‘Final Fantasy 7 Remake’: Why The Battle System Was Tweaked Multiple Times

“Final Fantasy 7 Remake” has been a hit since its release, thanks in part to nostalgia and the massive improvements it has undergone from the original.

One of the most notable changes in the game is its combat system, which Square Enix described as having the “perfect balance.” However, achieving the right system wasn’t easy for the developers, as they reportedly had to remake it multiple times.

In an interview with Famitsu (via FrontlineJP.net), game producer Kitase Yoshinori and director Nomura Tetsuya explained their line of thinking in creating the battle system and why they had to make several tweaks.

According to Nomura, they prioritized “player immersion” when developing the system, emphasizing that they wanted to make “real-time control possible.” After that, they integrated the Active Time Battle system of FFVII, which Nomura said took a “lot of trial and error” since it contradicts real-time control.

They also gave enemies varying attack patterns in the game in order to make characters other than Cloud Strife effective.

Fortunately for the Square Enix team, they were able to complete the game to their satisfaction. In fact, according to Kitase, the hybrid battle system that combines commands and actions “turned out to be greater” than he imagined.

The release of “Final Fantasy 7 Remake” was hounded with several issues because of the coronavirus pandemic. Square Enix warned ahead of its April 10 release that physical copies of the game would be delayed in some parts of the world due to the health crisis.

Moreover, the game developer was also forced to allow customers to pre-load the game early because of the reduced PlayStation download speed in the U.S. and Europe.

Despite all the issues it faced though, “Final Fantasy 7 Remake” has been enjoying one of the biggest releases for a PS4-exclusive title. According to GamStat, the game now has 2.3 million players – which is only behind the 2.4 million players of “God of War” and the 3 million player base of “Spider-Man” during their respective release windows.

Moreover, according to Famitsu, the remake of FFVII was the top-selling game in Japan from April 6 to 12, selling more than 700,000 units.