Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director says he rejects the idea of design by committee: "If there are too many people inputting, [...] the work can easily lose its character."

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"I am a strong believe in the idea that too many cooks spoil the broth"

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth trailer screenshot showing a young woman in a green ceremonial dress dancing, a determined look upon her face as she smirks while staring ahead
(Image credit: Square Enix)

It often takes the work of tens, if not hundreds of people to create a game, especially ones as big as the Final Fantasy 7 remakes. But while having a variety of inputs can be useful, sometimes it's best to have a few people developing a cohesive concept for the game—an idea that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi subscribes to.

In an interview in Edge issue 405, Hamaguchi discussed the impact of Yoshinori Kitase, director of the original Final Fantasy 7 and producer of the remakes, stating that while he was more than willing to take Kitase's advice and perspective on board, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth would not be games that were designed by committee.

"I am a strong believe in the idea that too many cooks spoil the broth." Hamaguchi explains. "If there are too many people inputting, giving ideas and opinions on what needs to be in there, what needs to change, the work can easily lose its character." 

This commitment to a game with a design spearheaded by the few rather than the many is certainly paying off for Hamaguchi and the team at Square Enix, with both instalments in the remake trilogy thus far receiving critical acclaim, and Rebirth receiving award nominations across the board, as well as four wins at November's Golden Joystick Awards. 

It was recently confirmed by Hamaguchi and Kitase during a seminar in Korea that the development of the third and final instalment in the trilogy was underway. With Hamaguchi's approach to development producing two tremendous successes for Square Enix thus far, expectations are already sky-high for the final act.

Check out where the FF7 remakes rank on our best Final Fantasy games list. 

Alex Raisbeck
Alex Raisbeck
Contributor

Alex has written all sorts of things for websites including VideoGamer, PCGamer, PCGamesN and more. He'll play anything from Tekken to Team Fortress 2, but you'll typically find him failing to churn through his backlog because he's too busy playing whatever weird and wonderful indie games have just come out.