Final Fantasy 7 Remake Director: "Real-Time Battles Are the Trend for Games These Days"

Final Fantasy 7 Remake is staying true to its source material, but there are some changes made to account for the decades between now and its original launch. One major shift is the combat system, which is active and in real-time versus the old Active Time Battle system.

It's a change that can seem jarring to older veterans of the series. But in a new interview with 4Gamer (via Siliconera), director Tetsuya Nomura says real-time fights were always the plan for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, due to their modern popularity.

"Real-time battles are the trend for games these days," Nomura says. "While some may reject it, if we were going to make Final Fantasy 7 in today’s generation, then we must steer towards real-time. We decided that from the very start of planning."

The demo for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which starts right from the opening of the game, is currently available on the PlayStation Store, so you can check out the combat for yourself if you've got a PS4 handy. Our impressions of the remake have so far been positive, though it does make some interesting changes to the source material—for better and for worse.

Nomura also commented on Final Fantasy 7 Remake's delay into April, confirming that April 10 is the release date and that won't be changing again. "We needed a little more time for some of the last quality improvements, but it has already gone gold and there won’t be any further delays," said Nomura.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake goes live for PlayStation 4 on April 10, 2020. Keep up with all the info we know in our ongoing countdown to the Final Fantasy 7 Remake launch.