Another update: SE discusses fully voiced staff, world map, mini games:
http://www.novacrystallis.com/2015/12/final-fantasy-vii-remake-will-be-fully-voiced-staff-discusses-world-map-mini-games/
My thoughts on this:
Nomura: "Basically, it will be fully voiced."
I guess this will mean the game will be cut short quite heavily in regard to trivial dialogs. There is NO way they will have every single line voiced that was in the original game. This makes me wonder, why the hell do they present themselves with such a challenge? This is something NOBODY has asked for. I'd rather have all the dialog from the original, with voice acting added for cutscenes. Nobody will argue, even today that the way they did it for FF-X was already perfect.
We shouldn't forget it was because of constraints like this, that FF XIII has become the sh1tty linear game it was.
Kitase:“We want to put the mini-games that remain favorable among fans in as much as possible.”
Nomura: “There were a lot of things from big to small, but we need to consider a bit whether it’s necessary to create them all with the latest technology.”
Whether it's
necessary?
NECESSARY??!
Are they short on budget already making statements like this, or what? We want nothing less than all the mini games. ALL of them.
Nomura: Personally, I’m waiting for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 and World of Final Fantasy in 2016. I think when they’re completed, I’ll be able to release new information.”
Are they seriously prioritising development of some MMO-spinoff and a Kingdom Hearts game over FF VII?? I don't know about you people, but I never cared about KH not in the slightest. I just can't take it seriously and it doesn't grip me at all, which probably has to do with the fact that it's based on the completely RIDICULOUS premise of mixing Disney characters with Final Fantasy. And I couldn't care less about yet another Final Fantasy MMO either. Now that FF XV is near completion, all their focus should logically be on the newest game in their main franchise, which is the FF VII Remake.
It should have been obvious to them from the beginning, that FF VII Remake will be literally their biggest project ever and should get all the development resources it needs, which basically are all of them.
/rant