The strict 'customary' censorship standards led Square Enix to change Tifa's appearance to allow Final Fantasy VII Remake to release.
Remaking a game is not easy, especially with a game like Final Fantasy VII. If too many changes are made, fans may disagree and if they do not change much, players will wonder what the remake will do if it remains the same. Of course with a remake version, there will always be a lot of changes, the problem is how to make them really reasonable and pleasing to the fans. Final Fantasy VII Remake has a lot of changes compared to the original, but what the fans pay special attention to and cause controversy is the design of the character Tifa Lockhart. And the story behind the character's design can be said to be very unusual and silly.
Accordingly, there have been many rumors about Tifa's design being changed due to 'ethical' issues. It sounds crazy, who can believe it, especially in Japan, which is considered the paradise of 18+ culture ? But those rumors are actually quite accurate. It is true that there are quite sensitive reasons for Tifa's costume design being changed to conform to ethical standards.
The original Final Fantasy VII can be said to be a typical product of the period in which it was born. The characters of the game are designed simply, low resolution, less polygons, looks funny and animated, and Tifa is no exception. Tifa's outfit then consisted of a white croptop hybrid tank top (three navel holes), a pair of pants zippers and a short leather skirt. To be fair, this kind of dress is very unusual in reality, but Tifa is a low-resolution 3D game character with less polygons so no one can 'see' that abnormality, moreover. This design is consistent with the art style of Final Fantasy.
However, when it came to the Remake version, the development team at Square Enix wanted the Midgar land of the game to be designed in an artistic style similar to the recent Final Fantasy versions, most notably Final Fantasy XV. That means that the design style will be more realistic, true photorealistic, which means that the characters in the game will also be designed to be closer to the real person instead of the character design style according to The weird polygonal chibi style of the original part 7
Turning Tifa from an animated character to a character close to the person who usually pulls on Tifa's costume needs also needs to be changed for the actual look. Accordingly, the pair of pants zippers were converted into military equipment, along with Tifa was added to wear biker gloves. Therefore, in battle, Tifa's appearance will be more reasonable. Plus, Tifa is shown as an athlete, wearing gym clothes to be more comfortable when practicing. It can be said that this new model of Tifa is very suitable for the plot.
Project Director Tetsu Nomura said:
' First we wanted Tifa to have a' six pack 'so we made her more athletic. Then there's more guidance from the internal ethics department, and it needs to 'limit or tighten' Tifa's chest so it doesn't become unnatural even in the practice scenes. dynamic. We gave her a fit and athletic look along with a simple upper body when wearing black underwear and a tight tank top. '
Listening to this statement, perhaps people will immediately notice the 'internal ethics department'. The representatives of this room work very closely with the development team on the design to make sure Tifa doesn't look too 'obvious'. Perhaps many people will wonder what that other department does. An insider said:
' At Square Enix Japan Studios, the ethics department is a special team within the company that reviews game content to make sure they match the user age rating that the product targets in the world ( namely ESRB, PEGI, CERO, .) '
To make it easier to understand, this department is responsible for ensuring the game receives the user age rating that Square Enix expects. The goal is to make Final Fantasy VII Remake relevant for teen users (Teen rating). While ESRB and PEGI are not too strict or cause difficulties for game companies in censoring game content, CERO of Japan is completely different. CERO is famous for its strictness, especially in the element of 'romance', heterosexual love of the game. In addition to censoring violence and adult language, CERO also focuses on reviewing every quote, every hug, kiss, or other behavioral gestures with the opposite sex.
Masahiro Sakurai while working with the Super Smash Bros. series said the difficulties encountered with CERO. Accordingly, the first thing that CERO representatives requested was that every female character model had to be turned upwards so that they could ensure that the player could not accidentally (or intentionally) try to look under the skirt. like seeing the underwear of a character. The Smash development team countered by having the Palutena character wear short pants inside the skirt, but the team still had to constantly revise the character designs so that CERO allowed the game to receive A-rank games for all ages. According to Masahiro:
' They are silly and sometimes childish. If you care about trivial things like seeing the character's underwear and weapons and violence in the game, then it's clear that you need to review your priorities. '
Due to CERO's absurd rigidity, Square Enix had to set up a separate department for assessing the ethical standards in the game. And because of that, the redesign of Tifa must also follow strict rules. That led to Tifa's many times needing to be redesigned to fit CERO's censorship requirements, especially when the people here liked to look at the underwear under the character's skirts as well as the strict chest requirements. so. At least the effort to design Tifa in accordance with 'customary customs' paid off when CERO rated Final Fantasy VII Remake for category C for teenagers aged 15 and above. As for the fans, some are ok, some are constantly "dissecting" Tifa's appearance.
It's hard to please everyone, but at least with Final Fantasy VII Remake Square Enix not only has to make sure the game is suitable for both fans and novices, but also to make sure the game gets a level rating. age that the company is aiming for. But one thing is certain: Final Fantasy VII Remake also satisfied the 'majority' even though a part of the majority was still complaining about Tifa.