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EXCLUSIVE: ‘Final Fantasy VII Remake’ Producer Yoshinori Kitase Details How The Game Came Together & More

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Yoshinori Kitase Details How 'Final Fantasy Remake' Came Together & More

in Source: Square Enix / Final Fantasy VII Remake

When it comes to video games, some come and go, while others leave a mark in the industry and cementing its place in the hearts of gamers around the world. Final Fantasy VII is one of those games, so it was a no-brainer Hip-Hop Wired.com jumped at the opportunity to interview the Final Fantasy VII Remake’s producer Yoshinori Kitase.

It’s been almost 5 years since Square Enix shocked the world and gave us our first glimpse of Final Fantasy VII Remake inducing tears of joy out of fans of the game (including myself). Now we are literally just days away from the game’s release. In our conversation with Kitase, we got the opportunity to ask him about how the idea of a remake came together, why did they decide to make break the game up into multiple parts, if we have to worry about the coronavirus delaying part 2 and more.

Hip-Hop Wired: So when did the great idea of doing a remake of Final Fantasy VII come together?

Yoshinori Kitase: I had been loosely thinking about the idea ever since we were mid-way through the production of the “Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series (from 2005 and on). It became more concrete in my mind afterward, when the Final Fantasy series celebrated its 25th-anniversary milestone in 2012, where we were thinking of how we could take the franchise even further. (Ultimately though, the actual project didn’t even kick off until a few years onward).

HHW: Final Fantasy VII is regarded as one of the greatest games/RPG’s ever made. It also has one of the most loyal fanbases as well, were you worried about remaking a classic? Do you think fans will be pleased with the game?

Kitase: I was slightly worried, but I also believed that if we made sure to take great care of the scenes and gameplay elements that remain strongly in the memories of our fans, then we could meet their expectations. There were many members of the development staff who played and were fans of the original Final Fantasy VII, and they challenged themselves to create something new while paying respect toward it. I’m sure fans will be satisfied.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Source: Square Enix / Final Fantasy VII Remake

HHW: Why did you decide to make this a multi-game project instead of releasing it at all at once?

Kitase: It was easy for us to imagine, even from the story planning stages, that remaking the game to the highest visual levels and going for a more realistic approach to the world, using modern-day technology, would result in a huge volume of work and assets. Simply, with the higher visual quality and the size of the world, it was impossible for a single game. As such, we had two options at that point.

One was to fit all the elements into one game by simplifying each of the elements, which basically would have resulted in a very cut-down digest of the original game, where the players would just follow the main storyline but we would have had to cut a lot of content with that approach, and we didn’t think that fans would have accepted that.

The other was to focus on the portion of the story up to the escape from Midgar, allowing us to avoid omitting any important scenes and to expand on the original, by going deeper into the world and characters than before. Effectively it would be a new game with an emphasis on creating a realistic presentation with substance.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Source: Square Enix / Final Fantasy VII Remake

 We decided that the latter is what the fans are looking for and would enjoy far more.

HHW: You totally reimagined the battle system in Final Fantasy Remake, was that done to give players the feeling that they are playing a brand-new game instead of just relieving the original?

Kitase: The battle system is a more action-oriented evolution of the original ATB (Active Time Battle) system. Players of the original should be familiar with the basics of the system in Final Fantasy VII Remake. This time around, we’ve also introduced elements like moving around, attacking, dodging, and blocking. There are still tactical elements, but the system we’ve created feels very dynamic and helps create a greater sense of immersion.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Source: Square Enix / Final Fantasy VII Remake

I believe this hybrid battle system will feel brand-new to both new players and fans of the original.

HHW: It has been revealed that when the first part drops, it will only cover the Midgar section of FF7 and will be a full-length game. Can you tell us exactly how many hours of gameplay players can look forward to? 

Kitase: As each player enjoys content at a different pace, I’m afraid I’m unable to make a generalized statement. I would encourage everyone to just play the game to confirm that for themselves. I will say, it’s been designed to be comparable to full-length Final Fantasy titles, so I think it will give players an enjoyable experience.

Final Fantasy VII Remake

Source: Square Enix / Final Fantasy VII Remake

HHW: The coronavirus is currently ravaging the world and shutting things down all over the globe. Do we have to worry about it affecting the release of the second part?

Kitase: Many companies, not just us, will be putting in various countermeasures such as remote work, etc. Looking at it in the mid- to long-term, I believe it is possible to overcome these difficult times.

Final Fantasy VII Remake launches April 10 only on PlayStation 4.

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Photo: Square Enix / Final Fantasy VII Remake

Source: HipHopWired.com

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Producer June the Jenius Speaks on “Weird” Rappers and His Hit Cartel

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June The Genius James

Source: @_justrock / @_justrock

Houston producer June the Jenius has been carefully forging relationships in the music industry long before producing YFN Lucci’s 2016 hit “Key to the Streets.” It’s just that now, everyone wants to know him.

Especially since Travis Scott’s 2018 Astroworld LP earned a nod from the Grammy gods and June was behind the production of the platinum track “Yosemite.” True to their Texas roots with a Western guitar twang throughout, the song was regarded as one of the best on the album. So it’s not surprising that everyone wants to get close to June. Still, he’s mindful of who he’s been building with and how these links will be beneficial to himself and his Hit Cartel brand.

