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News on Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts 2

Posted by Zonk on from the square-speaks dept.

GamesIndustry.biz has commentary from Square producer Shinji Hashimoto about the upcoming FFVII movie Advent Children, and the second Kingdom Hearts game. From the interview: "To be honest, all of the staff was burnt out after we made the original Final Fantasy VII! But as you know, Final Fantasy has both a game part and a movie part - and as we made the movie part, we decided to make it longer, because it's so connected to the game part. We don't really think of it as a feature film. It's more like a collection of clips; it's become quite long, but we don't take that too seriously in terms of having a massive concept behind it or anything like that. It's just naturally come about."

40 comments

  1. Concept? In a movie? by jfisherwa · · Score: 1
    ".. we don't take that too seriously in terms of having a massive concept behind it or anything like that."
    Well, they should fit right in then.
  2. Uh, good PR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    Wow. That comment just sucked all the excitement I had about the movie right away. So we can expect a disjoint, unplanned, random movie? Erk.
    Are there any plans to re-release the Final Fantasy VII game on a modern platform to tie in with the release of the movie?

    Nothing so far. We have to make Advent Children first!
    Rats.
    1. Re:Uh, good PR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe at one point that Square said they would not re-release Final Fantasy 7 on a new system while there was a current system that was backwards compatible with PS1. Don't know if that's necessarily still their stance though.

  3. Square by superpulpsicle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    SquareEnix is putting way too many eggs into the Final Fantasy series.

    They need to bring back the Chronotrigger series. The new FrontMission game for PS2 that came out was so half assed compared to the old PS1 version. Can this company actually allocate budget to anything non-Final Fantasy related.

    1. Re:Square by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, they are allocating budgets for non-FF stuff, but you won't like it...

      Squeenix seems to want to become "the" MMORPG company.

      Most of their actual new development work is aimed in that direction.

      So expect Crono Trigger 2, Randomly An MMORPG For No Reason eventually.

    2. Re:Square by nifboy · · Score: 1

      Last time they "brought back" the Chrono Trigger series we got Chrono Cross.

    3. Re:Square by Allison+Geode · · Score: 1

      in japan, i have read, they registered the trademark "chrono brake." thats about it though.

  4. "Just a collection of clips?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Translation: We couldn't come up with a story, so here's a bunch of cool CGI clips. Sorry if it sucks.

    1. Re:"Just a collection of clips?" by winterdrake · · Score: 1

      Nonsense. "We made a bunch of cool CGI clips, and then that made us think of more things we wanted to do, and it eventually ended up turning into a full length movie."

    2. Re:"Just a collection of clips?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, but Tifa has big ( . )( . ) so let's all go buy it!

  5. Release date? by Winterblink · · Score: 1

    Is there actually a north american release date for Advent Children yet? It's been "upcoming" for a long long time now.

    --
    "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
    -Hoban Washburn
    1. Re:Release date? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      No:
      When will the film be released, and are you intending to release it simultaneously around the world?

      We're preparing for announcements about the release, so please be patient about this!
  6. Great visuals != Good Cinema by MemeSpitter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The interviewer's focus was just as off as Square's was when they made the last FF movie.

    How would you compare the quality of the visuals in this film to something like Final Fantasy: Spirits Within? Has the technology moved on a lot since then?

    Great. I was really worried about whether a top-notch game company like SquareEnix can generate good-looking visuals. A better question would have been: "So, did you hire a screenwriter this time? If so, can he/she create a decent plot, or a dramatic structure smoother than something a five-year-old might build out of Duplos?"

    1. Re:Great visuals != Good Cinema by NEOtaku17 · · Score: 1

      "Great. I was really worried about whether a top-notch game company like SquareEnix can generate good-looking visuals. A better question would have been: "So, did you hire a screenwriter this time? If so, can he/she create a decent plot, or a dramatic structure smoother than something a five-year-old might build out of Duplos?"

      Actually it was the fantastic story and gameplay that made FF7 the most loved RPG of all time, not the visuals.

      --
      Creative Demolition
    2. Re:Great visuals != Good Cinema by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      and last final fantasy _movie_ had imho pretty great visuals. didn't help the movie as a whole that much though.

      my point here being that the graphics were good enough - what they were lacking was a good story(so fuck the visual improvements mr interviewer and ask them if they've made the story any better, which doesn't seem like that though from reading between the lines..).

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    3. Re:Great visuals != Good Cinema by Harlockjds · · Score: 3, Interesting

      >Actually it was the fantastic story and gameplay that made FF7 the most loved RPG of all time, not the visuals.

      No it wasn't. It was the visuals and the fact that it was one of the first CRPGs to get big.

      Your first time iss always the best.

    4. Re:Great visuals != Good Cinema by Elranzer · · Score: 1

      Actually, if you look on every RPG or Squaresoft fansite (such as RPGamer), you'll notice FF6 is more beloved than FF7.

