Final Fantasy 7 recently turned 29, so, if you played the original at or near release, insert “we’re old” joke here. To celebrate the occasion, character designer Tetsuya Nomura—who has since gone on to have quite a career, including serving as a prominent voice in the ongoing Remake trilogy—shared a seldom-seen bit of concept art.
What’s more, he semi-casually revealed that FF7 almost had a big thing in common with the Remakes. In fact, it’s something that could not be realized until 2020’s groundbreaking, Midgar-centric, first chapter arrived on store shelves.
Also… “Johnny The Needle”
The concept art, viewable above, comes courtesy of a tweet from Final Fantasy 7’s official Twitter account. There’s a lot to take in; I’m particularly fond of the dragons storming Midgar. Hate when that happens. Above the “early design” of Cloud, who I must say, doesn’t look far off from his finished look, there’s a gun-toting fellow named “Johnny the Needle.”
Don’t mistake this discarded character concept for the comedic fellow named Johnny who we got (a little bit) in Final Fantasy 7 and (a lot more in) Remake and Rebirth. Turns out, this Johnny had elements “later incorporated into Reno.” Also known as the coolest Turk.
Where am I getting all of this from, anyway? That aforementioned tweet. Nomura’s message dives into this and further details, including something much bigger: Final Fantasy 7 was planned to have a combat system “not on fixed battlefields but whilst moving through the city’s three-dimensional environment.” Midgar, if I recall correctly, was briefly considered to be the entire setting for the game; suffice it to say, had this huge battle alteration come to fruition, it would have extended to the entire world.
“Ultimately, this form of combat wasn’t realized in the original, but has been achieved through the FFVII remake series. In that sense, I’d be delighted if you could continue enjoying this grand project, where elements technically unachievable in the original are now being realized in the remake series.” -Tetsuya Nomura
Nifty stuff. Doubtless, the action would not have been so jam-packed; there’s a lot in Remake and Rebirth that’s just cutting-edge across the board. At least, in comparison to what we’d have gotten in 1997. Speaking as someone with a lifelong preference for turn-based combat, the new games’ system is nevertheless highly engaging. I think Rebirth’s especially might be my favourite in the franchise.
Oh, and Nomura said something potentially quite meaningful at the beginning of that message. Did you notice it? “This year marks the 29th anniversary of Final Fantasy VII, so next year looks set to be an even more special occasion.” Hmm. That could mean nothing—it is, after all, something of a given that the classic’s 30th anniversary is by its nature a bigger deal.
Or… you know. You know. We’ll see…
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Blowing up the scene.
