Naoki Hamaguchi on Why Listening to All Fan Feedback Can Lead to a Bland Game
- ⚡Xe⚡
- 1 minute ago
- 4 min read
Naoki Hamaguchi discussed Final Fantasy VII Revelation in a VGC interview, focusing on the game’s presentation strategy, audience targeting, design philosophy, and the conclusion of the Remake trilogy.
Square Enix adjusted its approach for the Summer Game Fest reveal, prioritizing gameplay footage over story presentation. The goal was to better communicate how the Final Fantasy VII Remake series actually plays, rather than reintroducing already familiar characters and narrative elements.
“I don’t think I’ve talked about it too much before, but the way that the introduction of Final Fantasy VII Revelation plays out, I think we were able to come up with a pretty interesting story beat. The entire story sequence where the party gains access to the Highwind, I think the way it plays out is going to be pretty fun for the fans, and might be pretty dramatic, so I hope they look forward to that aspect of the game.”
The presentation also served a broader purpose of encouraging new players to start the Remake series ahead of Revelation’s release.
“The goal for us was to use this opportunity to showcase the depth and gameplay of the Final Fantasy VII Remake series to encourage players around the world to start playing the Final Fantasy VII Remake series before Revelation launches.”
Following the showcase, Square Enix noticed an uptick in players beginning Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth for the first time.
“These past several days, I’ve been pretty occupied with all these media interviews, but our marketing members have been following the reception online, and we do notice a lot of people who are announcing that they’re finally starting playing the Final Fantasy VII Remake series for the first time.”
Despite this, Hamaguchi clarified that Final Fantasy VII Revelation is not designed as a standalone entry point, with the story still relying on knowledge of earlier entries.
“We do have to say that you’ll probably need to start with the first instalment, FFVII Remake, to have a full understanding of the story.”
Hamaguchi also addressed the team’s approach to feedback during development, warning that relying too heavily on aggregated criticism can dilute a game’s identity.
“When you look at all the critiques, the criticism, negative feedback, and try to understand what the most common criticism is, what the median average user is saying, and try to address that and adapt your product to it, it is questionable if that approach actually leads to a better product.”
“If you were to address all the negative feedback, and even take the positive feedback into account, sometimes it’s a case that you’re seeing two sides of the extreme opinions, and by applying all of that, it’s possible that you come up with a product that doesn’t really have any character. It’s just a blank state that doesn’t really have any strong appeal.”
This approach influenced several design decisions, including the team’s decision to retain a large amount of mini-game content across the experience.
“What I can say for Revelation is that it will feature as many mini-games as it did in Rebirth, if not more. I did not want to make a cut on that aspect. I didn’t want to reduce the number of mini-games. We’ll see how it turns out in terms of the fan feedback, but I will take that responsibility, depending on what happens. That was my decision.”
At the same time, some adjustments were still made based on feedback, including the option to skip individual mini-games and revisions to reward structures.
Finally, Hamaguchi spoke about the conclusion of the Remake trilogy, explaining that the ending was planned early in development and shaped alongside producer Yoshinori Kitase. The team remains confident in how the story concludes and is looking forward to player reactions once the final entry releases.
“Obviously, I can’t share actual details on how this story is going to end, but in terms of how we envisioned the conclusion, we did have some sort of an idea of what we wanted to do at the end. So we did have a kind of direction from the early days of development.”
“The same goes for the producer, Yoshinori Kitase. He had his visions as well, and some of that is applied in the conclusion that we’re telling in FFVII Revelation. To be completely honest, I think we’re pretty confident and happy with how it’s turned out. We’re very much excited to see how fans will react to the ending of the story.”
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About FINAL FANTASY VII
First released in 1997 on the PlayStation® computer entertainment system, FINAL FANTASY VII will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2027. The game is universally regarded as a landmark title of the RPG genre. The original title received high praise for its epic storyline, unique characters, and movie sequences that utilized the most cutting-edge technology of the time. Since then, the game revolving around iconic hero Cloud Strife and his pursuit of the antagonist Sephiroth has sold over 15.7 million copies worldwide and continues to receive widespread acclaim from critics and fans around the world. The popular game has expanded into spin-offs, films and merchandise.
Now, Square Enix’s FINAL FANTASY VII Remake Series, created by a team of original and new developers, retells the story of the genre-redefining RPG across three distinct games. The first game of the trilogy, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE, is available for PS4® consoles. The expanded edition, FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE, and the second entry, FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH, are now available for Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series X|S, XBOX PC, PS5® consoles and PC. FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION, the climactic conclusion of the series, will release for PS5 consoles, Nintendo Switch 2, XBOX Series X|S and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store and XBOX PC, in Spring 2027.