The absence of the Final Fantasy 7 remake from this year’s E3 left many of us disappointed, but game director Tetsuya Nomura has broken the silence to offer a brief update on the current state of the game. The news comes from an interview with Nomura in the latest issue of Famitsu magazine, the highlights of which have been translated by Siliconera from an original post on the Esuteru Blog.

First up, it sounds as if Square Enix didn’t have anything to show of the Final Fantasy 7 remake at E3 as they are trying to decide on the best time to unveil more of the game. Nomura also went on to alleviate some concerns now that the game’s development has been taken away from CyberConnect2 and brought in-house. It was suggested that the external developer was falling behind schedule and not hitting the quality standards Square Enix has for the game. According to Nomura, the direction of the game is now all under control and progressing well.

Most interesting of all, though, is Nomura’s tiny update on the game’s story. Square Enix wants to keep the atmosphere of the original release intact, while also digging deeper into some of the game’s characters – in particular, the members of the AVALANCHE resistance group. It sounds like we might be learning more of the history and backstory of characters such as Biggs, Wedge and Jessie in the remake, then.

Lastly, as another assurance to fans, Nomura stated that development of the game is moving along even better than expected and they should look forward to the next announcement. We’ll have to wait until that time comes, but for now, it seems reasonable to be at least a little nervous. This is a remake of Final Fantasy 7, after all!