Kitase: FFVII Remake Only Possible If It Can Be Done In A Year

Final Fantasy XIII releases in less than three weeks, but people still can’t stop pining for Final Fantasy VII, released XIII years ago. But Yoshinori Kitase, answering hypothetically, said a remake by modern standards might take XIV years to make.

Speaking to TechDigest, Kitase, the producer of Final Fantasy XIII (and director of VII) said a remake would be attempted if it were feasible to complete in a year. And that’s hardly likely. His complete answer:

If it were possible that we had all the right facilities and the right environment to be able to make and prepare a Final Fantasy VII remake within a year, we’d very much like a go at it! But even Final Fantasy XIII has taken over three and a half years to create. If we were to recreate Final Fantasy VII with the same level of graphical detail as you see in Final Fantasy XIII, we’d imagine that that would take as much as three or four times longer than the three and a half years it has taken to put this Final Fantasy together! So it’s looking pretty unrealistic! But if any such situation came about by any remote chance, then yes, we’d do it!

Granted, we’re extrapolating his offhand calculation that a remake would take 4 times as long to create as an original on a three-and-a-half-year development cycle. The operative concern here seems to be whether Square Enix could pull it off in a year. And no, that doesn’t sound likely.

Final Fantasy XIII ‘s Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Kitase – Interview [TechDigest via Connected Consoles]