On a recent afternoon, June sat with HHW for lunch in a quaint hideaway in NYC’s SoHo. David Bowie’s “Changes” played overhead as June took a sip from his water glass before revealing that sometimes, the connection with rappers goes as far as the studio door. And that’s fine. “I don’t know. I don’t really f*ck with rappers, I ain’t gon’ lie,” he shared. “I f*xck with producers and engineers, rappers can be weird. Producers don’t f*ck with rappers often they really just be around you when they need you and that’s it after that.”

There are at least two artists that June does admit to having a solid vibe with though: Detroit’s Sada Baby and Atlanta’s Rich Homie Quan. By the end of the year, June hopes to have a completed EP with them both. He’s also working on a five-city tour of sorts — beginning in July — that will end up producing another full project by fall of this year. The tour presents an opportunity for June to pay homage to other producers, working with them in the lab and getting them to speak on their careers. He’ll also be gifting local artists with a song that will premiere at each city’s show (Houston, Dallas, Detroit, Atlanta and DC) and on the EP that will punctuate the tour’s end.

Now that the ink is dry on his distribution deal with Empire, June is looking forward to getting more work done with other artists in a variety of genres, because it’s not just about rap. This Texas boy grew up in the church and acquiesced to his mother making him learn how to play the horn in his youth (he’s currently taking piano lessons). He was naturally talented, but discovered a greater love for production in his freshman year of high school, carrying his skills all the way to Texas Southern University where he played trombone in the band.

Now, a lifetime away from being that kid with the horn, June the Jenius is one of hip-hop’s most talented up and comers, he’s focused all on his own. It seems autonomy is just in him. “You know we used to be our own country, right?,” he says excitedly, over the lunchtime chatter of nearby tables. “The Great State of Texas.”

 

Hip Hop Wired: Tell us about Hit Cartel. What are you doing with the brand?

June the Jenius: Hit Cartel is a collective. We have songwriters, musicians and engineers. It’s a label now so we’re like, the new kids on the block. The goal is to take the label to the next level. The highest that we can take it. We got distribution with Empire now which is cool and we want to find and cultivate acts but we’re taking our time. We’re going to open a studio in Atlanta and another one in Houston and just build up from there. It’s a collective of producers who just make hits. We’ve done it so far and we just wanna try and take it further.

 

HHW: You’ve said that there are only a couple of rappers that you have a decent relationship with outside of work. How are things for you typically in the studio?

June: That’s the only time when [certain rappers are] cool. Outside of the studio, they just be awkward. Even in the studio, most people `don’t work how they used to work, everybody just be tryna chill. Honestly, they try and bring the strip club to the studio. I like working with pop artists moreso, like for the vibe, I can tell they’re really into the music. Sometimes when I work with rappers, you can tell who’s just in it for a check and who got that passion for it. I like working with passionate people who are creative, it doesn’t matter what genre it is.

 

HHW: How did you get into playing the horn? And where did producing come into play?

June: My mama was the one who made me do that sh*t in middle school and it just went from there. I liked it to a certain extent but really I was just good at it. I started producing with Fruity Loops in my freshman year of high school and I liked it more, so eventually I stopped doing the band sh*t and got into producing.

June The Genius James

Source: @_justrock / @_justrock

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Source: HipHopWired.com

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Hip-Hop Wired Premiere: Kev Brown Drops Potent New LP ‘Fill In The Blank’

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Kev Brown - Fill In The Blank

Source: Redefinition Records / Redefinition Records

For the past decade and a half,  Kev Brown has occupied a significant segment of underground Hip-Hop and his two-headed skill set has only been refined over the years. It has been an especially busy year for the DMV rapper and producer, dropping his third LP of the year with the potent Fill In The Blank which only aims to heighten the mystique about the man and place him properly next, if not ahead, of his dual-skilled peers.

Fill In The Blank runs for 20 tracks, nine short from the Low Budget Crew member’s epic and equally sweeping Homework album from earlier this year. While the strategy of releases isn’t immediately known, the bookend projects that sandwich the instrumental and wildly experimental Delve Into Classic Moog show and prove that the years haven’t dulled Brown’s ability to craft moments with thumping production and his comfortable, bourbon-soaked rhyme schemes.

Beyond the production, what stands out above anything is Brown’s ability to get mileage out of his verses without breaking a sweat or word count. This efficiency in rhyming, coupled with production that sounds chiseled from the finest boom-bap of the ’90’s and early 2000’s, is only heightened by the fact Brown posts an everyman observational stance via his verses.

Speaking of production, former rapper and producer, and current drummer for funk band The Du-Rites J-Zone gets several shout-outs across the songs for providing the drums on the project.

There are schools of thought that embrace the beauty of simplicity and yes, Brown isn’t looking to emerge as a lyrical vanguard at this stage of his career. Instead, he sticks to his proven formula doing what the beats call for and rapping directly to the listener. There isn’t any abstract meaning hidden in the song, and there’s enough head-nod heat to last you through the chilly fall months and beyond.

Stream Kev Brown’s Fill In The Blank via Spotify below. Hit this link to find where the project is streaming and how you can support the artist with your dollars. And while you’re at it, go grab some high-quality Kev Brown merch here.

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Photo: Redefinition Records

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