How Final Fantasy 7 Remake will expand on the original classic

With the demo thrilling gamers all over the world, we speak to co-director Naoki Hamaguchi about the vision behind this long-awaited reimagining

When Final Fantasy VII hit the PlayStation in 1997, the role-playing adventure genre was changed for ever. Abandoning the stereotypical castles, creatures and grizzled beardy wizards of high fantasy, the game took place in a quasi-futuristic world the likes of which had never been seen in this style of game before. The revolutionary 3D modelled characters, the sci-fi stylings and detailed, often cinematic visuals, led critics and fans to declare it one of the greatest video games of all time.

This April, the Final Fantasy VII Remake promises to redefine the genre again, and developer Square Enix has been keen to point out that this is no shot-for-shot remake. Much will be familiar - the opening cinematic, with Cloud Strife, the game's iconic, big-haired, big-sworded mercenary hero, arriving at the train station - has been lovingly updated, and the game's first chapter, of which a demo has been made available this week, takes players on a beautifully re-created version of the original's Mako reactor bombing mission.