    5. Re:Great visuals != Good Cinema by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FF6 was good, don't get me wrong, but I liked FF5 better myself. My all time favorite was FF9 though. Haven't played FF10 yet, so I won't comment.
      I think Square would benefit from doing a new RPG Secret of Mana series. SoM 1 and 2 were great, the PS version sucked, but that was cause they made too many changes at once to it (wouldn't even really consider it part of the series myself). I'd like to see them redo it with a style similiar to FFXI or L2, or hell, even a Dungeon Siege style engine would be acceptable.

  7. Square needs to get back to its roots by Prien715 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Square hasn't released an original single-player Final Fantasy game since 2001. That's 4 years, the longest state-side gap since FF1 and FF2 (FF4 japan). I'd love to buy an original RPG from Square, but sadly, they don't seem to care about making those anymore. Square's biggest commercial successes (Chronotrigger, FF4,FF6, FF7) featured fairly distinctive storylines and ability systems. After Spirits Within, anything that was not a repeat of some previous ability system or storyline simply got axed.

    The real formula square needs to copy is good single player games with original characters and ability systems.

    --
    -- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
    1. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The last time Square went "back to its roots" we got FFIX...

      I'm beginning to think our only hope is Mistwalker, which apparently is going to be X-Box 2 exclusive but features most of the people behind the good FFs.

    2. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I blame Enix. Nothing good from Square since they merged.

    3. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Neruocomp · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This is so true. So what if they can come out with better looking graphics and such. With no story line to hold it up, its nothing. But I wouldn't call the games that came out afterwards bad. I liked FF9(execept for that ending omg!) and FF Online. Its my first online game and I really like it. Sure its a bit time consuming to get money and find out more of the story, but I'm sticking with it.

      --
      Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it
    4. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by oGMo · · Score: 1
      After Spirits Within, anything that was not a repeat of some previous ability system or storyline simply got axed.

      Er you played FFX right? Remember the Sphere Grid? Weapon customization for bonuses? And FF8? GFs and the Draw system? (And Triple Triad?) Those were very original ability systems, and the games featured rather different storylines. Quite different from the usual Final Fantasy fare for the most part.

      In fact, one of the most active seasons for Square was around the release of FF8; they were doing about a game a month that summer.

      FFXI was a big step, too; a big gamble which as looked to pay off. While they use the "old" jobs (at least by name), they have various creatures from the FF mythos, just about everything else is different. Vast storyline, world, gameplay, yadda.

      More recently, they've released a number of non-Final Fantasy titles. One of the most unusual, risky, difficult, and unusual was UNLIMITED Saga.

      I do wish to an extent they'd "get back to their roots" in that I wish they'd actually make a Final Fantasy game that was much like the old stuff. Find the crystals, get the jobs, etc. Castles and airships and pirates and stuff. Maybe FFXII will be like that.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    5. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Prien715 · · Score: 1

      I like your sig.

      (smiles)

      FF8 was before Spirits within and was an original game. My issue with the FF8 ability system was simply that it stunk. I really really wanted to like it, but it just felt very tilted toward long animinations and physical fighting (the only point of magic was junctioning). I don't even think the storyline was bad; the horrible ability system merely tainted it in my mind for a long time. FFX was sort of original. The entire game seemed too linear and I completely and totally and horribly disliked the lack of a real travelable world map (not this point-click-go BS). The storyline was also just too predictable. While the outcome of the final mission isn't immediately clear, the entire goal of the game is presented within 5 minutes. I also hated the voice acting and wished I could just turn the damn stuff off.

      I don't play MMORPGs period so I didn't play FFXI. I don't really consider FFXI an FF simply because it doesn't have a strong storyline because of the MMO format.

      --
      -- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
    6. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You didn't miss anything.

      Imagine FF1 with all the story (such as it was) taken out, and all the treasure chests removed. Monsters can now drop items, and some very rare (spawn once every 24 hours) dro pitems that you need to push you accuracy above 50%.

      Then you'll have FFXI.

      Awful game.

    7. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It seems obvious to me that you haven't seriously looked at the mission arcs (nation, Zilart, and Chains).

      There's a whole lot of story there; you just have to work hard to get it.

      -RSWoWFFXIP

    8. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you just have to work hard to get it.

      Excessively hard. I actually did run the original story arc to 6 and started on Zilart, and the original story was awful. The opening Zilart story looked interesting, but when I realized I needed another 200,000 XP or something like that just to play through it, I just gave up and decided it wasn't worth it.

      -RSWoWFFXIP

      Huh? RS World of Warcraft Final Fantasy XI P, I'm guessing. Real Soon?

    9. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, that's a shame. The ZMs really start picking up after finishing ZM4 (I'm currently doing ZM5). The PMs are a very fresh, sometimes tongue-in-cheek set, from what I've seen so far (I'm up to PM2-5). Good stuff, when you have a LS who can help you get through it in a timely manner.

      -RSWoWFFXIP (Random Simultaneous WoW & FFXI Player)

    10. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Elranzer · · Score: 1

      I blame Enix. Nothing good from Square since they merged.

