An ode to the days of cherished demo discs
Final Fantasy VII Remakemay stray from the original in some notable ways, but it also has a lot of love for its predecessor. One piece of evidence is the inclusion of Leviathan as one of the few summons that made it intoFinal Fantasy VII Remake.
Square Enix has been running a series of blog posts going over the remake’s development, with thelatest posted today. And in response to a question aboutFinal Fantasy VII Remake‘s Summoning Materia, co-director Naoki Hamaguchi explains why Leviathan specifically made the cut.
“At an early stage of development, we looked over the line-up of summons in the originalFFVIIand decided to go with Ifrit, Chocobo and Moogle, Shiva, Fat Chocobo, Leviathan and Bahamut, for a roster of 6,” said Hamaguchi. “The reason Leviathan was included is because he was featured in the originalFFVIIdemo, so I personally wanted him in the firstRemaketoo. We then also added Carbuncle, Cactuar, and Chocobo Chick as pre-order bonuses.”
Hamaguchi goes on to explain that summons cost a lot in terms of development resources, so the team didn’t plan and discard any of them. “We strived to be as accurate as possible in the planning and then stuck to that plan until the final version,” Hamaguchi says.
There’s a flood down in Midgar
Leviathan isn’t just a summon, but one ofFinal Fantasy VII Remake‘sVR boss fightstoo. And even though Leviathan hasalways been a pretty sick summoninFinal Fantasy, theRemakedoes pretty right by it.
Below, you’re able to take a look at a full playthrough of the originalFinal Fantasy VIIdemo. Here Aerith, somehow on the original Bombing Mission with Cloud and Barrett, can summon Leviathan for its Tsunami attack.
The remakes are rolling on though, as Square announcedFinal Fantasy VII Rebirthlast month, set for next winter. And whileI’m all for exploring new ground, I’m really hoping for some throwback summons in the next two remakes.
