Renowned for his contributions to Capcom, Teruki Endo has established himself as a pivotal figure in the gaming industry. He began his career with Monster Hunter Tri and played a significant role in the franchise’s evolution, culminating in successes such as Monster Hunter 4 before transitioning to the groundbreaking Monster Hunter World. However, his journey took a notable turn when he joined Square Enix as the battle director for Final Fantasy 7: Remake and its follow-up, Rebirth, along with the fact that Final Fantasy 16’s combat was crafted by another former Capcom talent, Ryota Suzuki.
While many fans have drawn parallels between the combat systems of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 13, Endo clarifies that this was not his source of inspiration. In an interview with Inverse, he stated, “I didn’t really look at different Final Fantasy titles, as I felt like if I leaned too much on them, it would prevent me from pushing the envelope. I tried to look at it from a very sort of flat and non-biased way.” Additionally, Endo expressed, “I wanted to take the feeling of fun of a command-based battle, that feeling you get, not necessarily the system itself. So I built the system from scratch, and it might have been a coincidence that parts of it felt similar to other games.”
When Endo became part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake team, it was already established that the game would not follow a turn-based format, though the combat mechanics were still in development. Inverse notes that through his leadership on Monster Hunter World, Endo had gained invaluable insights from working on various action components that would contribute positively to his new role. This synergy, combined with Square’s advanced technology, resulted in what Endo described as a “chemical reaction.”
In discussing how the episodic nature of Final Fantasy 7 Remake influenced his combat design decisions, Endo admitted, “I don’t really give too much thought in terms of long-term planning, but put my all into whatever I’m working on. If I think too much about what’s supposed to come ahead, I get too tied up in that thinking, feeling like whatever I put in the moment will be incomplete.” He elaborated, “I want to put my full focus into whatever project I’m on, then add to it and build from there. I think that will eventually lead to a better conclusion.” Given that the combat in Final Fantasy 7 Remake has been praised as one of the best in the franchise, it’s clear that this philosophy has paid off.
In other Final Fantasy news, Yoshi-P, producer of Final Fantasy 14, expressed a certain level of caution when discussing Final Fantasy 9, deeming it a “masterpiece, and everyone has a strong emotional attachment to it.”