to do. (10AU, 2007) #AdventChildren #FF7 #FFVII #Kadaj

Asked about the possibility of an FF7 Remake back in 2008, Kitase said organizing such a thing is logistically difficult. However, they came up with the idea for Crisis Core in just two days. So, you can definitely expect the probability of something spontaneous happening at some point (bit-gamer)

FFVII left a lot of content on the cutting room floor, including a much racier version of the iconic Honeybee Inn. The newest Last Elixir video walks you through a full implementation of these scrapped scenes, and explains the history of one of FFVII’s greatest discoveries. youtu.be/H-Xpf_hn8g4

Cid VA J Michael Tatum says that for his Final Fantasy audition, they were looking for a very specific accent which happens to be a region of the country he's from, so he just called his dad up to prepare, and his dad ended up being the inspiration for his Cid voice. (SE, 2025) #CidHighwind #FF7R

Concept art

Footage of Cloud, Yuffie, Barret, Vincent, and Cait Sith from the end of the FFVII Advent Children: Escape from Midgar event. The english voice actors from advent children also voiced the characters here.

In 2016, there was a CG-animated 3-D Final Fantasy VII themed ride called "Escape from Midgar." The theme park ride opened in Dubai. It took you down a 3D immersion tunnel where you’ll join the game’s main characters as they try and escape. #FF7 #FFVII #AdventChildren #FinalFantasy