Development Staff of Crisis Core -FinalFantasy VII- ● PART 3
Couldn’t it have been an action RPG?
——How did the battle system come to be in its present form?
Ono
Tetsuya Nomura (Creative Producer & Character Designer) ordered through Hajime Tabata (Director) that the system be based around slots, so we decided to design battles that utilized slots. It was a continuous process of trial and error to find the best way to incorporate them.
Nakazawa
It wasn’t decided easily. And at first, it was a little more action-oriented.
Ooe
Since the system had not been decided, we did not make much progress in motion development at first. We were also wavering between making it an action RPG or a normal RPG…… For battle motions, we had to think about the response to button presses and the time it takes for the motion to be made. In the early stages of development, we tried to create a game that could be played either way, because there are differences depending on the genre of the game. For example, in the case of a standard RPG, it’s okay for the motions to take a little longer because the player uses fewer inputs.
——Could it have been a non-action game?
Nakazawa
No, it was decided that the action element would be included…… The term “action element” is another convenient one (laughs). For example, ATB (Active Time Battle: a system used in FFIV ~ FFIX where battles proceed in real time) also has action elements, and some players cannot press buttons in time. In the end, I decided to keep it at a level that I would enjoy playing myself, and kept the action element to a minimum. We want people who have played FFVII to play CC as well, so we have made the difficulty level low enough that those who want to see the story can go all the way to the end. When staff members who liked action games would say, “This is too easy,” I would reply, “No, it’s fine like this”. Still, there are a fair amount of technical elements, such as evasion and defense.
Kobayashi
It should be about the same difficulty level as similar FF games, where if you persevere, you can make it to the ending at the initial level. It is also an interesting challenge to try to clear the initial level by using the cursed ring (→P.506), which you can get at the beginning of the game.
Nakazawa
We have created battles with enemies so that there are as many correct strategies as possible, so I would like people to try various ways of fighting. For example, I know some people don’t use the ▼ button for defense or the ■ button for evasion at all, but if you use them, you should be able to win easily.
——What concepts did you come up with for what happens with the slots?
Nakazawa
Since the game is action-oriented, it is easier to get hit than in a normal RPG, and since you are fighting alone, if you get hit, it’s game over. We wanted to make it something that could help there. To put it in an extreme way, I would like to be able to win eventually by just running around and getting the slots all lined up.
——By the way, who chose the name “Digital Mind Wave”?
Nakazawa
Nomura had named it from the early stages, and I was worried that “the name is too long to fit on the main menu”, but it became “D.M.W.” for short, and it fit into the main menu successfully (laughs).
A lot of special care was taken to not destroy the FFVII image
——Were there any aspects of developing a handheld game that were different from usual?
Nakazawa
The biggest limitation was the read time. Compared to DVDs, UMDs take a surprisingly long time to seek (when the computer searches for data on the disk).
Kobayashi
When files are divided into units such as “motion data” and “effects data,” the loading process is slow because it has to seek one [unit] at a time. So we put all that data into one file for each map so that they can be read quickly.
Nakazawa
However, since they were combined into one, it was difficult to correct any of the data and still have it reflected in the play test until all parts of the data were corrected.
Kobayashi
The technique of reading the data ahead to a certain extent as the battle progresses is often used to speed up the reading process, but we did not do that this time. If an enemy is defeated while [the computer] is reading ahead, the battle will not end until [the computer] finishes reading ahead.
Iima
Effects also had to accommodate for the action, so the challenge was how to make the data small, yet still look flashy. In places where many enemies appear, such as Fort Tamblin, we switch to smaller capacity effects and make adjustments to make battles go as smoothly as possible.
——It must be difficult to create that many magic and technique effects while making such adjustments.
Iima
When I told Kobayashi, “The program should track the target from this direction at this time”, he replied, “If the tracking performance is too strong, the effect will be weird when the characters are close to each other. What do you think?” Many times, we had to make adjustments to the program as we worked. Until the very end, we had a hard time with the positioning of the limit breaks.
Ooe
For the animation of the limit breaks, we looked at the storyboards that Iima had drawn for us and talked about “how this would improve the tempo” or “how this would look from a story perspective,” and once we reached a consensus, we started working on the animations.
Iima
The theme was to make the characters’ techniques cool, the chocobos cute, and to adapt the summons without destroying the impression of FFVII. There is a difference in the appearance of summons when they are summoned by the D.M.W. and when they are used as enemies (→P.92), and it was difficult to link the two.
——How were the maps designed?
Ono
We were careful to make sure that the locations that appeared in FFVII were very consistent with [how they looked in] FFVII. Among others, Nibelheim and the Nibel mako reactor are some of the most important places in the story, so we particularly focused on them, thinking, “[We] don’t want to be embarrassed when people see them”. For example, in FFVII, the number of chimneys on the residential houses before and after Nibelheim’s fire and reconstruction is different. To reproduce this in CC, the same number of chimneys are also displayed on the general view of the map that appears when you press the ■ button on the night after the reconstruction.
