Final Fantasy 7's Tetsuya Nomura reveals concept art made in the JRPG's "very earliest" stages that "envisioned combat" not fully realized until FF7 Remake

JRPG icon Tetsuya Nomura celebrated Final Fantasy 7's whopping 29th anniversary with a new look at one of the game's "very earliest" pieces of concept art, one that actually shows a type of combat that wasn't completely realized until Final Fantasy 7 Remake came out decades later.

"This year marks the 29th anniversary of Final Fantasy 7, so next year looks set to be an even more special occasion," the OG FF7 character designer and narrative co-writer tweeted. "Now, in celebration of this 29th anniversary, I sought out some past concept art and comments to share." Since most dev materials have already been released before, Nomura chose a piece that was incompletely published the first time around, "so this is effectively its first full public appearance."

Celebrating 29 years of Final Fantasy VII with early concept art and a special message from Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura. pic.twitter.com/8Vo4507FUbJanuary 31, 2026

The Final Fantasy 7 doodles, drawn during the production's "very earliest plot stages," show what looks like a rough sketch of Midgar's streets as a big dragon enemy faces down against a similarly very rough sketch of Cloud, who amusingly still had his spiky, zig-zaggy hair all the way back then.

"The figure aiming a gun on the elevated platform is 'Johnny the Needle', a character from the initial plot," Nomura continued. "He is entirely distinct from the Johnny who appears in the main story, Johnny the Needle's elements were later incorporated into Reno. On the left staircase, there's a character reminiscent of Avalanche who was still unnamed and without a defined role at this stage."

"Furthermore, unlike previous FF titles, this envisioned combat not on fixed battlefields but whilst moving through the city's three-dimensional environment," the developer added. "Ultimately, this form of combat wasn't realised in the original, but has been achieved in the ongoing FF7 remake series. In that sense, I'd be delighted if you could continue enjoying this grand project, where elements technically unachievable in the original are now being realised in the remake series."

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