Summary
- Tetsuya Nomura was such a perfectionist during Final Fantasy 7’s development that the devs nicknamed him the “Demon King of retakes”.
- “He was always making the designers re-do things”, but they also say that it was thanks to Nomura that they achieved such realistic motion.
Final Fantasy 7 is often heralded as the pinnacle of the RPG genre, so it’s hardly a surprise that its director was such a perfectionist.
As reported by GamesRadar, a collection of 1997 interviews with ten developers who worked on the game was recently made available on Shmuplations.
Programmer Ken Narita reveals in one such interview that Tetsuya Nomura’s attention to detail earned him a nickname that feels right at home in the world of Final Fantasy: “the Demon King of retakes”.
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“He was always making the designers re-do things. ‘Nope, that’s wrong there'”, Narita explained.
Background designer Kenzo Kanzaki added, “It’s really thanks to him that we achieved very realistic motion.”
Nomura Isn’t Denying It
Nomura said that it was important to capture the “typical, everyday motion”, because “That’s where the character’s personality comes out”. And so he admits that he “stuck [his] nose into everyone’s work”.
To his credit, Final Fantasy 7 birthed some of the most iconic characters in gaming, from Cloud Strife to Sephiroth, Barrett, Aerith, and Tifa. Nearly three decades later, and over seven mainline entries on, these characters are as popular as ever.
Perhaps it’s the same perfectionism that landed Nomura the monikre of Demon King that also helped cement these iconic characters in so many players’ hearts. That, and the fact PlayStation “plied Square with whiskey”.
Originally launching in 1997 for the PlayStation, Final Fantasy 7 is widely regarded as one of the most influential RPGs of all time. It follows Cloud, a mercenary and former SOLDIER, who joins a band of eco-terrorists – only to end up in a battle for the future of the planet. FF7 has spawned the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7, which includes a long-requested trilogy of full remakes.