It might actually take longer to read this article than it does to finish Final Fantasy VII.
A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but “Final Fantasy 7: An oral history” is a beast. Written by Polygon’s Matt Leone, the tome is an incredibly detailed look at the creation of one of the best-loved RPGs of all time.
To hear the story straight from the folks who were there, Leone interviewed over 30 people, including legends like Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, FFVII director Yoshinori Kitase, composer Nobuo Uematsu and illustrator Yoshitaka Amano.
Revelations abound in the article, including the fact the original idea for the game was as a direct sequel to Final Fantasy VI for Super Nintendo. It’s also detailed why Square eventually jumped ship from its relationship with Nintendo and settled on the PlayStation, not the Nintendo 64.
Even hardcore Final Fantasy VII fans for whom this is all old news are bound to enjoy the article, because it’s told from the perspective of all the people who made it happen. Cheers to Polygon for going so in-depth about a game so many people love.
Source: Jean Snow