Hamaguchi Discussed FFVII Rebirth Graphics and Design

CGWorld is running a four-part interview with Square Enix director Naoki Hamaguchi to discuss how the power of the PS5 helped with the graphics and assets of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (FFVII Rebirth). Today’s interview focuses on the map, open world, and the sheer volume of the game. [Thanks, CGWorld!]

To answer a question about graphics, Hamaguchi stated that the team really focused on the world map for FFVII Rebirth. This is because the world map was quite rough in the original and they wanted players to think, “Oh, so that’s what it’s supposed to look like” when they play the game. For this entry, they focused on increasing the density and number of assets that would appear on-screen. When physical copies were the norm, the game could load all of the assets at once and the players would just wander around a completed world. However, for Rebirth, the game would only load assets into whatever screen the player is looking at. This allows for more assets to appear at once without overloading the system.

Hamaguchi also described how Square Enix developed both Rebirth and Intergrade at the same time. Rebirth was in development for four years, with only the first year being simultaneous with Intergrade. Doing this allowed the team to use what they learned and innovated with Intergrade in Rebirth, as well as tested out things they wanted to try. Since the team members are pretty much the same people who worked on Final Fantasy VII Remake, it went smoothly. Even when people were working at home during COVID-19 quarantine, they’d set up an efficient chain of command that they still used for Rebirth.

Finally, they discussed the open world aspect of the game and how it affected development. Hamaguchi stated that it was really difficult to combine the vast world map, the main story, and the freedom of open world. He believes the game about 30 times in order to find issues or things to add. Because each QA playthrough can take over 100 hours, they decided on something to look for in advance.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is readily available on the PS5. You can read our review of it here.