#ff7r spoilers

Final Fantasy 7 Remake has a new interview with Co-Director Toriyama where he talks about a lot of small details and trivia about the game! This is the first part of a two part interview. Enjoy~

—It was surprising to hear the FFVII Main Theme play in the Sector 7 Slums! Was this intentional?

Toriyama:Since you visit the Sector 7 slums several times, we wanted it to feel like the hometown in FF7R where feelings of warmth welcome you, almost like returning to the place where you grew up. We decided that the original game’s world map song, the FFVII Main Theme, fit that image the best. Even though the Remake only takes place within Midgar, we wanted the music to not be limited to just from Midgar but include songs from the original game that fit the image and concept that we wanted to create.

—What kind of alcohol does Tifa prepare for you at Seventh Heaven?

Toriyama: The first drink is named after the bar itself, “Seventh Heaven,” and its flavor is supposed to be rejuvenating for those living in the slums. The second drink is called “Cosmo Canyon” with a red appearance to represent the actual Cosmo Canyon scenery. There’s also another green drink on the menu called “The Lifestream.” Since Tifa pulls some cool moves while preparing the drinks, the regulars sitting around the bar usually give her a generous tip if they have the means, so she’s gotten really good at that.

—Is Chadley supposed to be the young pretty boy of the game? What is the purpose of his character?

Toriyama: Chadley is younger than Cloud and the others in age, so I guess you can say he has that role. As for what is his purpose, if you clear battle reports within the game, it unlocks very difficult battles and explains a bit more about him, so I hope that you can challenge yourself with them!

—Sector 7th’s slums have a lot of cats. Is there someone on the development team that likes cats?

Toriyama:Since Wedge likes cats, he usually rescues stray cats around the slums, so he has a lot of them. Hamaguchi, the other Co-Director (Game Design/Programming), also raises cats, so we modeled the cats after them. I’m more of a dog person, so we tried to also include some dogs in the game to have balance it out. The result is the dog that lies down near Marle at the apartment building that she owns.

—Wedge’s cat seem pretty large. Are they supposed to resemble their master?

Toriyama:Wedge usually eats a lot himself, so he gives the same amount and portions to his cats too when raising them.

—Cloud’s mother and Tifa’s father do not have names in the original game, so why did they have names in the Remake?

Toriyama:The original concept art for the game actually had their names written down already, so in the Remake Cloud’s mother is named Claudia and Tifa’s father is named Brian. However, since Tifa’s father doesn’t have any lines in the Remake, the development staff just referred to him as the “dead body.”

—Plants don’t usually grow underneath the plate, so why does the area surrounding Aerith’s house have so many flowers blooming?

Toriyama:There is a large river that runs outside of Sector 5, which allows for a lot of the lifestream to also run underneath Aerith’s house and the rundown church, creating very clean water. Aerith uses this water to carefully raise the flowers. Since Aerith is an Ancient, perhaps she has the power to attract natural water and flowers.

—When you try to sneak out of Aerith’s house at night, the more you fail, the less obstacles stand in your way…?

Toriyama: Though Aerith gets mad at Cloud, she tries to clean up the obstacles a bit so it’s easier for him to sneak out of the house. Also, the lines that Aerith uses to scold Cloud with are supposed to surprise the player, almost like a horror type game. Even after you slip out of the house, she ambushes you later, which perhaps shows that she was just messing with you all along. If you think about it that way, it’s kind of scary, right?

—Moogie, the kid who sells various items, is quite a strange character. Where does he even get these things?

Toriyama:There’s a lot of adults who passionately collect Moogle Medals, so we created a setting where Moogie has connections in obtaining these rare items. The kids in the Sector 5 slums can really tough it out in their everyday lives.

—Why does Rude go easy on the girls? For example, using the Sleep spell on them.

Toriyama: In the original game, there was a setting where Rude did not attack Tifa in battle, so we used that and applied it to the Remake where he does not actively attack the female characters. However, if he didn’t attack at all, then that wouldn’t be considered a battle, so we had him use a few easier moves such as sleep [on Aerith].

—How did the concept of the “Angel of the Slums” come about?

Toriyama:Mireille actually appears in the FFVII light novel “TURKS: The Kids Are All Right,” which takes place after the events of Meteor, so we had her appear in the Remake too. However, when we deeply pondered the question of what she would have been doing in the slums during the time period of the Remake, we decided that she would be a mysterious bandit called the “Angel of the Slums.”

—Kyrie and Leslie also appear in the same light novel, and they are also in FF7R. Was there any specific reason to have these two appear in the Remake?

Toriyama: Although the light novel shows that Kyrie and Leslie are characters who appear only after the events of Meteor, we decided to have them live in the Slums for this game. FF7R includes a lot of characters who make appearances within the FF7 series after the original game, so we decided from the beginning that we would want to include these other characters. We also tried to have the characters connect with their characterizations in the light novels, so we thought about how these characters were like in the past. Since Leslie is Corneo’s henchman, his character is entwined with the main story, which allowed him to have a lot of scenes.

—The cities are full of various characters who each have their distinct characteristics. Is there any specific NPC that caught your attention?

Toriyama:The lines spoken by the NPCs in the original game that I myself worked on were also placed in the Remake, so it was quite nostalgic for me. In particular, I like the two NPCs who are doing PDA in front of the Sector 7 slums.