Yoshinori Kitase Hopes Players Can "Come To Terms With [Real World] Issues” Through FFVII Remake

From TheGamer: "Final Fantasy 7 has always been a political story, regardless of what gamers on the internet would like to tell you. It’s a statement on how lofty corporations can destroy the world if left untouched, leaving an unimaginable display of environmental destruction in their wake."

[Sonic-and-Crash]

this is the worst case scenario ...FF7R becoming completely political ....we have enough ruined games by politics ...why destroy FF7 also?.....

yes original FF7 had some ideas losely based on political world problems (ecoterrorist, environmental problems , humoristic represantation of sexuality themes) ...but its base was a brilliant Sci Fi cyberpunk Fairytale...as almost all FF of that time....why ruin the core that made FF series popular with reality problems ?

i want to play FF and lose my self to other fantasy as it was until FFX , not wondering what are the problems of my real world

[TakeTori]

Has anybody ever considered that people only complain about politics in games when they don't agree with the specific opinions propagated in the game's narrative? Something to think about.

[JackBNimble]

Politics in games only ends up splitting the fan base and serves no real purpose other than pushing a political agenda.
I play games to escape the garbage political theater and BS woke ideology.

These dev's who push this garbage are only doing it to appease the woke left and score brownie points.
Dev's have been pandering to people who don't even play video games.
Are you not getting tired of having your hobby hijacked from these lunatics who could careless about gaming ?

[TakeTori]

@JackBNimble Not every game is pushing woke politics, and even the games that do I'm not "getting tired of", no. It all depends on how tastefully it's implemented. Wokeness for the sake of wokeness where it doesn't make the plot more interesting, maybe, but in that case you could have probably injected any type of politics into the game and it wouldn't have made the game better. Means the game wasn't that interesting to begin with.

You know what I'm really getting tired of? This fucking culture war, man.

[IMissJimRyan]

Every game, and every entertainment product, is political. You just don't realize it because 99% of the time they agree with the dominant force. The escapism that many people seek is to enter a world that does not change and that agrees with the standard model.

For minorities, your "apolitical" game is as or more political than anything you've ever seen.

But your fear of losing control over the products only confirms how skewed and conservative they are.

[staticall]

I'm glad someone finally said that. I kept saying that but people do not agree. I mean, look for yourself:
- Team Fortress: it's a bit of obscure, but it brings message of gang violence, bloods VS creeps. Same people from same professions, only difference - "team" color. And they have to hate each other.
- Mario: it clearly shows, that we must make the laws about kidnapping even more harsh, even drown a person if we have to.
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: street riots and cancel culture (game was too advanced for it's time, sadly). It shows how a lot of people from one party are trying to "cancel" a single dude from other party.

And don't even get me started on Dr. Mario (unlicensed doctor keeps giving you antibiotics instead of actually help you - we must have more strict licensing requirements for doctors), Jaws (poaching problems and better control over wildlife population), F1 and other racing games (enviromental and traffic rules message, wastefully burning rubber and driving at high speed can cause traffic and health problems). The list can go on.

/s

[Sonic-and-Crash]

FF7 is a piece of art (as many AAA games) i generally consider games art) ..if we start changing paintings, statues or other art creation to match your todays "free" political views ......then goodbye world ....welcome chaos ...

is not about conservatism or not ,is about conserving for historical, educational and cultural reasons artistic creations like these

[IMissJimRyan]

"is not about conservatism or not ,is about conserving"

=D

[Sonic-and-Crash]

it is on purpose in case you didnt understand ...to make a word play smh

but mocking me for the word i used as an argument to the discussion .... i understand that you you have nothing else to say ;)

[lucian229]

you're a special kind of derp Sonic....is it such a shocker to imagine that a game about a corrupt government is.....political?

[enkiduxiv]

This is going to blow your mind, but Mako... stick with me here... is a metaphor for oil. But your probably right, the original wasn't really saying anything.

[lucian229]

Eh I don't think mako works as an oil metaphor.

Oil doesn't make a super soldier, but I believe mako is just as it says, the life stream, the life of the planet, aka draining the planet of life. We are all part of the Planets life aka life stream so it's dumb that it's abused.

I think that's a proper metaphor

[Daeloki]

"FF7 is a piece of art (as many AAA games) i generally consider games art) ..if we start changing paintings, statues or other art creation to match your todays "free" political views ......then goodbye world ....welcome chaos"

That's the beauty with games. They're malleable, they can change, grow and adapt. If an old game that had offensive content in the past (like something that nobody spoke up about in the past), then a remake can be change that part, come up with something better and more suitable today. And finally, the original FF7 is still out there in it's original condition, if you're so strongly attached to it, you can play that and escape from the horrors of politics.

[Epzaos1]

Something tells me you're new to Final Fantasy games.

[-Foxtrot]

I play video games to get AWAY from real world issues

Jesus...

[ElvisHuxley]

Everything is political now, for better or worse. Gone are the days when corporations simply created a product, they now offer an ethical agenda, at no extra charge ;)

[Godmars290]

Agreed, yet at the same time a good part of the issue is that when a real life issue or event is used as a narrative element it often ends up overlooked and dismissed. Seems to be the reason why we've gone from creative metaphor to uncreatively limited literal entertainment.

[IMissJimRyan]

You run away from what is different from what you believe. Your escapism is just hypocritical.

[-Foxtrot]

Or maybe, just maybe, I'm just a guy who wants to play a game to get away from the shit I have to see plaguing social media feeds, newspapers, news channels and so on.

Murder, Rape, Corrupt Pollitics, Global Warming, Covid, Group A being triggered by Group B

It's exhausting, especially going through mental health stuff, I just want to relax.