——Was it difficult to adapt the Midgar Slum into full 3D?
Ono
Yes, it was. Some maps were newly created in order to connect the church and the market, while others, such as Aerith’s house unfortunately, were skipped because of the amount of work required.
Iima
There was also a lot of interaction between the effects to be displayed on the map, such as smoke and flames, and the BG (background graphics).
Ono
If the maps are overbuilt and take up too much space [on the disk], the effects will be spoiled. But to make it look good, you need effects. There’s a problem there.
Iima
At first the viewpoint was more from above, but as it was lowered, the rendering load became heavier. Ono and I kept making adjustments, things like thinking about the distance between the effects and the background, and saying, “When we get to this point, we’ll turn off all the effects over here and turn on the effects over there”. Additionally, for example, the flames burning on the map of Junon are turned off at the moment the player enters the battle, and are displayed again after the battle is over, thereby lightening the process.
Ono
This time, we were able to integrate the battle and the map in a nearly seamless manner, and I hope players will be able to experience that feat.
At the end, Genesis performs a “man to man battle” with Zack
——I was surprised that the characters were so expressive on the PSP.
Ooe
Originally, we did not plan to use facial motion. Then, when we were making a video to be exhibited at E3 (a computer game exhibition held in Los Angeles) in 2006, Nomura suddenly said, “I would like to see facial motion included” and we rushed to gather personnel. However, I think the choice to include facial motion was a very good one, because the PSP screen shows even the smallest details very well.
——What did you pay attention to in terms of full-body motion?
Ooe
Since the screen of a handheld device is not very large, I tried to make the silhouette as a whole change significantly rather than making small, detailed movements. For example, even when an enemy is in a standby state doing nothing, I tried to express what kind of personality the character has just by his silhouette and gestures. When you are playing the game normally, you will probably go out to defeat enemies as soon as they appear, but sometimes it would be good for me and my staff if you would stop for a moment and take a closer look at the acting and quirks of the characters we have carefully crafted (laughs).
——Weren’t you careful with Genesis’ motions?
Ooe
Yes, very much. With Genesis, there is Gackt himself, isn’t there? Our first thought was that we did not want to destroy that image. I had an image of Gackt as “cool, poised, and moving calmly and leisurely,” but if I made [Genesis] as [Gackt] is, he would get cut down before he could make a move in battle (laughs). Moreover, there are the Genesis Copies, three variations of Genesis with the same body but with different weapons. It was hard to differentiate between them. To prevent them all from moving in the same way, I asked, “Let me move them with a little more flamboyance,” and managed to add in differences.
——What specific differences did you add?
Ooe
The first type I got my hands on was the type with a rod, which appears shortly after becoming acquainted with Cissnei. Since this is the first time [we see a Genesis Copy], the movement is the closest to what we imagined Gackt to be like. The second type is the one with the gunblade at Junon, and I was conscious of the boldness of each action, as if it expressed more of a fighting spirit. Finally, although [the Genesis at] Modeoheim and Genesis, the final boss, are the same person, the concept of the former was to dance lightly, while the latter was to be “hot-blooded”.
Nakazawa
I wanted the last one to be the “Genesis of SOLDIER” with his humanity restored.
Ooe
Instead of using fantastical presentation, we created the image of an unrefined fist-fight. Be sure to keep an eye on [Genesis] as he abandons his previously cool behavior and performs a “man-to-man battle” with Zack.
“The difficulty level is set low enough that those who want to see the story can go all the way to the end.”
Battle Planning Director
中澤孝继
Takatsugu Nakazawa
Story secrets only I know
I had decided to name the Genesis Copies “G + job name,” but there were so many of them that I had trouble coming up with material (laughs). Finally, I also used material from ancient history, such as centurions and the Hetairoi.
Battle Programmer
小林正樹 — Masaki Kobayashi
Story secrets only I know
The time in the groggy state is shortened by pressing buttons, but the 🅻 and 🆁 buttons differ from the other buttons in the way they are processed. The sooner you push 🅻 and 🆁 together, the sooner you can get back on your feet.
Animation Director
大江泰輔 — Taisuke Ooe
Story secrets only I know
In the early stages of development, Zack was going to be able to fight with martial arts as well. We even created the motion data, but unfortunately it was skipped due to the amount of data that can reside in memory.
VFX Director
飯間忠親 — Tadachika Iima
Story secrets only I know
At first, there were several different limit breaks for each [matching DMW] pattern. For Aerith, it could be “Great Gospel” or “Fury Brand”. I also drew storyboards [for both of them], but in the end I had to narrow it down to one.
Map Planning Director
小野公則 — Kiminori Ono
Story secrets only I know
In the last dungeon, at the Depths of Judgment, if you look closely above the waterfall, you will see a Weapon. It’s an original Weapon that hasn’t appeared in any of our previous works, and I had it appear as a motif in the final scene.