14 DAY TRIAL // A remake of Final Fantasy VII would take much longer to be developed than Final Fantasy XIII took, according to Yoshinori Kitase, the producer of Final Fantasy XIII. Considering that the latest installment in the Final Fantasy series took around four years to make, this paints a pretty grim picture for Final Fantasy fans who still believe that this remake could see the light of day at one point or another in the future.
In an interview with Andriasang, Kitase declared that, "We've gotten this question a lot from many countries (laughs). To make FFXIII at this level of quality, it took us 3 to 4 years. If we were to make FFVII in the same style of FFXIII, it would take 10 times as long, so it would be difficult to take it up immediately. However, we always keep in mind how often this is requested." There is some hope, but Square Enix needs to know that such a remake would be financially successful.
The Final Fantasy VII HD question has become some kind of a standard in Square Enix interviews. The CEO of the Japanese publisher, Yoichi Wada, said in the past that his company was exploring the possibility, but that, at that time, he had no clear direction in mind of whether to do it or not, or details about what platform or platforms should host the game.
Not only have fans expressed their wish for a next-gen version of Final Fantasy VII, though. Many of the developers that are responsible with the Final Fantasy franchise have told various press outlets that such a project would be very interesting, indeed. Director Motomu Toriyama said that it would be the game that he’d like to redo the most. Square Enix is working on Final Fantasy XIII Versus, an action role-playing title set in the same universe as Final Fantasy XIII, though their stories are unrelated. No release date has been announced yet, but more information is expected to come at this year's E3.
Update: Article republished with updated photo of Final Fantasy VII, as indicated in the comments.