      I actually blame the PlayStation2. Nothing good ever came from Square since that system came out. "The Bouncer" was the first turd from the pile of PS2/GC shit we've been getting. Seems these days, the only classic RPG series we can count on is Zelda.

    11. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      zelda is usually classified as an action/adventure, not an rpg. technically, any game with characters can really be classified as an rpg, because the player is "playing a role." however, in terms of genre identification, RPG usually involves characters whose skills increase through repeated use. in zelda, you gain new equipment, but only in zelda II: adventure of link, did you increase in power by 'leveling up'

    12. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only a Microsoft fanboy with blinders on his face could possibly believe these things.

      Correction: Mistwalker is not MS exclusive. They started on Nintendo DS development before anything related to MS was ever announced. Slashdot and all the other game news websites really did a mindfuck on the dumber participants in our hobby when they basically reprinted, verbatim, Microsoft's press releases about Japanese game developers being wooed to support their next console. Sadly, this means that the huge majority of all the news-reading suckers out there think that Sakaguchi et. al. are only supporting MS. This is, of course, bullshit to anyone with reading comprehension skills beyond the fourth grade level. I am quite literal when I say this, considering that it's around the fifth grade when even the dullest of children are able to grasp the subtle differences between exclusive statements (e.g. "Sakaguchi is going to make games only for Microsoft," and "Sakaguchi is now a Microsoft employee") and inclusive statements (e.g. the truth: "Sakaguchi will make Xbox 2 games") in written propaganda.

      Correction: Mistwalker is not composed of "most" of the people behind the "good" FFs.

      Opinion: FF9 was far from the worst game of the series. I prefer it to FF8, FF10, and FF11. Besides, FF9 wasn't a throwback to old gameplay concepts, it was a throwback to old storyline and character design concepts. Huge difference, although I'm not surprised that the subtleties would be lost on a likely Xbox fanboy.

    13. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The better criterion of RPG classification is the extensive use of statistics in both character development and combat. RPGs don't have to involve repetition, that's just a side effect of the leveling system in certain games.

      Of course, video games are ALL math. But classic RPGs tend to use it explicitly as a game mechanic. Leveling up, acquiring/using items, casting spells, and choosing certain attack patterns all increase your stats, which affects your performance in combat. Timing and manual dexterity play a far less involved role. Think Final Fantasy (Japanese console RPG) vs. Gauntlet (arcade dungeon crawler).

      BTW you are right, Zelda is an action adventure game. Statistics are obscured from the player in almost all of these games, although Zelda II can be considered an action RPG. But as far as games in general go, they do NOT get any better than Zelda. I am an RPG freak (they compose over half of my game purchases, currently at several hundred games alone), but Zelda is my favorite game series of all time.

    14. Re:Square needs to get back to its roots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People in glass houses and all that.

      All I said was the last time that a Final Fantasy went "back to the roots" we wound up with FFIX, which while not the worst in the series (that honor doubtlessly goes to FFXI, although FFXII is shaping up to give it a run for its money), wasn't a great game.

      And, in my opinion, the people working at Mistwalker are the people from the best Final Fantasies. Almost all of the group that made FFVI is slated to be working together again with Mistwalker (although some as an outside contractor, like Uematsu).

      And, quite frankly, I could care less what console they release on if they release good RPGs in the style of the good Final Fantasies.

  8. You mean there was a *game* in FFVII? by Alzheimers · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There was actually a game, somewhere in between the FMV and scripted cinematic sequences? Damn, I know I saw it from start to finish, but I didn't realize there was anything in between.

    1. Re:You mean there was a *game* in FFVII? by Mitijea · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, it was called "Random Encounter".

    2. Re:You mean there was a *game* in FFVII? by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 1
      I actually kind of liked that style of gameplay. It really drew you into the story which is what the FF games are all above. I personally don't mind getting a 90+ hour beautiful-looking interactive movie for $50.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
    3. Re:You mean there was a *game* in FFVII? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think that there wasn't a game in FFVII? You should really play Xenosaga, you really should.

  9. So Basically... by Ghost429 · · Score: 1

    ...It's being pushed back farther.

    --
    I already know i'm going to hell, now i'm just trying to get cable down there.
  10. Cinematic RPG? by PoPRawkZ · · Score: 1

    My problem with current RPGS are two fold. First and foremost is that I hate long cinematic sequences. I haven't seen one that is interesting enough to hold my attention yet (not a.d.d.). Perhaps if they had some sort of interaction I'd be more satisfied. Secondly long periods of time between save points makes me put a game on the backburner. Real life interrupts more often now that I am an adult. I really do love RPG's, but make them playable without having to sit down for 3+ hours at a time!

    Case in point, the last RPG I played was Knights of the Old Republic and being interrupted never set me back more than 5 minutes. Excellent game, short cut scenes, dynamic storyline. What more could I ask for? Well, perhaps Cid and an Airship.

    --
    peace,
    -Grokent