Tetsuya Nomura confesses that the ending of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth makes him “nervous”, and talks about “Tetsuya Nomura-ism”

We are in the final stages of the launch of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the sequel to the remake of perhaps the most popular installment of one of the most enduring sagas in the gaming industry. With the demo already available on PlayStation 5, more and more players will be able to see firsthand some of the things that the continuation of the adventure of Cloud Strife and the rest of his companions will offer. The Japanese media Automaton interviewed Tetsuya Nomura, one of the game’s directors and a Japanese creative with decades of work behind him that never leaves anyone indifferent. An interview without waste in which he spoke about the changes in the story, the new characters, an ending that makes him “nervous” and many other topics.

Regarding the changes introduced in the remake, Nomura was asked if he was worried about fan reaction, to which he replied “(Yoshinori) Kitase, (Kazushige) Nojima and I had discussions when we first started the remake project, and Nojima was very concerned about this aspect. More than 20 years have passed since the original game. In that time, each player has probably developed their own image of what FFVII is. However, it was precisely because of this that I wanted to take on the challenge of remaking it. I think that you will be satisfied if you play through the trilogy to its conclusion.”

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a story as recognizable as it is different

Given the changes that have been made, and the possibility that Rebirth will be even more different from the original game than the remake was in some ways, Nomura emphasizes that “We want all these different players to experience the same sense of surprise, regardless of their entry point into FFVII. We want people who are familiar with FFVII’s story to feel like they don’t know what will happen next and enjoy it from this perspective. "

Automaton did not hesitate to ask him about the ending of the game and if there would be a twist like what happened with Remake, and Nomura did not hesitate to confess that “the final scene of the next game will have a very… different impact to the previous one. I’m even more nervous about how people are going to react to some of the things in Rebirth than I was for Remake.”

Nomura has become a meme for many people on the Internet, with the famous Tetsuya Nomura-ism, a conversation that is much more global than we might think, and it shows in the interview that focuses on this, with Nomura himself pointing out that “I think that “Tetsuya Nomura-ism” is something that the players have established regardless of whether I was involved in that aspect or not. Sometimes players who are playing something I had absolutely nothing to do with go “This feels so Nomura,” and I’m thinking “That wasn’t me…'”

What’s New in the Return of Final Fantasy VII

Regarding the new characters added to the remake, Nomura pointed out that this “is the first time these characters have appeared with names, but their roles existed in the original game. This time around, the faces are much more detailed, so we had to flesh out the supporting characters a bit. Otherwise, everyone you meet would just be a generic NPC. This wouldn’t give the story a sense of depth, so our policy is to flesh out the characters that are involved in the story, even if they were insubstantial in the original version. Our intention is to depict even the smallest details in the world in order to reveal new things in the story, so we have also introduced new characters to that end.”

In addition to new characters, there are also new areas, and Nomura points out that “in FFVII Remake, we also added new places and areas of land that weren’t depicted in the original FFVII and placed people in them. I think this made the world denser and richer, giving the city of Midgar a realistic feel.  In the original game, Junon was naturally smaller than Midgar. So, when it came to recreating the place in FF7 Rebirth, all the elements, such as the scale of the town and the placement of people, had to be convincing. In other words, we implemented new places and buildings to make the worldbuilding of FFVII Rebirth even more convincing. We’ve taken the motifs of what was originally there and expanded them with modern design elements so that even if the structure and look has changed greatly compared to the original version, people who played FFVII will be able to recognize the feeling and atmosphere.”

Tetsuya Nomura and his eternal relationship with Final Fantasy VII

Nomura’s link with Final Fantasy VII is outstanding, as he was the main character designer of the original game. From that moment, he would not stop growing in the, at that time, Squaresoft and current Square Enix. A figure who is known for the long development of his games, and to that question he replied that “people say I tend to make them wait a long time for the games I’m involved in, but I really don’t want them to have to wait. Whenever we have team meetings to discuss the release date, I always ask for it to be as early as possible, even though others often suggest a release date that gives us a bit of leeway to be on the safe side.”

When asked about his position and areas of development on the game, Nomura replied, “Basically, I continued to work on the same aspects I worked on for FF7 Remake, but as the basics were completed in Remake, I was able to entrust a lot of things related to the new system etc. to staff. The world of FFVII has expanded to include spin-offs and sequels, so rather than focusing on one title, I look at the world as a whole. However, that does not mean that I’m not involved in detailed aspects, but rather that I am responsible for the direction of core elements and the overall game.”

An interview without waste of a unique creative and forever part of the legacy of Final Fantasy VII.