Square Enix is planning to remake more of its classics

Square Enix is planning to remake more of its classics

"We want our longtime fans to relish reliving past experiences."

Square Enix has said it intends to "revitalise" its strongest properties to "meet the needs of the modern gaming market," indicating the Final Fantasy 7 remake announced at E3 2015 is the first of many.

The company's annual report for 2015 states remakes will be a key pillar of the its future business, along with smartphone versions of its games.

"We will revitalise some of our strong IPs in ways that meet the needs of the modern gaming market. For example, we will take an IP developed for earlier generations of game consoles and recreate it for the latest consoles, while also proactively developing versions for play on smart devices," the report reads.

It continues to state it wants to give longtime fans the opportunity to "relish reliving" classic Square Enix gaming experiences "with a freshness that only the latest in technology can provide, while at the same time have new customers enjoy the IP as though it were brand new."

It explains further: "By not only optimising single pieces of IP for single platforms but also rolling out IP in a multi-dimensional manner to meet the needs of the modern market, we believe we can deliver exciting new experiences."

During Sony's E3 2015 press conference, Sony's Adam Boyes, VP of Developer Relations, announced the long-awaited remake of Final Fantasy VII is happening. Tetsuya Nomura is directing the remake, with scenario writer Kazuhige Nojima and producer Yoshinori Kitase also involved.

In an interview with GameSpot, Nomura indicated that the story in the remake might deviate from the one set out in the original, suggesting the remake may be more of a reimagining.

"We've announced a HD port version on the PlayStation 4, and then we have the remake coming to PS4," Nomura said."You'll have this extremely, very, very pretty FFVII existing on the same plane. We feel that if that happens, it's like, why have the same exact game?

"We think that if a game is on a certain platform and that platform becomes obsolete, then we'd recommend playing the new port version," he added.

cnet.com