[gold_drake]

i dunno, i wouldn't call it "escapism". alot of us play games to essentially let go of our stress and chill out.

like i dont watch the kardashians to add more unnecessary drama to my life and go complete bonkers haha.

[gold_drake]

this right there.

this is why i cant enjoy overly politicised themes within games, because they just .. you know. thats why i just couldnt enjoy ff12. and probably cause of the mmo style of gameplay.

like, i wanna chillax when i play a game and not being reminded that everything essentially sucks ha.

[enkiduxiv]

My god. How is it that so many people on this forum missed the message about Shinra and the dangers of capitalism left unchecked. I mean... it's not like any of this was subtle back in 1997.

[Daeloki]

There's literally no way of making FF7 without making it political though. And that goes for several other games and franchises. They're created reflecting real life issues and politics, whether you notice it or not. And if you haven't noticed, most games with political plots still make an effort to aim for a "happy ending". So when you say you wanna get away from real world issues, don't you think it's more reassuring to see similar problems to the real world being resolved? The whole point is to show that even if things are shit, maybe have hope that it can become better if people chose to be better.

As for the LGBTQ+ side of the article, whether you think it's political or not, it's about giving representation. Not sure if you've noticed, but there's barely any representation out there in games. Also, try and remember that each time you see a major LGBTQ+ character in a lead role and think "Don't shove this in my face", that's exactly how we've felt for decades whenever yet another straight character (usually male) is in the spotlight. It's about showing that even if you're different, you can still be the main character of your life, you can still be the hero, you can still have romantic or non-romantic healthy relationships with others, it's not exclusive to straight people.

[lucian229]

Nah, you played games before social. Media and before you were old enough to watch the news on TV, don't lie to yourself to name excuses.

[Eamon]

Sounds like the above ^ guys are taking this far too seriously.

Obviously issues like global warming and corporate corruption were big themes in the original FF7 and in the remake. But sometimes in the original Shinra would be portrayed quite silly. I still remember the line where Rufus says, "My father controlled everyone through money. I will control everyone through fear." It's a corny line that was typical of SNES/PS1-era JRPGs. If they portray these issues realistically with more detail, then that's a welcome addition.

Nothing much to do with activism. Storylines featuring eco-destruction and corrupt corporations are nothing new at all. It's only the billionth time you'll see this.

[CrimsonWing69]

Just don’t push a social agenda or politics in the game. That’s what makes things divisive. Throwing some Captain Planet like message in the game is fine.

[Urrakia34]

Throwing in some Captain Planet-like message would be the very definition of pushing an agenda though...

[CrimsonWing69]

I meant more like, you know, Social Justice Warriorish agendas. That's what I meant by "social" agendas. Helping the environment from corporations that are sucking dry natural resources seems pretty palatable.

[enkiduxiv]

Did you fail to pick up on this in the original game? You start the game as an eco-terrorist blowing up power plants to make a statement. If anything the remake has dumbed it down. Just chill out, there will be plenty of opportunity to gun down foreigners in the next Call of Duty. The industry has you covered.

[Blastoise]

Some very close-minded people in this comment section. I don't really see why Final Fantasy VII's message of "Billion dollar companies destroying the planet is bad" is particularly controversial

[nommers]

Exactly. To put it another way: "These aren't the droids you're looking for". FF7 is on a different political spectrum than what some in the comment section are thinking. Much more environmental and about corporate tyranny. Yeah the remake added in one thing in particular with the honey bee inn, but that for the most part was also in the original and the themes presented still hold up to a certain character's progression if you're familiar.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

It's sad but many people were oblivious to political messages in their favourite movies, books, games, TV shows and even comics when they were younger, and now they're becoming hyper aware of it and just can't handle it. Lots of YouTubers are cashing in on it as well.

Everything before around 2013/2014 gets a pass. Imagine some jackass in 2007 trying to tell you that Bioshock sucks because it's too political. "I play games for escapism and to get away from real world issues, not for you to lecture me about Ayn Rand and wag your finger at people like me. Bioshock is woke trash and Ken Vagine is a leftist freak."

It wouldn't work. I miss those days (putting aside the recession, haha). Bioshock Infinite got some of this (I think someone on the Glenn Beck show said something like "First they came for the Jews, now they're coming for the Christians" over this game) but if it came out today ... it would be pretty bad. For example, one of the game developers quit because he felt that the game was anti-Christian: https://www.gamespot.com/ar... You'd never hear the end of it.

[Epzaos1]

Alas, a lot of people who play games are not very bright.

The very first game I played in my life was about a slave who was working for a food company, and had to rescue the other workers because the company would turn them into their new hot snack as the animals they were turning into food were on the verge of extinction and their profits plummeted.

[Lexreborn2]

People who think FF games aren’t political, but like everyone of them is a jab at religious themes and political struggles of classism. But hey…. “Don’t be TO Direct with politics in FF games… I absolutely hate being political but I love the classics!”

[enkiduxiv]

This thread has been absolutely amazing for this. I didn't realize people were this stupid. It's like when everyone freaked out about how the new star trek show was too progressive. How did they not notice the themes of the original? I'm not even mad. I have some popcorn and I'm just gonna watch these mouth breathers let it all out.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

I'm going to get disagreed a lot for this but whatever...

It's pretty simple if you don't want to see politics in a videogame then don't buy it.
Do some of you not understand that developers who make the games should have creative freedom to put what they want into a game whether you want to see it or not? if every dev catered to what you specifically want it kills creative freedom in the industry and it just becomes another product on the production line.
These games are made by people, people who have views on the real world because they don't live in a little bubble hidden away from life. If you don't want to see it then vote with your money.

An you must be nuts if you think Final Fantasy VII is not a political game and I'm glad it is because it wants to say something, just like Ghibli's Princess Mononoke they share very similar political views and they are both excellent stories.

[DFresh]

Go woke.
Go broke.