After three whole installments of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, battle director Teruki Endo still isn't sure what the right balance of turn-based and real-time combat is, but as he heads towards the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, he reckons this is why he's still not "tired" of working on the revamped JRPGs after all these years.
Speaking in an interview in Edge magazine issue 429, Endo notes that "whenever I've worked on a sequel, I've always faced this dilemma. If the game becomes too complex, that's a problem. But if there are no entirely new elements, or if we only make minor adjustments, we risk failing to meet players' expectations and not giving them that sense of freshness when they play again."
Endo's approach is to "always make a point of considering the purpose, significance, and role of every element from the ground up, and then rebuilding them for the new game." When it comes to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy specifically, he's taken inspiration from the "festive atmosphere" he felt in the JRPG "ever since I first played" the original, noting that "I've increasingly wanted to explore how we could make even bolder, more playful additions to the game."
One way he's done this is via the FITS system – a sort-of job system that lets you change the abilities of your party members and the way you approach combat with them. "Our approach has always been to place Materia at the center of customization," he adds. "With the FITS system, one might be concerned that it could limit the freedom players had to shape each character's strengths through Materia. Instead, we've made a conscious effort to position FITS as an element that allows players to further sharpen and specialize the direction of Materia-based builds."
As we get closer to the release of the finale of the remake trilogy in Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, Endo acknowledges the continual effort that's gone into the balance of turn-based and real-time combat across the three games. Remake and Rebirth both included a Classic mode that lets your party members fight automatically, allowing you to focus on selecting commands. Way back in 2019, Square Enix described this as something that would "thrill fans who prefer the original FINAL FANTASY turn-based battle systems to real-time combat."
"Across all three titles, we've repeatedly fine-tuned this balance [between turn-based and real-time] through trial and error," Endo says. "The difficult part is that I still haven't decided on a definitive 'correct answer' for myself.'"
There's a silver lining to that situation though, he adds: "I think [it] may be one of the reasons I've been able to keep working on these games across all three installments without getting tired of it."
Turn-based RPGs have been making a real resurgence lately thanks to the likes of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Sandfall's hit game is definitively turn-based, but uses Super Mario RPG-esque real-time inputs on top of that system, allowing for parries, dodges, and powered-up moves.
It'll be interesting to see where Square Enix goes with its Final Fantasy games after Revelation, but Final Fantasy Resonance, which is releasing this month, should hopefully satisfy the cravings of anyone who's been eager for the series to get a full-fat turn-based entry again.
