Final Fantasy VII Remake included Leviathan as a nod to the original’s demo

An ode to the days of cherished demo discs

Final Fantasy VII Remake may stray from the original in some notable ways, but it also has a lot of love for its predecessor. One piece of evidence is the inclusion of Leviathan as one of the few summons that made it into Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Square Enix has been running a series of blog posts going over the remake’s development, with the latest posted today. And in response to a question about Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s Summoning Materia, co-director Naoki Hamaguchi explains why Leviathan specifically made the cut.

“At an early stage of development, we looked over the line-up of summons in the original FFVII and decided to go with Ifrit, Chocobo and Moogle, Shiva, Fat Chocobo, Leviathan and Bahamut, for a roster of 6,” said Hamaguchi. “The reason Leviathan was included is because he was featured in the original FFVII demo, so I personally wanted him in the first Remake too. We then also added Carbuncle, Cactuar, and Chocobo Chick as pre-order bonuses.”

Hamaguchi goes on to explain that summons cost a lot in terms of development resources, so the team didn’t plan and discard any of them. “We strived to be as accurate as possible in the planning and then stuck to that plan until the final version,” Hamaguchi says.

There’s a flood down in Midgar

Leviathan isn’t just a summon, but one of Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s VR boss fights too. And even though Leviathan has always been a pretty sick summon in Final Fantasy, the Remake does pretty right by it.

Below, you can take a look at a full playthrough of the original Final Fantasy VII demo. Here Aerith, somehow on the original Bombing Mission with Cloud and Barrett, can summon Leviathan for its Tsunami attack.

The remakes are rolling on though, as Square announced Final Fantasy VII Rebirth last month, set for next winter. And while I’m all for exploring new ground, I’m really hoping for some throwback summons in the next two remakes.